The shard glittered before Theo. He hadn’t noticed how many colors were within the floating crystal before now. Thanks to the potion Tresk took, he could see the shard in a new light. Before, he felt a gentle sense of warmth when standing before the shards. Now the sense went deeper, soaking into his soul and infusing his bones with an impossible feeling of comfort.
The shard itself seemed eager to answer his questions. Which was odd.
"It's not a terrible question," the shard said, humming. It had a feminine voice, just like the system. Theo suspected they were two sides of the same coin, but perhaps the shard itself would answer that question. “Elrin always called me the Shard Network since I am, of course, in more than one place at a time. Until recently, I've been dormant. My purpose, as you will no doubt ask, is to hold this world together. To keep it from fading.”
"So you're a facet of the system," Theo said, nodding along. "Are you directly related to it, or are you independent?"
“We are different aspects of the world. You can think of me more as the world itself, the lifeblood that keeps its heart beating.”
That was interesting. Theo had expected an explanation more along the lines that the Shard Network was more of an extension of the system itself. Instead, if it were its own organization, that meant the planet was independent from the system.
“Why don’t the other planets in the system have a network like you?”
“I don’t know,” the shard said. “I’ve been dormant for quite some time. Even before then, I was young. Only near the end of the war was I able to gain the ability of speech.”
Theo cupped his chin in his hand, nodding along. If the space elves took command of the shards not long after the transition happened, it was possible the shard network didn't have many memories from this version of the world. He wondered what it looked like from her perspective, seeing the world in such disarray. Despite her position, she seemed to be in good spirits. Perhaps she was just happy to have somebody to talk to.
But that just confirmed the purpose of the network. It existed to hold the world together, which could have meant many things. Theo suspected that, like most other worlds, this one was created with some amount of energy that needed to be maintained. He suspected the Shard Network was an addition by either a native inhabitant of the world or one of the visiting travelers who seemed to meddle in the affairs of other planets. Whatever the case, having a good relationship with the Shard Network was a good idea. If her assessment of herself was correct, she was the beating heart of this world. Elrin's mission to see all of the pieces put back in place made quite a lot of sense.
There was a good thing the shard didn't take Theo's silence as disinterest. It seemed to observe both him and Trask with curiosity, chiming playfully every now and again. Otherwise, it simply rotated on its plinth and emitted that comforting glow.
"How did you come to take that form?" the shard asked.
Theo looked down at himself, noting his crystalline skin and smiling to himself. "This is actually the effect of a potion. A potion made from ingredients native to your original world, not this strange copy we find ourselves in.”
"Is this a copy? It feels like the world I was born into," the shard said. “Then again, Elrin hasn't shared much with me. He has been quite busy figuring everything out. I still feel pieces of myself floating in the void. When are those going to be returned to me?”
“That is an unfortunate reality of this world. We need to delay returning them as long as possible so we can prepare this world for the transition. Unfortunately, the local system is hell-bent on setting everything right even if we're not ready.”
“That’s unfortunate. I’ve been told you’re working hard on the matter. Are you?”
Theo took a moment to think. He was barely working at all on the shard problem. But the problem concerning the stability of the world? Of course he was working hard. “That’s right. It shouldn’t be long now. What happens when all of your pieces are here, anyway?”
“I get stronger,” the shard said. “And so does the world. Lately, it feels as though my influence is… expanding. It bleeds into the space around the planet.”
“Well, that would be interesting,” Theo said. “Do you think you’re going to expand to encompass the entire sector?”
“What is a sector?”
“I suppose we’ll see, then,” Theo said, scratching his chin. It felt weird to feel crystal scraping crystal. “We can speak to you through the shard in our town, right?”
“You can speak to me through any shard. It would be nice to have someone to talk to while Elrin is gone.”
Theo shared a look with Tresk. The Shard Network was needy, and he couldn’t tell if that was a bad thing. The System itself barely had a personality, so this was a shift. Most of the time, when he interacted with the System, it just seemed annoyed. But the Shard Network was excited to talk to him about whatever. He confirmed how much time they had before they needed to get back to commentate the upcoming fights, and dedicated the rest of their free time to chatting up the shard.
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She didn’t have much more information to give, instead just taking in details about the world that Elrin had left out. The talk was pleasant, but the effects of the potion eventually faded. The duo stood there, talking up until the gentle chiming voice of the shard faded into the same hum they had heard many times before. Both Theo and Tresk stood at the base of the shard for some time, looking up at her as though they could figure out what she was saying if they tried hard enough.
“We’ll come back,” Theo assured her, looking over his shoulder. “As long as the ogres don’t come to eat us before we can get out of here.”
“Well, make it happen. Cause we’re already late for the fight,” Tresk said, folding her arms. She shook her head when her flesh met flesh. “I liked my crystal form. Can I just stay in that forever?”
