Mana Crystal

Such power, much wow.

A full 1.4% increase, whoop-tee-do!

Okay, granted, it wasn't much for now, but Gerald barely just grasped the ability, give the poor guy a break! Just imagine what heights could he achieve after getting even stronger! Would he become a perpetual motion machine?! Probably not, that would break the laws of physics…

But wait! Didn't he already break a few of those?!

***

It was the following day. The beasts still didn't restart their assault on that part of the wall, so the defenders went to help elsewhere. Gerald's warehouse and niter production were still going strong so he didn't have to worry about that.

He was currently in the middle of an experiment. He was searching for one particular type of Ether Crystal.

This one wasn't used as much as the rest, but it still had value. We are talking here about the Pure Eather Crystal. The one that got ground down to dust for potions. Well, Gerald needed a few big chunks, and boy was it difficult to find.

"In big chunks?" Arthur scratched his head. "Why do you need those?"

"Come on, man," Gerald grumbled. "You know I'm not going to tell you. I'm just asking if you have them. If you don't, then I'm leaving." He already turned around to go searching for them elsewhere. He already tried many Alchemy shops across the capital, and they only had small pebbles or fine dust. Not what he wanted.

"Okay, okay, let me check in the storage. We usually buy in bulk, there are probably a few big ones there." Arthur quickly remembered and ran to get them.

He came back minutes later with a servant carrying a lap full of Pure Ether Crystals.

They were all mostly about fist-size, with one twice as big. Gerald examined them closely. "Do you have any higher grades?" he asked. "I need them as pure as they come."

"Sorry," Arthur helplessly shrugged, "That's the best we got."

"Hmm, alright then. How much do I owe?"

"Don't worry about it," Arthur waved his hand, "It's on the house."

"Oh, you are too kind!" Gerald smiled.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah… How about you tell me what you need them for, huh? I'm not going to share it with anyone."

"Hehe, nope!"

***

The Pure Ether Crystals were of low grade, so they could each store a few hundred MP. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best he had, so Gerald didn't complain.

But just because they could, it didn't mean they actually held that much Mana.

As his understanding of this mystic energy deepened, Gerald came to realize a few things. Mana was free and untainted while in nature. Only after being absorbed by a living being would it gain an Element or a characteristic of that particular thing.

And only after being used to form various effects would it then leave the body to be free again. In that state, it would be less energetic while carrying the imprint of the previous master, and only with time would it recover, returning to its pristine untainted state.

The Ether Crystals, those with an Element, didn't simply store Mana. They also concentrated it and locked it inside. The process was the same as when the being was alive and it was automatic, although quite a bit slower.

The Crystals, depending on their grade, degraded over time. Poor-grade degraded in a few years, turning back into Pure Ether Crystals and losing their ability to concentrate Mana in the process.

The higher grades needed decades, even centuries, to completely return to their base, and were as such used as family heirlooms for increasing generational wealth.

There, of course, existed ways of prolonging this natural process and preserving the Crystals' functionality with Runes and various enchantments, but such interventions were rare and expensive.

They were reserved for the best and most expensive Crystal in important magical artifacts. One such example was The King's scepter. It was made centuries ago and full of runes to preserve it. It was restored to its peak many times since and was, as such, a true marvel of a Mage's arsenal.

Gerald learned bits and pieces of this knowledge over time, but only now did he truly grasp its significance.

As such, as a young pioneering mind, he decided to attempt the impossible. He would fill the Pure Ether Crystals with Elementless Mana and keep it there for later use just as with other Crystals. If he succeeded, he could possibly revolutionalize modern magic and give warriors a way to use Combat Arts for much longer. Such a change would most likely be a paradigm shift for the Kingdom.

Just imagining having endless stores of Mana Crystals gave Gerald a sense of power and importance. But the dreams of greatness had to wait. First, he had to make his ideas a reality.

So he started as he usually did. He took a fist-sized Crystal, held it in between his palms, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

He was simply trying to push Mana inside, nothing special. The process was slow but effective. There wasn't anything to stop Mana from flowing through the Crystal. Actually… It was going too smoothly.

A few minutes went by and Gerald examined the Crystal. It was empty.