Jer Patch
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Chapter 43: Lessons Learned
🕑 Added 2025-03-20 03:00:01 +0000 UTC“We have been forced to close the portal off our world, but we’ve stagnated as a species. Our world can only get us so far, and the Elders are trying to find a way for us to keep growing, but… I fear for our people.” He let his face fall into his hands. “We can only hope they find a different world to hunt for.”
The man vanished, and I shivered before setting the crystal on the table.
“Slaves? This all comes down to slaves?”
Back on earth, slavery hadn’t existed for a long time. I couldn’t even wrap my head around it. I wished I could ask Noseen about all of this. My concern had been around being a devourer, but now being a crystal singer had its own risks.
Fuck that.
I had bigger concerns, like getting out of this dungeon. I picked the crystal back up to put it back where it belonged when he appeared again.
“There is hope. Another war brews on the horizon. A group of our people plan to escape to the stars and grow. May they prosper and return.”
This time I kept the crystal in my hand to see if anything else appeared. A different elderly person appeared, and she glanced up with a smile.
“We have made parts of our world a Sanctuary. It is a failsafe measure, in case they find our planet. A place for the young ones to escape to, irrevocable and enforced by the System itself. We must keep the portal open for our people to travel back and forth. Too many grow old before their time, from lack of growth.” She shook her head. “There is talk of destroying all crystals, or not letting anyone else learn the profession. The council is conflicted. I fear our people will vanish within my children’s time.”
I started shaking the crystal, like it would speed up the holograms.
“Why didn’t you all just band together to take them out?” My question came out almost like an accusation. I shook my head as I stood and placed the crystal back on the shelf when nothing else appeared after a few moments.
“Cowards.”
My people had traveled the stars in a spaceship to find a better life. We left behind a dying planet, even with only a small likelihood of finding a habitable planet that was any better. All the marketing said differently, but given that my father knew the truth, it made it very different for my brothers and I. We knew the likelihood of ever waking was slim, but it might happen. Our people did it anyway.
The actions described in these crystals didn’t match up with what I knew of Lenna. She’d fought in the dungeon like a champ, and she was only level 25 for the last couple of bosses. She rocked. Her people must be exceptional when they level up.
There had to be something I was missing. Some piece of this puzzle, otherwise why freaking hide?
None of this helped me learn how to leave this place, or figure out what crystals I matched with better. I left the library and headed to the courtyard to pace around the fountain, to work some of this excess anger out.
If being a crystal singer was such a risk, why create this dungeon to teach it? Was it so the profession would die out, then when it was safe again, to have their people learn it again? If they needed to learn the profession from someone who knew it, how the heck did I learn it?
I had to walk away from all of this and focus on what I needed to accomplish. If a Forger tried to kidnap me, I’d eat them. Fuck it. I’d eat them joyfully, and give a toast to Lenna's people.
I let out a sigh, before heading back into the workshop space, sitting on the bench.
“Okay, time to find out what crystal specialization I have.” I picked up the fire crystal, since I’d used it the most. The warmth of the flow of energy inside the crystal made me smile, and I tried asking the crystal if I was like it.
That didn’t work.
I then tried to think about becoming one with the crystal. Nada.
Next, I connected with the stone and studied the flow of energy. The movements, how the energy twisted like flames, and the warmth from it, were all things I hadn’t noticed before I learned they were fire crystals.
Still nothing.
“Let’s try a Water Crystal then…”
After a grueling session of failing at everything I tried, I set the forest crystal down.
[You have leveled your Profession.]
I’d even tried with an air crystal still attached to the cavern wall. While I felt like I had a better understanding of the energies inside them, it still wasn’t really right.
[You have leveled your Profession.]
I waited another couple of moments, lying on the crystal path in the mines, for another notification. This made me level 20 in Crystal Singing, and I’d have put credit on that being the trigger.
Nothing.
I only had one bowl of soup left before I’d said I needed to leave the cavern. My fingers tapped on the path underneath me, but I came up with nothing. The additional levels helped with stat points, and it felt like I reached farther than before when I touched the energy and presence inside the crystals. I brought up my stat sheet and allocated the rest of my free stats. I increased strength by 5, quickness, intelligence, fortitude, and willpower by 10, and then toughness by 15. The rush of growth flowed through my body, but not like before when I’d triggered Growth Shock. My stats were just too high for a 10 increase to do that.
After resting on the path, I headed back to the library to try to find something about discovering a specialization. Anything that could help.
All I wanted was a clue, just one friggin’ clue!
Hours passed trying to find something about specializations, and I only found one person who discussed it in more detail.
“My specialization came as a surprise. I hoped for Wind Whispering, since my tribe lives near the cliffs. That didn’t work. Instead, as I touched fire’s energy, the bond snapped into place. It found a space in my soul that fit and stayed.” The young man sighed, which came through the recording. “Being a fire singer is great, but I always loved the winds.”
Nothing else.
Plus, I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t still work with air crystals if he enjoyed it. It had to be a difference because of their race. Something that I didn’t have, and so it didn’t happen. I carefully set the crystal back on the shelf, even though inside my nerves shook, and I wanted to scream.
There was nothing else to do but take a nap and try again.
The nap didn’t help, but that didn’t matter.
It was time.
I shook the blanket out, getting rid of any dust and dried dirt before setting it back on the bed. I didn’t plan on coming back to this room before I left. Next, I headed to the study and tossed the comfortable chair back in the inventory crystal before putting things exactly how I had found them.
