696 A system upgrade? Before placing the large piece of rock that Gary had in his hands, he turned it on all sides, examining it closely. Despite its size, he handled it with ease, rotating it effortlessly. Observing this, Elijah began to wonder if Gaba was even trying to hide the fact that he was an Altered. Did he believe that the other members wouldn't take any action if they found out? Elijah started to consider the possibility that this encounter might just be with a random Altered who had somehow ended up in the city by accident, unrelated to the local gangs. Regardless, Elijah was in the right place to gather the information he needed. Gary placed the large rock on the ground and picked up his pickaxe. The rock was too large to fit in the wheelbarrow, so breaking it into smaller pieces would not raise suspicion. As he swung the pickaxe, he split the big rock into four smaller pieces. The inside of the rock sparkled with different colours, and Gary's eyes focused on a large crystal protruding from one area. "That's it... it looks the same, the same as the crystal I had last time. That's a beast crystal!" As soon as Gary laid eyes on the crystal, something strange happened with the system as well. [Ancient knowledge is being unlocked.] [The system has access to new information received from ancient knowledge.] [Beast tiers unlocked.] [Would you like to learn about beast crystals?] From an outside perspective, Gary appeared to be standing there, staring at the pieces of the large rock. But in reality, he was absorbing all the information the system was presenting to him. [Yes] [Beast crystals are crystals from ancient beasts that can be found across the universe, but were once creatures on Earth as well. Beast crystals have different tiers depending on the amount of energy contained within them. Higher-tier crystals tend to come from stronger and more powerful beasts, as they possess more energy to draw from.] [The following are the tiers] [Basic tier] [Intermediate tier] [Advanced tier] [King tier] [Emperor tier] [Legendary tier] [Demi-god tier] [Demon tier] 'I remember, those people at NIRV, were explaining how they knew a certain beast's strength was equal to the crystal they produced, and that would also determine how good of an Altered solution they made. 'However, they said it was quite difficult for them to pinpoint what was what. With the system, do I have the ability to do that now?' Gary thought. He touched the crystal coming out from the rock, and sure enough another screen had popped up. [Intermediate tier beast crystal] 'This is amazing, it makes me wonder, if I was to see Altered solutions, could I tell what tier they are at. It would make sense since Altered solutions are made from crystals. Wouldn't this also help out at the auction. 'We could know which Altered solutions are better than others, and it wouldn't just be a shot in the dark. Gary was already getting excited at all of the possibilities. Still, it did make him wonder, just what was this place? Turning his head he looked at the sorting group. After the large rocks were broken down on the conveyor belt there were several parts going through being sorted into different large buckets. They would then be loaded up onto lorries that were driven off. When looking closely at the buckets, that's when Gary could see it. Some of them did have minerals and materials for electronic components, but there was also a container for beast crystals. 'Is that what this place really is, is it just a disguise to get beast crystals? But how are beast crystals even in this place?' Gary thought. 'If I remember from what Tom told me. NIRV has a special crystal that they use on the old fossils that they find. Then that creates a beast, after they kill the beast like we did in the special classes, they drop a crystal that allows Altered solution to be made. 'But then, if there is a mine with crystals in it, maybe that has been lost for years. Is this another way to get crystals as well? A secret that they have been hiding from everyone. I guess most people have never even seen a beast crystal before, and I doubt anyone in a tier 4 will have ever seen one' "What have you been staring at for so long?" Elijah eventually asked. "Ahm, I was just looking at the rocks, they're kind of shiny!" Gary replied. "Do you think they're worth a lot?" Elijah looked at the crystal that Gary was talking about, but as he looked at it more, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. He had never seen anything like it, and wondered why the green haired was so curious about it. "I wouldn't try and steal it if I was you" Elijah said. Gary's hand was already on the crystal, he had gripped hard and just after Elijah had finished his sentence he had pulled it out of the rock with his bare hands. "They check us every night, in case someone steals those things. I'm not sure if they're worth a lot, or worth the trouble of angering the gang in the area:' Gary somewhat agreed, because right now, he felt like he was in a gold mine. He was able to get beast crystals, without the need to risk his life. At first he had come to the city, expecting to fight to gain exp, in order to best Midwak. Now though, was that really needed, with the crystals here, he could gain strength bit by bit. "Don't worry!" Gary said as he stood up with his back facing away from Elijah, and took a big bite out of the crystal with his teeth. 'They'll never find the crystal: 1 [Intermediate Beast crystal consumed]