How Does It Work?

"Sect Master, may we commence?" Pastor Erquiles called out lightly and softly, which he couldn't help with his voice becoming so low. He visibly turned suddenly hundreds of years older and had already gray and white hair strands taking over half of his hair. Wrinkles appeared all over his body with his forearms, face, and neck having the most from everywhere else.

With the entourage from the Moribund Yearning Cult following him and standing beside him, the pastor looked fragile as he couldn’t even stand properly, hence remained lying down on a coffin-like seat that could be moved just like one moves their puppets and corpses, but mostly how one controls their own puppets as these could even move rather agilely.

The Eagerburning Flames Sect’s grand ancestor, grand elder, and most powerful ancestor were around. While there was only the grand ancestor of the Preferential Light Justice Sect that was present from their sect accompanied by some elders and ancestors as well.

“That… where is sect master Yolin? Why is she not coming? And what about the sec-” Sect master Holoriu spoke with doubt, looking at the ice-cold grand ancestor Pesela who didn’t seem like she was going to say anything at all. Instead. It was the Eagerburning Flames Sect’s ancestor, ancestor Karen, who interrupted Holoriu’s words.

“Oh, they have been all lovely together. They are barely seen nowadays. Ever since that political marriage, it has been as if they were worried that they wouldn’t have some legacy, ohohoho.” Karen spoke with some joy from her words. But everybody here knew of Holoriu’s fixation with the Preferential Light Justice Sect and the desire to become so ‘attached’ to it as it is within everyone else’s hearts as well.

“I see,” sect master Holoriu gave a dazed-off response before shaking off his head just a tiny bit. Then looked in the Moribund Yearning Cult’s general direction and suddenly answered them. “Yes, of course, we can start now that everybody is here.”

Sect master Holoriu spread his arms far and wide. There weren’t just a few groups of the upper echelons of the members of the alliance. There were also their subordinate organizations that were around and extra politely behaving. In a sense, if they were to be asked to kneel and lick some feet, they would be asking for how long so as to not bother their master.

And it was now like heaven for these people, as they were invited not just for the sake of watching their masters show off to each other their incredible findings and technology like it has been, incessantly, for hundreds of thousands of years since the ancient times perhaps.

They were now actually forming part of the alliance in a way, still under their masters, respectively, but now they were being incorporated in such a way that they could basically ask for a thing or 2 and their masters would see if that was possible - in short that is.

Basically like a war rewarding-like system, as ever since the Rocaloi Academy made its appearance in the Region, the 4 ultra, heavily respected major organizations have been more restless than chicks with their heads ripped off by a naughty predator who left the rest of their bodies all fine and alright.

It wasn’t a secret, it was a total failure in trying to apprehend that criminal scum called ‘Ciemnosc’, but they didn’t know it would’ve been so much of a change, to even and for the first time at that - include them into the meeting of not just one major organization with another but of all 4 together!

If that was so, of course, they wouldn’t have just sent their members to aid. They would have caught the criminal scum themselves without any trouble! Wouldn’t it have been even better now? But they were also very glad about the Rocaloi Academy though.

Truth be told, and this not being much of a secret between the subordinate organizations themselves, they were all looking with bright eyes to the ‘true west’, to the Rocaloi Academy. If there was someone strong enough to make the 4 major organizations send a messenger as soon as news of them is known, then that just means it is some serious stuff!!

But, before they could even expect pressure from the 4 major organizations, and that was even more so true for the subordinate organizations right behind the major organizations with at least their one leader being at the Obsidiafying realm, they were instead treated ‘mellowly’ and in no time at all, everyone was invited in for a little surprise. Everybody knew it. War was coming, but this time they didn’t expect it to be so different.

It was to either go or die before the rest of the survivors from a subordinate organization would march to war after being ‘convinced’, but with the surfacing of the Rocaloi Academy, they were no longer even asked about the war and. Instead, were given a little gift and a ‘prenote’ of a brand new system to be fighting in the war and competing against other fellow subordinate organizations for better merit and recognition from the tetra alliance.

In a way, even if they were no longer able to think about joining the Rocaloi Academy in search of a better future as the disciples and believers of the major organizations spoke of the academy after coming back, they could now expect these major organizations to change and, possibly, to… turn over a new leaf?!

Meanwhile, the sect master, pastor, and the other 2 sects’ entourage were simply thinking of how easier it was going to be to give out waste and the remains of their resources to some poor people while they die for it and even more so to gain more of it; it was a vicious circle they very much welcome every subordinate organization to join them for.

Everyone was feeling good, and that was enough for each of them, more or less.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

And so, entourages of the major organizations and single individuals at the Obsidiafying realm, direct subordinates of the former, began flying towards the towering brand new building’s insides. The lot of them went down and entered from the entrance from which many large and wide trucks loaded resources nonstop, coming in and out quickly despite the large tens and tens of tons it carried with it, dropping it inside and then coming back out to repeat.

