“Spectra... it is the name of our whole planet’s currency. The origin of how it became is unknown, but up to now we have four kinds of Spectras stacked in a hierarchical order.
They are:-
1.Red Spectra.
2.Orange Spectra.
3.Yellow Spectra.
4.Green Spectra.
Where, Green Spectra being the lowest in the hierarchy of the currency system and therefore, the Red Spectra is the highest in the hierarchy of the currency system.”
Me: “Why are you telling me this, Castein?”
I asked the boy who sat opposite to me in the carriage, escorted by the King’s Guards. When standing upright, he stands up to my waist. He has a triangular shaped face with down turned brown eyes. He had a light blue skin tone and a frail body, which was like a square shape.
He was not the only one that was part of my attendants group sent by Viva. Along with Castein, there were one mature female named Ayda. I suspect to be her of the same age group as Viva. One girl named Shilia, who would be closer to Castein’s age. And the last one was Aeson, whose fragrance was too sweet and soothing for me. And for that reason, I insisted on sitting Aeson on my right side while Ayda on my left. Castein sat opposite to me with Shilia.
I did not get the same intoxicating fragrance from any of the two females present.
Ayda had a rectangular face with deep set of brown eyes. Her forehead was narrow, while she had prominent cheekbones. She had a pointed nose with thin brown lips, which complimented well with her brown skin tone. She has a small scar which was present on the forehead towards the left. It is a small and light one, but still visible to my eyes. She also had a small ring pierced on her nose.
Her chin was rounded and her ears were small which hid perfectly within her blue cropped hair. She had a rectangular body shape as her shoulders and hips were about the same breadth... average. She did have full breasts, which her dress had gracefully covered up. If she wasn’t standing nobody would even know she had them. She too was around Viva’s height.
At times when our eyes met, she would immediately turn her head. From what I was informed by Viva before leaving was that Ayda was in charge of overseeing my meals. Also, according to Viva, Ayda was a high ranking priestess in the Temple of Goddess Inah... just few ranks behind Viva herself.
I also noticed that she kept fidgeting with her fingers of both of her hands. She would constantly interlock them, then unlock them then she would put a finger over the other and so on. From what little conversation we had, she was adamant on called me ‘Sir Storm’.
Shilia had similar features as Castein except she had full blue lips and although she had cropped hairs, her hair colour similar to Castein was brown. It was expected of them having similar features as they were siblings. Castein was older than Shilia. Her chest seemed flat, but there were hints of a developing breasts not that I was searching for it. Her shoulders were narrow as well as her hips.
According to Viva, she was in charge of cleaning and washing my clothes. She too was adamant about calling me ‘Sir Storm’. She was a nice girl who always had a soft smile on her face.
What was different was that all four of them were not wearing the rag type clothes they used to wear back in the temple. They were now wearing a bluish white coloured dress which was similar to a type of dress I felt I was familiar with, but had no memory of where I saw it or even the name for it. Castein wore the male version of it. Both his shirt and pants were of bluish white. They also wore a deep red coloured belt around their waist.
The symbol of the Goddess of Irah was etched on their dresses which were placed on the upper left of their dresses. They were still wearing the collars.
Castein was to be my guide to whom I could ask about anything of this world and about its people and environment.
Aeson was my personal assistant, according to Viva. She would always see to it that everything I needed were present beforehand and I needed anything, I just have to tell her.
We had already traveled for about 5 hours without ever taking a rest. A Royal Guard had informed me earlier that within the next few hours we will make our first rest stop in the nearest city.
The carriage was a large one and was being pulled by four animals I have no idea about. The carriage had no windows, had a roof window. Sunlight and a light breeze came inside of it. The atmosphere was slightly cold.
Castein suddenly started talking about their currency used on this planet and when I asked him why was he informing me about it, he replied.
Castein: “Because it is relevant to the next topic about which I am going to discuss.”
Me: “Okay... then carry on little Castein.”
I spoke while I pulled Aeson closer to me. I previously had my right arm around her waist while she was sitting and now she was much closer to me than before. There were two reasons for it.
One, as informed earlier, her fragrance was intoxicating.
