It was night again in the Western Mountain Complex. Gefest had been making armaments for the new military that the Patriarch had been proposing since the communication from the Emperor.
"What brings you here?" Gefest asked Wu Hai, he had been looking for a reason to see his disciple, there were questions that he needed answering.
"I've come to see your progress on the battle armor we've been discussing." One of Kim Li's requests to the sciences division was that they check the hardness of materials suitable for a battle armor.
"Humans are so weak, we can only use some exotic materials to make light armor, but many of the hides from the wildlife are thick enough to stop at least a partial blast. I think its best we have leather workers do all the armor except for the outer plating." Gefest had given it some thought, but it didn't seem right to Emperor Zao.
Wu Hai sat down and studied the findings with Gefest.
"So what you're telling me is that its too heavy for you to use 'easy to find' materials. Well, what can you do for the Espers? Can you get the other blacksmiths here to start making simple armor, something that can at least give the regular humans half a chance to not die..." Wu Hai's concern over his citizens was a big deal for him, he wouldn't just let things go without even trying.
Gefest put his hands on his back, stretching. "I think its better if you start over. You have so many people on the Eastern Slopes. Its bound to be a nightmare if they don't find something to do. The Landrush will be exciting, your father wants to start tomorrow in the morning. All of Western Mountain has been tasked to protect the population. Its going to be a nightmare... I can feel it."
"I understand, I'll get you all the data from Greensong as soon as possible. Mike wanted you to know, he has moved the old forge to the Palace. He says when you're ready to come see what the people of Earth can do on their own, to make the journey. Though, I'm sure he would ask Ho or me to accommodate your travel."
They both laughed, it seemed so trivial, the things they were doing before. Wu Hai wanted to get started on his search for Zhan as fast as possible, but he couldn't leave things unfinished.
"You have your hands full disciple. Don't sully my name, I would never abandon my forging. However, a Palace versus a Hole. Both have their reward. I'll get back to you on this." Gefest turned and went back to hammering.
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On the other side of the Western Mountain Complex, the Alchemy Department was separating crystals and recombining them. A somewhat successful attempt to build a better source for abilities, The Emperor's notes about the creation of the Dragon's Egg Crystal had given them a lot of insight.
"If you want to create something to battle the Gods, a power to rival them, you have to think bigger. Cosmic and astronomical in proportion. Gravity, pressure, the Stars." One of the Alchemists, Huntaro, had been practicing, playing with extreme gravity. His experiments were sometimes a bit unorthodox, a lot of crystals had been destroyed, dissolved or disintegrated as a result. Harris was sometimes to blame before they had left to Earth, but after they all returned, the experiments went into full motion.
The abundance of applicants and people who were truly skilled in studying materials came to the Sect. The human knowledge of Shiyan expanded by the hour.
"We need to talk to Kim Li. When do you think he's going to be back from the Eastern slopes?" Junny asked.
Huntaro tried his best to think realistically, "I don't think it will take too long, we could just go to Tower City, Come on. I'll carry you."
Junny cringed. Huntaro had wanted to get friendlier a few months prior. "No thanks, you should just go.. it will be faster." Junny waved in a shooing motion, she wasn't interested.
Black lines draped across Huntaro's face, he stored his research and flew up out of the mountain hold. Casting himself above the clouds, he could see the lights from both Earth City and the Tower City.
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The Pagoda Tower stood among the three cities, a violet beacon among the night skyline. The Glowstone incorporation in Earth City construction made the city pop during the night, travel was easy and people were moving all around, exploring. Marker lights and poles of Glowstone lined the roadway between the three population centers.
The Pagoda had been the location for the Alchemy Department until the Expansion of the City but with the recent change of locations and structure, they were beginning preparations to move into one of the other Towers. Xuan Kim Li had wanted his own building, his experiments had gotten rather large and needed their own spaces for expansion, separate entirely from the Pagoda Tower.
"Qu, I need access to all the information on your Core. I'd like to.." a Knock came at the door while Kim Li was pushing some more research paperwork into an isolated storage device. "Fuck, always busy."
"Let him in." Kim Li had Qu open the doors and Huntaro burst inside. He was jumping around back and forth, he could not stop talking.
"I've done it.. I got it.. I got it..I figured it out. We've all been doing this the hard way." Huntaro jumped around congratulating himself repeatedly and only then started to read the room. He backed up and did his best to calm down. his breathing got heavier for a moment until Qu slapped him.
"Focus. What are you talking about?" Qu asked.
