A Bit Of It All

When going over the basically-all-flora section, Ciemnosc was met with a lot of backs. Nobody was facing him so there was no one to notice him walking into the entire place, where so early in the morning only a few tens were around. He also hadn't even gotten his breakfast yet. But he still wanted to come here first despite the rebelling, disobedient rumbling tummy below his collarbone.

And though it can’t be said that he was disappointed at all, what he found himself in was definitely not that great. As he moved around the place, most of the people here were about to become adults or had already reached 16 to 18 years old for that matter. So he was just a wimpy kid entering their territory out of nowhere, not everyone carried detecting devices or tools on them.

Simultaneously, the teacher of the current class wasn’t paying attention to him, but that was okay. Many others like Ciemnosc come here to take a look and then leave when they see it is nothing as exciting and nice looking as going training under the sun…

Well… Ciemnosc couldn’t deny such beauty of training was really nice. But all he could care about now was to take care of finding a seat that was a bit farther away and practicing on these herbs and plants for ‘scientific’ purposes before doing the same for his own, hidden preferred herbs and plants and so on.

After looking around for another 15 minutes, Ciemnosc sat in a distant spot from them but not in a corner, simply away from most other people around. The teacher and they all turned their scrutinizing heads to look at him as if evaluating whether this non-ner was worth carrying over the nerd side of the class.

Ciemnosc gave everyone a fleeting glance before starting to take out the tools around, immediately getting an idea for what most could be used, and furthermore with his own ideas. But there still being some he didn’t even know what purpose they could have outside the research of plants and so on.

After testing his movements with the tools around, quite ordinary and not really ‘cultivator related’ at all like he was probing his body with the swords and blades yesterday, Ciemnosc went over to the container in front of the ‘teacher’s’ desk and grabbed a lot of stalks, a little from each different type and color of flora.

Ignoring gazes yet again, he sat down and placed the herbs and plants on his table, then began studying their differences and smells as well as probing with his fingertips and tasting a bit here and there; cleaning his yolks with a bit of water and a rug that was also a part of the ‘tools’ in this study section.

Basically, all that was expected to be done. There were more bitter tastes than sweet, but there were still sweet ones, and very nice yet not cloying. Some even had a bloody taste, which made a curious Ciemnosc tilt his head and more so after proving the same taste several times later. Some had smooth stems, while others even had insects within them, even after being cut off from the ground.

Some had a scent that was not too obvious, others that needed to be pressed on so that some liquid would come out, and their scent would magnify, but some others didn’t even need for one to get close to as their scent could travel a few meters away. Ciemnosc had to enclose them with a glass container against the table for those smelly ones, even if they were good as they’ll be a hindrance to his studies.

Ciemnosc then finally began to move his hands around with tools in them this time, selecting herb after herb, not for differentiating them in the future after putting a name on them but for simply trying to figure out how they worked, reacted and if they were alive even after being cut off, not watered and some even with plagues or ‘buddies’ living on one’s flat.

In the end, Ciemnosc spent 3 hours more than expected and lost 2 hours of physical training, which ended up with him spending 4 extra hours in the night on the open training grounds, which would also count as him sleeping outside of his little cave and he couldn’t repeat that much; but that was for Ciemnosc of the future to worry about.

Since right then, early in the morning, Ciemnosc was fascinated as he discovered many things. Despite being shown a few flowers that he always sent to his Mother every few months without waiting for a year or so like most other families do, with his Sister’s help, Ciemnosc had never even thought anything of the little bits of life around him - like now.

In the end, it resulted that these plants were still very much alive despite being cut off from their birthplace, ey - like him. And the most easiest way to tell was by how his ‘awareness’ caught on to that flow of pure energy running within the plants and herbs’ bodies. But he could only tell about such whenever he came into direct contact with their whole bodies using both hands and having already made a cut on their stem or petals.

It was even better if they secreted any kind of liquid, even if it was normal stuff for flora in the cultivation world and had nothing to do with the unique properties of each plant or herb, which was also what was called the ‘medicinal’ effect, power or enhancement’ which was told to be most important for when one was not just creating the legendary ‘pills’ for cultivation but also for all alchemy itself.

Of course, that was very far away from any kind of level they were in and would be in even tens of years to come. But Ciemnosc wasn’t worried. He had almost 400 years of lifespan according to the old man Villosco.

For now, Ciemnosc is stuck to experimenting with the plants. And he even found out a few strange sensations overlap his body whenever he took out some medicinal power from some herbs and plants, sometimes simply touching it with his fingers and squeezing them in between his yolks, while other times even tasting it due to the difference of energy flow.

Each time that he was feeling much weirdness, he immediately realized that it was akin to whenever he ate without waiting for his Sister to arrive very late back home. And when she came back, she was all so sad about missing dinner together. As such, from a certain point and heron, Ciemnosc began ‘asking’ gently the plants and herbs if he could go ahead and taste them…he wasn’t a harlot.

