First Contact
"Over here?" - "Over there!!" - "Come here. Where do I put this~?" - "Here's ready. Who else needs help?!" - "The perimeter is set and done, someone tells the Chief in Command~!" - "I feel lonely..." - "Here I am!" - "Here I come!" - "Here we are. What do you need?!..."
Many kinds of voices, all around the slowly forming base could be heard as lots and lots of people shouted around and helped each other. Not flooding the communication channel whose one and only reason to exist was thanks to Ciemnosc's commanding vehicle, which had been modified since before he left the stronghold's mini mansion back then to go back to the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect.
Of course, there was indeed a communications channel flood the first time, a few minutes after the students were given such unique items, and that made them want to try it nonstop. And thankfully they appeared. Otherwise Ciemnosc wouldn’t have it easy to show the punishments and repercussions for acting dumb and disobeying orders. It wasn’t too heavy at first, only that they were to be the building slaves of everyone until the week was over. Of course, they were still going to fight in case a battle broke out, no matter what.
But now, just a few hours later and with the evening quickly setting up as the dark, deep blue sky made its wonderful appearance, shrouding everyone with its resplendent obscurity yet light that needed neither stars nor moons to let the world know it was here.
From the distance, right about the middle but a little more towards the southern west within the encampment, this base. Ciemnosc was standing with his arms crossed in front of his shoulders, 3 of his teammates were with their bums on the ground without much snow and resting to his left and behind from there while Missa was standing up with him on his right; also behind him by a little.
“They really work, eh?” Missa said while looking at the cooperative students, there wasn’t a distinction between leading students mixed with the others. Though there were still a few left who still gave orders to set tents up and did nothing as they put on serious and concerned faces. But of course, they would then think it better and just join the rest thinking they would receive better little somethings from the Chief in Command’s serious heart. It was just that these seemed to be rather slow than other leading students or too unwilling to ‘let go’ of their status.
“Better than my first times, yes…” Ciemnosc narrowed his eyes a little while Missa narrowed her eyes along with a smile, feeling quite proud eh. But after watching a little more, Missa asked with her voice becoming really curious. “But why aren’t we building anything else? Many people have read your feats in the east, you know?”
“Tomorrow it will start. Remind them that it is prohibited to enter the Little Lake at late, dark hours. And also make sure they know that tomorrow they can take a rest there for the rest of the day, starting in the late morning.” Ciemnosc answered. Missa nodded to his words and then stepped back to keep on watching the people who were also basically under her commands work together to get all the things started.
After a little bit more time spent like that, Ciemnosc’s team turned around and went into the large tent right behind them, which was in front of the ‘main tent’ that already had some strange devices for the students, and a few arrays without them knowing in there.
Only when everything seemed to be finished, and so many tents could be seen within an invisible perimeter that was quite neat and comfy for all the tents that seemed mostly packed up together, with only a few paths here and there visible where only up to 3 people could be able to walk through side by side. And with the corners of the semi-square-shaped invisible perimeter also have quite a bit of space surrounding the tents by the corners.
And only after someone went over to Ciemnosc to inform him of everything, not knowing why so many little details were needed, did Ciemnosc finally go into the tent and took his own spot in between the other 4 personal bedrooms within the tent. It was a simple large, and tall tent with many corners to speak of, and it just had a total of 5 personal bedrooms to speak of with a tiny ‘living room’ to walk around with and wait or just talk around.
… Time passed, and it was already the next day, there wasn’t much to speak of, and, unbeknownst to the students themselves, their morale was so low to the point they even thought it was normal to feel ‘like this’: heavy and weathered. Not even knowing if it was because of the trip or because of the situation they were now in, the only thing they had as a positive thought and thing they had was that the snow made them feel comfortable.
So when the time came that they were all to take a trip to the Little Lake, following a safe route and being told to be extra silent about it, the students became more lively, from not being lively in the slightest though.
It was a long walk, as there was much more distance from these than it was for the stronghold of the past to the Little Lake. But it could still just be made in a few hours, but that also meant that they had to go from early in the morning to arrive in the late morning so that they could get as most of the warmth as they could, and return only when it was going to become cold.
On the other hand, as they left for the Little Lake, which they had already been warned and ‘taught’ a lot about what not to do since they were just a bit over ten of thousand kilometers away from the beginning of the Little Lake and were still closer to it than to the beginning of the deep waters of the Little Lake.
Ciemnosc was all alone left back at the base, he wasn’t worried though, and the students didn’t even think that much of the possibility of being attacked now, but those who did were quickly washing their thoughts away with the incredibly warm and so comfortable waters of the Little Lake.
Unlike at the beginning of the Little Lake, the spot they could take to ‘bath’ and play at the Little Lake was much wider and allowed for anyone who quickly learned to swim if they didn’t already know - to spread all around while keeping their limited range so that they wouldn’t perhaps be seen by an enemy scout or anything of the sort.
