The Oasis Keeper: The First Drop Book 1: A LitRPG Harem Fantasy Adventure by Perrin Voss

Author:Perrin Voss [Voss, Perrin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2026-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

CLICK. HISS.

The sound was subtle, barely audible over the wind howling across the sinkhole's rim, but to Ratchet, it was poetry.

"Trigger sensitivity set to five pounds," the engineer muttered, wiping grease from his goggles with a four-armed flourish. He carefully buried the copper plate under a thin layer of grey ash. "A Fennec could walk over this. A man in armor? Not so much."

Cyrus stood at the bottom of the ramp, looking up at the winding path that led from the desert floor down into their sanctuary. It was a natural choke point—a narrow throat of rock flanked by jagged obsidian teeth.

"Explain the payload again," Cyrus said, leaning on The Drought-Breaker.

Ratchet grinned, tapping the buried canister with his foot. "It’s not high explosive, Cap'n. We don't have the nitrates. This is a Steam-Mine. I filled a reinforced canister with that muddy water you scavenged, then rigged a chemical heating element from the Vulture's emergency flares."

Ratchet mimed an explosion with his hands.

"Raider steps on the plate. The seal breaks. The water hits the magnesium coil. Flash expansion. The water expands 1,600 times its volume in a microsecond. It doesn't just blow their leg off; it cooks the meat right off the bone. And the best part? It turns the sand into shrapnel."

Cyrus looked at the minefield. Ratchet had planted ten of them in a zigzag pattern up the slope. It was brutal. It was necessary.

"It buys us time," Cyrus said. "But it won't stop a battalion. The first wave hits the mines. The second wave climbs over the bodies."

"That's why we have the Meat-Grinder," Ratchet pointed to the Vulture.

The massive sand-yacht was backed into a crevice near the cave entrance, covered in grey tarps to blend with the stone. Only the turret poked out, aimed directly up the ramp.

"I fixed the hydraulics," Ratchet said proudly. "She shoots straight now. But I only have twelve harpoons. After that, I'm throwing wrenches."

"Save the wrenches," Cyrus said, turning toward the cave. "If they get past the mines and the harpoons, they get to meet the sun."

The heat inside the Geode was rising.

Solara stood in the center of the cavern, her golden armor reflecting the dim purple light of the crystals. She was going through a series of katas—slow, deliberate movements that looked like a dance of destruction.

WHOOSH.

She punched the air, and a wave of heat distorted the space in front of her.

Cyrus walked in, feeling the sweat instantly prickle on his skin. "General. We need to coordinate."

Solara stopped mid-strike. She turned, her glowing eyes locking onto him. "Coordination implies parity, Aquamancer. I am a siege weapon. You are a utility caster. How do you intend to assist me? By handing me a towel?"

Cyrus ignored the jab. He walked up to her, holding his canteen.

"You're a reactor," Cyrus said. "You generate massive AOE heat. But heat alone just makes them uncomfortable. They have cooling suits. The Baron's Knights are water-cooled."

"I will melt their suits," Solara stated.

"Too slow," Cyrus countered. "And it costs you too much energy.

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