Chapter 83: Twelve Crystal Maiden Embryos—and Editable Attributes

At the center of the main keep, the ripples deepened.

A few breaths later, the Crystal Mother’s face emerged from the entire crystal wall.

She did not ask what Cassian wanted to buy.

Her first words were—

"Human Lord."

"You allowed your army to kill many of my people."

Her voice still came from the whole mountainside.

No shouting.

No loss of control.

But it was colder than the first time they had met.

Aurelia stood behind Cassian’s right shoulder without drawing her sword.

Celia’s hand did not touch Lifeless Edge either.

Cassian looked up at the crystalline face.

"You’re still generating more."

The Crystal Mother paused.

"That does not mean you may slaughter them as you please."

"Which is why I never entered the main keep."

"I never touched you."

"And I never chased the Crystal Maiden."

All three statements were true.

Cassian had continuously cleared the perimeter Crystalkin.

He had not attacked the main keep once.

He had left the Crystal Mother alive.

And after Celia first spotted a Crystal Maiden, they had only recorded it.

No chase.

The Crystal Mother’s gaze settled on him like transparent stone.

"So you came today because you expect me to thank you for your restraint?"

"No."

Cassian opened his Inventory.

The first thing he took out was not a weapon.

It was a bottle of Life Water.

The pale-green liquid stood out sharply against the crystal wall.

For the first time, the Crystal Mother’s expression changed.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

"Dense Life Energy."

"A product of the Fountain."

Cassian did not say where the Fountain was.

He did not mention daily output either.

He raised the bottle slightly.

"It restores injuries and depleted strength quickly."

"What do you want for it?"

She asked fast.

Cassian put the Life Water away.

"A Crystal Maiden."

The entire mountainside went silent.

Behind him, Celia’s brow moved slightly.

That Epic crystalline humanoid was what she had seen before.

Several seconds later, the Crystal Mother answered.

"No."

Cassian did not ask why.

She explained on her own.

"Crystalkin can be activated again."

"Crystal Maidens are different."

"They are gestated from my Core."

"Each one is my daughter."

"Life Water is not enough."

Cassian paused for one breath.

Aurelia looked at him.

Celia understood too.

Not enough.

Not impossible.

Cassian opened his Inventory again.

This time, what appeared in his palm was not water.

It was a pale-green mass of condensed life force.

[Life Essence ×1]

The Crystal Mother’s gaze truly stopped.

For the first time, the enormous crystalline face leaned slightly closer.

"What is that?"

"Also from the Fountain."

"It’s different from the water."

Cassian spoke evenly.

"Life Water restores your condition."

"This—"

"Has a chance to push the Quality of a full-fledged Hero or Troop higher."

A whole layer of pale-blue patterns lit inside the crystal wall.

The Crystal Mother said nothing.

But her attention had moved from Cassian’s face to the Life Essence.

This time, Cassian waited.

Not to play games.

The price was already on the table.

The other side could speak first.

After several breaths, the Crystal Mother asked, "How much do you have?"

"One portion is on the table."

"And the rest?"

"That isn’t today’s price."

Her gaze cooled again.

Cassian continued.

"Twelve bottles of the Life Water you just saw."

"Plus this one Life Essence."

"How many Crystal Maidens?"

She did not answer immediately.

Cassian did not raise his own offer.

For more than ten breaths, the entire crystal wall remained silent.

Somewhere deeper inside the keep came the faint scrape of crystal against crystal, as though something was moving.

At last, the Crystal Mother spoke.

"Twelve."

Sigrid’s eyes lifted slightly.

Cassian asked, "Twelve what?"

"Crystal Maiden Embryos."

"First batch."

"My gestation rate is limited."

"If you want more—"

"We negotiate again later."

Cassian asked another question.

"Once I take the Embryos—"

"Who owns them?"

"You activate them."

"They will receive a new Lord ownership mark."

"They are not borrowed."

"They are not mine to recall whenever I choose."

That answer mattered more than the price itself.

Cassian nodded.

"Deal."

The system confirmation did not appear immediately.

The Crystal Mother added one more sentence.

