A few minutes passed as the three boys let Jason have room to breathe, his social anxiety making him almost impossible to converse with.
Ojero hardly noticed the time passing as his mind was in a state of complete shock.
'A legendary gem? He has to be lying! But it's the only reason a poor mining family could get into the Academy right? Then again, Roger got in, but that was the draft.'
Roger managing to gain entry to the Academy was already a shock to the twins, and they celebrated for days after, much to Rogers's chagrin.
'What kind of gem could it even be? There has to be less than a couple thousand legendary gem wielders in the world, and most of those are officers in the Grand Legions. How did he get the gem anyway? Obtaining one could only be done by the system deciding an action was worthy of the Hall of Records. So did Jason do something that amazing? Or did his family do it and give him the gem?'
As the thoughts clouded his mind, Roger finally broke the silence.
"Hey Jason, do you mind explaining to us mere mortals how you managed to get, I don't know, one of the most valuable items in the entire duchy!?" He cried out.
Unexpectedly, Jason responded quickly, seemingly having anticipated the question and had an answer already formulated.
"It's kind of a long story, but it all kind of started with me down in the Deep. That's what we call the Old World mine shafts that go below everything else. Down there, the rock and wooden beams give way to metal passages."
Jason seemed to shudder a little at the thought.
"It's a taboo place, but I wanted to bring back some of the rare metals down there so my family could afford better tools. Pa broke his pickaxe not long before, and my other brothers aren't yet old enough to work. I could've given him my own, but both of us needed to work for the family to afford the house and food."
"Deep down there, strange lights fill the hallways, shuttering in and out of the world. Most of the other miners believe them to be the lost souls of miners who died in the Deep, and I would bet a full ration on it being true. I spent a few cycles, hours I think you noble folk call them, searching to find a part of the hallway with enough damage that I could break through it and salvage the metal. I stumbled upon this empty room down there, made entirely out of metal."
Jason clenched his fists, and a tense chuckle escaped him.
"In the center, there was this table with a strange… thing bolted to it. It kinda looked like a man, but made entirely out of metal. A hard one, grey and shiny. At first, I thought it was some kind of armor, till it moved. It almost scared me to death when it started jerking against its restraints, trying to free itself. It started screaming, a high-pitched whine that made my ears bleed. Without even thinking, I ran forward and started using my pickaxe to try and dig into its mouth."
"I didn't even mean to kill it, I just wanted the noise to stop."
He glanced at them timidly.
"It was an old Magos-ranked Beast. The system took me killing it as an action worthy of the Hall of Records and gave me the gem as a reward, which then bonded to me on the spot. I ran out of there, only barely remembering to take my pickaxe with me. After I told the other miners, they sent out an expedition to find the room. They spent weeks looking and never found it."
"Things started changing not long after. More miners started going missing, and the last expedition into the Deep returned claiming that the walls were now all marked up with scratches and dents. They even said blood was streaked across the floor in places"
Jason looked down at his knees again.
"They blew all the known entrances of the Deep closed a few days ago to keep whatever awoke down there, trapped down there. A few folks thought I was lying till they saw my status. My Pa and Momma sent word to the Academy about my gems rarity and they gave me admission, so I gotta do well at the Academy so I can send money back to my family. With me being gone, their earnings are get a lot lower."
Ojero watched the boy for a little bit and surprisingly felt empathy for him.
'I couldn't imagine living like that, or stumbling upon a Magos ranked Beast. A single one of them could destroy an entire town. Killing one without being bonded is definitely worthy of the Hall of Records, but what did killing it unleash down there? That has to be what started all the disappearances and new marks.'
There was still the question of why the system still gave him the gem, however. The action itself was worthy of the Hall of Records, but a legendary gem was a reward only for the most amazing of actions. The Beast might have been a Magos, but it was still restrained and most likely weakened. So why give such a large reward?
"Do you mind sharing your status, Jason?" Orpham asked, coming to a similar status.
The large teen timidly extended his right hand, looking away as he did. All three boys eagerly touched it at the same time.
A shock of mana was followed by a prompt, which all three accepted.
{Elemental Gems}
{Jason Bars}
Element: Steel Legion
Tier: Legendary
Class: {Unchosen}
Rank: Initiate
Abilities: [Fortitude of Steel]
Aspects: [Steel] [Control] [Defense]
______________________________
"Well, would you look at that…" Roger muttered.
