Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has left comments and read the last chapter :D ! I really appreciate it and will work towards pushing out chapters the moment I can. I hope you all enjoy it!

P.S: For new readers seeing this, make sure you read the Prologue or this chapter won't make any sense!

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Skrrrt!

Jimmy shot awake covered in a thick sweat as a truck coming from the direction of the city barreled past his car. He picked up his phone to see that it was around 3am and that there was still no connection. Three hours of sleep did little to relieve Jimmy from his fatigue, but it was more than manageable compared to the previous ordeal. 

Well, I'm still in my car... does that mean the whole crystal evolution thing was real?

[ Affirmative. Stage 1 Crystal Evolution was a success. ]

Jimmy jumped upon hearing the sudden return of the robotic voice. 

"Guess that confirms it then" he muttered with a sigh. Jimmy thought for a second before asking, "Hey, robot thing in my head, how do I use these abilities anyway?"

[ There is no universal method to activating abilities. For additional information on your abilities, say Menu. ]

"Whoa, you actually replied! Thank you robot voice!" Jimmy responded gratefully. 

Welp here goes nothing...

“Menu"

In front of his face appeared a semi-transparent screen. 

There was an outline of a human shape with some text below it in a language he couldn’t understand. 

“Hey robot voice, is there any way to translate this into English?”

[ Affirmative. Your language has now been set to English. ] 

It was as the voice claimed, so Jimmy gave his thanks before beginning to read.

Sector: 179 

Crystal User: 001

Evolution Stage: 1

Title: The First - grants bonus crystal points upon absorption, [ ], [ ], and [ ]

Abilities:

Elemental Shield: Summons shield of various elements. More elements become available and its strength increases as the ability levels up.

Assist Abilities:

Crystal Drainage: Automatically absorbs crystal from slain opponents. Grants Crystal User life force in proportion to its strength.

Crystal Points: 5002

The blank boxes in the description for his title caught Jimmy's interest, but he put it aside to focus on the other things that were revealed.

I mean these sound cool, but the screen doesn’t actually say how to use them. Do I just say their name?

Realizing that using these abilities inside of his cramped car might not be the smartest decision, Jimmy went to step outside before pausing.

There was no telling how many more of those creatures were lurking around in the surrounding darkness. 

Jimmy waited a minute to gather his courage and grabbed his baseball bat from the back seat before stepping outside. His end of the city was notorious for car hijacking, so he had it in case of an emergency. Though it was his first time bringing it outside of the car, the bat relieved his nerves knowing that he at least had some way to defend himself.

Jimmy walked a bit away from his car on the rough pavement. His phone flashlight did little to brighten the darkness around him, but it gave him the assurance that there was no obvious creature nearby.

After placing the bat near his feet and sticking his right arm out in front of him, Jimmy muttered to himself.

 “Here goes nothing... Elemental Shield!”

Dirt from the surrounding forest flew up and launched towards him. Thousands of small participles spiraled in front of his hand as a disc began to form. The spinning disc of dirt grew larger in front of Jimmy, while he stood there completely awestruck. 

The disc stopped its growth once it got to around to size of a large garbage can lid and with his eyes locked onto the floating shield, Jimmy put his phone away and reached out to the shield. 

Though it was made of ordinary dirt, the shield did not feel like it. The disc had clearly hardened to a great degree, making it feel almost stone-like. 

Suddenly, Jimmy felt a strange tingling sensation on his back. He quickly turned around to see one of the black creatures mid lunge towards him. Reflexively, he swung his arm, causing the shield to bash the side of the creature’s skull, leaving it spiraling to the ground a few feet away. 

A cold sweat washed over him, while Jimmy was too stunned to even move. He desperately tried to process what just happened, before being brought back to attention once the creature gradually began to pick itself up. 

Not missing the opportunity, Jimmy snatched his bat off the ground and swung it full force down onto the creature’s skull. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he continued to smash the creature until it stopped moving. 

Jimmy stumbled back and tripped onto the ground out of breath and completely exhausted from the encounter. A few seconds later, that fatigue suddenly recovered a bit as a familiar sense of power pulsed through him. 

[ Crystal Drainage complete. Appropriate life-force and Crystal Points have been awarded. ]

The familiar robotic voice entered his mind, but there was no time to think about what it said. 

There’s no telling how many more of these are around me, I have to get home before it’s too late!

With that thought, the dirt shield in front of him disintegrated and Jimmy dashed back to his car. Seconds later, he sped off into the darkness, desperate to get shelter before more creatures showed up.