Noxtis groggily woke up in the middle of the night, feeling incredibly full of energy. He was unused to feeling his body feel so restless before. Seeing that the room was quite dark, Noxtis guessed that he had been out for some time at this point. Feeling the comforting embrace and soft cushions, Noxtis noticed Ember holding him in her arms as she slept soundly.
Doing his best not to disturb her, Noxtis closed his eyes and peered at his current body state, and noticed that he had finally broken through to the initial muscle stage.
Just then a voice he hadn't heard from in a while spoke up. 'Morning kid, took you long enough to wake up. Better thank your lucky stars that your lover is so well supplied, that attack from the Greater Spider almost killed you even with the Nightstalker Gorilla armor. The pill she gave you even pushed your body forging into the next stage. Quite the rare pill, you weren't THAT close to death though. Make sure to tell her your appreciation.'
'I'm sorry Master. I don't know what came over me. My body just moved on its own, I knew it was incredibly strong but that's why I was worried for Ember. Was I wrong to do that Master?' Devastated, Noxtis was wondering if he had caused more issues for Ember than he should have by doing such a thing. Maybe she had better armor or defensive treasures than he did. Had he risked his life for something completely unnecessary?
A loud shout shook Noxtis out of his spiraling self-doubt. 'HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF BOY! I would be angrier at you if you didn't try and save your loved ones. I have seen plenty of heartless people let others die for their own selfish gains or those that wallow in regret for not acting when they could've.
If you really don't want to be in that kind of situation again. All you need to do is get stronger so such a situation won't happen again. There is no medicine for regret. So when you do something reckless, at least make sure it's worthwhile.' The featureless Mirko then retold the information about the Heart of the World Serpent as well as the process needed to go forge his sword spirit.
After going over the information about the process, Noxtis furrowed his brows. 'Huh, I thought the process of forging a sword spirit would be more difficult than that.'
Rolling his non-existent eyes, the Mirko Fragment sighed. 'With the items you've gathered, of course, it isn't. Even young masters in the entire Human World wouldn't have the same opportunity you have right now.
In all honesty, the sword forging stage can be the easiest or most difficult stage for some people. The process itself isn't difficult and most of the items are fairly common even in the sub-worlds. Even tempering a Qi Core with few to no impurities can be achieved with hard work. But the core ingredient is what many Weapon Qi cultivators have the most difficulty with.
Finding an infused metal that is not only powerful but also needs to have an affinity with the cultivator. Once a Weapon cultivator forges their weapon spirit, there is no turning back unless they can handle destroying their entire cultivation and starting from nothing.
Weapon Qi cultivators focus on finding a perfect match for their weapon spirit for many reasons. For example, their weapon will better suit their cultivation technique, cultivation skills, and in your case bloodline. Turning into a weapon that will grow alongside themselves on their cultivation journey. The more powerful the spirit weapon, the better they can absorb qi as well.
Anyway, just be sure to take it one step at a time, the auction is coming up and I'll be setting up the process for you and Ember to forge your weapon spirits. Be sure to remind the little lass to keep tempering her core as you will forge your weapon spirit first and then her after if I deem her ready.
As for you, try and work on your bloodline skills. While shadow step is very useful for you, try and broaden your thinking. Even though we are assassins, your girlfriend is correct that you should be able to handle any situation you find yourself in.'
Thinking about the task he was given, Noxtis began to remember the first time he realized he had a bloodline ability. Since he was going to be training in the forest himself, the first thing he learned after forming his Qi seed was Shadow Step. It was as if he had a sudden wave of inspiration and utilized his bloodline energy towards the soles of his feet to merge with the shadows and reappear a meter away.
After finding out such an ability, Noxtis remembered practicing every night for a week afterward until he fainted each day from exhausting his bloodline energies.
Unbeknownst to Noxtis at the time, the Mirko Fragment had found his progress in learning to wield the power over shadows to be staggering. What took other cultivators years to even grasp the concept of wielding shadows to their benefit took Noxtis only a couple of months to achieve.
Noxtis carefully extracted himself from Ember's grip. Despite the cute groans Ember made as she readjusted herself, Noxtis calmed his mind and felt for the shadow anima present in the tent.
As if hearing his call, the shadow anima happily flowed over to Noxtis and swirled around the young beastkin. Just with the dark shadows around him, Noxtis felt his body lighten considerably. When using Shadow Step, Noxtis would have to choose a location or direction he wanted to go. Then using a combination of his body and the shadow anima, he would swiftly appear there.
While this was initially a completely amazing movement skill, there were restrictions.
For one, the use of shadow anima was incredibly difficult compared to the other anima with the only comparable anima being light. So using the shadow step skill repeatedly was extremely taxing on mental strength.