As they went through the ‘small’ entrance compared to the huge cube’s width and height as a whole, they could right away notice that their vision darkened for just a couple of moments, before clearing up as if all lights inside were being lit up at the same time and smoothly. And once those lights were all lit up, an ever so gigantic one room-building could be seen all around them, with bright red colored pillars within the walls and steel color for the walls, ceiling, and floor.

It wasn’t just one floor though. There were possibly several, maybe at least 10 calculating by how towering tall the cube looked from the outside and looking around to see just how awful the difference was with the truck unloading in a place that took only over 1/5th of the whole first floor and where some kind of complex system for transporting all these resources and materials on conveyors that went up, down and circles on one sole floor and on each.

And that was a really large amount of free space being used, yet, the rest of it all was being used by the Craftspeople on this floor, while the rest of the floor would all be just the same, of course. There could be seen with their own coats of either steel, bright red or white color, working on whatever they wanted without separating the type of profession of their choosing.

A whole lot of Obsidiafying realm cultivators went through a few of the Craftspeople working hard around, the latter completely ignoring the former, as they couldn’t believe they would ever receive so much attention, and love, from their major organization!

They thought that the ‘job’ of being a Craftsman or Craftswoman was over now, declining to a point where no ‘saving it’ could be done, and with some of those who were already ‘masters’ themselves thinking already about choosing to silently die until their ‘short’ lifespans collected their life out of this world at last.

But in the less thinkable moment and situation, they were all together from the 4 major organizations, called back to not just ‘try’ something really powerful once and then let it in the hands of others to mass produce it as it always is with their own major organization. No, it was a completely different thing, and they were now glad they resisted the idea of deserting or wasting their remaining time doing nothing until death itself approached and claimed them.

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As soon as they were given instructions, though it was similar to before still, they were still incredibly shocked, astounded, and feeling so inspired by the clever and last-longing design of the cube’s interiors that were practically made for Craftspeople that they didn’t give it any single care and simply nodded heads faster than chicks pecking on yummy rice grains.

And since that day not too long ago, these masters of all major organizations have been hard at work, not for the sake of researching though - but to replicate what a certain little kid had done.

How could that be? Every single one of them had hundreds of years of experience, and even the oldest ones at almost 1,000 years old and so old they could already have half their bodies in a dead state with incredible array formation knowledge. Compared with all that, how can a little kid compare?! But, whatever, the gadgets and contraptions that were given to them were so interesting that they didn’t mind losing some hours in such simply to gain inspiration from.

But as their ‘study’ for fun began and continued, they slowly became awed. There wasn’t any instruction to read from and to try and understand where the shit did these things had their origin come from. All they could do, in the end, before beginning to seriously try to replicate these thingies, was to wonder to themselves if this was really a little kid’s work? Considering they were so ‘strange’ and ‘unorthodox’ yet with the original piece being so… damn efficient and true?

… As the alliance members made their way through the lot of hard working Craftspeople, many directly felt amazed and at ease seeing these people work so much for their alliance and even more so when knowing that their technology and processing of ‘raw materials and resources’ were being in the good hands of these capable people.

They then finally arrived at the center of the first floor. The middle had a sort of slightly oval-shaped encirclement made by technological, mechanical controls and buttons. If one from Ciemnosc’s army was to be left alive and see these panels and buttons, with there even being some levers and compartment that one had to grab from and pull… they would notice the obvious attempt at replicating Ciemnosc’s simple command centers on his outposts and stronghold.

There were way too many buttons for it all to make sense, and the levers that were below facing those in front of the panels were even more awkward. One couldn’t stand too close because some levers were either short or long, but they were all placed together and in really uncomfortable places. On the other hand, there were a total of 3 ‘tablets’ that were the size of an ordinary long tv screen in the middle of the north, east, and west from the middle where these panels were - while the south was the ‘walking entrance’ to come into or out of it all.

Step, step, step, step, step.

In any case, as the alliance members and subordinate of such stepped into it, the sect master of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect was the one to seemingly take the spot where some kind of ‘leader’ would be standing on and with easy access to most buttons and levers, as well as those little compartments that one needed to pull form.

“Hm,” sect master Holoriu looked at a few subordinate Obsidiafying realm cultivators with a grin, he then began saying white grabbing at an awkwardly uneven rectangular cell phone like but a bulky device with an awfully thick cable attaching it to the panels. At the very least, it could move around the panels as the cable was going into the panels in a section that had a long opening going from one extreme of the panels at the entrance on the south to the other.

“Check this out, it’s brand new from our Craftspeople and it only needs 2 arrays to be used.” While everyone looked at him, sect mater Holoriu began talking to the small device that was almost as big as his hand, making it difficult to grab it even for himself. “I want the teams in charge of the Colorful Claws to come with their product and show it to our guests, hurry up.”

“Hm, these things are really awkward to use, but they are useful.” Said the experienced sect master Holoriu who seemed a bit like another person while speaking to the device. Everyone else could also feel awkward and even a bit disgusted to use something similar to a ‘mortal’s’ thing.

