Neutral Encephalon Realm, No Stop

Heian Ciemnosc stood in a little corner to the right during the test, whereas several long tables were placed in rows. Heian Ciemnosc was 3 tables behind the front while dozens were behind his. A rabbit koala was on its back, glaring at Heian Ciemnosc with terrified eyes. They weren't stupid. Even if they couldn't understand any language in their Spiritual Ligament realm cultivation base, they could smell the killing intent in the atmosphere even if it didn't come from the students themselves.

“... … …” Everyone was looking at Heian Ciemnosc to see how he would proceed like. The examiners didn’t say anything and just looked at their fellow students, observing the little black monster’s profile or lowered front face. Heian Ciemnosc had a smirk trailing from the center of his pale red lips to their left corners. He looked pretty attractive from his left profile face, but from his right, he looked normal and simply looked at the little fellow casually.

The rabbit koala’s belly heaved up and down rapidly. It looked into the darkest eyes. It was imploring, but it didn’t dare move. Whichever bad Fauna was caught, they would be shown what happened to their seniors who misbehaved. The images of those who dared flee and what happened to them afterwards were imprinted in its mind for good. The clubs would sacrifice a group of little Fauna without other Fauna watching and the next group with a crowd. Only then could there be consistency in these tests and approval periods.

Its little paws were held against the table by Heian Ciemnosc’s fingers as he spread his hands with his index finger and thumb together and his middle and ring fingers together. After a few seconds, Heian Ciemnosc finally lowered his head and hung his back. There were utensils at the sides of each Creature, but there were no indications on how to proceed. The clubs’ examiners were clearly letting the apprentices deal with it however they wanted.

Whether or not one can join the rest of the caretakers or not will depend on whatever they did without knowing if it was the right way or good enough. Everyone looked at the little black monster as he lifted his right hand while using his left-handed fingers to hold the rabbit koala. Heian Ciemnosc’s right hand turned went Claws Out, and his middle, index, and ring fingers penetrated its belly with dark claws.

Criiii, screeeeeeech! Pirp pirp pirp, pirp pirp…

The little creature started squirming out of pain, but its face seemed at ease. It was a strange scene, and even the examiners looked at it with a frown plastered upon their eyes after tilting their heads as if to see better. The rabbit koala’s belly was pried open from the middle. Its fleshy belly slowly parted in 2 as blood sipped out for a few seconds before stopping. Heian Ciemnosc moved all fingers with their dark claws to form an elegant, slender pincer.

Stabbing through the rabbit koala’s body with smooth, slow movements, he pulled out a tiny heart with an Immature Spirit-Heart Link embedded within, barely formed, and crushed the heart a little. The rabbit koala’s eyes widened as big as saucers and appeared to be coming out of their sockets. However, it was wet and soft and no longer moved after a second. The rest of its body continued palpitating for some seconds while Heian Ciemnosc chewed on it and gulped it down his throat. A rich and fragrant taste drilled into his smelling and tasting senses.

The rabbit koala died. Its pure energy remains jumped into the air and spread everywhere like fireworks in a diminutive size before Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes. He could see more since attaining Neutral Energy without nature reading, and this was just one of many things. After Heian Ciemnosc gulped the Immature Spirit-Heart Link down, an examiner walked towards him and lightly covered the rabbit koala with a beige mantle of its size.

“Well done, newbie…” The examiner was a bald, young-looking man with orangish skin and pointy ears, wore circular glasses and had half a goatee beard. He looked at Heian Ciemnosc after covering the rabbit koala and continued speaking in a gentle tone. “Welcome to the caretakers’ clubs. With this, you can now take as much participation as you want. Its Soul has left its body and somewhere else in the world. One day, it might mutate even if it’s an ordinary animal. Thank you.”

“Mn,” Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t disrespectful and agreed with a tilted nod. He stepped backwards, and another 2 examiners brought the rabbit koala away with a lengthier mantle. Its corpse lay on the mantle as the examiners walked towards the feeding area, where the rabbit koala would be thrown to another few small Fauna, and they could feed on its ‘clean’ body. No longer persevering any deathly emotions before death.

