With Nemo's spell settled, so true was the skeleton's ambush. The blast and the resulting shrapnel had dispatched the trap's undead reserves, leaving nothing left to throw at the unconventional party. The gates leading deeper into the catacombs soon opened, giving off a grinding whine as the large doors dragged across the floor's surface. It was perfectly evident that their first trial was not over and they per permitted to advance.

All of a sudden, everyone's manadial went off with Felix's returning voice coming through the magical devices. Travis fiddled around with his own manadial until he found the earpiece to the still personally-not-so-well-understood contraption in his hands. Felix, unexpectedly, congratulated everyone in an overly blissful manner, betraying a rather calm and professional mannerism as observed before. Nemo gave a casual bow and returned thanks to those whom made his spell all the more effective. Travis nearly became blushed in receiving so much praise, from an Arch Mage no less.

"Erm, yes. Ah, I certainly made due with what I had. Pleasant to know it contributed well in the end." Travis returned, sounding awkward in his attempt acknowledging the compliments.

While it was difficult to take note during the fight, Travis recounted the spells that were utilized by his compatriots. Though he had accepted his limitations, Travis was somewhat humble about his "lacking" mana endurance. While he could not ascertain the number of spells everyone was capable of mustering, Travis himself knew he had a wide arsenal at his disposal. But many times in the past, did he had quickly confirm how draining his spells were and the physical toll they came with as well. With such a fight leading into a battle of attrition, Travis knew how risky some of his capabilities were had he used them, especially more than once.

While in the end, his reserved but logical participation proved efficient, as an Untalent however, there was more he wished to efficiently perform. Perhaps there was something he could soon learn from his other allies just as his influence for his next rune project had come from Artos' earlier presentation. Raiya's Shinto-based magic came off like an enchantment that helped projected the main spell through her blade. The intelligent utilization proved very effective against the skeletal orge, decimating it in one go. Enchantments were not outside of Travis' scope; in fact, it one of the things he could adequately manage on short notice, provided proper necessities available. As he thought more about it, a possible and likely repurposing of one of his new runes could prove radically effective as an enchantment.

Nemo's massively destructed spell was simply something Travis had not anticipated on. The amount of mana needed to even charge such a spell would have been ridiculously high. While perhaps it would have been a chunk for a Talent to deal with, Travis couldn't even hope to last in the casting process. However, its creation did require the projection of a graphical construct of some sort; something that begged Travis' curiosity. Despite the Latin trigger word and potential backgrounds with the Church, he pondered if the large "X" from earlier was more than just representation. If anything it seemed similar like casting a rune spell. However its process was performed, he imagined an alternative manner for one of his deadlier tricks if the time arose.

Felix eventually explained that the catacombs they now travel through were the conceived final resting place of a now deceased people called the Valakites that were said to, literally as Felix detailed, disappeared from the face of the Earth. A sudden inclination came to mind as he turned his head back to the carnage and the heap of bones behind him. Travis himself researched into the subject of the Valakites and the ware they waged with the Jews but to learn that the Academia had a hand further elevated his astonishment further. First the denial of the Paragons, then the existence of the catacombs, and now the burial grounds of a lost people. What else had the Academia been involved in that was not campus known? It the very thought intriguing but was grossly outplayed by how terrifying the possibility lead on. Raiya seemed deep in thought as well while Nemo expressed hunger, seemingly towards the mana crystals as before as Travis recalled the puzzling man dropping a shard down his gullet. Dare he ask why that was a thing?

Immediately upon stepping out of the previous room did they now enter into a hallway with lanterns of similar make as the rest of the place lighting up as they passed by each one. Felix warned of an upcoming room which split into different paths. Instead of having everyone move through their own pathway as Travis had immediately thought of, their advisor however advised against that course of action and instead openly preferred everyone to stay together in order to adequately deal with any danger likely lying in wait no matter the path selected.

Nemo and Raiya had begun to build a conversation as they strolled ahead, maintaining their assigned formation while he in the middle and Artos on rear. The hallway itself seemed more and more expansive with their two leaders still talking about their past lives. Travis didn't know quite know if he should take the opportunity to listen to them but the with the manadial earpieces laid in their ears meant a private conversation was on foot. Whether it was recreational or mission related, Travis certainly had no chance of involving himself in the matter. Given the time they seemingly continued to obtain as they continued down the hallway unopposed, Travis decided to take the moment to brainstorm more on his projects.

