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As he walked, the darkness around him was almost tangible.

He continued, moving far enough from the tunnel to not compromise its safety.

After several minutes of constant advance, Elio decided he had put enough distance between himself and the tunnel.

He sat down, taking out the provisions he had brought with him. While eating, his book continued to automatically absorb cores.

"Well, Gust," Elio murmured to his swift, which was fluttering near him. "Looks like it\'s just you and me for now."

The swift emitted a soft whistle, as if responding to its master\'s words. Elio smiled, grateful for the company.

"What do you think we\'ll find up there, friend?" Elio asked, more to himself than expecting an answer. Gust simply tilted its head, its bright eyes fixed on Elio.

The hours passed slowly.

Gust stayed close, its sharp senses complementing Elio\'s.

Finally, Elio noticed a change in the glow of the cores above his head. The layer of monsters was becoming thinner, the clarity indicating that he was approaching the surface.

"It\'s time, Gust," he said, standing up.

With a powerful impulse, Elio rose through the last layer of cores. For a moment, all was chaos and confusion as he made his way through. Then, suddenly, he emerged into daylight.

With a single mana point, he managed to break through the Locus, feeling the caress of air on his face for the first time in 2 months that seemed like years.

The light, after so long in darkness, was blinding. Elio instinctively closed his eyes, feeling the warmth on his face.

The air whistled around him as he gained height.

Gradually, he opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. He had to look for the white rock.

Elio didn\'t have to search for long.

At less than half the height he had planned to reach, he saw something that made his heart stop for a moment. It wasn\'t simply a rock blocking their path.

It was the mana deposit.

Huge, imposing, the deposit rose before him like a mountain of light.

At its peak, an intense beam of light shot into the sky, like a beacon of pure energy. And from that same peak, in a spectacle both beautiful and terrifying, endless swarms of Locus emerged.

"By all the walls," he murmured, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing.

It was no longer a supposition, it was a reality.

The mana deposit, their goal for so long, the city\'s hope, was also the source of its greatest threat. The Locus attacking the city were born from the same mana source they sought to save it.

How could they use the deposit? Was it even possible?

Elio knew it was time to return. He had vital information to share with his team.

"Let\'s go, Gust," Elio said, preparing to descend. "We have a lot to do."

The hole he had made in the monsters sea wouldn\'t last forever. If he waited too long, he would have to enter the book to reach the core layer again.

Now he could still return to the core layer with a few explosive combos.

With one last look at the imposing mountain and the endless flow of Locus, Elio began his descent back to the sea of monsters.

♢♢♢♢

In the tunnel, activity continued without ceasing.

Elio\'s team, temporarily led by Zara in his absence, worked tirelessly to go around the seemingly immense "rock" blocking their advance. Their elephant summons worked alongside them, trunks manipulating carbon with surprising dexterity.

Micah, always meticulous, kept a detailed record of the progress. As he reviewed his notes, a wrinkle of concern formed on his forehead. "Zara," he called, his voice laden with unease. "I think you should see this."

Zara approached, followed closely by Mei. "What\'s happening, Micah?"

"We\'ve already built more than 500 meters of tunnel around this rock with the mana of almost 50 people," Micah explained, pointing to his calculations. "And we\'ve barely managed to go around it a bit based on the tunnel\'s curve."

Mei frowned. "That\'s... problematic. Did Elio see any huge rock next to the light beams?"

"It was too far to distinguish details apart from the direction of the light. It could be that there was one or it might..." Zara began, her mind working quickly.

"It might not be a rock at all," Micah completed.

The three exchanged glances.

"Do you think it could be...?" Mei left the question hanging in the air, almost afraid to say it out loud.

"The mana deposit," Zara confirmed, her voice barely a whisper.

The silence that followed was heavy, laden with implications. If this "rock" was really the deposit they were looking for, how could they access it?

Kriz added the obvious with amusement. His elephant seemed to snort, mirroring its master\'s humor.

"Without an entrance or something, this wall is useless to us. Do you think if we knock politely, they\'ll let us in?"

Brok, who had been listening to the conversation, approached. "What if it\'s like the city?" he asked, his deep voice resonating in the tunnel. "You know, like the wall. Maybe we have to go up to be able to enter."

Brok\'s suggestion, though simple, seemed to illuminate something in everyone\'s mind. The others nodded, considering the possibility.

"It could be," Zara said, thoughtfully.

"We should divide the team," Micah suggested. "One group can continue going around the... the deposit, while another builds upwards."

♢♢♢♢

While the main group discussed these new theories and strategies, Milo and his team, along with Arnaud and Taron, continued working at the front of the tunnel.

Unaware of the conversation developing behind them, they concentrated on their task of expansion stuck to the rock. Their elephant summons worked tirelessly, shaping the carbon with practiced ease.

Milo, with his brow furrowed in concentration, skillfully manipulated the carbon. Beside him, Arnaud built the adjacent part.

Suddenly, Milo noticed something more where there should have been only more rock.

"Wait," he said, his voice laden with surprise. "There\'s something here."

Arnaud approached, his curiosity palpable. "What have you found?"

Milo worked carefully, expanding the covered area around the different part. Gradually, a smooth and shiny surface began to reveal itself.

"It\'s not rock," Arnaud murmured, his voice mixed with awe and caution.

As they cleared more area, the nature of their discovery became evident. Before them, embedded in the rock they had been going around, was part of a huge crystal of a deep, bright blue.