by Mills, H. C.
“On to the third and final natural type of crystal: Energy Crystals. Appraise.”
This time, I give them a moment to study the window in front of them, before continuing.
“Energy Crystals are crystallised forms of the Yin and Yang energies we know and love, meaning there are exactly ten types. They’re similar to Lavi Crystals in that they constantly give off energy without reducing in size, but a lot less stable. Apparently, conservation of energy is not a thing in this Realm. Now, you may think you haven’t seen these before, but you have.”
Alec picks it up. “Ooh, it’s actually warm to the touch. Hot, even.”
He begins playing with it, flipping it from hand to hand to distribute the Heat.
“Ooh, are these how they regulate the temperature?” Kaitlynn pipes up. “Are there crystals like this hidden in places where we usually don’t see them?”
“Yes to the first, no to the second,” I say, smiling brightly at her. “Apparently, the Twinstar is some kind of unholy fusion between a giant Yang Heat Crystal and a marginally smaller, still giant Yin Electric Energy Crystal.”
She narrows her eyes at me, silently begging the question if I’m bullshitting her or not. I give her my most innocent smile, but it seems to amuse her more than appease her suspicions. Honestly, where is the trust!
As the silence stretches and it becomes apparent that I’m not retracting my statement, Jacob scratches his cheek and mumbles, “The term ‘Realm of Crystals’ is starting to make sense.”
Dave nods mutely.
“Ouch!” Alec exclaims before he haphazardly tosses the Heat Crystal—that he’d unconsciously been holding in the same hand for too long—to Kaitlynn, who catches it bemusedly.
“Oh, it is hot,” she exclaims delightedly, before quickly tossing it back, inevitably sparking a game of hot potato.
I look on fondly.
Jacob does not. “Guys... guys, will you knock it off?”
Kaitlynn tosses it extra high. Alec jumps up to grasp it, but, well, he’s currently rather lacking in depth perception.
Kaitlynn gasps as it goes sailing straight through his arms. Alec freezes.
The crystal tumbles end over end through the Aether, in a wide arc, inevitably pulled down by the stronger gravity coming from below.
Jacob curses. A flash of yellow sends him rocketing forward. He dives for the crystal and catches it just above the floor.
For a second, it’s perfectly quiet.
“You idiots!” Jacob bursts out as he jumps up. “Didn’t you hear her say it wasn’t very stable?!”
They all turn to me.
“Ehm, well, yeah, relatively,” I bring out, fighting a smirk.
“Meaning?” Dave asks gently.
“That mostly means they have lower Toughness than the other kinds of crystals,” I explain. “Still a lot higher than the floor here, of course. Even if it did break it wouldn’t like, explode or anything. It’d just be kind of a waste, as the energy it produces increases exponentially with the size somehow. But, ehm, nice catch?”
Jacob stands there rigidly for a moment before dropping his head. “Right... fair enough.”
Alec finally can’t hold it anymore and bursts out in laughter. Kaitlynn at least makes a valiant effort to suppress hers.
Jacob’s grey-tinted skin flushes red as he walks over and petulantly smacks the crystal back down on the floor. “Not like you guys actually knew that,” he grumbles, but it just sets them off harder.
I exert my Willpower to suppress the smile trying to creep onto my face and decide to quickly continue and spare him further embarrassment.
“That’s not to say they can’t be made to blow up,” I warn them, bringing a swift end to their laughter.
“Let’s take this one, for example, one of the most dangerous crystal in the bunch,” I continue, ignoring the slight burning in my hand as I gingerly pick up a sickly yellowish-green glowing crystal. This level of Radiation is completely harmless, Suri assured me. I guess there’s no need to worry about cancer in a Realm where All Are One. “Appraise!”
I give them a minute to read it and consider the implications, and then continue.
“As you can read, Crystals of Radiation Energy—and Crystals of Toxic Energy, by the way—can be given Purpose. Which means, that lovely Crystal of Restoration over there,” I say, pointing at the pink glowing crystal in the ceiling, “is actually also a huge chunk of crystallised Radiation Energy. Probably more than enough to burn out all of our Lavi at once, leaving us all as lifeless husks, if someone were to set it off.”
