One of the two people in the sleeping bags suddenly sat up, screaming and thrashing around as if he was fending off invisible enemies. The person next to him, who turned out to be a young woman, suddenly emerged from her sleeping bag as well, awakened by the noise.

Instantly on high alert, Thomas and Kaleb jumped to their feet, spinning around and raising their weapons, unsure what was going on. The man kept thrashing around displaying signs of not being fully awake yet. He swung one of his arms in a wide arc, almost hitting the young woman on his left.

“Geez, Erick, calm down,” she exclaimed. “It’s just a dream. Just a bad dream. You’re safe. Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”

Her voice seemed to have a calming effect on him, and Erick finally came to his senses. He stopped screaming and flailing his arms. He scanned his surroundings, turning his head to look at the woman next to him, then at the two men by the windows, who were still gripping their guns. He then surveyed the dark room, a perplexed expression on his face as if he couldn’t apprehend where he was or how he’d ended up in that place.

For a moment, his gaze lingered on the shadows at the center of the room, peering into the darkness. Although it felt as if he was staring right at him, Jake knew it wasn’t possible. If Erick’s limited human sight could discern him in the darkness, he would already have begun panicking again.

Finally, Erick’s eyes settled on the young woman sitting in her sleeping bag.

“See?” she said. “Everything’s fine. You are among friends. Nothing to worry about.”

“I’m sorry for waking you, Averie,” he said in an apologetic tone. “I was having a nightmare.”

“Figured as much,” Averie said, nodding.

Erick’s gaze shifted to the two men standing by the windows on his right.

“Sorry for startling you guys too,” he said with a lopsided grin. “You can stop pointing your guns at me. I’m not gonna turn into a monster if that’s what you think.”

“You scared the hell out of me, man,” Thomas said, lowering his weapon. “I almost fucking shot you.”

“We were lucky there weren’t any mutants nearby,” Kaleb said, peering out the window. “Otherwise, they would already have swarmed this place.”

“I saw David in my dream,” Erick said quietly, looking at his hands in his lap. “I witnessed the moment when that mutant jumped from the shadows. Only in my dream, it was me who got attacked, not David.”

Averie gently placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. For a moment, Erick remained still, then he turned around and reached for one of the bags lined along the wall behind him.

“What are you doing?” Averie asked.

Erick was rummaging through the contents of his rucksack until he found what he was looking for. He retrieved some kind of bundle from his pack. Whatever it was, it was large, tightly wrapped in a dark thick strip of fabric.

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“What is this?” Averie asked.

“You’ll see,” Erick replied as he began to peel the fabric away from the item.

Both Jake and Averie watched with interest as he was unwrapping the item. As it turned out, it was a huge mana consumable, resembling a crystal in its shape. It was almost a foot in length—larger than any other mana consumables Jake had ever seen. When the last coil of the thick dark fabric fell away, the magical energy stored within the crystal cast a bluish glow over the four survivors and the wall behind them, illuminating the entire section of the room where they were situated. Even from where he was crouching, Jake could tell there was plenty of magical energy stored inside the item.

“Wow,” Averie exclaimed, staring in awe at the mana consumable. “It’s so bright.”

“That’s why I usually keep it wrapped in fabric,” Erick explained. “It gives off so much light it can easily attract mutants at night.”

“It’s beautiful,” Averie said, staring at the crystal in Erick’s hands.

“Yes, it is,” he replied.

“I’ve never seen such a large mana item,” Kaleb said from his position at one of the windows. “What is it?”

“It’s called a mana crystal,” Erick replied. “It’s a rare mana consumable.”

“How much mana does it hold?” Thomas asked.

“Five thousand.”

“Wow, that’s a lot!”

Jake was impressed too. As a mutant, he spent a lot of time scouring the city for any mana consumables, but he’d never chanced upon a mana crystal before. That item must’ve been really rare. According to Erick, it held a whopping five thousand MP, which was even more than the amount of mana currently stored within him—over three thousand MP. Between that and the five thousand the mana crystal held, he could potentially unlock two or three of the abilities from the Genetic Development Interface.

“Why haven’t you absorbed the mana from it yet?” Thomas asked.

“I can’t,” Erick replied.

“Why?”

“Because you need to be at least level fifteen to do that. I learned that after scanning the crystal with my PDA when I just found it. I tried to absorb the mana anyway, but nothing happened, of course.”

“Guess you’ll have to wait until you level up to fifteen before you’re allowed to absorb the mana,” Averie said.

“Yeah. Only I’m not gonna do that.”

“Why not?” Averie said, a surprised look on her face.

Erick lowered his gaze to the crystal he held in his hand.

“Because it’s so beautiful it calms me,” Erick said, peering into the crystal. “When I’m stressed out, I take out the crystal and watch the energy dance inside of it. It has a soothing effect on me. It really helps me to calm my nerves in moments like this. I don’t know how I’d manage without it.”

“Where did you find it?” Kaleb asked.

“I don’t even remember. In one of the buildings, I guess. It happened a few days ago, before I even met you guys.”

“Well, guess you were extremely lucky to find such a rare mana item.”

Jake agreed with Kaleb. Such things didn’t lie around every corner. The mere fact that he himself had never come across a mana crystal spoke volumes about the item’s rarity.

That was why he was planning to snatch the crystal from Erick’s hands. It might be a little cruel considering the crystal helped Erick calm his nerves in stressful situations, but Jake couldn’t let such a great opportunity to get so much mana slip away.

Sorry, buddy, but you’re gonna have to get yourself another stress buster.

And Jake broke into a silent sprint toward the four survivors.