Chapter 208: Am I Supposed To Use You For Evil?

The old man took a deep breath and turned the small blue crystal in his hand. His calloused fingers moved over the rough surface. If it was removed from the pale stone still connected to it and polished, it would be a brilliant blue, not inferior to a sapphire. In crystal use, sapphires were blue, but didn’t resonate with water.

Master Ramos said this was because usually the clearer the natural crystal, the more the energy resonated with a person’s body and mind.

“That is likely one of the reasons Alexander and Layla are so smart,” he had once told her.

Tori liked to think that her cat and horse were just geniuses.

After another weekend of experiments with charms, Old Sulfae, and crystals, they had a decent amount of information as to the effectiveness of the watermoon crystal, including how it amplified crystals nearby charged with similar energy. Tori had been the one to make her brother’s safety talisman, so what she wrote on his hand amplified it, too.

However, aside from Tori, no one else was able to charge the crystal or channel energy through it.

“Is it perhaps the nature of this specific crystal?” she asked Master Ramos as they walked to Anahata’s transport dock. She had to return to Lycée the next day, but was hesitant to leave the delta.

Not only due to her crystal, but her brother was still recovering. Their hope that the Old Sulfae she wrote on Instructor Ignatius would increase the duration of heliotrope use came to fruition. Instructor Ignatius managed to facilitate flesh and skin growth over Kasen’s wound hours faster than expected.

What was more, Dr. Cooper-Fontaine came to check and the healed skin was very healthy. He’d seen wounds healed with crystal before, but was surprised that Kasen’s wound was healed so well and so quickly. Instructor Ignatius noted that while it felt that the energy the crystal released was the same, it was more effective. He noticed the quickened healing almost immediately when he started using it.

Once more, Tori had questions.

“Jean-François has many more foreign crystal master contacts than I do,” Master Ramos said with a serious look. “I will contact him for assistance.”

“Master Monde? The imperial jeweler?”

Master Ramos nodded his head once. “He works closely with various merchants and crystal masters in order to procure crystals for pieces for the imperial family. The old bastard has a surprising amount of clout.” Tori wasn’t sure if Master Ramos was sneering or bragging about his friend. “I’m sure he knows someone from the region where this crystal is from. A crystal master from the West Sphere will likely have a better idea than us, as this crystal is not native to the East Sphere.”

Tori nodded. “Understood. I’ll await a call from you, then.”

Master Ramos patted her shoulder. “Keep the crystal safe. There is only one here that we know of and we don’t know all its properties yet.”

The two of them boarded a small transport vessel to take them one island over, to the newly constructed buildings on the aptly named ‘Naval Experiment Center’. In Soleil’s common language, the acronym didn’t flow into a decent word, but Tori still referred to it as NEC.

There were six naval engineers and another six naval ship builders sent over by Marquess O’Tuagh. To house them in such a short period of time, Tori had another ‘u’ shaped building built with rooms for each individual and shared living facilities. The main work area was still being built.

It was a relatively large barn right by the water and an elevated water table was being completed just beside it for smaller experiments.

Master Ramos introduced her to the staff that had followed him, and she was surprised that they were so excited to meet her. Part of her felt a bit guilty for having a part in uprooting them from Anlar and dragging them to her still under construction village. And placing them on a random island.

The weather was still fine, but in the winter, there would be wind and rain.

When she brought it up, they laughed.

“My lady, we are from the coasts of Anlar. Wind and rain in the winter is a good day!” the head engineer laughed.

“What we’re not used to is the heat, but the cold dampness is not a problem,” one of the builders assured her.

“If there is anything needed to make your move here more bearable, please let me know,” Tori told them. “My cousin has said that this is a very important project, and you can’t live in ruins. Also, you’re not prisoners on the island. The transport dock is still being built, but by tomorrow, the boat beacon will be installed. All you have to do is touch the crystal on the post and the crystal at the top will blink. This will call a nearby transport vessel. While construction is going on, please feel free to go to the mainland and visit our village.”

She watched their faces light up with interest. They had spent the last two days getting used to the island and unloading their things. With the commotion and construction, they didn’t seem to have a chance to see the village.

“My pupil has to return to the mainland today, so I only brought her here to introduce you to her,” Master Ramos said in a stern voice. He almost loomed behind her as he looked over the staff with a critical glare. “Do not forget that you are here to work. Not to vacation.”

The staff seemed to shrink back, and Tori gave them a wry smile.

