Chapter 33 - My Hand Slipped - I Swear!

  Nyx’Sol sat in what he would describe as the most awkward moment of his life and was currently pondering whether the blue-skinned demon healer had set him up for this intentionally. Opposite him sat quite an attractive young demon girl with crimson skin, serving him a cup of tea with a shaky hand. Her skin had not been crimson red when he had entered her home a few moments ago, however. It had been a light shade of purple.

  Nox’Ishara, as she had introduced herself, had refused to acknowledge or talk about the current circumstances in any way as she did the polite thing and hosted him for a cup of tea. Both of them profited from the one-hour ‘argument’ time, after all. Nyx was quite embarrassed by his faux pas, having entered the home immediately after the prior guest had left—sweating, with disheveled clothing and a big smile on his face. Naturally, he had assumed that the guest had enjoyed a light sparring session and had advanced his own martial understanding.

  What Nyx had failed to account for was the fact that the couple had engaged in a different kind of sparring. His initial anticipation of an interesting fight had quickly diverted into cordially asking to stay and sit idly by—a request denied by the still-dressing host—and he had been ushered into having some tea.

  Now he sat there, with no idea what to say or do, painfully aware of how much embarrassment the current homeowner was feeling. Should he say nothing and claim ignorance? Pretend that he had noticed nothing? Divert the topic?

  “Here you go.” The girl placed a cup of tea in front of him. The smell of jasmine tea mixed with sweat and perfume wafted toward him gently, reminding him of the situation.

  Nyx coughed after a moment and brought the cup toward his lips with a quiet “Thank you.” Then he proceeded to shift the topic, since he had little interest in prying into her affairs. “Quite good. Thank you for your hospitality. Lady Ishara, if you do not mind me asking… what family do you hail from?”

  The girl nervously fiddled with the hem of her sleeve and sat a little straighter. “I was born in the southern hills, not too far away from Steel Gorge City,” she answered vaguely, with a bit of hesitance.

  Ah. Nyx shifted awkwardly. Another faux pas on his end. Of course, the girl would not want to tell him who she was—he could immediately leverage the ongoing situation against her by telling everybody or selling the information. Cultivators loved to gossip.

  Over the next few minutes, he continued to question her about things that seemed interesting to him without ever prying into her own circumstances. The size of Steel Gorge City and its history was something that he had read about and vaguely remembered—someone local could paint a vastly more vivid picture for him.

  The depths of the natural ravine had been ravaged for hundreds of years for every bit of metal that could be found, and to this day, thousands of cultivators descended into the depths of the cave systems and retrieved ores, geodes, crystals, and spirit stones, as well as spirit beast cores from the countless vermin and monsters that had infested the abandoned mines over the centuries.

  “So the mines are a lot more dangerous than they are depicted in older historical records?” Nyx inquired eagerly, glad that his host's skin color had returned to a more natural state. “Granted, I have not read about them in detail and forgot more than I remember, but the mines were described as a marvel of architecture and grandeur, despite serving the simple function of extracting resources.”

  Nox’Ishara frowned. “I would not dare call it simple. Essence gathering is something that requires a large degree of skill. While metals are not as fragile as herbs, I believe there is quite the skill difference when you compare frolicking in the woodlands for mushrooms and defending a crucial mining site against steel elementals or some Un’gharok or Un’tharol—then mining is definitely not simple.”

  Since Nyx had no idea how essence gathering functioned beyond having observed it from his brother during the crafting of the shapeshifting body cultivation pills, he just quickly nodded to pacify her. Apparently, her family dealt with these matters after all. “The old histories might not be accurate in these matters or may describe them very differently compared to how they are today. Are you well-versed in essence gathering?”

  The girl nodded eagerly. “They might not be if they are old, certainly. Yes, I am quite proficient already. I hope to advance soon and take some lessons from the sect once they officialize me as a disciple. You should learn it as well—it is such an important skill to have.”

  Having calmed her down a bit, he continued, “The steel elementals are self-explanatory, but what are the Un-?”

  “Un’gharok and Un’tharol. By far the most dangerous threats in the mines. They are two bug species and come in lots of different shapes and sizes. They capture sound and vibrations and release them in a fight. And since they operate in large groups—”

  “Oh, they are like Un’gholor?” Nyx enthusiastically asked. So there existed more than one species of these bugs. It would be very interesting to see how the chitinous plating functioned for that subtype.

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  Ishara raised an eyebrow. “I do not know what Un’gholor are.”

  “They are a type of ant-like species that has developed the ability to store heat in their chitinous armor. I have used them as inspiration to shape my own skin in a similar manner. Look, here.”

  Nyx flexed his forearm and let a small wave of Qi wash through the skin, highlighting the pale blue color of the stored Yin Qi on the edge of his dark chitinous scales. “The concept is inverted and now stores Yin Qi instead of Yang Qi, like the Un’gholor do.”

