"Structural stability," I mouthed wordlessly. "Zero."
I hurled the crystal with all my might toward the cave roof.
Tink.
The crystal struck the main stalactite. It cracked. The pent-up energy inside detonated upon impact.
BOOM!
Not an explosion of fire, but a concussive shockwave. The cave ceiling collapsed. Tens of tons of jagged rock in free fall. The serpent had no time to dodge.
CRASH! CRACK!
A rain of stone slammed into its body. Sharp stalactites pierced through its scales, pinning the massive creature to the floor. It shrieked—an ear-splitting hiss—thrashing and destroying its surroundings.
A boulder ricocheted toward me.
THUD.
A heavy blow to my left ribs. I was thrown back, my spine slamming into the cave wall. My lungs emptied instantly.
Cough...
Salty blood filled my mouth. My ears rang with a high-pitched tinnitus.
Limestone dust billowed thickly, suffocating the air. Up ahead, the serpent's movements slowed. Stopped. Its head had been crushed by the largest stalactite.
Silence.
On its forehead, a crystal the size of a soccer ball gleamed in the dark. Its glow was unstable. Pulsing sluggishly like a short-circuiting nightlight, it emitted a pale purple hue that hurt the eyes if stared at for too long.
Hah... Hah...
My breathing was heavy. Every pull of air felt like dragging a cheese grater across the inside of my left chest. Broken ribs. Maybe two, or three. My lungs felt wet—a sign of internal bleeding.
Medically speaking, I had less than an hour before hypovolemic shock shut down my brain function.
I crawled.
My right hand, covered in scrapes and fresh calluses, reached out, trembling. This wasn't greed. This was the only medicine available in this hellish pharmacy.
Ten centimeters left.
The air around the crystal felt statically charged. The fine hairs on my arms stood on end. There was a low hum, a sound inaudible to the ear but vibrating deep within my molars.
This was dangerous. A crystal of this size... the dosage was likely lethal.
But the choice was simple: die slowly from blood loss, or die quickly from an explosive evolution.
I chose the latter. My palm touched the cold surface of the crystal.