Second, I was feeling a little cold so I pulled her closer to me for sharing her our body heat with each other.
Although, Viva had warned me not to be so foolish while I was on this trip. There are still things I haven’t learned or knew. So without going overboard, I tried to wiggle as much contact as I could. I had to find out why her fragrant was making me full of energy... I could almost feel it within my body.
At first, she had a little problem with the way I was behaving, but as time passed on, she became comfortable. The more she got comfortable , the more intoxicating her fragrant got.
My or our moment was immediately interrupted by Castein as continued to inform me.
Castein: “Our world although has many strong monsters roaming every part of it, we do not harm them as they are also the children of the Goddess Irah. They even do not harm us thus we live peacefully with each other.
But, the real menace in our world is the Spectrals.
They are neither living nor dead, only having a semi transparent body and without any soul. You would think, they were mindless ghosts, but you would be wrong. Without any soul or brain function, they are as very dangerous and frequent too. We do not know how they are formed and there are no easy ways to track them also. They can appear at any place at any given time.
They are also very valuable and so our currency system was made up of it.
These Spectrals cannot be killed. How can you kill which is already dead? In its place, they are absorbed.”
Me: “Absorbed? What do you mean by that?”
Castein: “First, tell me... do you feel like pure energy flowing throughout your body?”
Me: “Yes... all the time.”
Castein: “Then listen carefully, Marked one... it might help you in the tournament.
We, the Isladens have found that when we are first born into this world, we posses two kinds of energy.
1.True Energy.
2.Real Energy.
First, True Energy:-
The Energy which is present inside an Isladen’s body should be pure. It should be without any impurities.
Secondly, Real Energy:-
The Energy which is present inside an Isladen’s body should be impure. It has impurities mixed with the True Energy.”
Me: “What exactly are these impurities you are talking about?”
Castein: “I was getting into that.
Impurities:-
The Energy inside us is made up of two kinds of state... Light and Dark. The Light and Dark State must have a 50-50 divide ratio between them to be considered as True Energy.
When, the ratio between the Light and Dark state is other than a 50-50, they are known as Impurities which in term makes Real Energy.”
Me: “So, there has to be an exact balance between the two states... Light and Dark states to create True Energy and if the balance is disturbed even by negligible percent, then it is said to be impurity which in turn makes it a Real Energy.”
Castein: “Although, in case of Real energy, the ratio tends to be in a fixed range of 60-40% to 75-25%.”
Me: “How do you test it?”
Castein: “That... I will inform you after I have finished with some basic things.
Now, only Isladens who have True Energy can absorb the Spectrals inside themselves. Upon absorbing the Spectrals, they can harness the Energy of the Spectral until that Spectral is completely drained. Or, he might sell the absorbed Spectral for a price.
A True Energy Isladens can harness the Energy of the Spectrals in ways of converting into the Mana required to power their Mana Gun.
A Real Energy Isladens can absorb the Spectrals, but with only the help of a crystal called Quaslium Crystal or Quastal. These Quasals can only come in two sizes.
They are:-
1.Body Quastals:-
These Quastals are fitted on an arm of an Isladen’s choosing.
2.Large-Ground based Quastals:-
These Quastals are about three feet in breadth, and two feet in length. It is mounted on a Quastal Stand which has a height of three feet from the ground. Three rods are extended from the Quastal Stand where the Quastal is placed. These devices have to be operated by two to three Isladens.”
Me: “Why there are two versions of the same crystal?”
Castein: “Again... I was going to inform you.”
It was amusing to see his annoyed look on his face whenever I interrupted him.
Me (smiling): “Sorry... please continue.”
Castein: “Thank you.
Now, the Spectrals always come in the night and take advantage of our longer ours of nightfall. Whenever they touch an Isladen, they absorb all the Energy within him. After all the Energy had been absorbed, they move on to absorb the body itself. At that point in time, the Isladen is already dead. When they fully absorb the body, a new Spectral is formed from it.
So, it is strictly advised to maintain distance from them and if you do not own or posses a Quastal, you are to always run away from them. Only the Isladen equipped with a Quastal can stop them.