  The girl studied his skin with a fascinated expression. “It must have taken your family decades to develop such a technique and pass it on for a mere Skin Tempering cultivator. There are a few clans in our area that use something similar, but they defend the knowledge fiercely.”

  Sol blinked. Yes, decades. He had done it with a vague feeling in a couple of hours. Pushing aside the immediate intrusive thought that he might be a genius and blaming his focus skill for that, he continued, “It is not that hard once you know how it works. But you need to be a shapeshifter to make it work.”

  Her eyes lit up for a second, but her excitement faded as quickly as it had appeared on her face. Then she curtly commented, “I see.”

  “You want me to show you how to do it? You are a shapeshifter?” Nyx asked with amusement. He did not mind sharing his invention, especially if it meant that he would be remembered as the demon that taught her a cultivation method and not for the faux pas of stumbling into this situation.

  “I am,” she confirmed and showcased it by dyeing her hair from auburn to bright crimson red before letting it fade into black and white, then finally settling on a subtle shade of blue and grey.

  “Oh, impressive. I have never thought about changing the color of my hair. I practiced with my claws.” Nyx showcased his skills by retracting his claws to his knuckles. “Quite useful in a fight.”

  The girl immediately tried to imitate his feat but only managed to do it at an excruciatingly slow pace. “This is quite difficult,” she exclaimed with a focused face.

  Meanwhile, he had come to realize that changing the color of the hairs on his arm was not as difficult as he had imagined. “It is good practice,” he said to pacify her concerns before giving her a crash course in how to permanently alter her skin cells to be able to store Yin Qi.

  It only took her forty minutes to change a single skin cell with subpar internal energy flow, but she had grasped the concept. Nyx was sure that with more shapeshifting practice, she would find it easier as well. Teaching her how to modify was difficult since he was not able to perceive the state of her Qi network, but he drew her a detailed explanation, and her own descriptions told him where she had gone awry or not implemented the network properly.

  She would have to practice on her own if she wanted to assimilate the technique into her own cultivation style, and he had offered to give her feedback whenever she had trouble.

  Since the time for his stay was about to run out, Nyx broached the topic of the Spear Saint Mountain group and quickly found a very passionate hater.

  “They are such a nuisance! It was quite enjoyable when we had power equilibrium a few weeks ago, but with most of the Northern Alliance having advanced, they returned to power and are as irritating as ever.”

  If Nyx’Sol’s own observations were any indicator, then there would be a lot more people who shared that sentiment than there were Spear Saint Mountain members. “If you do not mind me asking, but hypothetically speaking… if their numbers were to dwindle over the next few days, would you think it likely that their system could be replaced?”

  Nox’Ishara raised her teacup to her lips and sipped thoughtfully. “It is possible. But replace it with what?” She eyed Nyx thoughtfully. “With you?”

  Nyx’s focus skill pushed against him, and instead of retreating from the question and denying it, he quickly found himself speaking about the core of his idea—to replace the daily process of laying claim to housing and make all the training spots equally accessible to everyone through a monetary system. The sect points already provided a secure payment system that the other initiates could not tamper with.

  He felt that it was a good idea—up until the point where he had finished his pitch and her questioning tore hole after hole into it. Who would enforce it? What if most of the initiates did not want to have a system like that? How do you transition the system without mass chaos? Will the strongest initiates not simply ignore the rules and take what they want regardless? If someone does not have wealth, would they not simply fight for a house instead? Who decides the authority that regulates such a system?

  And her questions continued. Would rich cultivators not simply hoard all the available housing spots and drive up the prices? Would newcomers not immediately be disadvantaged if they entered the system? Who collects the money?

  It quickly made Nyx’s head spin. He had not thought about all these aspects before and did not quite know how to address her concerns. Even his focus skill had retreated and left him to fend for himself.

  She continued as she finished her cup. “However, it is interesting. Certainly better than the tyrannical rule that we have at the moment. Though I do not see the Spear Saint Mountain group weakening suddenly.” Then her gaze shifted to the left. “Looks like our time is almost up. If you want to avoid someone outside, I’d advise taking the central window on the first floor. You can access the roof quite easily from there. I wish you a good night, Nyx’Sol.”

  Nyx bowed. “Thank you for the tea, and good night.”

  Then he hurriedly rushed to the first-floor window she had mentioned and pulled himself outside, just as the feeling of being dragged started to set in. With a fluid motion, he pulled himself from the window frame onto the moonlit roof, his sandals finding purchase on the sharply declining wooden construct, clad in stone tiles.

  Below, he quickly spotted three cultivators with spears. Apparently, the Spear Saint Mountain had spotted him already.

  His focus skill activated with mirth and prompted him to retrieve and skillfully empty his water bottle above their heads, drenching them all equally. “Oops,” he exclaimed with a shrug. “My hand slipped.”