‘Interesting’ I thought as I saw the quest completion notice; the Verdant Aicrys was a faction in this game, which meant that the theory about beings within the crystals was at least true in some respects. More theories crept through my mind at the term Verdant though. Verdant was usually referencing grass green, and Vert was the term used for green in medieval heraldry. It made me wonder if crystals of other colors were represented by different Aicrys.

Lily spoke up, taking the lead once more, “We were glad to have helped. What or who are you though?”

I could almost hear the unspoken portion of her comment: what can we say about you without breaking the ban on mentioning game mechanics. The guardian replied, “I am Bercila, one of the guardians of the Verdant Crystals and voice of the Verdant Aicrys. In ages past my brethren and I fought to keep the corruption from gaining too much of a foothold in the realm. Now we strive to keep the corruption from claiming the power within the crystals.”

Rhiogail asked, “We have found sources of the crystal in many portions of the kingdom. Never before have we seen a beast like the one these people fought.”

The guardian shook her head, “Many sources of crystal are no longer protected as they once were, the corruption having killed the spark long ago. Some were abandoned so that their power could be drawn to the crystals that protected the ones you call the Lost Pioneers.”

Richard added his own question, “Why were we trapped within the crystal? Apparently there were others who made landfall here.”

That was a good question regarding the world’s lore and Bercila answered him readily, “The crew of your ship, those that awoke before landfall settled the land ages ago. They could not return home due to the damage the shard of corrupted crystal did to the ship. Unfortunately the crystal grew to encompass you ‘The Lost.’ It was believed that the crew was the only survivors as your pods were encased within the crystals; however the Aicrys sought to keep you alive and find a way to return you to your people. The constant battle with the void corruption sapped the power available and in the end all we could do was keep you safe until others found a way to free you. As the power required to keep you alive was freed when you were pulled from the crystal, the others of your kind were also able to be freed. There were side effects to your long imprisonment though.”

I spoke up, “Are these some of the mutations that Lady Siodha mentioned earlier?”

Bercila cocked her head as if considering and said, “Yes and no; they are changes to those of you trapped within the crystal, but the changes do not alter your fundamental being. We believe the mutations she spoke of relate to the corrupted aether rather than what has happened to you.”

Lily asked, “What changes should we have to expect then, because if I have to go through puberty again I’m going to be even more of a bitch this time.”

The green guardian laughed like bells tinkling and answered, “No, it is nothing like that. The power of the crystals infused into you, creating both a shield and a beacon for the corruption. The corrupted aether can not affect you, like it did the others a short time ago. You will however draw the attention and ire of any being affected by the corruption. Also as you were preserved by the crystal, you can also choose to return from death at crystal with a strong enough aether. You must be careful to only do this at a cleansed crystal or risk death once more by creatures of corruption.”

To me this translated easily to the game mechanics that would make the players stand out compared to the NPC soldiers for dealing with monsters. If that miasma happened in other places then most people wouldn’t be able to deal with the source of the problem. In addition since we would come back from death we could be sent to handle the more troublesome creatures without the NPCs having to risk their “lives.” I would need to find out what kind of death penalty there was though.

Bercila leaned her sword against her shoulder and reached behind her shield a moment before pulling out shard of crystal about the size of a football. She handed the crystal to Lily and said, “Take this to the crystal pillar within the city of Traham. It along with the other crystals brought be your compatriots will restore the power to the crystal. This should both help protect the city and give you and the others a safe place to return.”

I accepted the quest as Rhiogail asked, “Is there some threat to the city we need to be aware of?”

Bercila shook her head, “The crystal can push back the corrupted creatures, which will help keep the city safe from trouble of that nature. It won’t prevent threats from people.”

Rhiogail nodded saying, “That will still be a help; the beasts attacks do cause trouble.”

Bercila raised her hand and a chunk of crystal about two feet across and a foot in the other two directions slid off the crystal formation to rest near her feet. She said, “Lady of Vedras, you came seeking crystal to empower with aetherical abilities. Take this to use in your efforts. Know that the guardians of the crystal will give freely to aid in those who battle the corruption.”

