His training with Maelis made the preparation time pass in a blur. The old spirit's bafflement at his progress still gave him smug satisfaction, even if it remained a bit surreal even for himself.

I can't believe it works.

Alex walked with the small group away from the cavern while allowing the threads of mana to spin over his hand. He wove them into his newly created control node over and over; the small disc-like shape answered so many of his struggles with his magic.

"Hey, here he comes. If you want to ask him now, it's probably the best time." Warrior pushed the thoughts to him from where he was at the back of the group.

Alex glanced over his shoulder to see Droq'shan moving through the group, his shoulder legs taking extra steps to pass the group as they moved up the incline.

He extended a hand as the Koru'qai drew close. "Droq'shan. I have a question for you."

The bulky Rift-native slowed his pace and hummed while waiting for him.

"You said before that your people created the powerful anchors that keep the suppression in place— the Conductor Stones, right?"

The humming changed to a softer tone. "Yes. My people created them. Why do you ask?"

"How?" Alex asked, recognizing that the group's plain way of speaking was beginning to rub off on him.

"We sing to the stone. When many Koru Stone Singers join in harmony, great magics can be done."

He perked up as the terrain shifted to a level plane once more. "So you can make a magical stone through your magic? Would you be able to…" He reached into his pocket to retrieve the mana battery he'd created and held it out for Droq'shan. "Would you be able to make some stone better than this? Something that is receptive to holding large amounts of mana? I'm guessing you did it on a much larger scale with the conductor stones, but if it can be done with a smaller stone, that could be game-changing."

Two of the other Koru'qai, whom Alex didn't know, looked at his engraved rock with interest.

While Droq'shan examined the rock, he looked around at their party. Nine in total, it felt like they were overprepared for the mission. Robert and Luis walked up front with Mage just behind them. He walked in the middle with Droq'shan and the two other Koru'qai who'd come to the hollow vein the previous evening. The two were workers within the arena galleries and had supplied them with information on guard rotations and more accurate layouts.

Their information was still limited, as Kinley's men didn't treat any of the Koru well, but it kept the team from needing to spend weeks slowly gathering information through stealth missions.

Over his shoulder, Alex saw Warrior and Aisha bringing up the rear, chatting quietly. He raised an eyebrow at his clone, but looked back as Droq'shan began to speak.

"It is easily possible to create something to best your rock, human. But now is not the time. We must focus on what is to come," he hummed and held the stone back out.

Alex noted how the Koru didn't use his name like he did the trio of arena fighters, instead just calling him "human."

"I wouldn't expect you to do it now. But if it's possible for you to do… I'd be interested in hearing what it takes. We can trade, or I can—"

"Hmmm. If you kill Kinley and free my tribe, as you have suggested, we will sing you as many stones as you want, human. Actions before words." Droq'shan nodded his head slowly, pausing at the lower half and thumping his fist on his chest.

The two nearby Koru'qai nodded and repeated the gesture against their chest.

Alex accepted the stone back and saw Robert and Luis both look back as they heard those final words. "Fair enough," he responded. "Thank you."

It was an understandable request, though he wasn't sure that the Koru'qai leader understood how much a functioning mana source might help him in a big fight.

He pushed the thoughts aside as they reached the base of a steep incline and were forced to proceed in single file. A rope was passed along, allowing them to both walk and pull themselves up the steeper section of the mines.

For the rest of their walk, he and Mage both worked through exercises for the new control node. His clone worked to create new spell circle bases that were fitted with two rune slots, using the new nodes as stabilizers, and dismissing them before bothering to fill in the actual runes and intent.

The most important spell bases in Alex's mind were the directional, area, and targeted bases. They were the three he used the most, and had the most potential to grant flexible casting if he was using two runes.

The main Alex continued to form the new version of the nodes repeatedly, creating small three-way branches of piping within the node in various configurations. He adjusted some of them on the fly, testing their stability and strength.

