AWACS - An American With A Chinese System
Copyright© 2025 by PT Brainum
Chapter 38
He didn’t say anything for a minute, then he shined the light at me.
“How big is this obsidian deposit?”
“I’ll show you on the map.”
He crouched down, so I let him go and he slid down the tunnel. I walked down steadily, keeping an eye on the light coming in from below, as he still had my flashlight.
Anthony had the map unrolled on the ground, small stones holding it down at the edges. I summoned a marker, “ok to draw on this?” I asked.
“Yes, go ahead.”
Using a red marker I drew a long twisting snake like outline across the map.
“This is where the obsidian is,” I said, using a black marker I drew a smaller twisting outline inside the first, “This is where the obsidian is thicker than 15 feet,” I took a green marker, and marked another two areas inside, “these are areas where its more than 25 feet thick.”
“Is it solid, broken up in chunks, mixed with other ores?”
“I have no idea, my abilities just tell me there’s obsidian in large amounts.”
“This is incredible. The tunnel will be amazing, but if you can tunnel into the obsidian we could make hotel rooms, an event space, maybe even an underground cathedral!”
“Ok, that’s nice. Let me get this tunnel done first. This is taking more energy than I expected.”
“Are you all right? I mean, this is seriously amazing. Have you been working at this since yesterday?”
“Started after the rain stopped.”
“That’s ... That’s really impressive. Where is all the rock going?”
“I’ve been setting it on the ocean floor about 250 meters out to serve as a wave break.”
“What about the obsidian?”
“I was thinking of doing something fun with it. Haven’t decided.”
“That’s why you wanted the contract?”
“The contract let me do this,” I said, summoning the 30 meter tall seven foot by 11 foot obsidian plinth.
He stumbled back as the big rock sunk into the sand, and started to fall over into the ocean.
“Oops,” I said, returning it back where it was. Both actions had caused a surge of water to coming flooding up the sand towards the rock cliff.
“I was thinking, if you have extra rocks, could you build a path that went from here to St Paul’s Pool? It’s just right there?”
“Maybe. I might come up with something better. Hard to say, give me time to experiment a little.”
“Sure Koby, whatever you want. Let me know when the tunnel is finished.”
“Will do. Can I have the map?” I asked, even though it was a little wetter now than it had been.
“Let me get a copy of what you drew on it first, then you can come get it when you are done here.”
“Thanks. Back to work I guess.”
“Can I watch?”
“I’d rather not.”
“Understood,” he said regretfully, and started climbing back up the cliffside. It really would be safer if there was an actual safety rope on the Down Rope. I wonder if there used to be.
Once he was back over the cliff edge, I headed back into the tunnel. Grabbing the pilot hole, I surged my strength and my flight to rip it free of the tree roots. The obsidian itself helped, its sharp edges acting like scissors, cutting the roots. I rapidly darted out and summoned it to a flat spot. It didn’t fall over, so I went and got the next one, which was already starting to slide.
It had a good ten meters of obsidian on it, so I summoned it next to the plug that was all obsidian. The next couple were loose, but not moving, so I summoned them into the ocean. The last couple needed extra pulling, and then suddenly there was light coming down the tunnel, and a breeze going up it.
I examined the ground, and there was about eight feet of topsoil that would have to be removed, and concrete or some other reinforcement used for the steps at the top.
The dirt had fallen in and half filled the top of the hole, spilling down into the tunnel, and sliding all the way to the bottom. That wasn’t what I wanted, that much dirt would affect the beach.
I tried to figure out what to do, then hit on a crazy idea. I cut the 10 meters of regular basalt stone off the top of the mixed obsidian and rock plug. Once back in the tunnel, I summoned the plug in place, and got a good grip on it. With my strength dialed up as high as I had ever gone, I focused my flight and navigation powers on giving me a straight shot up and out of the tunnel.
There was an audible thump as I acted as the propellant in a big cannon. The stone went flying much farther than I had expected, so I quickly summoned it back into my hands, setting it on the ground.
I looked around to make sure no one saw that. This top area really needed a barrier for the dirt, to keep it from slumping back down the hole, now that it was mostly cleaned out. I called Anthony.
“Hey, the tunnel is clear, but I need the area around the top dug back to the bedrock so I can put in a retaining wall.”
“I’ll be right there with Dan, he’s our digger,” he said hanging up.
I jumped down the hole, and slid to the obsidian, where I shined my light into it, trying to see how far I could see. I realized the obsidian plugs were going to be a bit noticeable, so I slipped out over the water and dropped them carefully in the sea. Out of sight, but still where I could get them easily.
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