Foraging
Finally, next week.
Pshift, pshift, pshift. "..." - "..." Heian Ciemnosc and Elena still cuddled together, the pure energy around them never ceasing once in these few days. But at this moment, they felt the pure energy dissipating, dragged back to where it came from. Heian Ciemnosc opened his eyes at once as Elena, as did everyone else in the array formation. Before anyone could even stand up, a different, new voice rang in their ears. "Congratulations on knowing how to sit well-behaved for so long, but get to your feet! The portal to the Semi-Dimension will be opened shortly. You won't have any other chance to relax after this, so make it worth it!"
Heian Ciemnosc looked up and saw the last host, who hadn’t spoken before looking down at them. Elena blinked a few more times and smiled after knowing the outstanding improvement she had after this week. She looked at her husband and saw his calm and collected expression. Knowing he must have gotten further into solidifying his path, she nodded with her f forehead against him before standing up and turning to stare in the direction the Heavenly Protector Diego gestured.
Heian Ciemnosc stood up, too, looking at his people’s progress. Elena went from the Spirit Rebirth realm 6th stage, which was attained after the mist’s events, and broken into the 8th stage. Even with this array formation, such advancement would be impossible without side effects, and it would be too hard to achieve even then. But with her incubator husband, she made it this fast and without trouble.
The Concealed Ornament’s frightening trio, Fengli, Esteban, and Sakura, successfully broke into the Broken Crystallization realm 2nd stage and started heading to its later level. On the other hand, although Violet managed to breakthrough, too, she was still at an early level. Victor and Oleg were at the 1st stage’s peak, and Aleksander was still in the early level. Lastly, and who benefitted the most, Gloria became an Obsidiafying realm 9th stage cultivator from the 4th stage!
Heian Ciemnosc was proud as he saw these changes. And as for Cari, who was already quite close to the Second Step before the war ended, he was already near the 3rd stage, and Arla was now at the 7th stage! She had just broken into the 5th stage and would need quite a few weeks to breakthrough if she went all-out… once. Never mind that she was already in the 7th stage, and when the others realized her sudden growth of strength, they were befuddled. Everyone except Heian Ciemnosc.
Step, step. Since they had a little time left before the portal was opened, right behind where the hosts were now hovering high up in the air and positioned near the plaza’s perimeter. Arla walked to Heian Ciemnosc with a serene expression, saying with a light tone, “Don’t get me wrong. but… I think I could advance fast and efficiently because of you. Otherwise, my foundation wouldn’t have gotten shaky. I think it is because of our mutual connection!”
“Oh?” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t react too much and exclaimed. Arla pressed her lips together and nodded. Placing her right palm on his sternum, she tip-toed and tenderly hugged his lips with hers, spending a few seconds like that before separating and smiling at him genuinely. “Thank you, club leader partner.”
“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc looked at Arla in a casual manner and nodded in good nature. She was such a good companion. Elena said nothing as she watched everything happen, second by second. When Arla turned around and mingled with the other COs, she went to her husband’s back and hugged him from the back. With her lips on the left side of his back, she murmured, to which Heian Ciemnosc perfectly heard. “Somehow, I just really can’t say you are being unfair doing those things. It’s not about e liking it or understanding it, and you… I feel it’s just… natural.”
“...” Heian Ciemnosc and Elena became silent after she said those words. It wasn’t a heavy or uncomfortable, hostile one, but it still gave them some time to think about things. But not for long as host Diego suddenly announced into everyone’s ears and minds a few seconds later. “Prepare, the portal to the Change Merit Trials’ Semi-Dimension… has opened!”
… PSHIIIFT- TAAHH~!!
Immediately after, everyone turned their heads towards the portal’s direction if they weren’t already. Heian Ciemnosc and Elena’s eyes widened as they suddenly watched a lightning bolt, made purely of a light cyan color, suddenly materialize from the air and not from host Diego’s body. It stroked the empty space behind him to his right. When it seemingly landed on something, a circular inscription appeared, surrounding the spot where that lightning bolt attacked. In the following moments, silence ensued, seemingly for ages, but lasted less than 3 seconds.
Right after, the inscription exploded with the lightning bolt’s light cyan color, shining forth with all its might. Pure energy seemed to immediately disappear in just an instant. But Heian Ciemnosc’s senses told him every pure energy and Elemental particle in the surroundings had been devoured by the array formation, now activating to its fullest. The array formation was now formed as its light started receding, giving everyone a look to a watery, pool-like lightest of cyan colors ever imaginably.
