The contents of a large backpack lay on the wooden floor before me. If anyone knew what I had here, they would be very surprised.
Most of the space was taken up by a pip-boy. Rather, that's what this advanced analogue was called in my world - a term that came from an ancient game from the first era of computerization.
For us it was a bracelet that projected a screen and replaced absolutely everything: from phone and computer to scanner capable of detecting magical surges.
In this world such technology was just emerging, and when equipped the bulky heavy device covered the entire forearm. It had a primitive screen and could only show a map of the area and mark wild crystals on it. Of course, only those that were within the coverage area of stationary search stations or within a kilometer of the pip-boy itself.
Actually, I possessed the knowledge and skills to greatly improve this thing. But for that I needed a whole bunch of spare parts and a medium air magic pearl, and those drop from wild crystals no lower than tenth level.
And while I plan to obtain the pearl in the very near future, the parts are more difficult.
The local emperor actually turned out to be a shrewd man. He timely understood the value of spare parts from pre-magical technology, and now buys them everywhere. Yes, so far he can't fully combine technologies with magic, but research and work in this direction are actively underway.
Actually, the proximity of uncleaned old Kansas was one of the main reasons why this place suited me perfectly. Yes, dangerous, but how many useful artifacts made back in the American Empire could be extracted from there! And my knowledge that greatly advanced this era would allow me to use the finds much more efficiently than others.
Okay, that's all for later. And for now I need something from this pip-boy.
The device body was sealed tight, and I was given the device with a receipt that if I lose or break it, I will owe a sum equal to the cost of two armored vehicles.
But the receipt didn't say a word about disassembly and subsequent reassembly, so without hesitation I took out a knife and got to work. The main thing is to not have any leftover parts afterward.
Of course, just a knife was useless here, and I had to fully enhance it with magic.
Despite the cold, after five minutes I was drenched in sweat and took a small break. Yes, things were going well, but this body...
On one hand, I shouldn't complain. Magic came into the world quite recently, and there are still no really large crystals radiating pure energy. Even the blood mixing method of powerful mages hasn't achieved anything worthwhile yet. So against the general low background I'm still something. But if I compare it with my capabilities before... Just heaven and not even earth, but a huge abyss.
Thankfully in the month I spent in this body, I managed to properly prepare and adjust the magical channels and slightly boost the mana reservoir, so I can do something already.
The break ended, and I returned to work.
"Finally," I muttered another ten minutes later, after which I set aside the knife and lifted the upper part of the pip-boy.
Hmm... made of shit and sticks. Rather, of reliable and durable century-old parts, in places held together with blue duct tape. As far as I already understood, in this world there is no more reliable fastening than this.
But now I was interested not in the parts, but in a tiny white bead no more than half a centimeter in diameter - a small wind pearl.
In my world these were used in children's toys and all kinds of cheap consumer goods. But here it cost quite a bit. And it wasn't about its rarity, actually one such dropped from any destroyed low-level wild crystal.
It's just that in the vast majority of cases they dropped uncleaned, that is, black. And in this world, fortunately for me, they haven't learned how to clean them yet. And fortunately, because I knew how to do it, and this was one of those gold mines with which I planned to get very well settled here.
I carefully extracted the pearl and immediately felt the energy pulsating within it... immediately there arose a terrible temptation to absorb it into myself, which would allow me to slightly boost my source and become stronger... But I suppressed the untimely desire: this wasn't the most optimal path to improvement. And I needed the pearl for something else right now.
I placed it in a specially bought hollow silver pendant with a recess inside and hung it around my neck.
So, the main source is here, but this might not be enough, after all the body is still weak, and during energy transformation problems might arise. And as an additional source I have a full backpack of wild crystal shards. In the market this junk isn't worth anything, since the energy in them is so little that locals generally think there isn't any. But they're wrong.
I once more looked around the dark basement, blew out the candles and touched the crystal growing from the floor.
Contact established! Almost immediately I felt how the energy I directed poured into the smooth surface and that it liked it very much...
Enter!
For a second there was complete darkness. And then I found myself in the same basement, only not alone.
Yes, if I had entered a black, that is, wild crystal, I would have ended up in a completely different place, but neutral crystals already belonged to this planet and upon initiation always repeated the only place they knew.
But, as I said, I wasn't alone. In the same, now suddenly become very cramped room with me were three very creepy-looking black creatures.
With bodies they resembled people, only they were shorter, shaggy and hunched. Fingers ended in long claws, and on black snouts there were no eyes, no nose, only huge toothy maws.
Actually, I had only entered crystals three times during exams at university in my home world. But I knew the theory very well, particularly that the lower the crystal level, the longer its spawns would be stupid.
And I won't be. My sword blade cut through the air and descended on the neck of the nearest monster. Damn, actually, all last month I did nothing but study magic, sports and fencing. And still I couldn't cut through immediately.
