Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Need More Crystals

Steven turned it over in his mind and couldn’t make sense of it.

Maybe the first conversion had just been an activation.

A single point was gifted to every attribute to get things running.

After that, each stat required its own corresponding beast crystal to climb.

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He sat with that for a moment and decided it wasn’t bad news. Expecting five beast crystals to push every single attribute upward at once would’ve been absurd anyway.

“So the Strength energy inside the beast crystal gets processed by the Beast Energy Conversion and converted directly into a measurable physical stat.

“And the Eye of Insight… that’s probably a native talent of the Crimson–Eyed Heavenfang. It needs a much larger quantity of beast crystal before it moves.”

He kept thinking.

“When I get more beast crystal down the line, how do I distribute it? I can’t pour everything into Strength forever.

“And what exactly is the Conversion Progress tracking? What happens when it hits a million?”

He had no answer for that. He’d find out when he got there.

The panel dissolved, and the state released him back into his own body.

He looked at what remained in his hand: the first crystal already reduced to a fine, pale dust.

A wry smile pulled at his mouth. “Five level one beast crystals for five points of Strength. That’s actually solid.” Then the math settled over him like a cold wave. “But that means I need a million level one beast crystals to fill the conversion bar.

“Beast crystal is the key to everything.

“I might not have a choice about that Awakened Squad after all.

“The Eye of Insight didn’t move this time, and the Divine Sigil is still dormant. That part just needs more time.”

He closed his hand into a fist.

The difference was immediate and unmistakable. His Strength had climbed by something close

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Chapter 25 Need More Crystals

to half again of what it had been.

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When he threw a punch into the open air, it tore through the silence with a sharp, percussive crack, like something splitting the air itself in two.

He glanced at the time.

Past midnight.

Nearly four hours had slipped by in what had felt like no time at all.

If Beast Energy Conversion was going to eat that much time every session, he’d need somewhere safe and private to do it going forward.

The corner of his mouth curved upward.

Things were already shifting from the path his previous life had taken. He could feel it.

But right now, he needed beast crystal. A lot of it. That was the immediate problem.

Without Divine Awakening, he had no way of leaving the city alone.

And even as an Awakened, the minimum threshold to operate outside the walls was Two–Sigil Divine Envoy.

Steven pressed a hand to his face. That was a real wall between him and what he needed.

He thought it through and came up empty. There was no clean way to get beast crystal in bulk right now.

Buy them? He didn’t have the money.

Hunt for them? He didn’t have the clearance.

Rely on Peter for handouts? Peter’s team would shut that down fast, and one squad’s personal supply wasn’t going to make a dent in a million anyway.

Then something clicked.

“The Awakened Academy has dedicated hunting grounds.”

Steven’s mouth curved into something slow and certain.

That was his first real opening. He finally let himself sleep.

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The spoon found his head again.

“Stop asking questions you don’t need answers to.”

Steven gave up with a long, suffering sigh.

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Chapter 25 Need More Crystals

There was absolutely no cracking this man.

“I’m heading to school.”

His grandfather didn’t even glance up.

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But the moment Steven disappeared from view, the old man’s hand drifted slowly to the key resting against his chest.

His eyes were clouded with age, but behind the cloudiness, something sharp and distant moved through them like light beneath deep water.

“I hope you never need to use this key,” he murmured.

“Rotten boy. I’m too old for this, and here I am, still raising your son…”

A flicker of memory crossed his weathered face and was gone.

Steven arrived at school, walked into the classroom, and immediately registered the hostility from several directions.

He ignored all of it without effort.

Timothy looked up as Steven passed, and there was something dark and deliberate sitting in his eyes, the kind of look that had already decided what came next.

Steven also caught Lilliana’s gaze tracking him as he walked by her.

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