“Woooww~…” - “Incredible!” - “It’s so perfect… so beautiful…” The participants became awed. Everyone was looking at this mighty fine-looking portal the size of 8 Bulldogs together. Before they could continue bootlicking the portal’s appearance, host Diego’s voice resounded again. This time, it was somewhat annoyed.
“What are you brats waiting for? It’s opened! Get inside already!!” Those words awoke the crowd, and after an initial gulp down or look at each other, team after team rushed into the portal!
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH… The plaza suddenly became busy. Every organization’s participants were charging inside the portal, searching for goodies. Only a minority remained unmoving. Among them, Heian Ciemnosc could discern 7 other organizations waiting for the plaza to be mostly emptied.
Two of them were positioned closer to each other. The rest were clearly separated from one another. One of those 2 teams was from the Obscure Orb Sect, but the other was unknown to Heian Ciemnosc. The nearest team to Heian Ciemnosc was a group of people whose emblems seemed to be one of the 4 hosts, just as the Obscure Orb Sect and the other beside it has. The one beside the Obscure Orb Sect had the same emblem as Grand Elder Bajo, while the team nearest to Heian Ciemnosc’s emblem was that of Diego’s.
Heian Ciemnosc saw Biston and Sahnnyr go into the portal at last. Thus, Heian Ciemnosc no longer stared at the other teams and rushed towards it. Following his actions without delaying a second, the Concealed Ornament Team took about 2 minutes to arrive before the portal, entering it with basically no one else around. Most other participants had already started 0plundering. As for Heian Ciemnosc’s team, they only moved when he moved, or he dictated as such.
Step, whoosh, dasshh~.
“...” Before entering the portal, Heian Ciemnosc looked up, glaring at host Diego, who was looking down at him. The other 3 hosts looked around the last few teams behind. Only host Bai Yue’er looked at each time with an aunty’s smile that didn’t fade away, much less was it insincere. Only half a second passed when Heian Ciemnosc returned his eyes to the portal. His Spirit Sense reading it made him widen his eyes in amazement…
Pshift… pshift, pshift, pshift, pshift, pshift, pshift, pshift…
After Heian Ciemnosc entered the portal, his team followed in, and even Gloria was second to enter as she was helped by Aleksander so she could keep up. The last to enter were Oleg and Fengli, and those at the front behind Aleksander were Esteban, Violet, and Sakura. In this formation, the temporary Concealed Ornament Team disappeared into the portal, with host Diego’s eyes still where he saw Heian Ciemnosc’s back for the last time.
Step, step… step, step, step… pshift… pshift, pshift… pshift, pshift, pshift… After Heian Ciemnosc’s team disappeared from the plaza, the other teams finally began moving after asserting each other’s strength. Before, only that team with host Deigo’s emblem had looked at the temporary Concealed Ornament Team as if intrigued. When the latter rushed out, their faces were condescending.
Finally, after every team had left the plaza, host Jolden murmured something and cleared his throat before addressing every camera angle pointing at them. At the same time, windows, screens, and monitors began showing the ideal general point of view of the Semi-DImension’s world map, where they could see millions of dots appearing everywhere but leaving vast spaces without a single dot. Some were close to one another, and some were practically left alone with their team.
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“Took so long. What is it with this generation of youths? For real… Ahem… The Change Merit Trials’ phase 1 has commenced! All viewers can watch any team they wish to, but only when foraging or a battle is ongoing will the scenery they are around be shown. Tests and peaceful moments among teams will be replaced with a simple centralization of the team you wish to observe. That will be all!” Host Jolden said as he raised his arms and disappeared from the plaza’s aerial space with the other hosts.
… They reappeared in a closed room, who knew where and how sitting around a small square table. It was ordinary but well-made, and so were the chairs. However, there was no lighting, and they could only see each other because of being cultivators. They didn’t even bother beautifying the place, keeping things simple. At this moment, they looked at each other until Jolden broke that silence. “What do you think?”
“We must make a clear decision here. It is essential…” Diego’s stern face and words made the other solemnly nod in response. Thus, Jolden nodded again and placed his right palm on the table’s center. He drew a deep breath, cooling his head as he quickly said, “I think this continent will have the best-scored participants in this event.”
