20 「Refined Taste」

Refined Quintessence had always appeared different from the raw and purified variants, as it was mainly purple or a red-violet. This was very apparent as Nemoi entered the Quintessence holding Chamber on board the Galra vessel in synchronized orbit with the planet of Arus.

He stared at the hundreds of cylinders which were placed spiraled around the room. His eyes gazed as the power which was before him. All of this could power a city or several thousand homes. Yet here it was, being used to power a singular vessel. The weapons, the controls, everything.

He licked his lips slightly, the temptation to take it all was there. It was clear he was drawn to the stuff, it was like a drug and there was plenty of it. Nemoi believed he could control his thirst, his impulses. This was much like the other beings that now Lord over the known universe.

Quintessence was the most evolutionary power source for any known species. It could power cities for generations, countless worlds or even moons could be turned into a power core.

He walked over to the central cylinder and placed a hand against the reinforced glass-like material which encased the quintessence. "So much power..." He muttered to himself under his breath. However he quickly glanced over his shoulder as he heard the door wish open behind him.

His eyes narrowed on the Princess Allura who appeared before him in her battle armor. She was becoming more militant as the idea of Zarkon sending more evil which is Galra towards their general direction. They always had to be prepared, they always had to be ready.

"You aren't thinking of absorbing all of this Quintessence, are you?" She had a visible frown over her lips. She seemed to have want to make him contemplate. She did her job well then, it brought a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes. I was thinking of it. The amount I could use from just absorbing Quintessence from inanimate objects, let alone quintessence which had already been harvested irreversibly." He caressed the surface of the glass cylinder with his hand.

"You are aware that power corrupts even those with the purest of intentions..."

Raising a brow at her as she spoke philosophy, he chuckled quietly to himself. "Yes. I've witnessed it, we both have. Honerva becoming Haggar. King Zarkon, The Black Paladin, becoming Emperor Zarkon, the Lord of the Known Universe." He shook his head as he spoke and stared through her. "What's your point? I'm not going to throw myself into a Quintessence Field and expose myself till near-death, I'm not like them."

Princess Allura slowly let out a sigh, staring forward at him, matching his targetless gaze.

"I've seen your interactions with the human girl, the green Paladin, Pidge. What are your intentions? Why are you so inclined on reforming Altea?" She asked as she clenched her jaw, her fingers curled into fists. She wanted to know what he was truly aiming for. What he intended to do with the Green Paladin.

"My intentions with Pidge are honorable. I wish to protect her, to be beside her, to be hers." He'd avert his gaze and looked towards the right, at the other cylinders farther away from him. "I wish to reform Altea in order to bring Order, to rally our people together, to make sure our species survives... Even if it should mix and mingle with other species." He yearned to be surrounded by those akin to him. He yearned for intimacy with someone he admired.

Allura blinked hearing what he was saying. He wanted Pidge as if he wanted a wife. He wanted a kingdom as if he wanted a home, a village. Though it seemed that he mainly wanted his species to rally around him, because of nostalgia which she could hear in his voice.

"How will you be beside her, if you're ruling our people?" Allura asked which literally felt like an arrowhead being forced down his throat.

Nemoi almost made a croaking sound as he lost his voice for the moment, thinking of what words he could respond with. His eyes squinted as his gaze took in the floor at his feet. "I told you... I will support Voltron, our people will support Voltron, they will stand beside us."

He assumed he could make them swear vengeance against the Galra Empire, for causing the suffering of their ancestors, punish Lotor for tricking them into submission and even draining them of their Quintessence.

"And how will you make them do that?" Allura asked with her head tilted to the side, her arms crossed over her chest. She held a dominant posture as she stood to the side at an angle, leaning on one hip.

"Talk to them. Reason with them. Show them proof." Nemoi cleared his throat as he fixed his sights on her face once more. This time looking into her blue orbs with a deadpan look in his eyes. Her persistence, despite it not having been long, seemed to peeve him.

"Still, how will you make them fight?" Allura asked, sensing his agitation, but she continued to push. She wanted to see what he would do, if he would lash out or keep his composure.

"I said I'd have them stand, I never said they'd have to fight, not against their will." He tapped a finger against the Quintessence cylinder and let out a light snicker. "Are you trying to play the Therapist? You're a spoiled brat that is not quite done playing the soldier."

Allura froze for that moment as she heard him initiate she was pretending to be a soldier, on top of that called her a Brat. Why was he spouting out insults? Maybe she had hit a nerve? Which nerve did she hit? She creased her brow in thought, fitting her chin into her fist as she brought it up to her face.

"Now you're playing the thinker too, how obnoxious."

"That's enough!" Allura's arms few out to the sides as he started making fun of her, or at least that is how it sounded. He immediately straightened himself out as she had become visibly furious. "What gives you the right to call me such things!?" She pointed at him, her eyes welling up with tears in the corners.

