Chapter 1793: The Origins Of This Place
Larry, the old slug man, ended telling me quite a lot of things I didn"t know, he was the perfect info dumping machine, an old man desperate for someone else to talk with and be listened.
And so I listened to his words and learned much better the background of this Trial"s Story, and how everything came to be and existed.
Apparently, there was a war between two great Intergalactic Empires that set everything into motion towards what is happening today.
"Not just that, they blew up entire stars, it is said they weaponized suns themselves as weapons to kill each other, they simply couldn"t stand the thought of another great empire living alongside them," said Larry.
"Weaponized suns?! Isn"t that too excessive? The Universe is literally endless, and they were fighting so much for territory..." I sighed. "I guess these things will always be the same anywhere."
"Yeah! Hundreds of stars were extinguished, thousands of planets destroyed. And the survivors that managed to escape into the stars had nowhere to go, you know?" Larry sighed. "I never got to know the original planet where my race originated from because it was blasted hundreds of years ago!"
"That really sucks," I nodded. "But what happened to the other people? Like you?"
"Those people, like me, they were the survivors of a great war... At the end both Empires destroyed each other but, the aftermath of such a war left the entire Local Star Systems on utter poverty and chaos..." said Larry, crossing his arms. "Man, was it bad! Or so I"ve heard, I wasn"t born back then."
"I see... So that"s how everyone got here?" I asked.
"Yes, colonies from all around the galaxy had to gather together to survive, trying to find ways to extract resources and fuel ancient technology they sc.r.a.pped from the two empires," he said. "These people... they had no idea about s.p.a.ce traveling, you know? So it was a very confusing, and very hard times... Or so said my great grandpa."
"So the technology being used right now, was it all from these two empires?" I asked Larry.
"Indeed," he nodded. "Well, over the years we"ve improved on things. There are a few very talented races out there that love tinkering. There"s also he androids and robots, relics from these old times, some of them are newly made by the old ones, others, are just very old. They are also the way we"ve learned so much about the past. Though, this is not the only Colony. There are probably... at least fifty more all across the cosmos. People trying to just sc.r.a.p by."
"And so the necessity for the fuel of these machines from the empire gave rise to the mining companies for Starlight Crystals?" I wondered.
"Yes, indeed," he nodded. "They have become the greatest resource for the progression of our colonies and also well, our survival. That technology is what keep us alive. As you know, most planet in the universe are far from habitable, this planet might be a d.a.m.n desert but it"s actually one of the rare ones where we can live. The technology help us travel through s.p.a.ce, gather resources from planets that are hard to live on but have good stuff, and so on."
"And in between all of that, a lot of groups have been formed, right?" I wondered. "An entire new intergalactic society around these colonies, their colonization, and the Starlight Crystal Frenzy, looking for more of this valuable resource everywhere..."
"Yes, it is indeed a frenzy that has lasted several hundreds of years," nodded Larry. "I don"t know when we will run out of this crystal... as they say, the universe is boundless. But if we keep going like this, the universe might one day try to take what we took away from it, one way or another. And people ain"t going to like it!"
What did he mean with that?
So this entire setting is just the Wild West but in s.p.a.ce, with aliens, and with such a rich background.
For some reason it feels like I"ve read this in some book, but maybe that"s just because of how the overlapping themes are.
"Thank you for telling me all of this, Larry, I really had no idea of all these things," I said.
"No worries lad," he nodded. "Anyways, ware ya buying something or what?"
I was planning on buying some things, but he only sells rusty stuff and sc.r.a.p, even the weapons looked bad, so I decided to skip that and check better shops.
However, I was indeed buying something.
"Yeah, I"m taking that," I said, pointing at the Starlight Stone hanging by his wall.
"W-What?!" Larry screamed. "Can you afford it country boy?!"
"How much did you said it would cost?" I wondered.
"Hm... Something of that size, I mean, the cheapest would be like... seven thousand Starlights," he muttered. "And I"m giving you a discount because you listened to my ramblings!"
"Alright," I nodded. "Here."
I took out a bag full of Starlight Jewels, that should be more than enough to buy that thing.
They were reinforced by Benladra, so they had starlight energy inside.
"Woah! Where did you get that from?!"
"I stored it in my... Subs.p.a.ce Inventory."
"You have such an Ability?! Incredible, so you"re an Esper?"
"Esper? Err, yeah."
"I-I had no idea I was talking with an Esper! M-My bad..."
"Nothing to worry about Larry. I am interested in that stone, so would you sell it to me?" Although we had a lot of the "refined forms" they were nothing but replicas. I wanted to secure the real deal of it to inspect, a.n.a.lyze it, and then perhaps use it in some way.
I had the feeling that it might be a useful item for what"s to come, so getting it as soon as possible was the best move. And with this infinite money glitch, why not get it right away? "I-It"s more than enough..." Larry sighed in relief as he counted all the money. "I-I don"t know what to say! W-What"s your name, son?"
"Drake!" I said with a smile. "May I take it?"
"Yes, of course!" Larry said, quickly dragging himself to the stone. "Let me give it to you!"
As he was about to bring it to me...
BAAAM!
The door of the shop was kicked open as a group of five thugs entered, wearing cowboy clothes and carrying huge guns.
"Larry! Where the h.e.l.l are you old man?! I hope you finally got the money! That debt ain"t
going to pay itself you slimy old man!"
Debt?