Draconia Offline vol. 1

74.2. What Matters - Part 2

The Minister of Magical Research Rina walks gracefully into the room and only her weary face reveals that she hasn't been sleeping since it all started. Her assistant Nestelle doesn't look any fresher. Everybody is working super hard, not just me. I'm eternally grateful for such diligent subjects, I'm really not alone in this.

"Your Majesty, you summoned us to discuss the shield?" Rina bows deeply and so does Nestelle. "The crystals are indeed getting depleted, but we have many volunteers who signed up to recharge them. There's no need to worry."

"Can I see the crystals?" I ask and Nestelle readily hands me one of the smaller pieces.

It's rather crude and not as pretty as I expected, but it's doing its job. Still, with some processing and proper tuning, it would be much more effective. I make the crystal levitate a few centimetres above my palm and carefully study it from all angles.

Crystals are simply fascinating—beautiful and automatically responsive to Celestials. I wonder how humans figured out their magical properties even though there was no real magic in the world before the Great Evolution. The crystal above my palm vibrates when I send it a tiny bit of my mana and absorbs it immediately—the best external mana storage. Is it thanks to its unique inner structure?

I apply light telekinetic pressure on the crystal to find out if I'm able to reshape it. The Dragonkin traditionally work with ores and monster material, but crystals and gems were always associated with Celestials. It would be beneficial if we could process them ourselves.

I vibrate the floating crystal again and now I recognise its structure more clearly. I can't see it with my eyes, but I distinctly feel the mana vibrating inside of it. And it's as if it almost begs me to flow without obstructions. Feeling enthusiastic to experiment right away, I start carefully cracking the crystal with my finest telekinesis and grinding it into a perfect hexagonal prism because I've always liked that shape.

I'm surprised by how easy it is. It would take humans a lot of time and specialised instruments to work it like that, yet with some mana manipulation, it's just a matter of focus and precision. It's as if the crystal demands to be shaped, there's no resistance. When I let it land on my palm again, the previously crude crystal is now a beautiful shiny prism, perfectly attuned.

"It should work better like this," I hand the crystal back to Nestelle.

Only now do I realise how quiet the room became and that everyone is staring at me in absolute silence and with their mouths open wide. But I didn't do anything miraculous this time, right? I just shaped one small crystal into a nicer form. Oh, damn, I left a mess on the ground! The maids won't be pleased.

"No, I don't have the energy to even comment on it," Liana performs an exemplary facepalm and collapses into an armchair in front of me. "Aefener is just beyond common Celestial sense."

"H-how...? So effortlessly...? It's perfect!" Nestelle studies the crystal in his hands with amazement and shows it to no less astonished Rina.

"Just a bit of telekinetic pressure," I answer nonchalantly and take another cookie from the plate. The shaping process wasn't that mana-demanding, but I'm still recovering.

"Seriously, love?!" Gotrid shakes his head in total disbelief. "Just like that? In a few minutes without any preparation?"

"It's not that difficult, I'm sure everyone will be able to do it," I claim, trying to divert their attention, and gobble another cookie. "In fact, start immediately. Crystals shaped like this and properly attuned will absorb much more mana and channel it out more steadily."

"I wouldn't even know where to start!!!" Nestelle loses it. "You're too divine, my Emperor. I don't understand what you just did."

"Nobody did, trust me," Liana says pointedly, looking at shocked Ministers.