Peak Craftsmaking, First Step

"!" When Heian Ciemnosc walked to his Master and looked over the cauldron's mouth, what he saw surprised him a big deal. A couple chicks from a pelican species were being cooked with feathers and stuff. Some ingredients were bathing with them, along with some spices. A splendid aroma could already be smelled coming from the cauldron. Recognizing it, Heian Ciemnosc glanced at his Master, "Are these parts of the ingredients I'm gonna use?"

"Yes, but not in this cauldron," Lady Calisneia responded with a nod before the cauldron's fire increased and the soup began boiling. The chicks started melting to the horror of weak minds. Their eyes were closed as they melted into liquid and fused with the rest of the soup. Lady Calisneia gestured with her left arm to her left, where the other Craftsmaking tools attracted Heian Ciemnosc's attention once more.

Returning her face to her disciple, Lady Calisneia’s slightly comfortable-to-look-at eyes, otherwise always expressionless and emotionless. She looked up at Heian Ciemnosc even as she sat on the high stool and said with a negligibly warm tone. “My disciple has attained the greatest proficiency any First Step cultivator can reach, I believe.”

Though his Master said she just ‘believed’ in her evaluation, should she speak these to any other person… they would take her words as a divine decree only the fools and ignorants dare say a thing about it.

“But you can’t simply start working on Second Step Craftsmaking. Your Soul is too restricted. Trying to do any of the Second Step would deteriorate your current path.” His Master said before gesturing with a smooth, slow movement of her head without parting her eyes from his face for too long. “That’s why I have gotten you these. You’re used to the standard quality. That is a good thing, but it is not for you.”

Lady Calisneia stood up, stored the high stool, and walked to the primary tools. Looking down at them and up, she continued speaking. “Every single one of those will complement you, as they will complement you. They aren’t simple tools, but you’ll be in charge of attending to that when you learn how to create Artifacts. These… I hope… will be your primary tools for life. They will improve, evolve, and follow you in your path, be it cultivation, life, or Craftsmaking.”

“Pick them up,” turning around to face her disciple, she was momentarily struck with warmth deep inside as she saw the brightness in his darkest eyes. It was intriguing. Heian Ciemnosc woke up from his stupor, put his palms together, and bowed. “Many thanks, Master. I will take them now.”

Step, step. Lady Calisneia nodded, her eyes half-closing softly. She watched her disciple walk past her and directly pick the ‘small’ pitch-black cauldron, eliciting a melancholic flash to cross her dimmed-out, dull, and pale golden eyes. She could almost see many things from the past, the far history, and her beginnings as a talented alchemist.

“I will name this one Tiny Cauldron, and this other one will be called Small Cauldron.” Heian Ciemnosc said, waking her up and surprising her. A little smile formed on her lips and from the warm corners of her mouth. Some warmth showed. Heian Ciemnosc had pointed first at the ‘small’ cauldron about 1.7 meters tall and the width of 2 adult Human male torsos. Then he indicated the immense cauldron bigger than a simple house and as expansive as a garage.

They were, besides pitch-black, with some kind of belt at the middle of their fat bodies. The ‘belt’ consisted of 3 ropes intertwining with each other. Of which, 2 moved around, up and down, and were uniting the 3rd rope in the middle that simply hugged the entire cauldron. They were all wholly pith-black, and had no decoration. They had 3 legs, with an additional flat feet at the end of each leg to support them on the floor or ground.

“Bond with them. I will aid you.” Lady Calisneia spoke as she walked to Heian Ciemnosc from his back. Heian Ciemnosc nodded and effortlessly flicked his thumb’s nail off his index fingertip. Dark blood immediately peeked out but didn’t move any further, remaining on the aperture of his wound. His Master came, held his right wrist, and brought it up to her face, between her eyebrows and far from his nose.

