The scene froze, and Elvira locked her gaze on the older man.
"Master Althar…" she whispered.
Her voice trembled.
Her eyes grew glossy, but she wiped the moisture away before it could fall.
The scenery dissolved into darkness again.
When she opened her eyes, she muttered, "To think I forgot about this...
Those Magus… Master was right, they're a huge problem."
Her expression darkened.
Anger flickered in her gaze.
She looked down at the cracked Empyrean Crystal in her hands.
Confusion clouded her thoughts.
Holding it felt like having a huge fortune sitting in a bank account that she could never spend.
Worse, the value was slowly fading away.
Clang.
Clang.
The sound of Ben's pickaxe striking Grimslate pulled her back to the present.
She looked at the pickaxe and an idea formed.
She floated toward him, the Empyrean Crystal drifting behind her.
"My beloved, are you busy?" she asked.
Ben's lips twitched and his pickaxe stopped mid-swing.
"Can't you see?" he said, giving her a tired glance. "What about you?
Finished with your little experiment yet?"
Elvira sighed.
"Not exactly...
I can't find a good way to use this crystal," she said. "Normal objects can't contain its power.
It's too much.
But then, I thought of your pickaxe." She pointed at it.
"It's a Traveler's artifact.
As far as I know, those things are indestructible.
Maybe it can absorb the energy."
Ben glanced at the crystal and rubbed his chin.
'I still haven't unlocked the upgrade function, but logically, wouldn't the system just need energy to trigger it?' he thought.
He felt the system should be able to handle it if it wanted to.
Since it had not given him any guidance, he doubted it would be simple, but it was still worth a try.
'Hey system, can I do that?' Ben asked in his mind.
[…]
There was only silence.
His lips curved into a small smirk.
'Figures.
Silent treatment again, huh?
Think I'll give up that easily?' he thought.
He turned back to Elvira and nodded.
"Go ahead.
Try infusing the energy into my pickaxe," he said.
Elvira raised her hands.
Magic circles began to form in the air around the Empyrean Crystal and the pickaxe.
Just as the final glyph started to appear, a sudden notification flashed across Ben's vision.
[Stop. You'll regret it if you do that!!!]
Ben's eyes narrowed.
'So you can talk?
And you think I'll just believe you?' he thought.
A grin tugged at his lips. 'Too late, buddy.'
He did not say anything out loud and let Elvira continue.
Her mana wrapped around the crystal's energy and guided it toward the pickaxe.
The moment the energy touched it, the dull surface of the pickaxe lit up with a brilliant golden glow.
It started to vibrate and released a clear ringing sound, like many small bells chiming together.
The sound grew louder, almost like a bird chirping in delight.
Then a powerful suction force exploded out from the pickaxe.
Elvira gasped.
The cracks on the Empyrean Crystal widened and glowed brighter.
The energy inside surged out of control and spiraled toward the artifact in a blinding swirl of light.
[You're doomed.]
Ben's eyes twitched at the notification, but he did not stop the process.
'You and your cryptic messages.
If you don't explain things properly, how am I supposed to know what's going on?' he thought.
[It's not that I don't want to, but I can't. There are limitations placed on me, ones that should be gradually lifted as you level up. But you… you keep finding ways to leap past those restrictions.]
Ben smirked.
'So what you're saying is...
I'm too good?' he asked in his mind.
[No, I'm saying you're dangerously reckless.]
His grin widened, but before he could reply, the golden light from the pickaxe flared even brighter.
It lit up the entire cavern like a miniature sun.
The cracks on the Empyrean Crystal deepened.
The tunnel walls started to tremble.
'Isn't that proof you can bend the rules a little?
You're already talking to me, after all,' Ben thought.
The system replied after a short pause.
[Yes... but I don't know why. The restrictions loosened when you became a Hive Sovereign.]
Ben frowned.
'Then explain it to me now,' he thought.
[…]
'Why the silence all of a sudden?' he asked.
[There's too much information, and we're running out of time. You're reckless, and honestly, I don't understand why someone like you was chosen in the first place.]
Ben rolled his eyes.
'What?
Why no time?
You're stuck with me, aren't you?' he thought.
[The energy flow is too intense. I'll likely have to enter hibernation soon to process everything and complete an update.]
Before Ben could react, his mind was hit by a flood of fragmented information.
His head throbbed under the weight of it.
Then the stream of knowledge cut off as suddenly as it had started.
The pickaxe pulsed once more.
The golden glow surged into a final bright flash, then settled.
CRACK.
The blade of the pickaxe shattered, revealing a new surface underneath.
It gleamed with a shifting rainbow hue that changed color depending on the viewing angle.
Ben felt a clear surge of power coming from the pickaxe.
[Blockify Pickaxe has been upgraded.]
***
[Blockify Pickaxe]
[Type: Tool/Weapon]
[Rarity: Divine (Growth)]
[Durability: Infinite]
[Damage: 100 (Melee)]
[Ability: Send You Flying]
[Knockback: 10]
[Critical Strike Chance: 14%]
[Blockify]
[Power: 5]
[Limitations: Cannot be used on living beings, equipment, or liquids.]
[Magic Destroyer]
[Effect: When Blockify is used against a magic or spell, it consumes 10% of the calculated mana required for that attack.]
[Tooltip: A strange power lies within, turning nearly anything into blocks, but not without a cost.]
***
When he saw the update, Ben knew he should feel excited.
The new functions were strong.
But compared to what he had just learned from the information burst, this upgrade felt small.
Elvira watched his expression.
"Is something wrong?
Shouldn't you feel happy with the upgraded artifact?" she asked.
"Seems we need to improve the base quickly and speed things up," Ben said. "We just got a new enemy."
"What you mean?" Elvira asked.
She tilted her head, confused.
"Give me a minute," Ben replied.
He sat down on the ground and tried to sort through the information in his mind.
Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location, in a majestic grand hall, a man with a scar on his face walked forward with his aide.
His heavy armor clanged with each step.
A huge sword rested on his back.
He suddenly stopped and turned his gaze toward the floor.
"Is something happened, Sir Alexander?" the aide asked.
"Just another pest.
Inform the Magus," Alexander said.
"Yes, sir," the person behind him replied.
The aide bowed, then quickly left the hall.