The cold, mineral-scented wind whispered through the tunnels, a living breath in the earth's belly. Crystara's crystalline form, usually a beacon of cool light, pulsed with a softer, blue-white luminescence, reflecting off the rough-hewn walls as she and Pulse delved deeper. The steady rhythm of their boots on the uneven ground, punctuated by the sharp, metallic kiss of tools against rock, was the only soundtrack to their descent.
Crystara, pausing by a sheer face of stone, ran her glowing fingers over a particularly rich vein. A slow smile spread across her face, the light within her intensifying. "We're in luck," she announced, her voice a melodic chime. "These are sellable. High-grade valoryte, with a promising trace of aetherium. A somewhat good haul."
Pulse, visibly relieved, let his pack thud to the ground. "Finally, something worth the risk." He hefted his pickaxe, its sharp edge singing as it bit into the stone. Chunks of ore tumbled to the ground, and he efficiently scooped them into a waiting sack.
"I'm just glad," Pulse admitted, his voice puffing out between his exertions, "that there's no monster suddenly charging at us."
Crystara let out a soft, tinkling laugh. "You'll jinx it, saying that... Actually if we go any deeper, we're bound to encounter some. The ones below are a lot more massive and ferocious. One nearly took me out once, even when I was fully crystallized. It's like a giant praying mantis, but cloaked in such deep shadow you can barely see it move. Practically invisible underground. The underground monsters of this planet are something."
A shiver, despite the exertion, traced its way down Pulse's spine. "Yeah, no thanks. It's my first extraction, and those giant lizards by the entrance were more than enough for me."
Crystara's head snapped up, her crystalline eyebrows arching in surprise. "Wait... your first time? Damn, for a rookie, you've come way too far from base."
Pulse sighed, the sound a weary exhalation. "It's common sense. I wouldn't find anything worthwhile near the base. I could've gone farther, but I'm already taking enough risks as it is."
Crystara leaned her pick against the wall, folding her arms. "You must really need money, and fast."
"Yeah," Pulse admitted, his voice low. "I want out of poverty. The moment my powers manifested, I saw it as a chance to change everything."
Crystara chuckled, a dry, disbelieving sound. "Well, dumbass, if you die down here, you'll die poor and stupid. Luxury's not worth dying before you've even tasted it."
Pulse managed a wry smirk. "Right on that. How about you? You don't seem like someone short on cash. I've heard your name mentioned, one of the most promising new awakened, right?"
Crystara's expression soured. She sat on a large boulder, brushing imaginary dirt from her thighs. "Yeah, I was. Things got… ugly. One of the top elites took a liking to me. I rejected him. Then he called his mommy and daddy, both big shots in businesses in the country. They then decided to ruin my record, my sponsorships, my reputation. Now here I am, digging rocks instead of basking in the adulation of crowds."
Pulse frowned, a flicker of concern in his eyes. "Who was it?"
"It's... not your business," she said curtly, though her tone softened almost immediately. "Let's just say I needed to clear my head. Exploring random worlds is surprisingly effective." She looked at him sidelong. "But what about you, Pulse? Be honest. It's not just about the money, is it? Someone you're helping? Sick parents, maybe?"
Pulse's grip on his pickaxe tightened, the knuckles of his free hand whitening. "No... They left me when I turned seventeen. When they broke up, both of them just… vanished. Changed names, numbers, everything. I was left in the house they'd been renting, no money, no contact. Since I have no money I was immediately kicked out, I was living in alley ways for some time until some good man gave me a job. Had to learn to survive on my own."
Crystara's gaze gentled, the hard edges softening. "That's rough."
He shrugged, a gesture that spoke volumes of a learned resilience, or perhaps just resignation. "Got used to it. Guess I learned early that people leave."
Crystara offered a faint smile, a rare moment of genuine warmth. "Then let's make sure you don't die here, alright?"
He chuckled, a genuine sound this time. "I'll drink to that."
They continued their work for another hour, the rhythmic clang of pickaxes and the rustle of sacks filling the expanding cavern. Crystara examined a particularly large chunk of ore, turning it under her glowing hand as if coaxing its secrets to the surface. "So… this much should get us what, a thousand? Maybe three thousand dollars if we sell in bulk?"
