Team Leader
Heian Ciemnosc cleaned his palm with dark Power Energy as Elena did the same to her face. Now walking a few hundred meters before entering the department, Heian Ciemnosc spoke to Elena while hiding something in his left hand, covered by his Spirit Sense, and not letting her know what it was. There were more things in his Covert Space bag, but first things first. "Hey, I got the things I talked to you before."
"Mm? What things?" Elena said, looking at Heian Ciemnosc slightly upwards with a blink of her eyes. Heian Ciemnosc smiled proudly and presented to her one of his top notch Herbal-Wonder Orange pills right at her face, making her tilt her head in confusion and curiosity before becoming exalted in shock and awe!
“Wow! Woaaaahh!” Elena picked the thing up, took an immensely rich and precious mini-box out of her Covert Space bag, and put it in, leaving Heian Ciemnosc slightly speechless as he tilted his head to the left. ‘She might not get any resources, but being gifted a box with so many spatial storage array formations and each with materials of the highest Second Step.’
Shaking his head, Elena thought he disapproved of her taking the pill without saying anything in response, which was completely erroneous. So she hugged his waist and, trying to act coy, softened her voice to shyly say, “I never thought I would get one this early and of such quality. Thank you, Big Brooo~.”
“Egh, what are you doing? I was just thinking about how silly you are? Want in my pan-” Heian Ciemnosc put on a slightly disgusted face but didn’t avoid her embracing and let her rub her face on his ribs. Yet, he was interrupted as she tried biting him, her teeth covered by Power Energy. It didn’t hurt him, but it sent him a message.
“What pants? Huh, huh? What pants?!” Elena acted tough, bearing her teeth and lightly punching the shit out of his back and stomach. If this wasn’t some fooling around like an idiot, but somewhat adorably, then nothing could ever be.
Just as they were fooling around, Heian Ciemnosc took another item. Elena’s eyes were directly drawn to his left pale hand hiding something. After sensing the Spirit Sense barrier, she looked slightly up at Heian Ciemnosc with narrowed eyes, silently questioning his intentions…
“This is for you, too. Just look at how many there are. Am I not the best big bro ever? Hmm?” Heian Ciemnosc showed her the potion version of the pill, and she was speechless. Elena shook her head as if something too generous ensued to her, and she couldn’t simply accept it. Elena quickly grabbed them all and stuffed them in a little sack from her Covert Space bag with many spatial storage array formations of identical quality to her box.
“How can I repay you? Aish, do I have to give my body to you? Alright, we can marry when we finish studying, sigh~.” Elena lamented, but her eyes showed responsibility. She even dared rub Heian Ciemnosc’s stomach a little before departing her hand away, just before Heian Ciemnosc’s claws could slap her away.
All Heian Ciemnosc could do was shake his head in disapproval and make her smile a big deal. Nothing much was needed to be said between these acts. If this was just one way to show her his affection and worry for cultivation, then she was glad in both ways. Afterward, Heian Ciemnosc gave her 2 censers with a batch of Orangebreeding Fruit skin, which she curiously threw Heian Ciemnosc a glance. He simply told her they were hers. And whatever she did with them was her problem.
Of course, Elena shyly smiled as she thought of giving her Master a ‘new’ present, and she hugged Heian Ciemnosc’s right arm before letting her face lean on his body again as they walked into class.
. . .
2 weeks passed. It was now the 1st year, 2nd month, and 1st week since Heian Ciemnosc joined the Wrath Nihility Academy. Heian Ciemnosc was now 15 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days old.
Over the last half a month, Heian Ciemnosc continued to attend class with Elenea, sometimes with Frank and Arla, and went to missions every first day of the week to pick some stuff up for Evans to evolve. Right now, the dumb bird was focused more on caring for his eggs as his harem rested. For Fauna, giving birth was exhausting. But it was more taxing laying eggs, as they were already giving birth to some fetus within that egg, only needing the fetus to grow and consume nutrients.
Thus, as a good husband and father, Jing Evan stayed a lot with his eggs, without forgetting to follow the cultivation only Fauna can employ and had the meals his owner made for him. His cultivation was also improved by his owner’s Master, so he wasn’t going through dull and silent cultivation. He needed to concentrate but could attend to his eggs should they even move a single millimeter without harming him. Heian Ciemnosc’s Master was really reasonable.
