Aside from the corruption now pressing down on his shoulders, nothing had really changed compared to the half hour Isaac had spent walking with Caroline. The added weight was annoying, yes, but with his level, regeneration, and Genesis Core, it was nothing he couldn’t just ignore.

  That remained true for about ten minutes.

  After that… things began to change.

  While the corruption still couldn’t breach his defenses, the tunnel ahead no longer looked the same. It was still a narrow, rocky passage that led to gods knew where, but the crystals lining the walls? They were no longer pure white.

  It began with a slight shading. Here and there, the crystals became a bit darker or lighter. Then, after another turn at a crossroads, Isaac spotted the first glimpse of color within them.

  Red, green, yellow, and so much more.

  In the beginning, they were little more than pale, washed-out imitations of those colors. The deeper he went, though, the darker and more vivid they became. Soon, the tunnels were bathed in more than just the boring white.

  Is this where all the colors went? he wondered, carving another mark into the stone wall. It wouldn’t do to get lost on the way back after all. But where are the notifications?

  Over thirty minutes into his lone dive underground, Isaac felt like he had long since left Faded Plains behind. Instead, it was as if he had stepped into the exact opposite of that territory. There was no more white or black here. Even the gray stone walls had begun to absorb color.

  Trippy, he thought. Looks like some kind of sugar-land…

  Still, he continued onward, the Root gripped tightly in his hand. The change in scenery might have caught him off guard, but it couldn’t distract him from the more troubling aspect of this place.

  The corruption.

  It had gotten stronger. Much stronger.

  While it didn’t happen often—maybe every twenty or so seconds—his Virus Integrity had already begun to drop. And sure, it was only by one percent, which was recovered a heartbeat later by his regeneration, but the point stood.

  This place was getting dangerous.

  And yet, he still encountered no monsters. Carrion Sense remained useless, just as before. It really looked like nobody had ever been here.

  “Strange place indeed,” Isaac muttered while activating Analyze on a particularly large yellow crystal.

  [Corrupted Neoquartz | Grade: Mystic]

  A full-grown Neoquartz infused with the power of corrupted Immortal Mana. While it has lost many of its purification properties, the energy it now holds may prove useful to any skilled artisan. Attunement: Yellow.

  Still the same description.

  By now, Isaac had analyzed more than two dozen crystals, and none offered any explanation as to what might be happening inside those tunnels. The only thing that ever changed was the attunement's color. What that meant, he could only guess.

  At least there’s this…

  Isaac extended a finger toward one of the crystals and instantly felt a pull. Not on his Viron, Origin, Legacy, or even his blood. No, it was something he couldn’t quite put into words yet. Lifeforce came close, but something told him it wasn’t the correct term.

  As for what the pull did?

  It went after the color of his skin, or at least tried to. A surge of his Viron stopped the theft before it could occur.

  All this answered where the colors from Faded Plains went. It didn’t, however, answer the real questions. Why were those crystals draining color from the world? And what had corrupted them in the first place?

  Isaac kept on searching.

  Thankfully, the universe smiled upon him for once.

  He found them.

  Monsters.

  The moment Isaac heard the soft, muffled clicking noise echoing from the distant tunnels, he pulled on his Viron and let it coat his entire form in a thin, invisible layer. The weight on his shoulders spiked, but he ignored it.

  Cloaking. His improved stealth skill. It was time to put it to the test.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  He crept closer to the noise, and after rounding a bend in the tunnel, he finally saw them.

  Small creatures, no larger than a grown dog. To Isaac, they looked a lot like crabs, only with more legs and four pincers instead of two. They also shared a certain trait of the Glassstalkers he had fought in the past.

  A glass-like carapace.

  It wasn’t as smooth or transparent as that of those infuriating desert creatures, but the similarities were there. What was new, however, were the colorful crystals embedded deep within the core of monsters’ bodies.

  Let’s see…

  Isaac moved closer, stopping just a couple of feet away from a group of crabs. They ignored him and kept digging up the crystals scattered around them. Whenever one came loose, a crab would grab it and march off down the tunnel.

  He frowned.

  All right. Now I’m even more confused.

  With no other choice really, Isaac followed after them. They had to be taking the crystals somewhere important, right? It was that, or someone was playing a big joke on him. He doubted that was the case, but with Rakin as his Patron, everything was possible.

  Also, Analyze.

