Another Mission

Heian Ciemnosc poured the dark blue-platinum melted liquid into several dozen molds with a thin shape. The dull pink melted ingot into a few molds with an even slimmer and smaller form. But they were all line-like shaped, forming long objects that were also somewhat hollow in the middle. Only the molds with the pink melted liquid were entirely flat.

Once the liquid was in those molds, Heian Ciemnosc grabbed some safer tongs and picked a halved piece of crystal before letting it contact the melted ingots. He would let each crystal piece rapidly incorporate into the molds as he passed the halved crystals from top to bottom in the middle with precision. Whenever a piece of crystal was finished, it would be done just a few millimeters before reaching the extremities of the mold.

Heian Ciemnosc repeated that action a few times for all the molds, using up all the crystal pieces to mix them with the whole lot dozens of molds. After he was done with such, he returned to his Tiny Cauldron and used his Spirit Sense. He saw the contents within already beginning to lower, losing more and more volume as the heat remained stable. Letting it be for a bit more, Heian Ciemnosc walked to the dark forge and took out his container.

Grabbing a bowl from the forge’s extensions and pouring all the coldest liquid he had for now into one of the separate spaces of the container, Heian Ciemnosc then grabbed a bunch of it with the bowl before walking to the workbench again. Rapidly, Heian Ciemnosc expertly grabbed the molds and submerged them into the bowl. It was a standard bowl, but the molds were much smaller than that.

As soon as those molds were cooled off, they became solid. But Heian Ciemnosc had to cover them with his dark Power Energy to ensure their stability and no imperfections. As he separated his dark Power Energy more and more, he began to feel the brunt of the notion until he finished cooling every melted liquid off and turning it into its solidified forms.

Once that was over, Heian Ciemnosc took each laval-like hot object out and hammered it very slightly and uniquely. The dark blue-platinum limbs with a hollow middle, forming somewhat of a ‘U’ contour, were toughened all around and rapidly but slightly. While the dull pink flat bodies were hammered slightly harshly and repeatedly from both sides.

With the dark blue-platinum, they needed to be tough enough from the underside and resistant enough in its hollow upperside. The dull pink ought to be as tough and resistant as possible, without flexibility, unlike the former, and practically unbreakable. Finally, as every object was finished, they had a little glimmer over their bodies, most consistent in the middle but glowing all around as if they were magical, fairy-tale-like items.

Heian Ciemnosc placed some of them on the complex tool he had taken out before and kept the rest to the side while he worked with the first batch. Placing about 3 dark blue-platinum line-shaped objects and 1 dark pink line-shaped object on the tool, Heian Ciemnosc started it with his dark Power Energy smoothly entering it. Immediately, the circles surrounding each object began ‘raising’ as little limbs with hooks of 3 mechanical, non-human fingers formed.

And at the middle of each mechanical hand was a tiny array formation that Heian Ciemnosc immediately understood could be used to suction, lightly push forwards, or mimic a low-level telekinesis for whatever purpose one might have. And since it was such an extraordinary array formation, Heian Ciemnosc used it.

The circles the objects were on went up, leaving the base of the complex tool. As they went up, the mechanical hands began working on them. Twisting, elongating, and lightly pulling on the dark blue-platinum objects to form a few non-exaggerated spirals as if to form a slide. When Heian Ciemnosc was finished manipulating the shape of each dark blue-platinum object, they were at a perfect measure to fit together and construct an 8-centimeters tall, beautiful decoration.

Pulling and elongating the dull pink objects to become even thinner and longer before cutting each for a length smaller than a pinky’s fingernail. Heian Ciemnosc first assembled the dark blue-platinum limbs into a single one, creating an incense with a slightly spiraling body before embedding the smaller and thinner dull pink shards in the middle of the ‘U’ shaped bodies, each one just a few centimeters away from each other.

By the time Heian Ciemnosc was done constructing a few dozen such incenses, the dark workbench became ordered with such placed around without tools, without any possible disorder. The Tiny Cauldron had finished the decreasing the amount of liquid process, and Heian Ciemnosc had to go there to finalize concocting the pills.

