Although the roughly 40 of us were relatively calm, to any normal person on Earth, what we were witnessing would be no different from a movie about the end of the world.
Off in the distance, hundreds of news helicopters, media vans, reporters, hell, even government workers, and typical rubberneckers were watching on in horror as the giant pillar of light extended toward the sky from the ground.
I didn’t doubt that hundreds of millions of eyes were watching what was happening on their TVs or listening on the radio; I had seen similar things before when the Descent of Arkadia began.
While this was nothing new for us, for the people of 1999, it was everything. Every news outlet and TV channel was covering the "Colorado Lights,"
It didn’t take long for the ground outside of my control to begin eroding away and transforming into a fast-moving flow of Earth being drawn toward the Inscription.
It was like being caught surrounded by a flash flood or mudslide; everything around my little Geomancy island was moving, and occasionally, we would catch sight of what used to be a building or a car and, frequently enough, corpses.
Some of the softer Returners even wanted to jump into the flowing matter to try and save people, but when they realized that the soil was moving at a speed too fast for a Non-Ranker’s eye to register, they quickly tossed that idea aside…even Sonas.
Even in the case of Brenden or my father, with their Physical Strength and Talents, they wouldn’t be able to last long fighting against the flow; only someone with a talent like mine could, and even then, at best, I could stun the ground for a time and turn it from its liquid-ish state into solid long enough to run back.
But if I did so, I would run the risk of accidentally getting my family killed…not that it was even a thought in my mind, no, while I was observing my surroundings through my perception, my eyes were locked onto the Inscription as it rose off the ground to allow the resources to spill in.
Seconds turned into minutes, then hours, and after 7 hours of continuous erosion of the Earth’s crust, the Mountain’s formation began.
Meanwhile, the wall of light, which had been over a hundred feet tall, had drastically thinned down to maybe a couple of feet and risen, leaving the ground and meeting the top.
It was like watching the destruction of something in reverse; the drawn-in resources began stacking on top of each other as the image I had drawn half a day ago was manifesting before our very eyes, but there was more to it than that.
I knew that below ground and out of sight, the base of the Undead Tower’s structure had been completed, and only now was the top half forming.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and without looking back, I knew it was Erik trying to get my attention.
"How are you holding up? You’ve been using your Talent for hours; that camel pack of yours must be running low on Potions by now. Do you need more?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice, primarily because he knew the second I ran out of PC, the hundred-foot stone pillar I had been controlling could collapse, sending us all to our doom in the river of rock and soil still flowing toward the forming Mountain.
"*Tooie*, I’m fine; if I were only drinking Potions, I’d have run out long ago. The camel pack is filled with Particle Water, and it’s still half full, so I can keep this up all night if I need to," Spitting out the tube, which had been in my mouth for some time now, I responded.
"Good point; based on your diagram, we are nearing the end; three peaks have already formed, only two left." Either ignoring the fact that I was claiming to have a large amount of Particle water on hand, or he didn’t care, Erik seemed to overlook what I said and changed the topic.
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Still, I didn’t miss the slight annoyance in his voice, which said more than words could ever. It was clear he was trying to lend aid to me in the hopes that he could draw me into his Guild.
"Indeed, the fourth peak is forming as we speak, and in 15 minutes or so, the outer structure will be completed, leaving only the Instance Transfer and setting in place."
"I noticed you haven’t mentioned the citizens of Colorado. Are they dead or somewhere else?" This comment from Erik, although subtle and nearly drowned out by the ever-constant sound of flowing rock blasting our eardrums, was caught by roughly everyone present, the softer returners of which wore heartbroken expressions.
"They are fine; one of the first things that occurred was the modeling and molding of the instance, followed by teleportation of any living being into it; they haven’t been here for hours and, right now, are already starting their journey."
"I see…I wish them well then…because if everything you’ve told us so far can be trusted, they may very well not see the light of the outside world for years to come…if ever."
"Bit morbid there, aren’t you?" I quipped as I reached down to grab the camel pack tube so that I could drink down some more particle water.
"I prefer to be called a realist; we all remember how many people were killed off during the Alpha Acclimation. I expect the death toll will be quite high with this incident. The Final peak has formed, and the resource flow is slowing considerably."
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With a loud sound akin to a sword being unsheathed, followed by a low-pitched hum, the Mountain was complete, and the Inscription began shrinking at a visible rate, closing in around the Mountain as the final step of the process started.
Then…with an extremely bright blast of light, the Runic Inscription merged into the Mountain, signifying the Manifestation of the Undead Tower had reached its conclusion.