His cryogentic rune concept was very much incomplete but had a reasonable design to it that could make it just as efficient as his more explosive rune. While heat and oxygen was an easier factor to produce, water however demanded more attention to detail and create for that matter. Collecting the H2O in order for the rune spell to freeze could be pulled of from the surrounding moisture. But what if the climate was hotter though? It was likely he would need to incorporate a water projection spell into the mix. It was feasible but how much additional mana could that need? Travis wasn't necessarily picky really efficiency was now the apparent requirement now that he was capable creating something easily effective.

It was when they reached the space Felix mentioned did Travis, almost unknowing of their location began to turn his attention to Artos, seeking input from his icy comrade. But with a sudden click coming from beneath Rayia did Travis hear the load crashing sound of two heavy forces colliding against each other. It was so close that Travis nearly reeled forward has his ears briefly ringed. While he didn't flinch as much, a sudden inclined thought occurred to him, causing him to slowly look behind him, with dread soon washing across his face.

Nemo rested his hands back into his jacket pockets as they continued on. He looked back, seeing Travis and Artos still following along. As he turned back he took the time to reflect to himself. "Not good, not good at all. My attempts at socializing always end the same way, with that look of fear and unease, it makes me very... frustrated." Nemo thought.

"But expecting any different would've been vacuous." He continued. "It's a pain to think about it, Felix's opinion of me likely hasn't changed all that much, and on top of that it's unlikely I can still beat him. He's improved while I've stayed the same. However, that's only if it's a fair all out fight."

"The student doesn't bother me, he seems honest, I can respect that, but the same thing can't be said about the other two."
"She's a schemer..."
"He's a schemer..."
"I really don't like schemers... The difference between them is that I can make a good guess on what her angle is already. She just wants to go back to her own business, I'm an obstacle to that, so I must be removed."
"But the swordsman, he's different, I don't know what he wants, but he's bad news, I know that. That really bothers me, it bothers me so much I just might have to-" Nemo was cut off from his thinking when the walls suddenly slammed shut.

Nemo turned back, seeing Artos gone and a pool of blood seeping out from the crease in the wall. "...I guess some things just work themselves out." He finished.

He turned to Travis, looking to the wall, Nemo then glanced over to the other routes now that they were in the room. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Nothing can be done about it now, and we have to figure out what route to choose."

"Well... What's important is that we continue on." Raiya said. Though, with the war she was waging in her own mind, the words she spoke had very little weight behind them.

She looked ahead at the multiple passage ways directly in front of her. The room they were in was comprised of the southern passage behind her, that lead into the room and was now closed off, and five passage ways to the north. The two walls to the east and west were completely barren, and everything was made out of the black mana crystal inlaid granite. The ground the ceiling, the walls, all made of the same substance the doors they had opened previously were.

Each passage way was lit with a mana crystal torch. Though, it was easy to see that some of the torches, the middle passageway's and the passageway directly to the right of it, were lit brighter than the others. Also, the ground in front of the middle passageway was sufficiently scuffed up, as if it had been the most popular route. None of the other passageways were as scuffed on the ground as the middle one.

"So, what do you guys think? Which one should we choose?" Raiya asked.

Travis at first was hesitant in replying to Nemo's query. The sudden crashing sound of granite and Artos' presence vanishing in an instant had not only caught him off guard, but also paralyzed him with sheer horror of the scene. Travis himself was not accustomed to death, assumingly unlike Nemo or Raiya, given their behaviors and mentioned histories. He had known Artos for nearly a day and even talked to him; a conversation between two human beings. In a blink of an eye, Travis' cold colleague was no more, deprived of voice and meaning and existence. Artos was dead.

It took the Untalent nearly a moment to recognize Nemo and eventually Raiya behind him, telling him with almost seemingly absent care there was nothing that could be done now. Instinctively and influenced by sorrow, Travis would have lashed at both of them for not shedding the least amount of credible acknowledgement for Artos' passing. A comrade was just killed and no one seemed to care enough to mourn their tragic departure. It was nearly infuriating to him, so much so he clenched his teeth and coiled the fingers in hands into noticeably tight fists.

