Ragh'Ash's mind delved inside the crystal, only to find her own dreams and ambitions. Then, she went deeper, finding more and more shards of light representing the memories of others. She ignored those which belonged to her mentor.
Ragh'Ash's teacher wasn't even a real shaman, she had been so weak that Ragh'Ashkilled her as soon as she came of age. Most of the lives she explored were equally insignificant.
'May the gods below eat their useless souls! How long has it been since there was a shaman rather than a crystal bearer?' Ragh'Ash thought. In her desperation, she had forgotten that shamans were rare.
What she was attempting required time, but that was something she didn't have.
Lith was sick and tired of this fight. The moment Ragh'Ash stopped her movements, he cast one of the tier five Battle Mage spells he had mastered with true magic.
'As long as she has that damned crystal, she has the mana core advantage. Yet despite her use of very powerful incantations, they were all low tier ones. If I can't beat her with quantity, I'll go with quality.'
Lith had prepared Burial Ground from the moment he noticed the thundercloud. Burial Ground was a versatile spell that could be used for both offense and defense. The reason he had yet to employ it was Ragh'Ash's ability to neutralize the elements.
Powerful spells were very delicate, the slightest imbalance in the world energy would render them little more than a waste of mana. Luckily, the shaman spaced out long enough for the spell to take form and make the crystal's siphoning ability useless.
Several pillars erupted from the ground at once, surrounding the orc. Each one of them kept growing in height, while countless stone spikes emerged from the pillars and extended in every direction. Some attempted to stab the shaman, while others connected with other spikes, forming new pillars that generated even more spikes.
Thanks to Life Vision, Ragh'Ash could see that the spell was a hybrid of earth and darkness magic. The stone pillars were a conduit for the dark energies, so even standing close to them was enough to sap her life force.
'Damn demon! I found the spell I needed only to not have the opportunity to use it.' Ragh'Ash thought. She had no time to focus on elaborate spells, the cage was getting smaller by second. Dodging the ever increasing number of spikes required her full focus.
She released a barrage of low level spells to make Burial Grounds crumble, but the darkness magic also acted as a shield, weakening her spells before they even hit. The cage repaired itself almost as soon as it was damaged.
The only thing that could counter a high tier spell was another high tier spell. Ragh'Ash's body was soon pierced by the spikes, that kept growing and ravaging her internal organs.
In a last ditch effort, she tried to make the crystal detonate, but it was too late. The exertion from using spells non stop had taken its toll. Even though her mind was still alive her body refused to obey. Her mana stopped flowing, her mana core had already started turning grey.
Her will extended no further than her thoughts while the cage shrank until all that remained of the orc shaman was mincemeat. As soon as Ragh'Ash died, Lith changed into his army uniform and stored the crystal inside Solus's pocket dimension along with the pieces of the Rock Worm's black armor.
Lith knew it was just a matter of time before someone arrived, he was preparing for the final act of his masquerade. He only kept the Gatekeeper outside, since unlike the clothes, he could make it disappear without anyone noticing.
"Don't play dumb with me." Lith said waking up the Rock Worm that was still unconscious after being hit by the lightning.
"If you were a human, I would have already killed you, but since you are a magical beast, I'll give you a chance. I know you can speak. Tell me what you're doing here and why you tried to kill me."
"If I do as you say, will you let me go?" The Worm asked.
"If you don't, I'll kill you right now." Lith replied.
'Solus, how strong is this thing?'
'Pretty strong for a magical beast. Its core is cyan, but what's more interesting is that it also has a dormant black core.' Solus warned Lith.
'Just like the Wyvern we faced at Xenatos.' Without the black armor, she was able to use her mana sense again. Her findings shocked her and sent a shiver down Lith's spine.
He immediately used air magic to make the beast float, afraid it could suck the life force of the plants to heal itself with its black core.
"I'm here for the crystal. My Master sent me to retrieve it." The Worm replied hoping to buy enough time to find a chance to escape.
"Otherwise I wouldn't have wasted my time with filthy orcs nor would I have saved that incompetent shaman time and time again."
"Your words make no sense". Lith replied. "Why didn't you just steal the crystal from the beginning if your aim was just to take possession of it?"
"Each of the Fallen races has a unique trait. The orcs have the ability to manipulate mana crystals as no one else can."
"Fallen races?" Lith asked. It was the first time he had heard such a term.
"Fallen races, monsters, lost children of Mogar. Different names for the same thing. Failures." The beast explained with a hint of rage in its voice.
"My Master has long researched for a way to imitate their talent to no avail. Even interrogating shamans proved to be useless. Their superstitions are so strong that it makes them immune to any kind of torture.
"So, after several failures, the Master decided to change his approach. First, I found a tribe with a shaman and a powerful crystal. Then, I followed the crystal and applied a marking spell to it.
"Every time the shaman used its power, the marking spell would leave behind a trace for the Master to follow. At that point, all that was left to do was to force the shaman to use all of her abilities before retrieving the crystal.
"It took me several years to trigger enough tribal wars to collect the data I needed, yet I never managed to force the shaman to use her most powerful abilities. At least until now."
"The Soul Exchange that Ragh'Ash used was the last piece of the puzzle, something only a skilled Awakened orc can use. I can't believe that after all my efforts to groom her and assure her survival, it was her idiocy that doomed us both."
The Master had given the Worm the black armor to make it impervious to magic and almost untraceable.
Almost.
The Master had no idea something like mana sense existed, nor that his minion would suffer so much damage that not even its black core could heal it quickly enough for it to matter.
"Who is this master?" Lith asked.
The Rock Worm wasn't a zealot. The Master had proved incapable of making it evolve and refused to turn it into an Abomination because it was still too weak. The creature owed nothing to their cause.
