Cheater

Eyes shut, I meditate in my cave. Within my mind, the cliff with the Sparking Fire Thistle appears. A blue outline surrounds the herb and glowing text floats beside it.

[Sparking Fire Thistle, Low quality, Warrior Tier Spirit. Collected: 0.]

The text comes into focus as details of the canyon fade away. Only the image of the spirit herb including a root structure remains. As the herb rotates in place, the text changes.

[Sparking Fire Thistle, Low quality, Warrior Tier Spirit. Collected: 1. Analysis: 30RU <Details>.]

"Huh?" RU stands for research units. This knowledge is instinctual, but I am uncertain about what it entails.

"Details." I select.

A drop-down menu appears:

[Specimen Histories: 1,

Physical structures: 18RU,

Spiritual structures: 9RU,

Formulas: 2RU*]

"Formulas."

[Complete formulas: 2

-Spirit Thistle Firework

-Internal Spark Pill

Fragmented Pill formulas: 4

-Persephone Tide Pill

-Lunar Shadow Pill

...]

So, the list includes the pill recipes from my memories that use the herb... If I recall correctly, crafting the Spirit Thistle Firework needs only the spirit thistle and some mundane sulfur. Would this count as an alchemical pill? It has no medicinal properties, but the other recipes all need additional spirit herbs...

"Um, duplicate?"

The original text darkens, and a growing bar of light appears [Loading 0%] ...

"Uh? What's going on?"

I try to open my eyes to exit my meditation, but I'm unable to do anything except drift through the infinite darkness. The loading bar follows closely behind me. If I'm honest, I might not be moving at all. It's more of a feeling than a fact. The loading bar is my only point of reference. After a day of wandering, my tiredness and boredom lull me to sleep.

* * * * *

Bustling people in formal clothes are powerwalking in different directions around me. I'm inside the largest building I've ever seen. An entire town could fit in here. In a daze, my eyes stare into the crowd until suddenly I spot a servant from my past life. I struggle through the crowd.

"Miles! Hey, Miles!"

My servant doesn't turn his head. Instead, he dives into the strong current of people. It's all I can do to keep track of him as I rush to catch up while fighting the flow of the crowd. The distance between us steadily lessens until, after a few minutes, he is within arm's reach.

"Gotcha!" I grasp Miles' shoulder and turn him to face me.

"Miles why are you running?" His head turns. "Egad?" To my horror, there's no face! It's only smooth white skin.

I enter a daze allowing him to shake off my hand. He continues forward without a word. His lack of speech is unsurprising considering his lack of a mouth.

Poor Miles...

"Hmm, wait, who was Miles again?"

I squat down on the floor holding my head in a daze as the people around me rush back and forth.

* * * * *

Rumbling pangs of hunger force me awake. The darkness with the growing loading bar surrounds me again.

What was that odd dream? Who was this Miles? I can't remember him now. Was he ever real?

The loading bar flashes for a moment before fading away. Under the full bar, it reads [100% Complete!]

I'm no longer stuck in meditation! "What happened?"

It's hot! My shoulder lies dangerously close to the pool of lava. My back and the side of my face are burning. My hands shift.

"Ouch!"

Pain shoots up my arms, and my face contorts into a grimace. I lift my hands to my eyes. As they move, something slips from my dominant hand tumbling to the ground, but my attention stays fixated on the pain.

Scabs, soot, and burns cover my hands. Crusty, red-brown, and black lines of dried blood and grime run down my arms.

"What the h..." Did I sleepwalk? It's like I crawled through the lava and swamp water with my bare hands while I slept.

I gingerly push myself up with my elbows. The ground scalds them, and I leap onto my unsteady feet. This time the pain shoots up from my bare feet. Scraps of burnt and melted leather hang from my ankles unable to cover my feet.

My shoes melted? ...Really? What happened while I was out? That duplication function is so formidable!

I painfully stride away from the scorching ground and reach for my bag.

Ugg... I forgot. "Why did you have to steal my healing items?"

"..." The void around me offers no response as usual.

* * * * *

I'm washing the grime and blood with clear water flowing from the pond while muttering to myself when I finally recall the reason I was doing all this.

"Wait, was the duplication successful?"

A bulb lies near the lava pool where I awoke. It's surrounded by a blue aura and text.

[Sparking Fire Thistle (Cloned bulb), Seed Quality, No Spirit. Collected: 1. Analysis: 31RU <Details>.]

"Yes!" My sore fist raises into the air in a victorious pose, but it's ruined as I wince from the pain.

<Lesser Magic Hand>. The bulb floats through the air to land in my grasp.

"Hmm, something's wrong..." The herb is lacking spiritual energy. Forming a Thistle Firework won't be possible like this. "Could it be?" It's already unnatural to form a spirit herb so quickly. It may need time for nourishment, germination, and growth before I can use it.

Rumble! My empty stomach reminds me that there isn't time for this herb to grow the natural way. Luckily, I practiced alchemy in my last life. There are several methods to speed up the germination and subsequent growth of plants.

* * * * *

<Tri Elemental Germination>. The bulb is in my hands inside the crucible. It's now filled with warm water infused with my Qi. This germination technique uses fire, wood, and water energy to nourish a plant seed or bulb. Most lower-level plants will sprout roots and shoots quickly under this technique. This Sparking Fire Thistle bulb is no exception.

After about an hour, I pull out the bulb. It now has roots a hands-width long and a green stalk with the beginnings of quills diverging out. My Qi inspects the herb...

"Well, it's still looking frail..."

[Sparking Fire Thistle (Germinated Cloned bulb), Seed Quality, No Spirit. Collected: 1. Analysis: 31RU <Details>.]

