Below him, Seth watched a swarm of crackers coming and going from the tunnels, carrying long pieces of navy-blue ore on their shoulders that they deposited beside a group of meter-long hatchlings. The pace at which they sliced the ores was impressive, but more than that, what impressed him the most was the youngling’s appetite.

It was a little disturbing.

The plump worms weren't as ugly as their older kin, but Seth would never call them cute either. They looked like a flawed mix between an earthworm and a caterpillar but with fascinating navy-blue skin.

The larvae chew the hard ores as though they were tender leaves, reducing them into smaller pieces and dust before taking another bite. The sound that came out of its razor-sharp teeth cracking the arsenium was the same one that had been bothering him for hours, but at least, now Seth knew what he needed to do to stop it.

His fists clenched lightly.

Suppressing his butchering urges, Seth focused on the opposite end of the creatures, particularly on the pile of brown pebbles that kept climbing as fast as the worms swallowed its food. They aren’t worth much, but I can get some coin ou—

Seth halted and quickly shook his head, pushing the thought away.

The poop had some flammable properties that were quite useful in some alchemical processes and the machinery industry, but honestly, the idea of carrying a bag of poop in his pack didn't fit in his mind.

A few cycles ago, such a lavish thought would have never crossed his mind, but things had changed. Not to mention that he wasn’t in the mood of carrying a few kilograms worth of material for the sole purpose of getting some meagre bronze pieces, not thanks.

Sweeping his gaze all over the room, Seth reckoned there should be a bit more than forty crackers and twenty-something hatchlings in this chamber. Which set the total population of the nest at more than one hundred and eighty members—plus the queen and its guards. Much higher than the Guild’s estimations.

“How will we take care of all of this without alerting the queen?” he whispered.

He had already envisioned a plan before arriving at Stoneater Cliffs, but now, gazing below... he did seem to have underestimated these beasts a little too much.

The two outer chambers weren’t close enough to each other, which shortened his window of time to barely ten minutes at best. Not enough to clean a single chamber before the pheromones reached the queen’s place.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone.

Roland's eyes focused on him, “Don’t worry about that, if you do your part, I can take care of it in a few minutes.”

Seth glared at him, but decided to trust the fella.

No more words were exchanged as Seth slowly moved down through the passages, quickly reaching a spot where the crackers and the brood stood in front of him. He peeked over a boulder, surveying the area before taking his weapon out, that was when he noticed the perspiration drenching his hands and the loud beatings of his heart echoing in his head.

He took a deep breath and soothed his mind before he took a step inside. It was his first time facing creatures of this calibre and even if he knew he was much stronger and more skilled than them, he couldn't control the natural reactions of his body.

As the beasts noticed his presence, the frenzy he had expected didn't come. Instead, the crackers seemed to communicate with each other before four of them halted their activities and slowly approached him, faint traces of anger flashing on their scarlet eyes. To his surprise, the beasts were far more cool-headed than those he had met in the tunnels.

Drawing his gaze at the brood behind, Seth found the answer to his question rather quickly.

He drew in a breath as mana coursed through his channels, enhancing his muscles and sword as the first cracker came—its long, clawed arm rushing towards his face.

The arm blurred through the side of his skull as Seth sidestepped, swinging his own blade and cutting through its leathery skin with little resistance. He didn't stop there. With a swift movement, he sent a punch towards its face, shattering its fangs and denting its skull as the beast fell lifelessly onto the floor.

The entire exchange elapsed in less than five seconds, but the remaining beasts were already pouncing onto him.

Once they were close enough, Seth willed his flames to surround the blade as he took a long step back.

An arc of dark fire rushed out of the blade before it clashed with the beasts, passing through them like a hot knife through butter. Bisecting them as the fire clung and burned flesh, blood and skin.

An icy silence spread through the air as the pieces of scorched flesh hit the ground, one after the other. Painting the floor in scarlet colour as the smell of burned flesh permeated the air.

Seth looked in the direction of the remaining thirty-something crackers and hatchlings, his brows wrinkling into a frown.

“I think you should start with your stuff Roland!” He could probably take care of the rest of them, but it would cost him much more mana and stamina than he was willing to spare with still a queen waiting in the next chamber.

Fortunately, it seems that Roland shared many of his concerns.

As his voice vanished into the rage of crackers and brood alike, Seth caught sight of Roland throwing a palm-size orb to the place where most of the beast stood. It reached the ground just as the crackers began their assault.

His eyes couldn't help but widened as he watched the enraged beasts halt their steps and shift their attention to the bony-white sphere on the floor. Totally forgotten of his existence as palpable hunger and greed radiated from their gazes.

What happened afterwards was a complete slaughter where not even the brood was spared. Seth limited himself in observing the spectacle.

At some point, Roland appeared beside him. Seth couldn't help himself but ask him, “What was that thing?”

“Just some pieces of Stondril almond mixed with some other things that affect the psyche,” Roland said, “Good stuff.”

Seth cocked an eyebrow, “And why bother me?” he didn't really mind it, but it would have saved him the trouble of staining his armour with gore.

Roland gave him a puzzled look, “You said you wanted to test yourself before facing the queen, I just gave you a hand.”

He opened his mouth to rebuke him… but closed it practically in the same movement. Seth had to admit he was right on that, so he changed the topic.

“You think Olivia needs help on her side?”

They had left her to take care of the other chamber as the corrosive environment suited her abilities pretty much, but he was still adamant about believing she was capable of dealing with it all by herself.

Roland thought for a moment, shaking his head, “She had one of these things with her but don't think she will use it, knowing her, she would probably just melt them into goo.”

Seth nodded to that.

After exchanging a few more words, collecting the cores and sending the little worms to the afterlife, Seth and Roland headed towards the next chamber.

What they found was pretty much what they had predicted.

Olivia stood in the middle of the room with half her body drenched in blood, not her own, and the other half in black goo. The rest of the chamber was a mixture of ripped limbs, puddles of goo and blood, scorched flesh and splashed worms.

However, contrary to the gruesome sight, a broad smile was plastered on her delicate face.

“It seems you've fun,” Roland said, his expression one of disapproval as he passed her a flask of green liquid she immediately gulped down. The effects were immediate and obvious, the minor scratches and bruises vanished as she looked more energetic.

“Thanks,” she said, sitting down with a grunt.

Seth couldn't help but feel a knot of envy in his heart as he spared a few glances in Roland and Olivia’s direction, focusing on their auras.

It wasn't strange to see people forcing their advancement during the lower levels of the core stage if they had the money to buy the necessary elixirs or pills. But oddly, this didn't seem to be the siblings' case.

Orange Core Stage, and without a sign of a shaky foundation, he thought, drawing his attention back to him.

Different from their sturdy and shiny auras, his own felt somewhat opaque—like a fogged-up mirror inside a sauna. And it would probably stay like that for another week or two before the scars of using the Four Vessels Glaucous Elixir disappear. It wouldn’t leave any permanent damage, but the ache in his channels and core reminded him of the dangers of forcing one's advancement.

But Seth didn’t regret his decision.

At the pace his attunement had been progressing, it would have probably taken him another cycle to reach the next breakthrough. Which wasn’t an option if his objective was to take part in the preliminary rounds, much less to the dream of securing one of the 108 spots.

However, even after achieving his first goal, the latter still seemed to be nothing more than a pipe dream.