Soul Crystal

A **Soul Crystal** is an object that appears in *Dawn of the New Hour / Crystal Fragments*. It allows the owner to be able to use their own soul as energy to produce magical skills and spells. The crystal makes it so that the user's soul does not deplete altogether.

## History

### **Lord Sain**

Lord Sain, a mage gifted in the magical arts, was also a scientist. He had been trying to find ways to find a way to make an undying form of energy, so as to be able to use magic without draining magical artifacts. Through his research, he had found that purified and specifically-handcrafted crystals would be able to be used as an amplifier and a hold for energy.

Later, he had decided to experiments on a small creature that had appeared in his backyard. From this, he was able to find out that the energy that the crystals could utilize the best was the energy from a living being's Soul. He then began to theorize whether or not a human Soul would suffice as energy, much like the creature's.

In 1906, Sain began to experiment on his own soul. With the Soul Crystal he had forged himself, he began testing the amplification process between the Soul and the Crystal. He then documented this phenomenon in the book *Magic Hidden in Our World*, published two years after.

```
***~ The Process of Soul Crystal Amplification ~***

"...t*he soul's energy is sent into the owner's crystal, which then amplifies it and sends it back to the soul. This process is done repeatedly. In turn, this process generates a strong Soul Power which can enable magic and powerful techniques to be performed. Through time, the process can be hastened, and the Soul Power can increase drastically."*

~ *Magic Hidden in Our World*, written by Lord Sain.

```

He finalized his hypothesis with the conclusion that human Souls had the power to be tapped into all along, saying quite specifically that he had found the proper way to "unlock potential that we've had in our souls all along". According to Lord Sain, each human Soul can be tapped as sources of magic, but only if the Soul is strong enough.

His own Crystal was the only one he had successfully made, however. Upon the attempt to make a second one, he misread his own calculations, which resulted in an explosion caused by a backfire in the process. He then stopped his experiments on the Soul Crystals entirely for an unknown time.

### **Kristy**

During the events of the Opening, Kristy was able to utilize the Bleeding Effect to her advantage. Using her hobby of jewelry making, she was able to contain some of the energy that came through various Portums that were leaking through to Universe A-1. These were contained within crystals and gems in her collection, some of which were given to Sullivan and some of his party.

Kristy was able to fine-tune the process in her own time, of which she said was "destined to fail from the beginning" without her recalculations. Those recalculations resulted in a fully stabilized Soul Crystal. She was then able to recreate the process without fail.

## Owned Soul Crystals

Currently, the only known Soul Crystals are owned by:

* Sullivan: a Crystal on a band around his neck, hidden under his suit.
* Blake: a Crystal stitched to the inside of his backpack, later at the end of his gun as an accessory.
* Victoria: a Crystal inside of small box she keeps in her pocket.
* Seven: a Crystal called the Muse's Amulet, around her neck.
* ~~Kristy: a Crystal on a band around her neck.~~
* Nathan: a Crystal embedded into his sword. Disappears and reappears into whichever sword he uses.
* ~~Mark: a Crystal with its own consciousness and personality, which floats around him.~~
* Lord Sain: a Crystal in the form of a broach on his person.
* The Hooded Man: a Crystal within his inventory. Location is unknown.
* The "Crushed Man" in New Woodbury, who states that he had a necklace, but "the crystal at the end of it shattered into a million pieces...". It is assumed the Crystal he had was another Soul Crystal.
* Church of the Wayfinder priests: a Crystal on a thin chain around their necks.

## Recharge Rate and SP Modes

The Soul Crystal takes from the energy within the user's own Soul, but amplifies it and then returns it to the user. The constant cycle of taking, amplifying, and returning gives the user the power to use magic, but at a limited rate. Once the player's MP or SP is too low, the player cannot use a Magic skill or a Soul skill. However, MP can be recharged using MP-regaining items such as Ethers, or using a SAVE Point to heal both health and MP. The player's SP, however, can be regained through a variety of ways. These various recharge rates can be unlocked through the game through SP Modes:

* **"Stoic"**: *Raise SP by waiting in battle or receiving damage from attacks.*
* **"Comrade"**: *Raise SP whenever allies take damage.*
* **"Warrior"**: *Raise SP by attacking and dealing HP damage.*
* **"Healer"**: *Raise SP by healing HP.*
* **"Breaker"**: *Raise SP whenever user deals MP damage, receives MP damage, or an ally receives MP damage.*
* **"Alchemist"**: *Raise SP whenever user recovers MP to an ally.*
* **"Slayer"**: *Raise SP whenever an enemy is killed.*
* **"Avenger"**: *Raise SP whenever an ally is killed.*
* **"Victor"**: *Raise SP whenever your party defeat all enemies.*
* **"Coward"**: *Raise SP whenever your party escapes from battle.*
* **"Daredevil"**: *Raise SP whenever user ends a turn with low HP.*
* **"Caster"**: *Raise SP whenever user ends a turn with low MP."*
* **"Tactician"**: *Raise SP whenever user inflicts an ailment on a foe.*
* **"Sufferer"**: *Raise SP whenever user receives an ailment from a foe.*
* **"Dancer"**: *Raise SP whenever user successfully evades an attack.*
* **"Loner"**: *Raise SP whenever user is the last remaining member.*

## Crystal Law: Life Taboo

By using a Soul Crystal, the user is held to an unwritten law or code that they cannot under any circumstance break. They cannot bring back someone from the dead with the power of the Soul Crystal. Death is a natural part of life, and therefore is fundamentally "wrong" to change. The repercussions are unknown, but could vary from not working at all, to working but the person coming back with no soul, the person coming back but living eternally with the pain of their cause of death, or something else entirety.

The cost of breaking this crystal law is dire. The crystal cracks, and so does the user's own soul. By the soul cracking, the user is no longer able to tap into their soul's power or energy, rendering any crystal useless. The damage of a cracked soul to the person is currently unknown.

## Trivia

* As of *DEMO Version* Update 1.5, Mark, Lord Sain, Heather, and the Hooded Man are the only characters who's Crystal was not forged by Kristy.
	+ This was changed in the Aurum Demo update 1.8.5, where it was revealed all the priests of the Church of the Wayfinder have a crystal on their person.
	+ There is also a young man in the South District of New Woodbury who mentioned a crushed crystal, which could hint at himself being another owner.
* The SP Mode is based on *Final Fantasy X*'s "Overdrive Modes", where the player can change how each character gains their Overdrive gauges.
* The Developer has gone on to mention in notes how he wants to create a new form of "sentient" crystal, but has yet to expand on what he means.

## See also

* Kristy
* Mark
* Nathan
* Portum