"None," came a mellow response from Nemoi who seemed suddenly passive. A snideful smirk across his lips however would throw the whole feeling off. "I just felt like it is all."

Allura's eyes simmered for a moment before she quickly cooled herself off, regaining her composure. "You just wanted to make me blow my lid..."

"Just like you were trying to do," Nemoi added to her unfinished line, leaning back against the cylinder as he comfortably put one foot up on the glass behind him. "Why are you here?"

Allura's narrowed her sights on him, clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. "Tell me more about the Blackfox. Where did it come from? I doubt it's from a sub-dimension as you declared earlier."

"You're right. I created it with raw Quintessence. I could create more, but there wouldn't be much of a point to it. It'd be bound to me, and I can only be in one place at one time." Without a doubt, she would see the truth in his eyes despite how deadpan he kept his expressions. He folded his arms behind his head and continued to seemingly rest against the glass.

"So you really did in a sense use Quintessence to acquire it... You used Alchemy to convert energy into mass. You had... Quite the teacher." She shook her head a bit and turned away from him, a small smile forming over her lips. "And you're right. I might be a brat, I might be playing a soldier, but Quiznak! I'll make sure to play a pretty damn good one!" With that she made her way out of the chambers and back towards the hangar to go down to the planet. She appeared relatively reassured about his goals, his intentions and his motivations.

He just stood there for a few moments before reaching a hand up, closing his eyes. Much like when he first used his ability to defend himself by converting the bullets to Quintessence. The world around him felt as if it was slowing down, his heart rate became heavy to the ears and reverberated throughout the body.

Threads of energy came pouring out of the tops of all of the cylinders in the room except for the largest one in which he was leaning against. That one was powering the ship, and the last thing he needed was it to explode.

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

「You have gained 500+ QP」

...

「You have gained a total of 500,000 QP.」

「You have reached the maximum total of Quintessence Points that this System can handle. Please upgrade your system in order to expand your Quintessence pool, or spend your QP.」

「There is a total of 500,000 QP excess lost due to inability to absorb anymore Quintessence Energy. In order to avoid losing excess QP, please upgrade your system.」

He stared at the notifications which were littering his visuals of his surroundings. There was a lot of spam, something which normally would bother him if it didn't start going fading to nothing almost immediately after a few seconds had past.

Opening his Quintessence Store, he would look over the selections which were available. He knew he had to upgrade it, but he wanted to have a gander at the objects he had currently.

「Virtual QShop Screen | System Alpha Version 1.3.0a | Altean Edition」

「You have 500,000 QP.」「Items in Cart: 0」「Vouchers: 0」

「System Upgrade」1,500 QP

「Additional Occupation Slot」2,000 QP

「Random Weapon Blueprint」1,000 QP

「Random Tool Blueprint」1,000 QP

「Random Skill Imprint」1,000 QP

「Instant Ability Upgrade +1 Lv.」2,500 QP

「Instant Occupation Upgrade +1 Lv.」3,000 QP

「Upgrade your System in order to unlock more choices and functions.」

Looking over the items, he wasn't really surprised to see a certain amount of things were still there. It also appeared that there was nothing new which was added in spite of his leveling and progress through the known story.

"I guess I'll upgrade my abilities..." He opened his status screen in order to see what all of his stats were like. He knew his Noble was Lv 2 and his Alchemist was Lv 2.

「Virtual Status Screen | System Alpha Version 1.3.0a | Altean Edition」

「Name」Nemoi Vargon

「Age 」Sixteen

「Gender 」Male

「Race 」<Altean Pureblood>

「Occupation 」<Noble lv.2> <Alchemist lv.2> <Agent of the Throne lv.1>

「Skills 」Close Quarters Combat, Firearms Intuition, Vehicular Intuition, Empathy.

「Abilities 」<Alchemy lv.1> <Energy Manipulation lv.1> <Magic lv.1> <Mimic Lv. MAX>

「Inventory 」Nothing Available

「Quintessence Points」500,000

「Experience Points」0/500

「System Commands」<Inventory> <Status> <QShop> <EXPShop>

Staring at the two screens, he began to wonder what would happen if he were to upgrade one of his abilities. Would the price go up? Or would it remain the same? He knew plenty of games which remained the same, as well as others which changed in order to maintain a balance.

Seeing as the System was not granting him the answer he was seeking by reading his mind and relaying it to him. He simply purchased a plus one level up for an ability for two thousand five hundred Quintessence points.

It immediately went up to five thousand quintessence points per purchase. "So does try to balance itself out..." He thought to himself aloud as he noticed it became an object in his inventory.

Opening his inventory, he activated the product. A slide down menu appeared and allowed him to select from his abilities. He immediately chose magic, upgrading it to gain more efficiency. By upgrading the ability directly, it appeared to only give it 10% buffs and bonuses.

