Master Of None

Chapter 419 - 419. Only Seventy-One

"That s a great question, I will be able to make the crystal much more usable if the imperfections are fixed. First, the crystal naturally bleeds elemental mana. It is unavoidable but the rate can be lessened. Second, the flow of the mana when being used can be smoother so that it doesn't cause any damage to whatever it is being used by. And third, It can be made more sturdy so that it has less chance to break. For some elemental mana crystals, the possibility of breaking can mean death." 

Walker understood these points and how they could be good for anyone that possessed the crystal. In Onyx's case, the crystal needed to let the mana flow out of it smoother. This would let him absorb the light elemental mana at a much better rate and safer.

"If a darkness elemental mana crystal broke, would it cause decay in the area due to the elemental mana density?" Si looked to Bree for the answer.

"That is exactly the risk. I take pride in never selling a crystal that has caused such harm. The fire elemental mana crystals breaking in certain ways could cause forest fires where water elemental crystals breaking could cause frost to spread and kill plants. The worst I have seen is a high earth elemental mana crystal breaking due to an imperfection and causing an earthquake." 

This was all terrifying to them, "Can this happen to a normal crystal? Or only if it breaks due to certain reasons?' Walker was thinking of how Gil make his elemental arrows and worried that one day there might be an accident causing serious damage.

"It is specific reasons, the crystal needs to be defective in some way and needs to be very condensed. If a proper crystal breaks the mana will just bleed out in mere minutes. Improper crystals will shatter and cause a huge pulse of mana." 

They were learning so much but Midnight was losing her patience. Her snack was sitting there mocking her while they all spoke and watched Onyx absorb the light elemental mana from a crystal. She nudged Walker a few times to get his attention. 

"Sorry Midnight, I got focused on other things. Feel free to enjoy your crystal. I can ask Onyx to take you to the tree house if you are too tired after eating it." Bree was privy to the information that a monster would often need to rest after absorbing high aunts of elemental mana so she did not worry about midnight falling asleep. 

"Yes, please eat eat." Bree pushed her on while Midnight opened her mouth wide. The sound of her teeth crushing the elemental mana crystal was not something Walker would ever get used to. It made his teeth throb in phantom pain. His skin crawled as the grinding of it reverberated through him.

"I see, so the elemental mana doesn't actually absorb in the beginning. It gathers in her stomach then slowly seeps in to here then moved towards her scales." Bree walked circles around Midnight making notes. 

"Here and here. Yes and there too. I knew those points were weak. But it was a mid tier crystal."Bree mumbled to herself for a while before writing notes at a furious pace. "I have theories!" 

Walker and Su looked on eagerly. Midnight and Onyx didn't bother looking up since they were completely focused on what they were doing. "There are some structural weaknesses in the crystals. The first possible reason could be the crafter. They could be inexperienced and not able to craft them properly. The second is that the crystals themselves are growing improperly and I should go check the underground crystal growth chambers." 

Walker and Su knew that they were being tempted. But the two of them easily folded to their own curiosity. "Is that something we could see?" Su's voice was soft since she knew this was bait from Bree. 

"I am glad you asked. I was planning to go there today. I have no problem bringing you two along." Bree smiled knowing that her offer was not easy to resist. "Onyx and Midnight are welcome to rest here. They will need time to sleep off their absorptions." 

"There is no way for us to refuse. This sounds like a very educational trip and I wouldn't have it any other way." Walker just smiled and went along. He was a little tired from the big events of earlier and didn't want to rush off in to anything. But if he gave up this chance he would be cursing himself later. 

"Ariel! Come up front for a while." Bree yelled and caused a shuffling to come from the back room. 

"Master, am I going to be watching the shop? Or do I have a new lesson?" The little elf girl that came up from the back of the shop looked to be the size of a human seven year old. But Walker and Su had learned that elves were deceiving. She was most likely many years older than them. 

"This is my granddaughter Ariel, she has the same system as her grandma. I will leave here to watch the shop while we are underground." 

"You can count on me!" Arial rand to a stool by the entrance and sat down. She fiddled with a handful of tiny elemental crystals. She had been practicing her skills in the back like her grandmother had instructed her, Now she could run the shop and be the face of their crystals.

"Bye bye now. We will be back soon." Bree waved to Ariel as she pushed Walker and Su out the door. The two were still stunned by the fact that Bree had a granddaughter. "That girl will take over my shop one day. She has already bonded with three elemental spirits and she is only seventy one years old. Bree teared up talking about it.

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