Read Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor Chapter 11 - Certified Specimen online for free - AllNovelFull
Gregory Payne was a man of culture, he believed in salmon city's oldest trade. Slave trade. He had never understood why the slave business did not thrive in bigger cities, to him the business was heaven sent. But that was not why he sold his son, that story was more complicated than than it seemed and even though he knew of the possible, NAY, certain consequences of his decision, he did it gladly, just to spite that person.
He had expected the useless boy to die in the slave house, the poisoned food should have taken care of that, he had been told it was slow acting but effective. But the little bastard survived.
Then he planned to bid for him through an intermediary and then kill him through said intermediary however, that whore bid 1000 gold coins for him, but at least he expected her to get the job done and suck away his essence leaving him as a dried husk. Preferably mummified.
"*sigh* wish I had that bastard killed instead of sold, I hate putting my trust in people"
A knock on the door and an invitation from Gregory later, a tall woman walked into Gregory's study, she had brown hair and brown eyes and her face was barely above average, but to her credit her legs were very attractive, Gregory was practically drooling as he stared at them.
"Darling, I told you not to stay up late again" the tall woman said striking a pose that highlighted the long legs she knew her husband was so fond of.
"I just need to go through these reports from the mines and then I'll come to bed, Lillian"
The Payne family earned their fortune through gold mining.
"Have you heard the latest news?" Lillian Payne asked as she sat on Gregory's lap with her legs crossed over the side
"No I've been a little distracted with work...among other things" Gregory whispered as he trailed his hand up Lillian's legs obviously getting 'excited'
"Apparently, Master Swanson now has an apprentice" Lillian cooed
"I thought he vowed not to have one, what or more accurately, who could have changed his mind?" Gregory was truly curious, he wished to be on the runemaster's good side. It could be instrumental in his mission to become mayor of salmon city.
"The identity has not been verified but he seems to go by Hal" Lillian said cautiously
"Hahaha hahahaha" Gregory laughed and Lillian became concerned about his mental wellbeing
"You think it's him?, No it is not possible" Gregory said with conviction
Lillian shrugged "Sure. but you know what is possible? You drop all this work, come to the bedroom and I will rock your world, how about it?"
"Sounds like a plan"
...
Hal woke the next morning to Melinda clinging to his body breathing evenly with a smile on her face, he smiled back at last night's memories especially the part where Melinda stopped acting like the virgin she was and took charge. For Hal, while it felt incredible he also felt insatiable, it was like something was hungry inside him and Melinda became an all you can eat buffet. The longer they went the more stamina he seemed to gain, also the more astute his senses were and he felt he was absorbing something from Melinda and she was doing the same to him, however what he was giving to her was definitely lower than what she gave him. Untangling himself was not easy but he was able to free himself without waking Melinda up. Hal stood in front of the mirror and surveyed his physical changes.
'Whoa, the only thing you had going for you before was your face but now I can call you a certified specimen'
While grimiore did not pull his punches he was right, Hal no longer looked malnourished but seemed to have hit a growth spurt, he was a couple inches taller with the medium muscled body of an athlete, he had a firm six pack and his package had gotten bigger but hal was not looking at all this instead he focused his perception inside his body and could feel the essence he got from Melinda and he knew he could use it to improve his cultivation but since he moved from inability to cultivate to 3rd stage of Energy sensing realm just yesterday, he decided to keep it for later.
He was about to return to bed when he noticed another improvement. His bloodline was stronger whatever it was, hal was absolutely convinced that everything that happened was because of his bloodline, a bloodline that helped someone to become a sexy hunk and steal the essence of females is a little perverted but 100% freaking awesome!.
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Melinda had always been familiar with her body so it was impossible to miss the foreign essence, a quick scan of her body revealed the foreign essence in her body. She looked up at the blue eyed culprit who smiled sheepishly at her
"It's not much" Hal said, able to understand her unspoken thoughts but Melinda was already refining the essence and Hal could freely enjoy the sight of her naked body
Boom!!
