Spirit Crystals

Evan was amazed by his speed. He was at Feldman's door in what felt like just a few strides. If his speed before was around 90 mph he was now running at 255 mph. This wasn't his max speed and he new it. It seemed as if there was a natural barrier that stopped him from bursting at full speed. Feldman's house was only 3 miles from his house, so moving at this speed he was there in less than a minute.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon when Evan knocked on Feldman's door. Feldman answered the door, seemingly as soon as Evan was done knocking. He was clearly anticipating Evan's return.

His eyes were dropping, with black rings around them. His age was showing through clearly. Wrinkles were etched around his eyes, permanent lines on his forehead from years of worry, and the frailty that Evan had never seen from him was evidently on full display. One night without sleep had serious repercussions at this age.

"Evan, I'm glad you're here so early. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it till you got here." Feldman had a gentle smile on his face. A look Evan had never seen before, it was full of emotion and care. Evan had only seen this smile on his mother's face in recent years. Mainly after he had found out about the cancer.

"Yes sir, I came early to get a start on the chores. I wanted more time to practice Alchemy. Are you feeling ok?" Evan had told him, but not really the case. He normally would slowly walk here as he was usually still tired from the previous day, but with the major improvements last night and this morning, he was excited to push his limits and was shocked himself at how quick he arrived.

Evan was feeling slightly guilty for his cultivation last night after seeing the condition of Feldman. If he had known, he would have come even earlier.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just one night without sleep really does a number at this age." Feldman chuckled in an honest tone. "But don't worry about the chores for now, I need to talk to you before I go get some much-needed sleep."

"Ok Feldman." Evan responded. He still felt awkward calling him Feldman. It just didn't seem respectful enough for a teacher and usually called him sir. But since Feldman was being so caring and genuine, he felt he should show his gratitude by referring to him by his name. This just felt different than their other interactions, it felt personal.

They walked into the living room and sat on a couple of big comfortable armchairs.

"Ok Evan, first things first. I have a couple of questions for you. Firstly, I want to know how you have the Refinement Fire." Feldman didn't sugarcoat anything and went right down to business.

"I don't really know to be honest with you. After I learned how to temper materials, I started to play with my inner spirit occasionally. I still do. And once I reached a place in the center of my body, I could feel a warm sensation spreading out. When I urged it forward, like I do with my inner spirit, these flames surged out of my fingertips." Evan wasn't honest at all, he knew that the system extracted the blueprint and after recreation, discovered the usefulness for Alchemy. After that, the system granted it to him as a reward. So, he did the next best thing and just described the feeling that he had when the Refinement Fire was first merged into his exiting pathways.

"I see. In that case, I want to let you know that I will not be your teacher for much longer. I have recognized your talent and due to my shortcomings, I am not suitable. I have sent a message to one of the few world-wide recognized alchemy schools. They are sending a master to come and test your talent and current capabilities in one week. So, after I teach you the combining method, I will no longer be your master. I only hope that you will still consider me a friend." Feldman said all of this to Evan with a tear in his eye. It wasn't a sadness brought on by just losing Evan to the school but was more a tear of regret. He deeply regretted destroying his pathways.

The worst part was that he still had a large spirit pool, but no way to access it. So, he could feel spirit around him still and he could feel the spirit in his pool constantly pushing against his flesh, trying to circulate and move freely. It was a torture he had brought on himself. Now, to make matters worse, he had an amazing pupil in front of him, that he couldn't teach. All due to his own choices.

"Feldman, you will always be my first master, and my only friend. I wouldn't ever abandon you as my teacher, without you I would probably be dead. Let alone a future Alchemist." Evan meant every word he said with all his heart. He had had very few friends in his life, but there was no way to fake that care and concern.

"Okay now that the good news is out of the way, let's get on to the bad stuff." Feldman said with a chipper tone, but the look on his face betrayed him. "Do you know what is wrong with your parents?"

"No, other than they are on some kind of drug." Evan mistakenly let it slip that he knew what drugs were.

