The sun dipped beneath the horizon as Lassim flew high above the sands that were now transitioning from the southern continent’s desert in the northern region to the open plains region of the south. He still had a bit further in his journey back to the outpost where the landscape would change once more to wooded forests, cliffs and occasional mountains.
Though, as he flew, his thoughts churned like a restless tide. The bearkin had been a formidable opponent after it became enraged, far more dangerous than its Spirit Transcendent stage, level 6 power should have allowed. Its berserk state, plus those odd skeletal markings, and the sheer pressure it emitted wasn’t normal.
As Lassim adjusted his flight path slightly with his gaze fixed on the darkening horizon, Mari broke the silence from within his inner heart world, her voice tinged with curiosity. "[Still thinking about that bearkin, child?]"
"[Yeah,]" Lassim admitted, "[There’s something about it that doesn’t sit right. I can’t stop thinking about how it seemed... unnatural. My working theory is that the Spirit Quartz could have caused it somehow. I wonder if living next to the crystals for its whole life has caused that kind of evolution or alteration?]"
Mari replied, skeptical yet thoughtful, "[It was definitely affecting it but—it could’ve been influencing it another way. Spirit beasts are sensitive to mana, but if the quartz holds Spirit Sense like we believe, who’s to say it didn’t overcharge the entire veins somehow and it being obviously attuned to them reacted when you came in and lit up the entire place?]"
Lassim hummed in agreement, though the exact mechanics eluded him. "[Whatever it was, the quartz definitely played a part. I’ll leave the theorizing to Rlyis and Eno when we get back but they should at least know about it before we start using it.]"
When Lassim turned his attention to what Zaphy was doing, curious about her input, she seemed too busy chasing some fish within his heart world to even care what they were discussing. He smiled and let her be.
The journey continued in companionable silence, broken only by the occasional hum of wind as Lassim adjusted his [Tempest Steps] to speed up, looking forward to returning and possibly taking a nap after the initial delivery and discussion of Spirit Quartz was finished.
Despite the questions and theories swirling in his mind and the long journey continued through the night, a faint smile crossed his lips as the familiar silhouette of the southern coastline came into view the next day. It was still far in the distance, but a day and a half of near-constant travel had brought him back to the outpost in the middle of the forest nearby.
Lassim felt his shoulders relax as he descended, landing lightly outside the entrance of the workshop.
Inside, Rlyis and Eno paused their work, turning to greet him.
Around them, neatly packed crates of the newly completed and remade Thick-body guard constructs lined the workshop, their stacks organized with ribbon labels that detailed and addressed which locations they would be going to.
"You’re back fairly quick," Rlyis said, setting down her tools and striding forward. Her sharp gaze flickered to the whale-skin pouch at Lassim’s side. "Did you find it?"
"I did," Lassim replied, pulling the pouch free. He walked to an open workbench, clearing a space before carefully retrieving the quartz pieces. The smaller shards came first, their faint glow casting soft light across the table. Finally, he removed the unique shard, its silvery-white brilliance drawing immediate attention.
Rlyis’s eyes widened slightly as she leaned closer, her expression a mixture of curiosity and awe. "This one’s... different."
Eno approached, his brow furrowed in thought. "Hmm… The formation conditions must have been unique. This might be a once-in-a-century grade piece. Was there anything unusual about where you found it?"
Lassim paused, setting another shard down carefully before turning to face them.
"The island was... fairly different. It was misty and dense with vegetation—thick ivy, towering trees, and this strange blue moss that seemed to guide me to the cavern where I found the Spirit Quartz veins. Everything about it felt untouched, almost primal."
He folded his arms, his expression thoughtful. "As I moved toward the island’s center, I felt there was a reaction to my spirit sense as well. That’s what mainly brought me close enough to find the blue moss."
Eno tilted his head, intrigued. "Interesting that you felt that too. I wonder what the correlation between it is. The quartz might amplify certain sensations or reactions to Spirit Sense in such large quantities, making it feel more present than it is. I vaguely recall feeling that similar sensation when I was there for the first time."
"Maybe," Lassim said, "But the beasts on the island were strange too. The smaller ones scattered as soon as I landed, as if they were aware of my cultivation level and dangerousness somehow. Even the larger ones kept their distance, watching, despite my best efforts to reign in my spiritual pressure within my body. It felt like they knew exactly how strong I was and avoided me."
"That’s odd," Eno muttered. "I wonder if being around the quartz has altered them somehow. I don’t recall that happening to me, but I was much, much weaker than you when I last went. I was only Spirit Growth stage during my researcher travels. What about the cavern itself?"
Lassim’s expression grew more serious. "The cavern was lined with the quartz. It was everywhere on the walls. The glow intensified the longer I was there, and the veins pulsed even brighter when my Spirit Sense touched them.
"Was that all?" Eno asked. "Did you have any trouble while gathering the quartz?"
Lassim let out a dry laugh. "You could say that. While I was extracting the quartz, I ran into something. A bearkin-like creature."
"A bearkin?" Rlyis repeated, setting the unique shard down carefully. "How strong was it?"
"Spirit Transformation stage level 6, but at first it seemed to have a strong intelligence to it as it walked on two legs, with glowing skeletal markings along its body. However, it was enraged with me being in the cave and seemed to lose most of whatever reasoning it had when those markings lit up as it attacked me."
"That sounds like a moon tribe beastkin," Eno said cautiously, "or maybe something close to it. They’ve got a tribe of bearkin here in the southern continent that are mostly demi-human beasts with some sense of communication possible with their claw writing system. What did it do?"
