Infinite Mana - Chapter 200: The Power of Wasteful Mana (Patreon)

The next floor immediately confirmed that the first Guardian had not represented some isolated jump in difficulty. The golems wandering through these deeper passages looked disturbingly similar to that reconstructed Guardian, only smaller, more numerous, and apparently produced without much concern for overcrowding.

Most of the constructs stood between three and four meters tall, with dense metallic-gray bodies, reinforced joints, and amber cores hidden beneath thick overlapping plates. They were slower than the Guardian, but considerably tougher than the mineral golems Sieghart had encountered on the previous floors.

Sieghart encountered the first group less than five minutes after descending. Three constructs blocked the passage ahead, their heavy steps echoing through the tunnel as they turned toward him almost simultaneously and began advancing without hesitation.

Rather than immediately preparing Water Jet, Sieghart raised both hands and summoned Mana Swords. One translucent blade appeared beside him, then another, followed by several more until a loose formation of magical weapons hovered around his body.

He sent the entire formation forward at once. The first Mana Sword struck the nearest golem’s shoulder and shattered part of the outer plating, while a second hit the opposite side and another drove directly into the construct’s chest.

The barrage lacked the surgical precision of Water Jet, but quantity compensated nicely. Every Mana Sword struck from a different angle, forcing cracks through separate plates until the overlapping mineral armor began losing the structural integrity that made the creature so troublesome.

The golem continued advancing despite the damage, so Sieghart simply summoned more weapons. Three additional Mana Swords slammed into its knee, ribs, and shoulder, while several others curved through the air toward the second and third constructs.

One sword shattered completely against reinforced metal, but Sieghart replaced it immediately. Another widened a crack across the chest until the first golem finally dropped onto one leg and tried dragging itself forward using both arms. The remaining constructs approached from either side. Sieghart divided the barrage between them, sending Mana Swords toward knees, elbows, shoulders, and neck joints while remaining safely outside the reach of their oversized fists.

Eventually, one golem’s chest opened enough for a Mana Sword to penetrate the exposed core. Amber light vanished instantly, and the massive construct collapsed before beginning the familiar process of shrinking toward its natural mineral volume.

Sieghart watched the remains contract across the dungeon floor while several summoned swords disappeared around him. The method worked, but watching expensive-looking material crack apart beneath disposable magical blades still bothered the merchant part of his brain.

“Still feels wasteful.”

The second construct required even more swords because its chest plates overlapped at awkward angles. By the time its core finally shattered, the passage looked as though somebody had dumped the remains of an entire armory across the floor.

Sieghart briefly considered developing a Mana Hammer instead. Blunt force suited reinforced golems much better than thin blades, and the soldiers outside had already demonstrated how efficiently repeated hammer strikes spread fractures across thick mineral bodies. The idea seemed simple enough. Summoning Magic already allowed him to create stable weapons, and changing the basic form from sword to hammer should eventually be possible without learning an entirely new discipline.

Then Sieghart looked toward the mineral remains scattered around the passage and realized he already had access to something far heavier than any summoned hammer he could currently create.

That idea was probably worse. Which meant it was worth testing.

Sieghart finished the last golem using Water Jet, cutting through the damaged chest until the core became exposed before destroying it with one concentrated burst that ended the construct’s movement immediately.

Once everything stopped moving, he approached the shrinking remains and began collecting the densest pieces. Even after losing most of their magically expanded volume, several fragments remained heavy enough that carrying many of them normally would become inconvenient.

He cleaned the first pieces before doing anything else. Water Creation washed away loose dust and residue while Wind Magic dried the surfaces, leaving the mineral chunks rough but free from enough debris that shaping them afterward became considerably easier. Sieghart placed two large fragments several meters apart and gripped both with Telekinesis. He pulled them toward each other until they accelerated through the passage and collided with a sharp metallic crack that echoed through the surrounding tunnels.

Both pieces deformed slightly around the points of contact. Sieghart separated them, increased the force, and repeated the collision until irregular edges started folding inward and the shapes became denser and easier to control.

He added a third fragment, then a fourth, repeatedly slamming them together until each piece resembled a flattened mineral boulder rather than recognizable remains from a dismantled golem.

Telekinesis became noticeably harder as the total weight increased, but Infinite Mana allowed Sieghart to keep applying force without worrying about energy consumption. The true limitation became maintaining precise control over several heavy objects simultaneously.

Eventually, he had several compressed mineral masses floating around him. None looked elegant, but elegance was unnecessary when the intended purpose involved striking another golem with enough force to crack its body open. Another construct emerged around the next bend almost as if the dungeon had volunteered a test subject. Sieghart smiled faintly and sent one compressed mineral block forward with Telekinesis.

