-Break-
Looking over a desk full of cursed weapons with a smile on my face, I say, "There really is so much you can do with nightmare body parts, it is unreal. But more than that, the discovery of crystallised spirit energy is something I never thought would exist."
"Despite spirit energy being a source of power we have next to unlimited amounts of we could never turn it into a source of power to utilize, the closest with ever got was the presence of spirit in Seirei, but that only happened due to a special series of events, it's not something that can be reproduced enmass," Dragoste says with joy in his eyes.
Stopping for a moment, I say, "In the past, there have been many different devices that people wonder how they worked, especially how they were powered. Do you think that crystallised spirit energy played a role?"
"That's a thought you and many others in the past two millennia have had, but due to no proof existing, we were never able to make it move any further than just being a fun idea. But between you and me, right now, we can attest that crystallised spirit energy does exist. But this led me to another discovery."
Dragoste walks over to a drawer, and then opening it, he pulls something small wrapped in a blanket, and then unwrapping it, he says, "I am sure you know what this is?"
"A Basileia crystal."
"Exactly. But more than that, Orb, if you put this under a microscope and zoom in, you'll see something amazing."
As he places it under a microscope, I move and start looking, and as I zoom in, I notice something that makes me pull my head back, and I say, "It looks the same as the crystallised spirit energy."
"Exactly, Orb. It is the same. Basileia crystals are crystalised spirit energy."
Stopping, I start rubbing my head, and I say, "This is way too much for my brain to keep up."
Beaming with a smile, Dragoste says, "That's why they are able to produce so much power Orb for the Elpída platforms, that also explains why Elpída has a machine that can make them out of nowhere, because it must be powered by spirit energy."
"Wait, do you think the healing aspects of Basileia crystals in terms of being turned into a powder for medicine have to do with this?"
"If I were to hazard a guess, I would guess yes. But this poses another question: why does spirit energy have inherent healing qualities? Is it doing something to the bodies that take it in, like many giving them minor curses? Or do the crystals end up strengthening the soul when they come into contact with them? But more than that, the radiation caused by the crystals is also strange. Do our souls give off some form of radiation that only becomes visible when crystallised? I have so many questions yet so few answers."
"This is all big, so big I barely even know what to do. Don't you think you should bring in more resear-." My mind quickly answers my own question, and I say, "Rhat was stupid I already know why you can't."
"All of this could be used for making weapons. In the current times we are in, the idea of introducing that spirit energy can be crystallised would be an utter travesty to everyone involved. That's why only the two of us know of this."
"Ehh, just the two of us? You haven't told anyone else."
"Correct."
"Why?"
Dragoste stares into the distance, and then, after scratching his chin, he looks back at me and says, "I guess I got a bit carried away."
Angry, I say, "YOU SHOULDN'T GO TELLING PEOPLE SECRETS LIKE THIS WITHOUT THINKING!"
Bowing a bit, Dragoste says, "I am sorry, I just think you are a trustworthy person, Orb."
Putting my hand to my chest, I say, "What you did was stupid, but even if I die, I assure you that this secret will never leave my mouth."
"Thank you for that, Orb."
"Though, I will say that even if crystalised spirit energy became known to people, would they be developed enough to make use of it? Basileia artefacts are still beyond many's understanding. I doubt they would be capable of fully understanding how to make these."
"Hey, Orb, how do ships float?"
"Due to buoyancy?"
"Did we only start creating ships after buoyancy was discovered?"
I stay silent as the answer is obvious, and Dragoste says, "Perfect understanding of something and functional use of something are different things. I couldn't tell you exactly how the brain works. However, I can tell you techniques for manipulating another human being, scientificit development isn't linear and the applications of things can truly be above our own personal understanding. Hence, it is best to approach with caution. And also, I do think you underestimate the scientific development of all the great countries that exist."
"What do you mean by that last part?"
Walking around the room, Dragoste says, "Orb, are you aware of the way we split the eras of the third cycle?"
"Of course I do, it's one of the only things Captivant thought me completely, without leaving things out. In fact, I plan to give all of the kids a breakdown of it when I return."
Dragoste smiles, and then says, "The third cycle split up between 5 different eras, the calamitous era, the recovery era, the levav era, the tempestuous era, and the reawakened era, in which we currently live. But the important one for this conversation is the event that happened at the end of the recovery era."
Taking a deep breath, Dragoste looks at the cursed weapons, and says, "The recovery era, when the group protected by Cordum, known as the children of the future, quickly entrenched themselves in all the countries, getting back on their feet after the fallout of Fimbulwinter formation had ended. Many cursed weapons were made during this era due to their brutality. Yet they also pushed forward the development of technology in this era by leaps and bounds to satiate their desires, and one of those many developments was, as you know, gunpowder."
