Infinite Mana - Chapter 165: The Sand Below (Thank you for your support, Thupten Wangpo!) (Patreon)

The stone beneath Sieghart’s boots gradually disappeared beneath loose sand as he approached the final chamber. What began as a thin layer soon became deep enough that each step sank noticeably before his weight settled.

The tunnel opened into an enormous circular cavern covered almost completely in pale sand. Small dunes surrounded scattered stone pillars, exposed mineral deposits, and smooth sections of rock worn down by something moving repeatedly through the chamber.

Sieghart stopped near the entrance and activated Magic Vision, searching beneath the dunes for the concentrated mana he had sensed earlier. Unfortunately, the entire chamber was saturated enough that the currents overlapped into an almost useless blur.

He crouched and picked up a handful of sand, allowing the grains to slide between his fingers. Ordinary erosion could have created some of it, but the amount covering the chamber seemed excessive.

“Did you make all this?”

The giant worm obviously did not answer, though Sieghart suspected its constant burrowing had gradually ground the surrounding stone into smaller fragments. Whether that happened naturally or through dungeon mana remained another question for later.

He moved deeper into the chamber with Protection active while sending a faint Breeze across the surface. The spell disturbed loose sand without producing enough force to reveal his location more than his footsteps already did. Nothing happened.

The chamber remained unnaturally quiet as Sieghart crossed one dune after another. No smaller worms emerged, no movement disturbed the ground, and nothing resembling the enormous mana presence appeared within sight.

That worried him more than an immediate attack would have. Something that large should have been difficult to hide, yet the dense dungeon mana and constantly shifting sand concealed almost everything beneath the surface. Sieghart reached roughly the middle of the chamber before the sand beneath his feet suddenly collapsed. The ground opened downward so quickly that his body dropped several centimeters before instinct finally reacted.

An enormous circular mouth erupted directly beneath him. It was wide enough to swallow him whole without even touching the sides. Sieghart threw both hands downward and released a violent blast of Wind Magic, launching himself forward moments before the creature’s jaws slammed together where his legs had been.

Unfortunately, his escape angle gave him a perfect view straight into the monster’s mouth. Several concentric rings of hooked teeth surrounded the opening, every one curved backward to prevent anything swallowed from escaping again.

Farther inside, thick fleshy ridges contracted independently along the throat, coated in translucent mucus that stretched between them whenever the muscles moved. The entire thing looked disturbingly efficient at dragging prey deeper. Sieghart’s expression twisted immediately.

“Disgusting...”

He landed badly on one foot and slid down the side of a dune before stabilizing himself with another burst of wind. Behind him, the creature continued rising from beneath the sand.

More than twenty meters of segmented flesh emerged before the worm finally stopped climbing, and Sieghart could tell that a considerable portion of its body still remained underground. Its pale hide was thick and leathery, covered with scars, hardened ridges, and pieces of stone embedded between muscular segments. Short sensory tendrils constantly twitched around its mouth while searching for vibration.

The monster possessed no visible eyes. Sieghart considered that a small improvement. Then the worm twisted and dropped sideways. Its enormous body slammed into the sand with enough force to throw a wave across the chamber, yet instead of remaining exposed, it sank beneath the surface almost instantly.

Within seconds, even the broad trail left by its movement disappeared as loose sand collapsed behind it. Sieghart turned slowly, trying to follow the disturbance before Magic Vision lost it.

“Great.”

The ground trembled under his feet again. Sieghart jumped before the monster surfaced. The worm exploded upward exactly where he had been standing, scattering sand in every direction as its circular jaws opened and snapped shut beneath him.

Sieghart pushed himself sideways with Wind Magic while the creature continued rising. Its body twisted unexpectedly in midair, using the momentum of its eruption to redirect its mouth toward him.

He fired another blast from both palms and accelerated backward. The enormous teeth closed close enough beneath his boots that the displaced air struck his legs through Protection. Three Wind Blades formed around Sieghart before the worm could fall. He launched all three toward its exposed side.

The attacks struck cleanly across separate segments, but instead of slicing deeply through the monster like they had against smaller worms, they left only thin scratches across its hide. Sieghart stared at the marks until the creature crashed into the sand and disappeared again.

“You’re kidding…”

The next attack came from his left, but Sieghart caught the mana disturbance early enough to turn before the mouth fully emerged. He fired another Wind Blade directly into the opening instead.

That worked noticeably better. The spell sliced through softer tissue between the teeth, spraying dark fluid across the surrounding sand and forcing the monster to recoil before burying itself again.

“At least something works.”

Apparently the exterior was simply resistant enough that ordinary cutting spells lost most of their effectiveness. Sieghart had encountered that problem enough times to recognize how irritating the rest of the fight might become.

The sand beneath him collapsed again. Sieghart activated Impulse immediately. He shot upward as the worm erupted beneath him, but this time the creature followed his escape instead of dropping back toward the ground.

Its enormous body continued climbing through the air, twisting around itself as the mouth opened wider beneath Sieghart. For something shaped like an oversized earthworm, it moved disturbingly well.

Sieghart summoned two Glacial Fists overhead. Both struck simultaneously. One smashed into the upper edge of the mouth while the second hit the side of the creature’s head, spreading frost across several massive segments.

The upward charge weakened immediately. Sieghart created another fist and drove it downward into the frozen section. Ice shattered together with several pieces of hardened flesh. The worm released a deep vibrating shriek before crashing back into the sand. The impact shook the chamber and threw another broad wave of loose grains across the surrounding dunes. Sieghart landed carefully and watched the disturbance disappear beneath the surface.

“That hurt.”

It meant the monster was durable rather than invulnerable.

The ground shifted farther away this time, forming a long ridge that crossed the chamber before vanishing behind several dunes. Sieghart followed it with Magic Vision until the signature blended into the saturated environment.

