Chapter 178: Crystal Pills
Holden walked into the main bunker living area carrying a sack the size of a small child.
Everyone was there. Emric sat at the table, polishing his glasses with a cloth that was dirtier than the glasses. Renna was lying on the floor with her bow on her chest, staring at the ceiling and mumbling about arrows. Lyra stood by the window, watching the rain, her spear resting against the wall beside her.
Maeve was at her radar station in the corner, tablet propped up, scanning the perimeter.
Holden dropped the sack on the table.
THUD.
The table cracked down the middle of one leg, and the whole thing tilted sideways, spilling Emric’s cleaning cloth and the small stack of tactical papers he had been organizing.
"What," Emric said calmly, staring at the tilting table, "is that."
"Money." Holden pulled the sack open.
Blue light flooded the room as dozens of Aether Crystals spilled across the table’s surface. Military grade, high purity, each one glowing with enough concentrated energy to power a ward station for a month.
Renna sat up so fast she banged her head on the edge of her bow. "Ow. Ow. Wait, is that what I think it is? Are those Aether Crystals? Where did you GET those?"
"Found them."
"Found them WHERE? You don’t just FIND a sack of crystals! Did you rob a supply tent? Please tell me you didn’t rob a supply tent."
"I didn’t rob a supply tent."
"Then where"
"I robbed the people who were robbing the supply tent."
Renna blinked. Emric blinked. Lyra turned from the window.
Maeve looked up from her tablet. She studied Holden’s face for two seconds, then looked at the crystals. Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses, and she didn’t ask questions. She already knew the answer was something she didn’t want details about.
"You stole from the people who were stealing from the military," Emric said slowly, picking up one of the crystals and examining it. "So technically, you recovered stolen property."
"Technically, yes."
"And you’re going to use it for the team."
"Well... it’s a good day, isn’t it?"
"Then I will not ask further questions." He set the crystal down. "The legal implications are complicated, but the practical application is clear. These crystals contain enough raw energy to produce multiple batches of purification pills."
Holden pulled the Aether-Crucible from his Inventory and set it on the table. The artifact hummed as it touched the surface, grooves lighting up with amber warmth.
"How many pills can we get?" Lyra asked, walking over and picking up a crystal. The blue light caught her eyes, making the glow in her irises sharpen as she turned it in her fingers.
"From this many? Enough." Holden started feeding crystals into the Crucible. "Emric, you and Renna are getting one each. Lyra, you’re getting two."
Renna raised her hand. "Question. Why does Lyra get two?"
"Because Lyra is already Rank 2, 3-Star. She needs more energy to push higher. You and Emric are Rank 2, 1-Star. One pill each gets you to 2-Star."
"How do you know my exact rank?" Lyra asked.
"I pay attention."
She looked at him. He looked back. She didn’t press it.
The Crucible went to work. The amber glow intensified as the artifact broke down the crystals, burning away impurities and condensing the pure energy into small, glowing pills. The process took twenty minutes per batch.
By the end of the hour, four pills sat on the table. Two pale blue. Two deeper azure.
Holden handed them out.
"Emric, take this one and swallow."
Emric took his pill, examined it briefly, and swallowed it.
"Renna. Take this one."
Renna grabbed hers and downed it before anyone could say anything. "Done! Already swallowed! Tastes like blueberries. Is it supposed to taste like blueberries?"
"Holden, the remaining pills," Maeve said from her station. "Are they safe for someone at Lyra’s level?"
"They’re safe." He looked at Lyra. "Two pills. Take them both."
Lyra took the first pill and closed her eyes. Her breathing remained steady as the 10x Learning Buff worked silently in the background, helping her body process the energy without resistance. After thirty seconds, she took the second.
The energy hit her like a wave. Her eyes opened wide and blue light pulsed across her skin. Frost crept along her arms and up her neck, then melted just as quickly as her meridians absorbed and processed the surge.
She exhaled, and a long stream of freezing mist poured from her lips.
"Rank 2, 4-Star," she said quietly. She flexed her hand, and ice crystals formed between her fingers before dissolving. "The energy settled cleanly. No backlash."
Meanwhile, Emric and Renna were going through their own breakthroughs.
Emric stood still with his eyes closed. His skin rippled, the metallic sheen deepening for a moment before settling. His muscles tightened, his posture straightened, and when he opened his eyes, his pupils contracted sharply.
"Rank 2, 2-Star." He pushed his glasses up. "The cognitive enhancement is noticeable. My processing speed has increased by an estimated fifteen percent. Spatial awareness is significantly sharper."
He looked at his shield leaning against the wall. "I want to hit something with this. For scientific purposes."
Renna was less subtle about her breakthrough.
"YES!" She jumped to her feet, electricity arcing between every finger on both hands. Her hair stood on end, literally lifted off her shoulders in a crackling halo of static charge.
"I can FEEL the difference! It’s like someone turned up the volume on my body!"
She fired an arrow at the wall so fast it was a blur.
thwack.
It buried itself three inches deep in the concrete.
"Well done," Lyra said, and there was genuine warmth in her voice. "All three of us leveled up in under an hour. That’s not normal."
"Nothing about this squad is normal. I’ve stopped being surprised."
Holden leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching them.
"Good. Because the next part isn’t normal either."
Before anyone could respond, Maeve’s radar station screamed.