Ciemnosc naturally gained strange glares, of course. But they were already strange being several years older and with nobody trying to do just this. In fact, it didn’t even seem like they even felt or at least knew of such a sensation; Ciemnosc could only think of how low in all kinds of study this place actually was, worse than he thought and not necessarily because the sect was at its most ‘base foundations’.

In any way, Ciemnosc seemed to have learned the ‘way’, the way to understand the plants and herbs and not their composition and several different functions for some of ‘these’ and some of ‘those’. With such a brand new technique around, Ciemnosc’s speed of work increased. But he still took extra hours around that he didn’t even notice when groups of both new and old and experienced flora-fanatics like him surrounded him in groups and a few hundred people were within the ‘class’.

That late afternoon and up to almost the late hours of the night, the latest for that matter, Ciemnosc trained his blade skill to a better grade. He didn’t meet the other female core disciple that didn’t take off her shirt the other day. Probably because she had bountiful breasts, and a meaty square shaped butt, but Ciemnosc wasn’t judging, nuh uh.

This time and forth, Ciemnosc was smarter and bold. He went to a spot that was coincidentally brand new as if opened for him, which was surrounded by shirtless beauties ‘dancing’ on the ground and air of the desert, secreting nice aromas that Ciemnosc couldn’t help smiling from time to time, a charmer.

In any case, the thing about swords and blades - yes that too. Ciemnosc gained a better control of his feet during the training after the study of flora was completed for the day. His thoughts were also taken by how they worked and were really similar to a living being’s body, just that they were like sleeping intelligent beings that no one could talk to - not even with his ‘great’ ‘awareness’.

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With that kind of training occurring with such knowledge being shared between the different types of paths in cultivation, Ciemnosc was affected in a beneficial way without a doubt. And his training for any one of the two was enhanced as well.

…The next day, Ciemnosc went over to the dissection and…cooking of animals’ bodies.

Unlike before, thanks to both his mild reputation as a flora nerd and a blade and sword user, Ciemnosc was given glances that weren’t inquisitive, at last. But he was still doubted. After all, he was devilishly handsome and charming, and even cute girls were afraid and wary of him…should Ciemnosc even wink at them, their soaked panties would fall off in a jiffy…too dangerous for their ‘free’ and ‘fun’ plan of ‘life’.

Getting to work right away, Ciemnosc first went to look at a small animal, and knowing it was going to either be injected with something and never open its eyes again or be touched around nonstop without a respect for its dignity, the large, red haired ferret in Ciemnosc’s hands behaved obediently.

OF course, it may also be because of Ciemnosc’s cold body and hands as well as feeling strangely at ease with this large animal that had just carried him to a flat surface. The ferret didn’t try running away, giving Ciemnosc not a sight that belonged to newbies as he began patting the ferret as much as he wanted.

There were a lot of ‘buddies’ from the training regimen of noon to the evening, so Ciemnosc was well left alone for the little bit of respect he has made, and it was like such that even after today when he didn’t end this large ferret’s life and dissected it, others even took the initiative to not allow others to even touch it, let alone dissect it.

On the other hand, on his first day, Ciemnosc began very carefully testing the ordinary animal’s limbs, its legs were squeezable, and thanks to his previous physical training, he was now able of squeezing someone or something— like himself, for example —without using his raw strength which had become a natural and even innate 8,000 kg since long ago…

The ferret had its legs, then its tail grabbed, followed by its neck, and then each feature of its head, including its tongue. By the time Ciemnosc was done with it, the fella was all dispirited and could only see as Ciemnosc grabbed a few pieces of meat and began cutting through it with some strange, scary ‘claws’ appearing on this large animal’s paws.

It couldn’t see how those claws went in and out of this large animal’s paws though no matter how hard it tried and even after looking around at other large animals, only to see them hold a shining thing to cut through meat, unlike this other large animal.

In the end, the ferret ate a few pieces of raw meat and then became a fatass that went to sleep; while on the other hand, Ciemnosc didn’t even need to dissect such an ordinary animal that only had a few changes due to its own evolution of living within or near the desert. It was not like he could randomly ask one of the hunters who caught these ordinary and small ones, and he’d be responded with acute information.

It was only a few days later, that he was allowed to experiment with a small Creature at the 1st stage of the Spiritual Ligament Realm that Ciemnosc could dissect and even ‘reassemble’ an animal and living being for the first time. Of course, his first victim was left to die in peace, though not before first being played with by knives and needle tools.

The large ferret looked on and couldn’t help becoming thankful for this large animal to choose itself as his pet, strong rules, stronger ones always rules…

At some point, Ciemnosc was searched by a core disciple, who then presented himself as a Senior Brother whose name and Ciemnosc’s name weren’t necessary. Not as a kind of showy thing, but more like a reserved ‘rule’ that allowed both to focus on the matter at hand. Which was for the Senior Brother to teach and for Ciemnosc to learn.