"I figured out how to make the crystals bigger. To make things better, they didn't explode this time! look!" Huntaro pulled out a large crystal, it was about the size of a watermelon. "This was about the size of a fist when I started, but I've been at it for about an hour. Look, watch." Huntaro was about to start compressing things but Qu slapped him again.
"No experiments in this room. You will follow protocol, I don't want to clean remains off the walls." Qu blipped over to Kim Li and whispered in his ear.
"Bring him along, lets see what he's talking about." Qu agreed, he waved his hand and they all moved to the new alchemy department building. It had been reinforced using especially hardened materials. "Okay. Show me." Kim Li pulled out a pile of the same colored crystal, a bright blue. They were Water Power Gemstones of varying size.
Huntaro grabbed one and then used some threads of darkness to lift it between his hands, repelling it from both sides, compressing it. Then, he wrapped it in the darkness and started using the gravity magic. The crystal started heating up on a molecular level, excited, the particles began altering themselves. Huntaro grabbed another crystal with darkness threads and tossed it into the compression zone.
A few minutes passed, the bubble of darkness had been flexing, grinding against the stones as they intertwined. "There. It was just a little bit, but check this out" Huntaro dropped the crystal onto the table. "See!"
On the table, a blob of crystal was sitting, cooling and stabilizing. It molded against the table, grabbing tightly to the wood fiber. 'Shit' Huntaro tried prying it from the surface for a moment but Qu stopped him.
"Wait." Qu walked up to the table and placed his hands on it. There was a strange sensation that fluttered throughout his body, it made his fur stand on end all the way to his tail as it cooled.
"So.. what's the verdict?" Huntaro jumped around the room, bouncing from his boredom.
"Dude. Stop." Kim Li tried to get Huntaro to stop but it was like he was speaking to a child. 'Exactly what am I seeing?' Kim li's interest's were piqued.
"Its cool right? I am the best.. I am the best.. bedoom bedoom.. yup yup yup, I am the best." Huntaro spun in a circle, Qu cast silence on him. He waved his hands like a mime and continued to dance in self-celebration.
Xuan Kim Li pulled out a communication stone, it was his victory over the problem. He examined both of them side by side, there wasn't much difference. he tried using the crystal that was formed to the desk, then something strange happened.
The Desk actually started liquefying a bit. It was a dramatic effect, but as soon as Kim Li pulled his hand away, it began returning to normal.
"What an interesting effect. Qu, give him some more crystals.. this time, make him do Soul Stones. Get me a Metalcrafter in here right now." Kim Li wanted to know.. he wanted to know immediately.
"Give me a door frame, quickly. then make a channel that goes around it like a ring. When he's done I want you to mold that crystal into the channel. Qu, make sure he doesn't run out and makes enough. I'm going to get a hologram set up." Kim Li started to bring out some recording devices.
"Its time we change the way we do things. This will change a lot." Kim Li stood in front of the camera and explained what had been done so far. "Next, we're about to try putting the crystal formation into the channel, please note that the metal is freshly formed and completely clear of debris before introduction of the Crystalline mass." He nodded and Qu started helping direct the crystal's squishy form into the channels.
Stone met metal, tiny grooves allowed it to stay formed to the frame. There was enough to raise the band of Crystal a few millimeters above the threshold of the frames interior.
It cooled.
"Okay. Now, the Test." Kim Li placed his hand on the Doorway, he could feel a lot of things but it was vague. "Go stand in the doorway." He had Huntaro stand in the doorway. Huntaro was still dancing, unable to speak. He mimed a few words but his finger did a lot of talking.
"Come on.. just stand there and stop fucking around." Kim Li held the doorway and focused.
He could feel Huntaro, his thoughts, his anger, frustration and even his fears creeping through the doorway. Kim Li stepped back and smiled. "This could work. This could do a lot of good."
"Huntaro, you're access to materials will be increased and you'll get an office. However, you cannot share your work with anyone outside of our department. These are matters of Sect Security. Do you understand?" Kim Li expected an answer, but Huntaro was still muted under the silence spell.
"Let him talk."
Qu released him under protest, he sighed.
Huntaro gasped like he had been starved for air. "Finally.. I can talk again. Phew.. So .. do I get it.. huh? did I do it right?"
"No.. but your failure doesn't mean you didn't succeed elsewhere." Kim Li nodded to Qu again and Qu took Huntaro to his new office space in the Alchemy Building.
"This is your space, contact one of my avatars if you need anything." Qu left before he strangled Huntaro.
'I must find the Emperor.' Qu searched the Tower City, but the Emperor was not home.