"I don’t mind you being theatrical and all with your speech, but this isn’t the time, I barely regained any of my Mana..." An exasperated sigh, looking up towards the sky, the pillar dissipated, and the Assassin still stood, though completely burnt.
"Oh, he used way too much Mana for that... Uhh- What is that type of attack called Aphro?"
[Hm? Oh, the name... It’s a Bullet Curtain, even if you did try and dodge and stopped your attack, you would’ve been hit :p]
"I see, well, I wasn’t planning to. But... He’s clearly low on Mana. Did he use thirty percent of it?"
Staring at the Assassin now, though far away, he focused on sensing the energy. Yet, it didn’t feel like anything was lost. "It isn’t destroyed or created, just reused."
Changing how he looked at it while ignoring Prometheus for right now, though the guy wasn’t speaking, knowing not to disturb. Caelus’s vision shifted; instead of anything like the normal Vision he held, or the ability to see a Heat Signature or the Radiation of the Sun, or even the internal body of another person.
He shifted all his eyes’ focus to the Mana, instead of viewing it as energy for his eye or a field, acting as if it were a star that was actively burning away its mass quickly, but could also grow back to normal. Caelus jumped up, standing upright.
Activating Horizon Step, his own Mana drained, though from what he could tell, it wasn’t as much as when he first made it or even first mastered it. "Open Sky, that makes the most sense."
Stepping to the side, this time calmer, he watched as the Assassin flew right past, crashing into a hill that couldn’t handle the force he was moving at, reducing it to debris.
"Something is wrong, isn’t it, young man? Did you hit his eyes or throw Wyvern Blood into his eyes?"
"Well, yes, I was kind of Desperate, I didn’t think I was going to win, so I tried stalling him." Still calm, though a bit more observant as the dust dissipated. "I got Dragon Blood into his eyes."
"Oh my, then he’s done for. Dragon Blood is known for being incredibly corrosive, you know? And with the Regeneration many Soul Formation Cultivators have, it spreads to the parts that heal back since the toxin spreads incredibly quickly."
"...Huh, I knew it was strong, but I didn’t think it was that strong." His eyes narrowed as he listened, noticing how he changed his speech. "At least it won’t be as much of a headache listening to him."
"Well, I guess I should’ve used it earlier on him." That’s all he could think of. Shrugging before turning to Prometheus, His serious face turning into a blank stare. "Why did you even come to the other side of the Empire if you were here for Alliance reasons?"
"I wanted to explore, though right now I can’t go anywhere beyond Gaia, I would wish to go farther than what I’m limited to."
"Sounds fun, wish I could be doing that, but I’d rather focus on getting back to Akemi and giving her at least... Some Closure." His shoulders dropped, feeling lighter than before during a fight. "Is there more you want to do?"
"Of course, but I won’t say it, you seem like fun to talk to, but that doesn’t mean I trust you with knowing that." A smile on his face as he dusted off his pants, though struggling with getting them out of the sleeves from how long it had been.
"Fair, I wouldn’t tell you everything either." A soft laugh as his eyes wandered down to make eye contact with the Emperor. "Though I will say, this is my second month of Cultivation, and... I’ve already met so many people high up status-wise, it feels a little weird being so distant from ordinary people."
"Hmmm... Why would you want to speak with ordinary people? I don’t know if their life could compare to a cultivator’s or someone of high status, that the similarities would be thin if not non-existent."
Tilting his head to the left, Caelus blinked at Prometheus and realized he still hadn’t returned to his normal sight. Finally seeing the colors properly, the sheer amount of purple on his clothing made him somewhat dizzy.
"Well... Aren’t empires usually because many groups of people agreed to work together for the betterment of their species? Last time I left my home, I witnessed at least something similar." A soft lie. Almost imperceptible to anyone, even with the ability to tell it apart, because he was confused at the same time.
"Most of the time, that is why they start, not why they stay. Empires that have lived long and not collapsed return to the original reason they were made, though rarely is that done because most of them collapse before it. The only one that has lasted long enough to be used is the Holy Tianyun Empire, or its original name before the Church took power, the Tianyun Empire."
"...Very original name, guess I can’t be talking, it would be easier to keep the name and add something which signifies you, then changing it entirely and pissing off the citizens."
[Aheum, new Mission!]
[New Mission Type - Chaos]
[Objective - Use the Vase of Zurvan to make a pill that is useless to you or unable to be used by you at the current moment.]
[Reward - Creation Essence | Start of the Main Questline, hence the name Chaos]
[Good luck, I won’t be talking unless you have questions on something important >:3]
"Not entirely, many might not care, though many also would, some would say it warrants a change in power or revolution. And few would ever ask for the death of the person who had made changes. Though they would be incredibly loud if their identity were protected."
"...I don’t have anything to say, hm... Might as well stay quiet. I’d rather not add something unnecessary to it." Pausing for a moment, he looked away from Prometheus. "While I would say something, I haven’t been in human civilization for that long, so I cannot say anything about it." Ready to leave, Prometheus nodded once. Finding the reason adequate.