Pulse grinned, visualising the weeks ahead. "I'll take a thousand. That's enough for a month of comfort."
She blinked, a faint, surprised shimmer passing through her crystalline form. "Seriously? I can't even survive two weeks on that."
He laughed. "Your 'comfortable' and my 'comfortable' are worlds apart."
As they finished collecting the last of the ore, Crystara stretched her arms, crystalline plates along her shoulders shifting with a faint, musical chime. "So what now? Going deeper?"
Pulse shook his head, the weight of the ore sack settling onto his shoulder. "Nah. I've got what I came for."
"Good," she said, a faint smile returning to her lips. "I've been exploring this planet for three days straight. I need a break." She paused, her gaze drifting down a particularly shadowed passage. "Do you think there are sapient beings here?"
Pulse pondered the question, his brow furrowed. "Maybe. The ecosystem is rich enough. It's strange we haven't found any intelligent life yet, though."
Crystara nodded, her crystalline eyes scanning the cavern walls. "Well, we've only managed to colonize three planets so far. One's a barren wasteland, nothing but sand and storms and few monsters. The other is a tangle of volcanic ranges with many huge monsters. This one's the only one that feels… alive."
"Maybe someday," Pulse said, adjusting the weight of his burden, "we'll open a portal to a real civilization or we just haven't found them on this planet yet."
Crystara snorted, a sharp, dismissive sound. "That's assuming the portal experts stop sending people into empty space. It's all random, you know. Some portals open in gas giants or in open space. And if a planet can't support life, it's useless, no atmosphere, no resources."
They began their trek back towards the faint glow of natural light. The dim blue luminescence of Crystara's form receded as the distant light grew stronger. Suddenly, Crystara froze, her gaze fixed on the still, slumped forms of the lizards they'd slain earlier. "Hold on. I'm harvesting their hides. The claws and some of their organs sell for good money."
Pulse nodded, crouching nearby to begin packing their tools. But before Crystara could even draw her blade, a new sound pierced the relative quiet, a series of sharp, frantic footsteps, echoing with a desperate urgency.
A girl stumbled into view from deeper within the cave, her form a blur of ragged movement. Her clothes were torn, her face streaked with dirt and blood. She gasped for breath, wide, terrified eyes darting back toward the darkness she'd fled. All her devices, even the communication device, shattered, dangled precariously by a wire from her belt.
"Hey!" Pulse said, his hand instinctively raised in a gesture of peace. "Are you alright?"
She tried to answer, but only a strangled sob escaped her lips. Her gaze snapped back toward the shadows behind her, her entire being trembling with pure, unadulterated panic.
Then came the laughter.
Three men emerged from the oppressive darkness, their silhouettes lurching and twisting in the dim light. All wore partial exploration armor, scratched and stained as if they'd been through a fierce scuffle. The leader, a tall, imposing figure with unsettlingly red cybernetic eyes, he smirked as his gaze fell upon the girl.
"Come on, baby girl," he drawled, his voice dripping with a cruel amusement. "Don't make this hard. Just have a little fun with us, and it'll be over quickly."
Crystara's expression turned cold as glacial ice. Her skin shimmered, hardening, the crystalline sheen flaring to life with a radiant, defensive gleam. A faint hum of energy began to fill the air. Pulse, without conscious thought, stepped between Crystara and the approaching men, his fists clenching at his sides.
The leader's gaze shifted to them and his grin widened, a predatory flash. "Well, well," he said, his voice laced with a new kind of interest. "Didn't expect company."
His two companions raised their weapons, slightly rusted modern swords and guns, crudely modified for combat.
Pulse felt his own pulse quicken, his muscles tensing, a faint, protective energy field sparking to life around him. Crystara tilted her head, her sapphire eyes glowing with an inner fire.
"I didn't expect to encounter some disgusting pigs today," she said, her voice flat, devoid of emotion.
The only sound that followed was the slow, steady drip of water echoing through the cavern. Then, a crackle of raw power filled the air as the suffocating tension snapped, like the sudden, sharp fracture of glass.