Chapter 17 - Mana Rifle

As Rynold approached the giant mana crystal at the center of the room, it felt like the crystal was drawing him near. Baiting Rynold to come closer and closer to the mana crystal. When he stood face to face with the mana crystal, it urged Rynold to come into contact with it but he knew that it was a lot more to it than that.

But it felt natural for him to raise his hand and touch the crystal ever so lightly.

[Syncronizing...]

***

[Synchronization Complete!]

[Mana Signature detected! Tracing...]

***

[Tracing Complete!]

[Mana User Rynold compatible!]

***

[Would you like to gain ownership over this Mana Crystal?]

[Y/N]

It was yet another simple prompt that provided nothing but an advantage to Rynold in the coming battles. But this Mana Crystal seemed to him a lot more like a power source for a base since it was too huge for him to lug around and use it whenever. Just thinking of pulling it from in and out of his inventory made him feel nauseous.

Regardless, Rynold easily pressed yes and accepted the ownership of the crystal.

Instantly, a white light covered his eyes as images seemed to appear inside his head. Like a pre-recorded message from some point in time. Who knows how long has this crystal been stuck here?

'A pre-recorded message?' Rynold was surprised at the fact that the mana crystal was actually able to store information as it looked more like the crystal was providing power to the whole room.

The images that he saw were of a bulky man but his actions were nothing short of enchanting. His movements of jotting down notes in the same lab that Rynold was currently in and the inventions and experiments that he was carrying out were all seen. Well, just snippets of it anyway.

There was no direct dialogue but Rynold knew one thing. This man before him was nothing short of a genius when it came to engineering and inventing mechs.

It seemed like instead of the Mana Crystal being able to record actual information, it was information about its previous owner instead. Well, regardless, the more Rynold knew the better. Even if he didn't manage to get a name out of all this, it was at least good to know where the Mana Crystal and the room came from.

As soon as the images ended, the light in his eyes faded to black. Rynold opened his eyes to look around only to realize that the gigantic crystal before him was no more. In his hand was a smaller piece of a Mana Crystal that Rynold felt familiar with.

[Mana Crystal]

An item that is unique in nature, no two Mana Crystals are the same. This particular Mana Crystal is linked to Mana User Rynold's unique mana signature.

Looking at the window that popped up, Rynold put the small crystal into his inventory as he doesn't have a use for it as of now.

"What happened?" Oliver put his hand over his best friend's shoulder. "When you touched the crystal it looked like you were having a moment. But, all of a sudden the whole thing gradually shrank to the small piece you were holding."

Rynold thought how he should explain what happened to Oliver but, truthfully, it was pretty uneventful. "I just saw who owned this lab and the Mana Crystal. Well, I didn't actually get a good look at the guy's face or get his name, but, right now, the crystal is more of a novelty item than anything else."

Oliver was noticeably unsatisfied with the answer as it looked like he wanted to ask a few more questions. He dismissed the idea over the fact that Jack was still with them; he wouldn't trust the guy even if he were dying on the floor.

As Oliver's shifty gaze locked onto Jack once more, Rynold let out a low chuckle and proceeded to check again the mechanized items around the room, wondering if he could get anything more out of the relics.

On the one hand, it appeared that X was made out of the same material that the relics had. But, on the other hand, X came from a Summon skill rather than a physical item. Maybe the key difference lies in its sentience?

Rynold thought of the many possibilities that came with the discovery of the room and decidedly explored the notes that were around him. Aside from the unfamiliar language, there were illustrations and blueprints among them.

He hoped that he could get something out of context from the scattered documents and make out some sort of assumption that would explain all of this.

But before he could actually concentrate on his research, he was interrupted.

"Hey! What's the plan here?" Jack asked out, enthusiastically.

Startled, Rynold flinched, causing the group to giggle ever so lightly at his surprise.

"Ehem, ehem," Rynold coughed in embarrassment. "I think we should just camp here, for now, it's pretty safe and dry here and we got food and water anyway. This place is actually pretty roomy too."

The group nodded in approval, thinking that it was the best course of action for now. The room didn't look like it had any exits apart from the one where they came in from.

Everyone moved to get themselves settled, each one decidedly choosing a spot to set up a temporary camp. They didn't bring any sort of pillows or gear with them, so they had to make do.

'Note to self: bring camping gear,' Rynold thought to himself as he got to work.

First, he checked the loot dropped from the Spider Queen fight. Rynold opened his inventory and pulled up the information of the two items dropped. Since the Spider Queen was, at least to him, sort of a boss, he expected to get some halfway decent loot.

[Poisonous Spider Fang]

A material used for crafting, this fang is dropped from an evolved spider and contains poisonous properties.

[Emblem of the Arachnid]

Remnant Item

The remnants of a higher evolved Arachnid creature, this emblem contains a small ounce of power that the spider once had.

Active Skill: Web Shoot

- Upon activation, the user shoots out a web that would slow the target's movement. Has a small chance of immobilizing the target.

Cooldown: 2 mins

The drops from the Spider Queen fight weren't all that amazing, but useful nonetheless. The Poisonous Spider Fang looked like it's an item that can be integrated into future equipment while the Emblem of the Arachnid was the first Remnant Item he had ever come across.

The Remnant Item wasn't equippable by any means, for now anyway. It seemed like the item was somewhat like a spell charge but instead of consuming mana, there's just a simple cooldown. Rynold was skeptical when he read the thing's description since he really didn't see the spider produce any webs during the fight.

Although the description was relatively simple, he didn't think it was all that useful unless they're dealing with a target that's running away. If the target's too fast, Rynold doubted that the emblem could hit it.

Regardless, he kept the items, for now, deciding not to disclose the information of the dropped loot.

While the others were relaxing and just doing whatever, Rynold approached a relic that looked like a weapon. Among the many relics in the room, this particular one managed to pique his interest.

The old relic appeared to be one made with the very delicate hands of a master craftsman. It had the shape that made it ridiculous to assume that this weapon would be used in close-quarters combat. Rather, it looked like a long-range one but not something that appeared ancient in the overall design.

Sure, it lacked the flair of modern guns today, but it had a sort of beauty to it — like it was something that was nurtured by its creator.

Rynold got closer to the weapon, wiping the dust off the ancient relic with his hand. Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like it had a trigger mechanism, just a long metal barrel with a wooden grip.

It looked like the guns from those older movies, the ones that came from the old wars with guns that needed to be reloaded from the barrel end. Instead of the old silver finish that guns in those days used to have, this particular one looked like it was made of a different metal altogether.

Slowly and carefully, Rynold grabbed ahold of the gun and prepared to take a shot, only for him to stand there and looking like an idiot. He never really had an experience with firearms, apart from the ones you get from watching old films. Unexpectedly, though, a window popped up as soon as he put the gun back down.

[Mana Rifle (Incomplete)]

Ranged Weapon (Firearm)

Durability: 20/300

Attack Power +2

A weapon from ancient times that was once the standard of any soldier. A craftsman dedicated his time to improve on the design but failed to finish it, rendering the item unable to fire.

Parts Missing: Trigger Mechanism, Energy Conversion Mechanism