An illusion barrier would be great," Ben said after a moment. "Something to confuse intruders.
If you can make it spread smoke or fog, that would be even better.
Or better yet, poison."
Elvira frowned slightly. "Poison?
Wouldn't that be dangerous for us too?"
"Not if we are smart about it," Ben replied. "We do not need to spread it everywhere.
The poison should only activate when we have intruders.
We can mix it with the fog so it is harder for them to realize what is happening."
"How potent do you want it?" she asked.
"It would be best if it could kill anyone weaker than me instantly, while someone at my level takes a few minutes."
Ben knew that with his absurd regeneration, a poison strong enough to kill him would have to destroy all his cells at once.
If even a handful survived for a moment, they would have enough time to regenerate, which meant he would live.
He doubted Elvira had a method like that.
If she did, they would not have struggled so much against the hell worm.
But Elvira's next words surprised him. "Honestly, I can make something like that, if I had the right materials.
For now, the best I can do is a paralyzing effect for beings that strong, and at best, it would last a second."
"What?
You can actually make something like that?
What materials do you need?" Ben asked.
"It takes many, but the main ones are extremely rare.
Nethersting Venom, a drop of Void Serpent heart-blood, and a fully bloomed Lunacry Lotus."
"Have you ever seen any of them?" he asked.
"Only Nethersting Venom.
It is extracted from Duskrend Scorpions found in the Dead Ruins.
That venom is more like a curse than a poison.
It eats away at the target's life essence.
As for the others, they are practically myths.
The Void Serpent is said to appear only when chaos unfolds.
And the last one, the Lunacry Lotus, supposedly grows only in places where moonlight can reach."
"This place has moonlight?" Ben asked.
The idea caught his interest.
If that were true, then somewhere down here a tunnel must lead directly to the surface.
"That is what makes it feel like a myth," Elvira said, shaking her head. "As far as I know, we do not have anything like that down here.
No one has ever seen the surface, not in my lifetime, not in anyone's.
How about your planet?" She paused, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. "I have only read about it in books, old stories passed down through generations.
But that is all they are.
Stories."
"On my world, moonlight is just normal.
It is there every night.
No one really thinks much about it."
Elvira's gaze lingered on the dim glow of the crystals above them. "I really wonder what the vast sky looks like."
Ben thought for a moment. "Hard to say, honestly.
It is nothing special if you grew up with it.
But a lot of people from my world would pay a ton of money just to come to a place like this.
Seeing all these glowing crystals, some would even say it is worth dying for."
Elvira turned to him, frowning. "Worth dying for?
Just for a view?"
Ben let out a dry chuckle.
He did not personally know anyone who had done it, but he had seen many videos of people dying while caving or climbing, all to chase a breathtaking view. "People have different hobbies.
Anyway, how does the paralyzing poison work?"
Elvira pointed upward. "That crystal.
I can use it to create fog-like particles that react to my mana signature.
Once triggered, they explode in a burst of bright light, blinding everyone in the area."
Ben raised a brow. "Blinding?
Like a flashbang?"
Elvira tilted her head. "It does not only affect sight.
It disrupts all sensory perception.
You would not be able to hear, feel, or even sense mana properly."
Ben gave the crystal a thoughtful look. "So you can turn these Eldergleams into a weapon?"
Elvira blinked. "Eldergleam?" She frowned and glanced at the crystal again. "I usually just call them Gleam Crystals."
She spread her mana and began probing the crystal, her curiosity stirred.
It felt different.
She had always used Gleam Crystals as a medium for storing her magic, but the process was never simple.
The crystal had to be processed first, depending on the spell she wanted to imbue.
For example, if she wanted to store fire magic, she had to heat it until it turned to liquid, then infuse it with mana before it cooled and hardened again.
Ben crossed his arms. "So that is a yes.
What exactly can you make with it?"
Elvira's eyes lit up as she began listing different possibilities, still probing the crystal.
The more she examined it, the more convinced she became that this material was better than what she usually used.
Normally, imbuing magic into a crystal caused a loss of effectiveness.
There was about 20 percent degradation, sometimes more depending on the complexity of the spell and the skill of the caster.
With her ability, she could push effectiveness up to 90 percent, which was already considered extremely high.
But this crystal felt like she could push even further.
The thought sparked a desire to experiment.
Ben listened to everything she said, then started to add his own ideas.
Each suggestion made Elvira's excitement grow.
His suggestions gave her ideas she never would have considered alone.
Her knowledge was deeply rooted in mana manipulation.
Ben came from a world where education covered many subjects, even if most people ended up in miserable jobs that barely used that knowledge.
He used to wonder what a construction worker would ever need virus biology for.
Now, that background helped him understand how things reacted to each other.
It allowed him to suggest ideas that could turn into new spells.
Time passed.
Elvira floated high near the ceiling, inspecting the Eldergleam crystal.
Ben stayed below and dug into the stone, creating space for Elvira's lab and for Eldergleam production.