"Tried it - no good." Liana shook her head. "Crushed two tal Crystals at once, only one activated. Second one just went to waste."
Magnus gave a slight nod. That matched his guess. This kind of Fire Crystal - maybe a second awakening type - only ford naturally inside teorites. Before the second teor shower ca, there was no way to make more.
Sophia climbed into the vehicle just then. Shot Magnus a withering glare, snorted coldly, went straight to her seat without a word.
"I’ve got sothing too," Emily stood up, gave a glance at Sophia, then said, "I talked to both her and Magnus just now. When that red light hit, Sophia, Magnus, and I - we all felt sothing. Like when we first awakened. Little different, but close. Magnus... you sure you’re not at third awakening now?"
Magnus raised a brow, then shook his head. "No. Speed and strength still at second awakening. Why? You two jumped to second?"
"You didn’t awaken?" Liana blinked, surprised. She’d seen it with her own eyes - Magnus shining just like Emily and Sophia during the red light burst. She and Charlotte felt nothing at all.
"You sure?" Emily’s eyes narrowed. "Because I swear, you looked exactly like us just now..."
"I’m sure!" Magnus stood up, brows knotted. But he paused, thinking back.
An hour of running earlier - wasn’t even tired. Not normal. Not for him. With just second awakening in strength and speed, an hour like that should’ve drained him dry.
Was his stamina awakened too?
That thought hit him hard, and he shared it with the group. The others looked at each other, confused. They didn’t get it either.
Changing the subject, Liana said, "Burning teorite Soil constantly won’t work forever. The grain depot girls - sa deal. The two broken gates we blew open, and a couple more weak spots - they’ve got fires going too. Might be safe for now, but it won’t hold out."
Charlotte mulled over it. "What if we make sure the fires never die out? From today, we just keep teams digging for teorite Soil nonstop?"
"Won’t last," Liana shook her head. "Works for a little while, sure. But just now, a few mutated sparrows tried bypassing the fire. Three, maybe four made it inside the underground depot. I think they’re adapting. Once they’re used to it, they’ll pour in like beasts. By then, we won’t even have a place to run. It’ll be a slaughter."
"She’s right," Emily agreed. "At this rate? Tomorrow morning at the latest, those creatures will figure it out. Then they’ll co full force."
These mutated beasts had so brains - Magnus could see that much. They reminded him of those rat monsters he’d run into before. He trusted Liana and Emily’s instincts on this one, which is why he’d brought all that blood from the white geese.
He was ready to run an experint.
Standing up, Magnus said, "Liana, get an off-road vehicle. Sothing empty."
"An off-road vehicle? What for?" Liana raised an eyebrow.
"When we went to Willowglen Village, rember? Old John sared centipede blood on himself and those centipedes just ignored him. I want to try the sa thing - see if the goose blood has any effect. Maybe it’ll work the sa way."
"Alright. On it." Liana didn’t ask more and moved quickly.
Magnus followed her out of the vehicle. From the broken barrier in the distance, gunshots rang out again. Looked like more giant sparrows were pushing through the flas on the Earth Crystal line.
Ti wasn’t on their side.
Magnus activated his Fire Crystal, stepped through the side door, and headed outside alone. The mutated beasts around the gate made the tension thick in the air. He imdiately spotted three white geese, six giant roosters, and two oversized ducks glaring at the underground granary.
His body glowed red from the Fire Crystal. As he walked out, the beasts closest to him instinctively backed off a few steps.
Inside the granary, Liana had doused an empty off-road vehicle in fresh goose blood, just like Magnus asked. She left the engine running. Hearing the rumble, Magnus turned back, and the granary gates began to open. He hit the gas and drove the blood-soaked vehicle out.
Rolling over the flaming Earth Crystal at the entrance, Magnus eased the vehicle toward the nearby horde of rat monsters.
Every mutated beast around - rats, giant poultry, even bats and sparrows flying overhead - stared at the vehicle as it moved.
None of them made a move.
Magnus drove on, inching closer. As he pushed into the rat horde, the ones in front slowly eased aside, clearing a path.
They were confused. The scent coming from the vehicle told them it was one of their own. But the appearance told a different story.
This off-road vehicle had gone through three rounds of modifications. tal rods were welded to both sides. One rat didn’t move in ti - got scraped by a rod and squealed before scrambling back several steps.
The rat beasts didn’t strike.
Magnus felt a bit of relief. He nudged the wheel toward one of the giant roosters.
That rooster craned its neck, twisting left and right, trying to get both eyes on the strange object. Its gaze flicked between wary and curious.
When the car reached it, the rooster dipped its massive head slightly, like it was sniffing to make sure what it was sensing matched what it saw.
Inside the car, Magnus couldn’t see the bird’s exact movents through the windshield. When the rooster dipped its head, his gut tensed - but when no slam hit the roof, he cald a little. He turned the wheel again, heading toward two ducks and one big white goose...
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