Cyber Chronicles 2: Prime Voyage

Chapter 38: Crystal

Crystal lunged forward in the dim light of the ancient library's entrance, her dual blades sinking deep into the towering Hyde's grotesque back. The once-menacing creature let out an agonized roar, its purple veins beginning to lose their sinister color. In mere seconds, the beast lay lifeless at her feet.

As the towering Hyde fell, Crystal noticed a bolt of lightning crackling in the corner of her eye. Before she could react, Amadh's voice rang out, "I'm out."

Lucien, still catching his breath, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I just used my last core too."

Crystal dropped her last core onto the ground, its surface absorbing the residual energy from the Hydes she'd just taken out. As the core absorbed the last of its power, it shot back into her arm, now fully charged. She held it before a small, core-shaped slot in her belt. 

With a subtle hum, the core dematerialized, vanishing into the belt's storage.

This advanced technology was called Inventory. It had emerged into the world six decades ago, revolutionizing the way people carried and stored items. Inventory utilized miniaturization technology, which could shrink objects to the size of a single atom. It then harnessed highly advanced control methods to keep the item stable in this state. When an item needed to be retrieved, the system initiated a reverse miniaturization process, restoring the object to its original size and condition.

"Whew," Amadh exhaled, lowering himself to one knee. "God, I'm exhausted."

"We must've killed at least a hundred," Lucien panted, sitting on the ground with his arms supporting him.

"It was definitely more," Amadh remarked, glancing toward the library's entrance. "I can sense some more in there."

"They aren't really trying to hide," Lucien noted.

"Hydes don't hide," Amadh voiced with a chuckle. "Who even named them that?"

"It means 'Zombie' in English, right?" Lucien mused.

"I've no idea. I didn't think our minimal ancient Alvanian language even had a word for 'zombie'," Amadh replied.

"It means 'undead'," Ray interjected from behind Amadh, causing him to jump.

Stepping out of the portal, Ray was followed by Ann and Hayden.

"Oh god, you scared me," Amadh said as he stood upright.

"Though the actual word for the undead is 'Hyodeh'," Ray continued, brushing off Amadh's reaction as he approached the dark entrance of the ancient library. "The name 'Hydes' probably sounds more English, I guess."

Crystal caught Hayden's gaze, and he was the first to approach her. "Hey," Hayden said softly. "You feeling better?"

"A little," Crystal managed to reply, acknowledging the concern.

Ray kept his eyes fixed on the library. "This really is something. Maybe all the lingering charge from the Hydes made it hard to see before, but now, with a closer look, all the residual magic charge here is enormous." Ray paused, considering his next words.

"Could it be a gateway to the Library of Archaia?" Ann asked, her long red hair billowing in the wind.

"Hmm," Ray pondered. "That's very likely. But considering we're not in Guardio, this could be a third-party harbor created by individuals suspected to have scattered them in various locations. But obviously, it's broken, or we'd be transported to the ruins of Archaia when we enter."

"Should we go in?" Amadh questioned, his eyes scanning the ancient library's entrance.

Hayden considered for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, but let's start with the room we found last time."