Amber Sword

"Is this the crystal cluster?"

Princess Griffine watched as Brand turned over the corpse of the gray-robed man, revealing a patch of purple crystal-like skin beneath the cut robe. She silently looked up and saw that the neck of the corpse, like broken glass, was completely crystallized with no blood seeping out.

"This is a crystal cluster," Brand stayed by the corpse for a while before replying, "A kind of monster formed by the distortion under the influence of the Magic Moon on certain living things within magic crystals. These monsters are not common, occasionally found in magic crystal veins and Crystal Forests."

"But it looks like a humanoid," Princess Griffine quietly observed the corpse, "And what does this have to do with anything? Mr. Brand, do you know what happened at Yan Castle?" She stood outside, unwilling to be tainted by the bloodstains splattered all over the room—even though the beast’s corpse had long been dragged away for handling, the Countess had declared to the harbor guard soldiers that a demon from the Ambeser war had attacked her brother, showing them the gray-robed man’s corpse. Everyone who saw Acker’s tragic scene felt distressed, and as such cases had been happening recently at Ampezel Port, no one suspected anything.

"He was human when alive," Brand replied without turning his head, picking up a crystal fragment, "but the crystallization disease turned him into this."

"Crystallization disease?" Princess Griffine slightly raised her head, looking at him with her beautiful silver eyes.

"I came across such a case when studying scroll knowledge. Some creatures living in crystal veins gradually went mad, crystals grew on them, and they became insane, attacking humans," Brand fixed his gaze on that crystal fragment, its flowing radiance casting a long streak of light on his face: "This is the earliest case of crystallization disease, which happened in the Four Border Wilds."

"This sounds like demonization," the princess answered with a furrowed brow.

"It is demonization," Brand nodded but then sighed, "Since magic is abundant in crystal veins, it more easily leads to the occurrence of magic erosion. However, crystallization is very unusual, and no one knows why such creatures as crystal clusters exist. Theoretically, every species in Vorn exists with its continuity, but the history of crystal clusters is blank. Some research has been conducted on them, but we still don’t know what’s behind it."

The princess naturally assumed "we" referred to the Black Tower Wizards, but in fact, Brand unconsciously used the player’s term. In the Amber Sword, the story enthusiasts naturally investigated crystal clusters thoroughly, but as Brand said, all investigations continued until before the era when Radiance was lost, and then abruptly stopped.

Some believe that crystal clusters hide a great secret, but the more seasoned players assert—until the official release further opens the history before the era of Radiance being lost, the origins of crystal clusters can only be a puzzle. However, pursuing history before the Radiance disappeared is easier said than done, as one main source of information for players is Bujia’s library, which even for the Wizards of Bujia remains unattainable knowledge.

Where did crystal clusters originate?

Brand actually didn’t care about this; he only cared why they suddenly appeared in Erune. Historically, there are no related records, and Northern history seems to be undergoing some changes, subtly starting to deviate from his known trajectory.

After listening to Brand’s answer, Princess Griffine also remained silent for a while. But after a while, she asked again, "But Delphire also mentioned that there aren’t any Crystal Forests near Yan Castle."

"That’s exactly what confuses me," Brand replied.

Princess Griffine worriedly furrowed her brow, looking at Brand, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I found similar traces on Acker’s corpse, some crystals were growing on the back of his neck, just that others didn’t notice them under the blood," Brand turned back to meet her gaze. He answered confidently, "This also explains why the guy suddenly became so insane; dark magic amplifies the evil in one’s heart. This isn’t an isolated case; there must be a spread of crystallization disease near Yan Castle, and Baron Darle might already be corrupted."