Burning grass steamed as water fell in waves from above. Smoke trailed into the sky, and the coolness of the autumn day burned away until it felt like the hottest summer day in Generasi.

“The last thing we need is a grass fire,” Professor Jules said grimly, watching flames hissing and dying along the slopes. Watchers flew above, drowning the fires in streams of conjured water, while summoned water elementals helped smother the flames.

Jules sighed. “Things are bad enough without burning half of Greymoor to ash.”

Bitterness tinged her voice.

She was silent for a moment. The assembled team was quiet as they contemplated what had just happened.

“Can you walk?” she suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Some of the responses were weak, but everyone said that they could manage.

“Good,” the professor said. “Let’s make our way downhill, further away from the blast site. We’ll need better cover in case of…aftershocks, and we should also be mindful of the potential for another reaction to occur.”

Researchers helped each other down the incline, and Claygon carried those too worn-out to make the downward trek. When they reached the foot of the hill, everyone collapsed on grass and scrub littered with rubble. Not the most comfortable, but definitely safer than where they had been.

“We…we’ll stay down here for now,” Professor Jules said, with guilt in her voice. “The encampment will send reinforcements, so we’ll wait for those to come before we do anything else. Rest for now…rest as best you can.”

Alex threw himself down on the grass beside Claygon, Isolde and Carey. “Hey…how’re you two holding up?”

“I have been better.” Isolde pulled off her mask. “Far better. By the four elements, I was sure I had died for a moment. That flash…it was like the coming of the end of the world.”

“I was sure it had blinded me.” Carey took her mask off too. “My eyes still hurt. I had never expected any reaction would be so utterly volatile, especially from such a small sample.”

“We had no clue what mixing those two substances could do,” Alex said. “This is all new territory for everyone.”

“Gracious, to think the enemy’s dungeon cores contained such…explosive energy.” Carey said. “Imagine if they could self-detonate when they’re threatened with destruction by the Heroes? My goodness, a blast like that would annihilate…everything! The Heroes, the dungeon…everything in range!”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “But, what just happened could actually be a weapon against them. A little dungeon core remains and a little chaos essence. Delivered by a quick messenger construct or something? Think of the devastation it’d do to a dungeon. But then again, chaos essence isn’t easy to get your hands on.”

“I am beyond glad that chaos essence is difficult to get: I fear some might think of other applications for it.” Isolde watched the smoke rising into the sky. “Imagine, both substances could be easily concealed. Add a little mana remotely, and one could destroy castles, shatter city walls or rout entire armies. This explosion came from a small sample. I could not begin to imagine what an entire dungeon core worth of material would do. Or even two cores’ worth?”

“Yeah…” Alex said. “But what a waste. I’d rather make a Claygon.”

He looked up at his golem.

No more movement from him. No more stirring of sapience.

He glanced at Jules.

The Professor was sitting with her head in her hands.

This probably wouldn’t be the best time to bring up golems.

Reinforcements—additional Watchers, patrols and teams of miners—stopped what they were doing and were at the blast sight in no time, especially those who could teleport. By the time they arrived, most of the fires had been extinguished so all that was left to do was douse the remaining flames, or smothered them with earth magics. The area was becoming safer.

Professor Jules was describing the event to Watcher Shaw, who’d handed her a new mask, while the others talked among themselves. Shaw listened intently, looking shaken at what he was hearing, and seeing. His eyes were fixed on the mushroom cloud.

“If we’d been any closer…I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys,” Alex told Thundar, Theresa, Khalik and Grimloch, who’d come sprinting over the hills with Brutus in the lead when they heard the explosion. Najyah circled high above the smoke. “We’d all be dead.”

“Hell,” Thundar grunted, watching the dissipating column of smoke. “From where we were, the bloody flash looked like something dropped the biggest ball of lightning bolts over here they could make. We even felt the ground shake. Can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to be so close.”

“Indeed,” Prince Khalik said. “The blast sounded like thunder struck directly above us.”

Theresa gripped Alex and Isolde’s hands, her own hands shaking. “Thank the Traveller you’re alright. I thought the two of you were dead.”

