ORIGIN

Usui continued his trek into Polaris and found himself drawn towards a particularly large, glimmering blue spiral structure. His satchel was slung less clumsily across his frame now that he had bulked. Resting his gaze around the room, Usui noted that crystals were beautifully fused together by what he sensed to be extremely strong magic, extending into a tall spire. The lion briefly wondered if this was where certain chrysalis might hail from. At the same time, he pondered upon why the golems did not wander near the spire given how alluringly it buzzed with magic. Perhaps the quartz here could not be broken off after all and so did not serve the interest of those dangerously mysterious rampaging rocks he'd been careful to avoid. He padded closer to the structure and allowed the lovely blue hues to spill over into his senses. The magic seeped into his core, revitalising him spiritually. Usui gently bumped his nose against the structure, then swept his body past it with a purr and walked further to explore the area. That was when he saw a pile of bones picked clean lying in the middle of nowhere. He padded closer and sniffed at the air around it. The bones smelled of stale cave deer. Usui wrinkled his nose and sauntered away, not fond of clean bones. It indicated that someone had explored this area not too long ago.

Usui came to a quiet clearing, settled onto his haunches and looked around. Such a place could yield him more gems for his craftsmaship. So far, he had a collection of orange gems and several others but he lacked some popular colours such as purple and blue. He did not need pure gems for the job - he could gather minerals and compress them into a hybrid stone of sorts. As long as the colour was there, it would be pleasing aesthetically. Therefore, Usui called upon his power and sought to attract purple minerals that he could gather, confident now that he had gem summon, he could cast the weaker but different version known as gem form, which would allow him to fuse different bits into one another to forge new, shiny and entirely unique gemstones.

Several minerals got caught up in his magical hold but still others, especially the tiniest substrates stuck between the rocks, refused to bulge. The lion was relentless in his pursuit though and strove harder for the bits to yield to him. He needed all of it considering how the metal pieces which he now pulled to him were no bigger than flecks or the average, miniature sized stones found occasionally on lesser gembounds. The amount of purple minerals that floated towards him danced with light purple and dark purple hues. Immediately, he set to work, joining the substrates according to a rough gradient such that the darkest bits were at the base while the lightest bits rested at the top. Then, he mashed everything together and at the end of it formed a marquise shaped pastel lilac gem. Usui was pleased with it, and lt it clatter to the floor. He had joined it in such a way that the surface was polished and while not a perfect gemstone forged by nature, it was beautiful in its own right. The lion picked it up between his teeth and turned to drop it into his bag.

Now, he moved onto his next task, which was to forge a gem stone made of a turquoise-blue shade. Such naturally-occurring colour gems were rare but Usui was certain he could make it happen by combining green and blue substrates together. He envision the final work to be heart shaped, and it would allow light to pass through it in a magnificent seafoam green shade. The cuff around the lion's ear glowed a ghastly black as he concentrated his magic to draw forth both colours, a much harder feat for the boy who had to mentally sift out the colours. It would be an extremely draining task.

Once again, the minerals attempted to slip from his magical grasp but the lion strained against the opposing forces. He could envision the green and blue bits in his mind. It was easier to reign in both than to separate them for their shades appeared quite similar to him, at least how reds and pinks were much like neigbours of each other. The minerals flew towards him, whereupon Usui deliberately kept the mix up and forged them together in his mind, forcing the minerals to fuse and the colours to overspill into each other. The result was a clear gem that shone a turquoise just as Usui had imagined it. The shape he formed it into was a heart-shape. This he also polished by smoothing out the surfaces of the minerals into one another in swirling patterns, and then he released his magic and dropped it into his satchel. He then let out a long drawn out sigh of relief for the simultaneous use of magic and meticulous crafting had taken is toll on his energy.

The cub was relatively experienced in this art though, having done this several times and venturing into even more powerful magic. He could hold out for a little one before he needed a good rest. Usui was done with forging both extremely unqiue gems which only existed in one copy each. The lion thought of forging those into gifts or to be used as currencies for future favours of sorts. Perhaps he would forge something for himself...

And so, Usui looked around, then his eyes came to a rest upon his satchel. He had made the metal chain non-rusty but there was nothing terribly desirable about the chain - it was old, dusty and lying around. Any gembound might come along and claim it for himself. The lion would need to put a mark on it, indicating that he was the owner of his bag. And for that, he needed black jade - the same stone that rested upon his ear.

He would need to compress nephrite together and ensure that it was of top quality so that the surface would be a glossy black, just like the ear cuff that he had. It would be a glossy black but not so shiny as to show off one's reflection. Gathering the strength beneath his paws, Usui called forth black nephrite from the area.

When he awoke, the lion cub found himself staring at the huge, blue spire. Oh, how he wished he could climb the thing! It was too tall though and without powers of flight nor teleportation, he could only dream about it. The lion pushed himself to his paws and walked groggily to his satchel to ensure that his belongings were there. He had accumulated a random assortment of items which he should forge into something useful soon, or else they would just be knick knacks lying around trailing in the dust. He pondered upon his value proposition for a while - believing that such gems might one day come to save him from trouble. That was what he believed magic to be - a gift bestowed upon the cave's inhabitants to help them discover their individuality and save them from unprecedented incidents. At least he knew he would yield his magic with as much wisdom as he could.

Glad to have this stash and not wishing to extend his green further, the lion picked up the satchel, slung it over his shoulder and padded on and away unto his next adventure.

-Exit Usui-