Jacob actually physically flinches away from it. Like those two inches would make a difference.
Alec raises his hand again.
“Yes, you there, with the funny looking nose,” I say, pointing and gazing down at him expectantly as if I’m hosting a press conference.
“Ehm, yes, hi,” Alec says, his lips quirking upwards at the corners a little. “I’m with the, ehm, ‘Concerned Gazette,’ and our readers would like to know: What exactly would set such a thing off? But—and I’ve been told to stress this—they’re all just asking for a friend.”
I fight hard to suppress my smirk but end up snorting through my nose. Damnit, he actually got me this time!
Alec and I started an informal no-laughing competition before the last Trial, as a casual way to further hone his Willpower.
“Eleven to one, still in Emma’s favour,” Dave, our self-appointed scorekeeper, intones.
“Booyah!” Alec exclaims nonetheless.
I shake my head, and quickly school my features. “That’s a good question, sir, you can tell your readers to tell their friends the following: Never inject the opposing type of energy into an Energy Crystal, or it will come undone and explode to some gruesome effect.”
“Okaaay,” Alec says, frowning, “and just to be clear...”
“That means,” I continue, “that you should never insert the Yin-Yang Opposite Energy into an Energy Crystal. And before you ask: the five pairings are Heat with Cold, Vibrations with Lightning, Radiation with Toxic, Momentum with Inertia, and Gravity with Space. That’s why the Twinstar can exist, even if it isn’t very stable: it consists of Heat and Lightning, which are respectively Yang and Yin energies, but not an opposing pair.”
“So,” Jacob rasps, “we’ll be fine as long as you don’t attempt to Infuse the Crystal of Restoration with Toxic Energy?”
I smile serenely. “Exactly.”
“Good. Please don’t,” he deadpans.
“I’ll try to contain myself,” I promise lightly, fighting the urge to cross my fingers behind my back. “Truth be told though, blowing up the Crystal of Restoration should be relatively harmless, as that energy has been given the Restoration Purpose.”
“Not this one, though,” Dave says, picking up the Radiation Crystal. “So if we develop some kind of delayed method of activation, could we turn this into a Radiation Grenade?”
Oh man, I hadn’t even considered that yet. “Well... yes. I suppose we could.”
He nods, unperturbed. “We’ll have to see if we can figure something out then...” he mutters. “Not sure if 100 Onkh is going to be enough to really kill something either, considering the size of our Lavi Pools.”
Wow. For a guy who, just a few days ago, grew pale at the thought of violence, he’s awfully cool about this.
I guess we’re all adapting pretty fast. Not like we have much choice.
I shudder and decide to hurry on to the final subject. “There’s one more type of crystal I managed to learn a bit about, and that’s also the most valuable crystal Alec stole,” I say, picking up a fist-sized, perfectly octahedral, white crystal. “Appraise.”
Dave lets out a low whistle. “That could come in handy.”
“Indeed. Now, Focus Crystals, as opposed to the ‘natural’ types of crystals, are artificial,” I explain. “I don’t entirely understand how they work, though. It’s supposed to be mostly crystallised Yang Qi, but th
ere’s a core inside it that’s Yin or something, to help stabilise it and to help it attract and store Yang Qi. Trying to forcibly store Yin Qi in it would break it, but not make it explode or anything. Just shatter.”
“Too bad I only grabbed a Yang one,” Alec grumbles. “Wait, what type of crystal was the trident made of?”
I shrug. “I ran out of time, and I couldn’t exactly appraise it, as it’s gone. I did ask about the eye-crystal, but that was classified, unsurprisingly. I have a feeling neither of those two falls under the three ‘natural’ types of crystal, though.”
“Yin-Yang Qi Crystals, Lavi Crystals, and Energy Crystals,” Dave sums up. “It’s interesting how they’re all made of energy. On the one hand, they have incredibly high Toughness, yet they can also be quite volatile.”
“So, how are we going to divide this stuff?” Kaitlynn asks, scrunching up her nose. Then she winces and turns to gaze uncomfortably at Alec.
The rest of us follow suit.
