"Ooooh, what is this?" I ask, eyes glinting with curiosity as I lean in toward the crystal sphere in Eris's hand.
It's beautiful—clear and transparent with just the faintest tint of icy blue. Like a frozen droplet of ocean, captured and crystallized.
"It's a monster core collector," Eris explains. "Quite the amazing invention, you know? Before this little guy, we had to collect monster cores by hand. Manually!"
She shudders dramatically.
"Ugh. So tedious."
I giggle.
Eris then toss the Collector into the air.
Whoosh!
The sphere flashes with a sudden brilliance—its surface pulsing with energy—then begins to glow, brighter and brighter, until its light washes over the frozen landscape.
A low hum vibrates through the air.
Then—
FWOOOOOOOM!
A pulse of magic explodes outward in a wide ripple, sweeping across the shattered battlefield. The air thickens with magical pressure, like gravity folding in on itself.
Suddenly, the monster cores—thousands of them—begin to rise.
