Chapter 1.32

"I'll say it again," Colonel Tirel de Graaf said. "This pentagram doesn't have transference working, Michael."

Mike didn't expect that at all. The Colonel had managed to break the activation of the pentagram. Not that there were strong defenses, but still his blood played a key role. The only way around that was to deactivate the pentagram completely, take out all the crystals in the right order, and…

Mike's eyes widened at the realization of what the Colonel had done.

"You pulled out the crystals!"

"So?" The Colonel didn't understand. "It was the only way…"

"You have no idea what you did," Mike grasped his head.

"Don't tell me your lab self-destructed because of that. Ha-ha," laughed Tirel.

Mike shook his head. He wasn't going to tell the colonel the details of how the portal to the lab worked. The lab didn't self-destruct, of course. Mike hadn't even considered adding such a feature. But losing the connection between the pentagrams could be considered equal to the consequences of self-destructing. Fortunately, the pentagram in the lab is always active and it's not too difficult to reconnect. But it takes a whole lot of energy.

"Will you let me check the status of the pentagram and the portal?" He asked Tirel.

"Yes, but no fooling around," the colonel threatened him. "Any wrong move you make and…" he didn't finish, but he pointed a hand at Martha and Doran.

"Are you threatening me?" surprised Mike.

"I hope you understand me," Tirel evaded the answer.

The colonel stepped aside a little but stayed within the boundaries of the pentagram. Mike went to the center of the pentagram and knelt and placed his hand on it. There was a small surge of magical energy, but nothing happened. It refused to respond to his actions. He sensed, however, that there was almost no magical energy left in the inner crystals.

Crystals were used not only as a means of payment but also in magic. They had two unique properties. The first property was the ability to retain magic weavings in their crystal lattice. On the one hand, the number of possible weavings was proportional to the size, and type of crystal, on the other hand, it was limited by the technology of writing magic weavings into the crystal. It was also possible to record the weavings simply by taking a crystal in your hand and directing your energy into it. But in this case, everything depended on the skill and accuracy of the magician himself. Another way was to use a magic machine to apply the weaving. For example, all the weavings in crystal tablets were written solely with the help of a magic machine tool. But if a crystal lost its reserve of magical energy, then the written weaving was also lost. Moreover, the greater the number of stored weavings, the greater the chance of destruction and even subsequent explosion.

Another property, which was rather the main one, was the ability to store magical energy in the crystal lattice. The cleaner a crystal is and the less imperfect it is, the more energy it can store. That is why natural crystals are practically not used, except for jewelry and as payment. On the other hand, artificial monocrystals are widely used. Each type of crystal can store not every type of magic. For example, ruby is ideal for the energy of fire. There are, of course, universal crystals that can take any type of magic energy. But they also have their disadvantages. Typically, pea-sized crystals can hold energy equal to a fourth rank. Cherry-sized crystals can hold the energy of the fifth rank.

That's exactly the kind of crystal Mike was using. In addition to their energy reserves, they also contained magical weavings. Combining both properties qualitatively is only possible by using a magic weaving machine. So, the loss of five crystals would be a sensitive event for Mike. Good thing he had a spare set of crystals for that occasion.

"Colonel," Mike addressed him. "I take it that you broke into my vault upstairs?"

"So?"

"I need crystals to replace these," Mike replied, pointing to the five center crystals with his hand.

"Can't you just charge them with your energy?" Eric asked.

"All five? That's out of the realm of fantasy," replied Mike. "Yeah, and it's gonna take a long time. Or are you Colonel in no hurry?"

"You're right, Michael, that my time is limited," Colonel Tirel replied. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you stall for time. The pentagram is active and there is a connection. The only thing that's not working is the transfer. You have to fix it. And no fooling around."

"You have reconfigured this pentagram to match you. But you forgot about the other one, which was still configured to match me. Do you think it's possible to transfer that way, Colonel?" Mike grinned.

"Okay," Tirel agreed with him after a brief pause. "We'll disable the pentagram one more time. And you'll reconfigure it back to match you. But if anything goes wrong, it'll be all your fault."

Mike sighed. He didn't want to let Tirel into his lab at all. But he couldn't stop him either, not yet. The colonel had the eighth rank of power. Mike had only recently been raised to the fifth rank. He was also unarmed and without artifacts. The defensive ring had just begun to restore energy and couldn't help. And then there was Eric Shtof, who also possessed the fifth rank and whose presence he could not explain. Against two opponents at once, he wouldn't last even a couple of seconds.

Mike reached for the first crystal with his hand when Tirel stopped him abruptly.

"Stop!" Shouted the man. "Take your hand away and step back."

Mike looked at the colonel in surprise. He took his hand away but didn't step aside.

"Michael, do as you were told!" Eric raised his voice.