“When there is time, I’d love to see the work you’ve done so far. I’m not very familiar with ships or building them, but I’m curious,” she said, hoping to refocus their attention.

“Get the plans to show the Countess!” The head engineer ordered two of his people and they ran towards one of the rooms. Tori was led to a large worktable that doubled as a dining area in the center courtyard of the building.

The two engineers carried out several rolled-up tubes of plans and laid them out before Tori.

With the fervor of Instructor Ignatius about crystals, they began showing her diagrams, explaining theories, and even showing her miniature parts. Tori didn’t know what half the terms were, but gathered that the main problem was that in order to move a vessel, a crystal’s energy would be used, but it was used up so quickly that the crystals were drained in less than a day, sometimes even in a few hours, and they’d just become dead weight on the ship.

Crystals could only be charged when they had some solid connection to land. Water greatly interfered with charging them, so charging them while on a boat was useless. Even using a selenite plate to try to harness lunar energy had weak results while on the water.

The energy source was simply too inefficient.

“This is one of our working models,” the head ship builder showed her. She rolled over a wooden model ship that was about as long as Tori was tall. “At this size, a crystal about as large as your hand will only move it for a quarter of a day.”

Tori furrowed her brows. “Umm...my water hammock uses a rather unorthodox way to move in that the crystal is below the surface and it manipulates the water around it to move the hammock.” This was a very simple method and Tori was able to get it to move in any direction because water could be manipulated all around it the actual crystal. It also didn’t have a rudder, so Tori had to steer with crystals. However, that wasn’t necessary for large ships. She looked over the diagrams on the table. “What other methods have you tried?”

“We tried to carve a crystal into this corkscrew to displace water and push a vessel forward, assisting in the propulsion, but once more, the crystal runs out of energy far too quickly.” The head engineer let out a tired, frustrated sigh. “After a few hours, it will simply stop working.”

Tori squinted her eyes. “Why did you use the crystal to make a corkscrew? That’s difficult to carve and large, complete pieces are even more difficult to find. Even if that method worked, we simply wouldn’t have enough parts.”

“But the crystal can be programmed to turn and displace water,” another engineer said.

“The crystal is an energy source. Clear quartz can be programmed to do almost anything, but simple programs use much less energy,” Tori said. “Only use the crystal as an energy source and use other materials to propel the ship....”

Tori looked back at the model ship and knelt down to look at the corkscrew below the model’s stern. She’d been to enough maritime museums in her original world to know that a corkscrew propulsion system was not efficient. She frowned.

“Is something wrong, my lady?”

“Why aren’t you using propellers? Why is this so long? That’s a lot of drag,” Tori said, motioning to the corkscrew. “Give me a piece of paper.”

She sketched out what she could remember of ship propellers from her original world. She’d shown the design to local shipbuilders before while doing her own tests, but as most of the boats were small sailboats, they weren’t really used.

As Tori drew the propellers, she amused herself with thoughts of when she had a brief ‘Titantic’ phase after the movie came out when she was a teenager. She’d watched so many documentaries and specials about it, she could still even remember the names of the two sister steam ships.

Her hand paused over the paper.

Holy shit, I’m an idiot.

“My lady?” someone asked, when she didn’t move.

Tori lifted her head and took a deep breath. “Is it possible to use steam to turn a modified version of this corkscrew? I ask because carnelian is a very common crystal that heats up when activated without any programming, so it will use very little energy to boil water and create steam, which when under pressure can move...things.”

Carnelian also didn’t need to be one large piece; oftentimes it was both cheaper and more efficient to use small pieces of the crystal put together, so scrap crystal could be used. In addition, carnelians could be charged with energy from the even more abundant clear quartz.

She looked around at the people around her and wondered if she made any sense. She only had a vague memory of how steam ships worked and, unfortunately, couldn’t draw everything out herself. All she remembered were tiny bits and pieces here and there.

“You want to use steam?” the head engineer asked.

Tori bit her lips. “The issue is energy use, isn’t it? Using a crystal to push a vessel by itself is inefficient, so why not have the crystal exert little energy to create a different source of energy to power a propeller to push the ship? I mean, wind would move a windmill to grind grains or pump water, so.... ” When no one answered she let out a small, awkward laugh and looked back at her drawing. “Anyway, instead of the corkscrew, try this and see if it’s more efficient.”

She slid her sketch towards the head engineer and turned back to Master Ramos. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. He lifted his eyes and barely held back a smile.

“I made the right decision coming back.”