“No, we were lucky that the professor took the level of precaution that she did…” Isolde said. “Though I expect she might blame herself for what could have been a monumental tragedy for many.”

“Yeah, I’d do the same in her shoes. Blame myself, I mean,” Alex said.

“It is a curse of authority,” Khalik said. “Those that are terrible leaders often praise themselves for boons that they had nothing to do with, and punish others for disasters they created. Good leaders often blame themselves for disasters they could not control, while crediting accomplishments to those they lead. Great leaders live with victories and consequences all the same, knowing that sometimes one cannot prevent loss.”

Before he could continue, Jules turned.

“To any who can climb, I'll be inspecting the blast site. The rest of you can remain here and use the break to recover. After our investigation is complete, we’ll be returning to the encampment.”

“You gonna volunteer? Alex asked Isolde and Carey. “Of course,” Isolde said. “Without question,” Carey said eagerly, surprising Alex.

“Alright you guys, you’ve got work to do and we’ve got work to get back to, so we’ll head out. Glad you’re safe.” Thundar said. The cabal mates exchanged hugs all around, and Alex leaned down and kissed Theresa. Grimloch preferred to pat Alex and Isolde enthusiastically on their backs, then everyone got back to their duties. The small group of researchers Jules was leading remasked and followed her around the base of the hill toward the blast site. Professor Jules shook her head, watching the crater smoke as the final sparks of mana sputtered out.

“It looks like the after-effects have finally stopped. But, the reaction from the two substances combining was worse than anything I’ve witnessed in all my years of alchemy,” she said. “Remember this day everyone…and now you see firsthand why I always insist on safety above all else, and maximising caution in every way. We did what we could to shield ourselves, and even so, very nearly lost our lives, or health. Alchemy has dangers where one's life can be lost in an instant, so when we’re working with unknown elements, one never knows when things can go wrong. This was a reminder of that very fact.”

Murmurs of agreement went through the group.

“Now, before we go up…let's be cautious,” she said, eyeing the smouldering wall then summoning a small air elemental and an elemental sprite of air. The tiny creatures appeared before her. “...go, I need that area inspected.” She pointed to the top of the hill. “Tell me what the air quality is like up there. If you encounter danger and are sent back to your home plane…then I shall reward you later.”

Both creatures shot up the hill, flying over the crater, circling it twice before flitting back down.

Jules spoke a few words to the sprite in the tongue of air elementals: “Is it safe to breathe up there?”

The little creature nodded, then said something to her.

“Good, you did well,” she said, turning to the air elemental. “Did you see anything unusual? Anything dangerous?”

The air elemental made a windy, whooshing sound.

“Good, you did well too.”

She dismissed them both.

“We can approach, the air is safe.” she announced. “When we get to the crater…we can discuss everyones’ observations up to the time the reaction occurred, then we can brainstorm. Perhaps, that will help us understand what happened.”

They followed Jules, walking through soggy, burnt grass, dirt and soil. No doubt the smell must’ve been pungent, but Alex could only guess at that. Jules had been very clear that—and no one had challenged her—masks must be worn, and anyone with a damaged mask would remain behind. They neared the decimated hilltop, Jules conjured a gust of wind, sweeping all remaining smoke and steam hanging above the hill away.

Before them, the crater yawned open.

Dust and solidifying metal filled it.

“Well, that’s one expensive golem gone,” Jules sighed. “But, better a construct lost than a mortal life.”

Boom.

Claygon’s feet abruptly stomped the ravaged ground as he came to a full stop. To Alex, the sudden halt almost sounded angry. He looked at his golem whose face pointed toward the crater. From the angle of his head, it looked like his eyes were fixed on Jules.

Alex reached out mentally, but still felt no response. No thought.

‘Claygon?’ he reassured him. ‘She doesn’t mean you. Seriously. I—’

“Fascinating,” Carey interrupted, staring at the crater, ending his train of thought. “It’s so fascinating from up close.”

‘Afraid of monsters, but not devastating explosions?’ he thought. ‘Fascinating. Then again, she is an alchemist. She’d be exposed to explosions a lot, Ravener-spawn…not so much.’