But he was better than that and knew full well there was really nothing to be done. Logic of the situation rang clear and it was time to move on. The sooner they can overcome the catacombs dangers and reap their reward the better. Despite his ever intrigue for securing the Paragon, he pondered if recent events were worth the effort it apparently demanded.

"I...I'm fine." Travis finally replied to Nemo though still recovering from the fatal occurrence.

After turning around and re-grouping with Nemo and Rayia, Travis peered down the five passageways before them. At a first glimpse, there were almost nothing that separated each passage from the other. But upon closer examination, the illumination of the lamps on the central and rightmost passage beside it were lit the brightest. But the biggest different was the center passage as it barred the most wear of repeated use where as the others remained untouched.

"The middle one looks like it was traveled the most...but I am not sure if thats either a a positive clue, "Travis paused briefly as he summoned his mana-analysis ability, "or a forewarning."

"We know that the last people to travel this route were Academia. And they made it out to make that seal. So instead of the most commonly used route, if we can figure out what the most recently used route is, that would make things easy." Nemo explained.

Since Travis seemed keen on investigating it, Nemo looked over to him. "A tip I also used when faced with possibly fatal passageways, is looking for the one with signs of people coming out on the floor." He added.

"Yes." Raiya concurred, "Sensibly, we know that Academia were the ones to place the Paragon in here, and this only happened within the last century. If they had wanted to, they could have used magic to conceal the wear on the ground. But on top of the trodden ground, there is also the mana crystal, which obviously has more power than the others." Raiya stretched her hands up behind her head, and interlocked her fingers as she thought.

"With those things together, we can pretty much so guarantee that the middle passage is a trap, it's much too sloppy to not be on purpose. But what about the one to the right? It's mana crystal has more power than the others. But..." Raiya sighed, "It's pretty likely the one to the right is a trap too. It's easy enough to transfer mana between crystals. To leave any mana in the crystals of any of the passageways would be counter intuitive. Unless you fueled all the crystals with the same amount. So, the one to the right of the middle one has to be a trap as well."

Raiya dropped her arms back down to her side and reached for her flask, but then remembered it was empty, and let out an even larger sigh than her last.

"Let's see... So that just leaves the last passage all the way to the right, and the first two on the left." Raiya explained.

Signs of people coming out on the floor...Thought Travis, repeating Nemo's suggestion in his mind as he brainstormed a solution to this new puzzle. Finding the tracks leading out was quite feasibly the best way to determine which passage was neutral. But as Raiya pointed out, it was also likely magic, as in an illusion spell, would be used to hide the previous traces from being quickly discovered and thus providing as little clues as possible in discovering the correct path.

Listening in on Raiya's further input regarding the passage lamps and their distribution of mana, it was safe to say that the center and rightly adjacent passages were clearly fatal traps. So that leaves only the two passages on the left flank and the passage to the far right. All three passages they now had to select from bore hardly any differences from each other in comparison and the mana radiating from these lamps burned at the same intensity too. So what could be done to find sniff out the right path?

After a bit of silence, Travis looked down at the mana crystal embedded ground below him. As Raiya pointed out earlier, the only activity within these catacombs occurred more than a century ago. Any previous maneuvers by the catacomb's architects or other former personal would have left residual traces of anything that come through here or was touched or handled. Such traces would have been continuous wear as evident from the central path or as time would often dictate, the collection of dust and the imprints formed as a result. But since there were no currently visual traces to go by, it was likely an illusion spell was indeed at work.

However Travis had a solution to this if his developing theory was however accurate. It was as simple as Nero said; look for the traces of those exiting. “Stand back. I think I have an idea.” Travis announced unexpectedly.

Whether Nemo or Raiya complied or not, Travis immediately began to set out to work with mana quickly began to pour around his hands had he cited and unheard incantation. A bubbly orb of pure ebony soon formed between his two palms, growing larger as the spell continued to charge. As it germinated and reached out around them, its hazy aura dimmed the light coming from the lanterns and slowly faded the room into darkness as a result. With enough of the dark substance collected, Travis finalized the spell with sparks of lighting jolting from his fingertips into the mass. Within an instant, the mass exploded quickly and violently but harmlessly passing by everyone as it absorbed all light around them and enshrouding everything in natural shadow.