Alec blinks over his eye-crystal. “Hey, I just put it in a backpack, you guys managed to drag my sorry ass here after that. Let’s just try to divvy it up in a way that makes sense.”
Dave nods. “Sounds fair.”
And so we do. Some of the decisions are easier than others.
Like giving Dave the Radiation Crystal, that’s a no-brainer. His Radiate Skill is already level 2, and it’s the perfect training tool to help him add the regular Radiation to his arsenal without wasting Trial Points on a Skilldream. Even if a half-Skilldream would only cost him 13 Trial Points because of course these bastards round up.
All right, not exactly the worst thing they’ve done to us, but still, it’s adding insult after injury!
Anyway, another easy one is giving me the purple glowing Toxic Crystal that Alec was rather horrified to learn he’d grabbed. The 0.1 Onkh of Toxic Energy it emits per minute hardly tickles my skin when I hold it at this point. And Toxic Energy, unlike Radiation, doesn’t penetrate stuff. The emitted Toxic Energy just kind of dissolves and spreads into the Aether. Therefore, I just keep it stuffed in a closed container—currently, I’m using an emptied-out cockle shell, bound together with some straps of blue leather. Apparently, once the Aether is saturated, Toxic Energy stops building up.
Guess conservation of energy not being a thing works both ways: it can both be created out of nothing and dissipate into nothingness if there is nowhere for it to go. Super weird.
Then there’s the blue Electric Energy Crystal—the very one that had shocked Alec back in the temple, causing him to give us away. Apparently, Electric Energy can build up in that one a bit over time. The little shit zapped me too when I first took it out of the bag, so I gleefully suggest giving it to Alec, so he can grow more familiar with the energy he’s learning to manipulate.
Watching him struggle with the prospect of picking it up is highly entertaining.
It takes a long time for the energy to build up again, however, which makes it infeasible to use it to really train Electric Tolerance.
Of the Energy Crystals, that just leaves two Heat Crystals. One obviously goes to Kaitlynn, and by process of elimination, that means the other one goes to Jacob.
I guess finding a Crystal of Momentum for him would’ve been too much to ask for. Honestly though, getting some more kinds of Energy Crystals would’ve been very nice, even if just to experience those energies first-hand.
Anyway, we unanimously decide to give Jacob the Yang Pearl and Minor Lavi Crystal as well. He’s still lagging behind us in both of those aspects, while he’s more than proven himself a valuable companion. Plus, an extra use of his Increase Momentum Skill is something all of us can see the value of.
As for the Medium Yang Focus Crystal, that one we decide is simply too valuable to really ‘give’ to someone, so for now, it’s in shared custody of Dave and Kaitlynn, who can both stand to gain from attempting to practise charging their respective Skills beyond the 10 Onkh limit of their current Focus Crystals.
Finally, that leaves a single Yin Pearl.
With this one, we run into a stalemate, as Alec and I both insist the other one should take it.
Simply put, I still feel guilty. Giving it to him wouldn’t absolve me in any way, but it would be a nice start to a meaningful apology towards him. The stupid blond git, however, refuses to accept it, and insists he wants to give it to me as a thank you for saving him.
The rest just stay out of it, apart from sending amused glances our way. Eventually, Kaitlynn breaks up our bickering, pulling on my sleeve with a frown before letting me know that she’s hungry, and I need to stop arguing with the chef.
Thus the argument is suspended, while Alec starts preparing us a feast of something none of us has had in at least a month: seafood.
Soon enough, I am desperately practising for Meditation level 3, in an attempt to cut off my sense of mouth-watering smells.
Kaitlynn ‘helps’ by occasionally assaulting my senses of hearing and touch with attempts at tickling me. Of course, it’s not conducive to my training either that I can’t help but play along, glaring and grumbling promises of revenge when she least expects it.
It is only after we gather around for dinner that our argument finally comes to a conclusion. Surprisingly, the one who ends it is Jacob, who cracks up after opening his boiled cockle, to reveal a second Yin Pearl.
CHAPTER 15
Greased lightning
“LET’S GO OVER WHAT we lost in terms of equipment and supplies,” Dave suggests after dinner.
I sigh but nod. Let’s just hope we haven’t lost too much.
