Lobster

Next day, Pef swiped everything in the house into the glove, except Aria, whom he picked under his arm.

Then he jogged to say goodbye to the Chief and then the Oracle. She looked frail and tired, and had a defeated look on her face.

"I will probably be dead when you return" Aunt Ching said in a calm voice.

"Hmm. In 6 months, if you don't change your ways" Pef replied with a pointed look at her eyes.

"Your god glove, can it give me more years?" the Oracle wondered in a smaller voice.

"The Xi method. It's painful and bloody. But you'd be an Emperor in a decade."

"I see. Working for a god who skins himself." the old woman mused with her eyes closed.

"The General crafts pieces of her flesh, into artifacts for her clan. So they can fight other evil gods, and free billions from Evil Gods that burn people and cities for souls!" the young man answered with bright eyes.

"That's your God's name? General? Not something like First Light above the Heavens ?" she wondered, a bit confused.

"Loose Divinity recruits barely qualify for her armies, Oracle. Most of her Soldiers are Perfect Divinities or higher. Billions of them" Pef explained, not even bothering to embellish.

"What use I am then? A mere Spirit rank?" the old lady asked rhetorically.

"I am also a mere Spirit, Aunt Ching. But you and Lady Lin, you could be Captains. Elder Gods with a golden aura. Able to travel between universes."

"And all I have to do, is what?" the Oracle asked a bit doubtful.

"Wear the glove, and fight evil." Pef replied in a flat tone.

"That's a fair deal...is it dangerous?"

"A billion times less than if don't take the glove" Pef said with a smile.

"Haha. Good answer, dear boy. I am dead anyway, so why not risk it, right?" the old Oracle asked with a pained voice.

"Come with me, Aunt Ching. You will need medication and special meals to resist the pain."

"I want a Sky sword too" the old woman demanded like her life depended on it.

"Sure, I have plenty bones and a good smith waiting" Pef answered with a kind smile.

"Okay, call your ship already, young man. Dear gods, you're going to make me fight snakes aren't you..." the woman grumbled as she picked some things into her storage ring.

Pef walked out into the garden, and munched on a piece of ice, with green haired Aria under his arm.

"Stop pretending or I'll pour ice on your back" Pef whispered in her hair.

"But spying is much more interesting like this..." the druid complained shamelessly.

"Well, I need my hands free, to fly the ship."

"Oh, that's a good reason, actually. You can put me down."

"Yes. And you can link me with your goddess. The Veridian Legion was our ally. The Veritas Legion''s ally." Pef demanded in a harsher tone.

"Oh, you know about that..." Aria realized with a surprised blink.

"This planet barely has copper. And you spoke of nukes, Miss Aria Verdi." he explained politely.

The girl closed her eyes, calling her boss. A minute later she replied with a grimace.

"She says, she needs to see a Monarch ranked Soldier with a Veritas sword. It's too risky otherwise." the girl explained with wide eyes.

"We shall see. Sovereign might be enough. Then I can kill the worm at a moments notice."

"You're crazy. The Rock worm is a Saint..."

"I've killed a Sky beast already. Without a God killer weapon."

"Y-you monster! More animals have to suffer for your crazy plans?"

"So that innocent kids can live? Yes. Always."

"Are you two done yet? An older voice asked from behind.

Pef summoned the airship and jumped on the raft with both women. Arguing would take too long.

A minute later, the stone stove got a copper tray upgrade, and the airship lifted high above the city.

"You ruined a precious metal tray, for a stove?" Aunt Ching wondered as Pef kept fueling the stove with more wood.

"Yes. Better heat emission, thus more lift. We're less likely to crash that way"

"Oh. Never mind then, my life is important too" the woman said with a wry smile.

A few hours later, they began descending towards the Lin airport.

Five more airships were parked and one was speeding away.

Pef dropped a rope, and some men below pulled them to a stop.

"Go down, I'll store my ship, who knows what parking tickets cost here" Pef urged the women.

"Do you understand him?" Aria asked the other woman, a bit confused.

"Just ignore the strange words, his mind communes with a god, and is slightly off center" the Oracle replied in a serious tone, as she jumped out the ship.

"B-but...that's... I'll jump as well" the tiny woman stuttered and jumped, landing face first.

'Eject!' Pef commanded, landing next to Aria and plucking her out of the ground. Her face was imprinted with green grass and made him laugh.

"Owww. My face hurts! The ground is too hard!" the young woman complained and stomped her foot.

"People slide down on the rope you know...it's safer" a local airport attendant advised the tiny menace.

"I knew that! I just wanted to jump, and see if I can fly..."

"Okay little lady, calm down. Still, you'll have to pay a copper piece for assisted landing..."

"That's robbery! I can buy a house, a wooden house with a piece of copper!" Aria yelled, causing a scene.