Naturally, Heian Ciemnosc didn’t force him to go out and face danger to cultivate faster. Even as Evans was a Fauna, and that was the most efficient path of cultivation, he let the dumb bird act cute while he could.
When Heian Ciemnosc went out for the next mission to pick some flora for Evans, he met another couple of groups of cultivators, more extensive than the first one. Subsequently, after kidnapping their corpses and ‘mercifully’ letting a few go with their lives intact and ‘bribing’ a few others, he also went hunting some Fauna to make some meals for both the dumb bird, himself, and Milyy, who started to hang out whenever he was close to leaving his Master’s abode.
Apart from that, Heian Ciemnosc was very close to learning how to build Artifacts! With his calculations, Heian Ciemnosc figured he only needed one more week-long class from his Master after this week, and he could very well manage to do just that. He was excited to, once again, put a little something hidden and accumulating dust in his Covert Space bag to use.
He had lost twice the bet against Elena, so when they sparred at the end of half a month, Heian Ciemnosc was beaten with some of his pale skin, showing his muscles and beauty to Elena’s gloating eyes. But he had won the previous week, and if he won this week. Then he’d get to embarrass her twice in return for that humiliation. Vengeance is better served without complete clothing…
Meanwhile, he continued having a few quickies with Arla whenever he came to the club. But Heian Ciemnosc didn’t venture into threesomes with others nor participate in the famous gangbangs in case a celebration occurred. However, there were a few instances where Heian Ciemnosc was taught by Arla how to bang non-cultivators. It was fun.
It wasn’t only Frank and Arla who were around in the Saberbone Diabolical Club, Frank being one of the 3 leaders and Arla being a semi leader to talk about. The other 2 leaders constantly brought people out of the Academy’s territory for complicated and risky missions. They would stay, at most, a few days before returning to the field and either testing new members applying to become a 2-tier member or simply to gain prestige.
Thus, Heian Ciemnosc only had some time to meet them. One was the oldest leader around, a man with a bulky and obese appearance with short dark hair and always wearing brown-gray shirts under his uniform or jacket, called Clarke. He is in the Hana-Saga realm of the Second Step. And there was the second oldest and most powerful of the leaders, Yon. She was a red-haired beauty, quite tall, and had a firm, slim body with a face that clearly showed her battlelust.
She was at the Dantreulity realm and was only second to Clarke. While some of the 2-tier members of the club were in that realm as well, none were near as powerful as she was. Even then, Heian Ciemnosc only saw them a couple times, and when they saw him, they didn’t give any indications to judge Frank or Arla’s choices. If anything, Heian Ciemnosc has just proved himself in their ears. They would have to see what he could do and experience it to be impressed with him.
Teacher Puru and Sharina were always taking him in. While Teacher Puru continued to give Heian Ciemnosc some classes on occasion. Heian Ciemnosc mostly went there to spend time together. They were soon getting married, and Heian Ciemnosc would attend, but not as simply a Student, but rather… close to them. And he, of course, didn’t mind…
… Days passed, and Heian Ciemnosc’s cultivation progressed, inching closer to the Spirit Birth realm 3rd stage, and his foundation as solid as it could ever possibly get and more. Deep in the night, Heian Ciemnosc was in his Maser’s abode and in the middle of being taught many things, not just the process of creating an Artifact, its methods, techniques, and complications. Suddenly, he was stopped just as he was building a complex tool for construction sites of significant scale by his Master, who grabbed his right wrist.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Master?” Heian Ciemnosc looked to the side at his Master, whose eyes were slightly different than usual. Though they had the same lack of light and exhaustion, they were more like steel and stern now.
“Come with me. It’s time my disciple grows up and grows within the Academy.” After briefly commenting to her disciple, Lady Calisneia walked past behind Heian Ciemnosc, letting go of his wrist. Heian Ciemnosc unhandled the tool and left it incomplete as he followed his Master.