"Seed quality?"

The text expands. [The term, Seed Quality, indicates specimen's alchemically useful structures have yet to develop.]

Hmm, this immature ingredient isn't alchemical material yet...

I plant the bulb in the loamy cliffside and resume nourishing it with my fiery Qi. My current level prevents me from using the more advanced plant growth accelerating techniques. However, channeling my fiery Qi into the loamy soil and immature plant will still shorten the growing time.

Sigh. "How long will this take?"

* * * * *

I spent the next few days meditating and releasing Qi into the plant. The stalks elongate into buds that open into flowers while needle-like leaves fill in the bottom.

[Sparking Fire Thistle (Cloned), Low Quality, Nascent Mortal Spirit. Collected: 1. Analysis: 31RU <Details>.]

"Finally!" My emaciated body emits sharp cracking sounds as I stretch. A heavy, cold sensation weighs down on me and my movements are unsteady. My body has weakened substantially from the lack of food and my lightheaded giddiness is alarming. Yet, my focus and Qi circulation based on years of previous life experience provide the drive and meager substance required to continue. I shake my head to ease my dizziness and browse through the details floating in the air.

[Specimen Histories: 2,

Physical structures: 18RU,

Spiritual structures: 9RU,

Formulas: 2RU*]

"Specimen Histories." This is the only place I could find information on individual spirit herbs.

["???" 1, 005/00

"???" 2, 012/00 clone]

My quaking finger touches the second line. The text has no physical form but when my finger arrives the list changes.

["Unnamed" Specimen #2. Generated day 012, year 00. Germinated day 012, year 00. Formed spirit 024, year 00. Identical clone of assimilated "Unnamed" Specimen #1, Sparking Fire Thistle. Natural growth sped up by 90 days due to the infusion of compatible fiery Qi.]

"Is it mature enough to create an alchemical pill?"

"..." There was only the ringing of tinnitus in my ears.

"Hey Housing, if you know can you answer?"

[Housing has no function to assess alchemical strength. Even the former acquired system could not determine alchemical strength without assimilating the Spirit Herb.]

Sigh. "It'll have to do." The specks of darkness flickering at the edge of my vision, my fatigue, and my dizziness all suggest I don't have much time left.

Herb in hand, I stumble towards the crucible by the volcano. I lay the herb on a slab of rock and slice it with a sharp piece of Qi-infused slate. I toss the core of the bulb and the sparking flowers into the crucible. A pestle in my hand grinds it up adding sulfur powder. I had gathered the yellow sulfur earlier from a volcanic vent near the edge of the lava pool.

The strands of fiery Qi rotate and arc into a ball pulling material along like strings. An intricate spherical pattern forms from my most practiced combination technique, <Revolving Sphere Synthesis>. The materials slide past each other as the ball compresses. The strands melt into each other leaving a smooth surface with a vague swirling pattern. As the pill forms, I need to spend greater energy suppressing the explosive energy in the pill.

The pill is light orange with flecks of red and yellow, but I frown as I notice the black flecks that aren't supposed to be there. It's not very pure. I'm already reaching my limit, but I'll do my best to purify it.

This pill needs to pass, or I'm done for.

More of my Fiery Qi envelopes the pill in a red-orange glow. My teeth clench as the Qi sinks into the partially formed pill under the power of <Boiling Pill Purification>. The surface of the pill begins the boil and bubble. As each bubble pops black smoke ejects forcefully from the pill.

Under the mental strain, my lightheadedness increases. In the corner of my eyes, dark hands of shadow stretch across the ground. They want to pull me down. My kneeling body stumbles to the side as if pulled by those shadowy hands. Thankfully, my left hand is still on the crucible guiding my <Boiling Pill Purification> Qi to disperse into the cooling stage. I lie weekly on the ground spasming and my vision darkens. It's as though the hands have covered me completely in a bid to weigh me down.

After what seems like an eternity, a voice rings out. "Congratulations on successfully concocting an alchemical pill and clearing the test!"

"Hello?"

"…" I'm too weak and delirious to understand or respond.

"I say young man are you even listening?"

"…"

Get off the ground!"

My voice is weak due to a lack of energy. After some time, I rasp, "... the... hands..."

"Ugh! Why did a weakling like you pass? ...Fine have a reward."

A warm gentle light descends from the sky glittering in the air. It enters through my skin leaving a tickling sensation and refreshes me. It's as though the shadowy hands never existed. My body floats into the air as energy and nutrients fill me. Soon, the euphoric sensation transforms into painful swelling. My flesh cannot hold the massive amount of energy.

"Argg! Please... I've had enough... Any more... and I will explode!"

"Tch."

The descending light cuts off, and my unsteady feet land on the ground.

"So weak! How were you even able to pass? Never mind, don't answer that. What do you call your alchemical product?"

"Product?" I glance down at the pill in the crucible. "Oh yes, the Spirit Thistle Firework."

"Let me see." The pill shoots up into the sky with alarming speed.

"..." I wait, collecting myself and calming my mind for the assessment. Now that the fatigue is gone, I'm a little proud. Making a pill from nothing while starving to death in an unfamiliar body is no easy feat.

"Are you an idiot? Why would you make this crap? Especially since you have the means to cheat my system. Why not make something nourishing to the body? Are you so conceited that you believe I wouldn't let you starve to death? Do you expect me to acknowledge a cheater like you based on this crappy pill? Why shouldn't I throw you back into the desolate void? That would knock some of that arrogance out of you."

His words cause the upturned edges of my lips to flatten.

...