"No, they aren't on drugs, drugs don't do that to people, drugs are what we alchemists make from materials. What they are on is something made from twisting nature against its will. They are absorbing something called Spirit Crystals. Now don't get the wrong idea from the name, they will not help your spirit. They do more damage than good. They destroy pathways and deteriorate the mind." Feldman answered Evan back sharply. His face was snarled as he said every word, showing pure disgust.

"What exactly are Spirit Crystals then?" Evan was now curious. The look on Feldman's face and the tone of his voice made it clear that he had a personal connection to Spirit Crystals in one way or another.

"A mistake." He answered in a solemn voice, lowering his chin to look at the ground. "A mistake that I regret to this day. "

Evan wasn't just interested any more, but fully invested. He was waiting in anticipation for the explanation.

"I was a younger man back then. It was 96 years ago. I was just a kid myself, just 31-years-old. Veronica and I were doing missions for the Fortis Defense Guild. She was the muscle, and I was the brain. We had just tracked a terrorist down. The guy had tortured 42 children in a small village, in order to force people to recognize the Real Raiders as the only way to live. Kill the weak and the strong will strive.

She was trying to extract the location of the Real Raider hideout, but nothing was working. Well, as an Intermediate A rank Alchemist, I had learned to control conscious inner spirit. This is usually a tactic to search inner spirit for key information, almost like extracting memories, but the information is always slightly distorted. Well, I was in the middle of the process, just about to pick a spirit bead, and an idea struck me. Could I control more than just one single spirit bead?

I tried, and wouldn't you know it I could. God, I was so stupid. So, I tried to control them all, but the only way I could was to have them in a small area. Wouldn't you know it? The spirit pool is already sitting there, just perfect for my little experiment. As soon as I started to control his spirit pool, he started screaming in pain.

Good, I thought, he deserved the pain. He just tortured and kill all those children. So, I was no longer focused on controlling his spirit, I just wanted him to hurt. So, I just started pushing on his spirit pool. I was pushing as hard as I could. Every time I pushed down, he screamed louder and louder. I got caught up in what I was doing so much, I didn't even realize what I had done until I realized he was no longer screaming.

He wasn't doing anything anymore. He was alive, but just a shell of a person. Next thing we know, he turns over and starts coughing. He coughed up this small bright shining crystal. It was beautiful. Well, we took him and the crystal to our superiors. Next thing I know, I'm working directly with a general in the army. Working on prisoners left and right, doing the same process to them. These crystals were found out to increase cultivation.

The doses given were miniscule, 1/20th of the crystals, but the results were through the roof. Some subjects directly broke through from Low F rank to Advanced D rank. They decided to increase the doses, and that's when the problems started. Some exploded immediately, not able to handle the massive amount of energy. Sadly, most of them had their pathways destroyed when the energy surged. This made them unable to use spirit anymore. It was also discovered that if too much was used, the subjects would become extremely happy and lethargic. Unable to move but couldn't stop smiling.

After doses stopped being administered, they would become violent. That's when the project was scrapped. But I was convinced that this was the way to go in order to progress quickly. So, I started to use them myself. I had saved many from the project, so I didn't need to hurt anyone. I was able to go from an A ranked Alchemist to a Master SS ranked Alchemist in only 9 years.

When it came time to destroy my pathways, I actually urged a lot of my students to take them. Your father was one of them. I was isolated here with my family for so long I didn't realize what had happened all these years of absence. Once the supply I gave them had run out, they started kidnapping and condensing their own. Then started selling them. Everything has just gotten so out of control now, that there isn't a village in the world that doesn't have someone addicted. I know that I can never apologize enough to you for literally ruining your parent's life, but I hope that I can make up for it. You don't need to do chores for me, I only wanted to teach you how to fend for yourself. I taught you Alchemy out of guilt, and after only a few days of knowing you, I have come to realize how amazing you are and have actually grown to care for you as a disciple. Now, I ask again. Will you still allow me to be your friend?" Feldman gave his entire story about how he actually created the drugs that his parents were now addicted to.