64 Manullium Mine - Part 2 (1/2)
The group of four slowly crept towards a guard tower built atop the wall. It had a tile roof with a United States flag atop it. The howling wind blew against the flag and covered the sound of their footsteps.
”Two guards.” Terra whispered. ”There's a staircase leading down as well.”
Ed nodded and glanced at Gunther while pointing two fingers towards the tower. Gunther pulled a short sword from his sheath and nodded back. The two rushed inside the tower while wielding their blades.
Blood gushed out as Ed felt his blade sink into the enemy's flesh. The weight of the dead body fell towards him and he hurried to shift it away. Suddenly, a whistling sound rang out. He turned to look towards Gunther and the other solider.
A bullet had grazed Gunther's shoulder. Gunther immediately tackled the soldier and stabbed down with his sword. The two men rolled several times before stopping. The dead soldier laid beneath Gunther's large body. Blood slid down his armor from the fight. Fortunately, his shoulder was fine. The bullet failed to penetrate the exo suit.
The other two members entered the tower. Bolin frowned, ”This is why non-espers are a liability. He was way too slow. We're lucky the winds outside blocked the sound of the bullet from traveling.”
”That's why we're here.” Ed responded. ”The manullium is key to increasing the strength of my ordinary soldiers. Espers will fear them almost as much as me by the time I'm through with them.”
”Let's just hurry.” Bolin sighed in response while heading down the stairs. The others quickly followed behind him. They walked down several winding flights of stairs before reaching the ground floor. No guards were in sight.
”Looks like they're rather lax on internal security?” Bolin commented.
”As they should be.” Ed nodded. ”They likely consider it a waste of manpower since espers can't get in using their powers. It's more effective to utilize all their men as lookouts on the walls, or at least it would be if they hadn't sent so many soldiers outside the base.”
They crouched down and slowly made their way towards the mine shaft elevator. ”There!” Bolin pointed towards a man standing next to the elevator. ”He controls the elevator. Someone will need to stay behind to let us back up.”
”They don't have identical controls within the shaft?” Gunther questioned.
”No.” He sighed. ”It's an extra security measure. So, who's going to stay behind?”
”You are.” Ed replied.
”Me?!” Bolin questioned in shock.
”Right.” He nodded. ”Your powers are practically worthless here. You can't create portals and I'll be damned if I let you try to setup an unstable gravitational field within the mineshafts. You'd get us all killed.”
”Surely I'm more useful than him!” Bolin protested while pointing towards Gunther.
”Wrong.” Ed frowned. ”Gunther has close-combat experience. He may be weaker than you, but his experience will make up for it.”
”Nonsense!” He complained again while presenting his cane. He slowly pulled the handle back, revealing a shiny black sword hidden within. ”I am a trained swordsman! I had trained in it before the apocalypse even started! I could whip that brat's ass to Hong Kong and back!”
”Good.” Ed smiled. ”All the more reason for you to hold the fort while we're gone. After all, your powers are suited for delaying tactics. Hopefully they work a bit up here.” He gestured towards the other two and rushed towards the elevator, refusing to give Bolin a chance to protest further.
The man sitting at the controls noticed the group heading towards him. He was just about to yell, when he suddenly felt something sink into his throat. His clothes felt wet as he glanced down in shock. A black blade was sticking in his throat. Blood drenched his clothes and stained the snow as he collapsed towards the floor.
Ed grinned. ”Sinless sure knows how to balance a knife. I didn't think that would actually work.” He shoved the body aside and controlled his mana to cover the body with snow. It took him a couple tries before succeeding. 'With the way manullium interferes with mana, I wonder if it can be used to train mana control?'
”Hurry up!” Bolin grabbed ahold of the controls and interrupted Ed's wandering thoughts. ”You've got 15 minutes. Any more than that and I abandon you. I'd rather live for a year than die here for no reason.”
”Got it.” Ed nodded as he and the other two gathered on the platform. Bolin pulled a lever and the sound of a steam engine started up. The platform released high-pitched squeaks as it slowly lowered into the ground.
They traveled nearly 50 meters before the platform grinded to a halt. Oil lamps dimly lit the dark cavern. Several winding tunnels led downwards in different directions.
”That way.” Terra pointed towards the left-most tunnel. ”My mana is blocked the most in that direction.
”Mm.” Ed walked ahead of them. ”Let's go.”
Gunther grabbed a lamp off the wall and followed behind him. Terra hid behind his large frame as they walked, seemingly afraid of whatever was lying in wait for them. She whispered, ”Something's there.”
Suddenly, a large spike struck towards Ed. Fortunately, he had heard Terra's warning in time and was able to react. He hurriedly lifted his arms up to block as he was slammed backwards into the two behind him.
”Who are you?!” A voice yelled. Gunther lifted his lamp towards the voice, revealing a 3-meter-tall mech holding a large pickaxe. The light reflected brightly against the copper mech, lighting up the darkness around them. The voice had come from two horn-like objects situated near the top of the mech.
”It's alone.” Ed said while standing up. He wiped a small trace of blood from the minor wound on his arms. A weak attack like that could hardly break through the defense of his mutant flesh limbs.
He aimed an arm towards the mech and a spark of flame appeared in his hand, but it quickly vanished. He tried several times, but it continued to fail. It was like trying to light a wet match against a matchbox. ”What a pain.” He sighed while grabbing the steam rifle from his back. He took aim and fired.
A black projectile blasted through the air. It shattered against the mech and black smoke swirled around it. The metal sizzled as the dark energy corroded it. The mech began to back away in panic.
”Good.” Ed smiled. ”Looks like mana-ammunition still works. In fact, I'd say it's a bit more potent than usual. Looks like the presence of manullium is causing the mana-powder to react stronger.”
He and Gunther fired several more shots. Finally, a wind bullet pierced through the mech hull. They walked forward and smelt the heavy scent of blood. The wind mana-powder from the bullet had torn the man within the mech to pieces. It was a mess of bloody gore.
Terra grabbed ahold of Ed's arm while shivering in fear. He glanced back at her and sighed, 'Seems she's not much of a fighter. Maybe I shouldn't have brought her with me.'
They headed deeper into the tunnels. Two more mech miners were eliminated along the way.
”Forge.” Gunther whispered as they walked.
”Mm?” Ed replied.
”Why doesn't the fire you shoot from your arms work when our bullets do? It doesn't make sense to me.”
”Simple.” He smiled. ”Mana-ammunition uses mana-powder directly. It's a rather wasteful method, but It continues to work since the manullium triggers the powder. However, my limbs are different. I go through mana-powder very slowly because I'm not directly using it. I'm funneling out power through a type of battery. The manullium is negating the controlled flames I create, as opposed to the powder itself.”