Ashlock observed Titus, who dragged himself into the bubble of spatial Qi that was the pocket realm he had summoned with his new S-grade {Dimensional Overlap} skill.
The Ent had already visibly healed in the short time he had been awake, "System, how much would it be to heal Titus now?" A message popped into existence and overlayed the Ent.
[Titus has sustained 62% damage. Repair for 930 SC?]
"So after around an hour of being connected to me and bathing in the spatial Qi of my offspring, the number went from 64% to 62%, and the required credits dropped from 960 to 930," Ashlock noted. It was slower than Titus had healed himself in the past, and the only explanation Ashlock could come up with was that he was splitting his Qi reserves between all his Ents to heal them right now.
This conclusion was further enforced when he noticed Titus begin to heal quicker than he had been outside the spatial pocket realm, meaning the abundant spatial Qi was assisting his recovery.
"Interesting, so that's something to remember with raising too many Ents. I can't have the Ents all healing off me at the same time if I want one to recover faster, even if I have the Qi on hand," Ashlock mused as he felt his leaves graciously suck in the abundant spatial Qi and cycle it throughout his body and into his Star Core, "I guess it's like I am a power station and no matter how much power I produce, there's only so much the cables going out can handle. I still don't totally know how that strange black root that the {Necroflora Sovereign} skill uses works."
Ashlock then noticed through the blurry purple hue of the pocket realm a shadow of something approaching that looked like a person. "Tree, what the hell is going on?" Stella shouted after she pushed her head through the pocket realm's outer layer and glanced around.
"Stella, welcome," Ashlock replied cheerfully through {Abyssal Whispers}, "Come on in, it's lovely in here."
Stella squinted at him but then sighed and pushed her whole body through, "Huh, strange," she said as she closed her eyes and seemed to be cycling the Qi.
After a while, she began to mutter, "It's not quite as good as the spatial Qi in the Mystic Realm, but it's still quite good." She then opened her eyes and looked up at him, "So? What is all of this, and why did Diana mention something about meeting Maple's family and some ancient clan?"
"Oh, that?" Ashlock chuckled, "I just figured out how to summon a part of a pocket realm of my choice around me using the energy I gain from consuming corpses. However, when I went to test it, Maple used my brief lapse into the Mystic Realm as an opportunity to see his siblings and wanted me to meet them. It just so happened that Diana was nearby and got pulled into all of it."
Maple jumped down from Ashlock's branch in his usual squirrel form and landed perfectly on Stella's head.
"Why didn't you ask me to come and see your family?" Stella pouted as she looked up at the squirrel, making himself comfortable on her head, "Are they also cute squirrels?"
Maple yawned as he spread out on his back, "You can meet them in the Mystic Realm."
Stella froze, "Did... Maple just speak?"
"Yes," Ashlock said, "But he doesn't like to talk much as it consumes his energy and makes him more sleepy."
"Waaa... since when could he talk!" Stella summoned an acorn and dangled it before Maple's sleeping face, "Come on, talk to me! I'll give you as many acorns as you want!"
Maple reached up and seized the acorn in his paws but gave Stella a resounding "No" as an answer.
Stella collapsed defeatedly on the bench with a hollow look.
"Why do you eat the acorns anyway?" Ashlock asked Maple, "You're not even a real squirrel, and I doubt there's any benefit for you. It's not like they are full of Qi or are even that tasty."
"I like them because Stella gives them to me."
That wasn't the answer Ashlock was expecting from a baby eldritch horror in the body of a squirrel.
"What if I gave you acorns—"
"No," Maple grumbled, "I only like the ones Stella gives me."
"Why...?!" Ashlock felt betrayed! Just a moment ago, he had been coming up with a plan to save Maple's family from the void, and they were in a mutual pact, so why wouldn't he like acorns from him?!
"Aww, thank you, Maple," Stella gave the smug squirrel a head rub.
Sighing in defeat, Ashlock left Maple to his pointless acorn and changed the subject, "How was the talk with Elder Mo?"
"Not what I expected," Stella answered as she lowered her hand and got more comfortable on the bench, "I told him I wanted to be able to cut anything, and he said that wasn't possible for him to imbue into my weapon with his spirit fire as it's something he has never achieved. He then mentioned that cutting anything would mean cutting time and reality itself. Which I found to be a rather interesting idea."
