Elemental Magnetic Star

Chapter 109 A Bloody Lesson

Flamer Horizon, though cold on the outside but warm at heart, checked in daily with Raina Grace following Flame Wave's instructions, ensuring she had someone to turn to if needed.

Raina was delighted to have such a friend to consult with, and Flamer Horizon discovered that Raina truly could manipulate various raw materials—her claim of crafting lightweight but strong armor wasn't just boastful talk. He began to look forward to helping her, leveraging his family's extensive experience in refining and forging different materials.

In the unique geographical conditions of Elemental Magnetic Star, there naturally existed creatures and minerals capable of storing and utilizing elemental magnetic power. However, they were rare and their abilities limited. Creatures like the Chromatic Spider, capable of using elemental magnetic power as a weapon, possessed a certain level of intelligence and knew to conceal their tracks, making them difficult to find.

Over thousands of years, humans had occasionally stumbled upon such creatures, passing the knowledge secretly within families.

As for natural minerals, humanity might not have had the chance or means to thoroughly explore Elemental Magnetic Star's geological conditions, resulting in limited records of minerals despite collecting a vast array of samples without experimental data. To accurately characterize minerals, various experimental data were needed.

The primary goal in the specialized elemental magnetic force laboratory was to detect the reaction of various minerals to elemental magnetic power. This involved the reaction of single minerals to individual elemental powers, their reaction to combined elemental powers, and the reaction of synthetic minerals to both individual and combined powers. With endless permutations, the possibilities for testing were infinite.

Thus, Raina often had to rely on random selection and intuition, treating her experiments like a gamble or an adventurous and surprising game. Each experiment was a journey from ignorance to mastery, constantly seeking new possibilities beyond known frameworks. The challenges and uncertainties in the process filled her with passion and curiosity.

Minerals were entirely different from the plant or animal fibers Raina had previously worked with, often being hard and impure, requiring refinement and extraction. Here, Flamer Horizon played a significant role. His precise control over the fire element allowed for the efficient purification of minerals, even helping Raina shape them into the desired forms—usually fibrous.

While Raina often worked alone in the laboratory, relying on Flamer Horizon for material refinement and further verification of her ideas, she wasn't incapable of manipulating the fire element herself. However, her powers were defensive, lacking the force to expel impurities.

But lately, Flamer Horizon had been too busy, hardly able to stay long in the lab. With nothing else to do, Raina Grace began to try refining minerals herself. However, after a flurry of clumsy attempts, the ore hardly showed any signs of softening, let alone the extraction of impurities.

Feeling defeated, Raina Grace couldn't help but recall a long time ago, when she was lost in the maze of the Terra Grove clan's sacred ground, she had used her blood to penetrate the hard bark of the Ancestor Tree and entered the sacred interior. Since then, she had almost forgotten about this incident and never delved into why her blood had such an effect. Now, faced with these hard ores that once again rendered her powerless, she remembered the past and felt a strong urge to try again.

Of course, it wasn't a matter of life and death now, and there was no need to use fresh blood for experiments. But what harm could a little blood do?

Raina Grace didn't know what result she expected. If it was just to refine the minerals, it was unnecessary since Flamer Horizon's skills were clearly more powerful and effective. She could wait or even ask someone else for help later.

But a voice inside her kept saying, "Try it, maybe there will be a miracle."

Raina Grace felt captivated by the magical properties of these ores. For her, their endless reactions and possibilities were miracles, and she always looked forward to what would come next. This tireless enthusiasm for exploration often overwhelmed even Flamer Horizon, and she was aware of it, yet she couldn't stop.

Like today, she wasn't in a hurry to refine the ores, but she felt compelled. She sometimes reminded herself that this obsession might really need to be slowed down, not to lose control at the sight of a rock.

Maybe she needed one last madness? To end with blood?

This thought was crazy. Raina Grace shook her head, trying to clear it. She placed her hand on her chest, hoping deep breaths would calm the impulse.

However, as her fingers brushed across the chest – over the necklace made from the Azure Phoenix shell she had kept with WeeStick at Azure Phoenix's place since coming to the Sky Domain, and now had taken back to wear again – a sudden sharp pain arose. Raina Grace lifted her hand to see a drop of fresh blood slowly welling up from her index finger.

It was strange. The necklace had been polished very smooth and couldn't possibly cut her hand. But she didn't have time to examine the necklace, thinking since there was already a bit of blood, why not use it?

Raina Grace carefully picked up the raw ore and gently smeared the blood from her finger onto it. After a while, the bloodstain gradually dried, but nothing happened.

It was just wishful thinking. Raina Grace exhaled, releasing the tension. She realized deep down she didn't hope her blood had any special effects; being different was enough, and she didn't want to become an oddity.

The result of being overly tense was fatigue. Raina Grace decided not to stay in the lab any longer and wanted to rest.

Before leaving, she habitually checked and admired the minerals she had refined before. The pure minerals had beautiful luster and colors, like multicolored gems, but more spiritually vibrant than gems. Raina Grace touched each one, reluctantly playing with them again and again.

The more she indulged, the longer it took for her to snap back to reality, only to feel dizzy and see a flash of red light before her eyes. She was startled and reflexively dropped the mineral thread she was holding, only to realize that her pricked index finger was bleeding profusely, not knowing how much blood had seeped into the mineral.

She dared not touch it with her hand anymore but leaned in for a closer look – the surface seemed completely unchanged, if anything, the luster seemed a bit more subdued.

Feeling alarmed but still curious, Raina Grace decided to wrap her finger in elemental magnetic power before touching the mineral threads again, only to find that the elemental magnetic power was quickly absorbed. As she applied more elemental magnetic power, it seemed like an endless stream was being transferred to the minerals. Raina Grace didn't dare to try further, but it was clear now that these mineral threads could absorb elemental magnetic power.

After searching for so long and conducting so many experiments, was this the result? Just a bit of blood could overturn all her efforts? Raina Grace felt dispirited, as her boundless enthusiasm receded like the tide.