Magic Crystal

"In summer, the night barely begins before the sun rises; in winter, dusk falls before laughter fades." This world seems to follow the same rule because although it's only just past 5:30 PM, the sky is already dark. The winter chill makes people want nothing more than to go home and wrap themselves up in a warm blanket.

If he entered the village now, Darius Noctis would still have time to prepare the broth for selling Hu tieu. He needed to move quickly and sell early. The people of this world didn't have much in terms of entertainment—he feared they would go to sleep early.

The mission he received did not specify whether he had to sell today or tomorrow. Either way, he had bought extra ingredients, filling the freezer in his vehicle—enough to sell for two or three days straight.

Seeing the villagers come out to greet the old man, he realized that this was the village chief. The elder introduced himself with the surname Yen but did not mention his given name. Darius Noctis could only refer to him as 'Chief Yen' or simply 'the village chief.'

At the village gate stood a watchtower with a single guard keeping watch, while below was Little Khanh. He also bore the surname Yen—his full name was Khanh Yen. Listening to the villagers' conversations, Darius Noctis guessed that the entire village shared the surname Yen.

As he stepped into the village, Darius Noctis felt its lively atmosphere. Lanterns illuminated both sides of the road, casting a glow brighter than even the central district of Phucloc Town at night. Children could run and play freely without fear of the darkness.

"The village isn't large, with only about three to four thousand inhabitants."

He suddenly remembered that his system's alert mode was on, meaning its scanning function must still be active. Why wasn't it providing detailed information about the village? Did it consider the village too small to bother reporting?

"Oh? A merchant? Did you bring anything interesting with you?"

"I have a special dish. Would you like to try it? It's called Hu tieu, and it's delicious." Darius Noctis poked his head out of his vehicle and grinned.

A few villagers, having noticed his vehicle passing by, quickly gathered around to ask questions, forcing him to stop in the middle of the village. Just then, he spotted a wide courtyard, its center dominated by a massive bonfire stacked with hundreds of logs, burning brightly and lighting up the entire area. Around the courtyard, children ran and played without stopping.

Getting out of the vehicle, Darius Noctis took a quick look around. The villagers here weren't as curious as those in Phucloc Town. When they saw that he needed space to prepare his stall, they simply made room for him and went about their business.

At that moment, Darius Noctis turned on the stove, checking the gas tank, which was noticeably lighter. Fortunately, there was still plenty left. If he ran out later, he might have to resort to using firewood, as his solar-powered electricity supply was very limited. Even if he could use an electric stove, he wouldn't want to—the taste wouldn't be the same.

Today was Fat Luu's first day helping out. Though still clumsy, he was much faster than working alone. The only trouble was… Woof. For some reason, ever since they entered the village, the dog hadn't stopped barking wildly. Scolding didn't help, so he assigned the task of disciplining Woof to Meow.

The result was immediate—Woof suffered a brutal lesson and was now cowering under the vehicle, trembling. Meanwhile, Meow rubbed itself against Darius Noctis' pants, purring. Seeing this, he rewarded it with his last precious sausage.

Something even stranger happened this time. Instead of eating alone as usual, Meow carried the sausage over to Woof, who was still huddled under the vehicle, and shared half with him. Though still a bit scared, Woof never turned down food. His life motto was simple: "Living means eating. Getting beaten won't kill me—starving will."

"The broth still isn't rich enough…"

Checking the time, he saw that it was already past 7 PM. He set up tables and chairs outside, letting the aroma of the broth spread through the air, drawing more and more villagers over.

"Shop owner, what does this noodle soup of yours taste like? Is it not ready yet? I can hardly resist the smell." Someone asked Darius Noctis.

"Not yet, it needs another half hour. Don't people usually eat dinner? I was worried no one would come…" Darius Noctis said with a wry smile.

It was well past normal dinner time, and even though he rushed, the broth still needed a long time to simmer.

"Our village rarely eats at night. Usually, we dine in the late afternoon, but having an extra meal in the evening isn't a problem. It's not often we have visitors."

"That's right. Just this morning, some merchant caravans stopped by to trade goods. In the end, they left in a hurry without making any deals."