Melinda opened her eyes smiling wildly "I've been stuck at a bottleneck for months"
'Your little drop capped her months of effort and you get the credit? You are incredibly lucky' grimoire told Hal
'No, my luck is getting better, let's hope it stays that way'
"What realm are you now?"
"Cosmic pearl realm late stage" Melinda said grinning ear to ear
Hal was surprised, in salmon city, cosmic pearl realm which came after the energy sensing realm marked the city's true elites.
"Wow, what happened to you?" Melinda asked tracing Hal's muscled chest
"Do you like it?"
Melinda nodded "How did it happen so fast?"
"Same way I was able to take your essence and give you mine. Through a unique bloodline"
"You have a unique bloodline and you just readily share it with me?"
Known bloodline status are; ordinary, unique, special and royal bloodlines. Ordinary bloodlines are incredibly rare while unique bloodlines probably can't be found on this part of the continent, if it was known hal could be hunted and killed before he was strong enough.
Hal of course did not know what status his bloodline was, but he did not expect it to be lower than unique status.
"We already have a strong bond and besides I wish to be able to trust someone, who better than a psychopath like you"
"Oh Hal, you always know what to say" she kissed him and eventually things began to heat up, hal would have loved to go on, however, he couldn't be late to meet master Master Swanson.
...
HORST MANOR
At the Horst dining table, a brown haired middle aged man who sat at the head of the table was trying to talk some sense into his mule of a son.
"Frank, you have to stop harassing master Swanson" Ford Horst told his son
"Father, I have to do it. My life depends on it" Frank had no intention of giving in
"No, you don't. That woman lied to you and soothsaying does not exist" Amelia chimed in while her mother looked bored
The Horst patriarch did not like how breakfast was going so far, his son was not letting up on an idea put in his brain by a con artist, and his daughter who was only home for a few months did not seem to be enjoying her stay, his wife was 'stressed' as well.
"And besides master Swanson is only the best in salmon city, outside of this city there are much better rune-masters and even they won't claim to be the best" Amelia reasoned
"But she specialized, she said and I quote 'You will die in a month unless you enter the service of the strongest rune-master IN salmon city' who could possibly be stronger than master Swanson" Frank looked at the three expectantly knowing he could not return to master Swanson and hoping they had another suggestion.
Amelia inwardly shook her head at her brother's ignorance, they had ties to the Flaming lotus sect, one of the top ten sects on the Haron continent, Their geniuses also gained the opportunity to join the royal academy. Even her master with all her extensive knowledge believes soothsaying to be more fable than real.
Amelia cast a furtive glance towards her mother wishing she would step in. Emily caught her eye and sighed.
Amelia looked like her mother while frank looked like Ford. However, while Amelia still had the vibrance of youth and soft curves, Emily was mature with womanly curves that had stood the test of time.
"Mom, say something"
"Frank, you are not going to die, now stop making a fuss and let us eat in silence" Frank did not have the guts to talk anymore.
To the outside world, Ford Horst was a powerful man, however those in the Horst family inner circle knew who really held the power in the family and it was Emily, she had a powerful background and even Ford did not know why she decided to settle in salmon city with him. As for their 'marriage'? It was okay and he could not, he literally could not ask for more.
Amelia stood up and made to leave
"Where are you off to, young lady?" her mother asked in a falsely offhand tone
"Sightseeing" Amelia waved her hand. She was only home from the sect for 3 months, she planned to spend that time wisely.
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Hal's day was going well although it could have gone better. He did not particularly care for the stares he got from men due to his significant change in physique, he however felt compensated with the gawking looks from the ladies. At least master Swanson was too eager to begin instructing to notice anything.
Studying different runes for different purposes and how to properly harness astral energy and how to manipulate astral sense was gratifying, but the various action scenarios showed Hal just how much he lacked combat experience. On earth, he was good good at defending himself but it provided little to no help in this world.