Walking over to the Tiny Cauldron, he manifested his dark Power Energy through his palms and fingertips, forming strands across the air as he moved his hands in several trajectories. After a darkish cobweb was created in the air, it moved towards Tiny Cauldron and began embracing it. The belt around the middle glowed in darkness, shining a bit more. But it was enough for Heian Ciemnosc to notice.

As soon as he saw that, Heian Ciemnosc delved his Spirit Sense into the belt and quickly felt like he had become Tiny Cauldron. Ignoring the unique sensation, Heian Ciemnosc sent his dark Power Energy to within Tiny Cauldron’s walls, beginning to churn with his dark Power Energy the small quantities of solidified contents within without having to open the lid or touch Tiny Cauldron.

Heian Ciemnosc drove his dark Power Energy around: up, down, left, right, and diagonally. The contents within were being directly manipulated by his dark Power Energy, refining them into small pellets and slowly becoming augmenting pills…

Heian Ciemnosc continued this way for 3 minutes, and his already taxed dark Power Energy from before became more tired now. If he still had well over half his dark Power Energy after taking the objects out of their molds, and after using the complex tool, and restoring it passively with his All-Devouring Force Chronicles. Then, after these 3 minutes of refining the contents in the cauldron into pills already depleted Heian Ciemnosc’s storage to less than half.

Pfffuushhh- piiing. Suddenly, from Tiny Cauldron’s lid, steam came out like crazy before a sudden sound came from Tiny Cauldron itself sounded. Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head to the right as he sensed it wasn’t just a sound to determine a product being finished. It was Tiny Cauldron itself who ‘talked’ in joy. The batch of pills within… was a success!

Thinking of the people he would be giving this batch to, Heian Ciemnosc felt content and smiled lightly. And what better to use for the first time than to successfully create such helpful augmenting pills only a peak Craftsperson in the First Step could make? Heian Ciemnosc stepped up in a good mood and opened the lid, his dark Power Energy lifting the base of his Tiny Cauldron so he wouldn’t have to bury himself there.

Grasping about 20 light, dull orange pills in his hands the size of his index finger’s mound of venus, Heian Ciemnosc scanned them with his eyes before stubbornly, thinly smiling. ‘Great quality… but these Herbal-Wonder Orange pills could be better.’

Getting into a hard-working mode, Heian Ciemnosc started setting up another batch of Herbal-Wonder Orange pills. Heian Ciemnosc no longer repeated the same actions previously with his dark forge. Those dark and dull ingots were very costly, and were the best to work with as incense for half-herbs. One just had to use any half-herb or herb’s skin, and they would effectively smoke it with the best quality possible.

Heian Ciemnosc just had to keep a dozen Orangebreeding Fruits, skin them, and then place them on the censer’s base before using one’s Power Energy to fuel it up and start seeing smoke rise and lower around it. The only problematic steps to make incense this time were the process and the required materials for such a First Step high-end half-herb. As for the pill concocting process, it was only troublesome when it came to the refining process. Heian Ciemnosc could tell he would have to fully concentrate even if he was in the Ashes Soul realm.

But, the good news was, with his cultivation base already stabilized days ago and his foundation solidifying since then, Heian Ciemnosc felt his foundation congeal more and slowly reach that solidification he always goes for every breakthrough. But there was still a Craftsmaking process from alchemy he hadn’t gone through yet, brewing potions!

For this, Heian Ciemnosc wouldn’t need Tiny Cauldron, so he could simply use bowls and large recipients. Thus, for the potions, Heian Ciemnosc poured all the scalding hot liquid into another separate space of his dark container. Taking a bowl of each, he stowed them into a large recipient the size of his torso from one of his many in his Covert Space bags and began mixing them.

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With wisps of dark Power Energy getting into the mixture, and the recipient held as the mix of hot and cold slowly began to make a disgusting sight of the thickest of soups and the most horrifying state a liquid could get. Yet, Heian Ciemnosc picked a bit with his left index fingertip and tasted it. Nodding his head, he then took out 3 Orangebreeding Fruits and crushed them. As their juice fell, Heian Ciemnosc kept it in 6 other bowls. He didn’t just mash them. He turned even their skin into liquid, forming a large amount of Orangebreeding Fruit juice.