While they bathed and swam, Ciemnosc’s team even got to get their own free time as well within the waters. Ciemnosc himself took a long long walk with his feet and not on his commanding vehicle. Though he did take the now healed-up Cloudless Eagle to walk with him, sometimes flying but at a very, very low altitude to avoid being spotted.
Ciemnosc really took his time, taking very long walks way beyond the perimeter of the current, temporary base and doing nothing else. Well, that was when ruling out the many times he took out his Inscription Pen and began to let a ton of Inferior Powerful Stones underground or even just around, but hidden by the arrays themselves which they were empowering.
He didn’t have enough to build protective ones over and over again, though he was more than capable of doing even more than before when he would get extremely tired after setting up the protective arrays of the outposts back then.
In any case, until he found those mines and began replenishing his pockets with it. Giving of course a good deal of it to the Rocaloi Academy. Though he didn’t know how much could a mine of these make and what the condition for them in which they were mined the best, even if there was already a system set in the cultivation world, something told him that he could innovate it as soon as he came into contact with it.
Ciemnosc didn’t take too long, returning after 5 hours with the Cloudless Eagle going back to the Covert Space bag after having eaten up with it, sharing a roasted, large bull Creature with it before returning to the temporary base.
And when he returned, Ciemnosc got to look all around for a little, mainly using his Spirit Sense while having his eyes closed, moving here and there all around the encampment and the outside of it but still within the array’s range. He wasn’t just visualizing the next steps of the temporary base, but also looking for mines of Powerful Stones, one might never know…
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
But there was no mine under them, which was okay, and alright, considering that the Little Lake was really nearby and didn’t have much to offer with all the temperature taking place, snow already forming piles and layers of it on the other side. Before, that other side was ‘the side’, but has now become the ‘other side’, while being on the other side from before. How things change.
Ciemnosc was just wasting time and didn’t look with excitement. He could’ve just taken his commanding vehicle out and raced around trying to find new mines while things got ready and the temporary base was built, he was just wasting time while ‘relaxing’ a little bit on his own. His darkest, lifeless eyes were set on anything, making such things tremble, even if it was a goddamn rock or a tree trunk standing tall covered by snow.
And several hours later, when night had already come, and the cold of the Little Lake should’ve been unleashed, the tens of thousands of students returned to their cold base and the tents that they themselves pitched up. There was little to no sound within the returning students, who directly went to doze off and relax in their tents, some didn’t sleep for being too proud as cultivators but they did indeed become fully relaxed.
As for the large tent almost at the center, more towards the west, their owners lay flat in their own personal bedrooms with Ciemnosc already around in his own personal bedroom and slowly cultivating. The second day went by as peacefully as it began, more or less.
…On the third day, things got a bit busy, with the very beginning at around 4 AM having the students woken up by the loudly shouting leading students, which Ciemnosc could rely on for doing such things without needing to select a few others within the students to come to help up; for the time being.
As soon as the students woke up, the leading students rushed them to the outside of the temporary base’s perimeter, where Ciemnosc and his team were already there and he was on top of his commanding vehicle while the other 4 were with their hands behind their back. Looking so serious and ‘official’, they watched as tens of thousands of students all came to stand before them and only them; it was a rather unique feeling, to say the least.
Everyone was now awake, but it took a bit too much, especially with the fact that the students already had Ciemnosc’s innovative forms of communication, he was disappointed to know it was taking more than half an hour for them to form up in front of him just a few meters away from the temporary base’s perimeter.
“You are all late,” Ciemnosc spoke now, as he looked at the few still rubbing their eyes and mustering their will to wake up and open their eyes when facing Ciemnosc up on the commanding vehicle, the sun scorching the right side of their bodies and faces.
“As cultivators, you all can move with great precision and with the understanding of your surroundings, and that’s even so for those barely beginning to cultivate. But you, not even did you not rush to your positions after knowing you were late, you even dare to show your drowsy face and bags under your eyes. Do I have to remind everyone about their Power Energy and how to use it?” Ciemnosc rang in everyone’s ears without the use of the communications device.
“...” Missa, Fatima, Leen, and Gallah were looking at the crowd, now finding an emotion within them and showing the discontent that Ciemnosc’s words carry despite his face showing a clear indifference and as if he was dying, plainly expressionless.
Ciemnosc looked at the crowd, looking for nothing in particular. But despite his ‘okay’ cultivation base, even those few leading students at the Conflagrate realm didn’t feel like they could even speak a single exclamation, let alone half a word. His slightly pale lips moved, and that alone made the crowd’s skin numb and their pores flare open. “This will be added to your record as a whole but will be dealt with later.”
“Today, you will do some work to start preparing the construction of everything that is going to be built in the near future.” Ciemnosc gestured with his left hand all around to his left. The crowd moved their heads to their right and saw many places that had circles and a few other leading students were already there with certain documents in their hands, perhaps with instructions.