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Large parts of the population do not own a Quastal. Only the soldiers and adventurers own a Quastal. Two of the main reasons being the cost or the availability of the material needed for making Quastal. Incidentally, the essence and Energy extracted from the Spectrals are the two main ingredient for making the Quasals. But the requirement depends upon the variety of the Spectrals.
There are three main types of Spectrals that are found. They are:-
1.Orange Spectrals.
2.Yellow Spectrals.
3.Green Spectrals.
Orange Spectrals being the most powerful Spectral and the Green Spectrals are the weak ones.
Only the Large-Ground based Quastals could be used to absorb the Orange Spectrals.
Body Quastals only used to absorb Green and Yellow Quastals. But sometimes the Quastals release a sudden burst of Energy overloading the Quastals, making them explode on contact and killing the Isladens controlling the Quastals.
The Quatals also have a limitation. While the Body Quastals can absorb up to 20 Yellow Spectrals or 60 Green Spectrals at a point. The number can vary between two Spectrals and you can store both into one Quastal, but that is the limitation of each Body Quastals.
The Large-Ground based Quastal can absorb upto 10 Orange Spectrals at a time.
Sometimes, two new types of Spectrals are seen, namely Red and White Spectrals. Both cannot be absorbed by any Quastals. If these two are seen, people should flee for their lives. There is no way for absorbing them.”
Me: “What do you do when your umm... Quastals are full?”
I saw a vein pop up on his head. He was now tending towards anger. It was still amusing to me.
Castein: “Again... I was... coming to that point.
When a Quastal is full, you would have to take them to Decomposition Crystal, again this is also made from the essence and energy of Spectrals. After transferring the Spectrals, the Quastal is again free to be used. When you see one in action, you will get the whole idea. It is time consuming and it is a waste of man-powers, but it is the only way at this point in time.
600 Green Spectrals or 200 Yellow Spectrals are needed only just to make 1 Body Quastal.
1800 Green Spectrals or 800 Yellow Spectrals are needed only to make 1 Large-Ground based Quastal.
A Decomposition Crystal needs around 500 Green Spectrals or around 170 Yellow Spectrals.
An Orange Spectral has many Energy in it so it is most sought after, but it posses the highest amount of danger too.
A simple ratio of their amount will give you a clear idea of how many of which type are needed.
The Ratio between a Green and a Yellow Spectral is 3:1.
The Ratio between a Yellow and an Orange Spectral is 6:1.
The Ratio between a Green and an Orange Spectral is 18:1.
As you can imagine, very large quantities of this Spectrals are needed. They have other uses as well. Almost 70% of our things used in daily life need either one or both of the Spectral products.”
Me: “I still don’t get how it is relevant to the currency system!”
That was a lie... I knew where this was heading, but I kind of wanted to screw with him. And from the looks of things, he was now angry, which I could see in its eyes.
All three girls around us started giggling. This in turn made him angrier.
Castein: “I swear to our Goddess Irah... if you... if you... if you interrupt me one more time... I will... I will...”
Towards the end of his sentence I could see a ball of tears forming at the corner of his eyes. He tried to hold on with all of his might. It was funny, but I had no intention of making him cry.
Me: “Alright... this was the last time. I am sorry... please continue.”
He somewhat controlled himself and after clearing his throat, he started again.
Castein: “*ahem* *ahem* Well, where was I? Hmm... ah... yes.
Relevance to our currency system.
I previously mentioned the different slabs of our currency. Now, I will tell you there conversion values.
1 Yellow Spectra= 100 Green Spectra.
1 Orange Spectra= 1000 Yellow Spectra.
1 Red Spectra= 10,000 Orange Spectra.
There is another slab, but it is generally not used by the general populace. It is only used in the exchange between Kingdom to Kingdom.
1 Black Spectra= 50,000 Red Spectra.
It is an obscene amount of Spectras. An average Isladen’s income irrespective of any kingdoms is 4000-5000 Orange Spectra; where as a Noble’s average income is 9000-10,000 Red Spectra. All of it is in annual income.
The Faith of Irah gets a generous amount of donation each month which takes care of all our necessities.
