Regaleon: The Forgotten Knight

Despite the passage of considerable time, Sylveris’ question continued to hang unanswered in the cavern.

At least, it remained that way until Caelestra finally spoke.

"Yes, they are..." The final two words escaped her lips almost as a whisper, laden with awe and astonishment.

The failed Merchant continued staring at the luminous formations adorning the cavern walls, her features frozen in an expression of profound wonderment, as though her mind was struggling to reconcile what her eyes were witnessing with what she knew to be possible.

Technically, this was hardly Caelestra’s first encounter with Essence Crystals.

It wasn’t even her second or third as during her years at House Auricrest, she had encountered enough of them to last a lifetime. She had seen crystals of varying colours, sizes, qualities, and affinities. She knew their properties, she understood their uses and she also knew precisely how valuable they could become under the right circumstances.

But none of that prepared her for this.

It wasn’t the sight of the Essence Crystals themselves that shocked her. Rather, it was their sheer abundance.

Caelestra’s eyes slowly followed the trail of luminous formations stretching along the cavern wall and began counting them inwardly...

Eventually, she stopped because there were simply too many that her mind couldn’t keep up and that was what fascinated her. It was also what frightened her at the same time.

For a moment, Caelestra completely forgot the reason they had come to the cave in the first place.

Almost as though entranced, she stepped toward a nearby cluster of crystals, her expression had become dazed.

She slowly raised one hand and brushed her fingers against their smooth surfaces.

The crystals shimmered beneath her touch, bathing her fingers in azure light. A warm pulse travelled through the formations, sending a peculiar sensation of vitality through her veins.

Caelestra tilted her head.

"They’re beautiful..."

The words came out almost reverently.

The way she gazed upon them could easily have led an outsider to believe that she had been enchanted by the Aetheric resources themselves.

Indeed, her reaction might even have given the impression that this was her first time seeing Essence Crystals.

But nothing could have been further from the truth.

Caelestra wasn’t mesmerized because she had never seen them before. Instead, she was simply trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of what stood before her in the only way she could.

Neither Caelestra nor Sylveris are the only ones whose reaction could be described as astonishment.

The entire cohort had been affected.

Each person, however, reacted according to the desires and experiences buried within their own hearts.

Valmyr was perhaps the most obvious example.

The failed Vanguard stared at the crystalline formations with an expression that betrayed an almost naked covetousness.

His eyes practically glimmered with avarice.

Recently, Valmyr’s expectations had been thoroughly crushed by their expedition to the crypt.

He had entered that place anticipating treasures in abundance.

At the time, his anticipation had been so intense that it had nearly endangered the entire cohort.

He had imagined ancient treasures, rare resources and priceless relics; he has even expected some forgotten inheritance.

Instead, they had encountered nothing more than enraged Terracottas and three corpses that had been buried for centuries.

And, as though fate itself had decided to mock his insatiable appetite for wealth, the only remotely valuable objects they had discovered were the strange rosaries, or whatever those objects had actually been, resting inside the sarcophagi.

They might have possessed considerable archaeological significance in the outside world but the Nether Lands were not the outside world.

Here, archaeological Artifacts had little to no practical value. The dead had left behind their history.

What the living needed were resources; and now... Now Valmyr was staring at something that seemed to compensate for every disappointment the crypt had dealt him.

The cavern stretched endlessly ahead, its walls seemingly carpeted with thousands upon thousands of Essence Crystals.

It was as though his previously disappointed heart had suddenly been soothed by an ocean of wealth.

Valmyr eventually stopped before a cluster of turquoise formations.

The first words that escaped his mouth were an almost perfect testament to the avaricious desires buried deep within his heart.

"How much do you think all of these would be worth?"

Even Valmyr didn’t realize how revealing those words were. Fortunately for him, nobody seemed particularly interested in pointing it out as the others remained absorbed in the scenery.

Across the tunnel, Kaeloris adjusted his spectacles.

By now, the failed Gnost had already dismissed his Soul Essence.

The ambient radiance produced by the countless formations was more than sufficient to illuminate their surroundings.