“Bah! I was going to choose that one, you knew I would! How dare you?!” Diego barked at Jolden. As they began, strange and unique strands of energy danced around the room a little. Chairs, paintings, candles that could illuminate an entire building’s floor, and several pieces of furniture. Jolden felt guilty, his face showing it slightly. He said, “A-... alright, then I’ll pick this one… Mn, this is my decis-”
“Hehehe! I’ll take it then, thank you so mu-” Diego interrupted Jolden, making the latter’s polite smile freeze and turn apprehensive. Jolden saw Diego all smiles and triumphant, causing thousands of alarming bells to sound inside his head. His voice became louder as he declared, “No! This is my choice, and I wasn’t finished! I will not change my decision. This is the continent I choose!”
“You…!” Diego looked at Jolden, feeling played with. Jolden kept his hard stare and didn’t back down. He would keep fighting until he won! Diego’s lips formed a smirk from the left corner of his mouth. When Jolden saw this, his face immediately fell. His mind went, ‘Oh no!!’
“Bwheheheh!” And, indeed, Jolden’s terror became a reality. Diego said while pointing at the spot where Jolden was about to select, his movements slow under Bai Yue’er’s slightly rolling eyes and shaking her head. Bajo was noncommittal as he looked at the void. Jolden’s face paled, and he felt regret. His mind gnawed at Diego’s cruelty. Bai Yue’er shook her head again, with closed eyes, and commented even more ruthlessly. “Every time. No matter what it is, how, or repeatedly. You are always played by younger brother. Seriously~.”
“...” Jolden was saddened, but he then noticed something, as did the others, and they all looked at the map on the table. To be more specific… they were looking at Diego’s spot. After silent tens of seconds, Jolden looked at Diego, the latter giving him the ‘don’t you even dare start’ glare. But Jolden smirked, just like Diego before this sudden news, and said. “Since your favorite participant, Heian Ciemnosc, is in your zone, I guess you’ll have to thank me, baw-hahahahah!”
“...!” Diego’s eyes were bloody, his face becoming more red, forming fists with his hands. His knuckles constantly sounded, accompanying the redness spreading to the rest of his body. After this little event, the others started betting on who would the best forager be. Which teams would gain the prizes and what would happen during the 1st phase, from drama to massacres, they started discussing as if it dependent on their Kingdom’s safety.
. . .
In the Semi-Dimension, early morning. The sky was dark, and the sun started showing from the decisive line in everyone’s eyesight. No matter where they were, it was early morning, either by illumination or time zone.
Pfwuop, pfwuop, pfwuop, pfwuop… From the air, 5 km above a jungle, more than a dozen figures appeared, immediately becoming aware they were in the middle of the air, falling rapidly towards the 1 km tall trees below! Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes widened as his Vocón Link came out and entangled everyone’s waist, pulling them closer and started drawing with his Power Energy, Soul, and Spirit Sense in the air before him as they fell.
The inscription wasn’t left behind as they were attached to Heian Ciemnosc’s nature. Becoming completed in less than a few seconds as they started feeling their bodies pulled up and down from foreign gravitation. It wasn’t harmful, and it instead felt like they were slowly becoming stagnant in midair. Just then, a light cry-out sounded.
“Ah!” Heian Ciemnosc looked at the owner and saw Gloria pointing somewhere. He was wondering if she just liked the scenery so much, but his thoughts changed when he saw a tiny dot in the distance. It was red colored and had wings. Before Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes could widen, he saw the Fauna appearing close enough to his Spirit Sense. But he dared not send it to meet this behemoth that was clearly above what this event was about.
FUTOMP! WHOOOOOOOOOSHHH!!...
“!!!” In the next instant, as he finally allowed his team to float in the sky and no longer fall, ready to recompose themselves and fall at their own rhythm, Heian Ciemnosc’s widened like never before in his life as he looked at a massive dragon appeared before them at an impossible speed! When it stopped, despite the laws clearly indicating a tremendous catastrophe would follow just from that action alone, the jungle below only felt a mini-hurricane for a few seconds. The air exploded outwards in a few hundred kilometers radius.
“... … … …” However, they were unharmed, and they could even feel a rather strange and completely ‘different’ energy to any other they knew of enveloping them before focusing on Heian Ciemnosc’s body. This red dragon wasn’t as depicted as a Dragon in the history books, let alone a True Dragon, rare even before the Lord Change first arrived. Its body was too massive, however, as it had a long body but still dozens of legs, with each larger than any Frigate.
The body length was far too gargantuan to even think about. It also had a bulkiness to its body, appearing to be of mixed sub-species or mutated. When its head moved, tiny hurricanes, compared to even its eyes, but were as big as a large hill in the Concealed Ornament Team’s eyes as they appeared behind its head. Its golden eyes and orange slits for pupils were striking, and it almost burnt their minds just watching them.