So it was true, Jason did have a legendary element. A good one, it seemed. Ojero was not too knowledgeable on elements, abilities, and aspects, but he did know all three aspects Jason had.
The first one, [Steel], would give him command over steel and other similar metals. At higher ranks, he would be able to manifest and create steel at will, giving him many options in combat.
[Control], his second aspect, was a very rare and sought-after one. Usually, a mage unlocked the ability to gain Minions at the Journeyman rank, but with the [Control] aspect they could unlock it at any point, allowing them to build their strength earlier. It was considered a necessity for anyone who chose the Summoner class.
It was hard for Ojero to believe that the timid and socially awkward Jason was going to have to lead and control multiple Minions at the same time, especially as Summoners were often officers who could coordinate their troops to help their Minions and vice versa. With a legendary tier gem, he was all but guaranteed a spot as an officer anyway.
The third and final aspect, [Defense], was actually kind of disappointing for a legendary gem. It was a fairly common aspect that allowed someone to increase their resilience, and eventually that of their allies.
Ojero didn't know what the ability did, however, and so he decided to simply ask.
"Hey Jason, can you share your abilities description?"
Reextending his hand wordlessly, he didn't stop staring a hole in the side of the carriage.
[Fortitude of Steel]
[Make yourself that of steel, and weather any storm. Iron can bend, and copper can break, but steel will hold forever. Armor yourself with the strength of steel.]
It seemed to be a body transformation ability. Although they would unlock their actual Transformation once they reached the Apprentice rank, many aspects could grant abilities that would transform parts of the body temporarily.
'I bet when he activates it his whole body turns into steel. That's really good for an Initiate rank ability, he is basically untouchable!'
"Damn, I'm sorry about your first ability. Here I was hoping it would let you summon metal spikes or something." Roger said, shaking his head dismissively.
"Why? What's wrong with it?" Jason finally said, confusion in his tone.
"Don't listen to him, it's a great ability, Jason." Ojero said, surprising both Roger and Orpham.
"What? I'm not allowed to give credit where it's due?"
"No, you just don't usually give compliments bro." Orpham explained.
"I don't?"
Ojero thought for a moment and realized that he really did not compliment things often.
"I guess I just don't verbalize them as much."
"Uh, would you guys mind explaining what the difference between an aspect and an ability is? My Momma and Pa didn't know, and the miners that did saw me exploring the Deep as a bad omen and have been avoiding me." Jason asked tentatively as if they could lash out at any time.
"You want Ojero to explain that side of things, he has a lot of knowledge," Orpham said with a smile, turning a pointed look at his brother.
'Oh great, now it's my job…'
Despite not agreeing with his brother entirely, he didn't know that much about gems and their intricacies, he did know enough to at least explain aspects and abilities.
Sighing, he began to explain.
"So, every gem grants you a number of aspects. The number is usually random, and more aspects isn't always a sign of a better gem, just that it's more versatile. Even then, some gems that give one or two aspects can give a lot of versatility a gem with four or five could never match so it's all subjective."
He leaned forward and looked at Jason directly.
"The key components are that aspects are your overall core elements. A gem that gives you a fire aspect will give you some measure of control in relation to fire, and it might flavor that to change the exact parameters."
Orpham interjected at that moment.
"Like Ghost Burn!"
Ojero rolled his eyes.
'Orpham and his heroes...'
"Yes, like Ghost Burn. If you're unfamiliar Jason, Ghost Burn is a hero who has a variation of fire that can hurt spirits and other intangible beings. Aspects will often allow you to directly manipulate your elements, with your rank dictating how strongly you can do that."
He leaned back against the bench, now confident in having everyone's attention.
"Abilities, however, are a little different. Each ability is derived from a specific aspect, or aspects, and grants you a specific power. Take my idiot brother for example. His aspects are Light and Fate. Light will allow him to eventually summon light and probably brighten a room, but that's it. His abilities, however, could allow him to make that light solid, or turn it into a sword. Some Light mages can even travel through light, blind their enemies, heal in sunlight, and thousands of other strange things."
Roger grunted.
"Basically your aspects pick what kind of energy you can use, and your abilities let you shape it into specific things."
Roger clarified, obviously bored of what he clearly thought was common knowledge.
"Now when are we going to get to the next town? I want to stop and get some good food!"
Roger complained, for probably the dozenth time that hour.