SLUUUURP!
Kyle slurped a silver liquid out of his Spirit Spring Ore cup with his Spirit Spring Ore straw.
He lay on a bed made of red crystal while another red crystal beside the bed slowly burned, spreading the scent of a cozy fire.
Kyle put his cup to the side and took a bite of a white crystal.
‘This thing done anytime soon?’ Kyle thought as he looked at the band wrapped around a huge crimson crystal.
The Crimson Crystal was almost three meters tall and almost an entire meter wide.
No matter what Kyle did, he couldn’t break it.
He didn’t know what this huge crimson crystal could do since he couldn’t transport it to the golem, but it seemed to be important.
Over the past three days, Kyle tried to break this crystal many times with several different methods, but none of them worked.
After around ten minutes of frustration, he ignored the crystal again and focused on some other minerals.
By now, Kyle had managed to process around 25 different ores.
Some of them were pretty easy to deal with since they just needed him to use his Soul in conjunction with his hammer.
Some of them were pretty difficult to deal with since they needed a lot of precision.
But this fucking crimson crystal wasn’t receptive to anything.
Kyle tried all of his different tools to do anything to it, but nothing worked.
This thing just wouldn’t budge.
In the end, Kyle was left with only one last tool.
The weird band that came out of his hammer.
He decided to just wrap the band around the crystal’s head and wait.
Luckily, the tools could be disconnected from the hammer, and they still worked.
Kyle just needed to infuse them occasionally with more Ether.
The next moment, Kyle spun a black crystal ball in his hand.
‘The golem said I need Blood Crystals to refine this one, and this big crimson crystal seems like it should be called a Blood Crystal.’
‘Fuck it! I’m bored of waiting! I’m just going to try it!’ Kyle thought as he stood up from his cozy and warm crystal bed.
The bed was made of Sole Flame Ore, a Rank D material.
It gathered Fire Ether around itself, making it very useful for people training in fire-related skills.
It also made for a nice and heated bed.
Kyle approached the crimson crystal and grabbed his hammer.
Then, he pulled back and hit the band with all of his power.
BANG!
The band vibrated, but Kyle didn’t feel like the crystal cracked.
‘Come on! You gotta be useful for something!’
Kyle struck the band again, and it vibrated some more.
He hit it again.
But this time, he heard a crack.
Kyle grew excited as he moved the band to the side to look at the crystal beneath it.
‘Oh, wow!’ he thought as he saw cracks spreading through the crystal.
However, the cracks were only present at the part where the band had been.
‘Is this redirecting my force?’ Kyle thought. ‘Now that I think about it, it feels weird striking the band.’
Kyle put the band back and hit it again.
CRACK!
A louder crack resounded, and Kyle slurped more silver juice before striking again.
‘Whoops!’ Kyle thought as he missed the band, hitting the top of the crystal.
BANG!
The top of the crystal perfectly detached at the point where the band was and fell to the side.
“Huh,” Kyle uttered. “That works.”
Kyle put the band back into the hammer and lifted the broken part of the crystal.
It was quite heavy but still carriable.
“Alright, what is that?” Kyle asked, putting the crystal down.
“This is Blood Crystal, and its Rank is variable,” the golem answered.
‘So, it actually is the Blood Crystal. But what does he mean by a variable Rank?’
“Blood Crystal is an accumulation of Ether-infused blood. In rare circumstances, after seeping into the ground, powerful blood can gather and create a Blood Crystal.”
“The quality of Blood Crystals varies based on the quality of the blood.”
“The Blood Crystal in this trial is a Rank D Blood Crystal. There is no special method of mining a Blood Crystal. It just needs brute force.”
“Various tools, like a Focus Band, can redirect force into a concentrated point, significantly increasing the effectiveness of a strike.”
“Blood Crystal is used in powerful weapons and armor due to its significant hardness and ease of repair. Blood Crystal grows with more blood. A good set of armor made of Blood Crystal can regrow in the middle of battle after the wearer gets injured and their blood coats the armor. Alternatively, enemy blood can also be used.”
“Rank E and Rank D Blood Crystals might also be used in conjunction with Stegimite Ore to create Craftsmen’s Stone, a rank D material that upgrades specialized tools.”
‘And there we go,’ Kyle thought. ‘One of the requirements for passing the third trial is to upgrade my hammer. I would assume that this Craftsmen’s Stone is the key to that.’
“How do I make this Craftsmen’s Stone?” Kyle asked.
Then, the golem gave Kyle instructions on what he should do.
‘Sounds easy enough.’
Kyle grabbed his band again and put it around the head of the Blood Crystal.
After a couple of strikes, the crystal broke in two.
Then, Kyle grabbed the Stegimite Ore and changed its shape by using the flame of the Sole Flame Ore.
Sometime later, he had a big shell with an empty center.
Finally, he put a chunk of Blood Crystal into it and closed the hole.
Kyle went to a big silver crystal, took out one of his tools from his hammer, and cut off a big chunk of it.
He rolled the silver crystal into the center of the cave, which had a big basin.
The next moment, Kyle took his hammer and infused it with his soul, changing its mode.
The sharp end of his hammer transformed into a smaller but sturdier version, and Kyle struck the big silver crystal.
BOOOOM!
An explosion of lightning came out of the hammer, and Kyle felt almost all of his Ether draining away.
While he was exhausted, Kyle saw the silver crystal transforming into a liquid, which filled the basin.
Lastly, Kyle grabbed the black ball and threw it in.
‘Craftsmen’s Stone needs Blood Crystal and Stegimite Ore as materials, but I also need Sole Flame Ore for the ethereal heat and Silver’s Fluid to treat it. All of these things are Rank D materials.’
‘Also, none of them are easy to mine. Seems like this is the way to pass the trial.’
The next moment, Kyle sighed.
‘Well, now I gotta wait for three days for the Craftsmen’s Stone to finish.’
‘Guess I can focus on the other materials during that time.’