Chương 51: Chapter 47: Mineralogically, crystal isn’t stone

[Item Collected: Crystal Catalysis Dust] So it really was Crystal Catalysis Dust. Fabrisse carefully sealed the specimen vial before slipping it into a padded compartment inside his satchel. Liene watched the process with wide eyes.

"That looks rare."

"It is."

"You once told me catalysis dust was the most important reagent for stone and quartz reactions." She leaned closer, lowering her voice.

"Is this more likely to make your experiment work?" Fabrisse hesitated before reaching into his satchel again and produced the Glowing Stupenstone. Liene's eyes immediately lit up.

"Really? You did it?" He nodded.

"That's amazing!" She looked between the stone and Fabrisse with unmistakable admiration.

"You're the first person, aren't you?"

"I believe so."

"And you didn't tell me!" She puffed out her cheeks.

"Well... I suppose you've been a little occupied with things lately." Her attention quickly returned to the glowing stone.

"So if it already reacts to aether..." She pointed at the specimen vial.

"Why do you need Crystal Catalysis Dust?" Fabrisse turned the stone over in his hand.

"Reacting isn't enough. It glows. That's all."

"Oh."

"I've proven that Stupenstone can hold aether. Now I want to know what that aether allows it to do."

"Alchemy is even more illegal than artifact crafting, Fabri. That's dangerous." Liene leaned closer to his ear.

"So! What more do you need?" Behind them, something rustled.

"What's that?" Fabrisse asked.

"Probably just a moth," Liene replied.

"You need some quartz dust and maybe a liquid as well, right?" Fabrisse nodded.

"Most likely." Liene immediately reached for the cord around her neck.

"What are you doing?" He asked. She lifted the necklace over her head and carefully detached the polished amethyst pendant from its setting before placing it in his palm.

"You can use this."

"It's crystal, not quartz."

"I know. It might work as well. Crystals are more receptive to aether."

"I can't just take your necklace."

"You're not taking my necklace." She smiled.

"You're borrowing one crystal. You gave me the stone in the first place for a crafting exercise. I only turned it into a necklace."

"Mineralogically, crystal isn't stone."

"Just use it." [Item Received: Lowland Amethyst (Common Amethyst)]"I'll need to crush it and grind it out as fine as possible."

"That's fine! This amethyst is common enough, yes? Most first-year crafters use Lowland Amethyst because it's inexpensive and easy to shape."

"Well, yeah." He reached into back pocket #5 and produced a thumb-sized steel mortar. The matching pestle came from back pocket #2. He fished around in #4 for a moment before finding a tiny brass balance, then reached into #1 for a stack of measuring spoons scarcely bigger than his fingernail.

"You carry a miniature laboratory everywhere?" Liene asked.

"Yes." Three gentle taps cracked the amethyst. A few more turned it into fine violet powder. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Alchemy has always confused me," Liene said, lowering herself beside him.

"Like, with crafting, you the enchantment the right materials and it does the hard part for you." Yeah, but the hard part is the magic. Alchemy doesn't need magic. She rested her elbow on her knee, cupping her cheek in her palm as she watched him work.

"You really do carry a laboratory, like a little workshop-man. A pocket alchemist. You see?"

"I… don't see."

"You remind me of the old clockmaker back home. Everyone thought he was absent-minded, but whenever something broke, he'd reach into a pocket and somehow have exactly what he needed. His wife was super sweet as well. She used to bake little honey buns for everyone who came by. They've been together for over forty years; could you believe that?" What is she talking about? Fabrisse weighed out a pinch of powder, frowned, removed a little, frowned again, then scraped away one last grain with the tiniest spoon.

Liene said, "Well, I guess… I can see why someone would marry a man like that."

"Like what?"

"Like—" The rustling behind them came again. This time it was followed by a distinctly human-sounding groan. Fabrisse paused, pestle still in hand.

"Curious. I wasn't aware Embermoths could vocalize."

"They can't," Liene whispered.

"Hmm." He returned to measuring the powder. Another muffled voice came from somewhere below.

"A little help would be appreciated!" Fabrisse frowned.

"That one even sounds familiar." Liene jumped.

"Oh no. We forgot Celline." Fabrisse glanced up just long enough to make sure she had the rope in hand, attempting to pull Celline up. [Recipe Updated] Component II Identified: Refined Lowland Amethyst Powder Fabrisse frowned.

"I still don't have a suspension medium." Reaching into another pocket, he produced a crystal vial no bigger than his thumb. A bead of Trace Silver rolled inside.

"I'll have to dilute it later..." He tipped the Refined Lowland Amethyst Powder into the mortar beside the Crystal Catalysis Dust and let a drop of silver fall after it. The mixture immediately took on a glistening sheen. [Recipe Updated] Component III Identified: Trace Silver Recipe Complete. [Glowing Stupenstone] + Crystal Catalysis Dust + Refined Lowland Amethyst Powder + Trace Silver He hadn't intended to complete the recipe. He had simply reached for the nearest conductive medium.

[Item Upgraded: Glowing Stupenstone #001392202] DEX +5% when thrown or held Regain 12% FP after thrown [Quest Completed: Hidden Potential] Reward: +100 EXP Active Skill: Reverse Engineering (Rank I) These effects don't belong together. What affects DEX? Probably the Amethyst, if my last quest in the Geology Wing was anything to go by. Would the FP be from Trace Silver or the dust? He had to try switching silver for copper, or maybe he could keep the silver and change the crystal.

"You two forgot I was down there." Cellline had already climbed back over the edge, glaring daggers at the pair of them.

"Just for a while," Liene said with a sheepish smile.

"You left me hanging over a thirty-foot drop because you two found something more interesting to do with one another."

"We didn't—""Save it." While Liene tried to think of a defense, Fabrisse sneakily returned the mortar to pocket #5, the pestle to #2, the balance to #4, and the measuring spoons to #1. Good. Nobody seemed to have noticed. Cellline reached into her satchel and opened a small cloth bundle. Six thumb-sized Embermoth crystals glowed amber within." Your secondary growths. At least one of us remembered why we came."

[Sidequest Completed: Moths to a Flame] Reward: +250 EXP 5 Fire Thaumaturgy Mastery Points She tied the bundle shut.

"That's enough excitement for one evening." Liene nodded while continuing to look away. Celline said, "We might be able to make it back before sunrise, but we have to leave now."

"Yeah. Maybe we can get some sleep as well," Liene added.

"You've done this hundreds of times, Linny. You ended up sleeping in class instead," Celline said. Fabrisse gave the glittering chamber one last look. There were still dozens of crystal formations he hadn't examined, so much he hadn't seen.

"They're not going anywhere," Liene told him.

"Unlike our attendance record," Celline replied. Fabrisse winced. If nothing else, Celline seemed sufficiently irritated to decide against interrogating him about whatever was on his mind.