"It was strong, fast," Lassim explained. "It came at me with this slightly unreasonable, wild aggression. As the fight went on, its strength increased too. Its markings flared brighter, and it entered some kind of berserk state."
Rlyis frowned. "With the glowing, could that be tied to the quartz?"
"I can’t say for sure," Lassim admitted. "But the way those markings flared up—it definitely felt connected the more I thought about it. And when I finally killed it, the markings faded and its energy dispersed, almost like the quartz stopped fueling it."
Eno leaned forward, his interest clearly piqued. "That’s worth investigating. If the quartz interacts with living beings like that, it could explain the beast’s behavior. Did it seem... unnatural? Like it wasn’t just a coincidence?"
"Unnatural is a good word for it," Lassim replied. "The entire island felt like it existed in its own world, tied to the quartz in some way. Even without the beast, it would’ve been an eerie place to explore."
Rlyis tapped her fingers on the workbench, her thoughts racing. "We’ll test the quartz first. Whatever affected the beast might be tied to its nature rather than the quartz itself. But if we find even a hint of what you’re suggesting..."
"It could cause issues with the construct. Thank you for sharing and hopefully it won’t cause any problems." Eno finished, his gaze flicking to the crystals scattered across the table.
Lassim shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Well, I grabbed as many as I could before the cavern collapsed after the fight. Hopefully we’ll have all the shards you need to figure it all out."
Rlyis spoke again, "Well, let’s get to it and figure out what this stuff can actually do. If it doesn’t work as a vessel like we need it to, at least we’ll have enough for a large chandelier we can sell to some rich noble for their new estate or third mistresses’ mansion."
Eno chuckled in agreement, already jotting notes into his ledger from what he could sense of the mineral using his innate metal element’s mastery. "We’ll start with the basics—see how it reacts to Spirit Sense. Then we can test its limits."
Their focus shifted to the smaller shards, and Lassim began channeling a small amount of Spirit Sense into one. The quartz responded immediately, glowing brighter as it absorbed the energy.
"It’s holding steady," Rlyis observed, watching intently. "The glow is stable, no flickering or irregularities, but we already know how it reacts to Spirit Sense."
Encouraged by the results, Eno suggested a new test. "Let’s try and see if we can cause it to discharge the spirit sense into anything other than glowing. If we put it into a construct, it’ll need to channel the spirit sense we charge it with into the rest of its system."
Nodding in agreement, "Already ahead of you." Rlyis pulled out a rudimentary array she had already prepared for this test after having a similar thought yesterday.
She then took one of the charged and glowing Spirit Quartz and placed it into the middle of the array plate. When activated, the array successfully drew the stored Spirit Sense back out of the quartz. It came out as a small milky white line above the array plate and then the release mechanism was just to turn it into a small series of floating balls that released in a controlled burst of three a second before dissipating harmlessly into the air.
"Wow. It works," Rlyis said, slightly surprised. "Thankfully it can also release Spirit Sense too."
Lassim watched the process closely, "What about intent though?" he asked suddenly. "Could the discharged Spirit Sense be converted into intent like we need it to be?"
Eno stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That’s the hard part. How do we load it with intent or make it create its own intent after we’ve activated the construct? Neither I, nor Rylis have intent of our own."
Lassim suggested, "How about using my lightning spirit fish? They already carry my intent," he explained. "So, if they can enter and exit the quartz, we’ll know it could be possible… right?"
The suggestion intrigued them, and they debated the idea for several minutes, exploring potential methods on how to test the theory.
Eventually Lassim carefully summoned a single lightning sprite fish when they decided simple was best—just push it forward and see if it can enter or not. The translucent creature sparked with life, its form darting playfully in the wave of mana above his hand.
Lassim guided the lightning sprite fish toward a small Spirit Quartz shard, its glow intensifying slightly as the fish approached. The sprite hesitated at the surface for a moment, its tentacle tails whipping and wriggling back and forth with curiosity before slipping into the shard entirely.
The quartz reacted immediately, its glow growing slightly brighter and its color shifting to the same azure and violet holographic coloring of Lassim’s runes.
Surprisingly, Lassim maintained his connection to the sprite, even feeling its presence to where exactly it was within the shard. After a few moments, he attempted to call it back. The sprite emerged, but its form was visibly diminished—smaller and less vibrant, its energy clearly reduced.
"It’s not retained the full strength," Lassim noted, his voice tinged with frustration.
Eno examined the shard, nodding slowly. "The quartz is holding onto some of the energy somehow, even after the sprite exits. It’s not perfect, but it’s functional as a vessel."
"Let’s try the century crystal. I wonder how that will react," Rlyis suggested, a bit eager with anticipation.
Lassim summoned another sprite fish, this the same size and consistency as before.
Carefully, he directed it toward the unique silvery-white shard. The quartz responded immediately, its glow intensifying with a purer, steadier light. The sprite entered without hesitation, disappearing into the shard’s depths.
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This time, when Lassim called the sprite back, it emerged entirely unchanged. Its energy was just as strong and vibrant as when it had entered.
"That’s incredible," Rlyis said, her eyes wide. "The century crystal doesn’t diminish the energy at all. It’s a perfect vessel with no input or output resistance loss!"
Eno added, excitement creeping into his voice, "If this shard can retain energy without any loss, it’s perfect. It should be the centerpiece of our construct."