Chapter 52 - Pedestal

My head tilted to the side.

"So what can you do with your earth magic?"

Leon rubbed his hand against his chin.

"My mastery of the earth spells allows me to go beyond the constructed spells. In essence, I am able to freely manipulate earth, limited only by my imagination."

I nodded a few times.

"Wow, that sounds cool."

Leon chuckled.

"Thank you. What are you able to do?"

My head tilted to the side.

"I got stronger from eating those black plants in that weird cave."

My finger pointed towards the floating crystal next to me.

"That was also where this crystal came from, it can get rid of mana around it."

The crystal started to pulsate and the snow around us was blown away.

Leon's eyes widened.

"I am unable to gather any mana, that is quite the impressive power."

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Haha, thank you, thank you."

The crystal stopped pulsating and past a few trees was the ice pond.

My finger pointed towards the ice pond.

"I am pretty sure that's the place."

Leon's eyes narrowed as he stared at the ice pond.

"Hmm... who is that?"

What?

My eyes looked a little closer to see Osric standing in the middle of the ice pond in a daze.

We walked to the edge of the ice pond when someone's voice suddenly rang out from behind us.

"What are you gentlemen doing here?"

My body tensed and did a 180, while Leon leisurely turned around.

It was Mark. He was still in his ragged clothes and had a big smile on his face.

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

"Wandering around, you?"

Mark's smile remained like he was a statue.

"Haha, I am simply curious as to what that man over there is doing. You should be of the same mind, no?"

I looked back to Osric.

"Well, yeah. Why is he just... standing there?"

Mark laughed.

"Then let us join him."

Mark walked to the ice pond and Leon did the same without much thought.

Well, this wasn't my first time doing this anyway.

My foot was set into the ice pond and massive ice walls immediately appeared around me.

Mark and Leon were both next to me, while my eyes were on Osric.

He was currently in a tussle with a skeleton with an arm missing. All around him were shattered bones that were trembling.

Mark held his hand up next to his face, as though he wanted to use it to amplify his voice.

"Hey! Need any help?"

Osric looked towards us and frowned.

"No! Please leave."

Mark clasped his hands together.

"Oh, don't be shy."

Mark walked over to Osric. My head turned to Leon and he turned to me.

Leon shrugged his shoulders and went with Mark. Not knowing what else to do, my steps trailed behind.

Osric had pulled off the skull of the skeleton he was fighting, but both the skull and the body were still attacking him.

Osric slammed the skull on the ground, shattering it into pieces.

Once Mark was a few meters away, he simply watched Osric, as did the rest of us.

Osric shattered the remaining arm on the skeleton with a punch, then lifted the remains by the ribcage and slammed it onto the ground.

Osric was uninjured, then sighed.

"I have the situation under control, there is no need to help me."

Mark tilted his head to the side.

"Oh, really?"

The shattered bones on the ground were swallowed into the ice.

After a few moments, a hand reached from under Osric, pulling at his foot.

Osric frowned and kicked it off, sending the bony hand away.

"...The situation is under control."

Ten skeletons pulled themselves back up from the ice.

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"Um... I think they are just going to keep coming back."

Osric's face twitched.

"Hmph. What could any of you do differently anyway?"

Mark rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps use my brain?"

Gales of wind were stirred up. All the skeletons were immediately broken into pieces and held above the ice.

Osric's eye twitched.

"My thunder magic could do the same if these monsters were not immune."

Mark laughed.

"You had no control over the situation did you?"

Leon sighed.

"Alright, that's enough. We should introduce ourselves. My name is Leon, the Earth Emperor."

Osric took a deep breath.

"My name is Osric, the King of Wolves."

Mark shrugged his shoulders.

"The name is Mark, I dabble in wind magic."

My hand scratched the back of my head as everyone's eyes shifted to me.

"Uh, I'm Jay."

Osric's face twitched.

"...That's it?"

My shoulders shrugged.

"I mean that is the only way I really know how to introduce myself."

Mark chuckled.

"Does your exaggerated crown not mean anything?"

My head tilted to the side.

"I guess the king of lizards somewhat fits me?"

Osric raised an eyebrow.

"You are of lizard descent?"

An awkward laugh seeped out of my lips.

"Well... this crown was forced on me after I killed all these lizards in a cave."

The corner of Osric's lip twitched.

"...I see."

Mark looked at me.

"That sounds quite impressive."

I nodded.

"It definitely was not easy, thankfully there were some plants that strengthened my body. Speaking of, do you guys want one?"

My hand pulled out two black fruits from a satchel.

Osric waved his hand dismissively.

"No thank you. I am fine without that."

Mark looked at me curiously.

"May I take a closer look at it?"

After putting back one fruit, my hand reached out to Mark, fruit in hand.

Mark held his hand out under mine. My hand released and Mark let it fall onto his palm.

Mark turned the fruit over a few times and was about to take a bite.

My hand reached out to him.

"Wait, wait. You probably shouldn't eat too much of it at a time."

Mark raised an eyebrow.

"Alright."

Mark took a small bite from the fruit. His body heated up for a few moments, but it was over quick.

"Thank you, Jay."

My hand waved dismissively.

"No problem, no problem."

Osric's lip twitched but he did not say anything.

Leon's eyes swept the area.

"What is this place anyway?"

Osric sighed.

"I am not too sure."

Mark rubbed his chin.

"For starters, we could see the situation with that pedestal."

Mark pointed towards the middle of the ice hill, where a pedestal lay.

Osric frowned.

"...I suppose we can."

The four of us walked up the hill, to a pedestal.

The pedestal was white in color and had engravings of various flowers on its side.

At the top was an indent. The indent appeared to be part of the pedestal's design, it was elegantly crafted and could fit a large jewel inside.

Mark looked at the crystal that was hovering above me.

"Do you think your... jewelry could fit within the socket of this pedestal?"

My shoulders shrugged.

"I guess I could try."

My mind recalled the effects of trying to put a gemstone in the socket.

The rumbling was quite loud...

"...This might not be the safest of actions to do, are you guys ok with that?"

Though I was willing to try this out, I was afraid of implicating others.

Leon held a fist in front of his mouth.

"Is there something special that will happen if you go through with this?"

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"Maybe? I wouldn't know."

Leon chuckled.

"I was never one to not explore possibilities."

Osric cleared his throat.

"I am willing to do so if you intend on trying this out."

My eyes swiveled to Mark.

Mark's eyes locked with mine.

"If my curiosity is what gets me killed, that will simply be a fitting ending."

My shoulders shrugged.

"Well... here goes nothing."

My palm reached out and let the crystal lower into my hand.

My eyes examined the crystal closely.

The crystal was the shape of a rhombus. Though it was black, it gleamed, giving the crystal a nice shine. Now that it was not in my hand, it stopped rotating and laid there silently.

The other three kept their eyes on me and waited.

My foot took a step forward, bringing me right next to the pedestal.

With a deep breath, my hand lowered the crystal.

The crystal fit nicely inside of the indent and half of it was now submerged.

...Nothing happened.

Mark laughed.

"I suppose it was a bit of a stretch for that to work."

Osric sighed.

"Though it makes sense to assume an object would trigger a mechanism."

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

"What type of object do you surmise would work?"

My hand raised, to stop the conversation.

"There is still something I haven't tried."

Mark raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? Go ahead then."

After making sure the other two did not have any protests, my mind focused.

The crystal pulsated.

....Then the pedestal cracked.