"...Okay? Continue," Ethan prompted, expecting more.
Alan shook his head. "That's it...."
Ethan, who was still processing the information, absentmindedly repeated, "Yes, that's it... Wait, what do you mean by 'that's it'?" He finally focused on Alan, who was still scrolling through his soulband interface.
Alan responded as a matter of fact, "Yes, that's it. That's the summary of all I could find on the Blue Mountains. Ascendants aren't exactly chatterboxes, you know. Most of them spend their lives researching and improving themselves. They only go on the Order forum to post official requests or private ones to avoid the Order keeping track of their experiments. Either that, or they need to sell or buy information."
Ethan calmed down a little. "Hmnnn... and you found out all about this in the span of a day? Did you even try absorbing any energy?"
"Of course I did," Alan replied, not looking up. "But I got bored. And these soulband things are really really interesting. You wouldn't believe how expensive they are in the outside world, and they just gave them to us for free, Ethan. For free."
Ethan was shocked. Now he noticed that Alan had spent a huge amount of his focus browsing its features, unlike him, who only used it when necessary. I guess this is what smartphone addiction looks like in this world, he thought, a sly smile forming. What would happen if I could create games from Earth here? I could conquer the world with modern programming. Hehe.
His delusions of digital domination were cut short as he finally spoke. "I guess we need to buy the information no matter what. But does the Order really not care about its future generation? I guess the ones who eventually survive this kind of environment are the ones worth investing in. Besides, if I were a higher-ranked ascendant, I wouldn't bother helping anyone if I had nothing to gain. Looking at it from that angle, I'd say it's fair."
Alan, still tapping away, said, "Yeah, that makes sense. Somehow, I'm more thankful to Master for giving us those cards. I imagine the value in Order points, and I shiver each time."
Ethan, hearing this, suddenly felt the urge to check if his card was still in his spatial ring. He breathed a sigh of relief when he sensed it was.
Bonding with the space ring had required a drop of blood, as usual. After the bond, he could sense the ring's contents in the back of his mind, take them out with a thought, and store them again with a touch and a bit of will. He'd spent some time fiddling with it, and the whole thing still felt magical each time, but he wasn't obsessed. He was about to dive back into absorbing energy when Alan spoke up.
"Okay.... bought it. Five points." A new file on the Blue Mountains appeared on Ethan's interface.
"Huh?!" Ethan almost screamed. "Didn't we just agree to try and get the information from Sansa? Why did you have to spend valuable points?!"
Alan, being thick-skinned, just shrugged. "Relax, it's just five points. I'm not quite as broke as you are. Besides, I really don't want to spend the entire morning absorbing energy. It's just too boring."
Ethan, who had just been called broke, felt his eye twitch in frustration. He had no comeback. Breathing hard, he fell back into his chair, a wave of despair washing over him. Being called broke hurts... but I am broke. I can't even deny it. The bitter irony of being financially destitute in two consecutive worlds almost moved him to tears.
The Blue Mountain
In the vast world of Talruy, there exist zones and realms—forbidden, fully explored, and sometimes unexplored. The fully explored zones sometimes become Temple resource points, graded based on the resources that can be gathered and the rank required to explore them.
The Blue Mountain is one such zone, owned by the Aeltic Order. Due to the influence of the foreign law that permeates the mountain, the local elemental stones have gained the unique property of subduing elemental energy. Recognizing their utility, the Order keeps the mountain under heavy protection and guard, despite it being a Rank 1 resource point.
A critical danger of the mountain is its ambient energy. Being overly exposed to it gradually dulls the mind, drawing a person toward sleep, eventually trapping them in an eternal slumber. It is strongly recommended that Initiates venture in pairs and acquire a map to avoid areas with high energy surges. The stones mined from these surge areas are higher-ranked True Blue Stones, but if caught in a surge, an ascendant will lose their bodily functions within thirty minutes. If they cannot leave the mountain in time and are not found early, they will fall into an eternal sleep state.
"Wow, this is scary," Alan commented immediately after reading. "But we are going together, so that settles going in pairs. Besides, there's an attached map with the information I bought."
Ethan was quiet for a while, still reading carefully. "We'll need mining tools. From all indications, we'll be digging into the mountain walls for those stones. But look carefully below the map—it's dated as last updated two years ago. The mountain terrain must have changed, so we have to be extra careful."
Ethan finally looked at Alan, who replied with an "Oh, mining? I was going to go empty-handed."
Ethan shook his head in disbelief. "What would you ever do without me? Come on, let's see if Henry can get us what we need."
Alan replied almost instantly, still fiddling with his soulband. "Yeah, he said we'd need pickaxes. I've already paid for two. We'll pick them up on our way. Do we leave now or when?"
Ethan, who had stood up ready to leave, was both shocked by his friend's efficiency and concerned by his addiction to the device on his wrist. "Come on, let's go. I'm tired of seeing these walls. This morning was awful. I need that mission to clear my head."
Alan nodded, standing up but still not looking away from his soulband. Ethan saw this and shook his head. "Not on my watch. I almost feel like my mother now." Walking up to Alan, he grabbed his ear and pulled him out the door as they walked to pick up their purchase from "Henry's Everything Store."
"Come on, stop pulling! You're ruining my aura. Think about the ladies, man... the ladies!"
Finally, Ethan let him go but kept walking. "Get your head out of that thing. Didn't you just say some bullshit about understanding the risks...?"
Alan, who heard this, was unbothered; instead, using his hands to fix his hair, he walked beside Ethan, who moved with a mature grace in his simple all-black clothing, his white hair a stark contrast. "Has anyone ever told you that you walk like an old man?"
Ethan looked at him with twitching lips and retorted, "I'm sure you were taught to respect your elders, right?"
Alan wanted to continue their banter, but finally remembered a serious question. "Oh... how long do you estimate it'll take you to reach full saturation? For me, I'm thinking a month and a half if I keep this same pace, maybe a week closer if I put in more effort."
Ethan, who heard this, was a little shocked. He had already made his own calculations, and it would take him about three weeks—a pace he had been almost grumbling about. But hearing Alan sound so proud of reaching full saturation in a month and two weeks, he didn't know how to feel.
"About a month, as long as I don't absorb energy to death again," Ethan replied vaguely. "By the way, do you have any idea what happened to me? I was going to wait until we saw Sansa, but if you know anything....?"
Alan shrugged. "Honestly, I've had amazing reflexes and extreme sensitivity to any changes in my body since I was born, and now that I heard Master say I have an 'Elemental Body,' I'd say that explains the reflex and sensitivity. The breathing technique hollows out your mind, allowing you to focus, forgetting everything around you. But when I enter that state, I can somehow feel the lightning element in my body clearly. So, when I was absorbing energy, I felt the lightning energy in my body reducing to levels I could barely sense, and I stopped immediately. Right after, I felt a massive stomachache, like I hadn't eaten for days. I was about to rush to the cafeteria when I ran into Sansa at the door. We were both shocked. She started touching my body, asking me weird questions like why I stopped absorbing energy. She said Initiates usually make the mistake of getting lost in the feeling. I stupidly told her I felt my body weaken, and she was shocked. The next thing, you called... you know what happened from there."
Ethan, who heard this, was utterly surprised.