Chapter 97: Gemma

As the drone feeds flickered with the rich geological data of UHS2, the system panel abruptly materialized two crisp notifications in his peripheral vision. Both the bookmarked interfaces for Universe 5757 and Universe 339 flared to life, pulsing with an insistent red light.

‘What’s with these two? Why are they texting in sync?’ Keon thought, his processors instantly partitioning to handle the incoming data. He bypassed the Universe 339 message for the moment, prioritizing the interface for Universe 5757.

A message from Trosso appeared in front of him,

[Universe 5757]: “Congratulations for successfully passing phase five, I already believed that you would be among the victors.”

Keon glanced at the message and replied with efficient brevity, “Thank you, congratulations to you also.”

After a few seconds, the response materialized again:

[Universe 5757]: “I should be the one thanking you, I couldn't pass it without your help.”

Keon observed the reply, noted the resolution of the interaction, and dismissed the interface without further text. He immediately switched to the Universe 339 channel. As the message loaded, his pupils shrank.

[Universe 339]

“Hey, it's good to see you survive this phase 5, a lot of people has failed again. Anyway, I want to ask you about the magic crystal you have given me before. Can you provide more of these magic crystals, especially if you have higher quality magic crystals then the one before, then i will exchange it with more powerful flame, wind and lightning crystals.”

Keon’s expression grew puzzled. ‘What does it mean by powerful flame, wind, and lightning crystals?’ Then, a realization struck his core. ‘Is it some kind of elemental species? That explains the thousand tons of luminous crystal I received; maybe its talent is related to the crystals.’

He immediately inferred the details about the species of Universe 339 from its words, his gaze deepening. ‘Although I can now synthesize true luminous crystal directly with my talent and no longer strictly need her raw material, it would save time if i can directly buy cheaply from her instead of transporting material like quartz and then synthesis them into luminous crystals myself. Also, she claims to have flame, wind, and lightning crystals that are stronger than luminous crystals. I should exchange them. With my talent, I can perfectly analyze and synthesize these material also.’

After a moment of strategic calculation, Keon conveyed his response: “I really have magic crystals. The yellow magic crystal I provided before is just a Tier 1 crystal. Tier 2 is a green magic crystal, Tier 3 is a blue magic crystal, and Tier 4 is an orange magic crystal. But these higher magic crystals are extremely precious and available in limited quantities. If you can tell me the properties of those flame, wind and lightning crystals that you mentioned, I might consider exchanging them with you. Also, I will only exchange Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 crystals for now. Tier 4 is out of the question; I only have one or two pieces of this crystal.”

Keon observed the text, nodding thoughtfully.

‘This response looks fine. I can feel the sincerity in the message, and it revealed the resources in its possession directly. If I want to gain this species' trust, the response must be equally befitting.’ He clicked the send option calmly.

…

On the other side, in Universe 339, within the Crystal Continent, a humanoid female figure with hair like spun quartz sat cross-legged on the crystal floor. The terrain around her had transformed significantly since her previous exchange with Keon. She sat amidst massive, newly formed crystal peaks... transparent structures with light yellow color swirling inside them.

These magic crystals were fundamentally different from the lightning and flame crystals she was accustomed to. While they could gather and store magic energy from the atmosphere, the quality of the magic remained static. Her body was also capable of generating this new power, but she could not compress it like her other inherent light, wind, flame, and lightning powers.

‘Probably magic power crystal has no higher grade,’ the crystal-haired entity thought, frustration coloring her mental state. ‘But I cannot give up this magic power now. It boosts my other elemental attacks and reduces my consumption; just this level of magic power doubled the speed of my crystal domain expansion.’

Her brow furrowed as she glanced at the panel, noting that since she sent her message, no response had appeared. ‘I hope he has higher-grade magic crystals, or I will have to find another way to accelerate the expansion of my crystal domain and level up faster. If I am stronger, then I will have the chance to find and meet my parents and siblings.’ Her thoughts drifted, lost in the haunting clarity of memories from her previous life, waiting for the signal that might change her fate.

She recalled the scene of the restaurant where she was struggling in her previous life. The grease-slicked floor, the manager shouting, “Gemma hurry up, customers are waiting.” and the crushing weight of a shift that never seemed to end.

She could almost smell the acrid scent of burnt oil and the stale air of the crowded apartment building where her parents and two younger siblings barely scraped by. She remembered the sheer, frantic terror of watching her father be loaded into an ambulance, his breathing shallow and jagged, and the hollow ache of knowing that her part-time wages were a drop in the ocean of their expense.

Then came the freeze, the pull, then the voice of that high dimensional being. And the world... the entire world changed forever.

The crystal beast blinked, the memory receding like a tide. She is no longer a struggling student. She is now a level thirty-nine Elemental Crystal Beast. She looked down at her hands… limbs composed of living, faceted minerals. This is the figure she sometimes maintains using her sub talent crystal transformation. She does it in order to remind her about previous life, her family.

Ding!

Suddenly, a crisp and familiar sound resonated within her mind, cutting through the heavy, mineral silence of her domain. Gemma immediately shifted, her crystalline posture snapping to attention as she looked at the interface.

The translucent blue light cast sharp highlights across her face. A smile, angular and prismatic, broke across her face as she saw the message sender,

[Universe 8888888888].

“I really have magic crystals. The yellow magic crystal I provided before is just a Tier 1 crystal. Tier 2 is a green magic crystal… Also, I will only exchange Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 crystals for now. Tier 4 is out of the question; I only have one or two pieces of this crystal.”

As she read the first part of the message, visible joy surged across her features, though her thoughts were rapidly becoming a complex, calculating web.

‘He really possesses the higher level magic crystals.’

She thought, her internal cognition processing the data with a speed that mirrored the rapid flow of her own crystal generation. ‘Tier 1, 2, 3, 4… and he even color-coded them. This is amazing.’

But as her gaze lingered on Keon's request about her elemental crystals,

“If you can tell me the properties of those flame, wind and lightning crystals… I might consider exchanging them”

Seeing this section of the message, her expression froze. A hesitant, puzzled crease appeared on her brow, shifting the light across her mineral skin.

‘Properties? How am I supposed to explain the properties?’ she panicked internally. ‘I just generate them. I exert my talent, and the power manifests. How do I explain that to him? Should I tell him simply that, unlike light crystals that store light, these crystals store lightning, wind and flame energies?’

After thinking about it, she tapped a sharp, mineral-tipped finger against the air, rereading the final lines of his message. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the reminder of Keon about Tier 4 magic crystal: “I would not exchange Tier 4 magic crystals. I only possessed a few of them.”

Her thoughts flickered, a dangerous, tempting possibility surfacing in her mind. ‘Should I reveal it? If I tell him that I can produce as many Tier 4 crystals as I want... if I just get hold of one... then I could provide him with an endless supply. I could be his sole, unlimited resource.’

…