"If these are all genuine Essence Crystals..." He paused briefly. "...then I don’t think their total value would be easy to calculate."

Even Kaeloris sounded somewhat overwhelmed.

The words had barely left his mouth before Caelestra finally tore her attention away from the cluster before her and turned toward the others.

"He’s right." She folded her arms. "You see, the value of an Essence Crystal isn’t something that can be easily quantified."

She gestured toward the surrounding formations.

"Its purity, affinity, density, and the amount of Aether contained within its structure are among the primary factors that determine its worth."

Caelestra then pointed toward a tiny emerald formation embedded within the wall, one no larger than her fingernail.

"It might sound absurd, but that little one could potentially be worth more than a crystal twice its size if its internal structure is sufficiently pure."

Valmyr’s eyes shifted toward the tiny green crystal. "But all of these are still enough to fetch a worthy sum, aren’t they?"

He said, his voice carrying an unmistakable eagerness.

Caelestra gave him a sideways glance before replying. "Of course."

She then returned her attention to the cavern.

"But I wonder why you even care about their monetary value."

Her expression became faintly incredulous.

"It’s not as though you can exchange them or spend them." She paused before adding. "I mean, this isn’t Valoria."

"Who cares?"

This time, it was Vaelorin who spoke.

The failed Pyromancer’s voice carried a note of pragmatic enthusiasm as he examined the walls.

"As long as the crystals are precious and useful, then their value speaks for itself."

He gestured toward the countless formations.

"If we can’t exchange them, then surely we can find some other use for them."

His fiery red eyes suddenly shifted toward Veyrath.

"Veyrath could use them in that Ascension Potion he once proposed, couldn’t he?"

Veyrath immediately raised his brows.

"Well, don’t look at me like that."

He sighed.

"I could theoretically use Essence Crystals in the preparation of an Ascension Potion, but I don’t think it would be quite that simple."

His expression was one of cautious reservation.

"But you can use them, can’t you?" Vaelorin pressed.

His tone was firm, almost demanding confirmation.

Veyrath shrugged. "I suppose you could put it that way."

The conversation had barely ended when Aureleah suddenly spoke. This time, her words were directed toward Caelestra.

"Speaking of their applications..." Her silver eyes shifted toward the failed Merchant. "You can also use them to create your Coins, can’t you, Caelestra?"

The moment she said it, something seemed to click inside everyone’s minds.

Right.

Caelestra could use Essence Crystals to replenish the Coins she had expended during the battle in the Breeding Nest.

Although she had collected several crystals from the underwater cave, those evidently hadn’t been sufficient.

Even now, the group had yet to see any of her Coins floating around her.

They had asked her about it before, but Caelestra had never given them a definite answer.

From what they had observed, however, it was fairly obvious that she hadn’t yet recovered the Coins she had lost.

But that was no longer the case.

At least, it didn’t have to be.

Looking around at the staggering quantity of Essence Crystals embedded throughout the cavern, it was difficult to imagine that there wouldn’t be enough to replenish her reserves...

Before Caelestra could answer, however...

"Are you guys planning on staring at those things all day?"

The voice came from farther ahead.

Everyone turned only to see Aelric standing several dozen metres away.

The green-eyed youth had already been walking ahead, apparently assuming that the others were following behind him.

It wasn’t until he glanced over his shoulder that he realized they had stopped.

And not merely stopped; they had practically become fixtures of the cavern.

At first, Aelric had intended to remain an indifferent observer. He understood their fascination and astonishment. And if anything, he found their reactions perfectly reasonable.

After all, even he couldn’t deny that the cavern was extraordinary. So he had initially decided to let them admire the scenery until they were satisfied.

But eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore.

They had become so captivated by the spectacle that they appeared to have completely forgotten why they had come here.

Valmyr, Veyrath, and Caelestra were the worst offenders.

The three had spent most of their time examining the formations as though they had discovered some mythical vault overflowing with riches.

Even Regaleon and Aureleah, two people Aelric had expected to remain considerably more composed, seemed to have been drawn into the atmosphere.

It was because of this very reason that Aelric finally had no choice but to step in and snap them out of their spectacle...