Tori chuckled. “I need to get back to the mainland-”

“My lady, are you leaving so soon? This is an interesting concept. I’d like to discuss more with you,” the head engineer narrowed his eyes and moved closer. “How does steam move a propeller? Can you elaborate?”

“No,” Tori said in a confident voice. “It’s just a thought since we’re trying to work around energy insufficiency with crystals.” She lifted her hand and patted the middle-aged man’s shoulder. “Good luck figuring this out. I have to go to class.”

She turned on her heel and marched back to the transport dock. Master Ramos remained on the island and Tori returned to the mainland. Two imperial knights were waiting for her and escorted her back to the encampment as she called Ilyana.

“Your emergency has been taken care of?” Ilyana asked. Tori held her comcry up, close to her mouth.

“It has. Kasey is fine-”

“Something happened to Lord Kasen?” Ilyana’s voice shot up and Tori scrunched her face. “Is he all right?”

“Yes, it wasn’t as serious as I thought. He’s just resting after work here and will return to Presidio soon,” Tori said. As soon as he was healed and felt well rested, Kasen had immediately begun to write out his mission report for submission. If he was well enough to do paperwork, he was fine. “I didn’t have a chance to ask. How did it go with Axton?”

“He doesn’t seem to suspect a thing, although after we went through the Three Queens, he’s unsure about the layout, as it isn’t very open to allow for guests to mingle,” Ilyana said.

Tori furrowed his brows. “How many people does he want to invite?” Piers had helped her with the initial guest list, but they knew they had to somehow pry more names from Axton.

“I’m not sure. He hasn’t gotten back to us. Also, he says that the menu at the Three Queens is limited.”

Tori nearly threw her comcry on the ground as she frowned. “What does he mean ‘limited’? The Three Queen is the best restaurant in the city!”

“I know, but he didn’t say it was bad. Only that he wanted more options.” Ilyana lowered her voice. “To tell the truth, I didn’t think he’d be so demanding....”

Tori scoffed. “This is my fault. I’ve spoiled him.”

“He did mention that he wanted to talk to you about food options.”

“Of course, he did....” Tori turned into the walkway that led to her tent. “If he asks, we’ll just play along. I’m going to get some rest. I spent most of the day on the islands.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tori slid her finger across her comcry and looked towards her tent that had four imperial knights flanking its door. She gave them a nod as she slipped inside and found Piers, as expected, inside.

He was seated at her desk, on her chair, reading over a thick portfolio with a look of concentration on his face.

“Your tent is identical to my tent, you know,” she said as she walked in.

“Your tent is better,” Piers replied without looking up from the page he was reading. Tori approached him and craned her neck to look over the papers in front of him.

“Another escape room?” As she said it, she saw an unfamiliar map marked up with various ‘x’s and ticks. She narrowed her eyes, making out the general shape of Soleil and the continent it was attached to. “What’s this?”

Piers’ eyes drifted to the map and he lowered the folio he was holding. “A map.”

“I know it’s a map, Piers.” She shot him a glare. “But what is it for?” It didn’t have many roads, just a few lines and dashes.

Piers moved his hand over Horizon and then began to trace a line leading out of it without touching the paper. “This is the route the barrels went...this is where they were separated from the wagon and horses.” Tori furrowed her brows and leaned closer.

“Where did they go?”

“On a ship. They were followed to Pargath, but nothing was unloaded or loaded into the ship when they arrived. This is likely because of the chaos at the time with the two princes,” Piers said. “The ship only stayed at port a few hours and then left. They were followed to Ostgrat.”

That was the port furthest southeast and one of two main ports of Osten. “So, the barrels weren’t unloaded in Pargath and just came back?”

Piers tapped his finger over the port. “They were unloaded in Ostgrat and from the last report, they were put on a carriage headed north, into the march.”

“But the barrels are still empty.”

“It appears so.”

Tori pursed her lips. “Did they return because they couldn’t disembark in Pargath?”

“With Prince Cyrus and his people in control, trade ships are being checked carefully. The process is a bit delaying as they are being thorough, but they have returned to the original fees and taxes. Goods that had been seized when the First Prince was in control were returned, if possible, so for the most part, merchants aren’t too unhappy about the delay. Prince Cyrus is checking to make sure nothing on departing ships will be of use or aid to his brother or his brother’s allies abroad.”

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“What happened to the First Prince?”

“Imprisoned in the back courtyards. Several of his close ministers were beheaded and the First Prince is being isolated. The Third Prince is trying to clear the backlog of caravans in order to bring money back to his kingdom.”

