They all agreed in unison that the Ether Shards needed to be spent on themselves first. Power came before their tools and equipment because without strength, even the best equipment would be wasted.
Kade frowned as he rolled one shard between his fingers, its pale glow washing across his knuckles.
"But… how do we actually do this? Do we just shove the shards into the altar and wait?" Kade asked.
Silence spread. They felt heavy and uncertain again. None of them had an answer for now.
"Then just try it," Nadine said at last.
The group exchanged glances, then gave faint shrugs.
They had already faced worse than this. If the altar demanded something, they would see it soon enough and just need to face it. But they didn't feel like anything dangerous would appear again after the monster before.
Kade and Ryan stepped forward first and approached the altar, raising their hands cautiously.
Each set one glowing shard upon the cold surface.
The reaction came instantly.
