Chapter 78 - Mana Crystal

Rynold openly looked around.

The room was very tall but there didn't seem to be anything in it. Upon closer inspection, Rynold slowly realized that whatever was meant to be here was gone. Taken. Clues point to a struggle between two parties with whatever was in this room as the point of argument.

He didn't know why, but the ground appeared to be covered in roots. Rynold noticed that the roots stretched from the center and extended out. It wasn't something he thought to be interesting, per se. He just noted every observation he could.

"What is this place?" Rynold asked, incapable of keeping his curiosity back.

Phrystol stared into the empty room and sighed. Responding with a rather depressed tone, Rynold knew that this room had more significance than he had originally thought.

"My Lord," the elf's gaze seemed to dim slightly, "This room is where we held the Mana Crystal that keeps the entire Tree lit. Although its functions serve the people have now been lost, I'm afraid that the resulting panic may even be worse. Its loss can lead to catastrophic events."

Rynold looked at the elf with a bewildered expression. He didn't necessarily understand what the elf had meant by his last sentence.

He fully acknowledged the fact that with the basic need for energy was gone, people could go into a panic. Riots would soon break out as the structural order of society would crumble just like that. Otherwise, Rynold couldn't understand what Phrystol had meant by catastrophic events.

Riots and panic would be manageable. What's more, Rynold highly doubted that elves would easily lose composure.

Phrystol managed to catch Rynold's gaze. Seeking to explain further, the elf started to speak, only to be interrupted at the first syllable.

"The Mana Crystal was left by the previous Lord of the Tree," Margareth's voice came up from behind. "It was one of the few things that he had left behind. The Mana Crystal was a beacon of hope for the elves when the Tree was first brought to life. The immense power that resonated from within the Mana Crystal was unfathomable. Now that it's missing..."

Rynold didn't need to hear the rest of it. Like the Shado Beasts that showed up before, it was clear that the elves held a lot of things in high regard. Now that the Mana Crystal was gone, it would send a message that doom is just around the corner.

It wasn't something that Rynold wanted to see. At this point, he could barely bear the thought of seeing a whole civilization fall to despair.

Then again, what could he possibly do?

He may be the new Lord, but his qualifications were lacking. Severely lacking. The best he could do was to punch things. And, even then, his strength was barely negligible compared to a powerful mage.

Suddenly, something inside Rynold's head snapped. He pushed his brain to the very limit, trying to think of a way to fix this. His thoughts started to swirl as they lead towards an idea.

Rynold raised his hand to his chin as his thoughts started to conglomerate. He had to admit, though, that his thought process was questionable at best. His thought spread to the very depths of possibility only to come back and eventually realize that there was a simple solution to the problem.

He began to search his inventory and found what he was looking for. Even Rynold himself doubted that this would work, but he could at least give the damn thing a shot.

[Mana Crystal]

An item that is unique in nature, no two Mana Crystals are the same. This particular Mana Crystal is linked to Mana User Rynold's unique mana signature.

This was what he presented.

Phrystol and Margareth couldn't keep their eyes off the thing as soon as Rynold whipped it out. Naturally, Rynold was the same.

For some reason, he thought that the Mana Crystal this time was different compared to when he first got it. The Mana Crystal felt as if it was more profound. That is somehow contained unfathomable power and Mana than he had first unearthed it.

"Huh."

Rynold let out a syllable of dumbfoundedness. He couldn't put his finger on why the Mana Crystal was different. The only reasonable conclusion was that his ability to sense Mana increased considerably than before. Otherwise, how else would this phenomenon be explained?

Snapping himself out of his daze, Rynold looked at the two elves who were eyeing the Mana Crystal, their gazes seeming to capture the pure beauty of the Crystal in his hands.

It was a natural response, Rynold thought to himself, that people who could appreciate these types of things would certainly be in awe. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever get to the point where he'll appreciate this thing like the elves did. After all, Mana was still a foreign thing to him.

Rynold decided to break the silence by asking, "Will this work?"

The two elves finally were broken from their trance with Phrystol being the first to speak.

"My Lord...! How could you have found a Mana Crystal of this class? No, how could you have gotten a Mana Crystal without suffering the backlash?"

Confused at the sudden barrage of questions, Rynold raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean backlash?"

"You see, Mana Crystals have different states of classes. They differ between the purity and density of the Mana contained within," Margareth explained. "Naturally, the Crystals have certain underlying conditions for a Mana User to obtain them. The higher the class, the harder it is to get them. Who would've thought that I could see one of such degree in front of me."

Rynold willed some Mana into the Crystal, making it shine a bit brighter than before.

It was the first time that he played with the Mana Crystal. Initially, he didn't think much of it when he had first gotten it. The truth was he actually thought of it as junk. To him, it was more like a mobile power bank than an object of reverence.

"Why didn't you just find a replacement Crystal such as this one?" Rynold asked the two elves.

"My Lord, it is near impossible to find a Crystal of such magnitude," Phrystol replied, not removing his gaze from the Crystal in Rynold's hand. "To have such a Crystal on stock is hardly a simple task. Even if we were to refine a Crystal to this degree, it would take a long time in doing so."

"So... will this work as a replacement?" Rynold asked once more.

While Phrystol was too busy studying the Crystal, Rynold counted on Margareth for an answer.

"Yeah... In fact, this Crystal would work better than the one we used before. If only it weren't so small...," the Librarian lamented.

With a smug look on his face, Rynold instructed the Mana Crystal to expand. It wasn't a hard task to accomplish since the Crystal was bound to him anyway.

The Mana Crystal started to spin as it grew in size. Slowly but surely, the Crystal managed to grow into the size big enough to fill the room. Rynold then moved the Crystal snug fit into the middle where he presumed the previous Mana Crystal used to be.

And, just like that, the room suddenly brightened.

The same phenomenon happened all over the Tree. Lights started to brighten as magic slowly filled every crevice and space that the previous Crystal did.

While it took some time for the Crystal to grow to this size, it took even longer for it to sync with the Tree. With the help of a status window that showed the progression rate, Rynold could rest easy as it slowly ticked up.

It took some time for it to complete, in which case, a window popped up indicating the successful integration of the Mana Crystal.

[Mana Crystal Integration Complete!]

[Synchronizing...]

***

[Synchronization Complete!]

Rynold with satisfied with how things turned out. He managed to finally do something useful aside from bashing the skulls of whatever thing he could find. What's more, he feels refreshed now more than ever.

Connecting his Mana Crystal into the Tree provided some unorthodox benefits. Even though it wasn't stated in any new windows that popped up, Rynold could feel it.

His recovery was up and his mind was clear. Simultaneously, he found it easier to grasp the Mana inside the Tree and sense if something was amiss. It wasn't an exact science, but it was useful nonetheless.

For the first time since he got here, Rynold finally felt like he was the Lord of the Tree of In-Between!

Rynold decidedly came up to the Crystal and pressed his palm against its smooth surface. As soon as his hand connected, a vision suddenly showed up in his mind.

'Not again,' Rynold thought to himself.

It was the second time that this time happened and on the same Crystal, no less. Rynold simply sighed and watched the vision play in his head.