The rest of the day continued, although Arthur could feel the change in the air around the Village. This change was formless, and seemed to create a sort of pressure on all of the inhabitants of Parachenko Village.
It existed no matter where one went.
The stores.... the restaurants.... the parks.... the fields.... the classrooms.... Even in peoples homes.
It seemed as though someone had sprayed gunpowder all over Parachenko Village. One wrong move, or one little spark is all that it would take for the flames of war to ignite within the Kovacs Clan.
Mandatory patrols had been restricted, and guards only patrolled a quarter of the total Kovacs Clan territory. This limited them to the Village itself and some of the surrounding fields.
A demand for food and clean water increased dramatically. While the prices of Fae increased marginally, by those smart business owners who could smell the scent of a good deal.
Classes continued, although only Elder Vova held the Lectures in the Lecture Hall. All of other the Elders, bar Elder Anatol, were also forced to watch the perimeter, and signal out if they saw anything unusual.
Arthur noticed a gaze land on his body, and he turned slightly towards where this gaze came from.
He wasn't able to "hang out" with Andrea since the night she spent at his house, and was only able to walk her home everyday, with the new restrictions placed on the Village.
He needed to make sure that she stayed safe until the time was right. Once the chaos in Parachenko Village reached its peak, then would he be able to set things in motion.
Arthur gave Andrea a small smile, one she returned.
Dominic and Leon had asked Arthur to return to the Clan Leaders house, but he shook his head and refused.
His reasonings caused both of them to glance at each other and smile, before the two of them let out a sigh.
"Once the fighting begins, I have to make sure that some of the mortals can get away. Chensa and her partner can guard Andrea, but I know for certain that they have orders to prioritise her over her parents. I'll stay with old man Wagner for the time being".
His mother had demanded to him that he come back "home", but after stating that Parachenko Village was his "home", she only cried softly while holding her child in her arms.
No-one, not a single person would ever suspect Arthur of not being a "true" member of the Kovacs Clan.
He may appear cold, but his actions, and his intentions were anything but.
There was something that Arthur heard in his previous life, which resonated with him quite deeply in that regard.
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist".
Arthur had met and befriended a foreigner, and heard much regarding the state of the world that he had come from. Of course, this was before Arthur become a Fae Immortal.
Letting out a deep breath, Arthur returned back to his basement, and immediately started cultivating.
Borik, Ratimir, Alina and Randolf had all reached solid quartz origin essence. Andrea too had also reached hadron quartz origin essence. Her cultivation speed exceeded Arthur's, but her diligence regarding her cultivation wasn't anywhere near Arthur's.
If the beast tide could get rid of Randolf, that might benefit him in the future, but without knowing what sort of foreigner treasure he had, things might not go so smoothly for Arthur.
He might not even be able to get the foreigner treasure if he wasn't careful either. Someone else might pick it up, or worse, a spirit beast might find it.
The situation with Randolf wasn't too bad, considering he could just oust him as a foreigner and be done with it, but the benefits from that weren't anything special.
The foreigner treasure on the other hand, might prove beneficial if Arthur could get his hands on it.
But, the most important thing was undoubtably the Boundless Forest Yearning. If Arthur could just get his hands on that, then-.
"I could just sit back for a hundred years and cultivate all the way up to Rank 5. If I don't use any resources or anything, I should be able to it, in just over five decades. Maybe six if I'm a little slow".
Arthur wasn't planning on sitting back and waiting for time to pass.
There were certain key events which would happen in the not-so distant future which Arthur deeply regretted not attending. Not to mention quite a few things which Arthur regretting going to, which ended up being a waste of time and effort.
Since he had the knowledge, why wouldn't he take advantage of it?
It would be idiotic not to.
"I'm currently not even halfway towards zero quartz origin essence. By the time the first beast tide comes I might be at the peak of hadron quartz origin essence. I need my cultivation to increase to zero quartz origin essence now, in order to prepare for the coming weeks".
There did exist certain Fae which could directly increase the cultivation of a Fae Master, as well as their potential and origin essence regeneration speed.
There even existed a Fae which could grant a Fae Master another set of origin essence seas.
In large Sects or Clans, these were treated as extremely expensive rewards, or prizes during internal Tournaments or Rankings. They weren't treated as divine tools or precious Immortal Fae, but as something that could be used on occasion.
In the Kovacs Clan however, such a Fae would be treated as an Immortal Fae. It was practically heaven-defying, and it was surprising that the Kovacs Clan would even have one.
.... Which they didn't, of course.
Arthur, even in his previous life didn't possess the formula to create such a Fae. It was too well protected by Fae Formalists and powerful Fae Immortal Clans who didn't want to see the growth of another power in the region.
If Arthur did nothing but cultivate, he might be able to push past zero quartz origin essence and reach the peak of Rank 1 Fae Master, but pushing into Rank 2, and establishing his foundation would be.... extremely difficult.
He thought he might have more time, but between planning for the Boundless Forest Yearning, planting "seeds" for his future as well as evading Elder Stas, his schedule needed to be adjusted.
The Rank 2 Fae moon piercer fae, the Lunar Sword Fae, and the Twilight Sword Fae could help Arthur breach this gap, but it would be too strenuous on his origin essence sea.
Arthur frowned for a moment before raising an eyebrow and glancing towards a few fae in his origin essence sea.
The Body Sea Fae. The Mind Sea Fae. As well as the Soul Sea Fae.
All of them could store origin essence like an origin essence sea, and would be important in the ritual involving the Boundless Forest Yearning.
They weren't exactly used for cultivation, since they didn't increase cultivation speed or origin essence regeneration but-.
"These things recover about 1% origin essence an hour. So it would take between 50-79 hours to fully regenerate all of them. Just over three days. If I use the origin essence inside of them to cultivate with, my origin essence will regenerate slower, but if I factor in the bloodseeker leaf fae as well as the time I spend in the Lecture Halls I might be able to....".
Arthur frowned as he mentally calculated things.
He was still slightly short on a number of few percentages but-.
"There was a Rank 2 Wood Essence Fae in the Clan Reserves wasn't there? If I can get Leon or Dominic to take it out for me then-".
Arthur smiled, biting his lower lip.
"I might just be able to reach Rank 2 after all".