'I need more combat experience. Getting stronger and not knowing how use that strength will be embarrassing'
While Master Swanson instructed Hal, the store manager walked in to inform master Swanson of an important guest who wished to meet his new apprentice.
Master Swanson was about to wave him off when he rethought the decision, he had no interest in another scandal like yesterday as he loved his peace and quiet.
Hal had no interest in being in the presence of some snubby silk pants young master but he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
What a stupid decision!
Hal's guest was a raven haired man with coal black eyes, he looked to be in his early twenties. Hal recognized him instantly, he was Hal's brother; Rad Payne.
Towards rad, the old hal had little to no opinions. Rad mostly ignored him all of his life, probably feeling that Hal was of no importance and his existence meaningless, Hal knew this because he had taken care to mention it to him a few times.
When Rad saw Hal, he was shocked
"I guess mom was right after all. You are one lucky bastard" he told hal after composing himself.
"That I am"
"I almost didn't recognize you, it's only been a week since I last saw you and you've changed so much" Rad said smiling widely
"If you call watching me get dragged away and doing nothing as seeing me, then sure. But why are you here."
"Mother was curious about the man whose talent could catch the eye of the best rune-master in salmon city, I however wanted to invite him to the salmon hunt a month from now" Rad said through gritted teeth
"Salmon hunt?" Hal was confused, 'what the hell is a salmon hunt'
"Father is very determined to kill you, and even if I did not tell him I saw you, which I will by the way, he will still come after you" Rad sighed
"As his heir, do you by any chance know why?" Hal clenched his fist
Rad chuckled "I don't know and frankly I couldn't care less. He must have his reasons. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed, I had no idea that I would meet you here but after everything we have discussed, I began to expect you to plead for my help" Rad said with a sneer
Hal took a deep breath and smiled, when he spoke his voice was so low, Rad almost could not hear it
"As you might have noticed, I am no longer the same and very soon I will come after the Payne family, but I won't start from father or mother or even you, no I will go after Little Rita first. Are you still ashamed to profess your affection to that angel?, well I will take the decision away from your hands and take her for myself.
"I doubt Father will even bat an eye when it happens, but..will.. it..be..the same for you, hmm?"
From the moment Hal had mentioned the name of the scullery maid that had stolen his heart, Rad lost all reason and refused to take into account the fact that he was about to attack master Swanson's apprentice.
Hal had been unsatisfied with the fact that Alex did not seem interested in attacking him because he wanted some first hand experience, so he searched his memory and discovered something the old Hal had believed to be negligible, but Hal found in it an opportunity to rile Rad up.
According to the rumors the old Hal had heard, Rad was at the 5th stage of the energy sensing realm which as a twenty one year old was barely above average and hal believed he could most probably handle, however, From Rad's body, a pressure was released and his escorts were pushed back and shocked because Rad was not releasing the pressure of the 5th stage but of the 9th stage instead!!!
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"Are you not going to help him sir?" The manager asked master Swanson as soon as he felt the pressure
"No I will not, Orn. I have to believe my apprentice can protect himself, or else he would become too Dependant on me" Master Swanson replied
"But he could die" Orn the store manager was very worried
Master Swanson sighed, closed his eyes and took another sip of his horrible tea.
...
Hal knew he had miscalculated and grimoire's laughter was not making him feel better
'At least try to help me' he grumbled to it. He was alone, he had come here without castor, Melinda's trusty guard
'There is actually not much I can do except to absorb a little of the impact which would still leave you to face the brunt of a 7th stage strength which with your 3rd stage is still a large gap to cover"
'Thanks' Hal gritted his teeth and released his own pressure which seemed pathetic in comparison
Rad was seething in anger "I will kill you" he snarled and ran forward to deliver a blow which contained 100 percent of his strength, he was not going to take any chances, he wanted the little bastard to die.