"How can one cut anything?" Ashlock asked, "I could see the potential to cut through space with spatial Qi, but time? What would that even look like?"
"I don't know," Stella shrugged, "But that's my new goal. I want to be the one who can cut all."
"And a master alchemist?" Ashlock asked.
Stella nodded, "And a master alchemist."
"And run the Ashfallen Trading Company?"
"Huh? I never agreed to that," Stella shook her head with Maple effortlessly clinging on, "Give that task to Diana, the Grand Elder, or hell, even do it yourself. I want to lurk in the shadows and only show myself when necessary. Do you know how many people came to talk to me within just a few minutes of me being at the White Stone Palace?"
"How many?" Asklock asked, a little amused.
"Too many! I even got coerced into giving money to that darn Silverspire butler," Stella grumbled, "although to be fair, they earned it."
"You gave money to them?"
"Well yeah, it's only fair they got fifteen percent of the stuff we looted from the merchants," Stella clarified, "Sebastian assisted in the fight, and we used the Silverspire name during the meeting to gain some authenticity so the Merchants let their guard down enough to swallow the cursed pills."
"I suppose so," Ashlock said, "What's in the rings anyways?"
"Less money than I had hoped, but still a decent amount," Stella replied as she glanced around the strange purple-filled pocket realm, "Lots of consumables, artifacts, and clothes. Basically, everything you would need to survive out in the wilderness."
"Anything useful?"
Stella shrugged, "Not a clue. The artifacts don't come with instructions, so I have no idea their value or uses. The consumables are just pills, worse than anything I can make myself, and it's all men's clothes, as the rings are from Lucius and Hammond."
"I guess we could just sell the artifacts or get someone to verify them?" Ashlock considered. It would be a shame to let them sit in a pile like the Voidmind Elder's belongings were in his inventory.
"Yeah, selling them would be easiest as we need as many spirit stones as possible to construct mountain-sized formations..." Stella's eyes lit up, "Oh, actually, there was a technique manual in Hammond's ring with some advanced spatial concepts."
A book manifested in her hand, and she flicked through the pages, "Here are some of the titles: Spatial lock, Spatial Step, Spatial Blades, Time Dilation, Spatial Repulsion and Compression, Spatial Release, Warp Strike, Anchor Seal..."
"Woah, that's a lot of techniques for a single book," Ashlock was puzzled about how so many seemingly high-level techniques could fit in such a thin book.
"Oh, these aren't techniques," Stella chuckled, "Just a page or two dedicated to each one with some notes regarding the general concept in overly complicated and flowery words. I just hope one of these would help me figure out how to cut through anything."
Hearing it was a book of concepts was a little unfortunate, but not all hope was lost. He could learn and even invent spatial techniques with ease nowadays. He mainly just needed some inspiration.
Stella spent a moment mumbling to herself as she tried to read one of the chapters and eventually snapped the book with a groan. Clearly, the flowery language was annoying her. "Say, Ash, you still didn't tell me much about your new technique. So this is a pocket realm?"
"I'll tell you about it if you show me that book you just closed. Those were some interesting technique ideas," Ashlock replied, and Stella reluctantly nodded, so he continued, "I call this technique Dimensional Overlap. Quite similar to the Mystic Realm, but I have to expend great energy to maintain it."
Ashlock then fell silent momentarily as he saw another ten sacrificial credits vanish from his system screen alongside the two hundred he spent summoning it in the first place. The bundle of credits he had got from devouring that heap of monsters was nearly depleted, which was unfortunate.
He had wasted a bit of time talking to Stella, but one of the tests he was conducting while having the pocket realm running was to see if he could fully drain its Qi, and that would take some time anyway, and the cost of upkeep wasn't that bad... he had spent around 40 credits so far which wasn't even enough for a D grade system draw. It was the combined 240 SC that he had spent that was the real kicker.
"I thought I could use this skill to cultivate like the rest of you in the Mystic Realm, but it's not worth it. Far too expensive, and you can feel it too, right?" Ashlock asked, "It's only been up for a few minutes and already..."
