While the others prepared to descend deeper into the labyrinth the next morning, Gaius stayed behind. His task wasn’t glorious or loud,  it didn’t involve clashing steel or the roar of monsters, but it was the kind of work that would decide whether the expedition lived or drowned.

He stood before the rough stone passage that connected the first zone to the surface, sleeves rolled up, hands already coated in dust and mana residue. The air inside was still damp, carrying that heavy mineral scent that came from water that shouldn’t exist.

Using his geomancy, Gaius pressed both palms to the wall and let his mana flow outward,  slow, controlled, patient. His mana responded, shifting and folding away from his touch like clay under invisible pressure. Slowly taking shape of real earth. Few people had seen that been done, so it left a lot of them speechless.

Unlike the smaller one from before, this one ran along the side of the main path, descending in careful gradients to maintain flow speed. It was wide enough for a man to walk through if needed, maybe too wide, but Gaius wasn’t interested in saving mana . He wanted something that could swallow entire floods without choking.

Sweat gathered on his forehead despite the cool air. The older geomancer muttered under his breath, maintaining a steady mana rhythm as he carved reinforcement ribs into the walls of the channel. Every few meters, he anchored the structure with stone arches, ribs of hardened rock that would keep the tunnel from collapsing under shifting mana pressure.

He took his time. He didn’t force it. Precision mattered more than power.

Occasionally, Ironhand engineers came by with rune plates, offering to help reinforce the sections Gaius had already shaped. He nodded silently, motioning for them to keep their distance until he was finished aligning the mana veins within the stone.

When the first hundred meters were done, he stepped back and exhaled through his teeth. The new system looked like the artery of some massive creature, veins of pale minerals running through smooth stone, all of it pulsing faintly with residual mana.

A trickle of water from the first zone’s floor seeped toward the channel, guided by gravity and mana alike. It slipped inside, snaking down the slope before vanishing deeper along the route Gaius had carved. The flow was smooth. Stable. Efficient.

He nodded once to himself. “That’s it.”

But he wasn’t done. Not even close.

He walked along the path again, checking the pressure points, reinforcing weak seams, and widening certain sections to ensure the system could handle the constant output from the second zone. It wasn’t just a drain, it was a lifeline for the expedition.

By the time the others’ footsteps echoed faintly from deeper inside the labyrinth, Gaius had finished carving the first complete segment, solid, symmetrical, and wide enough to handle whatever the lower levels threw at them.

He placed a hand on the wall again, feeling the faint hum of energy through the stone. The structure was alive now, a conduit between the flooded depths and the surface world.

“Alright, lad,” he murmured under his breath, glancing toward where Ludger and the others had gone. “Your part’s below. Mine’s here.”

Then he bent his knees, pressed both palms into the ground again, and sent another deep surge of mana through the earth, beginning the next stretch of the channel that would carry the water, and maybe something else, out of the heart of the labyrinth.

Crossing the first zone this time felt almost routine. The paths that had once been half-flooded and unstable were now dry, solid, and familiar. Every turn, every intersection,  the group moved through them like a well-oiled machine.

The Ironhand mages kept the light steady, illuminating the smooth stone corridors ahead. Arslan and Kharnek took the front as always, shields up, weapons ready, their movements perfectly timed from days of repetition. Behind them, Ludger walked with his usual precision, both hands open and faintly glowing with earth-aspected mana.

Whenever the air thickened with that faint mechanical hum that signaled another runic golem nearby, Ludger would raise his hand, spreading a pulse of Earthen Surge through the floor.

The effect rippled like invisible waves through the labyrinth, a deep vibration that carried strength into every living being it touched.

Swords swung heavier, shields felt sturdier, and even the air seemed more stable. Arslan’s swings became stronger, Kharnek’s axe bit deeper. Ludger didn’t boast about it, but everyone could feel it, his support magic had changed the entire rhythm of the fight.

Still, he was careful not to overdo it. Earthen Surge wasn’t a simple buff; it demanded enormous control. The more people it covered, the more the mana spread thin, and pushing it too far could drain him completely.

By the time they reached the end of the first zone, they’d cut through every patrol and construct without a single injury worth noting.

Lucius exhaled, brushing dust from his coat. “That’s better. We move like an actual unit now.”

Rathen smirked. “Experience pays off.”

Kharnek just laughed. “Or maybe the boy’s fancy mana trick finally made us worth a damn.”

Ludger rolled his eyes but didn’t respond. Before long, they reached the same wide chamber where the downward corridor began, the one that led to the second zone. This time, though, it didn’t feel quite as ominous. The air was still damp, but the faint tremors from Gaius’s work could be felt through the soles of their boots, proof that the new drainage system was already taking shape deeper in the stone.

Lucius raised his lantern and turned toward the group. His usual calm demeanor sharpened into command. “Alright, everyone, focus up. The first zone’s cleared, but we’re not done.”

He pointed toward the dark sloping passage ahead. “The drainage channel should be completed by the end of the day. That means we only have a few hours to scout the second zone and confirm how bad the flooding really is. No unnecessary risks,  we go in, we observe, we get out.”

Arslan nodded. “Understood.”

Kharnek slammed his axe against his shoulder with a grin. “I don’t mind getting my boots wet again.”

Lucius gave him a look. “You might regret that in a few minutes.”

