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"But I\'m already here, so I might as well make use of the time... For the next immersion, I\'ll have to enter the book again and overcome level 7," he murmured.

Using every available hour and mana point could make the difference between expanding the city in time or having to agree with Fathoran and Cassandra.

His attention turned to the most immediate problem: keeping the tunnel free of cores.

Every time he opened a space, the cores rushed in, threatening to bury him. Being surrounded by cores was a natural barrier against the Locus, yes, but also a formidable obstacle to his progress.

A question began to form in his mind: What would a monster do if it found itself next to the tunnel without the separation of the cores?

The answer could change everything.

Would it leave it be or try to destroy it? The uncertainty gnawed at him.

"If they tried to destroy it," Elio reflected, "I\'d be back to square one. I can\'t absorb all the cores yet, they\'re a natural barrier and I don\'t have 100 years so they\'re not inexhaustible."

First, I must prevent the cores from entering everywhere. I must be able to work without having to absorb them all the time or they\'ll run out either way...

♢♢♢♢

Elio began to experiment with different configurations.

He opened a hole in one side of the tunnel… his chamber filled with cores again.

Then at the bottom…

It filled up again.

He tried sealing everything and creating small openings, smaller than the cores, to allow airflow.

The cores found a way to plug almost all the openings, also sealing the tunnel every time he advanced was a big expense.

But at least it worked halfway...

However, he was still worried about his progress. He needed help.

Frustrated, Elio sat on the weirdly irregular outside gray stone floor, his mind spinning in search of a solution. Wide Guard nudged him gently, as if trying to offer comfort. It was then that another flash of inspiration hit him.

"What if I build upwards first?" he wondered aloud, his eyes shining with new interest.

The idea began to take shape in his mind. If he stuck to the city wall, he could use the tunnel not only as a path to the deposit but also as a way to climb without being propelled by the swift each time. And if at some point he reached the monsters, he could directly observe their reaction to his generated carbon.

"If I need help, this could be the way to bring people easily too," Elio murmured, a smile forming on his lips.

Without wasting time, Elio began to work on his new plan. Using his control over carbon, he started to form a vertical structure, attached to the wall of the city.

Although creating the tunnel didn\'t physically tire him, as it only involved the use of mana, the process was slow and meticulous, each section requiring intense concentration and considerable mana expenditure. Wide Guard watched attentively, occasionally offering encouraging trumpets.

The magnitude of the project began to reveal itself in all its complexity.

"Eight mana points every two meters," he murmured to himself, reconsidering the amount. "With only 60 points a day, this is going to take much longer than I thought I\'d be here."

He quickly performed the mental calculations. To reach the top of the wall, he would need approximately 2000 mana points. Even if only half the height of the sea of monsters was composed of cores, which he couldn\'t be sure of, it would take him about 15 days to reach the monsters.

"Fifteen days," Elio sighed, the realization hitting him hard. "That\'s much more than the 200 hours I had initially planned, let alone the 100 I wanted to do."

He realized that in 100 hours, approximately 4 days, he would only manage to build just under 60 meters of tunnel. The magnitude of the task threatened to overwhelm him, but Elio was no longer someone who gave up easily... Perhaps he never was. Wide Guard seemed to sense his determination, standing a little taller beside him.

After carefully considering his options, Elio made a decision. "I can extend it to 150 hours," he reasoned. "That would leave me at about 100 meters of tunnel. It\'s not what I\'d like, but it\'s a start."

♢♢♢♢

The process of building the tunnel turned out to be more complex and challenging than Elio had initially anticipated. Each day became a test of ingenuity and endurance, forcing him to constantly adapt his strategy.

Elio began each day by opening the top of the tunnel, a task that required precision and speed.

The cores immediately rushed in, threatening to flood the space faster than he could position his book.

With agile and calculated movements, Elio manipulated the carbon to extend the tunnel upwards, while simultaneously absorbing with his book the falling cores.

"Damn it," he growled on more than one occasion, when doing 2 things at once caused him to make mistakes...

But Elio was nothing if not persistent.

A stubborn guy.

The need to make the wall climbable presented another challenge.

Conventional stairs, like those on the inner part of the city wall, would consume too much mana. After several frustrated attempts, Elio came up with an elegant solution: small hollows in the tunnel walls, large enough for his hands and feet.

Even saved him some small mana.

"This should work," he muttered, testing his creation. His system-strengthened body made holding on a relatively easy task, although the constant need to open and close the roof remained a problem.

Elio established a routine. Each day, he strived to build 13 meters of tunnel as quickly as possible. Once this goal was reached, he closed the top, sealing the tunnel and protecting himself from the constant avalanche of cores.

This also saved cores, which could end up being the only way to advance hidden from the Locus if the tunnel became the target of their attacks.

If the Locus destroyed his tunnel, all his effort would go down the drain...

He could cry.