Abyss Crystal
The Abyss Crystal is an object containing the immense power of darkness, created from the Black Mage awakening as the Transcendent of Light. The Abyss Crystal is capable of devouring anything, including the power of higher beings, such as the Transcendents or Ancient Gods, allowing the wielder to use that power for themselves.
Before the Heroes of Maple revamp in the Dreamer Update, the Abyss Crystal was known as the Transcendence Stone - an object of primordial power which had existed since the beginning of creation. Similar to the Abyss Crystal, the Transcendence Stone held immense power, although its ability could only affect Transcendents alone.
Story (Post-Remaster)
The lore regarding the Abyss Crystal was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the Dreamer Update.
History
Origins
The Abyss Crystal was created as a result of the Black Mage awakening as a Transcendent of Light wielding the power of darkness. As part of his plan to remove the Transcendents of Maple World, the Black Mage used the Abyss Crystal to steal the power of time from Rhinne during his invasion of the Temple of Time. After transferring the power of time into himself, the Black Mage hid the Abyss Crystal inside a subspace between Maple World and a parallel world called Friends World, intending to keep it safe as its power slowly recharged over centuries.
Freud's Search
After the Black Mage was sealed away by the Heroes, Freud was directed by Alicia to the ruins of Abraxas in order to find a way to protect the failing balance of Maple World. By studying the records left behind in the ruins, Freud was able to learn about the creation of the Abyss Crystal, as well as the fact that the Black Mage had hidden it away in a subspace between Maple World and Friends World. Realizing that the Black Mage would one day reclaim the Abyss Crystal and take Alicia's powers, thereby destroying the balance of the world completely, Freud began making preparations for the Heroes to stop him in the future, as he was unable to break through the dimensional barrier between Maple World and Friends World.
Heroes of Maple
Centuries later, the Heroes undertook the mission to carry out Freud's will by finding the Abyss Crystal. Simultaneously, Damien was tasked with finding the Abyss Crystal in order to extract the powers of Alicia for the Black Mage. However, Damien secretly planned to take Alicia's Transcendent powers for himself and manipulated the Heroes into locating the Abyss Crystal for him. The Heroes infiltrated the Cosmic Museum in Friends World, where Dr. Lim gave a presentation on the Abyss Crystal, which he had named Infinitasium. He explained that the stone caused radio waves and magnetic fields to distort in its presence, as well as having its mass change each time that it was measured. He concluded that it was an object which defied the laws of physics, and that he had decided to put it on display in the Cosmic Museum for the public. Luminous, Phantom, and Mercedes then snuck deeper into the museum and discovered it on display. However, the Abyss Crystal's darkness began reacting with Luminous' inner darkness, causing his powers to fall out of control. Just as the Heroes calmed Luminous down, Damien appeared and stole the Abyss Crystal, which he absorbed into his Sword of Destruction in order to contain Alicia's powers within. Using Alicia's power, Damien began absorbing the life force of Maple World until the Heroes managed to defeat him. Following the battle, however, Alicia was overtaken by the darkness of the Abyss Crystal, and as a result, she was consumed by the Black Mage's will as she began draining Maple World's vitality against her will. After the Heroes subdued her, Alicia revealed that her Transcendent power was beginning to fade, as it had grown deeply intertwined with the Abyss Crystal, such that she would soon lose her ego entirely and become part of the crystal. As Maple World would never return back to normal without the Transcendent of Life, Alicia decided to scatter her power across the land by destroying the Abyss Crystal, thereby revitalizing the land.
Properties and Use
The Abyss Crystal is an object of immense power, with the power to absorb and hold the power of beings such as Transcendents or Ancient Gods. It defies all known laws of physics, causing radio waves and magnetic fields to distort in its presence, as well as having its mass change each time that it gets measured. The properties of the Abyss Crystal are extremely similar to the World Heart, which has the power to strip a higher being of their power and absorb it as its own. The Abyss Crystal is also similar to the draining crystals used by Gerand Darmoor and his Apostles, which are speculated to be offshoots of the Godspheres - which, in turn, are modeled after the World Heart. However, there are certain notable differences between the Abyss Crystal and the World Heart. Unlike the World Heart, the Abyss Crystal has a limitation to its ability to absorb the power of higher beings, as it cannot absorb power again without recharging for a certain amount of time. Although the Black Mage had stored it in a subspace for centuries, it is possible that the crystal had already recharged before then. Additionally, whereas the World Heart was created by the Overseers, the Abyss Crystal was formed in the wake of the Black Mage's awakening as the dark Transcendent of Light. It remains unknown whether the formation of the Abyss Crystal is unique to the Black Mage's awakening, or whether a similar substance could form when another Transcendent awakens, such as Darmoor.