The Instant Rad began to run Hal gave up on the idea of dodging, the difference in strength was too high. He also almost lost all hope of survival after the punch hit
Crack!!
'Well, there goes my ribs' was Hal's thought before he hit the wall. Even after grimoire absorbed a part of the attack's strength, Hal knew he barely survived. To make matters worse, Rad's rage was as high as ever
'Damn, I did not think this through. Grimoire, we've had a long run, I think I might miss you in the afterlife, if there is one'
'A long run?, Dude, we just started talking to each other two days ago
But hal was no longer listening, something in his very core was singing to him, He closed his eyes and found himself in a dark space that he could tell wasn't his mind space, because ever since he began to use astral sense, his mind space had become lit with twinkling Starlights. This space on the other hand was cold and malevolent, with all the negative energy that flooded the space, it seemed like the devil's palace.
Hal felt right at home. For some reason, the negative energies wrapped him like a mother's warm embrace. It felt conflicting. The singing continued and Hal recognized the tune as a lullaby, it was sang in a sad tone that seemed to be saying goodbye. No matter how much he searched he couldn't see who was singing, and then a single word appeared in his Mind: FEAR
Rad moved as fast as he could, hoping to finish this before anyone interfered when hal's eyes suddenly opened, his eyes including his scelera were pitch black, Rad stopped and began to shiver, his eyes opened wide like he was looking at something worse than the devil; his very worst nightmare.
As much as he was gripped by fear, he was also paralyzed by it and could not move, As Hal watched Rad shiver he changed his sitting position to something that looked comfortable to an observer but actually raked his body with pain which he ignored he smiled, and it looked gruesome because his mouth was filled with blood
"Run"
And Rad did, he ran with all of his strength, and when his guards snapped out of their shock, they followed him.
"Ha, thank goodness" Hal rejoiced while occasionally spitting out blood
'Whew, what a rollercoaster, Now explain what just happened' grimoire had not been privy to what happened to hal, so hal shared the memory of the incident.
'A new bloodline ability, nice. I never knew it was possible to enter into a bloodline though, then again i never heard of a bloodline that sings to it's bearer before either' grimoire mused
Hal inwardly raised his brow at grimoire's words, he knew grimoire was a powerful artifact with extensive knowledge, the fact that it did not know of this bloodline's peculiarity showed it was one of a kind.
The bloodline ability; Fear, was able to induce an illusion of a person's worst nightmare but for someone as strong as Rad, Hal could barely use it for 5 seconds, which was why after he had wasted one second changing his sitting position, he gave rad the command to run away.
The sound of footsteps brought Hal out of his thoughts, he looked up and found himself facing Amelia Horst who unlike yesterday was without company. He smiled at her, but this time it was not bloodied,
"You're in bad shape" she said stating the obvious
"I am, so why don't you treat me to a meal"
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Amelia blinked, the last thing she expected after coming across Hal's injured form was to be asked to treat him to a meal. When she left home for 'sightseeing', she had long decided to visit Hal but did not expect such a scene. When she noticed Rad Payne running from the store after what was clearly an altercation, she expected to see the victor in the store but this made no sense. However mulling secret was one thing, Hal looked like he was in need of treatment so she reached into her spatial pouch and pulled out a bright green pill which she put in his mouth and he swallowed instantly
"Are you not worried I will poison you?" Amelia was surprised by his seemingly trusting behavior.
"You won't poison me, you are too taken by me. Besides I might only have met you yesterday but I feel like I can trust" grimiore wondered how hal could spout so much bullshit with a smile, the instant the pill was out of the pouch. Hal had checked it with astral sense, and then asked it to double and triple check. But Of course Amelia did not fall for his obvious flattery.
Hal felt the pill energy spreading throughout his body and began to mend his broken ribs
'This is good stuff' Hal thought marveling at the effectiveness of the pill.
"I am guessing if I ask you what happened. you will not tell me" Amelia said helping Hal to his feet
"Of course I will tell you, you just need to treat me to a meal first, I have a few questions for you too"
...
