Laurence saw no reason to say no to Walkers offer, saving a few gold from staying at an inn And getting to know their party better was ideal. "Yes, that sounds like a grand time, we accept your offer." Elise couldn't be happier this meant that Stella could remain out of the beast ring and even fly in the air around the mansion.

"It's settled then we'll find you all some rooms. If you are all up to it you can come to the adventurers guild tomorrow and meet our manager. I'm sure she will want to hear your request directly. Plus maybe we can get out of waiting a few more days." Walker's sneaky plan probably wouldn't work but if he could convince Clara to even let them adventure a day earlier it was worth it.

Hilda who had already returned with tea while the group talked jumped up. The porcupine quickly curled up in fear. "Oh I need to start dinner I got so distracted chatting and watching the little ones." Hilda had been having a grand time making dinner since moving to the mansion. She had fewer orders to worry about since she only kept her adventurer and close clients. This meant that she could cook to her heart's content and branch out trying new things. Consequently, her level had been able to increase more than it used to which added to her joy.

"Ahh I guess your name will need to be Hyde after all..." Laurence had finally given in seeing the porcupine curled up under the table yet again. He was thankful that it hadn't shot any quills and started fires. He would need to practice with Hyde to see where his strengths would lie in battle, maybe Hyde would be able to roll around and fire quills in a strategic manner. Laurence put his strategizing to the side for now knowing he could take advantage of walkers party and test the theory out at the elementary level later. It would be good to start more training the younger the tamed beast the better.

Crack!

A loud cracking sound had taken their attention interrupting the flow of conversation. They all looked toward the windows since it sounded like glass but in actuality, it wasn't glass at all. After looking around they noticed broken pieces of crystal in the floor under the coffee table. The light mana within the light crystal had been fully consumed by onyx. Upon seeing this they all became entranced in the lights faintly shining between onyx's scales. None of them had ever witnessed a mana crystal lose all its mana before because they were often crafting materials or fully consumed. In this case only the mana was consumed leaving the physical crystal behind.

"Well that's a first for me" Gil saw this as he had walked in to the room seeing everyone looking at the broken crystal. "So what is it now? Is it useful for anything? If it's just something pretty maybe a jeweler will buy it." Gil took up a seat joining everyone.

"This here is Gil, he's our resident ranger. He like fires arrows and stuff." Walker threw some teasing to the air knowing it would get Gil talking more.

"Oh says the guy who can just look at something and his system gives him a new skill. Use your wonderful powers and tell us if this is useful." Gil snagged a crystal shard and tossed it to Walker. A smug smirk on his face knowing that walker was too curious not to do so.

"Fine fine, all around appraisal!"

' desolate mana shard

The Remnant of an elemental mana crystal. The mana has been consumed causing the structure of the crystal to break. Ideal material for crafting items and types of equipment that can store mana.'

"Oh!" Walker was surprised by the last bit, he had assumed it would only be useless now since they'd lost the mana. But these shards were basically smaller mana crystals that were waiting to absorb mana. " so basically since onyx ate all the mana the crystal wasn't able to stay in the same shape. So it broke making a bunch of mini crystals which don't have mana. This means they can absorb mana when they are used to craft things. Should be an interesting item to bring by the forge some time." The idea that they could obtain some form of item to store mana for when they need it most was very exciting. For any adventurer running out of mana and potentially passing out in battle was a huge risk.

"Oooo I want some too how do I get all the mana out? Can I eat it too? Does it taste good?" Elise had become very focused on the reaction onyx had to consume light element and now had listened to Walkers' every word.

Thinking on this he responded carefully, "in theory if you or Stella had the element for the crystal you use then you can slowly drain it of magic. It's easier for onyx who eats said element. Actually it might be easy for me since I can manipulate elements with my skill. If it works that way then just use the crystal as fuel for an elemental skill or magic and eventually it will run out. Basically, train like crazy." Elise had a strange glint in her eyes as she turned to look at Stella. Stella however was fluffing her feathers knowing exactly what Elise would ask of her. She may not be able to speak but she was smart.

"My sister Stella can throw some wind blades. It's a super rare skill a harpy will learn once out of a hundred harpy born. So you could say she just needs a wind crystal and some time and we'll have some super rare materials." Laurence was prepared to ask Walkers' party to help them drain some mana crystals he currently had to bring back to the tamers guild but once he heard the theory he didn't act in it. Knowing Elise and Stella could provide the shards put him at ease.