“Sorry about that.” Echoed Travis’ voice from the darkness as he apologized for the spell’s rather intense reaction, "The spell should fade away on its own. Shouldn't be long."

Soon another spell was casted, this time a small wisping sphere of unusual luminescence. The light it gave off was of low nearly purplish yield that only penetrated a portion of the shadow that encompassed them. But what the light was actually doing, as soon as everyone looked around and finally at themselves, was illuminating the fluorescent colors of everything the strange light could reach in vivid detail.

“During my time in Mexico, I had modified the traditional candle spell in order to give off an ultraviolet-light or by the more public term, a black light.” Travis explained as he produced a small powdery cube from his chest utility belt and crushed it in his hands. "Added with this stuff, it proved helpful in navigating some of the Mayan and Aztec ruins, especially with pointing out traps or hidden passages."

His fingers would smash into the powder, separating the tiny particles from their compressed from before Travis blew air into his now open palm, releasing a briefly thick cloud, instantly illuminated by the radiance of the UV-A candle spell. As the powder settled throughout the room, details from the past were soon visible under the dim light. Hand prints, tracks on the ground, scrapes, and blood, all soon reacted with the powder upon them. Travis walked forward with the glowing orb following him, exposing more of the room as he pushed ahead. Some of the passages to the middle and right glowed with detail, revealing tracks heading into them.

Soon as he turned to the left, did the light then reveal another but a unique set of footprints; ones the lead out. “Bingo.” said Travis as he stood at the left of the center path.

Raiya whistled a descending scale of amusement.

"First the slab, and now this? Color me impressed, Bookworm." Raiya headed through the passageway left of the middle passage. The darkness in front of her, made it impossible to see. So she flicked her wrist, turning her palm to face upwards and a blue bright ball of electrical mana danced in the air abover her palm, illuminating the passageway. The passage was a long thin hallway, that was just wide enough for one person to walk through at a time. She could see far enough ahead to know the hallway took a sharp and angular turn to the left.

She turned back to face the group, "Well, let's get going then," Raiya said, before venturing a bit deeper in to the passageway.

"Very ingenious, Travis." Nemo agreed as he followed Raiya into the passageway. After a few moments of walking he continued. "Let's just hope the... walls don't close in on us." He said, looking to the side. "That would be unpleasant." Nemo finished, he hoped none of them were claustrophobic.

After the accident from before Nemo made sure to scan the ground for anything out of the ordinary as well.

Raiya continued down the hallway following every sharp turn until eventually, a dull blue light could be seen from the end of the hallway. As she got closer, she could see the hallway expanded into a large, circular, cave-like room. To an ordinary person, the room would have appeared to be unfinished, as if the rock was removed from the area only enough to make the room a room. But Raiya could tell, just from the smell of the place, that this room left the way it was, a cave-like musky room, was no mistake. The room was more than 50 feet tall at the highest point towards the middle, the walls all jagged and roughly cut. Stalagmites and stalactites had formed over the years as water dripped down from cracks in the room's ceiling. The room was about 300 feet around, but the shape of the room was more oblong than circular. In the middle of the room was a large 50 foot circle of mana crystal torches attached to 6 foot wooden shafts, each one attached to its own shaft. All the torches were charged with the same bit of mana, and even though they weren't fully charged, they were bright enough to illuminate the whole room in a dull blue glow. In the middle of the ring of mana torches was a 30 foot pile of rubble, and at the top of the pile of rubble was a brightly gleaming purple mana crystal.

No, Raiya could tell this room was left unfinished on purpose, this wasn't a room many people spent a lot of time in, and if she had to guess, with the feeling it gave off and the small smell of blood still staining the room, this was a chamber for sacrificial rituals. And by the smell of it, it was not animal sacrifices, but human.