“Master, where are we going?” Heian Ciemnosc asked once they walked together for a couple minutes without going anywhere. He was following her path, after all. The silence made him remember his way out of his Master’s chambers, back when he fell unconscious after overexerting himself. Only a note greeted him when he woke up, telling him to keep working hard, but not overly exaggeratedly.
Lady Calisneia didn’t comment but grabbed Heian Ciemnosc’s left wrist with her right hand and stopped. Heian Ciemnosc also stopped, both facing the front as she commenced, her eyes barely distinguishable from the darkness even a meter away. “Did you know? You weren’t eligible for that mission because you are a Student without any team.”
“Team?” Heian Ciemnosc was trying to understand, he commented while facing his Master directly from her right. Lady Calisneia lightly nodded and slightly turned her face to her right. “Any Student can join those missions. Only you and some others won’t be allowed out unless they are their own boss, so to speak.”
“Oh. So…” Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes lowered, traces of darkness engulfing his lower face. But his Master’s right-handed slender fingertips lifted his face by pushing his chin up. When he looked back up at his Master, she was facing him better but still not face to face. She was cold and looked unapproachable, “If you’d like to participate, then only forming your own Team can you go. Understand?”
“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded despite not really… wanting to go through these words anymore. She took a step forward, fully faced Heian Ciemnosc, and spoke to him with her eyes twinkling. It was as if they tried to brighten, to glow! But couldn’t… “Heian Ciemnosc, nobody will force you a command you are not ready to bear yet, a command you don’t want and are, one way or another, ineligible to carry.”
“Now, stop whining in your mind and answer me with your actions,” Lady Calisneia lifted his left wrist almost up to her face and sternly reprimanded him. Not as harshly as one would have thought, but still gingering him up. “Forming a team and becoming its leader is a long and arduous process, involving your preferences and requisites for other team members. But there might just be one for you right now. If you accept it, keep quiet, I’ll bring you there. If not, wrestle out of my grip.”
“...” - “...” Heian Ciemnosc only had silence as a word and voice, and his Master responded to his reaction in kind. She looked at Heian Ciemnosc, seemingly having made his choice. At that moment, Heian Ciemnosc’s pale red lips moved a little. And thinking she didn’t see it, he hid his thin smile and tried moving his left wrist a little. Immediately, Lady Calisneia lifted her left eyebrow, still looking at Heian Ciemnosc, but now with a bothered glance.
“Enough.”
Pshift-WVOMP! With those words left behind, Lady Calisneia engulfed herself and Heian Ciemnosc in black smoke with specks of dusty violet floating around them quickly in a moment. In the next instant, they were gone from the empty black space, and Heian Ciemnosc’s antics halted.
… In a small room of the Missions & Operations building, west of the Academy’s territory. It was still deep in the night, but there were citizens moving nonstop, while a few civilians were also seen on the streets. Mostly, cultivators walked here and there without hurrying much but pretty fast to anyone who was even a realm below them. It was always like this. Fast and risky if not paying attention, but orderly and well-disciplined.
However, and relatively lately, some restlessness has been increasing within the Academy’s territory in the passing days. It was discernible for everyone, but as it is habitual every few tens of years, it wasn’t taken into thought that much.
“Aaahh, still not here?” - “Mm, seems so. Maybe he won’t come.” - “Tskah, seriously. I only came here because it was him. His rumors are spreading faster and stay for too long for a reason, don’t you think?” - “You’re his fangirl now? What happened to staying loyal to the young Teachers?” - “Aahh~, maybe he won’t come, after all…”
A group of youngsters, each with their own characteristics, were conversing with each other. Some knew another from a distance or had exchanged blows or words a few times. But most of them didn’t really know each other. Although they had read through everyone’s service period for the Academy for a few years already. None of them were over 30 years old. That alone made a poor middle-aged citizen sweat.
“Please, young ones. This won’t be a waste of your time. Don’t you want to form part of a team to partake in these missions? How- ahem, how many of you are still waiting for your turn? If you form part of this team… then you won’t have to lead! And if you really want to… then if your team leader quits or is reprimanded… maybe you can become the leader next? Please, each of you has something to grow for the Academy and are the Academy!”
