Earth, stone, sand, or crystals.
All of them were facets of one very multifaceted coin.
To master any of these branches, you needed to invest some effort, time, and brainpower.
Just find the connections to your original element of earth.
For me, someone who had already mastered a fairly complex sub-branch, it wasn’t so hard to start learning new ones.
This wasn’t like learning an entirely separate school of magic.
Let the Avatar struggle with completely new elements.
I just had to tie crystal power to my existing foundation.
The problem was that in my attempts to learn from my fellow workers, they called me a mole.
In local slang, that meant someone who pestered you and tried to sniff out the secrets of your magic.
To put it bluntly, I didn’t get along with anyone.
Maybe crystal benders were naturally solitary types, and that was their defining trait.
But something told me not to believe that.
“Hey, kid.
Looking for advice?” A voice called out just as I returned to the digging zone, frustrated after watching others.
I was punching crystals with my fists.
Turning around, I saw a cheerful young man sitting on the ground surrounded by crystals.
“Can you teach me how to develop crystal bending?” Hope flickered in my chest.
Even in the deepest abyss, there’s always a ray of light.
This was the first person with a kind smile I’d met in hours.
I stopped in front of him.
Forgive me, Wan Shi Tong, but I saw a clear, blue crystal being extended toward me.
“To master crystal magic, you have to think like a crystal.
You have to become a crystal.” He spoke like some kind of Guru, in riddles and mysteries, grabbing my attention.
Then he placed the blue crystal on the ground, crushed it into dust with his fist, leaned down, and inhaled everything.
“I’ll sniff it all out!”
That day, the only thing I learned was the tiny difference between drug addicts and Gurus.
Since no one would help me, I decided to figure it out myself.
I stood before a crystal wall and, with great effort and rivers of sweat, began trying to mine it while simultaneously subjugating it.
My only hope was my first open chakra.
After all, what made me worse than the other miners?
The next day, after spending the night in a genuinely large room that nonetheless contained only a bed, a table, and a toilet, I returned to the tunnel.
I noticed that not many people worked with crystals maybe a dozen, though there were over a hundred in the cave.
Newbies tried to master the new branch, hoping for double pay, but the crystals barely budged under their clumsy blows.
Some had already given up after the previous incidents, when the other benders got tired of freeing them and left them to crystallize as a joke.
I was the only one who helped, prying the jennamite off them.
I wasn’t doing it for the money.
It had become a matter of principle.
Like a jackhammer, I pounded the wall for hours on end, bloodying my fists.
The experience from the forge, where you had to strike with unwavering high standards, helped.
I was starting to understand.
Only through relentless effort against the spreading crystal, only when you were more persistent than it, could you master this material.
That was what distinguished the miners around me from the newbies.
They were all persistent.
Just don’t confuse persistence with stubbornness.
“Newbie!”
Just as I managed to separate several large chunks with a few punches, a smile spreading across my face, someone called out.
A passing man with a small container gestured for me to come over, asking me to bring the mined crystals.
“Since you’ve learned to mine properly, you’ll grind them yourself and make abrasive.” I took a deep breath, focusing all my attention on the man.
My goggles hid my intense, seemingly angry gaze, allowing me to interact with people calmly.
“Watch closely.
I won’t repeat it.
Take the container, put in the crystals, and pound them with your fists.
Ever punched sand?
I hope so.
That’s the main secret.”
Whump.
Without a word, I raised my fist, mimicking a move I’d been perfecting since childhood.
A light touch sent vibrations through the crystal, shattering its bonds and causing it to crumble into fragments.
The man blinked rapidly, watching in disbelief, then rubbed the back of his head.
“That was quick…
Anyway, this skill can disable its growth property.
You can try eating it, but if you’re not confident in your abilities, don’t even think about it.
First, it crystallizes your digestive tract, then your veins, and eventually your skin starts cracking.”
The guy seemed to be trying to scare me, but I was only interested in one thing.
“Does this count as abrasive?” I asked, running my hand over the sharp particles.
Light, but far sharper than the sand I’d encountered in the desert.
“…Yes.
Compact it into small discs, and at the end of the day, turn them in at the warehouse.
They’ll pay you.
But don’t expect big profits from them.” He just snorted and left me alone.
I probably spent hours just having fun.
Breaking crystals and making sharp sand.
From that, I created far sharper blades that could be honed much thinner, down to ten degrees like razor blades.
Convenient circular saws for processing crystals.
Best of all, it was compact.
I made rings for each of my fingers, all different colors.
I limited their growth so I wouldn’t wake up one night trapped in a prison of my own making.
I really didn’t want a Darwin Award.
Only when I wanted to, by accelerating their growth, could I produce material and then grind it into sharp sand.
A small-scale operation, but now I could create sand even if I was in the sky.
That alone made coming here worthwhile.
But crystals themselves were useful for many tasks.
To learn how to apply them better, I kept spending my days there.
“Kagot, I still don’t get how you learned to break that damn jennamite so fast.
