That evening, Anthony, Zoe and Selene had managed to acquire some humble lodgings for the night, by selling off the some greater beast parts they had acquired from Anthony’s hunting. The silver pieces were barely enough for a single night, but the complimentary dining area was all Master Zoe needed to hear. It had been a long time since she had dined on food in the Middling states and even the lowest quality ended served the best evening meals. While the other guests were chatting and trying to remain civil, Master Zoe started gobbling her meat and drink in celebration of her recent loan.
“Ah, that hits the stop.” She practically guzzled the glass of wine in her hand.
“Ms. Gaia, this isn’t the lower states, I believe you might be drawing attention to yourself in that manner.” Selene whispered as she looked around at the few people who were watching her eat.
“What can I say, I’m old and I may not have a chance to celebrate like this again. Hey, barkeep!” She ordered a second class from the waiter.
“At this rate, we might have to sell more of our parts by morning.” Selene rubbed her head.
“If more hunting is required I can venture out to find work.” Anthony said. “I’m sure the middling states have many opportunities for hunting. Perhaps even find some Stone Lizards and Granite Turtles nearby.”
“You got lucky with those Marine Horse herds, kid but don’t go driving yourself into the ground for my sake.” Master Zoe received her glass and wine and began to sip and savor its flavor like a fine connoisseur. “Besides, I want you to conserve your strength, we’ve got a lot of shopping to do in the morning. That and as soon as we get in our rooms I want to try a little experiment with that gem sampling we got in Kosa.”
“I am curious why you wished to require different gems when I could have easily acquired them myself.”
“It’s not just ordinary gems we need kids, we need purified gems if we’re going to test my theory.” She took another sip. “You know why elemental gems are called unrefined, don’t you?”
“It’s because natural elements contain impurities to protect the precious metals.”
“Although all elemental gems are roughly the same size in small marble, with the exception of demons which can be ten times that size. Its purity can vary once the slag is stripped away.”
“That’s why demon gems are more valuable than greater beasts because they contain higher purity and quantities.” Selene added. “Didn’t you notice that the gems you harvested were nothing compared to that gem you dropped on that desk? It was the size of your fist, so it had to come from a demon.”
“It’s true, then what makes the gems in the sample case different from any other great beast core.”
“When a high powered mage pours first circle magic into a gem augmenting the inner core by spreading the matter inside the core of the gem evenly amongst the outer shell. It allows even a first circle mage to bring out the inner light of an elemental gem to confirm its nature. The process is used mostly by jewelers to confirm that elemental gems are genuine.”
“It sounds almost like what happened to my dagger back at the farm.” Anthony surmised.
“That wasn’t augmentation.” Master Zoe took a large sip from her drink. “You augment an element by magic and it’s still the same element, you strip away the slag it’s called refinement, but what I think I saw was a simple metamorphosis.”
“What are you saying, Master Zoe?”
“I’m saying somehow you not only augment and refined that new knife of yours but somehow transformed it into an entirely new gem.”
“How can that be, it wasn’t a gem it just contains traces of the sacred fire element.”
“We’re always known that greater beasts contain traces of elemental minerals throughout their body but their highest concentration is only found at their core. Why is that?” Zoe leaned in her chair. “Demons have the same properties, in the empire they use their skins as armor and bones as weapons, but their cores are much higher quality. Then there are the bodies. Demons corpses are practically toxic but not greater beasts.”
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“Then why are some labeled as hazardous and others not?”
“Hazardous is the dangerous plant that grows in its body's natural course of decomposition, a study that dates back to the Fourth Age. Myrrh Ants bodies grow a fungus upon death, Ebony and Ivory Fungus in their raw states can cause extreme anxiety, paranoia, heart attack and stroke respectively, but when treated correctly they can counteract these effects and become good medicine.”
“What does medicine have to do with demons and greater beasts?” Selene asked.
