As always, Giliath demands your power stones!
*****
Our group had become bigger. It went from our group of four to a group of seven. Me, Sherryl, Lechter, Lucy, Tio, Jona, and Professor Schmidt. Upon arriving at Crossbell City, Roselia wasted no time and had a swift departure. She had one goal in coming here, and that was to have a chat with another one of her kind, a fellow Holy Beast, Zeit, the Divine Wolf.
It will be very interesting to hear what kind of conversation Roselia has with Zeit later. Once I finish my business here in Crossbell, I might go seek her out. Zeit's whereabouts were likely to the northwest, the town of Mainz. Many caves lurked about in the northern region, which allowed prospecting and mining sepith to prosper. If you go to Mainz, you'll mostly come across miners dressed in mining gear.
And speaking of Sepith...
All of our gazes were currently drawn to what Professor Schmidt was currently doing. He opened the two envelopes I had sent his way. Tio's and Jona's eyes were especially glued to them. Considering Master Quartz were still in the prototype stage back at the foundation, I do not know if they had a chance to come across how they looked.
Two decent-sized, marble-like spheres rolled out onto the glass table, causing two 'tink'-like sounds to strike our ears. They were much larger than a normal Orbment, and couldn't even be slotted into our existing combat devices, except the one built for me that is. Lucy seemed to quickly take notice of that fact, and her eyebrows raised.
"You called these things Master Quartz. They don't look like any Quartz that we currently use. They're way too big.", Lucy mused.
"Indeed. That is because these particular orbments are called Master Quartz. They are not designed to be used in the devices we currently see on the markets.", I explained, nodding my head at Lucy.
"Naoto would be right. We just recently finished the theory-crafting behind the usage of Master Quartz back at headquarters and it hasn't been long since we finished our first prototype, but here I see two completed products before me. Just how in Aidios's name did you acquire these?", Professor Schmidt asked me as he grabbed the two large spheres before him.
One was colored silver, while the other was an orange-y earthen color.
"Haha, you wouldn't believe me even if I did answer. I don't want to be labeled as a miracle worker, so I'd like to refrain from speaking of my sources. Just consider what you see before you as genuine articles. These two beauties are without a doubt, perfectly functioning Master Quartz.", I responded.
"That much is clear. One seems to be refined of the Mirage element, while the other is refined of the Earth element. Do they have names?", Professor Schmidt mused, taking a moment to use a small observation glass to look over the two Master Quartz.
"They do. Phantom and Andvari.", I answered.
"You actually named these Orbments? I know top of the line Orbments are named depending on what it results in. Just what type of Quartz are these? They clearly can't fit into our current devices.", Jona asked as he let out a yawn. I could see dark circles under his eyes, likely from lack of sleep. Did Professor Schmidt really make these two work till midnight?
I had a look back at Tio, and she seemed perfectly fine. She was probably used to working for longer periods of time, unlike Jona. He really was a slacker early on, wasn't he? Whenever he was with the SSS, they would even joke about how out of shape he was too. I'm surprised he could even manage working for long nights like this.
"They seem to be about three times larger than what normal Quartz are shaped into. They cannot fit into a combat orbment's circuit lines. Can they hold more orbal energy?", Tio wondered.
"I have come to the same conclusion, disciple candidate. Seeing these particular symbols, they likely have different effects. What do they do?", Professor Schmidt asked me.
"Master Quartz have their own effects? It isn't just limited to granting certain Arts and buffing your combat abilities?", Tio mused. It was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. No wonder she would be interested to hear it.
"They do, Tio. Imagine Master Quartz as rainbows. They all have spectrums, but no matter which one you choose, they all improve a person's fighting capabilities by a certain degree. It isn't targeted like most Quartz provide. They provide more all-rounded benefits. But that's the kicker you see. That's the baseline when making these special Quartz.", I began to explain. Jona's eyes turned wide hearing that.
"This thing took a Quartz's foundation and improved its specs by several folds? Just what in Aidios's name are you cooking behind those doors back at the lab old man? These totally aren't safe!", Jona complained.
"I hate to agree with you kid, but I'm also in favor of these Master Quartz, as you call it, are quite dangerous. If they fall into the wrong hands, things could get sour quickly.", Lucy frowned as she began to hear how powerful these Master Quartz can get.
"Of course there is plenty of risk involved. If we modded the circuitry of an existing combat orbment that you can get on the market right now, it would simply crumble away with how much power output it generates from the testing we've done. The existing models cannot handle the stress these Quartz provide, which is why we have also been developing later generation models that can handle them. It is as Naoto says though, Master Quartz can provide much higher capabilities to allow fluid combat tactics. Just casting Arts will become a thing of a past once our developments reach a satisfactory level.", Professor Schmidt explained in further detail.
"Amazing...", Lucy uttered, hearing how high a Master Quartz specs can get. It really was several-fold compared to a first generational Quartz.
Take Trails in the Sky for example. One of the very first Quartz you can get your hands on is called Defense I. It simply boosts a person's defensive stats by a mere 5%. 5% was nothing compared to Master Quartz. On the other hand, Master Quartz provided flat stats.
If a person's Defense stat was 10, Defense I would only crease that defense value by 1, bringing it to 11. If this person equipped Phantom, that defense would shoot from 10 all the way up to 50. That was a 400% increase on its own.
And that wasn't factoring into the two or three special effects a Master Quartz carries.
On the other hand, I was particularly placed in a unique spot. That was because my stats are so inflated that it even makes Master Quartz from Azure and early Cold Steel a thing of a past. Those stats won't provide me many benefits, but I will gladly accept them still whenever I start using my Enigma II. I will be relying more on certain stat buffs from individual Quartz that I've received from my quest rewards I've piled up over the years.
There's a lot of Quartz to filter through from those rewards, and once things quiet down for good, I'll start building my Enigma II to my liking.
But until then, I will be relying on my own capabilities. That was the reason why I could part two of my five Master Quartz with Professor Schmidt.
"What is it that these two Master Quartz can do, Naoto?", Tio asked the main question that everyone wanted to know.
"Before I explain what they do, I do want you to know something, Professor.", I suddenly said.
"Oh? There's even more to say about these Master Quartz? I can confirm they are genuine articles, but I will not inquire how you procured them.", Professor Schmidt replied.
"Yes. It's about the orbal energy output. I will not beat around the bush. The one you hold on your left, Phantom, can only hold so much orbal energy, while the one on your right, Andvari, has about three to four times output. Meaning its effects are much stronger.", I said. Even Professor Schmidt's gaze turned serious hearing that.
"Three to four times stronger? I was not aware Master Quartz could even be improved upon, how intriguing. I shall test just where their limits truly lay back at the headquarters. Thank you for providing new material I can study.", Professor Schmidt
Was it the right choice to leave Professor Schmidt with two Master Quartz?
Not going to lie, a pain did strike my heart seeing me let these two beauties go, but if it lets the Epstein Foundation develop even more Master Quartz at an earlier pace, then I'm all for it.
I can't rely on quest rewards forever. They happen so randomly.
"Did you really just thank someone, old man? I'm not going crazy right? You all heard that?", Jona retorted, not expecting Professor Schmidt to thank someone.
"Mmm. It isn't frequent, but Professor Schmidt does express his gratitude when he sees it fit to do so. You just haven't seen it, Jona, so just shut it. I'm more curious as to what these quartz do.", Tio said.
"Right. We've got the basics out of the way, and it is as you all guessed. Each Master Quartz has their specialties, they all come with two or three effects that can help people both in combat, and outside of combat.", I began to say.