From behind his desk, Dragoste brings out an Arquebus, and says, "Firearms took to the battlefield, and using these, the children of the future gained a massive monopoly on violence throughout the world. With it they could rip through armour, and shoot down under all without the need of any skilled soldiers. It was one of the most important factors of why the children of the future had such intense control over the world for so long, despite all of their actions performing a militaristic uprising against them, which was hard, especially since they were constantly watching for any uprising against them."
Dragoste claps his hands, which snaps me out of the trance his words have put me in, and says, "Pop quiz, Orb. How did this come to an end?"
Jumping back with a fright, I take a few moments to compose myself, and say, "The hero Sousei from Seirei who had faced the brutality of gun warfare back in his isolationist home country empathised with the plight of people hurt by such events, and wanted revenge against those aboard who caused such chaos in his country. So he set out towards every single place his feet could take him, and with him he brought the first school of spirit energy. Up until that point, many knew of spirit energy as the force that powerful warriors had, which allowed them to be heroes, especially due to the legend of Charles Animus. Yet the ability to widely use it was unknown, and Sousei from the spirit nation itself brought a formalised way to not only awaken, but use spirit energy as well.
This had massive effects throughout the world as the power of spirit energy gave even the common man the strength of ten men, but more than that, it gave people the ability to reinforce their bodies with spirit energy, allowing them to-/"
Pointing the gun at me, Dragoste fires, and I use spirit energy to reinforce my body, making the bullet smash to pieces as it hits me. Then Dragoste says, "Overcome the power of bullets. These events, plus the first cursed crusade from the queen of nightmares, brought an end to the children of the future."
"Hey, you shot me!"
"Sorry, sorry, but I really wanted to fire this piece of history. Would you please forgive me?"
"You're lucky, I like you, but don't go doing that to others."
"Don't worry, Orb, I will only shoot you."
As my face turns slightly red, Dragoste says, "Following the age of recovery to the age of levev, many firearms were unofficially banned, with research in the age of levev having a far more spiritual focus than the previous ages. Due to this, gun development was halted for centuries, but now many have forgotten the damage the age of recovery caused to all those around the world.
And now that the social taboo of gun development has all but vanished, many are trying to innovate in ways to push forward. In the last 100 to 150 years, flint lock guns have been made, allowing a much faster rate of fire than before. Yet that still can't pierce spirit energy reinforced skin, so new ways are being made to regain a militaristic advantage. In Molstoria, they are said to be experimenting with the heart of the sea crystals. In Enotita, there are rumours they have found ways to encase spirit energy in bullets. Some have even tried to find ways to mass-produce wonderbeasts into bullets. Right now, the world is in an arms race for ranged superiority, as without wonderbeast arrows or spirit bows, no one is truly capable of fighting en masse with ranged tools that are effective. If crystalised spirit energy was added to this mess, it would only accelerate this, and would lead to mass experimentation on nightmares for the sake of understanding its mechanics."
Scratching my head, I say, "THIS IS SO ANNOYING! But that's just the reality of the situation, I guess."
"A sad reality indeed."
"But I don't think it will have to be like that for long."
"What makes you say that?"
"I believe people like to help people, and I am sure that if given enough time, we might be able to one day interact with you're discovery for the sake of helping others. Besides, lots of legacies are appearing in people nowadays, so maybe someone who could help you develop this might be born into someone in Blestemate."
Smiling, Dragoste says, "Thank you, Orb. Your optimism gives me strength, and as a reward, how about I show you some more of the research I have into this topic?"
"I would love that!"
-Break-
Standing in front of a bookshelf, I say, "What the hell even is this word?"
Staring down at the book, Dragoste says, "It means complete?"
"Why is it spelt like that?"
"It's from its old spelling."
"The fact that the saviour's song has so many strange, out-of-place words still bothers me to this day."
"That's because of the fusion."
"Fusion?"
"You see, despite us splitting the songs into 3, there are actually multiple different ones."
"Really?"
"Of course, humanity has remained split over time due to the constant environmental chaos during the 2nd cycle, and developed their own language. All of them started out as the saviours' song but changed throughout the 2nd cycle, before being recombined by the beastkin's enslavement of humanity. Funny enough, most people still referred to their own unique language as the saviour's song. Another effort for this was made during the age of Levev, where it was fully finalised and codified into the saviour's song the modern person knows. Though I am surprised you didn't know this, given how much information you know, my dad really left weird gaps in your knowledge."
My hair starts to turn red in anger, and I say, "Don't even get me started!"