A massive eruption came from his right. Sieghart jumped away immediately. The creature had not aimed directly for him. Its body crashed deliberately into the sand nearby, throwing an enormous cloud of dust and loose grains through the chamber and reducing visibility to almost nothing.

Sieghart released a broad pulse of Wind Magic and pushed the cloud outward. By the time he could see again, the worm had already disappeared beneath the floor.

That bothered him more than its resistance. The monster was adjusting. A vibration reached him from behind. Sieghart jumped forward and twisted in the air while the worm burst from the sand where he had been standing. This time he answered with Water Jet.

The concentrated stream struck the creature’s side and carved a visible groove through its hide. The damage remained shallow, but it was already considerably better than what Wind Blade had produced.

Sieghart increased the pressure. The cut deepened. The worm thrashed violently. Another section of its body suddenly erupted from the sand behind him, revealing a massive tail that swept horizontally across the chamber before Sieghart could reposition.

He raised a Mana Shield just in time. The construct shattered instantly. Protection absorbed the remaining force, but the impact still launched Sieghart across the chamber and sent him rolling through the sand until one dune finally slowed him.

Pain spread through his shoulder and ribs when he stopped. Sieghart pushed himself upright and moved the injured arm carefully. Nothing seemed broken. That was enough. The worm disappeared again while he recovered, denying him an easy counterattack. Sieghart wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and reconsidered everything he had learned.

Wind Blade barely scratched the outer hide. Water Jet penetrated farther. Glacial Fist could interrupt movement and damage frozen sections, while the interior of the mouth remained much softer.

That was enough information to stop reacting blindly. The sand directly ahead began sinking. Sieghart stayed where he was. The depression widened slowly until the worm finally erupted upward with its mouth open, expecting him to flee immediately like before.

“Come on.”

Sieghart waited until the last moment and used Impulse backward rather than sideways. Instead of escaping completely, he remained directly in front of the monster while matching part of its forward movement.

Water gathered between both hands. He compressed it until the stream became almost needle-thin. Then he fired straight into the worm’s mouth. Several teeth shattered instantly. The Water Jet drove farther inside and tore through the softer tissue beyond them while dark blood sprayed outward across the surrounding sand.

The monster convulsed violently but continued moving forward.

Sieghart increased the output. The stream penetrated deeper. Then the jaws began closing. Sieghart stopped firing and dropped beneath the monster with another blast of wind just before the mouth slammed shut above his head.

The creature’s underside passed directly over him.

It looked considerably softer than the outer segments. Sieghart immediately launched several Wind Blades upward. This time, they sank deeply. Long wounds opened across the exposed underside while dark blood rained onto the dunes below. The worm released another violent shriek and twisted desperately to escape.

Sieghart landed and summoned Glacial Fist. One struck directly into an open wound. Then another. Then a third. Ice spread through damaged flesh while the creature thrashed across the chamber, throwing sand high enough to obscure parts of its body.

Sieghart followed with Water Jet and carved along the same injury, but the worm slammed itself downward and disappeared beneath the sand before he could continue.

The chamber became silent again.

Blood stained several dunes where the creature had vanished. Sieghart slowly lowered his hands and watched the surrounding ground. Now they were actually hurting each other. The worm did not immediately return. That alone told Sieghart enough.

Several long ridges suddenly appeared across different parts of the chamber. One moved behind him, another crossed the left side, while a third vanished beneath a distant dune.

Sieghart narrowed his eyes. The monster was circling. Then everything erupted at once. The worm launched from behind. Sieghart moved sideways. Another section burst from the sand directly ahead before his feet touched the ground, forcing him to redirect with another burst of Wind Magic.

The mouth missed him. The tail appeared next. Sieghart used Impulse vertically and cleared the sweep by barely a meter while Telekinesis corrected his balance before another attack could exploit the rotation. The chamber became a storm of sand and pale flesh.

The worm repeatedly surfaced from different directions, attacking just long enough to force Sieghart somewhere else before disappearing again beneath the dunes.

Sieghart stopped trying to predict every attack individually and focused on maintaining movement. Wind redirected him, Impulse provided sudden acceleration, and Telekinesis corrected mistakes whenever momentum carried him too far.

It was exhausting in a way ordinary spellcasting rarely became for him. Not because of mana. Because everything demanded attention at once. Sieghart grinned despite himself. This was useful. The worm erupted beneath him again.

Sieghart summoned Glacial Fist. The creature twisted aside before the attack landed, but that movement exposed the same wounded flank it had been protecting earlier.

Water Jet struck immediately.

The stream carved another line across damaged flesh. The worm disappeared beneath the sand. Sieghart landed near one dune and turned before the next attack arrived. A mouth burst upward several meters away.

He dodged and fired two Wind Blades toward the softer underside as the monster passed overhead.

Both spells landed. The worm screamed again. Sieghart could feel warm blood running beneath his coat from the earlier impact, but his movements remained steady and Protection still covered his body without instability. The monster was bleeding considerably more.

Then the sand stopped moving. Sieghart immediately became suspicious. Several seconds passed without another attack. The entire chamber suddenly trembled.

Not one section. Everything. Sieghart looked toward the center as several dunes began collapsing inward. Sand flowed toward a growing depression while chunks of exposed stone rolled down the newly forming slope.

The pit widened rapidly.

Entire sections of the chamber floor began sliding toward it as though whatever existed beneath the sand had removed the support holding everything above. Sieghart stepped backward and activated Wind Magic. The sand beneath his boots shifted anyway.

“So that’s your next idea.”

The depression became a massive funnel. More dunes collapsed. The current beneath Sieghart strengthened until his boots could no longer maintain traction against the shifting surface.

Then the ground underneath him gave way completely.