Clementine smiled. "Would you look at that, how lucky of us!" she muttered, her voice shimmering like sunlight dancing on the edge of a sharpened blade, as she scanned the whole hundreds of meters wide area within but a few instances. "Such treasures! Fufufu~!"

​Her face brightened. Her curled lips, not hiding her excitement.

​"Is there anything else in particular that caught your attention, dear wife!?" Aezaleon probed, his tone flat and steady as the surface of a frozen lake. With a calm expression, he observed the innumerable fist-sized crystal-like blue-white stones embedded into the stone walls of this wide cavern.

He could feel a strong and a massive amount of energy stored inside every single one of these stones, but in his eyes, it still wasn’t enough for Clementine to react in such a manner.

His thoughts were that she must’ve sensed something else too, something extraordinary for her to have such a strong reaction.

"Material rank 3 resource—[Energy Stones]. The majority of them are the normal—[Primary Energy Stones]; however, I can sense the presence of the [Tier 2: Legendary Energy Stones] too, deep inside these rocky walls. The actual treasures for us," she explained, her head turning, eyes sparkling and focused on him like twin stars locked onto a singular planet.

​"Additionally, these seemingly ordinary walls also have the wind elemental metals—[Material rank 3: Primary Dark Galyods] inside themselves. There are also some [Legendary Dark Galyods] too!"

Clementine voiced in quite a passionate tone. Evidently, she was really far too excited as she saw all of these resources.

​Not to mention, there was also the [Condensed Wind Lake], she sensed here. A clear blue-green lake filled with a dense concentration of [Wind Elemental Energy], from the metal: Dark Galyod.

​[It’s effects were increased wind-type concepts comprehension, core refinement, body revitalization, cellular rejuvenation, greater wind affinity, energy regeneration, health regeneration, elemental winds blessings and some others too. It was also relaxing, serene, calming, cold and cool in nature and feel.]

​"Clementine...!" Aezaleon voiced. She looked toward him like an excited child. "Relax, alright...!" he said evenly, his words falling like soft snow to quench a raging wildfire, even giving her a good head pat.

​AH!

​Clementine blinked. Her eyes going wide. Her smile vanishing. Mouth parting. For a second, her mind blanked; she looked at him with a startled expression, yet still nodded in a subconscious manner.

She couldn’t tell what she was feeling; was it anger, confusion, displeasure, satisfaction, or something else, but one thing she knew was that she didn’t particularly dislike Aezaleon’s actions.

​On the other hand, Aezaleon also felt the fluctuations of her emotions but couldn’t understand them; therefore, he simply ignored them and continued.

​"I can guess what an energy stone does already, what its purpose is! But can you inform me about the difference between a primary energy stone and a legendary energy stone, Clementine?" he requested, his curiosity reaching out like a vine seeking a sturdy trellis.

"Oh, and one more thing—also tell me about this wind metal, Dark Galyod, too! What does it do? Like, what are its functions and all!"

​Clementine took a long, calming breath. Starting her explanation, she noted that a primary energy stone was majorly used as a source to accumulate enough energy to advance to the next rank. Whereas a legendary energy stone was majorly used for one’s core tier refinement to advance it to the next [Core Tier: Monarch].

​However, a Legendary energy stone was so rare that they had no monetary value in the outside world, since their worth was mostly depended on who the buyer was, how much were available in the market and how much was he willing to pay.

Nonetheless, because of a legendary energy stones rareness, not many chooses to sell them.

​"Then, can’t the primary energy stone be used as a source for core tier refinement, big sister Clementine!? It should be possible to use them to become a Monarch too, no?"

Aphryne asked, her voice rising with a tentative hope like a bird testing its wings against a storm.

​"Obviously, they can be used, but the amount is simply too much. It also varies from individual to individual; the mortal powers just can’t afford this amount of resource expenditure," Clementine replied, her explanation cutting through the air with the clinical precision of a surgeon’s scalpel.

"In the end, one’s ascension rank is a very important factor involved in the core tier advancement, regardless if one is using a tier one or tier two energy stone!"

​"How so!?" Aezaleon pressed.

​Clementine refocused on Aezaleon from Aphryne. She contemplated for a few moments, continuing soon after.

​"For example, these rank 3 primary energy stones; if you were to absorb them as an ascendant of corresponding rank, you would require an amount of 10,000 primary energy stones to advance to the next tier and become a Monarch. One-tenth of it if you were to use the tier-two legendary energy stones to refine your core tier," she detailed, her voice echoing through the hollow like a profound decree from an ancient throne.

​"However, if Auguszta here were to use these rank 3 primary energy stones as her source for core tier refinement, then she would need 10 times the amount compared to you. Meaning a 100,000 primary energy stones; and if she were at ascension rank 5, then a 100 times the amount. Meaning a million rank 3 primary energy stones. And that doesn’t stop there, since if you were a rank 1 calamity, then you would need a amount of 100,000 rank 1 primary energy stones. At rank 2 it would be 50,000 rank 2 primary energy stones and one tenth of them if they are legendary energy stones of the corresponding ranks."

​"What about ascension rank 4 and above—will we need less energy stones at higher ranks!?" Auguszta voiced her curiosity, her words buzzing like a restless hornet against a windowpane.

​"No, from rank 4 onwards, you would need 10,000 primary energy stones of your corresponding ascension rank to become a Monarch," Clementine answered, her tone as unyielding as the stone walls surrounding them.

​"I never thought a Monarch was such a big deal, and it’s just core tier 2! What about 3, 4, 5? What would be the requirement for these tiers?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Aezaleon shook his head. "Just imagining it makes my head hurt," he muttered, his sigh heavy as a leaden anchor sinking into the dark.

​"So the energy stones have to be of the same rank or higher compared to the subjects absorbing them to get the most optimal results. A higher ranked or tiered energy stone is the same as needing less in number. The quality matters, huh!" Aphryne simplified the information, her insight flashing like a sudden spark in a pitch-black room.

​"Indeed, the quality is what’s important and not the quantity here,"

Clementine gave a nod of affirmation, her approval as solid as an oak beam supporting a roof.

​Obviously, one can also use higher ranked energy stones rather than tiers, but the problem with that is can he/she even absorb them without letting the energy destroy themselves from within.

​Because using a higher energy stone was similar to absorbing a higher ranked energy. Not many can do that, so some harsh condition had to be met first before one can even attempt such a task. Whereas, if one absorbed a higher tiered energy stone; the quality would be higher and the rank would be similar.

​In this scenario, it becomes much easier to control the pure energy to not damage oneself and also achieve the intended goal.

​"Moreover, if my senses had not deceived me, then I suppose this cave must also have enough energy stones within it for Auguszta to successfully become a Monarch," Clementine mused, her speculation drifting like a silken thread through the silence.

"Considering she was already very near to this evolution after devouring the cores of so many calamities to subconsciously refine her ascension core instead of focusing on her ascension rank because of her instinctual intelligence. Still, to trigger the advancement, her material and spiritual cores have to be of the same ascension rank."