Hovictus: The Rise of the Archeans

Chapter 43 - Crystals

They were seated on the chair surrounding the table.

“It feels like we are already professional, company rooms really have this kind of vibe,” Felxir said.

“You really are very observant and yeah, also really vocal about everything you observed,” Krieldyr said.

Teryn laughs. She said, “That’s a strength in a team, though you need to know what things are needed to say out loud. So anyway, crystals,” Teryn said.

The four became serious as Teryn spoke.

“As discussed in your previous years in the academy, crystals are mined from four different places here in the Hovictus and, obviously, that’s where the names of the four domains came from,” Teryn said.

“I thought that it’s from the God and Goddess that the four regions worshiped,” Felxir said.

“That’s more believable than what I said, but the previous lord is the one that named the region, so I know that he based it upon the crystals. But that’s not really important to talk about,” Teryn said.

“Sorry about that,” Felxir replied.

“It’s fine. So, back to what I’m talking about, crystals from the four domains have different characteristics and different usage. At first, they were just mined as currency for Hovictus or just used for jewelry. However, there was an accident that caused the discovery of the power of the crystals and as the Domain Lord knew about that, he immediately made a team that would focus on that thing. He’s so curious about it that he gave a lot of incentives to it, causing the rise of many research companies,” Teryn explained.

“Ohh, that’s the reason there are a lot of them,” Icerielle said.

“The crystals from the Earth Domain, which are called the earth crystals, exhibit an earthly color and texture. It is also the crystal that was used in the discovery of a crystal’s power. When a certain person leaves the earth crystal in a spherical glass, the plant beside it grows so fast that anyone that witnesses it can see how the plant becomes larger and taller,” Teryn said.

“So it has to be in a spherical glass to harness the crystal’s power?” Krieldyr asked.

“That’s what we thought, but after some experiments, we just need to isolate the crystal and wash away every impurity from it,” Teryn replied.

“Then how will you control its output?” Icerielle asked.

“As the pure crystals are isolated, the closest object near it will change according to what effect the crystal has. And those effects vary according to the amount of intensity that the object receives,” Teryn said.

“So what are the possible effects of the earth crystals?” Krieldyr asked.

“The obvious one is that it could increase the growth rate of plants and trees to certain levels. But if the plant is exposed too long to pure earth crystals, it will die instead of continuing to grow. So one department in this company focuses on determining the maximum exposure time of plants,” Teryn said.

“And the other effects?” Icerielle asked.

“It could decrease the time of many processes. If you have the right intensity of the crystal, you can burn an apple into ashes in just a matter of minutes when exposed to fire,” Teryn replied.

“So it acts like a catalyst?” Megan asked.

“Somehow, since catalysts speed up reactions, right? But the crystals are being consumed at a very minimal level and we can’t say that it really is something like that,” Teryn said.

“But to speed things up, that’s a very helpful thing,” Felxir said.

This effect is more like magic than scientific. Wait, this sounds like magic stones that we have back in Arcanea. Though those magic stones are very limited. I’ll check it out the moment she lets us see what these crystals look like. Krieldyr thought to himself.

“Another application of the earth crystal is to surface land, though it needs a number of crystals. Using the computer that the researchers in Fire Domain developed, we could construct buildings by just using the crystals,” Teryn said.

“Woah! That’s so amazing,” Megan said.

“But with that kind of advancement in technology, it would decrease the manpower needed for everything. That means fewer job opportunities for humans,” Krieldyr said.

“Yeah, that’s right. Even if the research that we have does not significantly affect how people live, there will surely come a time that there will be a major problem because of it. And one of which is what you have said. However, it’s not the researchers’ problem. We will let those people with authority handle those kinds of things,” Teryn said.

“Oh, you’re right. As a developer of technology, the problems that you should only prioritize are those that have an immediate effect. The other team will be the one to handle those long-term effects,” Krieldyr said.

“You’re right, and until it is proved to be safe both in the short and long term span of time, it should not be released outside,” Teryn said.

“So those are all the effects of earth crystals?” Megan asked.

“No, I don’t think that the current generation have enough time to unravel all of the functions that the crystals could have, but those three that I said are the ones that we focus on here in the Earth Domain Central Development. Other companies work on other functions, but since we work under what the Domain Lord orders, we have no other choice but to do those. But I agree with him, so there’s no tension in the company. That’s why I said that you should visit the other company, especially the Savannah Research Institute,” Teryn said.

“Oh, we already plan to go there, right?” Felxir said.

“Yes, but why would the most respectable company recommend that?” Krieldyr asked.

“You will find out as you visit that place,” Teryn said.

“I understand,” Krieldyr replied.

“Anyway, I explained the technical part of the crystals. The next thing we should do is to visit different departments here in this company. I hope that you can learn a lot of things here,” Teryn said.