The air inside the mine had changed.
It was still thick with dust and mana. Still damp with the stink of sweat and stone. But beneath it now was something else. Something deeper. The others could not name it. They only felt it. The shift. The pressure. As if the mine itself had inhaled and was holding its breath.
John stood in the silence.
He looked down at his hands. They no longer trembled. His muscles still ached from exhaustion. His arms still bore the strain of work and hunger. But the pain had dulled. Faded beneath something greater.
Power.
Real power.
Not imagined. Not hoped for.
It thrummed quietly inside him. Not as fire or lightning. Not like the elements he had seen in books or stories. This was heavier. Deeper. A void where all things ended.
He took a step forward.
The guards pulled back.
He walked past Loric without a word. The man lay against the wall with his mouth half open and his eyes fixed on the place where his sword had vanished. He did not try to rise.
John passed the others. Their faces were hollow. Afraid. But in some of their eyes he saw more. A flicker. A spark.
They had watched him stand.
They had seen him command.
They followed.
One by one.
By the time he reached the tunnel's main passage, ten men trailed behind him. Some limped. Others leaned on each other. All of them carried the weight of chains that were no longer fastened.
John stopped.
The passage forked ahead.
One path led deeper.
The other led out.
He turned to them.
"You can leave if you want," he said. "No one will stop you now."
No one moved.
John looked at the walls.
The mana veins pulsed faintly.
The System spoke in his mind once more.
Resource detected. High concentration. Extraction possible. Mana signature suitable for forging Trade-grade tools.
He stepped toward the wall and pressed his palm against it.
The glow brightened.
The System whispered again.
Would you like to absorb this material
"Yes"
Energy flowed into his hand. It was not heat or liquid. It was pure pressure. The weight of potential compressed into light. It flooded through his arm and vanished into his chest.
Three units of Raw Mana Crystal collected
Inventory slots updated
He turned back to the others.
"We are not leaving empty handed"
A man stepped forward. Older than the rest. Skin like parchment. Eyes sunken.
"What are you planning" he asked
John studied him.
"Do you know what metal is strongest in this mine"
"Stormsteel" the man said. "Rare. Buried deeper. Takes a strong pick to reach it. But it holds enchantments well"
John nodded.
"Then show me"
The mine sloped downward into the earth. The tunnels were tighter here. Hotter. The veins along the walls grew thicker. Some stones glowed red instead of blue. Others pulsed like hearts. The deeper they went, the more the ground felt alive.
They found the Stormsteel near the base of a collapsed shaft.
It shimmered with a silver hue tinged in violet. The System confirmed it instantly.
Stormsteel Ore
Grade compatible with structural blueprint designs
Durability rating A
Heat resistance rating A
Mana conductivity rating B
Current form: unrefined
Required for: weapon conversion module
John pressed both palms against the ore.
The stone resisted.
Then it cracked.
Pieces broke free and vanished into light.
Two units of Stormsteel Ore acquired
He turned to the others.
"I need tools"
One of the men frowned
"What kind of tools"
"Anything I can use to shape metal"
They brought what they had.
Old hammers. Bent chisels. A fire pit once used to warm food. John lit it with a spark drawn from a nearby mana stone. The flame caught quickly. The System adjusted the heat automatically.
Internal heat calibration complete
Fire pit temperature stabilized at eight hundred degrees
John laid the ore beside it and sat down cross legged.
The others watched in silence.
He opened the blueprint module.
A wave of light filled his vision.
Dozens of shapes and images danced across the screen. Weapons of Earth. Machines from memory. Tools no one in this world had ever seen.
He focused.
Selected.
Confirmed.
New blueprint created
Item name Semi Automatic Mana Pistol
Chamber type Three burst
Core required Raw Mana Crystal
Structure Stormsteel grade
Total crafting slots required Two
He exhaled slowly.
Then he began.
The process took hours.
Stormsteel was not easy to shape. Even with mana heating it to softness, it fought back. Every strike of the hammer rang through the tunnel like a gong. Sparks leapt with each blow. Sweat dripped down his face and steamed in the fire.
He used the chisel to etch lines along the barrel.
The System guided him.
One line at a time.
One plate after another.
Piece by piece it came together.
The others gathered around him without speaking. The silence grew reverent. They had never seen anything like this. Not even the mages who passed through the noble cities could craft without spellbooks and glyphs. John used no spells. No incantations. Just his hands and fire and memory.
When the final piece locked into place, the System responded.
Item completed
Mana Pistol Prototype One added to inventory
Charges Three per crystal
Reload method Manual core insertion
Firing mechanism calibrated
John lifted the weapon.
It felt cold. Solid. The barrel shimmered faintly with violet lines of compressed Stormsteel. A trigger curved beneath his finger. The handle fit perfectly in his grip.
He loaded one crystal.
Click
The weapon hummed.
He stood and walked to the nearest wall.
The stone surface pulsed with mana.
He raised the pistol.
Fired
Boom
A sound like thunder cracked through the tunnel. A lance of blue light punched into the wall and exploded in a burst of smoke and shattered rock. Debris scattered in every direction.
The wall split down the center.
A second later the entire section collapsed.
The others stumbled back in shock.
John lowered the weapon.
He turned to face them.
"This is only the beginning"