Ciemnosc did the same with his right hand, gesturing to his right and the crowd turning their heads to their left, where the same could be seen. Some looked back and saw even more of said things, while they also felt as if they noticed some disturbance in midair very far away.
“These places are the ones you will be working for the next several days. Some of you will be in charge of building a large storage building, which will be the most important project of all others. So those who are to be working on that will have to be fast and precise, accurate, and not fail once!” Ciemnosc’s eyes slowly changed, a little bit, and with a flash as if a blade had shone on his eyes for just a moment but nothing of the likes did, he didn’t even move his head or eyes.
“I have the authority to demote or promote you, but though I will be following the requirements of the academy for declaring some of you leading students…” Ciemnosc made a pause, on purpose, letting the whole crowd have their minds wake up never as fast as just now and also letting them anticipate to a high degree. “I will also decide if any of you no longer retains that status as long as I will it, and that could only be one of the weakest forms of punishment I will have.”
“...” Now, not only the ordinary students but the leading students were the ones who were looking straight in Ciemnosc’s direction with unclear expressions on their faces.
“I expect, at most, 2 weeks from the time that is today for the entire base to be built. At least that is so to the point that everyone here can have their own quarters, and some Craftsmaking buildings are built. The walls and the entirety of the base will be completed once we have not only more support but also much more land taken back from the hands of the enemy - the ‘major’ organizations that you might easily die to.”
Ciemnosc looked at the crowd, for a few last times, before turning around and getting his team to walk towards the crowd, already pointing at others. He said while entering his commanding vehicle at his own, slow and peaceful pace. “My team is in charge of supervising the processing of materials and construction during the day while I’m going to search for new possible mines; in the future, those who do well won’t only be given status.”
Thud… Trckrr, trckrr trckrr trckrr, trckrr trckrr trckrr trckrr.
Ciemnosc finally entered his commanding vehicle and took off, his motor making the students wake up, and leading students to fall pensive for a bit. Ciemnosc’s team began walking to the crowd and, without the slightest of hesitation, began shouting and ordering the process on and on to move the students towards those spots - from a few hundred to even thousands depending on the type of processed materials and construction for later.
“Left-wing, start moving to the left! Get to a spot and get working already!” - “Right wing keep moving! Don’t stop nor move about aimlessly. Just step onto a spot and be instructed by a leading student!” - “Don’t waste any more time! Waste even 10 seconds of the leading students’ time and you will be punished by the Chief in Command’s regulations!” - “Central wing, move now, come on! Fill up the spots, and don’t you dare slow down!!...”
Things got quickly on the move, with tens of thousands of students moving all at the same time and with the same purpose. Though they didn’t expect the first thing they were to do was going to ‘process materials’ and that’s that, and even less construction outside the sect when they could just go take over a village and let the villagers build their new homes to the side.
Yet, without them being clearly understanding of it at the beginning, the students were all getting to know each other even during the nights, which were their only breaks for they had to work all day and part of the evening. Of course, the only thing that would get them tired was mental, for doing the stuff that they were doing was too little compared to fighting Creatures or even just physically training hard with one another.
Doing the processing of materials and learning the construction ‘instructions’— which they didn’t know was ‘for idiots’ - only took their minds into a brand new role they didn’t expect. But by the time a few days went by, their weirdness became a very ‘mm, okay’ daily livelihood to have.
During the day, even as they went from place to place to collect raw materials and to move the processed material towards the construction sites, meeting other spots’ students who were all now ‘okay’ builders and decent living material processors. Their night was spent a little bit with more cultivation and just chatting with other students.
One of the things that heavily influenced this behavior and this quick ‘getting used to’ situation was without a doubt the implementation of the leading students to work with the rest of the ordinary students and those who didn’t listen in the first 2 days, being given a warning in their first; were demoted for real and placed as ‘ordinary’ students once their Chief in Command came back from his mine searching drives outside.
Several days went by like this, and though Ciemnosc and the 3 beauties didn’t really engage in anything as remotely as lewd or sexual as what he did with Missa the night before departing to this mission, part of an operation altogether. They did sleep together a few times, their bare bodies against each other, sometimes even leaning on each other during the nights in public. And he wasn’t shy of the 3 beauties bringing outside beauties from their large tent to accompany him.
Their attention wasn’t put on having Ciemnosc’s baby or his love in any case, and the girls they bought were seemingly specifically picked. They were quite polite and respectful of Ciemnosc’s wants. Even if he just wanted to bury his face between their smol or bicc breasts and lie on their thin or thick laps, he was spoiled to no end.
Then… one day… still during the afternoon, a couple of hours before Ciemnosc would come back… his commanding vehicle was returning fast and directly towards the temporary base, still in the midst of being built up. While all within the temporary base, within its smaller perimeter, compared to where they were building all around, outside of it; the tens of thousands of students and troopers were already in formation and awaiting to see an enemy as they saw their Chief in Command return early.
…