Chapter 61: He Loves You
The dull crystals covered in flames spun around themselves before fusing. The fusion began with a low hum, like the murmur of distant winds stirring through an ancient grove. Then came the light, a sudden flare of electric blue that burst outward before settling into a steady glow. A miniature blue sun seemed to have ignited in the heart of the parlour. Shadows danced across the walls, stretching behind Kaelor’s blond head and Vi’s silver locks like ethereal puppets.
The blue sheen faded slowly, but what remained on the table was no longer mere stone. It pulsed softly, alive, with an inner brilliance that bled across the surface like moonlight poured from a sacred chalice. The crystal, roughly the size of a newborn’s clenched fist, was shaped like a teardrop carved by divine hands, though its edges were uneven and primal.
Curving bands of dark, metallic tendrils wrapped tightly around it, as if grown from the crystal itself or forged by an ancient will. They coiled like vines from a long-dead tree, hardened into shadowed bone or blackened obsidian. These tendrils held the light captive, cradling it like a guardian watching over forbidden fire.
Within, sparks floated lazily, tiny embers suspended in frozen sapphire. They blinked like stars in a captive sky, drifting gently, impossibly, as though the crystal breathed with every heartbeat in the room.
[You have successfully created a Diamond ranked Focus Crystal. This crystal has the ability to gather mana into itself, like an external space built to store mana, and it also amplifies the will of the Acranist, empowering spells. Should there be doubt, it shall amplify that as well.]
"Is that..." Vi’s voice faltered, her beautiful blue eyes trembling with awe. Her gaze shifted between the new crystal and the one Kaelor had not fused. That one was no more than a thumb’s length, a pale sliver in comparison to the gem of legend that now lay between them.
But size was not all that set them apart. The air around the newly forged crystal stirred with visible strands of mana, thin currents that swirled slowly toward its surface like dust to a magnet. Even Kaelor, who had only begun to understand such things, felt the breath of power in the room shift.
This was no myth. This was a Diamond ranked Focus Crystal.
Vi had heard tales, stories from the hallowed halls of Arcanist orders, stories traded between old mages over dwindling campfires. She was already an Arcane Master in her own right, wielding strength few could match. Yet never had she even laid eyes on a Diamond Focus Crystal, much less touched one. They were too rare, too powerful, and too dangerous.
It was said that some Acranists had been consumed by the very power they sought to harness through such a crystal. Madness, even death, had come to many.
And yet, it was also said that a Diamond Focus Crystal could elevate a spellcaster beyond mortal limits. It was the difference between a whisper and a thunderclap, between a flicker and a tempest.
Like nobles fighting over a rich mine or a gifted prodigy, the world fought over crystals like this.