The improvised projectile accelerated through the tunnel like an ugly cannonball and struck the approaching golem directly in the chest, stopping its advance so abruptly that its entire body rocked backward. A broad fracture appeared across the outer armor. Sieghart stared at the damage for half a second before sending the second compressed mass into the same area.

“That worked.”

The golem attempted advancing again, so Sieghart struck it with another mineral block. The impact widened the chest crack before a third projectile hammered into the same weakened region.

The construct raised both arms defensively, forcing Sieghart to change his angle. One compressed block slammed into the side of its knee, staggering the golem before another struck its shoulder and drove the entire body against the tunnel wall. The wall cracked beneath the impact. The golem’s body cracked too, and Sieghart immediately pulled one projectile backward before accelerating it again toward the exposed chest.

The improvised weapon smashed through the weakened plating and destroyed the core. The golem collapsed, and Sieghart immediately moved toward the shrinking remains with another increasingly ridiculous idea already forming.

More defeated golems meant more ammunition. Every construct he destroyed could contribute additional compressed mineral material, which could then help him destroy whatever waited farther down the floor. Sieghart quickly established a routine. Disable the golem, recover anything obviously valuable, compress the remaining material into manageable shapes, and reuse the dungeon’s own creations against whatever appeared next.

The method proved efficient enough that Sieghart stopped caring about destroying every core cleanly. Preserving profit remained useful, but clearing the increasingly crowded floor without exhausting his knees through constant Impulse use mattered more.

The number of enemies also became difficult to ignore. One group appeared before he finished processing the previous one, followed by another set of heavy footsteps somewhere behind him almost immediately afterward. Sieghart stood inside a damaged passage surrounded by shrinking mineral remains and watched several mana signatures approach through Magic Vision. Another pair appeared from the opposite direction before he finished counting.

“This feels familiar.”

A tremor traveled through the floor behind him. Sieghart checked Magic Vision again and confirmed two additional golems approaching from another side passage.

“Very familiar.”

The first Guardian had been clean when reconstructed, yet this floor still contained far more enemies than Sieghart expected after people outside reported that golem numbers were declining. Perhaps the deeper sections naturally contained greater populations. Another Guardian might be influencing reconstruction, or the dungeon itself could simply consider several metallic golems appropriate opposition for one persistent intruder.

Sieghart sent his improvised weapons forward before deciding which theory sounded most likely. One compressed mineral block smashed into a golem’s chest while another struck its leg and a third curved around from behind.

The first construct stumbled directly into another projectile. Cracks spread across its torso as the second golem tried charging through the narrow opening beside it. Sieghart redirected everything immediately. One block hit the shoulder, another struck the opposite knee, and the third slammed into the chest before the creature could properly recover.

Sieghart barely needed to move. That was the most appealing part of the method because his knees were still irritated from pushing Impulse to Level Four during the previous descent. The golems eventually collapsed beneath repeated impacts, leaving more material scattered across the passage. Unfortunately, collecting everything afterward became increasingly difficult because even reduced remains accumulated faster than Sieghart could reasonably carry them.

Leaving useful mineral fragments behind felt wasteful. He had spent enough time thinking like a merchant that abandoned dungeon material no longer looked like rubble; it looked like silver scattered across the floor. Sieghart stared at several piles of shrinking remains, then looked toward the compressed projectiles floating around him. A much more ridiculous solution gradually became impossible to ignore.

“If smaller pieces are the problem…”

He raised both hands and expanded Telekinesis across several piles simultaneously. The strain became noticeable immediately because controlling dozens of separate fragments remained far harder than manipulating a single heavy object.

So Sieghart stopped treating them as separate objects. He dragged everything toward one central point. Chunks scraped across the dungeon floor, colliding together while smaller fragments filled gaps between larger sections and jagged pieces became trapped inside the growing pile.

Then Sieghart compressed the entire mass.

He was not magically reducing the material’s actual volume. Instead, Telekinesis forced fragments together from multiple directions until they bent, twisted, fractured, and locked into one dense irregular shape.

The process demanded much more concentration than expected. Every piece responded differently under pressure, and Sieghart constantly adjusted the applied force to prevent the entire structure from bursting apart before it became stable enough to move. His forehead tightened while the mass deformed. Mineral edges folded inward, fractured sections wedged together, and metallic plates bent across one another until the pile finally stopped looking like separate golem remains.

Sieghart slowly lifted the resulting object. The entire compacted mass rose from the floor, followed immediately by a dull throbbing pain forming behind his eyes.

“Oh, that’s heavy.”

Telekinesis did not care only about total weight. Keeping something this large together while preserving control over its movement required Sieghart to track numerous shifting stress points throughout the structure.

Still, it moved. That was enough. Another group of golems appeared ahead, their metallic bodies filling most of the passage as they advanced toward him in a loose formation. Sieghart looked at them, then at the enormous floating block made from the compressed remains of their predecessors.