Pef sighed and paid the attendant. First class flying will always be expensive, no matter which planet.

"How much it costs to park here?" he asked pointing at a random airship.

"A copper piece, per day. If you can afford a ship, you afford to park"

Pef sighed and went to find the Spirit smith, the two ladies following him and looking around.

There was trade and commerce here, plus dozens of copper smiths and woodcutters and potters and stonemasons, all haggling and crafting, animals carrying heavy loads of ore.

In a year, the tiny town had become an industrial city, with an airport as well.

'You did good work, Aspirant. We might get off this planet in 5000 years' the glove said after scanning nearby technologies.

'Much sooner, my glove. I won't let wars and plagues ravage the land'

'Oh. Right. About 1000 years then. Just on schedule, I'd say'

'Anyway, let's see how fast I can reach Earth rank'

"Pef! You're back?" Lin exclaimed as she soul-searched him.

"I got some nice bones..."

"Earth rank bones? Yay, you can have my babies!" Lin erupted as she hugged and kissed his face.

"Ah, about that. I killed a Sky rank beast, and brought its body..." the young hero boasted grandly.

"W-what? Not joking, are you? Don't play with a delicate smith's heart!"

"No, dear lady. Let's go in the back garden...and voila! Ice King Morse!" Pef proclaimed unveiled the prize.

Lin did a tour around the mauled beast, examining it with competent eyes. "Poor, poor baby...why did you maul it so bad? Half the skin and tendons are ruined, the legs are broken..."

"Errr. The tusks are intact..." Pef offered as an apology. He couldn't say he found the Morse like this, could he?

"Hmpf. Okay. For your first Sky rank it's not so bad. At least you didn't incinerate it..."

"I can heal the skin back, if you want..." Aria offered with a small voice.

"Oh. Oracle Ching, and whatever you are...welcome to my town" Lin offered a bit late.

"... Druid Aria Verdi" the midget replied in a reserved voice.

"Yes...heal it already! While there some inner qi left, in the meat!" The smith exclaimed in desperation.

Pef promised to try a clean kill next time. He doubted it would be much cleaner though.

While Aria lazed around, mostly sleeping off soul attacks, the Oracle was screaming, in a deep cellar filled with ice.

Pef visited twice a day, feeding her Legion maize and aspirin and penicillin, trying to keep her feeble body alive, during the second Awakening.

Her fever remained manageable with the ice and the medicine, but her body was ravaged by old age. It was a harsh month, for both Pef and Aunt Ching.

'What do you think, my orange glove. Can she make it?'

'Yes. I'd advise you to continue two more months. Then she'd be able to fight a tier 1 too'

'Really? With only 3 months of pain?' he wondered a bit amazed.

'She has the golden aura, Aspirant. Their kind are always five times stronger.' the glove explained in a flat tone.

'Oh. Okay then. She won't like it though...' Pef said while considering some things.

'And your smith lady too. She can resist one year, I think. Her body is very sturdy already.'

'You're experimenting with my friends, glove.' Pef said with an inner growl.

'I am forging Soldiers, Aspirant. There will be no revivals if you fail.'

Pef sighed and fed another cup of tea to Aunt Ching. The woman was crying and sweating, struggling to endure the constant pain.

"I am dying, aren't I?" the old woman asked in defeat.

"Nah. I did this for a year and a half, and I was barely 7 years old. It's not so bad. Now I wish I continued it for 3 years. I'd have been a Sky rank by now." Pef whispered in her white hair.

"You're insane? I can barely speak from all the screaming." Ching muttered in a raspy voice, and sipped the tea.

"I never screamed though. I only cried, because my mom was crying. It broke my heart."

he said softly while patting her hair.

A strange golden light lit up in Aunt's Ching eyes, as she lifted her head. "Tell Lin to visit me from now onward. I want a year, but not with you."

Pef nodded and left. Golden Auras were scary indeed.

Time flew by, as Aria grew older in appearance, and Pef trained his qi by smithing Sky bones.

Each large Sky bone took a month to mold and shape, instead of hours.

As the year passed, Pef's qi channels expanded again, and he felt the earth. The Earth rank.

Molding the bones became a bit faster and easier.

Lady Lin was close to the peak Spirit too, and Pef decided to marry her and induct the smith in the Legion, as soon as Aunt Ching was done.

He was forging a pair of shin guards when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"I'm a bit busy..." he spoke in deep focus.

"Take a break, young man!" A strange voice spoke next to his ear.

Pef withdrew his qi essence and turned. An unknown woman stared at him with cold eyes.

Maybe 30 years old, and looking like a veteran. Otherwise, very pretty and well-built.

"Errr. Are you looking for someone, my lady?" he asked confused.