In a flash, Caelus was gone, suppressing his body so it didn’t release any shockwaves or cause the air to turn into plasma. Reaching the Empire in no time, he turned a perfect ninety-degree turn without any need to curve his moment.
Stopping at the lower district, Caelus went into an Alleyway. Turning into his human form now to disguise himself before he went to do anything. Just to see how he’d be treated.
His body morphed, becoming shorter as his draconic features disappeared, still wearing the same clothing he wore in his draconic form. He noticed his hair was shorter and had returned to a light brown; he touched it and let go once more.
[Time Limit for Transformation - Two Days]
Leaving the Alley, he passed by the many people in the street, the ground now a little different, as if it had been renovated recently. Looking at the... [Alchemy Association] Building, he walked inside, no longer empty, with people running around the first floor for materials. Yet they were at Virtuoso in Cultivation.
Passing a few people, he went back to the book, looking at all the Soul Formation level Pills. He picked one, not the one for increasing someone’s cultivation or making it faster, not anything for Mana or Regeneration; instead, it was a pill made to hide the soul, only usable for those already at the Realm it was for.
"Hm... I won’t reach it until the end of winter, so it is unusable currently."
He didn’t know why the soul needed to be hidden. But he wouldn’t question it if it actually helped, since it was recorded.
Going to the fourth floor by climbing the staircase off to the side, like every cultivator did, even when they could’ve jumped up.
Reaching the back of the room on the left of the building. Caelus picked up five of the ’Shadow Flame’ Essence, each one inside a tiny container, like a vial.
Retracing his steps, he realized he missed the Cryogenic stones, ones made to freeze an opponent in ice, which can also be used as an ingredient. Finally, getting the rest of the ingredients and walking up to the counter once more, He noticed it was a different person at the reception desk, though nothing new to note.
"Five of each here." Putting them down carefully, she examined each one and dropped a price. "fifty pieces of gold."
Taking it out of his pocket, he put down the exact amount once the ingredients were given back in a bag.
Going down once more, he entered the Alchemy Room. "Been here twice, hm." The first door was still open, so he didn’t waste any time. Entering, he closed the door and locked it. Feeling a sense of unease, he locked the door and coated it with Mana.
Sitting down again, he used his fire breath to start the heat, a little more Mana as he lowered his head and protected the ingredients as he put them inside the Cauldron.
Putting all five of each one inside, he made one Shadow Flame Essence fall into it and turn the fire breath pitch black. Dropping the next Ingredient, it melted almost instantly and floated up to the center of the Cauldron, where it swirled like a vortex. Finally dropping in the Cryogenic Stone inside, cooling down the flame, then letting the last one go, the Heaven and Earth Essence.
Maintaining the flame at the required temperature, Caelus waited for a few minutes as the pill fully formed.
"Well, that’s one, but... I’ll try and get a Peak Rank, or at least one below that."
Repeating this with the other four sets of ingredients he had, he made all four of them at the same time. Wasting no time, he stabilized the Temperature and separated each of the pills to make sure they didn’t cross-contaminate with each other.
Each pill succeeded, though the highest one he got was a mid-rank. Still good, but it was the Impure Grade, the worst grade. "At least I can use the Vase to upgrade it."
Taking out the Vase, Caelus stared at it, thinking back on what had happened with the pill that Nyx had, didn’t want to risk it, putting all of the pills away, and the vase. He unlocked the first door, removing the Mana-blocking noise from inside and outside.
Leaving it, a giant crowd stood inside.
"...Seriously? That’s who got the first one?" One person spoke. Unfamiliar with Caelus, he went to look at them.
Another guy, a few inches taller than the human disguise. Caelus tilted his head and shrugged, walking away; he didn’t have a reason to listen to them.
About to leave the room, the same guy grabbed his hand. "Hey. Don’t ignore me, you-"
Caelus ignored the grab, walking ahead as the grip was incredibly weak, at least compared to any cultivator he’d fought. Closing the entrance to the Alchemy Room, and left the building.
He didn’t look back. Teleporting once, he went to the pathway, specifically where he could either continue forward to the Marou Dynasty or turn left toward Tianyun Peak.
Taking out the vase and the highest-rank pill, he dropped it into the vase. It shook slightly and spat out the pill as if it had nothing in it. "...Oh, wait, didn’t Aphro give Creation Essence?"
Looking inside his pocket, he took out his staff and threw it aside; he had no reason to use it. Moving past the gold, Caelus grabbed one of them. Taking it out, it exploded into a blinding light, though keeping its form. Caelus held it softly. Closing his eyes to make sure he didn’t go blind.
Once the light calmed down, he looked at the vase and shoved it inside. The shape of the Essence was weird, incredibly so; he couldn’t tell which was its edge, or if it was a circle or a square; it also overlapped into itself.