Chapter 86: The Crystal Companion Envoy

After waiting a while longer, everyone followed the prompts from the intelligent core and teleported to a floating island in the void. By then, many others had already arrived. In the distance, three colossal motherships hovered far away, not approaching.

Suddenly, Aldo turned to the two and said, "Follow me."

He set off in a certain direction, with Lando and Alice hurrying after him.

Soon, the three reached a pretty young girl wearing glasses. She seemed uneasy, clutching a staff to her chest, her eyes darting around as though searching for something.

Aldo walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. The girl jumped, spun around, and pointed her staff at him, only to relax when she recognized Aldo. "Mr. Aldo, don't scare me like that!"

Aldo: …

Alice: …

Lando: … Timid girl with glasses?! What kind of trope is this?!

"Leya, why are you here alone? How could Old Simon let you go out by yourself?" Aldo asked, puzzled.

"My grandfather brought me here, but he suddenly said he had something to do and left," she replied.

"Just now?!" Aldo's face darkened, realizing Simon had left immediately after noticing Aldo's arrival. How little did he care for his granddaughter!

He glanced at Leya's innocent expression. Although the crystal world shouldn't pose any danger, still…

"Leya, do you understand the rules after entering this world?"

"Yes!" Leya nodded vigorously. "After entering, the powers of arcane mages are sealed, but the seal can be easily undone. If there's danger, don't worry about the seal—survival comes first."

Aldo nodded. As long as she had that awareness, it was enough.

As they chatted, a crack suddenly appeared in the void, opening like a giant eye. Lando could clearly see a world shimmering with colors.

"Lando, Alice, if you encounter Leya inside, look after her," Aldo instructed.

Lando and Alice nodded in agreement.

Leya looked conflicted. Clearly, she was older, yet she was being cared for by younger students. It made her feel awkward.

Lando glanced at Leya and revised her profile—now she was the clumsy, timid girl with glasses!

All the students preparing to enter gathered beside the void's eye, while teachers watched from behind.

Suddenly, a tremendous suction pulled all the students in.

…

Lando felt the world spinning. When he came to, he found himself inside the world of the void's giant eye.

Everywhere he looked, clusters of crystals abounded. Crystal trees, crystal grass, crystal flowers—even animals and insects bore a distinct crystal of varying colors on their foreheads.

He sensed a seal had locked away both his arcane furnace and elemental body powers, just as Aldo had said. The seal could be easily broken, but doing so would end his journey.

He glanced at the system: all his professions were marked as sealed, though his talents remained usable.

Still, he resolved not to use his Mindspace talent unless absolutely necessary. After all, during the last scan, he clearly hadn't had this talent; its sudden appearance might arouse suspicion if discovered. Better to be cautious.

Teleportation had scattered everyone randomly. Lando was alone. Suddenly, a beam of light appeared before him, slowly condensing into a transparent crystal the size of a thumb. Lando recognized this as his lifeline in this world.

Taking the crystal, he instinctively knew he could bond it to his body to gain extraordinary abilities native to this realm.

He first observed the local wildlife—their crystals were all affixed to the center of their brows. After deliberation, he lacked the courage to bond the crystal to his own forehead.

Instead, he extended his left hand, placing the crystal on the back of it, and willed it to bond.

A flash of light, and the crystal merged with his hand.

Power flowed from the crystal, spreading through his body. Lando immediately felt stronger and more agile.

"So this is the world's power system?"

Basic information flowed from the crystal.

Rank: Tier One (0%)
Attribute: None
Form: Undetermined

Such meager information. Lando tried shaping the crystal into a longsword. Gripping his left wrist with his right hand and pulling outward, light flashed, and a longsword appeared. It looked as he imagined, though—it was a bit smaller, a two-handed sword shrunk to one-handed size.

The information now showed the form as longsword instead of undetermined. By focusing, Lando could even visualize its details.

Just then, a wind wolf, enshrouded in breezes, suddenly appeared. It opened its jaws and spat a wind blade, then lunged at Lando.

Lando wasn't surprised. He sidestepped the wind blade and the wolf's charge. As they passed, he struck, severing its head.

A faint yet irresistible suction emanated from Lando's crystal. The wind wolf's forehead crystal shattered, weathered, and vanished.

A wave of energy circled his crystal—over 95% wind attribute, the rest miscellaneous.

Lando chose not to absorb it, letting it dissipate.

Aldo had once told him that it was best to absorb only one attribute with the bonded crystal. That way, advancement would be easier, and upon reaching the ninth tier, he'd obtain a pure attribute weapon. Mixing other attributes could prevent advancement to tier nine.

Only energy from crystals of the current tier or higher would be useful; lower-tier energy was worthless.

A ninth-tier weapon was quite valuable even for third-stage arcane mages.

According to Silver Tower's intelligence, the four basic elements—wind, fire, water, earth—were the simplest, as most crystal creatures contained them. Other elements were rare, and so far, no one had crafted a non-basic elemental weapon to tier nine.

Beyond elemental weapons, there was a more extreme approach: excluding all attributes and strengthening the bonded crystal solely with non-attuned energy. Silver Tower's intelligent core calculated that this was likely the correct path, but rare elements reaching tier nine was nearly impossible, let alone the even rarer non-attuned energy.

Checking his system, the profession section, which should have been sealed, now showed one profession glowing with a strange allure, tempting him to "spend recklessly."

Crystal Bond Adept (Tier One, 0%)

Without expression, Lando invested soul essence, which cost less than he'd expected.

Crystal Bond Adept (Tier One, 10%)
Crystal Bond Adept (Tier One, 50%)
Crystal Bond Adept (Tier One, 100%) → Crystal Bond Adept (Tier Two, 0%)

A greater surge of energy flowed through him, further strengthening his body—even the one-handed sword grew larger.

Rank: Tier Two (0%)
Attribute: None
Form: Longsword

After experimentation, Lando concluded that this so-called Crystal Bond Adept could be upgraded like any profession with soul essence, and its attribute remained unchanged upon advancement.

Now, two choices lay before him:

First, risk draining his wallet again to gamble for a "rare drop."

Second, proceed methodically through tasks to earn an "ordinary drop," which would likely be of little use to him.

For someone with Mindspace like Lando, even a weapon useful to third-stage mages held little appeal. The answer was obvious; his wallet, which had just started to recover, was once more on the verge of demise.

Lando scowled, "It's always like this. Surely, this is some kind of curse!"

PS: Lando: Dear readers, would you be so kind as to leave a recommendation, to comfort my soon-to-be-defeated wallet!