Chapter 16-Atlas

I was mostly focused on examining my new bow until Nymph called us over.

I joines Jacob and Nick who had gotten there before me and curiously set my gaze upon the small, sky-blue stone in her hand.

"What is it?" I asked.

Nymph handed it to Nick. "It's an element attunement crystal, I think." She said. "And I think Nick needs an upgrade."

"I do." Nick said. "What element is it?"

Without waiting for her reply, he absorbed the crystal.

"Ice, probably." She responded.

"I wonder what kind of sword skills I'll come up with." Nick said, completing the absorption and passing out.

"Nick!" I exclaimed, catching him before he hit the ground. "Why did he pass out?"

"That means that he's getting a powerful ice element." Nymph said, pleased.

Jacob accepted her answer and checked out some of the other rewards.

I stayed with Nick, though. I didn't want him to feel like I had abandoned him.

Soon, Jacob returned with a hilt and a boxed-in blade.

"I think the blade is mercury." Jacob said, gesturing to the blade. "So if he's getting an ice element, this will work perfectly for him."

"Isn't mercury liquid, though?" I asked.

"Yes." Jacob replied. "But when it's frozen, it has a tensile strength over three times that of high-carbon steel.''

"So it synergizes with his ice element?" I asked, feeling stupid as soon as I asked.

Jacob nodded, making me feel better. "And the colder it gets, the stronger it gets, too."

It took Nick a whole hour to wake back up.

Before he had awoken, the air around him had gotten much colder, something that Nymph claimed signified his acquiring of an ice element.

"What kind of ice did you get?" Nymph asked as soon as he opened his eyes.

"Let's see." Nick said, slashing his sword and releasing a black snowstorm. "Looks like black ice."

Ice was divided into tiers based on colour. The lighter the colour, the less powerful it was. Black ice is the most powerful known form of ice magic thus far.

We congratulated him and showed him the Mercury sword.

"The colder you can make it, the harder it will be." Jacob said. "And it will also melt inside the body of warm-blooded enemies and poison them."

"But how will I get the metal back to my sword?" Nick asked.

"I don't know." Jacob said. "Maybe just use it on bosses?"

Nick put away the sword in his spacial pouch and started expirimenting with his new ice element and began creating spells.