Once the rocky ground under their feet changed to the smooth floor of a hallway, the tunnel slowly shifted to a more structured hallway, and he put the practice aside.

Their group shuffled into predetermined positions. The Koru'qai moved to the front, prepared to guide them through the complex layout of the galleries. Alex moved forward to stand with Robert while Mage moved back with Luis. Warrior and Aisha brought up the rear and would split off first.

"Ready?" Robert asked.

Alex grunted. "As I'll be. There are a lot of moving parts to this."

"It will work."

A short distance later, the Koru turned to the right, cutting into the catacomb of cells and hallways well before they were deep enough to reach the center, under the arena, like they did last time.

Alex, Robert, Luis, Mage, and the two new Koru'qai stayed in a group, while Warrior and Aisha split with Droq'shan to begin seeding caches and prepare their escape if needed.

Keep me updated.

"Of course," Warrior assured him.

The two Rift dwellers picked up their pace as they moved through the carved stone. The smell gradually changed from the damp scent of sediment to stale sweat and blood.

They didn't see anyone for at least five minutes, weaving through the paths and slowly to the left, taking them closer to the center. The first signs of other life came from the sounds of the arena.

Even through the ceiling, there was the occasional cheering that could be heard. It was muffled and made Alex wonder if they were under the section of Kinley's men.

It unnerved him to hear, but he knew it was a good thing. It was why they'd chosen this particular time to approach their tested breakout plan.

"Hmm, soon. Be ready to move without us," the Koru'qai on the left said. They were distinct compared to the others Alex had seen so far, as they had a slight red tint to some of the rocky patches on their skin.

"We'll be ready. You just distract the guards, and we can get to the right cell." Robert's voice was confident.

Alex let out a breath and clamped down on his emotions as his heart rate began to rise.

From their entry, Kinley's men had seemed somewhat lax, if not incompetent. Robert assured him that wasn't the case and that the only reason their entry had been so easy, was that it wouldn't make sense to be sneaking in a group of people.

"Kinley's men are hardened killers and more than a little happy for an excuse to fight. The distraction will be necessary, especially on days like this. if they see a group of more than one or two humans moving around without an escort, they'll know something is up." Robert had said. This had been the set of comments that sparked the entire plan.

Alex's only internal gripe with the plan was how split the entire group was. He was able to at least know what was going on because of the clones, but Robert's group was being split three ways, and he knew that if it were him getting split from Mark and Sam in a similar way, he'd be extremely tense.

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"Now," the lead Koru said, taking a left. "One section down, two doors on the left.'

"Got it," Alex and Robert said. Mage and Luis followed close behind them. The four humans continued down the corridor, jogging now that they knew the nearby guards would be distracted for a short time.

Plan established, Luis and Mage peeled off to two intersections and posted up as the watch for the new section that they entered. Robert and Alex continued on to the second room on the left.

Pushing in through the heavy bronze door, they saw a similar sight to their last trip through the galleries. Shelves of collars and benches of equipment were organized in the small store room. The main difference was that there wasn't one of the Deafened sitting with the equipment.

Alex wasn't sure if that meant this section wasn't worth guarding, or that there wasn't a hidden passage as there had been in the other room. Not wanting to waste time, both Alex and Robert moved to opposite sides of the room without speaking, both grabbing a key and

"Fuck me, you actually came," one of the people whispered.

In his heightened state, twelve people moving around and shuffling with eager anticipation sounded like a stampede. Each of them wore collars, though only a few seemed to be currently restrained by them.

"Shh," he said in as calming a tone as he could.

"Who the hell is he? Another traitor?"

"No. Stop talking. Stay quiet." Robert's tone snapped out, and most of the humans listened.

Two of those near the cell door that Alex was opening shifted back and forth on their feet, watching him hungrily, eager to be freed from their cage.

The moment the key was inserted, something unexpected happened.

Rather than waiting to be let out, both men slammed their shoulders into the cell door, throwing it open. They didn't look at the group twice, sprinting for the room's exit.