After letting even the remains of such fall off his skin, Heian Ciemnosc placed those bowls to the side and took one of them before pouring ⅕ of its contents into the large recipient. These 6 bowls would be enough for doing a couple hundred theriac and augmenting potions, at the very least. And they would be as helpful as the Herbal-Wonder Orange pill, just not at the same level, especially the theriac potions he was about to make. Meanwhile, the Herbal-Wonder Orange augmenting potions could be consumed twice with a little less than half the effect for each time drinking it. What’s better, they could be consumed several times before their properties no longer affect you.

Taking just one Herbal-Wonder Orange pill would be enough for the effects of another taking place. But potions of the same could be drunk several times, with its qualities slowly reduced as one drinks them. Even then, their pill form was much more effective and impactful. Augmenting potions help during stages, but only a pill works well for breaking through the realms, even the Spirit Rebirth realm, and not by a small margin. But a very gameñchanging one.

After pouring that smallish amount of Orangebreeding Fruit juice into it, Heian Ciemnosc took the remaining bowl of crystals and used just one of them for the entire recipient. After seeing the whole recipient change color and bubbles of the same color pop on the surface, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes flashed, and he took several dozen more large recipients from his Covert Space bags.

Filling them up with the coldest and hottest water from his dark container, he did the same with them until he emptied the Orangebreeding Fruit and the remaining crystals, not leaving even one unused. Once that was over, Heian Ciemnosc took some plants and began cutting them with his dark Power Energy before letting them mix in the recipients, one by one, and slowly. Before long, Heian Ciemnosc used his dark Power Energy to stir the recipients. Leaving it to rest with a bunch of half-plants whenever he had to attend to the other processes and return once those half-plants were almost melted into the mixture.

… With this slow process, requiring ultimate timing and not getting the order wrong, Heian Ciemnosc ended up with a couple hundred theriac and augmenting potions by the time that afternoon came. Heian Ciemnosc had become so engrossed he directly lost an entire day’s worth of class. However, he finished all he had to do, leaving less than a dozen intact Orangebreeding Fruits remaining.

Step, step… step, step, step.

Entering the zone where his disciple had worked so hard, efficiently, and quickly for hours without end, Lady Calisneia gazed at the body stumbled on the empty black floor with the fire from the forge and cauldron to the side still on but without any material within.

When she walked to stand a few steps before Heian Ciemnosc. She looked down at him. Her dimmed-out, dull, pale golden eyes trembled as they saw the tired face of her disciple, much different from whenever he slept for a little or was unconscious because of almost dying to a little brat’s cat-fighting abilities.

Fwump, pah, fwump, pah. Shaking her head after calmly gazing at the flame of the forge and cauldron, Heian Ciemnosc’s Master waved her fair and smooth hand as they were put off. But just as she was about to store them into his Covert Space bag without any obstacle or obstruction, a tiny dark, yellow-orange spark went off at both, and the flame rekindled.

“!!” Lady Calisneia was struck senseless. She looked for a bit before turning her eyes to her disciple again, becoming tender as soon as her head worked some gears. Bending and crouching over, her hands picked him up like he were just a larger piece of paper. Softly holding his nape with her hand and the crook behind his knees dumbly adorably, she gently muttered as she pressed her wrinkled and semi-broken lips against his forehead.

“Shhhh~~~~...”

Fump- po, pah. After a few moments of her gentleness, the flames from the forge and cauldron were put off as if by themselves. Lady Calisneia looked where the strange flames disappeared and returned her eyes to her disciple again, seemingly becoming addicted to such movements. In her head, she thought as she walked into the darkness and held him closer to her body. Her eyes were drawn to his young man-like child, as if enchanted or...

‘It’s coming again, sigh. You’ll have to learn a lot before it happens then. But you are already doing so well, so I’m the one who has to work harder? Then, it’ll be like so. Be careful.’

Looking at her disciple’s wrist where the last page he went through was the mission-selection services the Wrath Nihility Academy has for its students, as do most other organizations except for a few in the First Step, Lady Calisneia brainstormed in her head.

The page usually indicated tens of missions monthly to exterminate organizations going against nature and order. But, this time, there were more than 170 such missions. All payment was further enhanced with an extra pay of 30% more Coins or 300% more Stones for those who preferred Stones. There was also a note recommendation describing that it was better for Sub Students to not partake in these missions for the time being.