“The heat from the crater is considerable,” Professor Jules noted, glancing at the other researchers. Some of the guilt had faded from her voice, replaced by scientific curiosity. “Any observations to report? Of the moments before the explosion, I mean. Don’t change anything you've already recorded. I don't want your original observations influenced.”

“Well…it exploded,” Alex said. “I definitely observed that.”

For a moment, uneasy chuckling went through the group, but he was soon rewarded with twin glares from Jules and Isolde.

“Aside from the explosion, Mr. Roth,” the professor clarified, more guilt leaving her tone. She was beginning to sound like her usual confident self.

“Well, it didn’t seem like a volatile reaction until mana was added,” Alex said. “When the dungeon core remains were first mixed with the chaos essence, the resulting solution was…lively, for lack of a better word. But definitely not explosive. I think mana must have acted as a catalyst.”

“I counted the number of seconds that elapsed from commencing the addition of mana, until the explosion,” Isolde said. “It was approximately one point five seconds from the point where mana was added to the solution, to the point where it became visibly volatile.”

“I also heard a whining noise,” Carey said, though Alex hadn’t experienced that. “It was almost like the sound of steam escaping a beaker…or a high pitched scream.”

“Right, I heard something similar,” Professor Jules said. “And my golem was set to add enough mana to power a first-tier potion. Which means, not much energy was required before detonation occured.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “You know…between the core remains’ characteristic of increasing the vigour of mana going through it, and the active nature of the interaction between it and chaos essence, it probably wouldn’t have taken much to make the reaction go exothermic. Or at least just plain explosive.”

“It will be difficult to truly quantify what occurred here from this result,” Jules said. “These were very small samples and yet the reaction was so energetic…so violent. To replicate the reaction, even smaller samples must be used in future. Then we could measure energy outputs properly.

“I would love to categorise it as ‘let’s never do that again’,” someone muttered.

“Oh, pshah,” Carey said.

Professor Jules took a deep breath. “Well, no sense in gawking at melted metal. I’ll cool the brass, then we’ll collect samples from the crater and…I’ll begin some analysis of them.”

“Professor, no,” Meikara suddenly said, stepping up to Jules with an air of authority that Alex hadn’t seen the small blood mage display before. “You were just stunned by a concussive blast strong enough to shatter two force walls and throw grown people off their feet. You said that others should rest.”

She looked at the other blood mages, nodding to them. “It’s our recommendation that everyone here—including you—take the rest of the day off to recover, whether that be here, or back in Generasi.”

Professor Jules whirled on her. “This research needs to be done.”

“And others can be called from Generasi to do it,” Meikara stood her ground, as unmoving as an oak in a breeze. “Medical orders. You’ve all been hurt and so—according to guidelines—the word of my colleagues, myself and all medical staff is now law. Rest, professor. Others can look at the dust and slag.”

“Molten metal.”

“Pardon?” Meikara asked.

“Slag consists of leftover smelting ores and used metals. Broadly, it can be classified—”

Meikara glared at her and—for the first time—Alex saw Jules back down.

“You’re quite right.” The professor sighed, turning to the research team. “You can all have the rest of the day off. Be sure to hand in your notebooks.”

“You may remain here or return to campus.” Meikara added, “But if you do decide to return to campus, please let the medical staff know in case you suffer any aftereffects while there, and need attention.”

Their return was heralded by gawking stares and murmurs.

As the expedition members came through the front gates of the encampment, they were met with a whirlwind of questions.

“What happened?” someone asked.

“Was there a monster attack?” asked another.

Jules looked at the crowd in silence.

“Right now, back, back!” Watcher Shaw ordered. “We’ll have explanations for you later, let’s give these folks some space.”

After Shaw’s caution, the researchers were mostly left in peace. But, Alex did get the odd question here and there. His friends had gone back to the duties they were involved in before the explosion, while Isolde and Carey had decided to return to Generasi.

Alex…didn’t join them yet. He’d go later.

Too much on his mind.

Dust. Claygon.

Two major innovations had resulted from the dungeon core remains: the ability to power golems of immense strength…and the ability to create explosions of devastating power.

Alex wondered how the world might change as a result of them.

As he took Ito’s Spiral from his tent, he wondered what other wonders and horrors might be hiding in the black orbs.