"Shit, stop them," Robert said.

Alex activated his waiting spell, prepared to stop them before they could leave the room, but he didn't need to. With his accelerated perception, he watched as the two other people from their own cell used movement skills and leapt on the fleeing pair.

The scuffle and grunting that followed made Alex's skin crawl, and he forced himself to remember that they had people on watch.

"Fuck me, why the hell are you guys—"

Complete shock overtook him as one of the subdued men started to call out in frustration, a single curse word and a begging cry to be let go was cut off as the cellmate on his back broke his neck.

The shock of the lethal action made him stutter to a stop.

"What the fuck." Alex said, staring at the lifeless corpse with wide eyes.

The burly man who'd done the killing stood and looked at Alex with pain on his face. He shook his head and helped the other cellmate up. Though this one had also tried to run, he was much more subdued, looking scared and ready to bolt, rather than panicked.

"We stay calm," Robert said, shaking his head as his four joined their group. "Alex, grab the last cell while I talk with the group?"

Shaking his head, Alex moved to the center cell and used his key to open the door. Two people emerged, while two others sat against the far wall. One was beaten badly, and the other looked rail-thin, though both were chained to the wall and held in place by collars around their neck.

He looked at the group gathering around Robert before stepping into the cell and moving to use the key on the collars.

Soon, he stepped back out and moved to the now waiting group. "The key doesn't work on the collars. Let me try yours?" He tried both keys, but neither worked on the collars. Frustration built as he wasted time returning to the room across the hall and grabbing a new key.

When he returned, the same man who'd killed his cellmate was kneeling next to the chained man and woman. For a moment, Alex thought that he'd killed them too, but he was speaking softly to the woman instead.

"Watch out, let me see if this works." After trying and failing with the new key, Alex and the muscular warrior tried to pull on the collar or the chain with their stat-enhanced strength. Neither budged.

"Shit," the man said. His voice was higher-pitched than Alex would have assumed.

The woman began to cry, pulling her legs up to hide her face. The man looked hopeless, half of his face swollen and covered in dried blood.

Robert stepped into the cell but was unable to come up with a solution.

Another man spoke the thought they'd been worried about. "The guards must keep the keys for the collars on them."

"They're meant to hold awakened. They're too tough to break physically." Robert said.

"Then… maybe magically?" Alex said to himself.

Robert watched him as Alex moved to the now-dead man and removed a knife from his ring. The idea came together, and he felt a bit sick to his stomach as he made a small cut on the man's hand. The room was beginning to smell as his bowels had been released on death, but the need to test the spell first pushed Alex to ignore it.

With a small stream of blood, he formed his newest spell circle.

A targeted base with two rune slots in it, balanced and controlled by the three new control nodes. Each of them used a pipe-like system to guide the mana in a predetermined route. It took longer than normal to form, and his first real attempt to cast the spell failed.

He cursed, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on him. The longer things took, the antsier everyone became.

Are you done and in place?

"The first two are done. Aisha is setting up the third, now."

Okay. Take a knee or something. Tell her you're using a skill if you need to and that you need her to watch your back. Do it quick.

"Done. Do what you need to," Warrior said, sensing their shared thoughts and his plan.

Alex pulled back the mind that had been in his clone as he needed a full focus for the greater rune he was attempting to use.

His mind focused on forming the spell base again, carefully placing the new control nodes, and handling the intent of the Exempt Rune. It was the same one he'd used in the warding scheme for his office. His [Parallel Mind] focused solely on the intent of the Fracture Rune.

The larger concept and more complex rune required focus, but with both minds set to the task, the spell went off without issue.

His mana pulsed into the circle, and for a brief moment, it flashed into existence around the dead man's body.

Congratulations, [Spell Weaving] (Tier I) has advanced to (Tier II)!

The spell functioned as he'd hoped. With the blood woven into the exempt rune the Fracture portion of the targeted spell didn't affect the body, only what he was attached to. In this case, the loose collar that hung around his neck.