“What you’re saying is that hazardous means that something still grows in its place, but I heard stories from my father about places in the Mainlands that are practically sanitized, barren from rotten demon corpses. That is why fire mages are in such high demand in the first continent because they can burn the corpses after all the precious elements have been harvested.”
“I remember back in my old days of service, we had entire divisions of low ranking fire mages dedicated to burning the corpses.” Zoe staring into her drink like it was a pool of dark blood. “You never forget the smell of burning demon corpses, it’s like poisonous oak mixed with brimstone and rotted seaweed. It burns your lungs, and eyes if you don’t keep yourself protected. Some Mages even took pride in withstanding the smell...idiots.” She took another big swig.
“I’m sorry if I brought up some bad memories Master Zoe.” Anthony said.
“It’s alright, kid, ignoring them ain’t gonna make them any less painful, but he’s my theory.” She took a large piece of bread from the table to visualize. “This would represent a greater beasts and demons as they pertain to a specified, two half of the same species. However...” She split the bread in half. “...At some point demons took on a different path from great beasts splitting off into their own separate species, but focusing on different attributes?”
“Then how do demons scorch the land and the greater beasts encourage growth?”
“I theorized that it's because greater beasts have access to an ability that allows them to evenly distribute elemental energy throughout their entire body, that makes their cores weaker but bodies more in tune with nature.”
“You’re talking about the ion again.” Anthony watched as his Zoe picked up half of the bread for example.
“This piece of bread contains flour, water, eggs, spices, and is much more filling when eaten, a balance of forces to create a symmetric form.” She proceeded to dig out the inside of the bread with her long nails leaving only the crust. “When you take out the inside, all that’s left is the crust. Yet, trying to survive on just a crust of bread is a hollow meal.”
“Is this a discussion about demons or lunch?” Selene commented.
“It’s an analogy Ms. Selene, she’s comparing demons as hollow as that crust of bread meaning that their bodies do not feed that land in the way that greater beasts do.” Anthony surmised from her small demonstration. “A woman I knew named Delia used to prefer toast over bread because she admitted she preferred the crust.”
“For that same reason Demons prefer attributes of strength, armor, fire power, things that are meant for destruction instead of coexisting. What’s the difference between a Fire Dragon and Ruby Salamander? A dragon can breathe fire, but a Salamander can walk through it. They both generate heat, but wield it while the other keeps it in check.”
“Wait, if that’s true then your theory of the ion would suggest that this sense does not wield elemental forces in a conventional sense but simply redirects them.”
“Now you’re getting it, kid.” Master Zoes took a bite of the piece of bread. “If that’s true, then the way we utilize magic is more closely related to demons than greater beasts, a powerful technique, flashy and but also highly inefficient.”
“I can see how that remark would cause major tension amongst your peers.” Anthony turned his head remembering his past. “My family’s former instructor as well as most of my eldest and youngest siblings were more concerned with perfected established theories than exploring new concepts. My middle sister shared my curiosity of exploring new concepts, but never considered the notion of flaw in the fundamentals.”
“Yet, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.” Master Zoe finished her glass of wine in one big gulp. “With my knowledge of elemental beast cures and our combined knowledge of elemental mage craft, we could work out a new theory of mage craft. What I saw at that farm was but a glimpse of not just utilization, but a bonding with the elemental forces themselves. It was instinctive and unstable, but if we study it and control it properly, then we could have the means for you to utilize a new power, condensed and more effective. Maybe even find a way to unlock this ability in others.” She got up from her table, in order to gather all her nerves. “First thing’s first when we get up to our room, we can begin the first experiments.”
They finished their meal and headed toward their room at the Inn. With the doors locked and the room relatively secured, Selene brought out the gem sampling case. Master Zoe took out all 4 elemental gems revealing they were attached to 4 silver rings. She placed each one ring on each finger of her right, while Selene simply watched from a distance as the two began their first step into a bold new venture.