Chapter 26: Amber Stones
Abium soon noticed that the sun had already set in the western sky and created a small campfire.
After some time, he took out a head-sized white crystal from his space ring, cut a small part of it, and pulverized it into hundreds of tiny crystals.
Then, he heated those crystals for the next few hours and let them turn into reddish-purple-colored ones.
'Emelite Shards.' A smile appeared on his face.
It was the main ingredient for creating any Alchemic Explosives or Mana Potions!
'If I managed to convert all the white-crystals into Emelite Shards, I could even create an Alchemic Bomb with the help of a Second-Tier mage like Lord Zivior or Lord Ubius. But asking one of them to help me create an Alchemic Bomb is almost an impossible task now.' He shook his head.
After that, he cooled those crystals, covered them in a separate leather cloth, and stored them in his space ring.
Later, he made some traps around the camp and sat near the campfire while poking those orange flames with a small stick.
The fire started to act humbly, but soon it devoured that stick. After playing with the fire, Abium got bored and lazily laid on the ground while gazing at the dark sky.
Stars filled the sky like pale corn into freshly turned ground. The promise of life in the darkness was a sense of warmth springing from the cold.
It was a vastness to bring humbleness and infinite space to bring gratitude for the coziness of home. Abium saw each night sky as a new gift given over.
It was the moment anyone that knew him would see his eyes smile, and his breathing deepened just a little.
Suddenly, he felt a small connection to a minute light in the sky and got startled.
It was as if something was calling from a faraway place!
But that feeling soon disappeared, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.
'Strange. What's that small star?' He shook his head, turned his body towards the right side, and stared at the campfire.
Around 4 A.M, Abium woke up and began to pick up some edible berries nearby for snacks.
Once he finished everything, he placed the remaining hare meat and berries inside his leather bag and set out.
'Should I take some book with me?' He thought for a moment, took out five books from his space ring, and put them in the leather bag.
After that, he shifted his gaze towards the desert land that appeared a few feet away from him and waited for the next two hours.
Once the darkness started to fade, the light began to appear. After some time, the sun peeked from the opposite sky and showed its brilliance to the world.
The sun rose like a flower opening, gifting its petals unto the world.
Abium gazed toward the illuminated clouds, still beneath the ethereal glow.
As the morning progressed, the stone pillar's shadow stretched towards the west until it reached less than a few centimeters underneath his feet.
Once he noticed the shadow arrived near his feet, Abium took a step forward and entered the Borderland.
The next instant, he felt that the mana inside his body drained completely and even felt a heavy pressure all over his body.
Although he felt it hard to breathe at first, he got accustomed to it later. Still, he noticed that it was hard to take the next step due to heavy gravity!
All I have to do now is stay calm and follow the shadows.' He took a deep breath, took another step, and walked with some difficulty.
He saw the ground dyed in dark color and felt like walking on a concrete road.
As he walked a few steps in the shadow, his actions became more careful.
After a few minutes of walking, Abium found himself next to the stone pillar and noticed that the towering pillar's base appeared more like a resting room.
He soon arrived near the entrance gate, and let his hand touch the ambient metal, no longer hot from the day or cold from the soothing effect of the morning air.
He then opened the gate and went inside the room. It was around 2-meter in width and 4-meter in height.
The air inside the room gave him a warm feeling. He inhaled deeply and smiled as he sensed the purity of the air.
'Although there is no elemental energy in this air, I feel more comfortable with this air.'
Nodding, Abium moved towards the corner of that room, took a random book from the leatherback, and continued to read the book.
He continued to read like earlier and completed another eight books for the next few hours. But most of the books he picked up in the Elven Library were nothing but tales of some king and princes.
Around 5.30 P.M, he closed the reading book and noticed that the shadow of the stone pillar nearly touched the Mainland.
'It's already evening. It's time.' He muttered inwardly and stood up.
He then packed his belongings and walked out of the room through the other side gate. Soon, he stepped on the shadow, crossed the Borderland with difficulty, and finally stepped on the Mainland.
The next instant, he felt refreshment in the air and breathed a sigh of relief.
He also noticed that he could absorb the surrounding mana into his body and felt comfortable.
'I need to create the 'Mana Imprint' sooner.' In truth, he could still cast [Fire Orb] spell without creating the 'Mana Imprint.' But it would take more than a day for the spell model in his mind to absorb the fire-elemental energy from the surrounding environment.
So, every mage had to create a Mana Imprint before advancing to Official Mages. Otherwise, they would take forever to refill the spell models.
While thinking, he scrutinized the surrounding trees and vines and soon shifted his gaze towards the western sky.
'I'm still in Viscount Gauvain's territory. I've to be careful.' He looked around warily and soon paused for a moment.
'Why am I worrying about him now? My outer appearance has changed already. There is no way anyone would recognize me in this appearance.' He chuckled inwardly and walked into the dense woods.
But as he took a few steps forward, he suddenly stopped walking and frowned.
At that moment, his heart started beating faster, and even his hands got sweatier.
'It is a feeling of being watched by someone... No, it isn't a feeling of being watched by someone but something else.'
It appeared more like an inborn intuition warning him about the impending danger.
'What is this feeling? An omen?' A frown appeared on his forehead.
'It's better to prepare something in advance.' Although he could cast a Zero-Tier [Fire Orb] spell, he didn't dare to put too much trust in that spell.
He quickly halted his movement and scanned the areas around him.
He thought of searching these areas to see anything that might help him.
In the past, he heard that a particular type of explosive fruit appeared in these areas and thought of picking a few for safety purposes.
In truth, carrying these explosive fruits won't help him. But as long as he managed to extract the 'Fire Essence' from the fruit and combined it with the 'Emelite Shards,' he could create a unique type of Explosives called 'Amber Stones.'
Although they wouldn't be as powerful as his [Fire Orb] spell, they could create powerful explosions upon friction and kill a Rank-2 Warrior or injure a Rank-3 Warrior.
After searching for a while, he managed to pick up those explosive fruits, extracted the 'Fire Essence' from it, and stored them in a separate pot.
The Fire Essence appeared more like resins!
Then, he took out the Emelite Shards, ground them up, put them into the separate pot, added the Fire Essence resins, and mixed them up.
Following that, he also added a few amounts of normal sand into the pot and continued to mix them.
After that, he extracted a small amount of the mixed resin, rolled them like a ball, and stored it separately.
He continued the process and finally made a total of 7 balls.
'Next is to dry them up.'
He nodded thoughtfully, gathered some dry woods from the surroundings, and created a fire.
He placed the Stones near the fire and dried them up.
As the mixed resins made contact with the heated, they hardened like original stones.
A total of seven reddish brown stones appeared in front of him.
'Amber Stones.' He nodded his head and put them safely in his space ring.
At that moment, the sun sank lower in the sky, and the light of day drained away, giving way to the velvety dark of night.
Twilight had fallen, and only the faintest light shone through the leaves. Soon, the surroundings grew darker and gave rise to chirping noises of crickets and mosquitoes' buzzes.
Meanwhile, Abium observed the surroundings, stepped into the deep woods, and continued his journey.