“I HAVE COME OUT OF CURIOSITY BUT NOW FOUND MYSELF GAINING A FORTUNE. I HAVE A PLACE THAT WILL HELP YOU. AS LONG AS YOU LET ME SHOW YOU THE WAY, WE WILL BOTH GAIN SOMETHING.” Just then, Heian Ciemnosc received a message in his head, leaving him speechless. The voice was loud, extremely domineering, and pretty shocking. However, just as Heian Ciemnosc was wondering why was this motherfucker screaming at him inside his head, the dragon added. “DO YOU DARE OR NOT?!”
“Alright, alright! I will!” Heian Ciemnosc finally screamed in return, silencing the echoing and rumbling inside his head. Heian Ciemnosc heard a ‘COME WITH ME’ inside his head again, thundering his mind, as the dragon turned around and waited for him to bid farewell to his team. His head thought, ‘This dragon’s too considerate… could he have something to do with the Semi-Dimension? A ruler, perhaps? Well, at least he lets me speak with my people…’
After thinking, Heian Ciemnosc floated to his team and didn’t say any words. He simply went to Elena, grabbed her lower back with his left arm, and pulled her against his body to stick together. He grasped her chin with his right hand and pecked her as Elena’s eyes slowly blinked in response to the bliss she was receiving. With a quiet tone, he spoke to her face. “This one’s for good luck, for both of us, ah.”
“Mine too!” Arla suddenly shouted and lunged at him, pressing her lips against his and tasting Elena’s remaining scent in his mouth. Elena blinked profusely, but before even Arla and Heian Ciemnosc could stop lasciviously interchanging fluids like lovers, another voice sounded. “I want one too…”
Heian Ciemnosc swatted Arla’s wet lips and itchy teeth away and looked down at Fera. Cleaning his face with dark Power Energy, he cupped Fera’s little head and bussed that little forehead! Fera’s eyes formed crescent moons before nodding at her big brother and standing in attention determined. “Big Bro, I will become a Second Step cultivator by the time we reunite! Don’t take long, or you’ll have to call me big sis from then on!”
“Mn, I will call Fera pretty Sister if she surprises me. Otherwise, you are only a dead weight, understood?” Heian Ciemnosc said, patting her head and caressing the side of her head. Fera’s eyes were immediately glowing when he mentioned her ‘new’ status. She cared no fucks about being a dead weight and nodded again, this time earnestly as if trying to gain his pride. “Be careful, Big Brother. If we meet any Obscure Orb Sect, I’ll make sure we become friends! Don’t go around killing them, okay?”
“Mn, mn. Piss off already,” Heian Ciemnosc nodded several times slightly before flicking Fera’s forehead. She didn’t care about that painful twinge and smiled brightly. She held her head, recovering her hairstyle as she rushed back into the Concealed Ornament Team’s hands. Then, out of nowhere, Heian Ciemnosc felt two strong hands behind his shoulders on his back, and a little, tender voice spoke softy to his nape, its vibrations rippling incessantly on his skin.
“Take care,” Elena said before lightly smooching the top of his vertebral column. After thinking for a little and her eyes struggling, she blushed as she kissed his nape, sending shivers all over her beloved’s body. Heian Ciemnosc turned around and faced his wife again, he was already used to marrying whoever the fuck he wanted, so he wasn’t being stupid whenever it was being-affectionate-time with any of them.
Heian Ciemnosc held her hands atop his palms, her pale, little but strong fingers hesitatingly moved around, tactfully feeling his pale skin. He wore an expressionless face as he cutely tilted his head to the right a lot. Looking into her brown eyes, he chatted with her, Soul to dark Soul, conveying to the other everything that they wanted.
“Go,” Elena whispered, looking up at him. Although she was slightly worried her man would grow much taller than her now, she could only shake her head to nature’s nature to joke and leave some pitiful existences such as her; helpless. Heian Ciemnosc slightly nodded and then flew to the dragon’s rear. However, just as he was about to, the dragon’s right golden eye and orange pupil looked at him from the side, and his body suddenly disappeared into the distance! It zoomed so fast that it was instantly in Heian Ciemnosc and the Concealed Ornament Team’s eyes!
‘Oh, come on! Am I supposed to catch up to you? Holy hell…’ Heian Ciemnosc was speechless and annoyed. But what could he do? He could only not look back and rush into the distance as well. If only they could have brought their spacecraft…
…