Arrays

Ciemnosc was gazing at the star still, along with Valeria, as they ate the last remaining memories of their popsicles in the aftertaste of the corners of their lips stained with either red or blue respectively. With Valeria using Ciemnosc's left shoulder as her pillow but just to accommodate her head with his coldness reaching deep into her bones through her skin, she asked with a mosquito, soft tone. "Ciemnosc, have you ever seen the stars?"

“The stars…mmm, no.” Ciemnosc responded frankly, and Valeria nodded once in confirmation, since he was ‘this’ old then it is more than normal for him to not have seen them. And even if he did, he wouldn’t even be able to remember it. She said in the same way as before, “I did manage to see the stars before the…’thingie’ of 10 years ago happened.”

She looked at Ciemnosc, admiring the damn handsome left profile side of his face as he kept on gulping to savor the bloody red popsicle still, then asked with a tenderful and soft voice. “I also managed to see them separate away from our sky that night when the ‘thing’ happened, and we were supposed to be free. But you know, ever since then, things…in my perspective, opinion, and experience…have only gotten worse; really, really worse.”

Mwah.

His left cheek violated, Ciemnosc looked to his left, where black eyes immediately met with his darkest ones almost touching. “Gasp, you just- how dare you!”

“Ehehehe, aah~; Ciemnosc, I haven’t felt like a silly little girl in a long time. Not since Elder Tin took me in and began teaching me cultivation.” She looked at the sky, continuing as her black eyes also continued traveling from his ‘dignified-violated face’ to the starless deep blue sky, “He isn’t a good mentor, but he has taught me a lot, I can’t make Master disappointed, when he has given me all the opportunities to fight and grow.”

“Eh~~, he cares for you, hmm~?” Ciemnosc commented. His tone was nice but still somewhat playful, worthy of his status as a child. Valeria knocked his head a little, somewhat hurting herself in the process before replying eloquently, “Don’t be nasty. Grand Elder is a great person. Though she has very varying differences from my Master and some others. She is always looking out for anyone, even her own rivals… Though, sometimes, my Master and others make me feel like she is their enemy while she still ‘cares’ like that for them.”

“So…what you, my esteemed boy violator, are saying is… That my Grand Elder-backer is a softie? Big, big softie?” Ciemnosc said, his lovable eyes turning incredible in the night, fascinating in delight the black eyes of the young woman. “She is a great person.”

“...” - “...” Both turned silent and looked at the sky. The sky was like their one and only landscape, silent language and silent accordance with nature. When they breathed in and heard the other either breathe in or breathe out, their skin felt serene and their hearts at ease.

“Mmm, though you will soon have to go into a mission, and one that will equal your battle prowess…even though you are the first one to show such potential and…amazing strength, you will be given no fair treatment. At least not with your own backer, hehehehe.” Giggled, the silly Valeria that was almost a whole decade older than the cute boy.

“Ehe- ahe- ahem! Just don’t underestimate what can be found outside those walls.” Valeria pointed to the sky and then dived down with her left index finger, her actions making her body and face press against his left cheek. “Out there, there are no rules and everything can be used. You might face an enemy elder, and that elder will go after you, or some weirdo from the cult.”

“Either way, killing an enemy is killing an enemy. So it doesn’t matter if they are with the lowest cultivation base possible or even ordinary people. As long as you see them in a battle zone, kill them!” Valeria commended, tone strong and vicious but black eyes shining like crazy. And Ciemnosc, who kept looking at the stars, like her, nodded his head and took her right hand with his left one. “Mn.”

Time passed and, with Valeria taking his hand as well and intertwining fingers, they spent some time, tilting heads and looking up at the boundless blackness of it all. Then, she took her cell phone out and presented it to Ciemnosc, blocking his sight to the skies. “And; you should really get one of these already. That way, you’ll know many things, like places to go if you wanna eat, wanna meet with me and hang out more, wanna go and see some places, wanna train or study for something, and even…”

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, ”If, when you are older, to hook up with pretty bitches and some hoes to spend time with?”

“Cough!” Ciemnosc coughed violently once, his face all innocently panicking over the lusty moments he has had in his life, but trying his best not to show it; it helped that he couldn’t blush. He patted his ‘small’ manly chest and said, with a declaring tone, “I don’t even have a wifey, how can I go around and meet some ‘tches and damn hoes? I gotta first ask whoever is gonna be my wifey, eh.”

Valeria raised her left eyebrow, very pronounced and her tone was toned up a pitch. “Who asks their partner to let them fuck others? Ciemnosc, what kind of relation do you think that is?”

“One where my wifey wants me to eat to my heart’s content until I am filled up and then…rest for the next day?” Ciemnosc responded, started blinking only after he was done answering her question, and innocently remained silent, waiting for her response.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes upwards, this time really leaning over his shoulder and neck as she twisted her neck a bit more, “And if your wifey doesn’t want it like that?”

“Then no.” Ciemnosc answered right away, leaving Valeria nodding. She looked at his profile face and then asked him once more, suspiciously. “Ciemnosc, have you ever been in a relationship? It seems a bit weeiird~...”

