The cavern walls pulsed faintly with veins of light. Thin threads of blue-green energy ran through cracks in the stone like capillaries, glowing faintly with the rhythm of something alive. Quinn crouched low, brushing his fingers against one of the faintly glowing lines. It felt cool, almost liquid, and thrummed against his skin before fading back into the rock.
It was not natural. He had read enough in the Artemis Fowl novels to recognize the description, even if seeing it in person was a hundred times more unnerving. This was magic infrastructure, the subterranean lifeblood of the People. The books had mentioned it in passing, but Quinn was starting to realize how much detail had been left out. Underground, entire rivers of magic crisscrossed the earth, channeling energy to power fairy weapons, shields, and technology. Here, though, it felt raw, unfiltered, and more dangerous.
He pulled his hand back and whispered to himself. "So this is what happens when worldbuilding becomes reality. No wonder the LEP guards everything so tightly. If someone figured out how to tap this vein directly, they'd have more juice than an entire armory."
The System chimed softly in his vision.
[ New Discovery: Mana Vein Detected ][ Potential Resource Node. Conditions to exploit: Fragment of Conduit required ]
Quinn's lips curled. "So even the System thinks this can be farmed. Noted."
He moved on, crouching low through the narrow cavern passage. Every sound mattered. The Shard of Silence wrapped him like a cloak, muffling the scrape of his boots and the faint rattle of the rebar in his hand, but paranoia made him double-check every step anyway. Aboveground, Artemis Fowl's manor glimmered like a lighthouse in the night. Down here, the earth itself seemed alive, and it was not friendly.
His enhanced perception twitched. A faint hum, like wings. He pressed himself flat against the wall, eyes narrowing into the dark.
At first he thought it was an insect. The flicker of light bobbed erratically, glowing red for a moment before dimming again. Then it turned a corner, and Quinn's breath caught.
It was not an insect.
A drone floated into view, no bigger than his fist, its wings buzzing like a dragonfly. Its frame was metallic but sculpted with strange curves, half machine, half grown. The eyes glowed green as they scanned the tunnel, a thin red beam sweeping over the walls. Each time the beam touched a glowing mana vein, the light pulsed brighter for a second.
Surveillance.
The books had barely touched on these things. But seeing one now, Quinn understood how the LEP could monitor underground territory without hundreds of patrols. These things were scouts, cameras, alarm bells wrapped into one.
Quinn's first instinct was to swing. His second instinct stopped him cold. Destroying it might work, but it would almost definitely alert its controller. This was not a game where you could cheese patrols with a quick stab. Every action had weight.
The drone hovered closer. Its red beam flickered across the wall, then swept over his crouched form. Quinn braced, ready to throw himself into the shadows. The Shard of Veil shimmered faintly around him, bending perception.
The red beam lingered on him for a second. Then it moved on, as though he was not there.
Quinn let out a slow, careful breath. The drone drifted down the corridor and vanished around the bend.
[ System Notification: Shard of Veil successfully masked user from detection ][ Duration shortened by 10 seconds ]
He grinned despite himself. "So that's how it works. Cloak, but not infinite cloak. Every dodge burns the clock faster. Good to know."
The corridors widened, giving way to a larger cavern. The ceiling stretched high overhead, dotted with glowing moss. Below, a river of liquid light cut through the rock, glowing brighter than the thin mana veins. Quinn crouched at the edge, staring down into the stream.
It looked like molten silver, fluid but shimmering with rainbow hues. Sparks rippled along its surface, each one fading into mist that drifted upward to cling to the cavern ceiling.
"Magic rivers. Straight out of a game."
But it was not just pretty. His perception screamed with the force of it, like standing next to a nuclear reactor. The energy was dense, unrestrained. One wrong touch and he suspected it would burn him from the inside out.
The System agreed.
[ Warning: Direct contact with Mana Stream is lethal at current host capacity ][ Requirement: Minimum 10 Fragments integrated ]
"Ten fragments just to touch it? And I've got, what, four?" Quinn shook his head. "Figures. This is late-game loot. No speedrunning the end just yet."
He leaned against the cavern wall, staring at the flow. It made sense now why the LEP guarded these territories like their lives depended on it. Because they did. If one of these streams burst free or got corrupted, it would not just collapse a tunnel. It could take out half the city above.
A faint rustle broke his focus. He dropped low instantly, crawling to a boulder near the stream.
Voices. Not human. High-pitched, sharp syllables carried across the cavern. A group of sprites, hovering above the far bank. Their wings shimmered faintly in the glow, catching the magical mist like rainbows.
