Chapter 53 - Cultivation and Tools

After Max had looted the panthers he sat down next to the Stranger. Maverick asked him why, but Max shook his head. It was a token gesture anyway. Maverick could sense what Max felt.

What Max felt was a confusing soup of emotions. Regret? None. Grief? Absolutely not. No remorse or horror over the Stranger's death or his part in it. Max was mildly upset how little he was affected by murdering another person.

It needed to be done.

Maverick’s soul resonated in agreement.

The sun was setting in the distance. The faint light it gave off had not much warmth left. It was getting a little cool, and he pulled his robe tighter around him. Max regarded the corpse beside him with cold eyes.

No. He wouldn’t be burying the Stranger. But he would remember him. This was a lesson. It was hard accepting people like this existed. People who would just choose destruction for no good reason. The Stranger had known what he had been doing, and he had done it anyway. Malice. Even at the expense of his and his whole species’s existence.

Max would not give behavior like this any space. His mind returned to Brian and his gang of thugs. Those were posturing fools. They would try their limits, but they could be put in line. Max had done well to show them that they needed to behave. But the Stranger had not been such a person.

Max would not be soft again. He would not negotiate. He would remove these people.

“Wow, that’s pretty dark,” Maverick remarked. “I always considered you the comic relief of our endearing little duet.”

“I’ll do what’s right,” Max said. “That is all.”

“And you’ll just… decide that?” Maverick said and whistled.

“Got a problem with that?”

“I’m actually impressed,” Maverick chimed in. “You’re finally taking notes from my exemplary behavior.”

Max chuckled and shook his head.

“Do you think they will allow you to do that?” Maverick asked. “To remove people you don’t like.”

“People I don’t like,” Max cracked a wry smile. “You make it sound so flippant.”

“Ah. I suppose you haven’t learned enough from me after all,” Maverick lamented.

“But yeah. I do think they’re just going to let me do that. The tribunal system for our species is only Zoos-business, unless something crazy happens. Me removing a few bad eggs won't attract the attention of the ICCB.”

“You’re confident they won’t punish us.”

Max smirked. “I’m their golden boy now. Their big advantage.”

“We,” Maverick corrected, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I feel like you’re letting this go to your head already.”

“Our little jellyfish-patrons will lose face if I die. They’ll do everything they legally can to provide us with advantages. If we kill a few assholes, I doubt they’ll blink twice.”

“I like it!” Maverick exclaimed. “So we can do what we want?”

Maverick’s voice rose in excitement. “Oh we’re going to be bad. Next time you rough up that Brian, let me do the talking. I just can’t wait to show him who’s who and what’s what.”

“Let’s try to keep each other from going completely psycho, yeah? We’re the good guys, remember?”

“Fine,” Maverick huffed. “But can’t we also be the cool guys?”

“I’ve never been one, I guess.”

“Well, you’re lucky I am here to teach you!”

Max got up. “Oh great.”

“Oh great indeed, we’re finally leaving this stinking corpse,” Maverick said. “Now. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Max smirked again. “You know I am. Let’s go Cultivate.”

                                                                   *

Max was blunt and brief when he got back to the camp. The camp was still licking its wounds, but apart from the many wounded needing attention and a general apathy being in the air, things had apparently normalized. As much as Max could tell at least. It wasn’t like he had spent a lot of time in the camp after all.

He found Joshua and told him that the threat had been dealt with. Joshua had all sorts of questions and he wanted to make it into a thing, but Max cut him off. He had no time for this right now.

“Max,” Joshua asked. “Is everything alright?”

“I— I am fine,” Max said.

“Fine can mean many things,” Joshua said dryly. “Did something happen?”

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Max said. “Let's just say I’m suddenly very busy.”

“Busy?”

“Later Joshua.”

“Right, right,” Joshua said. “Do you need anything?”

“Just peace and quiet. I’ll take one of the houses and Cultivate there.”

“Cultivate? Yeah, of course.”

“I’ll leave it by the time I need to sleep. I just need a place I won't be disturbed in.”

“You got it my friend,” Joshua said, mastering his confusion. He clapped Max on the shoulder. “Do you need anything else?”

Max smiled. “Not now. But I have a request.”

“Anything,” Joshua said immediately.

“If anyone happens to get their hands on [Spirit Coins], I really need them right now.”

“I think you’ve done enough for our little camp to get something back. I’ll spread the word.”

“Thanks, Joshua.” Max said. “I’ll see you later.”

                                                                   *

Max had been waiting for this moment. It was the moment where he got to open his Cultivation loot boxes. Max didn’t have great expectations for the E-grade box, but he was hoping for [Spirit Coins]. The other one would be C-grade. That could be a spectacular prize at this level. First Max opened the [E-grade Cultivation box]

A strange contraption appeared in front of Max on the floor. It was a crisscross of silvery thin rope that formed a star in the middle of the round formation that the thing created. The silvery rope was attached to a smooth strap of black leather that formed a circle within which the star of the silvery string was formed.