"Huh... So the max level for the ability might just be level ten then?" He asked himself aloud once more as he looked over at the Quintessence Shop screen rather curiously. He bought another upgrade for five thousand Quintessence Point, it went up to seven thousand five hundred in price. Buying another it became nine thousand, another eleven thousand five hundred, then another thirteen thousand, and fifteen thousand five hundred, and finally eighteen thousand... He bought a total of nine upgrades which was twenty thousand and five hundred points in total.

Because he had used one of them in magic, he only had eight of these upgrades available to be used. So instead of putting them all in magic, he put two of them in Alchemy, two in Energy Manipulation and two more of them in Magic. He then evened them out by putting the last ones in Alchemy and Energy Manipulation.

「Virtual Status Screen | System Alpha Version 1.3.0a | Altean Edition」

「Name」Nemoi Vargon

「Age 」Sixteen

「Gender 」Male

「Race 」<Altean Pureblood>

「Occupation 」<Noble lv.2> <Alchemist lv.2> <Agent of the Throne lv.1>

「Skills 」Close Quarters Combat, Firearms Intuition, Vehicular Intuition, Empathy.

「Abilities 」<Alchemy lv.4> <Energy Manipulation lv.4> <Magic lv.4> <Mimic Lv. MAX>

「Inventory 」Nothing Available

「Quintessence Points」479,500

「Experience Points」0/500

「System Commands」<Inventory> <Status> <QShop> <EXPShop>

"I guess it's time to upgrade the system then?" Turning his attention to the virtual Qshop, he would select and purchase the upgrade. Suddenly all of the system screens which were open shut down, of course after flickering slightly.

Like an old booting up computer, it warped back into view. The virtual screen appeared more holographic in nature and even more transparent. It was in all white lines with a barely visible blue. It made it easy to read on the Galra vessel, but he could only imagine it being a nightmare to read on board the Altean Castles.

「Virtual Screen | System Alpha Version 2.2.1a | Altean Edition」

He stared at the single screen which appeared. It was long and rectangular. Yet there was no other indication of what it was. Appearing beneath it was three disappearing and reappearing dots, as if it was loading. That was until the Qshop suddenly opened itself back up along with the status, however the only one that seemed to have more to it was the QShop.

The first thing he noticed was the inflation of the prices, but there were additional things to buy. They were considerably valuable. The second thing he noticed was that instead of upgrading level by level, there was an instant level up to max, however it was insanely expensive. He also had no idea what the actual max was.

「Virtual Qshop Screen | System Alpha Version 2.2.1a | Altean Edition」

「You have 478,000 QP.」「Items in Cart: 0」「Vouchers: 0」

「System Upgrade Lv3」100,000 QP

「Additional Occupation Slot」2,000 QP

「Random Weapon Blueprint lv2」10,000 QP

「Random Arsenal Bundle」50,000 QP

「Alternate Altean Bundle」50,000 QP

「GalraE Bundle」50,000 QP

「Marmora Bundle」50,000 QP

「Gamara Bundle」50,000 QP

「Random Tool Blueprint Lv2」10,000 QP

「Random Skill Imprint Lv2」8,000 QP

「Mini-Galactic Map Function」25,000 QP

「Immediate Area Minimap Function」10,000 QP

「EXP Pool Expansion +500」10,000 QP

「Strategic Weapon Blueprint」100,000 QP

「10 Repair Drones」10,000 QP

「10 Bomb Drones」10,000 QP

「10 Noise Drones」10,000 QP

「10 EMP Drones」10,000 QP

「Instant Ability Upgrade Max Lv.」250,000 QP

「Instant Occupation Upgrade Max Lv.」300,000 QP

「Upgrade your System in order to unlock more choices and functions.」

Looking over the choices, he went ahead and increased his EXP pool seven times, immediately giving him only four hundred and eight thousand quintessence points left to spend. As he continued to look through the catalogue, he chose the skill imprint level two.

「Random Skill Imprint being rolled, please wait . . . 」

「Skill Imprint has been rolled. . . 」

「Your new Skill Imprint is . . . Hacker Lv2. 」

「With your hacking level coupled with your natural Technopathy with Altean Technology, you have a 25% buff towards any civilization's technology which is considered below Altean Tech. You only have a 10% Buff towards those above or around Altean, for instance the Galra Empire. Thanks to your natural ability, your Technopathy has evolved to interface with other tech, rather than just Altean.」

Nodding to himself, he seemed rather proud of himself. However, he quickly noticed that the imprint hadn't increased in price like the other ability and occupational upgrades did. He was rather curious, but only assumed that it believed itself balanced. Or if he bought a certain number of skills, that it would either disappear or increase in numeral value.

Letting out a light sigh, he began walking out of the room, just as the alarms began to blare. He could feel the ship moving, its hull creaking as it did. It was compensating its position in order to target something coming towards the planet.

He could only imagine that it was an enemy, one that Shiro was all too familiar with.