Raiya used manalysis to survey the room, but as soon as she activated it, her senses were overwhelmed. The mana coming from the small fist sized purple mana crystal at the top of the pile was no ordinary mana crystal. It overflowed with a seeming endless supply of mana. It felt as though the crystal was going to push her down with the weight of all the near limitless mana it contained, and crush her. Feeling the aura it exuded, it almost felt like a living being, and the aura humbled Raiya giving her perspective of just how small and feeble her own mana pool was. Then it donned on her, and she couldn't help but whisper out, "So this is a Paragon..."

"Ḑ̥̦̩i͏͙̱̱̪̤d̘͎̦̪̜̻͇͟ ̡̮̫̩̼͈̺̪y̮̗͉̟͖ou̞̣̠̙̤͟ ҉sa͇y̜̠͙͇̝̘͢ ̫͚̼̬̗͟Ṕ̳̰͇͕͔̮a͕͈̮̩͖͝r̖͖̲̤͖̝ͅag̝̘͇̱̫̯̗͟o̮̭͙̟̘̟n? ̳͎̺̀R̭͈a̧͚i̴̪̙̤̘y̝̘̬̼a̹͘, ̲̼̮̻̹ḑ̼̰̥̦̼̟į͚̙ḓ̵̝͉ ̧̰̙̩̺̙y̳̤̥̦̣̺͝o̵̙͓̱̪̜u͈̦͕͝ ̠͕̩̠̞̳g͈̰̰̱̪u͇̩y͞s͕͖̪͚͇̼ ̱̤̳̱̀m̙̝̕a̝̳̜̩̜̗k̷̰͖̠̖e͉̙ͅ ̰͕̞i̩̥̗t̹ ̗̜̼̻t̵̝̤̼͎̭o̝̩͓͍̲͚͖ ͕̜̠̝t̛͈̤̞̙̥̖ͅh̤̞͍̖e̥̘͕̪̦̞ ̱͔̟̜̠͕͕p҉̭̰̭̯̦͕a͜r͇̝̝̟̬ͅa̦go͉͎͝n̴̮͙̘?̩̯ ͙͕̹̬̲̼I̗̺̺̣͞ ̷̥c̛̙a̼̰̗̖̘̫n̸̫̹̥̗̙'̩̹̤̺t̫́ ̵̮̼̰ḥ͖̤͚̮e͙̤ar҉ ̣͓y̛o̪͕̪̤u͇̙ ̻̥̫̬͉͕̭v̗͍̜̖͉͜ȩ̺͚̮r̮͔͚ͅy̠͍̮̯ ̯͔̙͕̩͎͕we̹͚͚̜͘ͅl͔͓̫̙̕ͅl̼̹̼̺͈. Raiya?" Felix said.

"What? Felix? I think the Paragon is causing an interference. Felix?"

There was a moment of what could have sounded like Felix's voice attempting a reply but the static was so great that the voice could not be discerned. And then a steady static overtook the voice comms. Raiya sighed and then removed the earpiece.

Turning back she asked, "Well, who wants to volunteer to go up there and get the Paragon?"

As Nemo walked further down the passageway he began to sense the presence of what could only be the paragon. The massive power of the artifact gave him a feeling of hunger, only amplified once he made his way into the chamber of the artifact. Nemo's concentration was interrupted by the static over the intercom, resulting in him turning it off with his manadial.

"I will." Nemo suggested as he began walking over. He figured that it was likely that with abilities such as the ones he possessed, people didn't really trust him touching the paragons. If he planned to turn on the group, attempting to absorb one of the paragons would be the go-to choice for most people in his shoes. However Nemo was a man of his word. He did what people asked of him, and no matter how tempting the raw mana of the paragon may be, he has a duty to fulfill for now.

The pile of rubble wasn't much of a challenge for him, he gracefully hopped from rock to rock to the top of the pile. Once Nemo made it to the top he finally was able to get a good look at it. It really was beautiful, but now wasn't the time to admire, he reached out his left un-gloved hand and touched it.

As soon as Nemo's hand came in contact with the crystal, a purple burst of mana forced a wave of kinetic energy outwards, sending everyone within the general vicinity off their feet and backwards. The closest, which was Nemo, would be sent further, than the others, of course.

Raiya was forced back four feet, and was swept off her feet, and tumbled through the air but maneuvered her momentum into a flip and landed safely on one knee, her right hand on the ground.