The sword got stuck, and I had to kick the dead bastard to pull it out. Meanwhile the other two monsters began slowly turning to me.
"Well you're ugly," I muttered and, taught by bitter experience, simply stuck the blade into the second one's wide open maw. The creature gurgled and went limp.
But the third toothy managed to come to his senses.
It screeched very loudly and, spreading its paws, jumped at me. I dodged to the side and with a swing brought my sword down on its neck.
Here we go! Now I cut through!
The body fell with a thud onto the logs, and the head, gleaming with teeth, rolled somewhere into a corner.
At that same moment the crystal pulsed.
Moment of truth!
For a minute it will analyze the internal needs of its new owner, that is mine, and depending on this will become one of ten possible colors. So far in this world only four elemental colors have been discovered, and they don't suit me.
I need red!
I stuck one hand into the backpack and immersed it in the energy-glowing shards, and with the other touched the crystal and began pouring exactly the type of energy I needed into it.
Within thirty seconds I was on the edge of consciousness and dropped to my knees.
Obviously - a weak body, unaccustomed to magical loads, is now forced to pass through itself the energy of the wind pearl and wild shards and transform it into the most complex universal energy. The quintessence of all types of magic.
The next thirty seconds I practically didn't remember, feeling only fire tearing my magical channels. Before my eyes all the while the crystal shone brighter, shimmering with all colors of the rainbow.
And then an explosion sounded, and the world darkened.
※※※
Judging by the mechanical wristwatch, I lay unconscious for about twenty minutes, but even before opening my eyes, I understood that everything had succeeded. The darkness had a red tint, and, with difficulty unsticking my eyelids, I couldn't hold back a smile: before me the first absolute crystal in this world was growing from the floor.
"Very interesting," suddenly a low female voice sounded nearby, and I jumped up sharply. Rather, groaned and managed to sit up somehow.
And was amazed.
Sitting next to me on the floor was a large white... fox? Yes, something like a fox, only it had two fluffy tails, and on its head between the protruding ears a horn curled in a spiral. The creature itself seemed to consist of constantly moving white fog.
"Who are you?" I squeezed out.
"What, such a smart traveler between worlds doesn't know?" the fox asked mockingly and laughed like a child. Curiously, her mouth didn't open when she spoke.
"We won't build dialogue this way," I noted and, pulling a water bottle from my backpack, drained it in one gulp. "You know about me, but I know nothing about you."
"And you know about the absolute crystal, while others in this world don't. You don't run to tell everyone."
The fox giggled again, then slowly stood up.
"Beautiful," I involuntarily thought.
"Well thanks for that!" The fox arched her back and, turning around her axis, sat again. "Since you appreciate beauty, I won't torture you long. Go on, you have three tries to guess who I am."
"And if I don't guess?"
"Then I'll tell you myself, but will consider you a fool."
"But you're reading my mind! You already know whether I'm a fool or not."
"I can only see memories. For instance, when you thought I was beautiful, I didn't see it, but in a split second it became a memory, and I learned it."
Wow...
I involuntarily glanced at the closed hatch, all I needed was for someone to hear my voice and come in...
"Just whisper!" the fox suggested. "Even better - learn to do it mentally."
My physical condition was approaching normal with each second, and this was partly already the crystal's work...
So, the little fox wants to play? Why not. No matter how you look at it, a being capable of reading minds and easily understanding information about me is definitely not the simplest and theoretically useful.
Damn, now it will think I'm using it.
"Not it, but she..." the strange companion winked at me. "And don't worry about 'using,' it's mutual."
Fair enough... I sighed and returned to my thoughts. Can it, that is she, belong to this world?
No, she's definitely connected to crystals. One thing is to read about absolute magic in my head, and quite another to understand what it is, and she seems to understand.
Moreover, even though the color is different, the smoke she consists of is very similar to what now swirls inside the crystal, and she appeared after subjugation.
Have I heard anything about such beings before? No.
Who in my world had information about crystals unavailable to others?
Only ten archmages, each of whom watched over the most ancient crystals of all colors.
Exactly! Each crystal had an archmage-keeper, and actually one of them even several years before the catastrophe reported that the most ancient red crystal was unstable, but no one else felt this. What can I say, until the last day when the crystal broke through and destroyed our world, most people didn't believe in the looming threat...
How did archmages differ from people? Unknown. What if each of them met such a fox?...
"Bravo!" Didn't know a fox face could look surprised. "Less than five minutes to uncover one of the universe's main secrets based on shaky facts... Bravo!"
At first I thought she was mocking, but soon realized she wasn't.
"Universe secrets?!" I clarified.
"Well, maybe not the universe!" The fox waved a paw. "Accept the compliment as it is!"
