"When are you leaving?" Yao asked while she rested on Mo's chest in bed.
"I will leave after a year."
"Then let's strengthen everyone as best as we can," Yao said. 'That way, if we make Hesroth or that Freya girl strong enough, I might be able to go with him.' She thought.
"Yeah…"
"Okay," Yao suddenly got up. "Let's start with our projects and not waste any more time," she told him as her chaotic energy made her clothes.
Feeling the loss of Yao on his chest, Mo reached out with his hand before sighing. He suddenly remembered something and smiled, getting up and wearing Dark Void clothes.
"Oh right," Yao seemed to recall something. "The Old Geezer said he wanted to discuss with me about Runes and stuff. I will spend the week busy talking with him before he leaves."
"Sure," Mo nodded, not letting her notice how he planned this.
"Then I will be going then," Yao bid him farewell and left the room.
Watching her receding figure leaving, Mo smiled as his crimson eyes glinted. 'I asked him to at least try and keep her there for more than 8 hours every day. If all went well, I will finish soon and revise some stuff.'
Mo got up and materialized a desk in the room. He sat down, held the quill, and started scribbling on the paper. His hand was steady, one of an expert, he drew on the paper so fast that it almost caught on fire.
Paper after paper crumbled and destroyed while Mo continued scribbling away, paying no heed. It took him an hour, and he used over 1000 papers before he finished.
He gazed at the paper with utmost seriousness, examining every part, and in the end, he frowned. "It's still lacking," he muttered. "Maybe if I use that, it could work."
And with that, another cycle of papers getting destroyed and used started. Still not enough in his eyes, Mo spent another 4 hours scribbling, with his speed increasing his frustration, concentration, and entire being as he focused on the paper. And after the fifth hour and over ¾ million papers used, he stopped.
Mo stared with a satisfied look at the detailed sketch of his project, 'this will definitely be helpful. It's going to be my most difficult Forge, worse than when I made my strongest spear before!'
After he finished his sketch, Mo got up. He approached his smithy and discarded the energy making his upper clothing becoming half-naked.
He smoothly and with practiced procedure lit the Forge, summoned materials, and readied a hammer. Having already chosen the materials, he didn't need to go through them, but he did and checked the quality to make sure he used the best ones.
Mo used the same forging methods as before and arrived at the shaping of materials stage. When he hand-forged, Mo rhythmically removed all impurities and concentrated them in one place before shaping the materials, and in no time, a ring started taking form.
The Ring looked colorless, but at the same time, it was colorful. It was beyond comprehension, and even Mo didn't expect this outcome. But he didn't stop and continued.
At the tip of the Ring, the impurities gathered as an amethyst-colored gem got fixed on them. The Ring looked complete, but Mo didn't stop after it cooled down. He stored it inside his Parasyte Ring and cleaned all the evidence before Yao came back.
'Today, I wasted too much time. I should make use of every second tomorrow,' he thought as the room's door opened and Yao entered.
"What are you doing?"
"I was creating a new battle technique when my beautiful wife entered," he asskissed.
"Sure, you were," Yao snorted, feeling happy. "Anyway, I think I will spend more time with the Old Geezer this week. His knowledge and experience shouldn't be underestimated, and I even learned some things from him today," she told him.
"Alright then," Mo said while feeling happy. 'I needed more time, and Purple gave it. I should repay that guy when I finish.'
"What are you thinking about now?" Yao asked while sitting on the bed next to him. She felt as if he was hiding something, but there was no reason to, so she put the idea away.
"It's been a long time. Are you ready to dive back in?" Mo asked, changing the subject and sat in a meditative position.
"Yes, we can't slack off now, can we. Let's Cultivate!"
***
After completing the tasks given by Mo, Hesroth didn't immediately go to Nathan's room as they agreed. Instead, he headed to one of the troops that he had been keeping his eyes on.
Hesroth scoured through the troop's hallway and found the door with the plate name Axel. He knocked on the door, and after a minute, it opened, revealing the young man behind it.
Axel stared at his visitor before bowing. It wasn't the first time Hesroth visited him, be it because he knew Mo before or because he is Deckim's friend, Hesroth kept an eye on Axel.
"Are you busy?" Hesroth asked after entering and seeing the room.
'He didn't care to decorate it,' Hesroth noted inwardly without many opinions.
"No, I was just Cultivating," Axel replied as he took out some tea leave and snacks and started brewing the tea.
"How is the Great Stealth Technique I gave you?"
"I reached the fifth stage in it," Axel replied respectfully.
"Fifth stage? Already?" Hesroth muttered. "Can you show me? I might be able to help you a little in it."
Axel nodded and got up from his seat after brewing the tea. The room was huge, and because it didn't have any useless decorations, its vastness remained.
Axel stood and circulated Arch energy in himself. He wasn't in battle, so he took his time to reach his best state. After a minute of circulation, Axel muttered stealth, and Mana got depleted.
Axel and the others in the Hollow Universe, unlike Mo and Yao, still had their systems that used Mana to activate skills. At some point, while learning the Great Stealth technique, he gained the skill.
Hesroth stared as Axel became invisible, and some of his energy couldn't be detected, 'his stealth skill level must be high,' he thought.
Axel wasn't done, and when his stealth activated, he started suppressing his Arch energy, physical activities, and even some of his aura. He used the circulating Arch energy in tandem with the Stealth skill to achieve this result, which pleased Hesroth, who sipped the tea.
"This is good enough. You can stop."
"Your Arch energy suppression still needs some work, but at your level, if you didn't slip, I am sure that you can assassinate a newly advanced Foundation Establishment or a newly leveled up Magic Grandmaster," Hesroth informed him.
"Your Cultivation and potential with the dark element are also high," Hesroth said, examining him. "You have reached the fifth level of Qi Condensation? Impressive. Even geniuses would have a hard time doing it at your age."
Hesroth seemed pleased and took out some pills and potions from his Ring and handed them to Axel. "Use them well. I will also tell Masters about your potential," Hesroth told him.
"Also," Hesroth pondered before nodding to himself, "since you are almost reaching the last level of the Great Stealth Technique, then you can start using it to Cultivate. Cultivating darkness while in stealth will help you advance faster but take this anyway." Hesroth said before using an array and inscribing something on it.
"I infused this Array with the first level of the method Master made for you. Learn it well and understand it before destroying it. The method's name is Dark Shadow."
After exchanging some words with him and finishing the tea, Hesroth left and went to Nathan's room.