As always, Giliath demands your power stones!
*****
"These little guys help you outside of combat too? Now I'm really curious how you got your hands on these, Young Master.", Lechter mused as his eyes rested on the two spheres.
"More or less. Phantom increases one's potential speed by a good margin, plus it increases their overall parameters, albeit temporary. It makes you appear to be a phantom to how fast you can become, hence the name, Phantom. But on top of that, Phantom allows you to attract monsters from far away. It can make luring and taunting easier, if you want to develop experience in fighting them in numbers.", I said, explaining how Phantom worked.
"This quartz lets you attract monsters? It's really good it isn't in effect right now. I knew I was right in saying these can be dangerous. You don't want monsters suddenly swarming a travelling orbal car or something.", Lucy said with a frown.
"Thankfully the devices used to contain these Master Quartz are not available to the public. But if you want a look, it'd look like this.", I said, attracting everyone's gaze.
"You're going to take it out?", Tio asked me with an expectant look in her eyes.
"Why does it not not surprise me you'd have a perfectly working orbal device that can use these dangerous Quartz...", Lucy retorted as I rummaged through my clothing. But in reality, I was activating Inventory. Professor. I try to limit it to those who know about Inventory's existence.
I've been alive for thirteen, almost fourteen years now and the only person who knows about my entire system is Roselia, only because I allowed her to see it. At the time, it was best to do it on my terms, considering the witches of the Hexen Clan could easily invade a person's mind. I'm glad things worked out to where Roselia is now cooperating with me, even going as far as becoming my teacher.
Activating my Inventory, I pulled out my Enigma II. It was vermillion red in color and the insignia of Liberl's royal family was embedded on its front.
"You went ahead and actually built a device that can harness this quartz's orbal energy!?", Jona exclaimed in shock.
"It's a couple generations ahead of our current devices, but I personally asked for this. It was a collaboration. Since you've built the first one, Professor Schmidt, will you try to develop more to enter the market?", I asked out of curiosity.
"Unfortunately no. We still lack the means to mass produce these on a larger scale. They require top-notch engineers to craft such a device. I still see it being a few years until this Enigma device reaches the market.", Professor Schmidt said, shaking his head.
"Shame. I was really hoping I could start calling my friends with this, haha!", I retorted.
"That's a communication device?", Lechter mused, not expecting to hear that.
"Sure is. Once the orbal network is stable in our locations, this Enigma II can use the orbal waves to do wireless calling.", I explained.
"Wait, Enigma II? This is a second model? You even skipped its first one!?", Jona yelled.
"No comment on that. We've probably said too much on the matter, but be on the lookout for these devices in the coming future. Many officers and civilians alike will be able to use them.", I responded, ignoring Jona.
Yet to our surprise, my Enigma II started to vibrate. Buzz. Buzz.
Even that buzzing sound caught me off guard. I know this device connects directly into the orbal network with the orbal waves wandering around in the air all around us invisible to the naked eye, but not many have my contact information. It wasn't device-bound, like having an Engima II device reaching out to another Enigma II device. Someone could contact me as long as they had a laptop with the right connection, or a desktop setup hanging around.
What I didn't know at the time was there was in fact, a second Enigma II out there that was created in secret. A companion device to my own with the same specs and everything.
"Did you perhaps receive a message, Naoto?", Tio wondered. She was right on the dot with that one. Flipping it open, I saw a bare screen without many applications on it. It was still fresh and unused. But it acted very similar to smartphones in my previous life. You could install apps on this thing given you know how to code them in. There isn't any standard yet though, considering it's merely a completed prototype. All it had on my background was the insignia of the Auslese royal family.
Once the Enigma II devices that could feature these apps reach the common markets, no doubt the Epstein Foundation will install standardized apps to allow its users to perform mundane tasks to help them.
It wasn't completely bare though, I saw a phone icon and a mail-like icon on the bottom half of the screen. This screen was unique to the Enigma II and it wasn't available on the original Enigma device. On the bottom half of the device, seven notches could be seen, which were big enough to slot in Quartz. In the center was a much bigger notch, about three times as big, which allowed its user to slot in a Master Quartz.
I could only dare to attempt to slot in Phantom at this time. If I tried to put Andvari in there, the Enigma II would likely crumble away, as Professor Schmidt stated. That was a Reverie Quartz, not found until seven to eight years down the line. It could store and output much higher orbal energy than Phantom could.
To my surprise, I saw the message icon blinking. It was a very early version of the messenger function I had in my previous life. It displayed a list of contacts, and it could send/receive messages. The call icon was used similarly, but for phone calls and/or video calls.
I had yet to add anyone personally to my contacts list, but I saw a name there.
[Unknown Sender]...
"Sure did get a message.", I answered Tio.
I could only take a single guess as to who sent me this message. There was an image-like icon attached to it, which meant some files were attached to it.
"Someone managed to use the orbal net to personally send you a message? It hasn't been long since we started installing the Orbal Network in various regions. Just who could do this?", Tio wondered with a look of interest.
"Haha, I could fathom a guess, but I don't think this sender means any harm. I'll do a quick verification before I proceed to describe the second Master Quartz's effects to you guys.", I said, doing a couple taps of the screen. Sure enough, it was a message. Of course I didn't read it aloud, and just started to silently read it. The more I read it, the more I could guess who this sender was.
[Hehehe, a very good day to you, Big Brother. This shouldn't come as a shock to you, right? You might see more messages like this in the coming future from your one and only Renne. I reverse-traced your device, and I don't expect you to ask me the details, but wow, you're already in Crossbell?
I take it you are wanting to wrap up personal business there. With what you have planned, Crossbell State will likely descend into chaos if they react to what you plan to do in Erebonia.
You must have noticed my absence, right Big Brother? But don't you worry. I will return with the girls to tackle that palace of legend when it is time!
By the way, we acquired a new member. Her name is Musse. She was that olive-haired noble girl you came across at Valflame Palace. She looks very promising to be a part of our group from now on. I bet you can't wait to sink those fangs of yours into her, hehe.
Jokes aside, we'll be showing her the reigns and see if Musse is fit for combat. We'll be exploring the Sealed Area beneath Grancel City, but Big Brother Loewe already warned me not to venture too deep with a risk of awakening the Aureole. That would ruin the Professor's plans.
We will be gone for a few weeks, but you'll be occupied with that little princess of yours, right Big Brother? This month will blink by before you know it!
PS, I attached a few photos for you in hopes to fill that void your heart might bear during our absence. By the way, Big Sister Emma's boobies have been growing at a rather alarming rate. I think no matter what she eats, all that nutrients is going straight into them.
These photos were taken at Valleria Lakefront. After stopping by the Bright House, we had some fun to ourselves~
I had no involvement with these photos and bear no responsibility for them. Take them as you see fit. The first photo should be fine, but as for the rest, I would personally be against viewing them in public areas.
Yours truly,
Kitty]
'Quite a long message, but it is as I guessed. The sender really was Kitty, the alias Renne likes to use whenever she surfs the orbal web or does that hacking of hers. I guess she has her orbal laptop with her, considering she could trace my Enigma II device, likely sending this message as a result.
Well, I could see a few images attached to this message, and they sure did appear to be photos.
Now really wasn't the time to be viewing such things, but a little peak couldn't hurt right?