Stella hummed in agreement, "The spatial Qi here is already growing thinner."
"Indeed. It seems like the technique works by surrounding me with a small section of a pocket realm, and it doesn't refill, so as Titus and I absorb the spatial Qi, the pocket realm grows weaker."
"So what will you use this technique for if not for cultivation?" Stella asked.
"Well, I can summon pocket realms of most Qi types, so I can use it to give us an environmental advantage around me or my offspring. Just imagine Nox suddenly being enveloped in a pocket realm of light Qi!"
Stella's eyes widened, "That would be ideal."
Ashlock checked his system and saw he had around two hundred sacrificial credits left, meaning he could keep this pocket realm operational for another twenty minutes. Assuming it even lasted that long with him sucking it dry for spatial Qi.
"I can only run this technique for a bit longer. Should we take advantage of the abundant spatial Qi and have a duel?" Ashlock asked.
"Sure, that's a great idea," Stella moved to stand up.
"Not so fast. Let me see those spatial concepts first," Ashlock reminded Stella, "I want to try and practice one while we fight."
"Ugh, fine, but I can't read it to you," Stella said as she got the book out again, "I hardly understand a word of it."
"I don't mind," Ashlock grabbed the book, floated it up with telekinesis, and flipped the pages open. Sure enough, he could understand the sentences somewhat due to his language skill doing the heavy lifting.
"My system gives me powerful skills, but most are support-type skills for empowering my allies or altering my environment, and they usually cost sacrificial credits to use. My only direct attack skill is {Consuming Abyss}, but that has been with me since the start when it was known as {Devour} and is my only way to acquire sacrificial credits." Ashlock pondered as he flipped through the pages past the author's introduction and useless boasts about his life, "However, just like Hammond or any other cultivator, I have an affinity, and I even have a Star Core far larger than normal humans. So, I should stop relying on my system so much, hoping it will give me better ways to attack and protect myself. I would rather find solutions to those issues myself with my affinity, just like any other cultivator. I can even wield swords!"
Ashlock briefly looked at the concept of Spatial Step and decided to read it aloud for Stella, "Flash Step was first created by a disciple of the Azure Clan. It allows the cultivator to take steps that traverse great distances in an instant, effectively teleporting short to medium ranges." Ashlock paused. He had heard of this Azure Clan before. Looking in his inventory, he soon found the hefty leather-bound book engraved with the golden text Spatial Techniques of the Azure Clan.
"Huh, interesting. The clan Diana is supposedly from is called the Ravena Clan, and now I am learning about a technique from the Azure Clan."
"Flash step, huh," Stella tapped her chin in deep thought, "Sounds interesting, but how can I move myself instantly without first making a portal? Do I mess around with how I set the spatial anchor?"
"No idea," Ashlock admitted. Sadly, that was all the book had to say. It was more like reading a history report than an actual book with anything valuable.
Spatial Step sounded interesting, but Ashlock didn't see a need to teleport himself right now, so leaving Stella to ponder, he flipped through the pages to the one that interested him the most from the name Spatial Lock.
The reason was simple. Ashlock had just discovered the significant weakness of his new {Dimensional Overlap} skill was that people could simply walk away, and by the technique name alone, he concluded this would be useful to learn and sounded simpler than Time Dilation or Anchor Seal.
"Let's see..." Ashlock mumbled as he began reading the single paragraph of text on the page to himself, "Spatial Lock is the bane of all spatial cultivators and a greatly feared technique sometimes imbued into accursed artifacts. It allows spatial affinity cultivators with a higher cultivation stage to lock onto a target's spatial Qi, preventing them from teleporting or moving using spatial techniques such as portals or Spatial Step within their range."
Ashlock thought back to how Hammond had wrestled away the control of his own spatial Qi due to his higher cultivation stage. "I should already be able to imitate that against a weaker spatial cultivator, but this is different. Spatial Lock didn't involve wresting away control. It outright blocks the person from being able to escape in the first place! This is perfect!" Ashlock decided.
There was just one problem... the book didn't actually tell him how to perform a Spatial Lock, so he would need to figure it out himself. Luckily, he had figured out a few spatial techniques by himself in the past. All he needed was an open mind and heaven to understand his crazy ideas.