The woman flared her qi, and projected a powerful Earth ranked spike at his soul. A golden spike.

"Aunt Ching?" Pef asked in wonder, as he felt half his soul had depleted.

"You're still stronger, young man. About 50 percent. I knew you didn't lie, but I had to be sure."

"You got better!" Pef exclaimed and rushed to hug his dear Oracle.

"Moron, don't hug me! I suffered a hundred years of hell..." she muttered in his neck.

"Auntie. You crossed into Earth rank! You will never die now!" Pef replied with more joy, hugging her harder.

The woman was flabbergasted and just endured the unwelcome hug. The bad days had passed indeed.

'Now she's worthy of the Legion, Aspirant. Don't lose her!'

'I'm never letting her go.' Pef promised in with a sincere vow.

A few minutes passed in silence. The oracle was getting a bit uncomfortable, and yet strangely warm.

"Had enough? Maybe you want to say something?" Lady Ching asked rhetorically.

"Ah. Yes. Lady Lin will need a year too. You think you can help her?" Pef asked without letting go. He kinda liked the hug, anyway.

"I can break your scrawny arms, you know..." Ching warned him in a more relaxed voice.

"I'm not letting go. My dear Auntie...you're perfect!" Pef exclaimed, burying himself deeper into her chest.

The woman sighed and closed her eyes. You just couldn't fault the crazy boy.

"Okay. It works! Your painful, excruciatingly stupid painful method works. It also hurts too much!" she yelled in anger.

"I know! I told you. A year and a half. I died a million times inside. But having someone you care about cry, is even worse. So please, when Lin suffers, don't cry Auntie Ching."

"And you can't do it, because you love her. And you will cry..." the oracle said with a pained breath.

"Yeah. I do." Pef sobbed in her blouse.

"Come, let's take a walk. I want to see what Smithtown looks like, now." Aunt Ching demanded gently.

Pef rose his eyes, and wiped his tears. Then he took her hand and lead the woman into the town.

The airport had a dozen airships now, and stone houses had appeared. Hundreds of stone houses.

Smith Lin had used vertebrae and other useless bones to make picks and spikes and saws, and thus stone could be cut with ease, by Sky ranked tools.

Those bones were harder than titanium and barely abraded on stone.

A few carts with 6 big wooden wheels had also appeared, pulled by large pigs or cows.

A guard post of Guardians patrolled the town, commanded by deputy Xan and his aide, assistant deputy Shin.

The medical clinic, for injured workers and other sick people. Aria sometimes worked there a few hours, healing the worse wounds.

A couple of cantinas and worker barracks. And a hundred smiths. Working copper to fuel the new trade.

"You did all this, haven't you, Pef?" the Earth ranked oracle asked in a daze. The town had doubled in size and prosperity while she endured the Awakening.

"I had a few ideas. People liked them. They live better now." he answered with a shoulder shrug.

"And work much harder. Longer hours, to gain more copper bits."

"There are a hundred metals, dear Aunt. We have just started." Pef explained with a smile.

After a long walk around the town, they came back to find Aria begging for food.

"Hello, pretty girl!" Pef said with a smile.

"Hmpf. You're lucky I'm hungry, or you wouldn't be worth talking to" the teenage looking girl proclaimed out loud. She was over 200 years old and looked just 15 or maybe 16.

Pef drew his qi and measured her soul strength. Peak Nascent rank.

She just needed a fully grown body. Maybe another year, for her hormones to balance out?

"Give me a hug, and you can eat boiled lobster." he demanded, opening his arms wide.

"It's not fair! Boys are so yucky. But lobsters...owww. I want lobsters!"

Pef smiled gently and waited. Hunger always wins.

"I'll go talk to Lin" Aunt Ching said as the silence grew too long. She walked off, not looking back.

"Who was that? You got a new wife, scoundrel!" Aria chided our hero in a strangely climbing tone.

"That's Aunt Ching. We came here together, remember?" Pef replied with a wry smile.

"What? No way. She was old and dying. I could sense it!" Aria exclaimed outraged.

"And now she's not. I think she's fabulous."

"Must be someone else. People don't just get younger." Aria proclaimed, a bit hypocritically. She herself used a similar method.

"Whatever. I'm going to cook some lobsters. But it seems you're not hungry..." Pef said in a careless voice, and turned to leave.

"Y-you evil monster. There. A short hug!" Aria said with a disgusted tone, and offering a millisecond of hug.

"Great. Means I only need to give you a short lobster foot." Pef joked a bit.

"Ahhhh. How long?"

"How hungry are you?" Pef asked curious.

"Very!" the druid answered at once.

"Then a very long hug..." he explained with a smile.

In the end, Aria had to concede and offer a 10 minutes long hug. She was very hungry.