Here's the economic cycle for free-to-play (F2P) players such as yourself:
Every day, you get 100 mist energy (ME). You use this ME to adventure in the Clockworks and do missions. While adventuring, you earn crowns, as well as minerals, materials, and sometimes items, that you can sell for additional crowns. When you save up about 7,000-9,000 crowns (depending on prices), then you can buy 100 crystal energy (CE), through the Energy Depot in the lower right corner of your screen. Repeat this again and again, to get as much crystal energy as you want. It does take a while, though.
For more information, read the wiki article "Energy".
Here's the economic cycle for free-to-play (F2P) players such as yourself:
Every day, you get 100 mist energy (ME). You use this ME to adventure in the Clockworks and do missions. While adventuring, you earn crowns, as well as minerals, materials, and sometimes items, that you can sell for additional crowns. When you save up about 7,000-9,000 crowns (depending on prices), then you can buy 100 crystal energy (CE), through the Energy Depot in the lower right corner of your screen. Repeat this again and again, to get as much crystal energy as you want. It does take a while, though.
For more information, read the wiki article "Energy".