Now, if you want to sell a Spectral, the conversation rates are:-
1 Green Spectral= 500 Yellow Spectra.
1 Yellow Spectral= 100 Orange Spectra.
1 Orange Spectral= 1000 Red Spectra.
All the crystals in existence can only be worked if we apply sufficient Energy to it. Normally, the Energy level in people is calculated in units.
A normal Isladen child holds 100 U (Units) of Real Energy. He is born with that amount. During the life of an Isladen, the amount of Energy stored in them can be increased. The more you spent Energy, the more amount of total Energy stored inside gets increased.
A non-combatant Isladen over the course of his lifetime holds 1500-2000 U of Real Energy.
A combatant which means soldiers, adventurers or those who frequently participate in tournaments or fight the Spectrals, over the course of their life time holds 5000-9000 U of Real Energy.
A Noble born Isladen holds 9000-12,000 U of Real Energy.
A King or royal born Isladen holds 13,000-15,000 U of Real Energy.
A Body Quastal needs 3000-4000 U of Real Energy to work.
A Large-Ground based Quastal needs 20,000-25,000 U of Real Energy.
During usage, it generates back by resting, eating or by your Energy regeneration rate per minute, which could be anything.
Now... do you have any questions?”
I roll my eyes... it was a lot of information to digest and I have to remember all of this!?
There were many things I wanted to know.
Me: “All the Energy limits you mentioned were of for the Isladens who have Real Energy. What about the limits of Isladens with True Energy?”
Castein: “We do not know.” He replied bluntly with a small smile of coarse.
A bit surprised from hearing his answer, I asked again.
Me: “If you don’t know then how do they measure their Energy Limit?”
Castein: “All the Isladens are born with Real Energy...”
Me: “What??” Surprised, I blurted out another question. But he signaled to me to hear him further.
Castein: “All Isladens have Real Energy until now.”
Me: “Until now! What do you mean by that?’
Castein: “You wield True Energy.”
To tell the truth, I didn’t know what to do? Whether I should be happy or be sad? Questions about the matter grew. I asked him again.
Me: “How did you know?”
Castein arched back a little... adjusting his back on the comfortable sit he replied.
Castein: “Technically... I do not know anything. The Faith informed me about this matter and that is the only thing I can inform you. I have no information other than what I have told you.”
I felt a little gloomy. Knowing I had Energy albeit True or Real... I wanted to know how to use it. I wanted to use it for my personal hunger as well as for preparing for the tournament.
Me: “How would I know about it? How do I use it? Does anybody know?”
Castein: “It is a matter that only the Royal Houses can answer. Hence, this meeting with them.”
Me: “Do they know anything about it?’
Castein shrugs his shoulder and replies.
Castein: “Who knows?? If anybody did then they should definitely be a part of any of the four Royal Houses.”
Me: “Oh... you also mentioned that any being having True Energy can absorb the Spectrals. How is it done? Do you know?”
He nods his head vertically... meaning no.
Castein: “This is also another matter for you to discuss with Royal Houses.”
Me: “Then how about a Mana Gun. You mentioned something like that. Where do I get it?”
Castein: “That is also a matter for you to discuss with the...”
Me: “Royal Houses...” I finish his sentence.
Castein: “Yes... you have to make them believe in you and trust you enough that they would make the Mana Gun for you. A Mana Gun costs very high. All four Royal houses have to unite their resources to make one single Mana Gun. Again... the matter of its mechanism should be...”
Me: “I know... I know, discussed with the Royal Houses.” I was quite annoyed.
Probably sensing my annoyance, Ayda asked.
Ayda: “Would you like something to eat Sir Storm?”
Me: "Yes please... I was quite hungry; we have been traveling for so long and haven’t stopped even once to rest."
Smiling, she brought out a container. After opening it, she passed everyone some type of sweet fruit. The container had many more unfamiliar items.
Ayda: “We should be stopping soon so I do not want all of you to spoil your appetites.”
I thought about asking the name of the fruit, but decided to sniff the fragrance coming from Aeson. Why can’t I resist her intoxicating fragrance?
With that question hanging, I sat back and relaxed, while waiting for the next stop.
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