Dobin passed the day's work instructions off to the crew. The hanger area Was the priority then the hanger crew could work while the other holes were being filled in. Dobin also reminded everyone once again that the dumpers looked like hills or mountains but would send them all on a 60-foot drop if it started raining. "Since it appears there is a bit of rain every day, stay clear of them!"
Lana had cleared enough to give the earth users a whole bunch of rock to move so once again they were using the carts, two people per cart. She was exceptionally bored with this task. At least taking them out then building a house broke the boredom up. At the same time, these were bigger so her MC had time to rest between them. She even found a few advanced tier dumpers which was a shock to her. She was working in row format where her movements followed the direction of row A. The earth users were going the other way so she would see them once in a while.
Lana knew the hanger must have already started with four teams working on holes and only her creating them. She decided to start running between dumpers to speed up her own work and make this boring task more exciting. She got three done when she felt a drop of rain on her cheek just after withering one more dumper. She looked around and realized she was safe. Then she noticed a team was still walking toward the next hole for them to fill in. She yelled for them to stop but only one heard. The next thing they knew, the rain was heavy enough and the person was devoured by the dumper.
Max, go save him! Quick!
Max formed, disappeared and she watched through his eyes what he was seeing. He was able to save the person but he heard something and discovered another was falling in a cavern a bit over. Then Max heard a roar. They were not alone.
Get them together and come get me!
Lana looked at the lone person that had a cart of stone to fill in the hole. "Get that cart further back! Go tell my brother there is something down there." The earth user then witnessed what he thought was her jumping down the hole. A moment later, Shalt followed.
Once the bipeds were down below, Max went up and got Caser who was pacing around the hole like a rabid animal ready to rip something to shreds. Max made himself visible then led them to where he had left the others. He simply stayed high enough they couldn't see him. He may need that energy to use his lightning. They soon heard the sounds of screaming. They took off running and found their two earth users badly wounded and on the other side of them was a 30-foot tall mound of mud and roots.
Get these two out of here!
Lana looked at Shalt who was looking her direction. She pointed to one side, Caser to the other. They would hit it from 3 sides together.
*********************
Max brought up one person then the other. It was still raining. In fact, the rain was coming down harder than they had ever seen it before. He then went back down to join Lana in this fight.
*******************
The earth user came running back without his cart looking for Dobin, covered in mud because he fell twice trying to get back. He quickly told Dobin what happened. Dobin listened closely then said, "get all the earth users back to shelter until the rain stops." He looked around for the team and found them helping the guys building the hanger to make it go that much faster. He whistled to get their attention then motioned them over. He told relayed what he was just told and they all ran to the area they were told about. They needed to see how far she had gone before they could go below and help her, if they could even get there in time.
Alto was the first to spot the cart in the distance so they immediately veered toward the direction she was last seen. They watched a body get dropped on the ground and started to panic.
They ran faster and Kattie slipped on the wet mud. Almin stopped to help her while Duff, Alto and Dobin kept going only to find two injured earth users. Alto and Duff picked one up each and Dobin called out, "Max!" hoping he was nearby, "Come get me!"
Dobin told the others to get back to the shelter and stay there as he felt Max grab him.
Dobin arrived to see his sister, Shalt, and Caser fighting what could only be described as a mud monster. So he decided that would be its name.
"I'm here sis!"
"Dobin!" she had some relief in her voice. Noone had been hit with the club-like appendages yet because they were all about the same speed but no attack has worked either. Shalt's dagger went in but left no wound. Lana was hurting it but not with her whip which also sliced through but did nothing She had abandoned it and was just using her martial arts skills and the skills given her by Raten.
Dobin smiled about the mud and started solidifying it with his ability. Lana saw the chest area hardening if the thing was to have a chest. "Distract it!"
She stepped back just a step and performed the movement of a hammer strike and put as much Qi in it as she could muster. The hardened mud shattered all over the area. There were no bones or sticks in the remains. Lana smirked. This thing just added dirt for her to garden in. She saw a shiny new crystal laying on the ground. The clarity made it sparkle in the light of her choker. She picked it up and realized she had not used the pockets in her gloves yet, so she put it in her left glove. She couldn't see it and she smiled once again at the ingenuity of Dilly.
They headed back the way they thought the shelter was. Max let her know where the sound of them building the hanger was so it wasn't too hard. Shalt made er eat something several times whether she was hungry or not.
**************************
Once they returned to the surface, Lana found the injured and healed them.
"I think it's time for lunch…" She smiled to everyone.
Everyone started getting up. The crew working on the hanger had stopped working as well. The rain was coming down too hard. They had stood under the small portion they got done hoping it would stop soon but it was too much.
Lana looked at the hanger crew, "I just suggested everyone eat lunch. Which is technically dinner… Were you able to get the frame up?"
"Yes, the frame is easy. We even got it under those trees like you requested."
"Yeah, how did you get those trees to lift their branches like that!"
Lana laughed, "my ability of course."
"That's the portion where we were able to build the roof."
Lana nodded. "In that case, someone handle cooking for me. I'm going to go build the command post. It will provide more shelter for working after our break."
Dobin and Shalt looked at each other and she noticed. "Not negotiable guys. We are here to work not sleep." She headed out into the rain. Since the mud was so slick, she put on her armor so she could use the spikes from the climbing roses. Caser walked using his claws as well.
It took her an hour to put it in but the crew now had more shelter to work in. Not that it mattered right now with everything soaked. Lana ate her meal with a big smile on her face. She had killed a king tier beast. Her and Quinn were even now. They got a lot of ground prepared before the weather turned. While she enjoyed her food she reflected on the amount of danger below. The hanger crew couldn't work until the rain stopped and everything dried up so tomorrow at the least. The best option was to head below and run the wall parallel to Row A. It would not enclose everything but it would give a safer way to extract the crystal if that portion was fully enclosed. They could open up what they needed to later. With the shelter this big, there would need to be an entrance at all the corners as well. An elevator location still needed to be decided but the farther out they went with the wall, the longer it would take to safety the crew. It would also mean there would not need to be a crew protecting the crystal extractors.
The decision made, knowing it was more work in the end, but this was now the second king-tier below and only two were able to hurt it.