"By the way, how did you find the container and how did you discover the cable?" Gaakhu asked.
Lith had already prepared an explanation and after speaking with Phloria, he had made it even simpler to justify his measly expenditure of mana.
"Thanks to Captain Ernas I had the time to prepare a Life Sensing array. Once I spotted the container, I got there too fast for the creature to follow me. I had enough time to notice that the arrays needed a power source and I did what anyone in my situation would have done.
"I struck at everything that stuck out."
"Well done. A good mix of wisdom and luck is exactly what we need to survive." Gaakhu said.
"Survive? Do you think the army will not allow us to leave?" Rainer asked, causing most of those present to sigh at his naivety.
"Of course not. We opened a can of worms and we are the only ones that can take care of it before the worst happens." Yondra said while patting his shoulder to reassure him.
"Now, since it's only a matter of time before going back inside Kulah, I'll tell you all I know about the Odi's technology and my colleagues will do the same."
Yondra explained to them the kinds of golems previous expeditions had faced and how to defeat them, going into details to the point of sharing even what Forgemasters considered secrets of their trade.
No one missed it wasn't an act of generosity so much as of desperation. Gaakhu and Ellkas prepared for everyone a list of common Odi words they had to watch out for and the secret signs used to mark dangerous zones.
By the time the seminar was over, it was already evening and everyone had quite a headache from the cramming.
"Oh gods, we're idiots." Phloria said. "Berion can't contact us if we don't boost the signal on our end." As predicted, the Commander had been waiting for them for hours, even starting to fear that the expedition had been wiped out.
His orders were predictable as well. Their mission was now to search Kulah with the utmost caution and leave only after making sure to not leave behind anything that could endanger the Kingdom.
"Sadly, sending reinforcements is nigh impossible. Because of the interference, we can't pinpoint your coordinates, and even if we could, the interference would make it impossible to open a Warp Gate.
"I can only wish you good luck and hope you find only constructs and corpses down there."
"I'd have a request, sir." Lith said. "Could you please tell my family I'm alright? They don't hear from me since the communications have been sealed. They must be worried sick."
Berion nodded, expecting the others to ask for the same, yet only an awkward silence ensued.
'Good gods, what a bunch of no lifers! Now I really feel the need to tell my wife and kids I love them.' The Commander thought before hanging up the call.
"I envy you." Yondra said. "Even if I went missing for a year, nobody would care."
"I would." Rainer's tone was hurt.
"No, you wouldn't. Because you're always with me. You're the only real family I've left."
"Well then! It's already late, so I'd say we can start our exploration tomorrow first thing in the morning." Professor Gaakhu was eager to change the subject. Her career had been as successful as her personal life was empty.
"We'll split into two teams, each one comprised of a Ranger, since they are our heavy hitters, a Warden, and a Forgemaster. Do you agree, Captain Ernas?"
Phloria nodded and after organizing guard duty, everyone went to sleep. They had a lot to do in the morning.
***
Duchy of Laroxya, Crystal Mines, that same morning.
Ten days had passed since the expedition team had left the mines and the goblin-Abomination hybrid named Korgh had managed to safely resume her routine. The mines were now under heavy surveillance, but she didn't mind.
Her dimensional magic combined with her ability to manipulate light made her invisible even to Awakened ones, fake mages had no chance of finding her. The fight with the two Rangers had been a blessing in disguise.
After almost dying due to having her goblin side heavily injured, her evolution had resumed at an astounding rate. The flesh and Chaos energy which comprised her body were two separate entities no more.
They had finally started to merge together, creating something new and completely unprecedented. Thanks to the goblin's unbridled vitality and the long incubation period while being constantly overfed by mana crystals, Korgh's new body was now able to withstand the Chaos.
Puppeteer Abominations needed to find new host bodies once the one they occupied was corroded, while Eldritch Abominations' bodies were made of pure Chaos energy. It made them almost indestructible, but at the same time, it crippled their daily life.
To prevent their energy from killing or destroying everything they touched, a lot of willpower was needed. To add insult to injury, it also required to consume part of the energy they had accumulated.
Even if they could take human appearance, they couldn't keep such form for long without causing a massacre, either to feed or because they failed to control the raw energy their bodies were comprised of.
For the same reason, things like Forgemastering, Alchemy, and all creative jobs were much harder for them than for humans. Korgh's body instead was, for the lack of a better term, normal.
She could freely touch things and, unlike all of her fellow Abominations, Chaos energy didn't seep out whenever she became distracted. It was a perfect shell that decreased her energy consumption and in turn her need to feed, leaving her lots of mana to spare for her magic.
'Who would have thought that being injured was the key to my evolution? Goblin tissues have repaired my Abomination side while Chaos energy strengthened my damaged flesh. Soon all of my Forgemastery skills will become more than nostalgia!
'Fuck Korgh! I'll be once again known as Bytra, the Forge Goddess. I bet that if my so called "original" learned the truth, the envy would give her a stroke.' Bytra thought.
'You're damn right. Unluckily for you, I've no veins anymore.' An all too familiar voice resounded in her head.
Bytra turned around, watching her double standing in front of her.
'Don't try to escape. I might not have Life Vision anymore, but I can track my own energy signature when we are close. Not running away after your existence was revealed to the public is the last mistake you'll ever make.' Korgh thought.
Her clawed hands were filled with Chaos mana, ready to be unleashed. Unlike the hybrid, she had all the time to prepare for their meeting.
Back when she was still an Emperor Beast, Korgh had been a Raiju, the evolution of a Cyr (horse type magical beast) whose powers were based on the light and air element. Their appearance was that of a Chinese dragon fused with a warhorse.
The resulting creature had silver white scales covering their horse body, with large branching horns over their head, long whiskers, a thick silver mane, and a long, scaled dragonic tail.
Korgh's Abomination body was humanoid and covered by black small scales. The small horns on her head and her hair dancing in the air despite the complete lack of wind in the cave were the only vestigial remnants of her old self.