Closing her eyes, Heian Ciemnosc saw her eyelids at last, a vulnerable part of his Master for the first time, besides her motherly love. Then, an incredibly strong and insufferably oppressing translucent wisp of Soul energy came from behind her and fluctuated over to his open fingertip. Following that, Heian Ciemnosc received messages from his Master to start utilizing his Spirit Sense, and together, they made some pact that Heian Ciemnosc followed to the letter of his Master.

“Go ahead,” Lady Calisneia said. After doing something to his fingertip with their combined effort, Heian Ciemnosc felt a slight headache incoming. But he ignored it and walked over to Tiny Cauldron first. Pressing his fingertip against it, he felt his blood connect with the cauldron, it felt as if he was being sucked in, and his skin was prickled yet weirdly aroused by the situation. It made his whole arm feel weak and vulnerable.

But it only lasted for a few moments before it all went away. Just as the sensation disappeared, Heian Ciemnosc glanced at Cauldron. He placed his left palm on Tiny Cauldron, storing it in his personal Covert Space bag, before walking to Small Cauldron and repeating his actions. As he felt the same sensation from before, his heart palpitated slightly strangely as he couldn’t help but mutter out, “Ha-aa, huff!”

“Ease your mind, Little Heian Ciemnosc. This is but the beginning of your bond with them. Do not take any rest, or you may insult them.” His Master spoke from his back, her words straightening his back up. Heian Ciemnosc cracked the bones of his neck and stored Small Cauldron as soon as possible before walking over to a workbench.

“Haaah,” Heian Ciemnosc let out a slightly heavy breath before placing his fingertip on the workbench. And with a half-frowning face, he inspected what was to be the workbench of his life from today forth. This workbench was naturally wholly pitch-black, even the drawers with spatial storage array formations where he would keep his little tools, also from today and forwards.

It was 3 meters long and half a meter wide, about 1.5 meters tall, and had 20 different drawers of different sizes and volumes, but with the same space within due to the array formations. It had a few icons of complex and specific tools, which gave Heian Ciemnosc an obvious idea of what they were for. Without any complexity or being unnecessary, Heian Ciemnosc muttered silently in appreciation. “Dark workbench, hmm~.”

“It cannot expand and summon another 2 or more tables, but it might in the future and if you work hard.” Lady Calisneia gave hints from the back, encouraging Heian Ciemnosc to be even better than himself already. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t nod, but his Master could feel how grateful he felt at these moments. She nevertheless added, “These are all of the best quality for a First Step cultivator. You won’t find any better set in the world. I hope it remains so for the following Steps in the future.”

“Oh. It will,” Heian Ciemnosc exclaimed first and then said in a promising-like demeanor. That caused a smile to be formed on someone’s lips. He then walked over to the subsequent primary tools.

A dark forge with some boulders to the sides, 2 meters tall and an entire meter thick. The boulders could extend to form small supports with or for molds and small tables on several floors from up to below.

A large container that could somewhat change its shape, it was made of several different materials that somehow made it ‘universally’ elastic. It had 3 separate compartments with spatial storing array formations for storing. Each one had extreme resistance to cold, heat, or dangerous, sharp contents and was purposely to stow liquid. Up to 3,000 litres could be stored in each compartment.

And there were these 2 last things. A case with 4m x 4m dimensions and a simple study desk with 3 drawers to the left and right, while the middle had a chair perfect for someone of Heian Ciemnosc’s growing body to sit on for a few years from now until he finally stops growing so much and so rapidly. They also had spatial storing array formations for each drawer. But they seemed much longer than broader, evidently indicating only a thin object could be repeatedly stored inside and not much else.

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“... Master… thank you… I… don’t know…” Once Heian Ciemnosc finished storing them, he came to his Msater and lowered his head slightly, glaring at the floor without words.

The dark case had storage for 3 ‘small’ mountains. These were not ordinary mountains like in the Sinvonni Kingdom where the Rocaloi Academy situated itself, but those where the First Step beginning organizations almost always died from the conditions. However, only a few of them were mountains per se, according to Heian Ciemnosc’s readings and his Master’s memory.