First, we go over our food stocks. Thankfully, most of the Trigot meat in Alec’s backpack is still accounted for. We’ve lost some water bottles, jicca nuts, and birberries, but with the fish and shellfish we gained in return, it’s not all that bad. There’s free Hydrum here anyway, from the taps, and we’ve all at least still got our waterskins.
My bottle of Moonshade Sap is still very much intact, but I’m afraid there’s little left of my stash of Dreamcloud powder, as most of it was washed out of the pouch I kept it in. I think I’ll save the remainder to help me practise Infusing its Purpose in the future.
Now the part I’m most worried about: our gear.
To start with, Dave used up or lost all of his arrows, and Kaitlynn is down to four knives after I hand her back the one I used to kill the chief.
Thankfully, Dave found out we’re allowed some freedoms with the purchase of replacements for lost equipment. He can get ten shiny new arrows for a single Trial Point, meaning he can refill his entire quiver for a mere 3. Meanwhile, Kaitlynn is allowed to purchase replacement throwing knives for a Trial Point apiece.
Mmm, that’s actually exactly how much they cost in the first place... I ask Dave to check what a new bow would cost him, and Rose confirms my suspicion that it’s 7 Trial Points.
I’m so glad my spear landed the right way on the grating for Kaitlynn to pick up, as there clearly wouldn’t have been any discount on a new one. Unfortunately, the same goes for Alec’s hammer. Pretty sure it’s still in the chief’s temple. Though I guess that might’ve already been cleaned out after we cleared the Trial. Would they just put it back in the shop’s inventory? Always so many questions left...
Dave looks over at Alec, his expression inscrutable. “How many Trial Points do you have right now?”
Alec smiles wryly. “Well, I had 14 Trial Points when we entered, managed to kill two froggo Croakers before I was, ehm, blinded, and with 20 points for completion and the 10 for the bonus objective, that brings me to exactly 50. A Skilldream for Meditation level 2 will set me back 30, leaving me with 20, which I’d prefer to save up for the next step towards Regeneration, but... well, I can’t really enter the next Trial without a weapon, so I guess I’ll be down to 10.”
Dave nods and reaches back to grab something. It’s one of those two-pronged spears from a Hoplite. He holds it up to Alec. “I’m asking ’cause I was thinking you should use this
, at least for the coming Trial. I picked it up on the grating. It’s a good weapon for under-Hydrum combat, definitely much better than a hammer.”
Alec grasps it happily and gets up to give Dave a hug. “Thanks man, I appreciate it!”
That brings us to the final member of our party.
“Well, since you guys salvaged my shield, I only need a new weapon,” Jacob says, nodding thankfully at Dave. “A new shortsword would cost me 5 Trial Points, so I guess I’ll just get one of those. It should work well enough, even under-Hydrum, I think.”
I look at him thoughtfully. “How many Trial Points do you have?”
He looks at me for a second before replying. “68. I was thinking of getting a medium-grade Skilldream and saving the rest. Why?”
“Well, I was thinking, since your share of the loot includes a Yang Pearl and a Minor Lavi Crystal, if you have the Trial Points to spare, you might want to buy a Stardrop, and do what I did in the previous preparation rooms.”
His eye widens at the suggestion. “Ugh... I don’t know, Emma. I’m not a glutton for punishment like you.”
Hardehar. I raise my brow and cross my arms over my chest. “Don’t be a pussy. You have a Willpower of 12, yes?”
He nods reluctantly.
“A Stardrop only costs 10 Trial Points,” I continue without mercy. “Using one would double the effectiveness of those two lovely items of yours when used in tandem. Sure, it hurts a little, but if you could raise your Qi Pool by 10 Onkh instead of only 5, isn’t that worth a little pain?”
Jacob grits his teeth for a moment, but ultimately closes his eyes and slumps. “Ugh. I really hate you right now.”
Alec gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, with only a hint of a smirk.
My eyes narrow and zoom in on him. “Actually, Alec,” I say in a saccharine tone, “I think we should perhaps save these lovely pearls as well, and see if we can’t wrangle up some more Minor Lavi Crystals ourselves. It’s kind of a waste to use them like this, right?”