"They are not like the outer Crystalkin you can replenish again and again."

"I know."

The trade interface opened.

[Trade Established]

[Cassian Vale → Crystal Mother]

[Life Water ×12]

[Life Essence ×1]

[Crystal Mother → Cassian Vale]

[Crystal Maiden Embryo ×12]

[First Batch only | Future price not established]

Cassian confirmed.

Ahead of him, a full layer of crystal on the side of the keep slowly opened.

Twelve transparent crystal embryos, each about the length of an arm, slid out one after another.

They were not ordinary Crystal.

Inside each one, a faint humanoid outline could be seen.

[Crystal Maiden Embryo ×12]

[Use: Recruit one Epic Crystal Maiden]

Cassian stored all twelve in his Inventory.

He did not enter the keep.

He did not start looking for anything else.

He had gotten what he came for.

The Crystal Mother’s voice came one last time.

"Human Lord."

"The killing on the perimeter—"

"Do not push it inward."

Cassian looked at the boundary between the main keep and the outer nests.

"During the Ranking—"

"I clear the perimeter only."

"I don’t touch the keep."

It was the same rule as before.

The trade had not suddenly created an alliance.

Nor had twelve Embryos turned the Crystal Mother into part of Forgotten Shrine.

They had simply completed their first real transaction.

Cassian turned away.

Celia followed.

After they had walked several dozen meters, she finally asked, "Twelve bottles of Life Water."

"One Life Essence."

"Expensive?"

Cassian did not answer immediately.

Gareth had bought one bottle of Life Water for five hundred thousand Aether.

Even that had been a one-time strategic scarcity price.

Now this deal had cost twelve bottles.

Plus a Life Essence he had never sold before.

Of course it was expensive.

But what he had received in return was twelve Epic Troop recruitment opportunities from a line he had never had access to before.

More importantly—

this was not a one-time Boss drop.

The Crystal Mother was still alive.

There could be a second batch later.

"First batch," Cassian said.

"Worth it."

Celia looked at him.

"You’re already thinking about the second batch."

"She said we could negotiate again later."

"So?"

"So it isn’t unique."

The corner of Celia’s mouth moved.

"That does sound like you."

——

The Warden Gate lit again.

Cassian returned to Forgotten Shrine with twelve Crystal Maiden Embryos.

Veyra was still in the training area.

She did not put down the Mistveil March Manual until Cassian placed the first Embryo on the stone table.

"Twelve?"

"Yeah."

"Open one first?"

"Finish the first one completely."

Cassian did not Recruit immediately.

He took out another Life Essence.

Veyra glanced at it.

"You just spent one in the trade."

"I know."

"Your Warbody still uses those too."

"Which is why the first one doesn’t stop halfway."

The Life Essence moved closer to the crystal embryo.

The unactivated Troop Core inside immediately lit with a golden growth notification.

[Crystal Maiden Embryo]

[Pending Troop Quality: Epic]

[Life Essence: Compatible]

"Use it."

Pale-green Life Energy flowed into the embryo.

A ring of gold spread across the previously transparent Core.

[Quality Growth triggered]

[Epic → Legendary]

[Legendary Crystal Maiden Embryo]

Cassian did not pause.

"Recruit."

Crack.

The embryo split open.

Transparent Crystal flowed upward like liquid and quickly shaped itself into a slender humanoid figure.

Her body was nearly clear, with only the ring of gold around her Core standing out.

She lifted her head.

"Lord."

[Crystal Maiden]

[Race: Crystalkin]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Level: 1]

[Skills: Crystal Assimilation / Crystal Shaping / Crystal Ray / Crystal Storm / Crystal Metamorphosis]

Veyra’s eyes stopped on the final entry.

"The Legendary addition?"

"Yeah."

Cassian did not test the Skill yet.

He had already dragged the growth interface straight to Level 20.

His current Battle Essence reserve was enough to pay for it.

"Level her."

Growth light fell again and again.

Level 5.

Level 10.

Level 15.

Level 20.

Not one pause in between.