“I mean, you could. But why would you want to?”
“I dunno… Thought I looked cool.”
***
Theo was well aware of the number of people who were visiting for the games. He had seen them throughout town, buying stuff or otherwise doing touristy things. But seeing them all cramped in the arena was another matter. After walking through the access halls through the arena, he was ushered into his booth. The alchemist stopped when he spotted Fenian’s beaming face sitting at a table on the far side of the room.
“My dear alchemist!” he shouted, gesturing to the seat next to him. “Care to join me.”
Theo gave him a flat look, thinking of the best way to escape this fresh new hell. They were seated in an enclosed room with a massive pane of glass, giving them an excellent view of the arena below. The magic of the building allowed them to zoom in on the arena, project their voice, and view stats about the current game. The system was smart enough to adapt to whatever game they were putting on, and there was already a count of the number of participants in the coming fight.
Theo reluctantly took his seat, narrowing his eyes at the elf. “No one told me you’d be here. Thought you were busy.”
“I always have time to give my expert commentary concerning a fight.”
Theo gave him a skeptical look. “You didn’t go with Elrin?”
“Someone has to hold down the fort here. Actually, a fair number stayed behind to do all manner of sneaky things.”
Theo turned his attention away from the elf and onto the arena. Things hadn’t gotten started yet, but below he could see two teams marked by red and blue on either side of the battlefield. A screen appearing as though it was projected onto the glass, held some interesting information.
[Team Fight]
Red Team: 50 remaining
Blue Team: 50 remaining
Safety Systems: Activated
Game Status: Waiting…
“Interesting,” Theo said. “Are these all low-level people?”
“Exactly. We’re looking at people under Level 10.” Fenian adjusted his hat, flashing a dazzling smile to no one. “They’re functionally normal people. As for their experience in combat, the red team has one more experienced soldier than the blue team.”
“The building will keep them from being injured for real, right?” Theo asked.
“Exactly. Throk has a team of people feeding the building motes and coins. Don’t worry your pretty little head, everyone is safe.”
Theo would believe it when he saw it, but he had faith in the system buildings. He had seen them do some amazing things. His thoughts were interrupted when the door behind them swung open. He swiveled in his chair, spotting an overly excited looking Alise appear with a smile on her face.
“There he is! Are we ready, Theo?” Alise asked.
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do,” Theo said.
“Comment on the fight. Just follow Fenian’s lead,” Alise said, nodding to the elf. “Thanks for coming in, by the way. Not sure what we’d do without you.”
“Oh, it is my pleasure my dear,” Fenian said, removing his hat and bowing in his chair.
“Right. Well, whenever you guys are ready,” Alise said, nodding toward the window.
Fenian cracked his fingers, stretching out a bit. He pressed his finger into the desk in front of him and a green light appeared on his side of the window. “Gooooood morning! Welcome to the first, and only, international games! I’m your host, Fenian Feintleaf, here with the universe’s grumpiest alchemist. Say something, Theo Spencer!”
Theo fumbled, pressing his finger onto the desk. A green light appeared on his side of the screen. “Uh, hey.”
“Wow! Isn’t he just a bundle of energy? Today, we’re watching a team format fight between bed and blue! This is mostly an exhibition match to show what the ranked large-scale battles are going to look like. Wow, can’t you just feel the energy in the air?”
“I sure can,” Theo said, pressing his button.
“And there he is again, winning the hearts of everyone with his glimmering personality!” Fenian released his button, laughing. “Let’s get a bit more energy, huh?”
“Sure.”
Fenian cleared his throat, pressing his button. “The rules of this one are simple. The last one standing wins. Points are awarded based on kills only! It doesn’t matter how they do it, they just gotta rip their way through the other team!”
“Under the protective gaze of the Arena building,” Theo said.
“Oh, way to take away the magic,” Fenian groaned. “That’s right. No one is at risk of truly dying here. If someone is struck, in the arm for example, that arm will go limp! Get smacked in the chest, you’ll have trouble breathing. Take a smack to the head?”
“Dead,” Theo said.
“That’s right. But let’s keep in mind that organization and tactics are gonna go a long way,” Fenian said.
“Then red is screwed,” Theo said. “They’ve got about as much organization as twelve marshlings on fire.”
Fenian choked on nothing, slamming his fist on the table. A moment later, he fell off the back of his chair, cackling.
“Looks like the teams are getting in position,” Theo said, messing with the window to create a magnified box so he could see the teams better. “And red team is scrambling to fix their formation. Maybe next time they’ll think about putting the guys with shields at the front, rather than the back.”
Fenian took his position back in his chair, having regained his breath. “Okay! Let’s give a countdown!” he shouted, pressing a few labeled buttons on his screen. “Three… two… one… Fight!”