Usually, they would be put in a ‘fridge’ so they wouldn’t lose their tastiness and helpful properties, besides the negative alterations, before feeding them to other Fauna. But as long as an apprentice did half a decent job with their sacrifices, they could immediately be sent to the feeding areas. It was an honor within itself. Although the apprentices might not understand it now, they would in the future.

Heian Ciemnosc was a little different. He knew what this ‘honor’ meant and comprehended it well. After amazing and confusing the other participants, he was given a little coat to put above his dark one, but he refused and wore it under his dark coat. Being given free reign over what he wanted to start and what he should do next, Heian Ciemnosc immediately went to the clubs’ libraries to look for every note and piece of knowledge his Spirit Sense scanned as slightly different and new.

Just like with the rabbit koala, he didn’t read it with his Spirit Sense but used his body to go through each of them, one by one. The rabbit koala didn’t need to be said anything. Heian Ciemnosc used his Spirit Sense to convey his intentions without using his Soul. That was fine. Many caretakers already knew how to do that since the beginning, when they started in this Craftsmaking profession. However, the newbies didn’t know when and how to best use it.

However, they used their Soul, while Heian Ciemnosc did not. His intentions were clear to the rabbit koala, telling it would die here and now, one way or another, and that his way was at least between someone who could form a connection with it. Be it a punishment or not, Fauna was like any other living being, and even if it was young, it could understand the sense of camaraderie even more than Humans, Elves, and Dwarves.

Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t order any Fauna he saw to kill itself, and even if he could, he wouldn’t. One thing was a Fauna he trained himself, taught, and disciplined over time. It was a whole other thing if he messed with Nature if he had the chance. There was simply no reason for that. The rabbit koala was at its death’s doors. Its potential was limited to only see through things, at best, since it was too young and held against its will.

In the end, the rabbit koala’s life was ended by Heian Ciemnosc’s hands. It left peacefully. The misbehavior a Creature needed to have to be sacrificed wasn’t just stealing food, scratching a student, trying to hurt other Fauna, or wanting to forcibly mate when it wasn’t time or allowed yet. Those Creatures had to have been killing and damaging others, be it Fauna or students, for no reason or merely for the fun of it. Lastly, when these Fauna are deemed a loss cause, they are put down.

It didn’t matter to Heian Ciemnosc what the rabbit koala did, even as he nature read through its body after it died and discovered the scent of blood, flesh, and skin of baby Faunas and egg shells under its claws and in its mouth. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t care, although he did worry about such behavior going unnoticed until it was too late. The fences were several kilometers big, with some having several different cut sections in between.

The expansion will only make things bigger, but this should have been enough for Neutrality realm cultivators to cover these areas. Of course, they could only extend their Spirit Sense to their fullest for a few minutes before exhausting themselves and needing to recuperate for some time. It was counterproductive. And that was with several dozen Dantreulity realm cultivators proceeding over the caretaking-based clubs.

Heian Ciemnosc made a little mental note to take this into consideration before delving himself into knowledge.

During the following week, Heian Ciemnosc went to each caretaking-based club’s library to recompile every helpful bit of information he could. Once he was done and no more libraries were left to uncover their secrets, Heian Ciemnosc started acting. He spent the following 2 months and 2 weeks working with Fauna. He sometimes cooperated with other caretakers and took notes of their behavior and responses to all kinds of Fauna.

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Aggressive, docile, naughty, intelligent, stupid as fuck, and even rebellious ones who always wanted to escape and soar into the skies. Heian Ciemnosc saw every possible nature in caught Fauna as he practiced under the caretaking-based clubs. Heian Ciemnosc started showing his talent in dealing with any Fauna. At first, he had trouble with Preternaturals. He didn’t have to form a connection, but to have them obey his ‘strange’ commands to exercise and develop some habits in their bodies and behavior… proved challenging.

He had to go through 2 whole weeks' worth of experimenting before finding the ways to communicate his intentions in the best way and convince them without needing to give them gifts as if he was trading with them. Once they started obeying him as Creatures and Monsters did, Heian Ciemnosc began training them along with other Fauna. Preternaturals were far too proud when in front of Creatures or Monsters. It was always the most terrible moment for any caretaker when they initiated their training with other types of Fauna.