“I wish I had time to listen to you all,” I whispered to myself.
All of those stories, just sitting there, and I didn’t have time. Shaking my head I marched back to the bench. I had one bowl of soup left, the last one before I said I’d try to leave. The crystals in front of me on the table mocked me. I’d return all three of them to the mine when I was done, for the next one to come here to learn.
I didn’t have a way to carry all of them, anyway, without reshaping them to hang from my belt like the Bloomstone, and that’d just slow me down in a fight.
“One last shot…”
First, I tried again with the fire crystal. The energy and personality inside burned brightly, but didn’t connect with me. No bond snapped into place. The forest crystal felt grounded, like a tall tree with deep roots, without a place for me. Water flowed slowly, like a trickling brook that said hi, but that was all.
I left them there and sat on the floor by the fire.
“It’s not me…”
It had to be a jungle folk thing. Finishing the bowl of soup took only a moment, along with putting the cooking tools back in my inventory. The fire burned down to coals and I left it to go out.
Then it was time.
I yanked my armor out of my inventory and slowly pulled it on over my uniform. Warmth spread through me as it settled into place. The small increase to Toughness added to my stats.
The fountain mocked me as I walked past. The bright blue water and sparkling light, like a beacon in the darkness of what I wouldn’t have.
I set the extra fire crystal down next to the others, near the boulders right off the beginning of the path. The Forest crystal I nestled in the roots of the tree. Last, I resisted the urge to chuck the water crystal in the pond. Instead, I slipped it carefully beneath the water.
There was one last thing I needed to do before I tried to leave the dungeon.
I pulled out the weapon upgrade token.
There were only two options, and I sat next to the pool of water to decide. Light sparkled from beneath the surface from the crystals, creating a shimmering dance on the ceiling of the cavern. My spear I set down on the right, and the devourer tooth I set on the left. Every time the spear got stuck in some beast, I used the tooth as a backup, along with my claws.
Both were important, and even though my spear was my main weapon, I wasn’t sure how much better this upgrade token could make it.
“So, Lenna got a replenishing quiver. This has to be at least as awesome as that,” I muttered to myself. I wished I could get some insight from Noseen, but then again he hadn’t seen me fight in ages.
The shaft of my spear, while reinforced, now bent slightly in one direction. It still retracted into a knife, but that last fight had messed with it. I pulled it into my lap and extended it to the full size. The telescopic metal groaned on the last bit.
I sighed.
The poor thing had taken a beating, yet I still stared at the tooth. I wanted so badly to see what it’d do, but I just didn’t use it enough. The extra reach of the spear was just too useful.
Making up my mind, I held the token and touched it to the spear. “Let’s see what you can do.”
[Would you like to use the Weapon Upgrade Token on your Crystal Telescopic Knife?]
Yes.
That was easy enough.
The token glowed a bright yellow-white, which transferred over to the knife, which floated into the air as the token dissolved. The intensity increased until I couldn’t look at it any more.
I counted under my breath, waiting for the light to fade.
Instead, another notification popped up.
[Reach or Power?]
What was this? Still, I had enough power on my own, so I chose Reach.
The light increased, then suddenly faded.
I caught the knife in one hand.
[Crystal Telescopic Knife has been upgraded to Whiplash Crystal Knife. The durability and reach of the weapon has increased. Damage is limited by your skill.]
“What?” Feeling insulted, I took a deep breath, trying to view the notification as a learning experience.
“I have plenty of skill with using my blade…” Grumbling, I pulled up my weapon skill.
[Blades and Polearms. Use the claws you make. Kill.]
I’d forgotten I hadn’t leveled it at all. Even with all the combat and the levels I’d gained using my knife and spear, the skill hadn’t changed. The basic description stayed the same as when I’d been at level 1. It was the last skill like that.
“Use the claws you make. Kill.” I’ve done that. Kinda.
Though, I didn’t make the original knife. The crystal I’d fixed a few times, but the shaft was from Earth, and then reinforced by my brother.
Maybe that had something to do with it? I’d recently replaced the crystal blade with one I’d completely crafted in the dungeon. So, now it had to count, right?
I put the tooth back in my inventory and stood up, turning the knife over in my hands and feeling the difference. The crystal remained the same, but the shaft color had changed. It turned darker and didn’t feel cool like metal. The ridges where it extended were gone. I tried to pull it apart, and it didn’t budge.
“Well, fuck.”
I tapped a finger on my thigh, then took up a pose holding the knife. Then I stabbed forward. The shaft extended in my hand, but not very far.
“Whiplash…” I mumbled in shock.
This time I stabbed in the air with purpose, like I needed to cut into the side of an attacking creature. A jolt of energy went up my arm and the knife extended into the spear length I was used to.
“Okay, this is better…”
I needed practice.
So, that’s what I did. I went through all the forms my father taught me, trying to understand how the weapon worked and didn’t. Time passed by slowly, and eventually, I came to the conclusion I was good enough. Once I fought with it, hopefully, it’d sink in. There wasn’t much more I could do myself.
That left one more hurdle before I could leave the dungeon.
The crystal door mockingly stood at the end of the path, around the next corner. The elder said I needed to connect with a crystal type to leave.
That hadn’t happened.
So, I needed to do it anyway.
Taking a deep breath, I put away my upgraded knife and headed down to the end of the path. Even without passing this phase, I had to get out of this dungeon.
Quest be damned.