That was notoriously much bigger than an Inferior Covert Space bag. But the dark case couldn’t be placed inside a Covert Space bag and could only be carried around like an ordinary item. Covert Space bags below the Divine grade Could only store a few Fauna, the limit increasing slightly for every grade upwards. But in this case… he could accommodate as many as he wanted!

As for the dark study desk, besides writing and studying, Heian Ciemnosconly had one word when he saw it for the first time. Talisman creation.

“Hush, it is time for you to start working. Jing Evan won’t become a Second Step Creature without your help, especially without your help.” Lady Calisneia said as she returned to her soup- no, to her cauldron. She placed the high stool again and sat on it. Leaning over its mouth, she sniffed a few times before lifting her face in Heian Ciemnosc’s direction.

“Come, it’s ready.”

… Heian Ciemnosc walked to his Master and attentively listened as she explained the names of what he would create next and the methods. Necessary techniques and ingredients, materials, requirements, and conditions flooded into his brain as his Master elaborated, and when she asked which, when, and why, he answered without wasting a moment. Towards the end, his Master smiled at her last question being answered cordially and left him so he could be alone.

Now, as Heian Ciemnosc was left to do everything all by himself, he couldn’t feel alone as his Master’s gifts were there with him. The first time he looked at them from a distance, he felt something strange about them. Or rather, something unique. And when he observed them up close, it only intensified. When he bonded with his primary tools, he confirmed the creator of these marvelous, beautiful, and practical items.

Even if she wanted to hide her presence and aura from them, which she seemingly tried very hard to do, a tiny wisp that familiarized with her was present for each item. Only Heian Ciemnosc might be able to see it. She might not have noticed anything else, but in Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes, there was his Master everywhere in his personal Covert Space bag now. Being given so many gifts from his Master without any explanation or promise… it just felt so good.

He didn’t know if this was because she was just generous. His Master had, after all, taken in a random daughter from some prairie who ended up becoming someone so stupidly and absurdly mighty. Was it because of his capabilities? Did she do this with Milyy, too? Or was she that content with his accomplishment? In both cultivation and Craftsmaking and… life?

Nevertheless, Heian Ciemnosc took all his primary tools from his personal Covert Space bag and laid them around the empty black space. This Tiny Cauldron was in the middle, while Small Cauldron was left to the side and not in the Small Cauldron so it could observe him work. Heian Ciemnosc simply didn’t want it to stay in the bag while his other family members were out playing with him.

Starting with the cauldron, Heian Ciemnosc took the prepared items, ingredients, and materials his Master prepared. These weren’t his, and his Master prepared them solely because they would need some time and care to finish before the execution of pill concocting, potion making, and crafting incense.

First, he poured the melted ‘soup’ into Tiny Cauldron and stirred it slightly before letting it rest as the flame was lit at a very low intensity. Heian Ciemnosc kept most of the soup for later, not for himself but for his dumb bird. Took a bunch of herbs and plants, most with tall stems and smallish components, but each was grown and at least 10 years old.

Those that weren’t 10 years old or older were separated from those that were. Once separated, the young flora was separated by flora and herbs before taking out tendons from aged Fauna. These could be bought anywhere as Caretakers usually have hundreds to hundreds of thousands of Fauna with low cultivation dying for natural causes or during their life in the wild for experience and comfort.

He didn’t roll the stems of the younger flora with those tendons, and it was one long tendon or set of tendons for every several limbs. As the young flora was left sharing air and space with the tendons, Heian Ciemnosc grabbed the 10-year-old flora and began opening their stems one by one in a rapid and ever-so-smooth - motion.

After placing the 10-year-old flora in the cauldron with the soup and pouring a few litres of ground flora into a liquid paste, Heian Ciemnosc returned to the younger flora and grabbed them. After gazing at them left and right at each of their core components, he directly separated their parts from their stems in one swift go, one by one, leaving only their core component still on the stalk.