"What massive power." Raiya marveled as her manalysis detected the surge of energy that was just forced out. Her own aura merely a firefly to the supernova that was the Paragon.

After the blast of mana, the rubble began to collectively shake. Then, the rubble arranged itself into a large human-esque effigy. When all was said and done, there stood a towering 30 foot rock monster, with the Paragon in the center of its head as if it was an eye.

Raiya summoned her odachi in an electrical burst of mana, and drew it, taking a defensive stance.

"IT'S A GOLEM!" Raiya shouted, "IT CAN USE THE PARAGON TO CAST SPELLS"

While never having seen undead raised by mana crystals, she had seen a golem animated by a mana crystal before. She was all too familiar with what they were capable of. Casting spells was a steeple of most golem programming. And she assumed this would be no different.

Following Raiya's lead, the remaining trio navigated the route Travis had successfully determined to be the correct path to traverse. While their female lead continued to refer to him as a stereotypical noun based on personality and profession, it was a decent change in gratitude and intrigue; at least in an amusing sort of way. Nemo, like last time of course, openly acknowledged and congratulated his efforts and wise thinking once more. While fame and the pleasantries of acknowledgement of his defiant skills as an Untalent in comparison to those born with more efficient reserve of mana were normally outside of his humbleness, it sometimes proved to be a guilty pleasure not to indulge in.

Further down the path, Nemo presented a rather unusual remark regarding the walls closing in as if to present an already familiar and observed fate. While Travis didn't respond, he knew what Nemo was talking about. They better not, initially thought Travis in reply to Nemo's statement but he was however confident in that they were safe for the time being once more.

Without realizing until it had already loomed over them, the narrow pathway they traversed only for a few minutes suddenly expanded into a massively large oval-shaped chamber. Unlike the rest of the architecture found in the previous sections of the catacombs, this stadium-sized place appeared unfinished as if construction of this chamber had suddenly ceased, leaving the rocky foundation left intact with portions of natural mana crystals growing out in certain sections. While it was a very unusual change in scenery in contrast to the pristine craftsmanship observed previously, it disturbingly added up to the presented emotional atmosphere with ancient stains of blood on the crude floor near the middle of the large cavity they stood in.

At the near center of this new room was a circle of wooden posts with brightly glowing mana crystals mounted on them. The crystals gave off a blue hue that radiated so intensely, the entire room despite its massive structure was illuminated. As impressive as that was, it paled in comparison to what laid upon the apex of a collected tower of rubble at the very center of the entire chamber. Up on the rising makeshift pillar was a larger violet-colored mana crystal of unusual design and properties. However, while its appearance was unremarkable, its unimaginable aura nearly dropped Travis to his knees. As an Untalent, he did need to use his mana-analysis to inspect the tremendous amount of mana that emanated before them. It was then Raiya referred to the purple crystal a the Paragon they had been searching for in which case Travis repeated in the back of his mind in marvel of their prize.

Reality snapped back into mind and being with Travis when Felix attempted to contact them right after over hearing Raiya's comment through their mana dials. But the quality of his voice was terribly garbled as if there was some sort of interference present within the room. While Travis still did not understand the device well enough, he deduced that the Paragon in all of its immense power, was likely to blame for their inability to communicate with Felix.

When proposed who would venture to claim the Paragon, Nemo volunteered to do so. While it seemed that they had finally completed their objective and claiming the Paragon would be a simple task now, previous events had proved though that this place was definitely unforgiving to those who did not keep an aware conscious around. Just at Nemo touched the Paragon, Travis suddenly found himself looking up at the cracked ceiling with his back to the poorly maintained ground. It took him several seconds in order to realize that and powerful pulse of some kind, likely kinetic based, had surged from the Paragon and as a result, easily sending all three in the party to the floor,

When did Travis eventually get himself back on his feet, he and everyone had then found the pillar of rubble at then reformed into a humanoid mass that Raiya quickly determined to be a golem. What was worse about this particular golem was that the Paragon, a crystalline construct of unimaginable power, was embedded into the golem's "head". Even Travis knew how bad this was as the Paragon now was acting as mana-battery for the golem; a battery filled with unending power.

"So..." began a very worried and yet optimistic sounding Travis as he slowly back away from the golem, "any ideas how can we stop something with an infinite well of mana backing it?"

