The Driller's engine let out a distinct thrum that was both quiet enough to not be annoying but loud enough to be heard from beyond the walls.
Feeling the vibrations underneath his body, Ester glanced up at where Eva was piloting the Driller before settling his gaze back down on the thing before him.
Resting his head on his remaining hand, black creatures plural writhed within what remained of his arm.
It was the Corruption that he and Eva took out of Velux's big bro.
Currently inhabiting the once singular slime ball that Velux had found somewhere, their bodies slammed into the cage in unison, spikes aimed right at his face.
Thankfully he had reinforced the cage whilst the Corruption was still taking root in their cores elsewise they would've been a very dangerous problem.
That problem wasn't the last of the problems he had to deal with however as a question remained.
How to deal with the corrupted currently trapped in what remained of his arm?
The sword retrieved from what remained of his arm could be somehow fixed if Ester put in some effort.
But even if Ester put in the effort, the Corrupted's plural currently in the form of two slime balls the size of eyeballs wasn't exactly easy to deal with.
'Throwing it away was as it is is just asking for problems, killing it...' Ester looked around at the insides of the Driller, recalling each and every facet built into it. 'Is way to difficult to do right now.'
To kill a Corrupted, there were several methods, but the most common one was crushing them with an incredible weight, something that would require a long detour due to the drill bitless state of the previously aptly named Driller. Especially long considering Curse cores had Non Newtonian properties.
And considering how there was an unknown but definitely shortening span of time until the planet was swallowed by the Void, Ester would rather not take any chances.
So there was only one choice.
'I haven't heard of a Corrupted starving to death before but...' Ester flicked the glowing shell holding the Slime balls in place. 'There's always a first for everything.'
Since he couldn't crush them, it was necessary to leave them be until he found another method, if they died from hunger then all the better.
'But I feel like something's missing.' Ester tilted his head as he checked the protections surrounding the Corrupted's before locking it in place with an obscene number of fridge magnets.
'Oh yeah, how did the Corrupted at C-Point survive?'
Thinking about it now, since one of the methods to kill a Corrupted was an insane amount of weight, the Corrupted that was buried under the mantle built from earth, concrete, metal and other things shouldn't have been able to survive at all.
'But she did and now its a problem that's weirdly obsessed with me.'
Frowning underneath his mask, Ester recalled the sensation of the Corrupted's gaze lingering on him within the Rift between worlds before shaking his head.
'Even if I try to understand how in the void that thing survived, it doesn't change the facts.'
The Corrupted from C-Point was still alive.
'I guess I should distinguish them now that there are now more than one Corrupted gunning for my life now though?'
Eyeing the two eyeball sized Corrupted's continuously slamming their spike covered bodies against the cage, he roughly dubbed these guys as the twins and the Corrupted currently hunting him as the Vortex mouth before moving his gaze away from the cage towards the desk in front of him.
And on that desk was a bar of metal that glimmered softly underneath the ill functioning lights.
"...I never expected to see something like this before I escaped this planet." Ester mulled aloud.
Having been taught by the Gravesmith from a young age, Ester had heard of Star Alloys and their rarity.
He also heard of how unlikely it was for a bar of this size to be tossed away into the trash.
Maybe small chunks the size of a fingernail, but a bar half as thick as his hand and just about as long his forearm? Void to being lucky, there were definitely other circumstances behind it.
But it's better to not dig to deep into the circumstances surrounding the source
'Knowing to much is poison after all.'
Briefly falling into his memories, Ester felt the Driller jolt, eliciting a pang of pain to strike his chest
"Ack."
Rubbing his neck as he took in another breath of the gaseous medicine temporarily circulating through the Respirator, Eva's voice echoed from the hole above.
[T-This is for you E-Ester!]
"What the void did I do?!"
[Not e-exist for a w-week!]
"Fair enough!"
Feeling as if Eva was going to milk his week long absence for as long as she could, Ester returned to looking at the bar of metal calmly sitting in front of him as if their banter didn't exist.
Which now that he thought about it, it didn't.
So what was he supposed to do with this bar of star alloy in front of him?
'That's a stupid thought isn't it Ester?' Ester chuckled inwardly. 'Of course I have to make a new arm out of it.'
Pushing himself away from the desk, Ester ignored the constant splats of the Twins as he grabbed the Alloy on the desk, his thoughts occupied with memories related to the characteristics of Celesteel.
Forged in the presence of a star, it's durability was a lot higher than any of the metals commonly scavenged from their surroundings.
'Using it as a shell for my arm just because it's more durable is a stupid idea though.'
Just looking at it's glimmering appearance, even if they had no idea what it was, they would still try to take his head for it.
'I mean just looking at it, it screams expensive.'
Weighing the heavy bar in his hands, Ester elbowed the door blocking him from the engines, a heatwave greeting him the first thing he did.
'So the only logical thing to do is line my new arm's insides.'
Considering the fact that Celesteel's Aetherical conductivity was several tiers higher than in gold, it seemed silly not to take advantage of that fact.
Placing the bar of metal on top of the thrumming engines hissing continuously as water came in contact with it, Ester continued to think.
'Gold has been good enough to me but I'm curious how much better my arm would become if I use Celesteel? Would I be able to make wards with my right arm?'
Imagining all the possibilities that could occur, Ester slipped on a thick pair of gloves before opening the Engine's side door, exposing crystals embedded into a large circuit blazing with heat.
Almost instantly, the temperature rose a couple degrees.
It was to the point that Eva noticed.
[What t-the Void are y-you doing d-down there!?]
"Remember the Celesteel?!"
[T-The Kid actually g-gave that!?]
"D-Did I not t-tell you!?"
[No!?]
"Oh. Well I just did!"
[D-Don't burn yourself down there!]
"I'm crazy! Not Stupid!"
[T-To me your both!]
Rolling his eyes at Eva's final statement that seemed unwilling to give him the last word, Ester grabbed a large pot reserved for melting down metals and dropped the bar within.
'I'm honestly tempted to replace these gold wires for Celesteel ones since it'll make the Driller a lot faster but...'
Ester shoved the pot into the engine currently hot enough to instantly evaporate water.
'Then I wouldn't be able to do this.'
Considering the fact that a higher efficiency also meant less loss of energy through heat, Ester quietly nursed his disappointment and waited for the bar to melt so that he could start making his new arm.
Architects knew it would take a while before they reached the north where Project Void Buffer was occurring.
And honestly? Ester would like to have two hands instead of one to punch the numbskulls responsible for this.
---
26 DAYS SINCE PROJECT VOID BUFFER FIRST FIRED ITS FLAMES
+++
Tree that wonders if using one timestamp is enough instead of the three.
Tree that now understands why Batman is so against killing, when you skip one day, all the days suddenly look skippable