Those parts were crushed by his hands before being thrown into the cauldron. As for the stems and their core component, Heian Ciemnosc glared at some leaves, some tendrils, and some pistils. He then pressed against them, softly but crushing them and immediately introducing them with bits from those tendons from before.

Heian Ciemnosc left them on the workbench afterwards and went to the dark forge. Right away, he lit the flame at its low intensity, higher than any other forge he had ever touched. He was amazed and felt that closeness deep inside his heart. Continuing with his work, Heian Ciemnosc pulled some ingots of dark blue-platinum, dull pink, and a couple tiny crystals smaller than even the tip of his pinky’s nail.

The ingots went into its mouth before closing the lid. The tiny crystals were placed on a mold of the right-sided extension of the boulder, where Heian Ciemnosc halved them while using a few tools already created in his Covert Space bags. Such were like tongs, but they had particularly sharp ends and were perfect for the job at hand.

After cutting them in half, each having precisely 50% of the other, even if not the same shape, Heian Ciemnosc threw ⅓ of its contents into Tiny Cauldron, and another ⅓ was left on the mold. The remaining ⅓ was stored in his Covert Space bag as he walked to the workbench.

There, Heian Ciemnosc grabbed the stalks of flora with tendons mingling in their mangled core components and observed Tiny Cauldron’s insides. When he saw the crystals forming striking white bubbles from below as the red, lava-colored liquid began twirling by itself. Heian Ciemnosc lit the flame’s intensity to low, and a gigantic surge of heat imploded within it. At the same time, Heian Ciemnosc let the stalks of younger flora in his hands down into the liquid.

Crrryyyyy. Heian Ciemnosc heard the ‘cry’ of a pelican, more like from a chick pelican, and nodded at himself and Tiny Caldron for doing a good job. Cleaning his sweat with a flash of dark Power Energy, Heian Ciemnosc turned around to the dark workbench and took a bunch of tools out.

He then saw an icon of a complex tool with a grappling hook extended and arching from above its circular base, which had many more circles and technical separations traced by several lines.

‘Perfect.’ Heian Ciemnosc thought in his head before pressing the icon, its button, and with a ‘pushuong’, it suddenly appeared on the workbench at a perfect spot without bothering him or on top of the other tools he placed around. His eyes twinkling, Heian Ciemnosc nodded to himself and dark workbench before turning around and taking long, quick strides towards the dark forge.

Lap- pwhooooshh. Heian Ciemnosc opened the dark forge’s lid, and his face welcomed a massive steaming air that would’ve burned a citizen to meat and bones whose soft flesh fell off… Uncaringly, Heian Ciemnosc took a few molds from the left and filled up 4 molds. 3 of those of a dark blue-platinum, and the other a dull pink. They were perfectly separated.

Heian Ciemnosc took out a syringe after turning the dark forge’s flame and extracted a few millilitres from the pink liquid metal, closed the dark forge’s lid, and let the melted liquid rest on the extended right-sided boulder.

Returning to the cauldron and seeing a fast twirl churning its contents, Heian Ciemnosc took a flask from his Covert Space bag and casually and slowly gathered some of the now reddish liquid. After storing the flask, with only some tens of millilitres of that liquid, Heian Ciemnosc took 30 Orangebreeding Fruits and directly threw them into the liquid.

Plisssshh- splash splash plaaassshh~~.

Immediately after, he stepped backwards, down, and closed Tiny Cauldron’s mouth. As soon as it was shut, the cauldron exhibited a rotunding show of change and assimilation! The cauldron was unmoving, and it amazed Heian Ciemnosc, causing a smile on his pale face.

Turning around with that embarrassed, excited smile, Heian Ciemnosc walked to the dark Froge to retrieve the melted liquid and the halved crystals before returning to the dark workbench. His eyes were shining with obsession, lust, and ingeniousness.

…