A mage in the making: Unlocking my mage system-Chapter 45: The Harelm guide

Chuck stared at the crystals in awe, the blue glow of the embedded crystals reflecting in his eyes. Chuck could see hundreds, if not thousands of these strange crystals attached to the walls of the tunnel section of the cave. They all glowed, releasing a perfectly synchronized humming sound that echoed deeper into the tunnel.

"What the hell is this? Is this even possible?" Chuck thought to himself.

Several chaotic theories raged through his mind as his gaze focused on the numerous blue crystals there were trapped inside the cave.

"Maybe someone left the crystals here or something. Maybe it’s a trap. Or maybe the staffs deliberately planted the crystals as a jackpot for any team that had the guts to venture into the red zone."

Chuck didn’t care too much about the reason as to why those crystals were left there — the only thoughts in his mind was how he was going to exploit the power of the crystals, absorbing them, and increasing his own powers.

Chuck bent over, trying to fit himself inside the small opening of the tunnel section. He dismissed the infernal craft completely, getting rid of the two flaming wings on his back. The golden reflection on the walls disappeared, now being replaced by the blue hue of the crystals. Chuck went through the opening, heading inside the tunnel.

He stared in fascination, now being completely shrouded by the walls of crystals, he lifted his hand up towards a particular crystal, and gently placed his palm on it. That instant, a large screen appeared before Chuck, startling him a little.

[ Does the user wish to absorb the crystal? ]

"This is perfect."

[ YES ]

Chuck clicked on the affirmative icon, allowing the system to absorb the crystal. The blue glow on the crystal started to fade away. The waves of energy left the crystal, swirling in a circular motion until it eventually vanished into thin air, leaving the crystal hollow and transparent.

[ Does the user wish to lock the crystal for the Harelm guide? ]

[ YES ]

[ Locked energy: 50/ 200 ]

"So all I have to do is absorb as many crystals until I reach the required amount? This is too easy."

Chuck went over to another crystal, repeating the process over and over again. He watched as the numbers in his locked energy pool increased as he absorbed more crystals. He could feel the energy raging through his being for a split second before it vanished into the locked energy pool. Chuck couldn’t help but wonder how much stronger he would get if he directly absorbed the energy, and he was about to find out.

[ Locked energy: 200/200 ]

[ The unlocking of the Harelm guide will now commence ]

"Finally, yes!" Chuck yelled in anticipation, he stared at the system screen with a beaming smile expecting a new powerful skill to appear in his skill tab, but it never happened. He didn’t feel anything, or see anything occur. The next piece of information he got from the system was one that he didn’t expect.

[ The Harelm guide has been unlocked! ]

Chuck swiftly went over to his skill tab in search of the new skill he was supposed to receive.

[ Skills ]

[ Infernal shroud ]

[ Infernal craft ]

[ Forced absorption technique ]

"What! What the fuck is this? Where the hell is my skill?" Chuck shouted in annoyance, seeing that the skill tab was exactly the same. No new skill had been added to the tab, meaning that the Harelm guide was never a skill to begin with.

Chuck gritted his teeth in anger, on the verge of pulling his hair. He began to realize that he had wasted so much energy on a useless goal that wouldn’t help him grow stronger.

"If the Harelm guide isn’t a skill, then what the hell is it?"

[ I prefer to see myself as something better than a skill ]

Chuck heard a strange voice in his head, not truly knowing where it had originated from. He turned around, but he couldn’t see anyone or anything either.

"What the hell was that?" Chuck said in a scared tone, turning his head around in panic.

[ I am your Harelm guide. It took me by a surprise as to how you managed to unlock me at this early stage, but after running full diagnostics on you, I’ve managed to figure out why ]

Chuck heard the same voice, only this time, it was much more audible. He didn’t turn around or try to see if there was anyone around, because he was more than certain that the voice emerged from his head. The voice sounded robotic, almost like an AI integrated into his brain.

"Who... what are you?" Chuck asked in a shaky voice.

[ Like I said earlier, I am your Harelm guide ]

Chuck listened intently as the voice spoke, he was even more sure that the voice didn’t surface from anywhere around his surroundings. From what he heard, it seemed like the voice said that it was his Harelm guide. This brought up even more confusion as Chuck didn’t know what to make of the whole situation.

"My Harelm guide? Are you trying to say that you were what I was trying to unlock when absorbing these cave crystals?"

[ Precisely ]

"What the fuck!" Chuck yelled in a confused state, "what are you supposed to be? a freaking AI?"

[ Based on what I’ve managed to learn from your memories, an artificial intelligence is an entity programmed by humans to mimic their level of brilliancy. So no, I am not an AI ]

"Then what the hell are you?" Chuck asked.

[ All immortals possess the potential to unlock their Harelm guide. Many are successful. I am what is known as a companion that guides an immortal in their every endeavor ]

"An immortal? But I’m not an immortal," Chuck said, utterly confused at this point.

[ Ahh, yes. My data shows me that you are a human from a planet that resides in the white plane ]

[ It seems like you were lucky enough to stumble upon the residue energy of the nexus crystal that exploded into the white plane. That explains why you managed to unlock me at this early stage of your existence ]

"Nexus crystal? What the hell is that?" Chuck asked, every statement said by the strange voice in his head only brought about more questions.

[ This ordeal was never supposed to happen. You were never supposed to absorb the essence of the immortal Harelm energy ]

"What the hell are you saying? Ohh I think I’m going crazy," Chuck said, he had his hands over his head as he slowly pulled hair.

[ The immortals are coming, and when they find out that you possess an essence of the nexus crystal, your world will be plunged into chaos ]