Despite the constant effect of the aura leading them in the right direction, Adam didn't start running. He moved forward at his own pace, keeping his guard up.
He didn't believe it was a trap.
There was no malice or coldness in the unknown creature's aura towards them, only a desire to et.
It was nothing more than an invitation.
What would happen next Adam and Risha had yet to find out. Perhaps a battle, a victory, a reward, or even instant death.
Though... Adam excluded the last one in the first few seconds.
'That aura is curious... I don't sense anything special, it's not a weak creature calling us. I doubt a Pri Obsidian Lizard could pull sothing like this off.'
Unlike Adam who was nonchalantly advancing towards the dark rocks where there were more shadows than lava, Risha was wary.
Like Adam, she had never been called by a monster using the aura, and she didn't see it as a good thing.
"Hey... Adam..." she muttered looking around. "Why don't we get out of here and look for a S4 monster for you sowhere else? I don't like this at all."
"You think we're walking right into a trap?" Adam grinned.
"Fucking yes! We're following the monster's aura! We've been walking for five minutes! I've never been here before! Everyone knows that heading into a place devoid of light is dangerous!"
Adam chuckled mockingly. "Hahaha, I never thought you were afraid of the dark, and..."
His eyes traveled to the dim crystals and small lava puddles spreading out along their path.
"It's not that dark in here. If monsters are lurking here, we can sense them."
At the sa mont, Risha's eyes went wide as she stopped.
"Shit! Why didn't you ntion this before?"
Risha's eyes ran from one shadow to another, a multitude of silhouettes hiding under the cover of darkness.
"I an, we're already surrounded!"
"Yeah, I know," Adam shrugged nonchalantly. "I spotted them a long ti ago. The farther we go, the more of them show up."
"AND?" Risha shouted stopping abruptly. "Even a fool can see it's a trap! Other Phantoms in our place would not have noticed these monsters! Their auras are well hidden!"
"The other Phantoms in our place wouldn't co in here. You can leave if you want, I didn't ask for you to be my partner for this descent."
Risha gritted her teeth, glared at the lurking monsters, but followed Adam.
Then, Adam glanced at her. "By the way. While we head on, tell about that strange ring in your pocket. I saw it being used by three thugs. At first, I thought it was so simplified version of the Nexus, but...
"You wouldn't use sothing like that, would you?"
With a bored look, Risha turned aside and pulled out a black ring, the crystal in the center was in place.
"Brother ntioned that at the Upper Ring, you don't use such things. I didn't want to delve into that topic, but... If Orel intends to explain sothing, there's no chance of escaping him. I had to sit and listen and nod my head."
"So?" Adam raised an eyebrow looking at the ring.
Risha sighed heavily. "Yeah, sure. It's the Revelation Ring, as you saw, it helps hide Nexus. Instead of carrying a huge axe or an even bigger case everywhere, all I need is this little ring right here. Obviously, all the other Phantoms at the Lower Ring use the Revelation Ring too."
After a few steps, Adam looked up, pensive.
"Hmm... Sounds too good to be true. At the Upper Ring, there's no such thing. All the Phantoms whose Nexus is too big to fit on their belt have to use cases for transportation. Any idea why that's the way it is?"
"Pffft could have just asked normally," Risha rolled her eyes. "It's all about price and efficiency."
Adam was puzzled. "Price and efficiency?"
He expected that the Revelation Ring must have a flaw, at least one, but he didn't understand how price had anything to do with it.
'The Phantoms at the Upper Ring are supported by the governnt and military...' he thought. 'It's far from paradise conditions. But compared to the situation at the Lower Ring, we just have unlimited funding, right?'
Basically, Adam couldn't believe that the governnt couldn't give every Phantom from K0 to K4 a dozen of the Revelation Rings.
"Yeah," Risha waved her hand. "At the base of the Revelation Ring is a Void Crystal."
"The Void Crystals..." Adam muttered, his eyes growing deeper. "The sa ones they use to create bracelets and collars for Operators?"
Risha nodded weakly and reached forward. The Revelation Ring lay on her open palm.
"However, special Void Crystals are used for the Revelation Rings. They are 100% pure. For the bracelets and collars, crystals with 50% purity will do. I won't go into details, but it's the 100% purity of the crystal that allows you to write your Nexus to it. Thus, you can summon and revoke your weapon at your whim."
With slight loss, Adam tilted his head.
"Are 100% pure Void Crystals that expensive? In that case, how does everyone at the Lower Ring have the Revelation Rings?"
Risha scratched the back of her head. "Well... It's expensive, but not that much. As my brother told the reason is that all mining of the Void Crystals is controlled by the Four Beasts. Our heads are simply unwilling to sell the Void Crystals at the price of the Lower Ring. They do, but for other purposes and for a fortune."
"And..." she scratched her cheek uncertainly. "There are transportation problems and so other details. I'm sure the governnt could get the right amount of the Void Crystals, but they decided it would cost too much. Moreover, as I said earlier, Revelation Ring has another disadvantage - efficiency."
"Yeah, go on," Adam nodded.
"Well, every ti you use the Revelation Ring to summon Nexus, you spend quite a bit of energy on it. With K2 Level and above it feels less and less, but for K0 and K1 Phantoms it's a serious fraction of their energy reserves."
Adam nodded silently, reflecting on what he heard.
At the sa ti, a few hundred ters away, two eyes with vertical pupils opened in the distance.
The aura from the unknown creature intensified, but it was patient. Willing not to fight, but to talk, at least to begin with.
User Comments
0 comments from readers