Second, the distance and speed at which one can travel with this method depend not only on their cultivation level but also on the environment. If there were low amounts of shadow anima to draw from such as places anima barren lands or an overwhelming amount of light anima.
Thirdly and the most important part was that shadow anima was much more ephemeral than the other anima and thusly offered less pure offensive traits.
'Ephemeral huh, if shadow anima allows me to step into the shadows to move, will it also affect my attacks? Maybe I could pierce armor or thick hides in the same way.'
Noxtis ended up stashing away the thought for the moment and focused on applying shadow anima to the rest of his body. Compared to using Shadow Step where he only had to gather the shadow anima to his feet for a moment that felt extremely easy, applying it to his entire body proved to be more challenging.
Shadows coiled around the soles of his feet and Noxtis felt their desire to use shadow step ability and move immediately. Reigning in the anima's desire, Noxtis began to notice the shadow anima stick to his skin and gradually climb up from the soles of his feet to the rest of his body.
It was a weird sensation to describe the slow pace at which the shadows crawled across his skin, Noxtis thought that it would feel cold or weird at the very least. Contrary to his expectations, his body seemed to relish the sensation as if one would enjoy the sun warming up their bodies after a cool bath.
Getting used to the sensation and the actions he needed to do, Noxtis' amassed more and more shadow anima to his body. As if knowing that he wasn't going to utilize the shadow anima for shadow step, the anima gradually stopped resisting his control. Managing to get the shadows to reach up to the top of his calves, Noxtis was unable to hold onto the shadows any longer and they quickly dispersed.
Trying out the process a couple dozen more times, Noxtis gained some progress and was slowly getting used to directing the shadows to cover his skin. Overjoyed, Noxtis smiled in satisfaction at the success even though about eighty percent of his entire anima reserve was drained at this point.
Happy regardless of his exhaustion, the process was difficult but not impossible. Noxtis could only accomplish this feat due to his immense concentration and it would be completely useless if he attempted to do the same in a fight.
The goal in sight, Noxtis looked around and saw Ember still sleeping sounding in the bed but a sliver of light had begun to creep inside to signal morning approaching.
A soldier who was on patrol stopped by their tent and informed him to be ready for the journey back to the city.
Groaning and pushing through his slight tiredness, Noxtis woke up Ember who had been drooling slightly. Not embarrassed in the slightest, Ember wiped off the drool and yawned deeply as she dressed for their journey back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Traveling back by the same Draco-colts they had ridden before, the group made it back to the city safely and parted ways as the Captain had to report their findings and Elder Nancy wanted to research the Demon Hearts.
Ember and Noxtis decided to make their way to the Essence of the 4 Seasons restaurant again.
When the duo arrived at the shop, it still hadn't opened for business. Ember knocked on the door and she was relieved when Velnarra answered.
"Aunt Vel! I'm so glad you're here! Noxtis and I just came back from a super tough mission and I wanted to tell you all about it!"
Looking at the excited cute dragonkin, Velnarra chuckled. "You sure that you didn't just come here to eat? Not even letting me know about this so-called mission before you left. Sigh...you must not care for your ol' aunty Vel, I don't feel like cooking anymore."
Astonished and scared, Ember frantically hugged the waist of her favorite Aunt and tearfully begged. "NO!!! Please Aunty Vel, I love you SOOOOO much. I'm here now aren't I? You wouldn't leave me and Noxtis out here on the streets dying of hunger would you?"
A hearty chuckled came from inside and Wurino opened the door of the shop. "Common honey, you know how Ember is when she's hungry."
Turning to address the two young beastkin, Wurino wiped his hands on his apron. "We were just about to prepare ourselves breakfast, come on in."
Pouting glumly at being denied her fun, Velnarra shrugged and walked inside the restaurant with everyone else.
Being introduced to a wonderful beverage called coffee, Noxtis felt his drowsiness abate and his belly fill up on delicious eggs and bacon. Ember went on about what happened in the spider cave with lots of hand movements all while eating more than three grown beastkin.
As they were finishing the meal, Wurino cleaned up the dishes and asked. "So are you two attending the Red Drake Auction?"
Ember was still eating her breakfast dessert so Noxtis answered for them both. "Yes, we had planned to go check out the event. Ember and I have the necessary materials needed to forge our weapon spirits but decided to see what else might go on. Are you two going to visit the auction house too?"
Helping dry the dishes, Velnarra nodded. "Yes, we were planning on going to check out if there would be any interesting cooking ingredients for sale. Hubby and I love trying out new dishes all the time, which is why we are gone every now and then to go hunting. In that case, why don't we all go together?"
Ember licked her lips and patted her stomach proudly. "I was just about to suggest the same thing! It sound's exciting to go along together, I wonder what's going to happen."