Quinn squinted. There were four of them, dressed in lightweight armor, each holding a weapon that looked grown from the same hybrid tech-metal as the drone. Their helmets glowed faintly, scanning, while one scribbled sigils into the air that lingered like holograms.
He froze, not daring to move. If they crossed the river, he was finished.
But luck held. After a few minutes, they finished their inspection and lifted into the air, flying upward toward a tunnel high above. Their glowing outlines disappeared into the dark.
Quinn waited another five minutes before he moved. His heart hammered against his ribs, adrenaline buzzing. "Sprites. Actual sprites. Not even a main encounter in the books, and they still look like bosses."
The danger was clear. Every inch of this underground world was crawling with detection, patrols, and magic. He could not just keep sneaking forever. One mistake and the LEP would have him tagged, bagged, and dissected before Artemis Fowl ever had the chance to make a move.
He needed shelter. A place to regroup, test fragments, and build some kind of base of operations. Wandering would only get him killed.
The System must have been listening.
[ New Quest: Establish Shelter ][ Objective: Secure a defensible location for rest and storage ][ Reward: Fragment Cache (Random x2) ]
Quinn's grin returned. "Finally, something proactive. Guess I'm not meant to live like a rat forever."
Still, the quest raised a new challenge. Defensible locations underground were rare. If it was too obvious, the LEP would sweep it eventually. If it was too deep, he risked running into things far worse than fairies. And if it was already occupied… well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
He followed the river downstream, hugging the shadows, until the tunnel narrowed again. It was quieter here, the hum of magic muted. His enhanced perception picked up faint scratching ahead, almost like claws on stone. He froze, every instinct screaming caution.
Then he saw it.
A sprite courier, wings frayed, hunched over a broken device. It was muttering in a language Quinn could not fully parse, hands fumbling with wires. Sparks burst, and the courier cursed.
Quinn's pulse raced. This was it. An isolated NPC. A target of opportunity. If he struck now, maybe he could loot some gear, test his fragments in a real fight.
He gripped his rebar tighter, stepping forward. Then stopped.
The courier looked weak, exhausted. Its armor was cracked, helmet half shattered. This was not a patrol. It was stranded.
He pulled back, teeth clenched. This was not the time. Picking off a straggler might feel like a win, but if the body was discovered, alarms would spread faster than he could run. And besides, a part of him whispered, he was not here to slaughter just anyone. He needed fragments. Not random bloodshed.
Instead, he melted back into the shadows and moved past, following the tunnels deeper.
The faint clawing sound followed him. He spun once, certain he had been spotted. Nothing. The tunnels bent and twisted, hiding everything in half-dark.
But his enhanced perception prickled. Something was moving. Something big.
The cavern opened again, this time into a wide hollow filled with broken stalagmites. Bones littered the floor, some humanoid, some not. Rusted weapons jutted from the dirt. The air stank of rot.
Quinn crouched, scanning. His heart sank. These were not patrol casualties. This was a feeding ground.
The System confirmed it.
[ Warning: Approaching Predator Den ][ Detected Hostiles: Subspecies – Goblin Scavengers ]
Shapes moved at the far end of the cavern. Small, hunched figures crawling between bones, gnawing on scraps of flesh. Their skin glistened in the faint glow of moss, gray-green and leathery.
Goblins. Dozens of them.
Quinn's breath caught. These were not the neat, ordered LEP fairies. These were the other half of the underground — the feral, the discarded, the violent. And they had made this cavern their lair.
His quest objective blinked in his vision.
[ Objective Updated: Shelter Location Detected ][ Condition: Clear Hostiles ]
Quinn's grip tightened on the rebar. His mind raced.
This was it. His first real chance to claim territory. A base hidden in the middle of goblin territory. Dangerous, but if he pulled it off, he would have shelter no patrol would casually sweep.
But it meant a fight. Not a stray troll, not a one-on-one. A horde.
He swallowed, crouched low, and let his grin return. "Alright. Sooner or later I had to stop running. Looks like later just became now."
The System pulsed, as if approving his decision.
[ Quest Sub-Objective: Eliminate Goblin Horde ][ Optional Reward: Fragment of Dominion ]
The cavern echoed with the guttural screeches of goblins tearing into their feast. Quinn's fingers trembled, but not from fear. It was excitement. The kind he had only ever felt during the hardest raids, the kind that meant win or die.
He raised his rebar, eyes fixed on the horde.
This was no longer hiding. This was the start of his first real conquest.