Chapter 43 - Twin Cultivators

The material boxes contained 15 [Sheets of linen cloth] and 6 [Coils of rope]. The people gathered around actually cheered when they saw those items materialize on Max. While they had been excited and happy about the tools, they were absolutely ecstatic about the materials. Max could hardly blame them.

The sheets of cloth were quite large, maybe three feet in span, and six feet in length, akin to a single-bed bedsheet. Not only was there a slew of potential uses for such material, but it would provide a substantial boost in experience to any [Artisan] working with them.

The rope was sturdy and of reasonable length. While it would have no clear application in providing experience, it would certainly be massively useful in fastening things, or for making traps for hunting. Max was sure there were many other things, but it was not for him to think of the ideas. He was just the guy to bring the crafty people the stuff. And that was good.

The experience was quite nice. For the two quests Joshua gave for both sets of material, he got a total of 3400 experience. That pushed him over the edge.

Level up! [Level 18 Graviturgist]

You have gained + 1 Constitution, + 2 Intelligence, + 2 Wisdom, + 2 free attribute points

Max had equipped all his items and decided to spend his many free points in a mix of Constitution, Intelligence and a dash of Wisdom to round out the numbers. The excess he put in Resistance. Max figured he would most likely be more vulnerable to magic-based attacks, as physical attacks he could avoid with some care and foresight. Max looked at his stat screen and smiled to himself. He had come a long way since entering the realm of the obsidian dwarves.

Name: Max Cromwell

Cultivation stage: Quartz (lesser)

Class: Graviturgist
Level: 18

Health: 540/540

Stamina: 540/540

Mana: 750/750

Alliance: Joshua’s Group

Stats:

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 11

Constitution: 54

Intelligence: 75

Wisdom: 55

Charisma: 9

Precision: 27

Toughness: 13

Resistance: 17

With all of that done, Max decided to excuse himself from the company and find a nice comfy patch of grass under the oaklike tree. It was time to Cultivate.

“You know I’m kind of miffed,” Maverick said when they had sat down and Max was about to pop one of Durum’s pills. He halted the movement just in time and jerked.

“Uhhuh,” Max said.

“As my sidekick, I feel you are able to Cultivate faster than me,” Maverick said. “I don’t want people thinking you’re pulling more weight in this team of ours.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mav,” Max said. “I’m using these pills and you’re not.”

“First of all,” Maverick said. “Never call me ‘Mav’ again.”

“I’ll stop the moment I never hear Maximillian out of your voice-hole again.”

“Hmmmm. I will consider that. In the meantime, give me one of those pills.”

“Huh?” Max asked. “To do what with?”

“To cycle, you dunderhead,” Maverick said. “I have a soul. I can cycle Spiritual Energy. What’s the problem?”

“You don’t have a mouth or a digestive system to start with?”

“Pffft. Who needs that? It all seems very gross anyway. Just put a pill in one of my bullet chambers. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“You know I faced a horrible screaming monster made of hands that sucked people dry,” Max said with a lopsided smile. “I thought that was the worst thing that could happen. But then you started talking.”

They argued some more, before Max relented and flicked open [The Maverick’s] cylinder. It was squeaky clean and even seemed to sport a faint sheen of oil, which made the gold shine. Max had to admit that this was a beautiful gun. Then he felt his companion’s smugness in their soulbond and resolved to never think something like that again.

The pill fit in the chamber well, leaving a little wiggle room. If it didn’t work, Max could just pop it out of there and use it himself. But if [The Maverick] could use it, it would really cut down the time they needed to spend cycling with the pills.

“Just make sure you don’t fall asleep if you consume the pill,” Max said.

“Please,” Maverick said with a note of hurt in his voice. “What kind of buffoon do you take me for?”

It turned out magical guns could consume [Celestial Illumination Pills].

Who knew? Max thought when he fed a pill into each of the chambers of the revolver’s cylinder. Max really hoped Maverick wouldn’t just go limp in the middle of cycling, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if one pill was wasted. Still, Max would rather not waste them. Who knew where it was possible to get more from.

Leveled up Quartz-level Cultivator (lesser) to 9

+1 free attribute point

Leveled up Quartz-level Cultivator (lesser) to 10

+1 free attribute point

Leveled up Quartz-level Cultivator (lesser) to 11

+1 free attribute point

New Talent Obtained: [Twin Souls Cultivator I]

[Twin Souls Cultivator]: When both parties of [Path of Divine Soulbond] are using a cycling technique simultaneously, the effectiveness of the technique is increased by 10%

“We are amazing!” Maverick declared.

“Shh,” Max hissed. “Talk when the pill is done.”

Maverick grumbled something, but Max wasn’t listening. It was amazing, and he could actually feel a slight hastening of the Spiritual Energy inside of him. It moved slightly faster, slightly smoother.

It was still sluggish and difficult to move the energy, but the levels did help. Max was a little surprised level 10 didn’t do anything special, but then again Cultivating was a lot faster than leveling. It would be a good idea to stay in the camp and cultivate as much as was feasible to rake in the easy free attribute points.

Once the pills were finished Max grinned. The grin was intended for Maverick, but it didn’t matter that Max was grinning towards the river. The gun could sense it through their bond.

“That talent we just got is excellent,” Max beamed. “We’ll just have to see how well you can handle being awake.”

Maverick did his best to stifle a yawn. He didn’t need to yawn did he? What was the point of stifling one?

“I am a bit tired,” Maverick admitted. “But I can keep going. At least for one pill. Maybe two.”

“What do you think about Cultivating during the night, while I sleep?” Max asked.

“If I’m awake and terribly bored, I must do it, don’t I? Otherwise I increase the chance of you getting killed for being too weak.”

“Do you want to use pills for it?” Max asked. They still had a massive pile of those white and golden little peas left. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Despite my numerous gifts, math is not my strong suit,” Maverick admitted. “Fortunately, I am in a position to delegate such tasks as hashing out the math to my trusty sidekick.”

In other words, Maverick didn’t want to take responsibility for the decision. Max was fine with that. He wasn’t sure what was correct. Of course the most optimal course of action would be to only use the pills when they were both using a cycling technique.

They would get that much more efficiency out of the pills. But how many Cultivation levels were they forsaking in the short term if Maverick had to cycle with basically half the speed at night. If he could cycle for even three hours per night, that would rack up pretty fast.

And those racked up levels means more stats. More stats meant a higher chance of survival. That was good. But more stats complicated the equation of efficiency even further.

More stats meant more opportunity to find loot, even Cultivation material. More stats meant more monsters killed, which turned into more experience and Cosmic Coins. Max had no calculator or an excel sheet to put in all the numbers and compare. But it seemed that being seemingly inefficient in this situation would yield more gains overall.

Of course they could just huddle up in the camp and consume their [Celestial Illumination Pills] with maximum efficiency. But at the same time there would be members of other species going out there in the Dreadlands and putting themselves in a position to advance beyond Max’s reach. Max could not allow that. He didn’t have all the time in the world. This was a race. The one who held the advantage, got the spoils.

“Use them,” Max said. “But you better make sure you don’t fall asleep mid-cycling.”

“Don’t need to tell a Cultivator genius like me twice,” Maverick said. “Say, I think I could still go on for an hour or two, if you still have juice left in you.”

The challenging tone did not go unnoticed by Max. He grinned, excited at the prospect of enjoying the peace of Joshua’s camp, while also being able to grow stronger.

Just as they were about to pop another set of pills, the horrified screams began.