Whoops was the last thing that went through Nemo's mind before being flung across the room. As he soared Nemo took the time to feel the breeze on his face and view the party from above, upside down. After taking a few moments to enjoy it Nemo suddenly locked his hands together, the action seemed to spur a short distance warp spell, sending him standing back upright onto the floor.

One thing that could be noted was that during the delay before the spell finished the space between Nemo and his destination seemed to optically distort, telegraphing his destination a split second before it finished.

"If it can repair itself like the last constructs, destroying or removing the crystal that powers it is likely the only option. Considering we want to keep the paragon intact, we'll probably have to remove it." Nemo still spoke calmly as he replied to Travis despite being flung moments earlier.

"I can't say for sure, but I think that the Paragon's are pretty tough. If they were fragile, they wouldn't be able to survive their own power. So we shouldn't have to worry about physically damaging it. A large aura is protecting the crystal..." Raiya stopped herself and examined the paragon further. "Actually, the Paragon reminds me a lot of manalloy. Like Felix's manaegis. Unlike normal mana crystal which is an actual ore, this feels like its made from purely concentrated mana. It is almost as if it is an aura manifested into a tangible object. Physical attacks will not hurt it, and it would take too much power to destroy it with magic. Don't worry about damaging it." Raiya explained.

While not a large expert on tomes, and ancient magic, Raiya was an expert on mana manipulation and understood mana theory to a great extent. Memories of spending hours plumbing the depths of her mana pool, feeling mana and understanding it flooded through her brain.

Within the minute or so of the exchange of dialogue, the golem shifted its head towards the group, as if to gaze at them. The paragon bean pulsing, as the golem used its power to analyse its opponents. It was obvious that the golem was up to something, but impossible to tell actually what that thing was.

Considering Raiya's explanation, there was no risk of actually damaging the Paragon, not like they could anyway if the relic did in fact live up to its fame. Anticipating a full on assault was necessary, Travis was already pre-planing a selection of spells he could use to support the two far more capable Talents in their trio. But as he plotted further, he caught the golem was still looking at them with no visual intent to engage them at all. While it was crude thinking, Travis would admit he would have anticipated the golem to attack them by now but it continued to maintain its neutral stance. With the Paragon as its seemingly de facto power source, it was a wonder if the earth-based construct ran on a systematic and reactive thought process or if it was actually sentient and was determining the trespassers' abilities and intentions.

"In that case," Travis cautiously looked back at the observant golem, "go ballistic and hit this guy with everything we got? Flat out assuming reason is completely out of the question."

"Now we're talkin'." Nemo replied to Travis' suggestion. He held his right palm out, causing a white X shaped glyph to appear in front of his palm and hover in place. Nemo then made a finger-gun gesture with his hand, his thumb being the hammer. The glyph glowed bright white and let out a faint hum as it charged, until Nemo suddenly dropped his thumb down, discharging all the energy from the glyph and into an explosive beam straight at the Cyclops Golem with a bang.

The golem moved its hand immediately as the blast was fired, placing it in the trajectory of the blast. It's Paragon eye shimmered and as the blast came within contact distance of the stone hand, the blast was refracted and diffused around an invisible shield of mana.

The golem's eye light up once more, and a beam of energy about two feet in circumference emitted out, hitting the ground to the right of Nemo and moving horizontally from right to left. Everywhere it touched erupted in a wall of flame, and was moving at a rate of two feet per second. If no one moved from their current position, it would disintegrate everyone.

Nemo stood in place and used his warp to send him forward and out of the way of the death ray. He was confident the other two could handle themselves and thus didn't expend the mana to assist them.

"I'll get him!" Nemo called out, a noticeable hint of fake confidence and sarcasm in his voice. He picked up a grapefruit sized stone on the floor and suddenly hucked it directly at the Paragon. It was a seemingly futile action, but Nemo did want to find out what the Golem's reaction to a physical threat would be.

The gollum analyzed the stone before it was tossed, assessed it wasn't a threat and allowed the stone to hit the Paragon. The stone disintegrating into tiny pieces of gravel on contact.

The golem turned its focus towards Nemo, and send a physical punch in Nemo's direction.