Shards of crystal flew like spears towards John, but their trajectories were simple and straight. He simply dodged out of the way and allowed them to impact the wall behind him. The sound of their collision was thunderous and grating to the ears. A section of the cavern itself seemed to be alive, a collection of the crystals taking a vaguely coherent form and attacking both him and his uncle Aydan.

Regular attacks with his sword couldn’t break through the crystals forming the creature, but if he gathered energy for a Gravity Blade it carried enough momentum to shatter some. The creature was gradually getting smaller. He knew Aydan was watching for his own safety, but that didn’t mean the situation was without danger. He had to watch out for himself as he made his attacks.

Fortunately, the creature was big and slow- and after propelling any of the shards at a distance it no longer had much control over them. Dodging wasn’t so difficult, though he couldn’t afford to slip up. The irregular footing of the ground was the biggest problem, and John used a bit of earth energy to get it to conform to him as he moved around. He navigated towards the empty section that was now mostly smooth stone where the creature had first stood up. He ducked under a wide swing from something akin to an arm and parried a crystal shard the size of a spearhead.

As soon as the thing followed him into the area, John used Hidden Steps to confuse it, slipping around to the opposite side of where it appeared he was going. He had already been gathering darkness around his sword, and swung it down with great force. As his sword broke through its exterior, the creature shattered into a million pieces, but the force of them wasn’t much individually and those that flew towards him deflected off of his energy defenses. In the middle of a ring of shattered crystal was what appeared at first to be a simple spherical pebble… but on closer observation carried with it great earth elemental spiritual energy. An earthen treasure. John carefully picked it up and sealed it in another container so that it wouldn’t disrupt further activities.

“Good job,” Aydan complimented him, “Though perhaps the power of your blows could use a bit of work.”

John shrugged. It was hard to fight on uneven ground, and darkness wasn’t well suited for direct attacks against solid targets. Once he had an earth elemental totem, however, he could make good use of earth for such straightforward tasks. Perhaps he could use the treasure he’d just gotten for that purpose, but they weren’t done with the Crystal Caverns yet. They hadn’t even gotten to any of the real opportunities yet. Though, both of them could sense a particular destination they were heading towards.

They moved along through the caverns towards a powerful source of energy. It could be danger, but danger also meant opportunities for growth and potential treasures. As they got closer, Aydan shook his head. “We’re not the only ones to have sensed this. Others are moving in.” He held out his hand to stop his nephew. “Wait. That crystal…” he waved his hand, a flicker of energy touching it briefly… and the crystal then exploded, and even from fifty meters back John felt the shockwave of energy. “Extremely unstable. Watch for more of those.”

Along with the increased frequency of unstable crystals, there were more living crystals that attacked the pair. John could handle one alone, but they came in twos and threes, or sometimes even more. The numbers increased as they moved towards their destination, where eventually the narrower tunnels opened up into a grand cavern a kilometer across. There were only occasional lights from glowing crystals, but it would be enough for a regular cultivator to see by- the two of them having the blessings of the family’s guardian beast merely made everything clearer. Hundreds of crystal beasts of various shapes and sizes moved throughout the cavern. A particularly large conglomeration of pinkish crystals slowly undulated towards the center of the cavern. Something powerful was there, though whether it was that mass or something it was protecting was unclear.

They weren’t the only ones to have arrived. There were several other Foundation Phase cultivators around. John recognized the guardians of Kasimir Roldan and Gaston Boyce. There were also several members of the Order of the Amber Heart present. None had yet made a move into the room. Nobody wanted to be the first to attract the danger, though all were eagerly hoping someone else would so they could reach whatever the treasure might be. There was just one thing missing. There were no other Spiritual Collection Phase cultivators around… even though who should have been with their guardians. One of the Amber Heart cultivators saw them. He smiled. “I might look over there, if you feel you have the fortune necessary.”

John’s eyes followed his gesture towards a smaller tunnel leading away. The energy in there was clearly different. A reactive zone. “I’m sure your disciples are already in there.”

“Indeed, some are. If you have the fate, you may obtain something there. If not… then the better will take it.” The man smiled, “That would be Renato, one of our top disciples. But you might still learn something.”

John looked to Aydan, who shrugged. At least he didn’t seem to sense any malice in the man from the Order of the Amber Heart. Just confidence in himself and that disciple. “I don’t suppose I’ll be of much use here anyway. I might as well try.”

Aydan nodded. “Do be careful, Fortkran. Such places can be… dangerous.” Of course, the most dangerous thing might not be the place itself, but the other people there. There were certain protocols to follow, but that was only necessarily true if there were witnesses around. Unfortunately, this world seemed the sort where significant progress required facing dangers.

John carefully made his way into the reactive area. At the very outskirts he tested how it responded to his energy. As expected, his current energy wasn’t enough to set it off… but it made things feel shaky. He would still have to watch what he did in the area, especially in a fight. The chances of there not being combat was low… unless he didn’t find anything of value.

The air grew thick and acrid. The earth elemental spiritual energy was extremely dense, but not in a usable way. It was like walking through mud. He was tempted to use his energy to push against it, but he knew that would do the opposite of what he wanted. He could see why Foundation Stage cultivators wouldn't’ want to try. The whole tunnel might just decide to crush them. It almost felt like that regardless.

John followed the path until the tunnel diverged. He couldn’t particularly feel a stronger energy in either direction. He considered just picking randomly, but he was already behind. He might as well try to find the right way. He opened up his senses, feeling out for… something. Eventually, the left path felt like something more, though much of the energy shared the same signature down both paths. Perhaps they looped around on each other.

Not running into any immediate dangers only made John more nervous. He felt like he was merely unable to discern the danger rather than there being none. He kept careful track of which tunnels he went down so he could find his way back out. A particular clump of crystals had a sort of look he could solidify in his mind. Cultivator brains were good for something at least.

The tunnel diverged again, but instead of left and right… it was forward… and down. Or perhaps it would be easier to say there was a large pit in this particular tunnel. It was roughly circular, similar in size to the tunnel- about three meters across. It would have normally been easy to jump across, but the uneven footing and dense energy made John hesitate. He carefully looked down the pit… and found it continued at least a hundred meters nearly straight down before curving out of sight. What was worse were the crystals lining the walls appeared razor sharp. The energy down below was even more dense… and while that might mean great treasure it also had another signature with it. The scent of death. A careful probe with his energy saw the darkness devoured before it even reached a third of the way down. John shook his head. He wasn’t going to go into a death zone… but he might pick his way around. The crystals on the side should hold up well enough for him to skirt around it. He still felt something up ahead that would likely be worth his time.