Hearing this, Darius Noctis recalled seeing a few horse-drawn carts traveling in the opposite direction earlier that morning. They had seemed to be in quite a rush. He still didn't understand the reason—after all, he knew next to nothing about this world.

"What kind of goods does your village trade?" Darius Noctis asked.

Phucloc Town was known for its candle-making industry, and while trade was decent, it didn't have any particularly rare specialties. However, Fat Luu had mentioned that Yenviet Village was quite special, so they must have had something valuable.

"Our village owns a few magic crystal mines. We usually trade low-grade magic stones with the merchants who come here."

The one speaking was a man around the same age as Darius Noctis. He was tall and lanky, with long limbs that made him look frail, but his eyes were full of life.

"Magic stones? What do they look like?" Darius Noctis asked curiously.

He had no idea what magic stones were or what they were used for. Judging by the name, he assumed they were stones capable of generating magic.

"Oh? It's rare to meet a merchant who doesn't know about magic stones. Here, take a look at this…"

Saying that, the man handed Darius Noctis a red-colored stone. As soon as he held it, he felt a slight warmth emanating from it. It was about the size of a thumb, with a flame-like pattern etched in the center. Its outer appearance was quite beautiful, resembling raw ruby. But what exactly was this stone used for?

"You really don't know anything about magic stones?" The lanky man looked at him in disbelief.

"I really don't. I'm not a merchant—I'm just a guy selling noodle soup on the street." Darius Noctis chuckled bitterly.

"Then how does your vehicle run if it doesn't use magic stone energy?"

"It runs on electricity… How should I explain this? I have an energy panel that absorbs sunlight and converts it into energy to power my vehicle. Does that make sense to you?"

"Ah… So your energy panel absorbs magic elements from the sun? That's quite something."

"Uh… yeah, let's go with that."

Darius Noctis gave a wry smile. Sure, whatever worked. He couldn't spend all day explaining the actual mechanics of his vehicle. If everyone kept asking the same thing, he'd go crazy. Sometimes, letting people misunderstand was the easiest option.

"Well then, let me explain. Magic stones, also known as magic crystals, come in various grades. What you're holding is the lowest-grade magic crystal, commonly used in everyday life."

"The stone in your hand is a fire-element magic crystal. It can generate flames, and even ordinary people can use it."

The lanky man carefully explained the function of magic crystals to Darius Noctis. Hearing this, Darius Noctis was surprised and immediately asked,

"How do you use it?"

"Put it on the ground. You're not a Mage—if you activate it in your hand, you'll get burned."

Following the instructions, Darius Noctis placed the stone on the ground.

"You see the flame pattern in the center of the stone? Don't use your hand—take a stick and tap it three times in a row to activate it."

No need to find a stick. Darius Noctis bent down and smacked the stone three times with his sandal.

Immediately, a red circle appeared around the stone, etched with strange magical symbols. The glowing red ring hovered about half an inch above the stone's surface, and as soon as the pattern was fully formed, a flame the size of a human palm ignited and flickered intensely.

"That's amazing…" Darius Noctis stared in astonishment.

Beside him, Fat Luu was just as stunned. His reaction puzzled Darius Noctis. It made sense for him to be surprised—he came from another world, after all—but why was Fat Luu, someone born in this world, even more amazed than he was?

In truth, Phucloc Town didn't have many Mages. They were mysterious individuals who rarely used magic in front of others. However, magic crystals still existed in the town, but they were mostly used by the wealthy elite.

The real issue lay with Fat Luu himself. He rarely left the forge and had spent nearly his entire life working with metal. As a result, his general life experience was quite limited.

Moreover, his family's blacksmith forge didn't use magic crystals at all. Low-grade magic crystals couldn't produce enough heat for forging, and high-grade ones were far too expensive. The best option was simply not to use them. Because of this, Fat Luu had never had the chance to interact with them before.

Even so, Fat Luu had studied and researched magic crystals. He had learned a lot from his father, including how to forge weapons embedded with magic stones. Though he had learned the theory, he had never actually had the opportunity to try it himself.