That day, and only that day, Ciemnosc was taught a little bit of the art of hunting. Though they were in the desert, life out here and even more so in a cultivation world was replete with life, be it on the surface or below it. There were the most obvious ways of hunting. Which was to either wait at a certain few spots and see if some come out from their hiding or hideout; or to look for those that are already out.

However, the small prey that they could catch and were capable of cultivating had an evolved organ, or more, l which allowed them to hear their footsteps from even a kilometer away, working even better than Ciemnosc’s ‘awareness’ and letting him understand of the fauna’s many marvels yet again. Though this time, it wasn’t with a beyond beauty beauty but a Senior Brother instead; just a Senior Brother, bah.

That afternoon, Ciemnosc deemed it worth losing a night of training his body and blade work as he ended up finding a lot of inspiration for his own self control. When he was taught stealth, the importance of nature and his surrounding environment, among other tons of things.

Things that weren’t taught by mouth, nor even explained but simply by acting, and Ciemnosc, of course, learned as much as the Senior Brother had to offer.

For as, besides stealth and things related to such, Ciemnosc was taught the observations of the life of any animal or even insect he could come across. Even knowing of plants and herbs here was a most required feature for one who wished to hunt…or capture. Thus, the special properties of an animal’s life which were so different from an intelligent being or race were naturally etched into the curious mind of Ciemnosc, a very curious mind of his.

At the end of that day, several small animals and Creatures were caught, with the addition of many insects which could be even helpful for the cultivation of crops that were being given fertilizer daily…

Later on, though with not much to do with the blatantly obvious lack of any items, Ciemnosc finally began setting his eyes on the creation of ‘to kill’ and ‘to defend’ instruments. Firstly, Ciemnosc had already set his knowledge gained through early in the morning into his noon to night physical training, advancing a little bit every day and every night in his manipulation and self-restraint, quickly coming to flawless use above 50% of his full raw strength without any problems at all.

Now, with such self-restraint, and with his ‘experience’ in handling blades, Ciemnosc first chose the creation of weaponry. After investigating the methodology of things around this role, for a few days, Ciemnosc was finally able to try his own hands and brains at creating a small, very small fruit knife. He could think big, but his brains were still there.

Learning to use melted stones and strange, crude, and obsolete ores, Ciemnosc got the time for melting such on the spot. Quickly coming to pick up a mold that he himself made and pouring the smelted contents into it. The bleed was quickly forming since it was a tiny amount first and foremost, so Ciemnosc had to work fast and smart at all times.

Thankfully though, his preparation paid off. It would’ve been strange if it did not, as Ciemnosc couldn’t be considered second in the Arielende Sect in terms of investing himself in various ‘vocations’, let alone in various and all at the same time.

The end result was a smallish dagger, crooked on purpose and that could easily cause all sorts of ugliest damage to anyone he stabbed with it,. Though it could only be so useful. Any person making their flow of Power Energy concentrates on the stabbing wound would be able to break that blade after just a few seconds of grinding it with their Power Energy.

But, at the very least, it was a success. Compared to anyone else, Ciemnosc didn’t fail in his first attempt, as he didn’t just finish his product, but even exactly how he wanted it and without wasting any properties of the already ‘bad’ ore that was available for practice.

Still, such little things, worthless stuff; he could sell them all to the ‘kitchens’ or to other people, mostly ordinary people who wanted to try their luck by hunting some animals…or assaulting random people around. With the same purpose, Ciemnosc would also get his own stuff daily, though most of his Powerful Stones were for the sake of getting nice meals that were yet inferior to those in the Golden Warm Hotel.

After a few more tries, Ciemnosc began creating arrows, which were noticeably better than most ordinary arrows made for the ordinary battles and wars of the people of this world. Still, they couldn’t compare to a bullet, that was very easily a most deterrent factor for a cultivator acting crazily bossy in the cities and some towns even.

One bullet to one’s chest and the flow of Power Energy would only avoid some extra bleeding and from the situation worsening, grinding that bullet into inoffensive remains within a cultivator’s body. But the damage would already be done - and that was without getting shot in the head, heart, or vessels.

For now, though, Ciemnosc maintained his head low and remained composed, creating much cheaper, easier, and unknown things for him, which he could still gain a lot of knowledge from even after several pieces of such were made. But the more Ciemnosc attempted new things, the more he had the chance of failing. Hammering was no longer all that he needed to do, and he was having some trouble discovering what exactly to do.

Then came the time when he began creating very thin and flexible armor, which was not just for convenience in a desert, but also because it was just simply easier, and much less required of having strength and expertise in the field. It wasn’t the same to build a tiny dagger as a whole boot that can’t fall off when walking leisurely on a flat surface - let alone to run, resist hits or jump high altitudes.

For this armor creating-like vocation, Ciemnosc didn’t even make an attempt to create helmets over the course of 10 days, which was about 15 days in total since beginning his cultivation journey and having arrived at the Arielende Sect. Only making boots and gauntlets of thin armor but that was good enough for resisting even some Spiritual Ligament Realm Creatures.

These days were good.

…