Quickly though, a large group of Craftspeople with deadly blood eyes, haggard faces, really messy hair, and even foul-smelling hing of raw materials, resources, and the use of fire as well as smelting scents oozing off their bodies came down the stars beside the unloading section of the first floor and walked up to the alliance’s entourage as quick as possible once spotting them.

“Sect master, it is a great honor to see you he-” The leading Craftsman from the Craftspeople’s group spoke out, his neck bending over to show some courtesy. But the sect master swung his arm in the air to stop him and said instead by interrupting the former. “No need for pleasantries, we are with our guests, so feel more comfortable in order for you to explain better.”

“Ah…” The Craftsman felt a bit weird, but ah, he still nodded and said with a light voice. “Yes.”

“Sirs and ma’ams, this is my team, they are the ones responsible for re-creating the then named ‘Colorful Claws’ that the criminal scum stole from us and created his own erroneous version of without the sect’s consent.” The Craftsman spoke, nobody noticed the hateful envy under his tone better than the other Craftspeople behind him huddled together, but the rest of the ‘guests’ and the upper echelons of his sect only took it for granted that the criminal scum was criminal scum.

“Indeed, how despicable that criminal scum to steal so much from his own sect!” A sharp, male voice sounded, giving the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect’s entourage a good feeling and causing them to nod a lot, mmm. Then more voices sounded, with some just plainly ball-licking the shit out of the sect without actually being their subordinate organization.

“I thank every sir and ma’am here for their words. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll show you the actual and even better true version of this claw armor weapon.” The Craftsman gave a charming smile, in his head, and from his back a few other Craftspeople began moving around while carrying over a large device holding a much larger gauntlet that Ciemnosc had created before alongside the one that Ciemnosc actually made.

“There you go kid, haha, show us the actual weapons!” - “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You all must really feel betrayed by your original product being stolen, congratulations for recuperating your honor!” - “Way to go, now show us some real weapons that the kid couldn’t even compare…”

As the voices went on and on from the Obsidiafying realm subordinates, the Craftspeople began to place assemble a mobile desk in front of the panels and in front of the alliance’s members. On top of it, they showed first the Colorful Claw that Ciemnosc made in the middle of a stage in a stadium, while the replica of such was placed to its right.

The former looked bright and spotless still, with some obvious and defined marks of being hit really hard by other weapons and possibly some machinery even. But it was completely fine and not even the nails on it were that much affected. Only the sharpest edges were made a little edgeless and slightly blunt.

But it still had all of what it looked like when it was recently made, with apparently not a single error nor trace of failure visible on it even for the ignorant of such advanced Craftsmaking. Then there was the replica, oh boy, it was a disaster just as making the same thing but ‘newer’ yet only ending up making it worse and with the worst intentions possible.

It was exactly like that, the colors of the replica matched the real thing, while the replica was about 6 times larger than the original. And the latter didn’t have what the former did, which was a lot of straps with needles that had hooks twisted s that one wouldn’t be able of taking it off oneself even if the enemy were to be pulling from the gauntlet. It was noticeably bigger, and it could be seen that anyone could grab onto it easily.

However, for such a heavy weapon, who would dare to grab it in the middle of a fight? Or even worse, a battle where one could die at any moment without even knowing?

Still, the needles’ hooks were there for the replica’s user to put on and bury all over their arms, from the elbow to the shoulder blades. While the entire ‘claw gauntlet’ would reach up to one’s whole forearm. It was literally just a large gauntlet, a huge hammer shaped with a human’s hands that didn’t even have nails to speak of. It had become a blunt weapon that one swung around easily by just swinging around.

It was good, in that case, but compared to the one before…

“This is our real product,” the Craftsman leader of the group began speaking about the ‘true’ scientific marvelous piece. “Anyone can wear it, even the weak ones at the Link Consolidation realm, it has 3 arrays inside of it that allow the gauntlet to be easily handled around by anyone who wears it, not just those with great physical strength.”

“When these needles go into the user’s body, it begins suctioning and returning the blood from different needles. These tubes over here are directly connected to a massive array. It was discovered a few ten years ago that the constant connection of one’s blood with an item can make it somewhat… subservient. Hence, we are now using this method to allow anyone to use it without problems. The only problem is if one is too slow to retrieve or move- I’m sorry, I meant if someone is slow to retrieve or swing their ‘Massive Palm’ around in time.”

The Craftsman smiled big time, showing his canines and all, before continuing in an even more excited mood. “This will help one stay with their Massive Palms, while an enemy or various of them pulling on it will definitely be painful. If a Spirit Gathering realm cultivator uses it, they will be unstoppable, and always unharmed by the enemy no matter how many there are!”

“...” - “...” - “... …” The entourages from the Eagerburning Flames Sect and the Preferential Light Justice Sect were silent. While the Moribund Yearning Cult chose to be silent. As for the sect master of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect. There was only a facepalm visible on his face as he slowly began to give the Craftsman murderous eyes.

…