"Alright," I smirked. "So it turns out that your appearance is connected to this being the first red crystal on the planet?"
"Exactly." The fox raised a paw instructively. "The most powerful crystal of each color has a keeper! He advises its owner, in your world these were archmages, on how to handle it and makes sure no screwups happen."
"Like the one that destroyed my planet?" I clarified.
"Like that," the fox's mental voice sounded thoughtful. "But we'll have time to discuss this problem later, we still have a couple thousand years. For now we should discuss two important matters that can't wait."
"And what are they?"
"Interface connection and preventing an assassination attempt on you and your team."
"Assassination?! When?"
This time I really jumped up, not even feeling dizzy.
"Why are you so loud?" the fox snorted. "Look, you scared the soldier."
And sure enough, in a few seconds someone knocked on the hatch.
"Your lordship, is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything's fine!" I shouted and sat on the floor again.
"Draconis," the fox shook her head reproachfully. "If you're going to panic and shout every time you hear the word 'assassination,' your heart won't handle it or you'll lose your voice. You know how many more there'll be?"
"Do you know?"
"Many!"
Our predictions aligned on this, and the strange companion's calm behavior gave confidence that there was still time, which was confirmed by her next words:
"Besides I expressed myself incorrectly, no one's attempting anything yet, but the favorable situation for it is already developing."
"I understand and I'm listening."
"That's better!"
The fox wrapped her tails around her paws and began a lecture about the red crystal interface. And with each minute my eyes widened more and more.
※※※
"Enough talking!" Myrath Veltharin slammed his palm on the wooden table, and silence immediately fell in the smoky room. "Time is short. Who has any thoughts?"
Nine people had gathered with him for the meeting, and all of them now silently looked at each other.
Of course, ideally all this should have been discussed beforehand, but living on the outskirts, the villagers had no idea how quickly the Imperial Distribution Service worked.
No, they had heard that if a colorless crystal appeared, it was given to some aristocrat, but that from the moment this thing appeared until the baron's arrival would only take three days, such a thing they couldn't even imagine. Especially since they hadn't reported the crystal to anyone and generally thought they'd manage to hide this fact.
"We should run, Veltharin," muttered the bald thug nicknamed Axe standing by the window. "I mean run from here... twenty kilometers, better forty."
"And abandon everything we built here?!" From the table jumped a strong man about thirty-five, whom everyone called Rydon. "There are only forests and ruins there. While we set up again, who knows how many people will die."
"If not all," someone added quietly.
"Yes! If not all!" Rydon picked up and thrust his fingers into his long black beard. "We must stay."
"And pay this bastard?" someone muttered again.
"And toil for him?" several voices supported at once.
Myrath Veltharin looked from face to face, and cats were scratching at his soul.
On one hand, he perfectly understood his comrades' indignation. Moreover, he was the first to suffer, since it was in his basement that the damned crystal grew. Those ten thousand dollars they gave him as compensation certainly more than covered the cost of materials and labor, but not the soul he put into construction.
On the other hand, they, like all nearby neighbors, had long lived in isolation, so no one had any idea how relationships with land owners actually worked in such cases. Only echoes of rumors reached them, and they varied greatly.
The military who came only provided general information, like the baron ensures protection and infrastructure development. And what volumes this happens in and what residents give the baron in return, the interested parties should agree upon themselves.
"They say some aristos squeeze their peasants dry, then buy new ones," blurted Kaelia, a forty-year-old hefty woman.
This woman with a mane of dark unruly hair was loved in the village, but sometimes she spouted outright nonsense. Or not?
"Maybe he'll pay for work instead?"
"Where's he get the money?! Give him luck to have twenty."
"Maybe daddy will..."
"You think daddy would send his son to such a shithole..."
"We should leave..."
"Let's at least wait till fall, if we leave, then with the harvest..."
"Maybe he's a decent kid..."
They argued long, and opinions split about evenly. But what Myrath Veltharin liked was that no one suggested killing the baron, though he invited the most active ones here.
And it seemed the issue wasn't fear of authorities' retaliation, but rather fatigue. Fatigue from constant need and dangers. Joining the empire took away some freedom, but perhaps it could give more...
"Alright..."
The elder hit the table again, but didn't manage to conclude: the door burst open with a crash and a plump girl in a sheepskin coat and headscarf ran into the room.
"Trouble, Ironthorne! Trouble!" she wailed from the doorstep.
The elder's heart clenched with bad premonition. This was Stefra, Grysk the mute's fiancée, and what to expect from him, none of the locals had any idea. Especially since the second house given to the baron belonged to him.
"What happened?" Myrath Veltharin asked sternly.
"Grysk took an axe and went to his, I mean the master's, house."
"Bitch," the elder grabbed his jacket hanging on the chair and rushed outside.