Why... why is his tal Crystal armor still here?
Magnus stared blankly at Emily. She had just climbed into the truck, taken off her helt, and let down her hair, but all he could think about was the tal armor.
It should’ve been almost three hours by now. The armor should’ve vanished.
"Emily!" he blurted out before she could speak, "Did - did your tal Crystal armor wear off already?"
"Armor ti?" Emily raised a brow, then nodded. "Yeah, didn’t it already disappear for us all after one hour? Wait... yours didn’t?"
"I..."
Magnus looked stunned. He could clearly feel his armor was still there - heavy, not as agile as before, but definitely not gone.
Could it be the tattoo on my ring finger?
He imdiately reached out with his right hand, fingertips brushing the black ring-shaped mark on the middle finger of his left hand. Nothing. Then, just as he tapped it with his right thumb - bam.
The armor vanished.
Startled, he touched it again. Just like that, the armor ca back.
What the hell is going on?
Does this an... I can activate it any ti I want? Forever?
"Magnus, what’s wrong with you today?" Emily frowned, watching his shifting expression. "You’ve been acting weird all day. Be honest with - you have so kind of special ability, don’t you? Did that fever in the infirmary bring it out?"
"I’m fine. Really," Magnus said quickly, forcing a smile. He knocked lightly on the bunk bed’s iron bar. "See? My armor’s gone too now."
Then, sounding a bit guilty, he added, "We’re in the sa boat."
Emily gave him a long, searching look but didn’t press. Instead, she sighed and changed the subject.
"Those girls you let go? Ten of them are still alive. What do you want to do about them?"
"Them..."
Magnus hesitated. He’d seen the Havencrest girls earlier. "What about you and Charlotte - what do you think?"
"Sophia wants them executed under military law," Emily said flatly. "Charlotte and I think they’d be better used in logistics."
"What about the girls? Do they still want to go ho?"
"Hah! Ho?" Emily scoffed. "You think they’re the only ones with families? They’ve all shut up now, no one’s screaming to go ho anymore."
Magnus thought a mont, then said, "Forget it. Wanting to go ho makes sense. You and Charlotte go talk to them - see if any are willing to atone through work. Then just let it go."
"Let it go? Easy for you to say!" Emily snorted, hopped off the truck, didn’t say who she was mad at.
Magnus quickly called after her, "Emily, tell Mr. White at lunch to give everyone fruit - and a sausage each!"
"Humph." Emily snorted again and didn’t reply.
*****
By afternoon, the team was back digging crystals. Magnus stayed inside the vehicle, focused entirely on the strange black tattoo on his ring finger. Three hours ticked by. The golden tal armor on Magnus vanished entirely. The "activate-deactivate" trick stopped working. Step by step, he tested the ring-shaped tattoo on his left middle finger again, this ti with a Fire Crystal and another tal Crystal.
tal Crystal - when he pressed the ring tattoo with his right thumb, armor kicked in. Sa gesture to turn it off.
Fire Crystal - used his right index finger. Activate. Deactivate. Easy.
Normal Awakened? One hour per crystal. Him? Three. And he could shut the effect off, no energy wasted.
Another thing - regular folks could only use one crystal at a ti. Magnus? Two. No strain, no clash.
That entire afternoon, he tested and proved what he’d barely believed himself - what he had was beyond rare. Crazy strong. Ga-changing.
Think about it - if he dashed into Springvale City now, fighting Giant Spidermaws? Fire Crystal. Squaring up with humans? tal Crystal. No danger in sight? Just deactivate and save on usage ti.
Who could even stop him?
And this wasn’t even scratching the surface. What about Water Crystals? What else were they capable of? Or... Life Crystals?
A thrill surged through him. He grabbed a Water Crystal, eager to test.
Normally, Water Crystals worked like faucets - continuous streams until the crystal was bone dry. Enough to fill two swimming pools. No stopping once it started.
That’s why in the apocalypse, water trucks and fire trucks were golden - only they let a Water Crystal really shine. Otherwise? Waste.
But if Magnus could control the flow? Turn it on and off at will? That’d change everything. Another deadly tool in his kit.
He gripped the Water Crystal, pulsed energy into it - it burst open. A steady jet of clean water poured from his palm, size of an egg.
Quickly, he pressed his right middle finger to the ring tattoo.
Just like that - water stopped. The crystal re-solidified in his hand, sa as new.
Magnus’s heart pounded, his mind racing. If Fire and tal Crystals worked three tis longer for him... the Water Crystal likely followed the sa rule. Could be six swimming pools’ worth of water in one shard.
One crystal, triple the effect.
And if that applied to the Life Crystal?
He hesitated, then pulled it out. Pure white. Rare. Priceless. But worth testing - if it unlocked sothing outrageous... well worth the cost.
Heart thumping hard, he studied the Life Crystal, then pulled out his blade, rolled up a sleeve, and casually sliced his left arm. Blood stread out, but he didn’t flinch - eyes shining instead.
He clenched the Life Crystal in his right hand. It cracked, releasing a thick milky white mist that wrapped his whole hand.
Without wasting a second, he pressed his palm to the wound. Two seconds of cool numbness... then an unbearable itch.
The wound vanished. Just like that.
He quickly tapped the ring with his right ring finger -
Nothing.
The Life Crystal kept flowing. The fog still pouring out. No sign of stopping.
He froze. The control failed.
It didn’t shut down.
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