Rhiogail bowed and hefted the chunk of crystal with some effort. The twins stepped forward and took it from her arms with a short statement that they would carry it until they Andre could put it in his bag. With another bow to Bercila she left to return to her men.

“Fare thee well brave ones. Until we meet again,” the guardian said before she stepped backwards into the crystal.

Richard said, “I guess that’s one way to finish a conversation.”

I nodded and replied, “I guess we should get going.”

Lily offered the crystal to me, “If you don’t mind carrying this, we can get a move on.”

I took the crystal and headed with the party out of the cavern and toward Traham.

@ @ @ @ @

It took almost an hour to work our way out of the cave system where the crystal was located. It was apparently an old iron mine that had been closed down years ago when the gremlins became an increasing threat. We found the soldiers at the exit with Davis and Andre, but the mages that had been in the crystal with us were nowhere to be seen. As we exited the caves bright sunlight met us along with the scent of pine and cool fresh air. We seemed to be midway up a mountain side with trees that looked like tall oak, but with blue leaves and the odd scent. In the dirt of the path we could see foot prints leading away down the mountain trail.

“I guess we know which way the others went,” Jared said.

Rhiogail nodded and replied, “I thank them for their aid in the first battle, but I am not certain I would trust them to not run again when faced with a difficult battle.”

I shrugged and said, “If we encounter them again we can inform them of what the guardian told us.”

Rhiogail shrugged and said, “I can’t see any reason not to. For now though we should make our way towards Traham. It is about a four day journey to the south east; you would be able to see it in the distance if not for the trees on this slope.”

The twins transferred the block of crystal to Andre’s bag and we set off. While we walked I fell back beside Davis to ask him the questions that I didn’t have time to ask before the battle. “You seemed a little astonished at the discovery of a summon spell on the core you gave me,” I began.

Davis glanced at me before shrugging and responding, “Surely you jest, you must know about how the cores work since it was the Pioneer’s that passed the knowledge down.”

I shook my head, “We had many capabilities, but using the cores and crests together was not possible before coming to this land. Since my companions and I were not there when it was discovered we are quite literally starting from scratch on this. Your knowledge would be appreciated.”

He looked a bit astonished at my admission, but quickly started speaking in the tone of a professor giving a lecture, “The creation of a class core is relatively straight forward if one has the ability. Some Aethercrests have the ability built into them, such as the Scholar and Artificer crests.”

He patted the medallion he wore as he mentioned the Scholar class as he continued speaking, “In most circumstances when you infuse a core with abilities you copy the abilities from the linked cores to the new core. Not all abilities will transfer. I don’t know why, but I’m sure some of the researchers at the kingdom university have some theories. When we return to the capitol I had intended to take some time away to study there until the company moves out again.”

My mind raced, but I didn’t quite have enough information to form more than wild speculation, so I asked, “Can you explain the basics of crests and cores for me then? Also is there something special about that block of crystal Andre has?”

He laughed, “Yes, the glowing crystal Andre has is uncommon. We know that aetherical charged crystal can be infused with both stronger abilities as well as a greater number, making higher grade cores. This leads me to your other question. I’ll start with the crests then circle back to the cores shall I?”

I nodded and said, “By all means, explain it to me however you think is best.”

“Aethercrests come in two forms currently. One is the manufactured crests the Artificers Guild develops. These can be rated in the same method as the cores, from worst to greatest as D, C, B, and A. This seems to be based on the materials used to make them, as well as the number of core sockets, and how much aether can be attuned to them. For example Lady Siodah has a Grade D Warrior Aethercrest, which is made of steel and has three sockets. This is the lowest grade of aethercrest, but that still allows her to double or triple civilians’ abilities without taking the class cores into consideration. The other type of Aethercrest is Alpha Aethercrests; these are the creations of the ancient settlers of the land. There have been a few of these found over the years, but they are rare,” he said.

That meant that our starting class would likely be our strongest for the time being, it did raise the question, “How much of a power difference is there between a grade A Aethercrest and an Alpha Aethercrest?”

