Chapter 31: A Thousand Jewels
Soleia gasped as she caught the wet glint of fresh blood; the splash caused by the droplets seemed to echo in the dark tunnels, as though they were thunderous footsteps.
"Princess, don’t look so alarmed, it looks a lot worse than it actually is," Ralph said reassuringly, before turning back to the wall.
He began to focus, and Soleia watched with bated breath as the blood seemed to glow with an eerie, metallic sheen. They seemed to burrow themselves within the very cracks of the stone wall.
"This is going to get noisy," Ralph noted cheerily. "Cover your ears, Princess."
Soleia barely clamped her hands over her ears before the very ground seemed to tremble beneath her feet― no, it was merely the false wall that was cracking before her very eyes, as though it was nothing more than a clay vase heartlessly smashed against the wall, forced to shatter into smithereens by the seemingly harmless rivulets of blood flowing through its creases.
Suddenly, she understood why Ralph wanted her to stay back. At such a close distance, he was getting bombarded with stone and rubble, but he merely spat out a mouthful of gravel before continuing to focus.
Soleia bit her lip; this was such an impressive display of magic, but she worried about Ralph’s energy. However, she didn’t want to interrupt him when he was focusing.
Soon, a shelf of crystals appeared in front of them. Ralph turned back to shoot her a victorious grin, a boyish look of delight in his eyes as he gestured for her to come closer.
"See anything you like, Princess?" Ralph asked cheerfully. "I think we can fit a few of these into your pockets."