"Eric, what are you even doing in my house?" Mike couldn't take it anymore.

"None of your fucking business," he barked and was about to say something else when Martha rose from her seat.

"Don't talk about the young master like that," she yelled at Eric.

He didn't take long and punched her in the face. Martha sobbed and fell backward on the couch, grabbing her face with her hand. Daren jumped up from his seat and wanted to punch Eric with his fist.

"You!" Shouted Daren trying to strike. But Eric repulsed his blow rather easily.

"No! Stop!" Mike rushed toward them.

He only had time to make a couple of steps before he felt a surge of magical energy emanating from Colonel Tirel. And the next second he stopped abruptly. At his throat, he felt the cold blade of the sword. The blade touched his skin, leaving a small cut. A few drops of blood protruded and immediately froze, and Mike felt a piercing chill from the magic.

At that moment, Eric had already drawn his sword. Without a second thought, he stabbed it into Doran's chest. Doran tried to dodge the blow. But in this situation, he was doomed. His opponent was too strong and too fast. And who would have thought that Eric Shtof would go for the kill in this situation? It was just plain stupid.

"Why?" Shouted Mike, clenching his fists, but remained standing where he was.

Quietly Martha began to sob, the first tears rolling down her cheeks. Doran's head rested in her lap, but he was already dead. She put her hand over his eyes and covered them.

"Eric," Tirel called out to him. "Really, why did you kill him?"

"He was a danger, and Michael could have taken advantage of that," he pointed his hand at the man. Mike glared at him with a hateful look. But there was nothing he could do, only clench his fists harder.

"Okay… I'll pull out the crystals myself," Tirel said. "In the meantime, you keep an eye on Michael so he doesn't do anything stupid."

The colonel withdrew his sword from Mike's throat and deactivated the spell on it. Then he hid the sword in its scabbard on his belt.

Mike continued to stand where he was and watch the Colonel's actions. The latter quickly deactivated the pentagram and pulled out the five central crystals. Tirel studied them one by one.

"There's about twenty percent energy left in them," the colonel said, looking at Mike.

"We need at least forty percent. Better be fifty-five percent," Mike replied.

"Okay," he said and pulled a pouch with crystals from Mike's vault out of his pocket. There were ten crystals in the pouch. It was a spare set that was kept for emergencies. After checking all the crystals, he looked at Mike again.

"One half has 43%, the other half has 47%."

"Put the ones with 47%," Mike replied.

Tirel selected five crystals and put the rest in a pouch and gave them to Eric.

"Keep them with you," he told him. "Until we're done here."

"Very well, sir," Eric replied.

Tirel returned to the center of the pentagram and inserted the five crystals one by one.

"Now it's your turn, Michael," he said. "But be aware, I'll be right behind you, and I'll be watching your every move."

Mike walked to the center of the pentagram, where there was another, smaller one, stylized as the face of a demoness in a predatory grin. Looking at it, he sighed heavily. He hoped there was something Ephie could do to help him. Mike ran his finger along the cut on his neck, but there was no more blood.

"Your sword," he said to Tirel, looking at him. "I need a few drops of blood for the pentagram."

The colonel drew his sword and held it out to Mike. The latter quickly made a wound on his finger. A few drops of blood came from the cut. Mike, on one knee, placed his palm on the small pentagram. Then he smeared the blood on the pentagram and waited for it to absorb.

"Well, let's get started," he said with a sigh.

"Eric," The Colonel called Eric Shtof. "Michael and I are going to the lab. You stay here."

"Sir, would it be better if I came with you?" Asked Eric.

"No, you don't have to," replied the colonel. "But, if I'm not back within the hour, you know what to do."

"All right, sir. I'll be waiting for you."

"Get started, Michael."

"Protective field," Mike said quietly. With an energy surge, the outer five crystals began to glow faintly one by one. Then a faintly flickering protective field appeared around the pentagram.

"Connection," another energy surge. This time considerably more powerful. The inner five crystals began to glow faintly one by one. Mike felt one-third of the energy from the crystals rapidly drain away. A few seconds passed in waiting. All the crystals continued to glow faintly.

"Established," Mike said with relief. "I hope it was worth it, Colonel."

"That's not for you to decide, Michael," he replied. "Go on, and no tricks."

"Martha, please wait for me," Mike said, looking at her. "You'll be fine."

Martha looked at him with weeping eyes.

"All right, young master," she said and nodded uncertainly. Mike smiled back at her.

"Transfer," Mike said and sent out another pulse of magical energy.

All the crystals began to gradually increase their glow. At the same time, the figures of Mike and Colonel Tirel began to gradually become transparent until they disappeared completely. At that moment the crystals stopped their glow. The protective field fell, and they were no longer in the hall.