Davis shrugged slightly and said, “I have heard the difference is minor as far as raw power is concerned. As I understand it the Alpha Aethercrests have a higher capacity for attuned abilities that the manufactured ones. I seem think there was something else regarding the passive abilities but can’t quite remember.”

So a grade A would still provide a powerful class, at least if it was properly equipped. I said, “Sorry I interrupted, please continue the explanation.”

He smiled and said, “Each type of Aethercrest has the sigil which sets links between the different core sockets. The sigil depicts the base class of the crest, while the sockets allow for abilities of the appropriate type to be attached. Some of the sockets are linked, and depending on the cores you put in the sockets the Aethercrest may grant a new class with new abilities. As far as I have seen it takes at least two grade C cores to grant the second tier of classes. Once you unlock a class on your crest it can be attuned like other abilities to remain available even if you change the cores. I’ll use the squire for this example as well. She unlocked the Knight class, one of the second tier Warrior classes, with a yellow physical core and a green defensive ability core. She then earned enough advancement points to attune the class to her Aethercrest, allowing her to remove the physical core. Since she had already attuned the abilities from the physical core she loaned it to Andre to use for this mission.”

That left me with a couple of theories regarding the way the classes were unlocked. I wondered if the reputation of the Lost Pioneers would be enough to get me into the university to see some of the research notes. I doubted it, so continued listening to Davis speak, “When I infused that gem I used a blank white crystal, they can change shades depending on the power infused, and used a combination of gems that should have placed defensive, healing, and attack magic on the core. Instead it became what you received.”

I countered, “Except you got exactly what you were trying for. There is a shielding spell, a combat spell for fire, as well as a generic healing spell. What were you expecting?”

“I am not sure what I thought, considering I used all grade D cores I had fashioned before. I was hoping to create a rank C core by linking four different cores to it in the creation process. Now as to the creation of class cores; if you have the ability to infuse a class core you have to socket a blank core into one of your core sockets linked to at least one other. You can then transfer abilities from the other cores onto the new one. If you only have one core linked you usually get a duplicate core, albeit one with abilities at their base level. If you have more than one core linked to the blank core you get an assortment of abilities. The ‘Infuse Core’ ability can be upgraded to allow you to choose which abilities you’re infusing, but I haven’t upgraded it yet. I think I need to if I’m going to properly conduct research on which abilities created the summoning spell,” he continued before trailing off into the muttering of an intellectual with a new puzzle.

While I could relate to his predicament I still had one further question that my group and I would need answered, “Is there a list of the known classes and how to unlock them somewhere we can access? From what the guardian in the cavern said we are likely to be dealing with more of the corrupted creatures.”

“Huh, well yes and no; there isn’t really a list of the classes except maybe in the capitol. The common second tier classes are known to anyone that has the appropriate base crest though. Usually a town guard of rank has a Warrior type aethercrest for example. They would know how to unlock the Knight or Soldier class. The King’s messengers all have Scout type cores, and likely know the method for unlocking the Wayfarer and Ranger classes. Which reminds me; sometimes a class can be unlocked on multiple Aethercrests. Take young Lily, she has an Archer aethercrest. Both she and Jared, I think his name was, can unlock the Ranger class by using appropriate cores,” he answered.

I considered a moment before asking, “What types of cores are there, at least the ones you know about.”

“Well there are the physical abilities, which are shades of yellow. There are support class cores which are usually shades of green and blue. There are offensive abilities that are shades of red and orange. The one I gave you was the first one I have seen that was white, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were others,” he answered.

I thanked Davis for his time and returned to the others to inform them of what I had learned. While we were technically competing against each other for the prime locations to call home, I suspected the early good will may come in handy. Throughout my explanation to my companions I considered the information Davis had shared and a blindingly obvious pattern stood out to me. The abilities he had stated were color coded. If physical abilities were yellow and support magic was blue, that meant that the special abilities in green were support in nature but a hybrid of physical and magical. I suspected that the orange class cores were based around hybrid physical and magical attacks. Could there be abilities that were both offensive and support based magic abilities? Could one be created? I really needed to see if I could get in to see the research of the university.

Maybe I could also find a map of the continent while I was there.