Alex pulled at the collar and found that it had several fractures and break points around its metallic surface. It practically crumbled into pieces at his touch. Someone gasped behind him, and he looked over to see people beginning to crowd him and crane their necks to see what had happened.

Out of caution, Alex gently gripped the man's arms and legs, fearing that there had been internal fractures if the Exempt Rune hadn't worked quite right.

Relief filled him as the spell seemed to be well directed by his intent, with the exempt rune set up as a guiding rail for safety. He removed a mana stone to begin siphoning the energy source as he moved back into the cage. Those around them moved to make way for him, watching closely.

Alex repeated the process twice, feeling his mana drain each time, though his channels felt no strain despite the large amounts of magical power flowing through them.

Within moments, both of the captives were free and thanking him profusely.

"Good job. Thank you." The large man said seriously. He repeated the gratitude multiple times as he hoisted the thin woman on his shoulder and helped her hobble from the cell.

Alex followed him from the cell, and Robert clasped his shoulder in gratitude before leading them quickly into the hall.

"Stay quiet and follow me. You're almost there," Robert told the group.

Alex didn't feel relief at the situation until he pushed his second consciousness back to the [Fractured Body] and felt it slip back into place without issue. The level-up was a pleasant bonus and an indicator that his skill was improving.

Congratulations, [Parallel Mind] has leveled up.

Congratulations, [Fractured Body] has leveled up.

He found it interesting that both skills had leveled up, but pushed the thought aside.

All good?

There was a brief pause before Warrior answered. "Yep. Glad that worked."

No kidding.

While he'd practiced pushing a line of thought back into the clones from a distance, none of the tests had been quite this far or in these circumstances. it could have been a sloppy situation if he'd had to dismiss the clone, though glancing at the two smiling faces that were joining the refugees, he knew he'd made the right choice, even if it hadn't worked out quite so well.

We've got the cell group and are heading out. We get them to safety and then circle back for a second.

"Perfect. The caches are all set up now. Take that group to the first one. Aisha and I will move to meet you there."

Did you find enough supplies?

"Yeah, but the two store rooms we hit were surprisingly thin on food. We'll have to figure that out when we're back at the hollow vein."

Yeah, we can get to that when the time comes.

He moved at the back of the group, watching as the twelve escapees followed Robert and linked back up with Luis and Mage. Several of them recognized Luis and gave him quick hugs or pats on the back before they moved again, tracing their steps back to the tunnels and mines below.

Everything went smoothly. Their Koru'qai escorts joined them as they moved, coming from a different corridor than their original exit, but they gave Robert a nod while quietly joining the growing group of humans.

It wasn't until they reached the first supply cache that something started to feel wrong.

"Where are Aisha and Walter?" Robert asked.

Several of the refugees tore into modern packaged food packs that had been set in a crate at the predetermined location. They didn't seem to catch the confusion on the main group's faces as they looked around.

Alex reached out to his clone once more and felt a pit begin to form in his stomach as the mind was unresponsive. It was a feeling similar to when one of the clones was asleep, but regardless of how much he mentally prodded, Warrior didn't respond.

"Shit," he said.

Robert caught the look on his face and jerked his head to the side for him to create space from the group. "Luis, get everyone settled for a minute. Make sure they're ready to move back to the hollow vein if needed."

The quiet fighter nodded and started to move among the group, each person looking up at him as he passed.

"What is it?" Robert asked once they'd moved away.

"I'm not sure. Something's wrong."

Droq'shan joined their small huddle, and Alex turned to him. "When did you last see the two others?"

"Hmm, second cache. Third was through the guard section, so I moved to intercept. Then meet back here like was planned."

"Shit," Alex said again, reaching out to his mind again. When no response came, he took a moment to look through his memories.

What he saw made him curse again. "We've got to go," he said to Robert. "The guard change switched early and ran into them by the third cache."

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