“Err, I have.” Ciemnosc blinked profusely, the situation turning into a crisis as this big sister began doing strong questions. She just then asked, with the most natural tone she could force out, “How old were they, and how long ago?”

“Oh! They were hundreds of years old, as beautiful as you and I was with them at the same time,” Ciemnosc answered, totally giving no fucks about the image nor to the meaning of not clearing up the ‘at the same time’ to a poor and innocent girl. She thought, ‘At the same time? Playboy! How could he?!’.

Valeria: ୧(•̀ᗝ•́)૭

“Err, what I meant was, they were both together with me, and we spent a lot of time knowing each other.” Ciemnosc seemed to have brains as he added up, just in case, to which Valeria nodded her head slowly and exaggeratedly with an ‘aaaah’ face. “With 2 girls…harem? How envious I am feeling right now~…”

…More time passed, and the two of them began to see the darkest hours of the night, with Ciemnosc’s presence somehow becoming more, stronger and still somewhat hidden for any kind of strange reason in Valeria’s detection.

“But, I was serious about getting a cell phone. That way, you can know other stuff. Like the blonde beautiful woman that was seated with me some more, and wanted you dead - without needing to expose yourself dumbly asking out there about her. And also…some other people…” Valeria went back to that subject, not letting go of it which finally grabbed Ciemnosc’s silly attention.

“Are you saying that because of the Enaro whatever that you warned me about~?” Ciemnosc directed his eyes at her, their noses eskimo kissing the shit out of each other as he turned his face. Valeria nodded, accentuating their cute little moment, “Mhm, he is also close to the Conflagrate Realm, you’d need about a couple of years at best before you could defend yourself against his own power alone, not dying from one move, let alone everything that he can make use of.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hmmm… Alright, alright. I’ll buy one when I come back from my first mission, okay?” Ciemnosc became pensive, his lips protruding out fully looking at the sky, easing her up afterwards once his thoughts were clear. To which Valeria nodded and continued to lean her head over his body, “Okay, then we can hang out more often…and contact each other much more directly than with the Identification Tokens.”

‘...Mmm, even though I severely limited my cultivation base back then, and had my full raw bodily strength available…I only needed a bit more effort to deal with that weirdo. But…it feels as if I would be able of…dealing with something much greater than even the weirdo’s level. Something…makes me believe that only someone from the next Realm would be able…of dealing with me.’

‘Hmmm…that seems unlikely, but… … Could it really be that… I would be able to face someone at the 1st stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm?’

. . .

The next day, Ciemnosc opened his eyes on his bed, yawning under the blankets with the bed on the right side of the bedroom still remaining empty. He was naturally fully naked and since no one was to come to his bedroom this time, he spent a few more tens of minutes in bed enjoying the sensation of being cold outside but warm inside his bedroom yet also feeling fresh and a bit cold in his bed.

‘Hmm…’ At this moment, Ciemnosc pouted. He sat up and with the dangling one dangling about, put his uniform on. Then, he walked to the door and opened right before Toldes could knock on his door.

Seeing the door open out of nowhere, before he could even do shit, Toldes was wide eyed looking at Ciemnosc for a second before recomposing and explaining in an orderly manner. “Sorry to bother you, Ciemnosc. This is important for our ‘mutual friend’.”

Unfolding one of the packages he had in his hands, Toldes revealed what seemed to be a canvas border by a good border made out of dark, brown wood, which had about 10 centimeters in radius. But when Toldes pushed it into Ciemnosc’s hands, the ‘canvas’ became hundreds and hundreds of pieces of small strap-shaped paper which could be furthermore cut and divided into even smallish-er pieces.

As for the ‘border’ itself, it wasn’t a single ‘thing’ but various in fact. They were merely cases that held 10 brush pens each. Each brush pen was about 20 centimeters long and 2 centimeters in radius, its main body color was the dullest brown ever, and both their extremes had bright platinum around each brush pen.

‘Wow! No shit, these are talisman materials!’ Ciemnosc was elated right away! He got so many important things that he could otherwise only get with merit from the sect, and at a very, very high price. Almost seeming like they wanted no one to use them and directly quit the idea of investing in them altogether.

And that was just the first package, as when Toldes saw Ciemnosc’s elated face, he smiled a little bit in response, which was followed by the surprise of another little bag in his right hand which he extended over to Ciemnosc’s chest.

“Eh, another one?” Ciemnosc was still speaking his short words, but he had already taken the little bag and stored his brand new toys to experiment, learn and create things with. Toldes was speechless as he wasn’t even given a word, only speaking a few seconds later when he recuperated his cool. “Yes, Grand Elder’s gifts are actually very unique for you, Ciemnosc.”

Next, Toldes opened up another package, which similarly to the talisman materials, this one also had a lot of papers in it. However, they weren’t blank and had quite a few symbols here and there. Ciemnosc could recognize them now since he had gone through the sect’s records and obvious-important matters within it.

Taking them into his hands, Ciemnosc read through them as in each of them he saw them having the seal of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect’s Grand Elder at least twice. There were ‘Plants and Herbs Vouchers’, ‘Hunting Vouchers’ and even ‘Combat Hall Vouchers’.