His smile returned.

He pushed.

The mass accelerated forward and struck the first golem like a runaway building. The construct disappeared beneath the impact while the block continued moving and slammed into a second enemy standing behind it.

The second golem attempted bracing with both arms. Bad decision. The compacted mineral mass carried it backward several meters before both crashed into the wall. Sieghart immediately pulled the weapon away, raised it higher, and dropped it. The block crashed downward onto another construct from above. Its shoulders collapsed, knees buckled, and the chest cracked under the immense weight before Sieghart lifted everything again.

The golem attempted recovering, so Sieghart dropped the mass a second time. Amber light disappeared beneath the impact, ending the creature before it could fully stand.

He rotated toward the remaining enemies and accelerated the improvised weapon sideways. The huge block swept through two golems at once and threw both bodies into the opposite wall.

Sieghart corrected direction, lifted the block, and slammed it downward before either construct recovered. The impact sent cracks racing through the dungeon floor and shattered one of the exposed cores.

The remaining golem attempted approaching from behind. Magic Vision revealed the movement before Sieghart needed to turn, allowing him to rotate the giant mass through the passage and strike the creature without even looking directly at it. The block smashed into the golem and launched it backward. Sieghart dragged the mass across the floor afterward, effectively running the creature over beneath the compressed bodies of several dead relatives.

Sieghart paused when that comparison crossed his mind.

“That’s dark.”

The damaged golem tried standing again, so Sieghart lifted the block and dropped it directly on top of the construct. The attempt ended immediately beneath several tons of compacted dungeon material.

He stood inside the damaged passage while dust drifted from the ceiling and his improvised weapon floated above the floor. Pieces from numerous defeated golems had become one oversized blunt instrument controlled entirely through Telekinesis.

The method should not have worked nearly this well. It only remained practical because Sieghart could spend absurd amounts of mana maintaining Telekinesis while Magic Vision continuously tracked enemies and obstacles around him. Another mage would probably abandon the idea once controlling so much mass threatened their mana reserves. Sieghart possessed no finite reserve worth worrying about.

His Mentality was another matter entirely.

Pain began spreading behind his eyes, first as pressure around his temples and then as a deeper ache whenever Sieghart forced the enormous floating mass to change direction abruptly. He lowered the block slightly and immediately felt the headache weaken, confirming that magical energy itself was not the limiting factor this time.

“A little much.”

Sieghart had learned Telekinesis by struggling to move objects lighter than a cup. Now he was using the same spell to swing compressed dungeon monsters around like a floating siege weapon.

Progress was strange.

Another tremor traveled through the floor. Sieghart checked Magic Vision and found more golems approaching through the next passage.

Naturally. He considered dismantling the giant mass and carrying only the most valuable fragments. That would have been sensible and considerably easier on his concentration.

Instead, Sieghart reinforced his focus and lifted the block again. He could always stop before the headache became dangerous. The next group entered the passage. Sieghart sent the compacted mass forward before any of them could properly spread out.

The first construct raised both arms defensively, only for the improvised weapon to smash straight through the guard and drive the golem backward into another one.

Sieghart rotated the block vertically, lifted it, and dropped it across both constructs. Their bodies cracked beneath the impact while another golem rushed from the side. A smaller compressed fragment struck the incoming creature’s knee first. Once its balance failed, Sieghart swung the main mass around and hammered the torso hard enough to fold the upper body sideways.

The core became exposed, and Water Jet finished the damaged construct before the larger weapon needed to strike again. Sieghart immediately continued deeper instead of stopping to process every remaining fragment.

Each battle added more potential material, but the main block had already reached the point where integrating additional weight would make controlling it increasingly painful. Anything extra remained behind.

That still felt wasteful. Sieghart disliked it enough to start thinking again about Aldren’s strange storage equipment. A carriage fitted with spatially expanded storage would solve far more problems than merely carrying dungeon ore.

That project immediately moved higher on his growing list. Flying carriage, expanded storage, automatic defenses, proper sleeping space, and better environmental controls were gradually transforming ordinary transportation into something closer to a mobile magical fortress. Another pulse of pain behind Sieghart’s eyes interrupted the thought. He rubbed one temple while keeping the giant block floating several meters ahead of him.

“This is one weird way to clean a dungeon.”

He looked toward the next dark passage and found several new mana signatures moving through the stone ahead. There were too many again, naturally, but at least his current method had already proven capable of handling numbers.

Sieghart raised the compressed mass higher while unlimited mana continued feeding Telekinesis. His overworked concentration protested, but the giant block remained steady enough to use.

“But I guess this is the power of someone who can afford to waste mana.”

The floating block shot forward into the darkness. Another fight began.