After smashing its head into the wall, the monster shook a few times, inspected its surroundings, and then began digging. Though it seemed impossible, its wide body curled up into a worm like shape which drilled through the ground as if it was a swimming pool.

In a panic, Ana hardened the earth around the creature in an attempt to slow it down. She was somewhat successful, but it was only a matter of time. Its comrades took note of what happened and some started digging as well.

‘Can they see through earth?’ Ana wondered astonished.

Of course, it was a superfluous question. If she could feel the creatures’ mana 3 feet above ground, there was no reason why they couldn’t do the same. It was a rare ability, but she was unfortunate enough to find a monster which had it.

‘Almost here.’ she mumbled while sending mana into the ground. She had to find a way to take out the first monster before the others arrived. To probe out its skin, Ana sent almost a hundred stone needles to hit it from all directions.

None of them left a scratch except for those aimed at its maw and slit like eyes. The creature squirmed as blood began to pour out of these orifices. Ana didn’t let up and pushed the needles further finally ending the job.

‘Yes! Only 5 left.’ Just as she said this, several more creatures began digging. Since the kobolds were almost defeated, half of the alien like monsters began focusing on the intruder below.

‘You’ve messed up.’ said Ana confidently. They were in her world now. The creatures' movements were slowed down while she could aim at their weak spots with leisure.

However, after taking out another two monsters, the rest noticed and sent a good portion of their mana into their skulls. More mana meant stronger flesh and bones which made the girl’s previous attacks useless.

In turn, Ana put additional mana into her needles and killed another one. However, this wasn’t a back and forth game she could win. Her flimsy middle rank zero mana was already running out while the creatures had reinforced their skulls even further.

“9, 10, 11, shit…” counting did nothing but raise her anxiety. After pouring the last bit of mana into a needle, she jammed it into a monster’s eye. ‘What now?’ They’d be upon her in a matter of seconds and she didn’t have enough energy to even escape.

In desperation, she took out all the items hidden inside her dimensional pocket in hopes of finding something useful.

“Pelts, knives, vitality pills… If I eat more of them, will they restore my mana? If I throw food at them, will they leave me alone?”

While sweat gathered on the poor girl’s forehead, her attention got drawn to the 94 tiny energy balls her previous kills had left behind. It took her forever to draw mana from the atmosphere, but what if this was different?

As soon as Ana grabbed a mana core, one of the monsters burst through the wall. It looked like a curled up pile of bones and skin which soon unfurled and jumped towards her.

“NO!” With closed eyes, the girl willed the earth itself to punish the monster. Several seconds later, she finally gathered the courage to look.

Inches away from her face, the creature’s skull was lifelessly hanging in midair. Hundreds of spears had impaled it from every direction making it look like the ugliest porcupine in existence. Checking her hand, Ana noticed the middle rank 1 mana core had lost its glow.

‘Yay!’ After a small cheer, she began breaking the earth spears with her bare hands to make way towards the pile of cores. By the time the other creatures reached her position, her hands were already buried in mana.

“Die!” To all the bastards that dared enter the ground, her angry growl was a death sentence. Unlike when dealing with the first one, she directed reinforced needles to the areas of their bodies with the least amount of mana.

The creatures squirmed and tried to adapt but to no use. No matter how much they hardened their skins, Ana's mana reserves far surpassed theirs.

After wiping out the monsters and putting their cores into her bracelet, she carefully went up to the surface. There too, the battle was over.

Dozens of dead kobolds covered the ground while less than three invaders had fallen. More than a dozen holes were seen in the barrier Ana placed on the cave. She hurriedly tore it down to check the tunnel, but unfortunately, she was far too late.

Most of the rooms on either side of the tunnel were empty. Only pools of blood and tiny arms or legs remained to tell the tale.