I’m ready to smash my head against it, but nothing works!” A tired guy from the monotony slumped onto his butt and pulled out his ration.
The food here was excellent.
Lots of meat, plenty of vitamins to keep the dust-covered workers healthy.
For me, it was divine nectar.
Since I didn’t spend much money and had no family to support, I spent part of my salary on extra rations.
It helped me grow faster.
Even though I was already of age by local standards, in my world, I’d still be considered a growing kid.
The guy who attached himself to me was the only newbie who hadn’t given up.
His name was Roach.
Everyone ignored him too, almost calling him a second mole, but he got lucky running into me.
I didn’t mind helping someone with advice.
“Don’t give up.”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard the same from my mom.” He rolled his eyes dejectedly.
“But what am I doing wrong, do you think?
I’ve been at it for almost a week and barely earned anything.
They only pay for volume and abrasive discs, and I have neither.
Guess I have no talent.”
“Then why not go to the forge?”
“Because I want to learn!
It’ll pay more later if I master such a rare direction.
Then I’ll join the army.
Be the first soldier in crystal armor, with a gleaming sword.
I like the idea of going down in history.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but the Earth Kingdom has had several crystal benders.
Take General Cheng, or Master Terracotta, born about three hundred years ago…” I trailed off, seeing the boredom on his face.
“…Then listen to your mother’s advice.
The secret of crystals is your own persistence.”
“There you go again.” Rolling his eyes and finishing his meal, he still decided to channel his emotions into persistence.
He wanted to achieve something, his fists pounding the target like machine guns.
After offering some tips to prevent such wasteful effort, I finally saw results.
“Oh, not bad, right?
His punches were forming long cracks in the quartz wall.
“Um…
wait, Roach.” Sensing something was wrong, like my advice had slightly tilted the odds of luck for this guy, I tried to stop him.
“You said yourself not to stop.
I’ll be a battering ram.
They’ll call me the Crystal Bull!”
Crack!
At that moment, another punch created a large network of cracks.
He was pouring his strength in wrong, making the ceiling spiderweb with alarming lines.
The miners recognized the familiar sound, looked up, and immediately backed away.
Rumble.
Debris started falling from the roof.
Deflecting a large stone wasn’t too hard, but a cluster of crystals, much harder to control, could only be absorbed with a shield.
That’s why some wrapped themselves in armor and fled the cave as fast as possible.
For Roach and me, unluckily, a large crystal instantly separated us from the exit, continuing to rain down from above.
Black dust appeared too there was a coal deposit nearby.
Seeing how dangerous the collapse was, I instinctively shattered several crystals around me, turning them into smooth sand, and wrapped myself and the panicking kid in it.
Powerful impacts hammered my barrier from above.
Debris piled up without stopping, and moving was nearly impossible.
“Holy spirits, what have I done!” The guy beneath me screamed, clutching his head.
“We’re going to die!
I killed us both!”
“Doubt it,” I said calmly.
“How can you be so calm?!”
“We’re not far from the exit.
They’ll dig us out quickly.
Worst case, we’ll get out ourselves.
I can feel a cavity above us.”
“Phew-phew-phew, so we’re not going to die?” His pants were almost wet.
I instinctively moved away to avoid getting soiled.
If he hadn’t been screaming, he’d have noticed the collapse had stopped.
I felt particles above me, so I put on a filter.
It would save us for a few seconds until I pinned the dust down.
Following cold logic, I did everything to survive.
I even removed the rocks from the roof of our sand dome.
When I finally removed our protection, I saw airborne dust.
A mix of coal, crystals, and stone, swirling rapidly from the remnants of improperly channeled magical force.
It was mesmerizing.
“Is that lightning?” Roach was equally amazed, spotting several electrical flashes from the rapid friction of the dust.
I watched the beauty in awe, wondering how it was possible.
Unfortunately, the dust quickly settled.
The culprit pinned it down to avoid ruining our filters.
Then I blinked, frowned, and turned to the trembling kid.
Staring at this seemingly promising bender who wanted to invest in crystal bending, I decided to give him some life advice.
Grabbing his shoulder, I looked him hard in the eyes.
His legs trembled.
“Before mastering crystals, learn earth properly.
Understand the mentality of earthbenders, what they’re like by nature.
Only then pursue your goals.
If you shake in fear over every little thing, you won’t even be able to master simple gravel.”
My harsh words stunned him.
While he processed that, I cleared the rubble, knowing someone was digging from the other side.
After that day, Roach left the factorio, citing illness from lack of sunlight.
Thanks to the collapse, a cavity was revealed that let us reach our goal faster.
The guy’s luck clearly exceeded my own.
We reached the jennamite deposits and set up the chamber faster than planned.
As for me, still remembering that strange phenomenon with the lightning, I sent Afka to the library to find some explanation.
A few days later, she brought me a book by some scholar from the Shi Wong Desert, titled: Sandstorms and Static Electricity.