  Potential Threat: Very Low

  About what Isaac had expected. Now, if only somebody could explain to him what creatures so weak were doing in a place with such strong corruption. And no, digging crystals wasn’t an answer. Not in his books. There had to be more.

  Not a nest, village, or Quarantine. What are you then?

  ————————————————————————

  After following the crabs for… Isaac honestly wasn’t sure how long, he reached a point where the tunnels widened. What was a handful of monsters soon turned into dozens and then hundreds. All were hard at work, their focus fully on the crystals.

  That said, the crabs were no longer alone.

  Isaac had only seen them a few times—floating wraiths, made entirely out of iridescent glowing crystals. Like their smaller companions, they paid him no attention and continued to watch over the army of crabs.

  Work supervisors, perhaps?

  Place gets weirder by the second, he thought, taking a turn into a pinkish tunnel. His gaze strayed to the thick, glowing, and pulsing veins slithering across the walls.

  That was yet another detail he couldn’t ignore. Corruption next to those things… it was getting out of control. Even his regeneration barely kept up when he came too close.

  Might have to turn back soon.

  Not that his curiosity would allow it. At least not yet.

  As such, Isaac squared his shoulders, reinforced Cloaking, and prepared a Burst in case things went south. Then, he rejoined the crabs in their never-ending march. Really, this place was reminding him more and more of an anthill.

  ——————————————————————————

  …Wow.

  At last, Isaac did it; he had reached the end of this underground maze. And what awaited him there? Now that would be telling.

  He had seen plenty of cavern chambers in the last few weeks, so many that he had begun to wonder if he spent too much time underground. Ignoring that thought, though, he could admit that nothing he saw in the past matched to what stood before him.

  While the chamber itself wasn’t particularly large, size wasn’t what made this place special. No, that honor belonged to three distinct things.

  First were the colorful crystals. Hundreds of them. They covered every inch of the chamber’s walls and ceiling. Only the floor was spared, though even it had taken on a faint blue hue. If the tunnels were trippy, Isaac had no word to describe this place, especially with all the glinting and glowing.

  As for the second thing…

  It was a monster, one almost twice as tall as him. Crystals made up its entire body, shaping it into a vaguely humanoid golem. It had no eyes or mouth, though, just a small, featureless, triangular head.

  Given its bulk and size, he expected the beast to be a threat—the final boss of this place. A quick Analyze proved him wrong.

  Potential Threat: Moderate

  When Isaac read that, his confusion only spiked. Just before arriving here, his regeneration had finally begun losing ground to the corruption. It was a slow-going process, with him only losing 4% Virus Integrity for now. Given enough time, though, this place could kill him.

  So why were the monsters here so weak?

  The answer revealed itself when his gaze fell on the third and final unique feature of this chamber.

  A Dimension Tear located in the middle of the floor.

  Barely larger than a puddle, the thing was a mass of whirling green and blue energy. The glowing veins he had seen in the tunnels sprouted from its edges, going straight into the walls where they vanished.

  Now, as for how Isaac knew its name?

  Easy.

  Interface.

  [Dimensional Tear | Grade: D | Status: Charging]

  Of course, that wasn’t everything. Just like with Nests, Villages, and the Dark Pit, here the Interface also offered him a short guide.

  [Dimensional Tears - Extremely rare anomalies usually found in the wilds. Most appear without warning, though some evolve directly from unchecked Dark Pits. Dimensional Tears are among the few natural ways to enter or exit the Broken Realm.]

  A portal.

  That explained a lot. The overwhelming corruption. The monster crabs carrying and dropping the crystals into the Tear. The way his instincts screamed danger when he looked at the portal.

  This damned thing led straight into the Broken Realm. A place that, if the Interface and Overlords were to be believed, was the source of all the world’s current problems.

  Isaac took a step back.

  He might be itching for a fight after days of rest, but jumping straight into action never ended well. A plan and maybe a way to destroy the Tear. That was what he needed.

  With a nod to himself, he retreated further into the tunnels. Once his regeneration outpaced the corruption again, he opened his Communication Menu and created a new group chat.

  It took a couple of minutes of arguing, but in the end, all his friends agreed on one thing.

  The crabs and the golem had to go. After all, it wasn’t hard to guess the purpose of the crystals based on the status of the Tear. If it activated this close to Silent Oasis…

  Isaac exhaled.

  Guess that’s enough rest for me.

  The nearby monsters had no idea what happened when a wave of blood swallowed them whole.