Ludger adjusted his gloves and stared into the shadowed passage below. He could already feel the mana pressure rising from the depths — heavier, thicker, like the air was alive.

He muttered under his breath, “Let’s see what’s waiting down there this time.”

And with that, the group began their slow descent toward the second zone, the faint echo of running water growing louder with every step. The further they descended, the louder the sound became.

It wasn’t the deep, rhythmic roar of the ocean, nor the steady murmur of a river. This was different, unnerving in its own way. It was the sound of massive volumes of water shifting inside a space that was never meant to hold it. A confined, pressurized noise that echoed up the walls and rolled through the stone like the heartbeat of some vast, buried creature.

The corridor spiraled downward for what felt like hundreds of meters, the air growing cooler, heavier, more humid with every step. A faint mist clung to their armor and cloaks. The light from Lucius’s lantern reflected off countless droplets in the air, making the passage look like it was glittering with dust made of glass.

Finally, the stairway opened up,  and they stepped into the second zone. Everyone froze for a moment.

It looked almost identical to the first zone, those same massive stone corridors lined with columns, relief carvings, and faintly glowing veins of mana cores flowing on the walls. The architecture had that same strange, alien symmetry, as if designed by something that understood geometry but not comfort.

But there were differences. The corridors were wider, easily double the size of those above, and the ceilings stretched into high arches lost in the darkness. The air here felt charged, heavy with condensed mana, every breath tingled faintly in their throats.

And then there was the water. It wasn’t trickling across the floor like before, it filled the corridors. The entire zone was submerged up to an adult’s chest. Freyra swore under her breath as she waded forward, ripples spreading around her.

The strange thing was that the water wasn’t murky. It was crystal clear, so clear they could see the floor, the broken tiles, and even the faint outline of doorways beneath the surface. The light from their lanterns refracted through it, bending into sharp beams that danced across the walls like liquid mirrors.

Arslan frowned. “This isn’t normal flooding.”

Lucius nodded grimly. “It’s too clean. If this were just trapped seawater, it would be full of sediment by now.”

Ludger didn’t answer right away. He crouched and dipped a gloved hand into the water. It was cold, unnaturally cold, but he could feel it: a faint hum beneath the surface, like threads of mana pulsing through it.

He looked up slowly. “It’s mana-infused. Exactly like Gaius said.”

Varik scanned the vast flooded hall ahead, his armor reflecting the pale light. “Then this entire place is alive with it.”

Rathen grunted, adjusting his sword belt higher to keep it above the waterline. “Alive or not, if something moves in there, we’ll be waist-deep and slow.”

“Chest-deep,” Freyra corrected dryly. “For you maybe.”

Lucius gave a tight smile despite the tension. “Alright. Keep formation. Weapons steady. And watch the floor, whatever cause this probably didn’t expect visitors walking through its bathtub.”

As they began to move forward, the water rippled around them, each step echoing softly in the vast, flooded ruins. And though everything seemed still, Ludger couldn’t shake the feeling that something beneath that clear surface was watching them, patient and unseen, waiting for the moment they went just a little too deep.

It didn’t take long before the sound started. That grinding, mechanical rumble, deep, heavy, unmistakable. The same rhythm of gears grinding stone, of metal limbs dragging against the floor.

Only this time, there wasn’t just one. Ludger froze mid-step, head tilting as the echoes multiplied through the flooded corridors. Plural. Dozens of heavy footsteps reverberated through the water, and the group’s reflections rippled in the surface as faint blue lights ignited in the distance.

Lucius’s expression hardened. “That’s—”

“—Golems,” Ludger finished grimly. “More than one.”

The realization hit everyone at once.

Before they could even set their formation, the first two runic golems stepped out from the shadows, towering constructs of stone and alloyed coral, their joints glowing with cold blue runes. Behind them, the water churned violently.

And then came the second sound, sharper, wetter,  the sound of fins slicing water.

Freyra cursed. “Not again.”

From beneath the flooded floor, sahuagins burst upward, breaching like predators from below. They landed around the golems, hissing through their gills, tridents raised, and without hesitation, they began their assault.

Streams of pressurized water bullets tore through the air like rapid-fire arrows, striking the walls, columns, and anyone too slow to duck. At the same time, the golems’ palms opened, releasing glowing circles of light before mana bullets screamed out in return fire.

“Fall back!” Lucius shouted immediately. His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. “We’re not fighting that here! Back to the stairs, now!”

No one argued. Fighting two golems and a horde of sahuagins in chest-deep water was suicide.

The formation collapsed into a disciplined retreat, boots splashing through the flooded floor as they turned toward the staircase. Freyra and Arslan covered the rear, deflecting incoming water projectiles with their weapons while Varik coordinated the vanguard’s movement.

But the monsters didn’t stop. Even as they ascended, the barrage followed them,  mana bolts and water bullets ripping through the stairwell, scorching the stone and chipping the walls.

“Cover the rear!” Lucius shouted again.

Cor and Ludger didn’t hesitate. Both turned at once, mana flaring bright in their hands.

“Mana Wall!”

Two translucent barriers formed in rapid succession. The first volley hit like a storm, sharp impacts echoing like thunderclaps as the twin shields absorbed the relentless barrage.

Cracks spiderwebbed through the barriers, but they held just long enough for the group to climb higher up the stairs.

“Move! Move!” Arslan barked, ushering the rear guard upward.

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