Ruwen toggled on Sunburn, wanting to take advantage of any sources of Energy. Next to Sunburn was the ability Stone Echo, and he turned that on as well. His map instantly filled with yellow resource nodes. He focused on the map and to his surprise it angled upward, exposing a three-dimensional view of his surroundings. That must be a benefit of the ability Survey he’d taken. The ability had said it provided alternate map views, and Stone Echo had provided a view five hundred feet deep.
Wondering what other info his map would display, Ruwen channeled ten Energy into Sixth Sense, and a chevron appeared next to every node. Not only that, while Stone Echo only worked on solid objects, his Sixth Sense displayed resources in the air as well. Everything in a thousand-foot radius displayed on his map along with a chevron.
Ruwen zoomed his map and focused on the chevron of a resource node shaped like a column thirty feet in front of him. The pillar stretched forty feet into the air, and the chevron displayed details about the node.
Resource: Methane
State: Gas
Density: Low
Appearance: Colorless
Scent: Odorless
Purity: 87%
Any gas you couldn’t see or smell seemed dangerous, and Ruwen found a new appreciation for his abilities and spells that made these hazards visible to him.
Ruwen pictured the magnifying glass icon of the Analyze ability, and four seconds later additional information filled his vision.
Target: Methane Gas
Type: Resource
Components: Carbon, Hydrogen
Health: Asphyxiant
Alchemy: Flammable (requires 12% Oxygen)
Uses: Explosives, Fire
The gas interested Ruwen. After he found the oil he needed, he would circle back and grab some of this. He manipulated his map until he found a massive underground lake. Clicking the chevron, Ruwen expected it to be water.
Resource: Ground Oil
State: Liquid
Density: Low
Appearance: Opaque
Scent: Rotten eggs
Purity: 99%
That was exactly what Ruwen needed, and Stone Echo had also provided a map of the tunnels to reach it. He rotated his map and found the path he needed to take to reach the oil lake. Stone Echo and Survey had already provided a lot of value.
Ruwen sent Whiskers to scout the nearby area. If a threat appeared on the surface, he wanted to know right away.
With his updated map, Ruwen quickly found the entrance to the underground tunnels. He didn’t have the Keen Senses ability any more to warn him of danger, so he waited and studied the entrance for a minute, giving his Peripheral Vision time to find any hidden enemies. His Perception, with his Cultivation Stage, cloak, and Emissary’s Shout, had reached seventy percent, which should really help at finding hidden enemies.
Ruwen pulled the hood forward on his Hooded Pacifist’s Cloak of Wandering, adding ten percent to all his senses. When nothing appeared, he entered the tunnel, activating Detect Temperature and Owl Eyes for the extra ten percent night vision.
Calling it a tunnel gave the passage too much credit. It looked more like a natural crack in the stone, with some rougher edges smoothed flat. Using his enhanced map, he quickly navigated down to the gigantic cavern that held the lake.
The entrance into the oil cave had partially collapsed, and Ruwen stopped to study the cavern. Like the tunnels, the cave appeared as if the stone had cracked and the oil had seeped into the resulting wound like black blood. The oil lake stretched three hundred feet across and at least a thousand feet from side to side. The depth quickly narrowed but extended down past the thousand-foot range of Sixth Sense.
With a massive sixty-six Energy per second Regen, Ruwen knew he could easily hold his Void Band open ten feet. If he walked along the shore and dragged that through the lake at a steady walking pace, he calculated it would only take about five minutes to collect a million gallons. He would be out of here in no time.
Detect Temperature confirmed everything in the cavern had the same temperature and Ruwen didn’t see any danger, so he moved the thirty feet toward the oil lake’s edge. As he approached the liquid he triggered Analyze to get details on the oil. Four seconds later, information appeared, but it looked different than the data he’d gotten when analyzing the methane gas.
Target: Enormous Tar Sludge
Type: Creature
Strengths: Absorption, Malleability, Adhesion
Weaknesses: Fire, Cold, Alcohol, Low Intelligence
Disposition: Hostile
The lake surface near Ruwen rose into the air, and his Perception triggered.
Name: Enormous Tar Sludge
Deity: Not aligned
Class Type: Fighter
Level: 24
Health: 717
Mana: 0
Energy: 1,264
Spirit: 0
Armor Class: 504
Ruwen dived backward, but the Enormous Tar Sludge stretched its body and enveloped him.
Chapter 16
Everything went dark as the sludge surrounded Ruwen. Pressure from all sides made it hard to breathe and something rough rubbed his skin. Even though the sludge pressed against his face, his spell Fresh Air allowed him to breathe. Adrenalin surged into his system and Last Breath triggered, speeding his thoughts and slowing the world around him. He turned on his Worker ability Glow and his skin emitted a soft light.
Thin hairlike bristles covered the bottom of the sludge and they rubbed against Ruwen’s skin, trying to break through. Each filament looked like a three-inch tube worm and they thrashed against his face and eyes, but his Gold Fortified body resisted the attack. The one hundred fifty Health point shield on his Hooded Pacifist’s Cloak of Wandering triggered, and the cloak stiffened.
The sludge likely killed its prey almost instantly between the extreme pressure and the invasive underbelly, but it had made a terrible mistake in attacking Ruwen. He was a Worker, a Class designed to handle things like an oily creature that differed little from a giant stain.
Ruwen channeled ten Energy per second to Scrub. A second later his hands vibrated and turned white. He pressed his palms against the Enormous Tar Sludge and whatever he touched dissolved. He couldn’t see how much damage he did, but the creature shuddered and withdrew, causing the surrounding pressure to lessen. No longer able to reach the