[Cultivation Treasure: Mana Focus Formation (E-grade)]

Enhance ability to focus longer on cycling techniques while sitting in the ring.

Okay? That seems… useful? Is this like coffee? Or motivation? How does it work? I guess I will find out.

[C-grade Cultivation box]

What appeared in Max’s lap was a carefully detailed ornate box made of wood. When Max opened it, he couldn’t help but to feel disappointed. What was inside were…

[Candle of Aspect Attraction]

Used to attract the main Aspect of the user.

They were beautiful candles. Made from a clearly high quality wax, a deep purple in color, trimmed with bright red scrollwork. They were tall candles, easily over a foot in height. Max closed the box.

“Maverick,” Max said. “What is this?”

“Scented candles?” Maverick asked sardonically. “How the hell should I know?”

“Are these supposed to be useful?”

“Probably,” Maverick said. “Or maybe they’re for relaxation. According to your memories, some people were big on scented candles.”

“These are from a C-grade box,” Max said. “They have to be useful. We will need to ask Durum about them. He might know what an ‘Aspect’ is.”

“Bleh, fine,” Maverick said. “That king thinks he just knows everything, doesn’t he?”

“He knows more than us, that’s for sure.”

Maverick said nothing to that. Max could feel a hint of sulkiness from his soul.

“Well, that’s a worry for another day. I’m not going to lie, I’m annoyed at this C-grade treasure not being something life-altering.”

“At the right moment, a scented candle can be life altering,” Maverick mused.

“Piss off.”

“Well at least we have this… Pentagram thing on the floor,” Maverick said.

“That’s more like a star of David,” Max said. “But with a lot more points.”

“How was I supposed to know that,” Maverick huffed. “I’m just a gun.”

“A gun who likes to pretend he knows everything.”

“Shush. Just step into the formation and stop slacking off.”

                                                                 *

Two [Celestial Illumination Pills] later it happened.

Leveled up Quartz-level Cultivator (greater) to 2

+2 free attribute point

“Two free points?” Max wondered. “Don’t mind if I do.”

“Since I put half the effort here, It is only reasonable that half the points go where I want,” Maverick announced.

“Let me guess. Intelligence?”

“Oh yes,” Maverick said almost ominously. “MORE POWER! MORE—”

“Okayyyyyy…. We still have some of this pill left to cycle with.”

Max concentrated once more and cycled. They exhausted the pill's effect in fifteen minutes. In a wordless agreement, the two of them simply ingested another set of pills and barely missed a beat with their cycling.

The formation tool clearly helped. It made it possible for Max to not lose concentration, even when stray thoughts tried to enter his consciousness. He could brush them off easier and stay focused on the cycling. It was like the tool helped his mind stop fighting the exercise. While the effects where subtle, it was definitely noticeable. Max could only imagine how useful this would be the more tired he got.

But even with all the tools and advantages at Max’s disposal, the reality of Cultivation was clear as crystal. It was damned hard.

Max was dual-cultivating with Maverick, using [Celestial Illumination Pills] and his new Cultivation treasure, but they had only accrued a single level in two hours. It was probably fast as hell when compared to others at this level. Not that anyone apparently was at the higher Quartz-level yet.

Granted, leveling his class was getting slower too. Max still wanted to get to 20 in the near future, as it most likely entailed a substantial upgrade in some regard. But the allure of cultivation kept him sitting still and eating pill after pill. He was actually, as far as he knew it, still the world’s best at it. He had the fortune of stacking up advantages and if he had the patience and grit, he would stay the world’s best at it.

This would not only satiate his ever growing pride, but could possibly entail further “World’s first” achievements.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, Maverick,” Max said. “We aren’t stopping for a while.”

“Bah,” Maverick said. “The way I see it, it is you who will be begging for a break once your will runs out.”

Max gave him the spiritual equivalent of a shoulder punch. Then they fell back into a focused cycling rhythm.

Leveled up Quartz-level Cultivator (greater) to 3

+2 free attribute point

“Ugh…” Maverick sighed out. “I am not saying I need a break. I am merely suggesting that you look like you need one.”

Max didn’t say anything. He just hung his head. He was so tired. Two hours had passed and they had gotten another level. It was as if Max’s head was a fuzzy cloud. Stringing two thoughts together was an exercise in futility.

“It is getting late,” Max admitted. “We could sleep a few hours and continue.”

“By few you mean ten hours right?”

“We don’t even need eight anymore. Let’s sleep for four or five and continue.”

“I need coffee,” Maverick sighed.

“You’ve never even had a cup.”

“I have whiffs of your memories. You used to love coffee.”

Addicted was a more appropriate word for it. Not for the first time Max wondered if he would ever have a cup again. Probably not.

“Let’s go talk to someone who’s going to have a night watch, so they can wake us up.”

“In the morning, right?” Maverick asked, his voice thin with discomfort. “I know you oversleep.”

“You know what they say,” Max mused. “New headsman's axe hanging over my head, new me.”