“Stabilize first, understood,” Tori said with a nod. “People will feel more comfortable when there is a semblance of normality.” She narrowed her eyes. “If this continues, in a few months, I can arrange an offer to sell carnelian cooking plates.”

She saw the corner of Piers’ lips curl up just a bit. “Yes.”

“But before that...about the spice barrels. They’re empty right now. Where are the merchants bringing them? Are they just going to be sold for reuse?” She frowned at the thought. She’d spent so much time and effort putting trackers on them.

Piers lips pulled into a wry smile. “The wagons they were loaded on are part of a wagon caravan bringing animal feed north, to places that will be affected by a snowy winter and require feed for their animals. This is not uncommon and the caravan is a well maintained system. The wagons make a round trip loop. They can be identified by markers on the wagons and with the dirt caked on them.”

She raised a brow and looked down at him. “Is there something special about that dirt?”

“It is chalky pale dust common in the mountains of northern Osten.”

“Aren’t they trying to leave Soleil to get spices? Northern Osten doesn’t have any open ports of entry,” Tori said.

Piers nodded. “You are correct. There are no open ports of entry.”

The spices would likely be smuggled across the border. Tori looked back at the map. “That animal trading ring...did it lead to Northern Osten?”

“Yes, and the trail ended there. They theorized that animals were brought on boats through Nord during the midsummer, when the waters were calm and it was safest to pass those waters. However, this area of Osten and Nord,” Piers said as he moved his fingers over a mountainous area of the map. “It is impossible to pass through six months out of the year and in the short period where it is possible, it’s still very dangerous and not suitable for caravans. It is recommended to go around these mountains southwest instead. There was no evidence of animal trafficking there. It started and ended in northern Osten.”

Tori drew her head back. “Then, how did those animals get there? And how can spice barrels get out? The border is well guarded, and the ports are closed.”

“Goods from that area are difficult to transport out.”

Tori knew this all too well. Travel in that area was so difficult and was delayed in the winter, that Ilyana didn’t have enough time for a roundtrip home and back.

“Ilyana said that the mountains on the east are also near impossible to travel over during the winter. They can only ship the crystals from her family’s mines south.”

Piers glanced up at her and then looked back at the map. “The dirt on those wagons is dust from mines in the region.”

Tori nodded once more. “Yes, the mountains there are filled with mines. Baron Agafonov said that he’s able to save a lot of labor costs to open up mine shafts because there are entire cave systems....” She trailed off. Her eyes widened as she looked at Piers. “Oh.”

“Jatz’ay B’alan of Copán.”

“Victoria de Guevara.” Tori gave the woman with rich, brown skin a nod of her head and welcomed her to the rooftop dining area of the Three Queens. The other woman was only a few years older than her, at most. To be a crystal master abroad at such an age was a testament to her ability, and Tori couldn’t help but get her hopes up.

The woman’s thick hair was tied up and she looked around at the glass roof before nodding.

“I’ve passed by this building many times, but never came. I heard reservations were months in advance,” she said with a warm accent. Her skirt was long and deep red with shapes embroidered into the hems that allowed her to blend in with the fashion of Soleil. A shawl with similar patterns went over the white blouse of her broad shoulders and matching headpiece was wrapped around her head. Master Ramos told her that she not only was a crystal master but a master smith.

Impressive and especially useful skill to go with crystals.

“I had to call in a favor from a friend to borrow this,” Tori said with a chuckle. Since Master B’alan knew the imperial jeweler and was a crystal master, a good impression was necessary. “Thank you for taking time to come today, Master B’alan. I know you’re busy.”

“Not at all.” The woman took a seat across from Tori at the head of the table. “I’ve heard about the crystal prodigy known as the Countess of Cosora.” She gave Tori a bright smile and Tori rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“I’m hardly a prodigy. I’m just very interested in the subject,” she said. “Everyone calls me a crystal fanatic.”

“A hefty compliment, no doubt.”

Tori giggled. As expected of another crystal fanatic. “A compliment indeed, but I have a lot to learn. That’s why my master asked for assistance from Master Monde.” Tori poured the woman some coffee. “I was hoping he’d know someone who could tell me more about my crystal.”

“I’ve traveled quite a bit around the empire and our neighbors. The Northern Tribal Federation is our largest trading partner. If I cannot be of assistance, I can contact my peers abroad.”