The Creatures he dealt with were predominantly from land. The majority of Monsters he trained under those 2 months and a few weeks were flying types. As for Preternaturals… They were all a combination, but he only trained with a few tens of them, while he trained hundreds of Monsters and a few thousand Creatures. Every caretaking-based club had a few of the little black monster’s fauna stored in their stall barns.

Finally, in the last month, Heian Ciemnosc brought his Dantreulity realm ‘little’ Cloudless Eagle to show off. When his trained Fauna saw the ‘big bro’ come and slap them across the face with his attitude, glamour, and boasting of having dozens of children with top-notch flying and terrestrial Fauna, even 2 Preternaturals among his wives, they were incensed!

However, before they could begin feeling ashamed, Heian Ciemnosc showed them Alejandro, his Simmer Shark. He had also reached the Dantreulity realm and was even Heian Ciemnosc’s maids’ guardian, protector, and eldest brother. Only after seeing a gigantic Simmer Shark did Heian Ciemnosc’s trained Fauna begin madly improving, with some even getting hurt during the process, and Heian Ciemnosc had to nurture them.

Since there were too many, Heian Ciemnosc had to leave them to his maids, who had a function in their Universal Conveyance, which they became addicted to after gaining them, chatting with each other even when being a few meters away, that protected them if any of his trained Fauna. As for other people’s fauna, who the fuck cared? They were all shit and not worth their time. Only the Master’s Fauna mattered, and that’s only taking into consideration that they would grow and not need their help in the future and medicate themselves.

Indeed, Heian Ciemnosc wouldn’t invest in something that couldn’t help him. Even if he couldn’t gain something directly with whatever he did immediately, and on his own, Heian Ciemnosc could still make use of growing as a group to instill fear into his opponents, from how capable he fucking is. Heian Ciemnosc wasn’t far from making top-notch Earth equipment. He was still failing 1 in 3 attempts at making one armor piece, let alone a whole set. He still had ways to go.

Nevertheless, while even Elena had broken into the Neutral Encephalon realm and was nearing its early-late stages, and the Concealed Ornament was following at least one step behind her, Heian Ciemnosc was still stuck in the Neutrality realm 10th stage for 3 weeks now. However, now that he showed his trained Fauna his mounts, and they were increasingly dumb and crazy but growing smarter in order to stop injuring themselves and delay their training, Heian Ciemnosc could finally leave the caretaking-based clubs and go to the combatant types.

… It had been 2 months since he received the letter, and only now did he answer with a delayed date. The caretakers didn’t even ask him about it and simply ‘bid’ him ‘farewell’ when he announced he wouldn’t spend his entire free time here. Heian Ciemnosc hired a few Servants and Sub Students to keep things in check. Ever since he started at the alchemy-based clubs, he has made around 10,000,000 gold coins every 2 months. He had almost gained 18 million gold coins this year but had less than 80% of that amount, considering he was an all-rounder Craftsman.

Next in his path were the melee, physical Arts, and body tempering clubs. However, he was aaabsolutely confident in those. Thus, Heian Ciemnosc planned on first breaking into the Neutral Encephalon realm before sweeping past them like hot knives through millions of blocks made of tofu!

Pshiiiiiift!!- FUTOMP! Wheeesh…

Heian Ciemnosc went to his Master’s abode and rapidly entered his cultivation room. His Master appeared after he started breaking through, and the pure energy around him was suddenly drawn inwards towards his body, but suddenly stopped and left a free space around him with the shape of an oval. Lady Calisneia looked as she tilted her head to the right. Even if she continued to be surprised, she was no longer doing anything and started studying her disciple’s breakthroughs.

Heian Ciemnosc sat on the empty black floor with his clothes on. His darkest eyes were closed as his sharp, pitchest-blackest eyebrows sunk nanometer by nanometer as the happenings in his inner self started. His Link, consisting of his Psychogenic and Dantian, was triggered. The part from his Psychogenic was immobile as the rest of the Link was, but suddenly, it had a change, as if a splinter the size of one’s leg broke off in an instant.