However, when Tana awakened as the Transcendent of Light, no such substance was created as a result. This could be because Tana awakened with the power of creation, whereas the Black Mage awakened with the power of destruction. It is also possible that the crystal was created because the Black Mage was a mortal-born Transcendent, whereas Tana was immortal, or because the formation of the Abyss Crystal - an object capable of defying the Overseers' will - was in response to him choosing to accept the destiny of a Transcendent with the intention of defying the Overseers. When the power of a higher being is absorbed into the Abyss Crystal, that power remains tethered to the crystal. Because of this, the user's ability to wield that power is limited to them being in possession of the stone, meaning that the user themselves does not inherit the power of that being. As an example, Damien - despite his claim that he had become the Transcendent of Life - did not truly awaken as a proper Transcendent, as those powers were still linked to Alicia. Additionally, if a higher being has been fully absorbed into the Abyss Crystal, their powers will slowly grow intertwined with the crystal, such that they will eventually lose their ego entirely and become part of the crystal altogether. As the Abyss Crystal contains the power of the Black Mage, a being absorbed within the crystal will slowly be consumed by the Black Mage's will, as seen when Alicia was corrupted and began draining Maple World's life force. The only known way to halt the assimilation process is to destroy the crystal entirely, which will scatter the absorbed being's power.
Story (Pre-Remaster)
History
Origins
The Transcendence Stone was created eons ago after the fall of the Ancient Gods, when the universe was remade by the Overseers under the three laws of light, life, and time. Through unknown means, the Transcendence Stone came to reside in Friends World, which was separated and isolated from Maple World and Grandis by a dimensional barrier.
Freud's Search
After the Black Mage was sealed away by the Heroes, Freud divined the future with the last Shamanesses of Azwan and created a prophecy: "As the final battle approaches, the unshackled wolf will devour the World Tree." Freud believed that the other Heroes would be able to stop the impending threat, and so he decided to leave the future in their hands. Believing that the Transcendence Stone was the key to averting the threat to Maple World, Freud attempted to locate it by traveling to the Sanctum of Abraxas, an Ancient God who had been tasked with watching over the graves of the other gods. There, he discovered Abraxas' relic, an airship called the Eye of Abraxas, which had the power to locate anything. Using the relic, Freud determined that the Transcendence Stone was on Friends World. However, as he was unable to pierce through the dimensional barrier, he enchanted the relic such that only his successor would be able to use it and obtain the Transcendence Stone.
Heroes of Maple
Centuries later, Evan and the other Heroes used the Eye of Abraxas to travel to Friends World, which was slowly merging back with Maple World because of the White Mage of Friends World. In the Cosmic Museum in Seoul, the Heroes infiltrated the Cosmic Museum, where the Transcendence Stone was being held on display. At the museum inauguration, Dr. Lim gave a presentation on the Transcendence Stone, which he had named Infinitasium. He explained that the stone caused radio waves and magnetic fields to distort in its presence, as well as having its mass change each time that it was measured. He concluded that it was an object which defied the laws of physics, and that he had decided to put it on display in the Cosmic Museum for the public. Phantom, Luminous, and Mercedes discovered the Transcendence Stone, whose power reacted to the residual Transcendent powers inside Luminous, causing him to pass out. After he awoke, he and the other Heroes began arguing about what to do with the stone, which soon devolved into a fight between Phantom and Luminous. In the chaos, Damien was able to sneak into the museum and steal the Transcendence Stone from them. Back on Maple World, Damien used the Transcendence Stone to destroy Alicia's physical body and absorb her powers into the Transcendence Stone. He then used her powers over life to drain the life force out of Maple World, though he was soon stopped by the Heroes and the Demon. In the aftermath of the battle, the Heroes shattered the Transcendence Stone, thereby scattering Alicia's life force across Maple World and revitalizing the ruined land.
Properties and Use
The Transcendence Stone is an object of immense power, capable of both controlling and destroying Transcendents. It defies all known laws of physics, causing radio waves and magnetic fields to distort in its presence, as well as having its mass change each time that it gets measured. Unlike the Seal Stones, which require the desperate wish of many to activate, the Transcendence Stone does not require any special conditions to be satisfied in order to use. As a result, any mortal in possession of the Transcendence Stone can use its power as a weapon against any of the Transcendents. A user of the Transcendence Stone can destroy the physical body of a Transcendent and absorb their power inside the stone. It is unknown whether a user can absorb the powers of multiple Transcendents, although given that the Transcendence Stone had become highly unstable after Damien used it to absorb the life force of Maple World, it seems that there is a limit to the amount of power that it can hold. Because the power of the Transcendent remains tethered to the stone, the user will not awaken as a proper Transcendent, as those powers are still linked to the original Transcendent whose powers were stolen. Because of this, the user will presumably remain free from being controlled by the Overseers. However, this also creates a limitation to the user, which is that they will lose access to the Transcendent's powers if they lose possession of the Transcendence Stone.
Trivia
- Although the fate of the Transcendence Stone remained ambiguous in GMS, the original KMS dialogue specified that the Transcendence Stone was specifically shattered into pieces, thus allowing Alicia's life force to scatter across the world. This detail was carried over into the Heroes of Maple revamp, in which the Abyss Crystal was destroyed in a similar way for the same purpose.