Tori let out a breath of relief. “Any help would be appreciated.” She lifted her arms and unlatched the chain around her neck. The crystal was hanging from it and Tori leaned across the table to show it to Master B’alan. “This is the watermoon crystal I received. It’s not native to this region, so our information on it is extremely limited. We did some tests and found it can detect heartbeats and amplify the strength of other crystals.”

The older woman reached out and accepted the crystal in her hand. As soon as it landed in her palm, her eyes widened and she leaned forward. She ran her fingertips over the crystal.

“This is mem. It’s only found in one location on the low hills of the far western coast,” she said in a breathy voice as her hand almost trembled holding the tiny crystal. She lifted her head and looked at Tori. “How did you get this?”

“It was gifted to me. I was told it was purchased through merchant contacts.”

“Were you able to charge it?” Master B’alan asked.

Tori nodded. “Yes. I was able to ground and channel energy through it, as well.”

Master B’alan let out a low breath and stunned dark eyes looked at Tori. “You are incredibly lucky. Mem can only be used by one person at a time. Once it has been charged and that energy has mingled with its natural energy, then no one else can charge, let alone use it.”

“Forever?” Tori’s brows shot up. “Even if I die?”

Master B’alan paused for a moment and then let out a hearty laugh. “It’s more that until the crystal is completely drained of energy, another cannot use it. If you leave this world before the energy in the crystal has been used, it can only release it naturally. Crystals release energy so slowly, we humans cannot track it. This crystal would be useless to anyone else even after you’ve left this world.” She weighed the small crystal in her palm. “When you received it, was it empty?”

Tori shook her head. “Virgin crystal.”

Master B’alan let out another envious sigh. “You have been blessed. In the Northern Tribes, this crystal is typically only given to high ranking and respected elders of a tribe, almost exclusively to master crystal users. They are used in ceremonies and to bless charms.”

“By blessing charms, you mean strengthening them.”

Master B’alan nodded. “You said you did some tests. You should’ve noticed usage of another crystal while grounding and channeling energy through mem will strengthen the other crystal’s properties.”

“The amount of energy collected increases, though it is faster, and the output, the manipulation of the element, is stronger, yes,” Tori nodded. “Master Ramos and the others confirmed that it resonates with air.”

“And the mind,” Master B’alan told her. “It clears the head and strengthens your five senses. There is a legend that one can find others in the dark using mem. You can find another life, find the one you are looking for, or alert you of others to keep you safe. It is said that this is a sense to help you survive.”

Tori stared at the crystal. That explained the heart beats. “It certainly was a blessing to my brother...I wrote a charm on his hands using the crystal.”

A brilliant smile filled Master B’alan’s face. She put the crystal back in Tori’s hand and pulled up her sleeve as high up her arm as it could go, revealing lean muscle and black markings. The woman was excited to show her.

“What you call charms have also been used by us, but instead of paper, or talismans that they have in Hong and Varsha, they are engraved into us.” She stretched out her tattooed arm and Tori felt her heart skip a beat.

“The pigment...soot and oil?” Tori asked. In her original world, soot mixed with some sort of plant oil was traditionally used as ink base for tattoos.

Master B’alan’s face lit up again. “You are familiar?”

Tori kept a smile on her face. Familiar? She’d sat with a friend for hours while he lay on his stomach, having a small sharp-toothed comb chiseled into him. “Our priests are marked in the same way, but more scripts and symbols, rather than charms. Though, I’ve read about these marked patterns in an obscure book.”

“These are our ‘charms’, and in the Northern Tribes, they would be traced over by mem to strengthen them,” Master B’alan told her. “The markings on our bodies last far longer than a paper charm and the energy infused into them cannot be lost or taken away like a crystal talisman can.”

Tori suspected that ‘tracing’ the markings was akin to writing the charm on Kasen’s palms, only that the soot in a person’s skin carried the transfer of energy better than nothing.

“Are there other crystals like mem?”

“Similar ones, but not exactly the same. There is another blue crystal, but it is more...opaque. And it is not as rare as mem.” Master B’alan furrowed her brows and tapped her finger on the table as she tried to remember the name. “Many come from in the Tri-Linh Kingdoms south of Varsha and Hong and are prevalent on that side of the world...what is it called...blue...blue...jade. Blue jade, yes!”

Tori was familiar with that one. Master Ramos had a piece and he used it in place of an air crystal, as it was stronger. “Blue jade can also work with air.”

“Yes, and it can be used to trace markings, but at most, they last a day or two. The more elaborate the patterns, the stronger the charm. However, mem’s blessing can last a lifetime when rarely used or through years of battle, if used properly.”