Dark Neutral Energy projected from his Link’s Psychogenic portion, moving through his body as it reached his Spiritual Bosom. In a swift motion, like a drawn cable to a plug by a safe magnet, it connected into his pure darkness, indefinitely extending from his Link as it disappeared into the endless unknown. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes opened at that moment, but his sight was still within himself.

Heian Ciemnosc felt inexplicably entranced like he was looking at what was meant to be, but he didn’t let this sensation distract him, and his Link swiftly linked itself to it all. At that moment, he felt as if Psychogenic had formed a bubble, and it crashed against his forehead. Only that this bubble was indestructible, and when it touched his forehead, it caused him great pain. But not even that could stop Heian Ciemnosc's concentration.

Swiftly, Heian Ciemnosc’s Psychogenic started revealing his new Spirit Sense, and Heian Ciemnosc felt the world outside his inner self, although it was only empty blackness everywhere. When breaking into the Neutrality realm, his Spirit Sense increased to 120,000 kilometers, already shocking enough for the entire Second Step, but it kept growing for poor little Heian Ciemnosc.

Now that he was breaking into the Neutral Encephalon realm and Heian Ciemnosc could feel his Spirit Sense growing larger than ever, Heian Ciemnosc reached the 160,000 kilometers mark quickly. But before he believed it to be the end of it, his Spirit Sense continued sky-rocketing until slowing down before 200,000 kilometers! Heian Ciemnosc’s mind was like a reverse waterfall, conserving the freshness and comfort from its sound hitting the water, but it was flying upwards. It was a brief, extra-natural experience…

PSHIIIFTT!! PSHIIIIIIIIIFT!- SHUAHAAAAAAAAAH~~~!~~!~!~...!

The pure energy around the cultivation room finally rushed into Heian Ciemnosc’s body. Lady Calisneia watched as his cultivation room wasn’t being emptied out like before and felt tranquilized. If Heian Ciemnosc needed a ginormous amount of pure energy for each realm breakthrough, he would probably reach the quantity required for Third Step cultivators before even reaching the later stages of the Second Step.

“!” However, just then, she saw something utterly strange! From Heian Ciemnosc’s sternum, between where anyone’s Linked Psychogenic and Dantian was located, started unlatching a tiny pure dark tentacle. It was like a limb, but it had an edged extremity, which slowly increased as time passed. Heian Ciemnosc’s cultivation base was no longer in the Neutrality realm and was gradually blurring into a different realm.

Lady Calisneia’s brows furrowed as she witnessed something like this for the first time. The pure dark tentacle moved straight outwards as if to reach into the world. It went on for 4 meters before stopping. As it did, diminutive tendrils extended from its extremity, circling before it and expelling pure energy glow before suddenly becoming stuck in space and forming strange, pure dark blades.

“...” Lady Calisneia’s brows furrowed deeper, but she felt Heian Ciemnosc’s usual stable cultivation base and solid foundation step higher as the pure dark tentacle seemed to have drilled into space.

PSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~~~~~~~~FFFFFFFFTTTT~!!!

Suddenly, pure energy turned into dark Neutral Energy, Heian Ciemnosc’s dark energy, before even reaching his body. The area that previously surrounded him and was formed to prevent pure energy from getting close to him in an oval shape was like a training regimen before being recruited into the army. As they passed through that oval-shaped space, they became his dark Neutral Energy just a moment before reaching his body.

Once that dark Neutral Energy was inside his body, they were already Heian Ciemnosc’s dark energy. This didn’t mean he could cultivate like this only. He could draw more pure energy directly into his body, but it was a pleasant addition.

Heian Ciemnosc slowly opened his darkest eyes after realizing everything about this. Still, although this seemed to hugely boost his cultivation pace, something told him he would still be slower than Elena and anyone under or following him in the future.

Turning bitter, Heian Ciemnosc turned his head to look at his Master, who looked at him with her head tilted all the way to the right and gentle, dead-like, dimmed eyes. A comforting smile formed on her lips.

…