[Crystal Maiden]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Level: 20]

[Physique: 240]

[Aether: 240]

[Spirit: 240]

[Crystal Load: 240 / 240]

The three primary attributes were almost perfectly even.

Balanced.

Which also meant none of them stood out.

Cassian’s eyes went to the first Skill instead.

[Crystal Assimilation]

[Absorb compatible Crystal material and integrate it into the Crystal Body.]

[Consumes Crystal Load. Material traits and Quality can be directed into Physique / Aether / Spirit.]

[Higher-Quality material usually provides better conversion efficiency per unit of Load.]

Veyra finished reading.

"You can edit the attributes."

"Right."

Cassian pulled out the Crystal materials accumulated from the last several days of hunting around Crystal Bastion.

They were already in storage.

Different-Quality Crystalkin had left different Crystal materials behind throughout the perimeter hunts.

The system reordered them by Assimilation efficiency.

Rare material was compatible, but it returned far fewer attributes per unit of Load.

The highest-Quality batch currently in storage that was confirmed compatible jumped into an entirely different efficiency tier.

[Selected Direction: Physique]

[Current Best Compatible Conversion: 10 Crystal Load → Physique +25]

Veyra looked at him.

"All Physique?"

"Her Aether can recover at the Fountain."

Cassian’s answer came immediately.

"If her body shatters, she still has to survive long enough to come back."

"So the first one gets everything?"

Cassian looked at the 240 points of Load.

"All in."

He understood the rule now.

And the best compatible material he currently had was already in front of him.

The first unit existed to show him how far this Troop line could be pushed.

"Assimilate."

The Crystal Maiden brought her hands together.

One piece of high-Quality Crystal after another softened, melted, and seeped directly into her Crystal Body.

A pale-gold color appeared first in her transparent arms, then spread across her shoulders, chest, waist, and legs.

The system values changed in rapid succession.

[Crystal Load: 240 → 160]

[Physique: 240 → 440]

Continue.

[Crystal Load: 160 → 80]

[Physique: 440 → 640]

The final batch of Crystal merged into her body.

[Crystal Load: 80 → 0]

[Physique: 640 → 840]

[Aether: 240]

[Spirit: 240]

[Crystal Load: 0 / 240]

Eight hundred forty.

Veyra pulled the original values back up and compared them.

"The other two are two hundred forty."

"Physique is eight hundred forty."

"Yeah."

"You left no Load at all."

"Why would I save any on the first one?"

Cassian looked at the Crystal Maiden, now completely tinted pale gold.

"I want to know how strong she can be right now."

Not after waiting for another batch of better materials.

Not after leaving capacity empty for some future price that might appear later.

This was what had truly stopped Cassian when he saw the Crystal Maiden line.

A normal Legendary Level-20 Troop came with its attribute direction mostly decided.

She could take a finite pool of Load and hammer it into one attribute.

The first one had started at an even 240.

Now her Physique alone stood at 840.

That was attribute editing.

Cassian did not touch the remaining eleven Embryos.

The first unit was already complete.

Opening a second panel now was worth less than putting this one into a real fight.

Cassian looked at her.

"From now on, you’re Crystal One."

The Crystal Maiden nodded.

"Understood, Lord."

Cassian turned.

The Warden Gate was already open.

Its destination was not Crystal Bastion.

It was a barren stretch of Outer March beyond Riftward’s boundary, an undeveloped area where high-level Beast activity had already been confirmed.

Aurelia and Celia came with him.

Veyra looked at the Legendary Level-20 Crystal Maiden.

"You’re testing her now?"

"Now."

"That’s rare."

"What is?"

"This time, you didn’t leave yourself half a spreadsheet to finish tomorrow."

Cassian stepped through the Gate.

"Because I can finish it today."

Aurelia.

Celia.

Crystal One followed behind him.

On the other side—

the barren land had barely come into view when more than a dozen towering silhouettes rose behind a broken-stone slope.

Over three meters tall.

Heavy stone clubs dragging in their hands.

The one in front was already roaring as it charged downhill.

Cassian did not draw his sword.

He only stepped aside.

And gave Crystal One the front.

"First fight."

"You’re up."