Heian Ciemnosc had seen it and appointed himself for a mission. However, the response from the Universal Conveyance remained unclear. Pondering the reason why, Lady Calisneia’s eyes became scaringly cold and calculative as she disappeared into the dark.

“...” Far behind her, and to her knowledge, indeed. A sneaky kitty accompanied by a wide-mouthed dumb bird looked at Heian Ciemnosc’s Master's back as she brought him to what the kitty recognized as the main bedroom. The kitty was looking at her back with her mix of turquoise and hot pink colors in her eyes. She became apprehensive, and the bothersome sight of a charming fella, so handsome she could die and persuasive with only his darkest eyes, facial expressions, and body language became just a tad clearer.

. . .

The next day, late morning, through the streets of the Academy’s territory.

Heian Ciemnosc was walking while skinning a poor, innocent, bright Orangebreeding Fruit with his hands and right thumb with his Claws Out. He casually walked in leisurely, lifting his legs slightly more than necessary but at a slow pace and looking around as only his thumb had a dark little claw. Just as he was a couple kilometers from the department, a powerful hook from someone’s arm grappled his nape from his right, and a wonderful boyish voice reached his right ear.

“Howdy! Bwuah! You skip classes, and the teacher didn’t even say a thing. You do have some connections, hmm? Oh! Is that an Orangebreeding Fruit? Where did yo- aaah~! I remember… You went out on a mission.” Elena bumped her nose into Heian Ciemnosc’s right cheek, eskimo kissing him in a way that made Heian Ciemnosc’s eyebrows calmly jolt upwards.

“Yes, you missed a little show,” Heian Ciemnosc said after giving Elena a teasing glare for being such a smartass. Elena crunched her face at him and showed him her Universal Conveyance, describing how a Student of the prestigious and sacred Wrath Nihility Academy massacred cultivators vying for a tree. The news was spread by a middle-aged woman who almost died by poisoning. There were also stories of three girls who returned with sullied bodies to their organizations.

‘They must have taught them well.’ Heian Ciemnosc didn’t offer nor had any thought about the middle-aged woman cultivator. But he ‘praised’ the trio who knew how to protect themselves and their treasure. One could only imagine the kind of strength an organization can get when given tens of Orangebreeding Fruit. And from the looks of it, without Heian Ciemnosc needing to know their background, the trio came from a First Step organization, vassal of a Second Step organization.

“You want it?” Heian Ciemnosc scrapped a few layers of skin from the Orangebreeding Fruit a few times before glancing at Elena. She saw his thumb ‘molesting’ it directly and ‘dirtily’ and then said with her eyes, not leaving the bright white insides still yellow and the yellow skin around.

“Yeah…”

Hearing her out, Heian Ciemnosc smiled very lightly and thinly from the left corner of his mouth before picking the bottom of the fruit with his right palm and holding it before her nonexistent chest. Elena simply hung her neck and opened her mouth, took a bite with juice exploding around her teeth and tongue. Her face became exotic, her eyes narrowing and her nose calm and quiet as sniffling noses went in and out.

Munch- slssrrp, munch munch- squishy munch.

The Orangebreeding Fruit was a half-herb with many layers. It had a ton of skin, from the outside to the inside, followed by a thin layer of its meat, just a centimeter thick. It would then follow a cycle of yellow skin and the bright and luscious white but still yellow meat, over and over again until one ate it all away. In the center, its heart was a pure, light yellow color, and it wasn’t the tastiest, but it was the most nutritious and softer than even the skin.

In Heian Ciemnosc’s terms, they were like the dantian of a cultivator, or their Spirit Sense at their Psychogenic if talented in that regard.

Meanwhile, walking to the Department, Elena ate from Heian Ciemnosc’s palm like this until the heart of the Orangebreeding Fruit was revealed and cleaned off any skin and meat. Her appearance was never so cute, and in Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes… she was simply too precious. When the Orangebreeding Fruit’s heart was left, Elena’s lips pressed against each other. But just as she was about to eat it from his palm like before, she grabbed the back of his right hand and lifted it up instead of coming down to eat it.

Then, with Heian Ciemnosc’s chest tingling, she made his hand touch her lips directly and ‘feed her’ as she opened her mouth and munched the bastardly heart with delight from his hands. He even felt her teeth tickle his skin and her lips ‘kissing’ the center of his palm to engulf the heart.

…