“If you’d like to help the Academy in the future, you can’t take shortcuts. This is a chance, an opportunity. Since you have come here, and… that means you are unwilling to wait and want to launch yourselves into action. R-r- right?” The poor manager clasped his hands as if to implore or pray to them to stay and relax. Only after seeing the citizen like this did the youngster around look at him stupefied before looking at the ceiling and exclaiming nearly at the same time.
“Aaaah~, alright~!” - “Fiiiiine~.” - “Relax, grandpa, we won’t leave yet, aish.”
“Sigh…” The manager heaved a sigh of relief, and for an instant, there was a calm sound of silence and apprehension. But it was all broken, as much as their calmness, when a powerful sound came behind the poor citizen manager.
WVOMP!
“Quite well-behaved, nothing like I heard these little monsters were like.”
As the female aged voice rang out and the youngsters looked behind the spooked manager, ready to attack the possible enemy invasion, the manager’s eyes became as wide as saucers once he saw the appearance of the cloaked figure with her cloak’s hood covering all of her face except for the wrinkled end of her chin.
Putong.
“Your Excellency!” The manager fell to his knees, his head almost slamming against the floor from the speed and heaviness his body motioned. Meanwhile, the youngsters were even more stunned seeing the manager react this way. But then saw a young-looking man behind the cloaked figure, understanding everything.
“A-are you… our team leader’s Master?” One guy with a long, steep hairstyle gone upwards asked, seemingly the bravest, most ball-steeled, and clever of the group of youngsters asked. The rest looked at Heian Ciemnosc and Calisneia as the former looked around at this simple and beige colored room with a table for 8 behind them.
“...” But Lady Calisneia looked only at the manager prostrating before her, several inches away from her feet. There was silence in the room. After noticing the strange pause, the manager stood up with his head bowing. Lady Calisneia’s ‘gaze’ traced his movements, still wholly hidden except the tip of her chin.
“Your Excellency, it’s good you’ve come. Please, let me take care of the rest. We won’t take any more of your time.” The managed looked at the cloak with respect and reverence. If it wasn’t by virtue of his training, he would have gone fangirl at Heian Ciemnosc’s Master already.
“...” Lady Calisneia lightly nodded before turning around, leaving the youngsters to think hard and rapidly about the possibilities. The names, faces, and capabilities of each Supervisor, Vice dean, and Dean went through their hearts. But none of them could solely teleport whenever and wherever they wanted, not even the Existential Sixth Step cultivators…
“... Now it’s up to you, Little Heian Ciemnosc,” Lady Calisneia’s words could be barely heard by the youngsters. But they could see her cloak slightly moving, and then Heian Ciemnosc’s long pitchest blackest hair moved and was played with. Everyone could tell what was going on there.
On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc looked at his Master’s brand new gentle and warm countenance. Her eyes seemed more than aged or dimmed at this time. As she looked at him, he felt cherished and cared for in a way Alyona showed sometimes when having serious talks or exchanging thoughts about life… past, and future.
He felt as if he was embraced by a warmth he only felt once upon a time in his life… it was so similar.
Heian Ciemnosc lowered his face and looked shyly at the floor. He didn’t know what in the hell came to him at this time, becoming like this in front of his soon-to-be team members. But she again grasped his chin tenderly and lifted it, tilting her head to the right as her eyes were gently set on him. “Return for Jing Evan’s mission. Don’t disappoint me. Nor the Academy.”
“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc hmmed lightly, his eyes still low. And when she spoke her subsequent words, he lifted his gaze… to meekly answer with a much more determined mumble. “You have to take care of them, but care for yourself.”
“Mn.”
“...” Though his Master didn’t speak again, she tilted her head again, this time in appreciation of this young man-like child under her care. In the same way she came here, she disappeared. Perhaps teleporting back to her abode. And Heian Ciemnosc let his soon-to-be team members witness a very vulnerable and emotional side of him… For an instant, for as soon as the black smoke passed through his face, hiding it from any Spirit Sense in the process, it was revealed again but with an expressionless face and ultimately cold eyes.
WVOMP!
“... Where do we start now?” A calm, soft, and quiet voice spoke. Stiffening the manager’s face and forcing a creepy, cold squirm down the youngsters’ vertebral columns.
…