Conspicuous Crystal Cavern

Every magic has its path, and each path has the potential to become its own magic...

...Lightning is one such derivative.

Then- my use of lightning is a mistake?

And what is it supposed to be a path of in the first place?

Pursing my lips, I continued to rush up the incline, turning around every few moments to make sure Rena could catch up—this terrain was clearly harder for her, and she was breathing quite heavily.

She did look more used to the environment, but her movements were still a little robotic.

I turned back to the interface.

Hmm, I don't want to do it if Exyin is so important for its potential, and I'm not even sure if I'll get improvements immediately... It might just be a lost cause here.

The floor abruptly levelled out, and several potential directions made themselves apparent.

I smiled, seeing the glint of a crystalline protrusion far down one of the paths ahead, and continued forward with a brisk walk in order to catch my breath—we must be getting close now.

As we approached the crystal, I slowed down.

There was a strange scent in the air; it was vile.

My breathing subconsciously slowed, and I noticed Rena looking at me like she wanted to complain about it, but she was smart enough to stay quiet.

The crystal was protruding from another room, and a dim magenta glow followed close behind, colouring the floor and walls with its subtle invitational presence.

I felt Rena tug on my sleeve, and I held my finger to my lips while nodding to the side.

There was a sound I couldn't exactly discern, and I had to filter out the coarse static rumbling in my ears that came both from their damage and the subconscious use of [Synesthesic].

Perhaps it was the crystals cracking apart from the soft shockwaves I could feel passing through the ground... it sounded like somebody rummaging through a pack of vials and tools, with the perfectly formed glass bouncing against each other like two magnets falling through the air.

Carefully, I poked one eye around the corner, and I found myself startled.

It was exactly that—not the magnets, but the vials—vials full of a pinkish-white mixture. Spontaneous hues of purple would spring forth inside, and the glass would vibrate in place.

However, I didn't have the mind to think on it too hard right now.

What caught my eye was the Demon frantically chipping away at the crystals and dropping the fragments into a strange acidic-looking mixture; when they dissolved, it was like an alkaline substance had been thrown in and the concoction radically stabilised.

That Demon...

It's him, the one with the weird name whose name I can't remember. It certainly made me laugh back during the evolution ceremony, though. He's just too forgettable; I can't really blame myself.

I was confident he wouldn't be a problem for me, but what exactly do those potions do?

A part of me wants to believe that a potion so easily made couldn't do anything to anyone powerful, but I wasn't going to base my decisions on that small belief alone.

Tch, I don't want to waste any Mana...

To Rena's confusion, I started taking off my shoes; they were already quite ruined anyway.

I gestured to her to stay put by holding my hand flat and ushering to the ground.

She seemed to understand my meaning and didn't question anything, simply nodding with a serious expression on her face.

Gingerly, I moved forward on all fours.

It must have looked strange, and to be frank, I was a little embarrassed, but it was the best way I knew how to use my [Stealth] skill.

Discretely, I scuffled across the floor and hid myself behind a large crystal; only slight perturbations of the dust could potentially give away my position.

Fortunately, the room was full of the things, and their colour made them mostly opaque.

The Demon was far too preoccupied with his task and only moved from nearest crystal to nearest crystal, chipping away at the topmost, darkest magenta, point...

Suddenly, a deep clap sounded in the room, and the cave shook violently.

I stumbled, but being low to the ground kept me stable.

The Demon shrieked like a madman and dove atop the vials like he was a mother bird protecting her nest.

Several crystals blew apart, scattering violet chunks through the expanse.

Some shattered against other crystals, appearing to start a chain reaction, but... interestingly, most just stopped after colliding as if all their energy and speed had never existed. It was like they became part of the new crystal, and the energies within them merged together.

How strange...

But this was an opportunity, so I didn't think much of it.

I dashed out and grasped the Demon by the back of his head.

He wailed into the air as I tore him by the scalp—away from his vials—and threw him violently to the ground.

His cries died in his throat as his muscles and lungs constricted from the impact.

Unsheathing my blade, I thrust it down against his left arm, directly bisecting it, and I stomped onto his right.

His face contorted into a horrified mixture of expressions, and his mouth opened wide as if desperate to share his pain with the world; that desperation was shared with his eyes as terror sunk into him.

Not a noise had been made; I just watched him; only a voiceless stream of air left his mouth because he was too winded to scream.

Rena had poked her head in as soon as the cave shook, but she had the self-restraint to hold herself back from running inside.

I smiled lightly and gave her a welcoming look, to which she nodded and ran inside.

She stood near a crystal off to the side, suitably far away.

A gravelly, distraught voice entered my ears.

"What are..."

Without warning, I swung my hand into the side of his face. His cheek split open, and blood poured out. He tried to groan but choked on his own teeth, causing him to hack up a cough.

I picked him up by his clothes and rested his back against a crystal.

Blood dribbled down from his mouth and poured from his arm while he groaned in pain.

Tearing away some cloth, I tied it around his arm stump to stop the bleeding—he didn't even try to attack me with his now free arm.

Some clarity returned to his eyes, and he looked at both me and Rena in turn, his eyes narrowing when he saw the young girl's eyes.

I knelt down and swiftly pulled up one of the vials, holding it in front of his face.

"What is this?"

He took a gravelly breath and coughed again, but to the side.

"My.. my only chance."

Swallowing some blood, he continued before I could berate him for speaking in riddles.

"These crystals are usually useless, and their energy can't be diluted or compressed..."

A conflicted look crossed his face, but resignation soon set in for him; he seemed to be seeking recognition of sorts, perhaps he wanted to change the world or something equally insipid.

"This outpost... it's the only one built beneath a bed of these crystals. None copied us since they disrupted long-distance magic, but there was an unknown side effect..."

I watched as a grossly prideful smile elongated his face, and my foot started impatiently tapping against the ground.

Couldn't he just get to the point... I'm not going to hit him again though, something tells me that this might be the fault of my [λ-Pride] title to some extent.

"Get to the point."

I still ushered him on, and his bloodied smile widened before suddenly falling away into one of lethargy, like the situation he was in had just caught up in his mind.

"The others just assumed the ambient energy of the source fruit bleached the colour away from the crystals. It's actually able to compress the energy inside them."

He spat some blood onto the ground.

"You can see it all collecting at the ends... The higher the density, the greater the effects."

I turned to look at the crystal, but he turned to look at Rena.

"Is that freak just as much of a calamity for you as ours was- HAHAHA"

His cough was laced with spit and mirth, and a cold glint flashed in my eye.

Before he could say anything, I kicked his face into the crystal, and his body immediately crumpled into a lifeless heap.

Perhaps he thought we had some kind of common ground and saw some potential for survival; unfortunately, he was talking to 'that freak'.

"I- I wasn't upset by it."

Rena seemed startled by my sudden action.

I turned to look at her, but she didn't meet my gaze; she had obviously heard what he said but chose to keep her confusion to herself.

In her eyes, I attacked him because he insulted her... but that was too emotional when I didn't know what this concoction actually did yet.

With a wave of my hand, a swirl of emerald energy encompassed the vials, and I sent them over to the edge of my inner-world.

Well, whatever—I would just have to figure it out later.

If he was so deranged as to stay behind and collect as much as he could, then they must be extremely useful and not simply dangerous...