With them, he would be allowed to exchange up to several hundred to a few thousand of plants and herbs, leaves for hunting, and free Creatures of any Realm he wanted below the Phrenic Realm that was top notch quality from the sect as well as hundreds of too few thousands of materials from such.

And from those of the Combat Hall, he could get thousands of ordinary but top notch weapons and equipment of all kinds, even more so of ammunition such as arrows - since guns were prohibited from being sold to cultivators directly. And also tools!

Having been given such extraordinary gifts which weren’t in the merit catalog nor anywhere at all, Ciemnosc felt the hope that Grand Elder Jing Zhu had placed on him back then was still ‘here now’ and that it was still real as well.

“Ohohohoh,” but Ciemnosc pervertedly laughed as he saw that there were a couple more of such packages. Toldes became a very fine thing to look at. Ciemnosc looked at the poor young man who looked back at him speechless. He thought, ‘Does this boy really want me to open up his presents for him?’.

Rustle rustle~.

But even then, he did it, since it was fun anyway. And as Toldes opened up one other package, Ciemnosc grabbed his already full Covert Space bag and shoved it inside his other Covert Space bag. By the time he returned his hands to the sides of his body, Ciemnosc was seeing a very detailed ordinary map without any array implemented on it. But this one had tunnels, hidden pathways, settlements from all enemy sects and that of the very same Self-Mutilating Honores Sect as well as Creatures' hideouts, whereabouts and where they might have moved, and so on.

Naturally, Ciemnosc the Curious became invested right away in the map, which was even more beautifully designed and drawn than the one that all outer sect disciples get; not that he was comparing or being biased though, ah.

It was only when Toldes placed his last gift right in front of him, above the map, that he noticed a total of 103 Supreme grade Powerful Stones. Ciemnosc slowly lifted his head to see Toldes’s sweaty face. He suddenly felt the sensation of being looked on as prey. He met Ciemnosc’s eyes, which seemed like a mistake, so he hurried up to say a bit anxiously, “Grand Elder has seen your interest in the Supreme Powerful Stones, so she- she- she- she- she…gulp! She sent most of her treasury of Supreme Powerful Stones to you.”

“...” Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes never left Toldes’s face, he was really pensive right now, and he also decided not to kill Toldes with his words. But also because since it wasn’t just a secret gift to Ciemnosc, then anyone who tried getting those from his hands forcefully or with a trick would be facing her, as they would be robbing her as well.

And if some previously thought that they would be okay with it, then one needed to only hear news about the guy who was sent to a battlezone just a few days ago and came back with only a munched eyeball remaining of him just yesterday’s deep in the night.

“Okay, thank you Toldes. You can leave now,” Ciemnosc said, ushering Toldes out of his bedroom’s ‘garden’ and closing the door right after. Once he was all alone in his room with his clothes falling off one by one as if by nature, Ciemnosc thought. ‘Hmm, as I thought, similar to that weirdo from yesterday but a little bit stronger. Maybe I should’ve killed him to prove my thoughts right, hum~.’

…Over the next few days, Ciemnosc remained in his bedroom in the early mornings, came out to the stadium in the morning until early noon, and then hung out with Valeria, though not every day she was available, and it was a thing that was bound to happen as well as time passed.

During the afternoon and evening and even early in the night, Ciemnosc would either go to experiment in the various research laboratories, gardens, and Craftspeople-focused buildings; or stay in his bedroom and read dozens of books, with some having thousands of the thinnest pages one could find; each.

In his new daily life, Ciemnosc had the knowledge to absorb from just about everywhere he walked, as he even stayed in the food stalls from time to time to watch the vendors sell food, some varying prices and some varying in the amount of their food given only. While some at least made the meals on the spot, which Ciemnosc stayed on to watch and also learn.

In the laboratories, as long as he got his spot in one dedicated to learning and the study of Creatures, he would always bring about a dozen different, similar, or the same Creatures to his long table and fully occupy it, leaving some fame over the passing days.

And in that aspect, Ciemnosc’s theoretical knowledge from the books was like a grandmaster-guide to further enhance his practical. Which was already incredible itself but poor in experience due to such insulting resources which he had at his disposal ‘once upon a time’ ago.

He started slowly, though. Beginning with a few ordinary animals to put into practice the most, absolute basic knowledge and do as he wished with it. Then, he smashed the pedal to the next stage and began experimenting with species in the Spiritual Ligament Realm, forming a gigantic line of Creatures for over 3 days straight.

Ciemnosc didn’t search for the ‘truths’ about the same species all at once and, instead, took his time dealing with several different ones most of the time every day. While those that were too poor and inadequate were quickly researched and placed aside after their strongest kind of Spiritual Ligament Realm 3rd stage, 4th stage or so were finished being researched up.

On the other hand, however, as he studied the same but stronger species over those days, he gained the knowledge of such little things that he became amazed even if it was the most boring, obvious, and common sense kind of development from one stage to a higher one. To that of completely new and unique, different changes from one stage to another critical one within the same realm; this and remembering Valeria’s way of combat inspired him; somehow.

…