Tori tensed hearing this. “And only one person can use it.”

“Yes.” Master B’alan looked at Tori with wonder. “You have a priceless crystal that only you can use, Countess Guevera.” She wrapped her hands over Tori’s and closed her fingers over the crystal before pushing the crystal towards Tori and squeezing her hand. “We say that crystals find their masters. Now that it has found you, you must keep it safe.”

Tori’s eyes drifted to her closed hand. She could feel the crystal wrapped within it; its gentle vibrations coursing through her body as if beating with her heart.

Mem was essentially a ‘chosen one’ cheat tool.

It was a rare crystal that could only be used by the first person that charged it. There must’ve been countless people who held the crystal before it got into her hands. The chances of her getting a virgin crystal to charge was so incredibly slim, she almost didn’t believe Master B’alan’s words.

Suddenly, the tiny crystal in her hand felt much heavier.

She pushed through with dinner, thanking the foreign crystal user for all their insight and learning a little bit more about crystal use in the West Sphere. She was distracted about the crystal culture outside of Soleil all through the meal and it wasn’t until after she’d seen off Master B’alan and climbed into SIG One that Tori was made aware of her crystal once more through the energy resting against her chest.

Inside the carriage heading back to Lycée, Tori pulled up mem. Such a crystal shouldn’t have been for her a game world. She was the villain. Villains were supposed to strive for ultimate weapons for whatever diabolic, yet somehow altruistic in their own twisted mind goal. Villains were not supposed to have a power amplifier that only they could use fall right into their hands as a birthday present.

“Am I supposed to use you for evil?” Tori asked the crystal. “I’m rich. I don’t need to commit crime. Yet.” She slumped back against the carriage bench and sighed.

When they reached the front gates of Lycée, Tori climbed out and thanked Mr. Novak and the two knights who’d escorted her before walking towards the entrance.

“Countess Guevera!” Tori straightened up and looked around to see who was calling her name. Dimitri had picked up his speed walking up the sidewalk towards the gates. He’d probably taken a shared carriage from the plaza. “Good evening!”

Tori gave him an acknowledging nod. “Evening. Did you come back from your parents’?”

“No, I had to pick up something from Fosse Village,” he said as he caught up with her. They walked through the gates together. “What about you?”

“I went to meet with a crystal master to find out more about the crystal your parents gave me.”

She caught the pleased smile on Dimitri’s face. “Do you like it?”

It’s almost too good for me, bro. I’m kind of afraid of the possibilities. “Yes. I’ve never had such a high vibration crystal.” She thought about how using it saved her brother. “Please thank your parents again for me.”

A bright smile remained on his face. “I was the one who picked it out.”

Tori raised a brow. “You?”

“Yes, Mother was trying to decide on what crystal to give you. I remember this one was supposed to increase your luck in business or battle or something of the like, so I thought it would be fitting for you.”

Tori nodded her head slowly as her hand rose and pressed against the small crystal dangling over her chest. “You did a good job.”

“It was also the most interesting one. There were larger crystals and Mother was worried this was too small for you, but out of all of them, this one called out to me.”

The corner of Tori’s eye twitched. Dimitri wasn’t a crystal user and he had no reason to be interested in it, so it was surprising that he’d use ‘called out’. Master Ramos always told her that crystals ‘called out’ to users. From the very beginning, when she met the old man, that was how he encouraged her to pick crystals.

“When I saw it, it called out to me, too,” Tori told him. “Thank you for bringing it to your Mother’s attention.”

Dimitri gave her a small, sheepish nod. They had reached the fork in the main path. One side led to her dorm and the other led to his. “I’m glad you like it. It’s the least we can do for how much you’ve helped us.” He stopped beside her and then bowed his head. “Have a good night, my lady.”

He turned around and headed towards his dorm building. Tori turned in the opposite direction.

For a moment, she played with the thought that perhaps mem was trying to get to her and in order to do so, it had to go through Dimitri and his family first. If everyone whose hands mem passed through were ignorant of its importance, then it would explain why she’d received it as a virgin crystal.

She lowered her eyes. Though, if she wasn’t on good terms with Dimitri’s mother, who would the power-boosting crystal have gone to?

“Countess-I mean, Miss Guevera! What a coincidence! Are you coming back for the night, too? Have you already eaten dinner?” A familiar voice called out behind her, and Tori turned around.

Her eyes instinctively narrowed. “Good evening, Miss Hart.”

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