Sterlite Restaurant. A place for the high end customers of salmon city. One of the many enterprises Owned by the Horst family. It was to this restaurant that Amelia took Hal.
While they took their seat in a private section, hal could not miss how respectful the staff acted towards Amelia. Hal knew next to nothing of the Horst family or any of the other Great families for that matter. He was however beginning to suspect that sterlite had something to do with the Horst family.
"So, can you tell me what happened now or will it possibly be too much to ask"
"No it's fine..." And so hal told her everything that transpired at the store ( and a summary of his experiences with his family) except about his bloodline, blaming Rad's flight on the presence of Master Swanson and the fear that he had taken things too far
"I never knew Rad Payne had a brother. I always believed him to be an only child. You must hate them"
'Well, this is promising. Not only isn't she disgusted by the fact that I am practically disowned, she actually pities me, I need allies. She'll be perfect if I play my cards right' Hal thought
"What did you want to ask me?" Amelia asked
"Rad mentioned something he needed a rune-apprentice for, the 'Salmon hunt', he called it" Hal tried to sound casual but he was actually very curious
Amelia smiled "Do you want to join the hunt?"
"I don't even know what the hunt is"
"Oh. I thought you were only asking for my opinion. Don't you know the 'salmon legend'
Hal shook his head
"Okay. The legend goes back the founding of this city. When this city was first founded it's citizens began to dispute on an appropriate name. The dispute evolved into conflict and the conflict into war, so basically, They were a bunch of idiots. At the time they were mostly mortals, the few who could reach the energy sensing realm were branded as elites. It took a while for them to notice that another party was involved in their dispute, This party eventually revealed themselves capable of overpowering all the other parties, they were all ready to lay down their weapons and respect the party's wishes, at least until it was revealed that their opponent was a fish"
"A fish?"
"Yes a fish. A ghostly Salmon which was unaffected by their weapons or by the elites strength and abysmal cosmic energy harnessing. By being domineering, the Salmon got the city named after it, it also asked to be paid tributes for 50 years.
"Till today, no one has given up on defeating the Salmon and still organize hunts, but as it had proved to be both illusive and impossible to defeat, they settle for snatching a part of it's wealth. It has become a sport and a test of bravery for the men in Salmon city."
'What do you think. is this salmon real?" Hal asked grimiore
Grimiore was silent for a while before it said 'This salmon sounds like an astral beast to me'
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In this world, there are three kinds of beasts, the wild beast, demon beast and astral beast. Wild beast have no cultivation base. They were normal, when a wild beast becomes capable of sensing cosmic energy (which was very common) it becomes a demon beast with physical abilities overpowering that of a cultivator of the same realm.
However, when a wild beast activates astral sense, it becomes capable of using astral energy which only strengthens the mind and weakens the body as a consequence. It does not matter how weak their astral sense is, as long as they have it they can think and eventually speak like humans should they decide to learn. As an exchange for power their body grows weaker the more they use astral energy until they are left with astral bodies. Physically they are weak but when an astral beast attains astral body, it can no longer be affected by the cosmic energy of a certain level. Which meant that there was noone cultivating cosmic energy in this city strong enough to defeat the salmon
'A beast that can harness astral energy. Fuck me, and here I was starting to feel special" Hal was astounded
'Live and learn. There are too many beings in this world that can squash you like a bug, but if we play our cards right this one won't be one of them' grimoire said
'But I am far from strong enough to defeat it'
'With cosmic energy, yes you are not, however you have astral sense and the weakness of astral beasts is astral sense'
'If that is the case, why hasn't any rune master gone after it'
'Well, even if they did, an astral beast is sensitive to astral energy, the instant they use it and their Astral sense proves superior, the salmon knows they are close and escapes, hence why it is illusive
'Astral beast are filled with astral energy, the ones that have attained an astral body are completely composed of astral energy of such purity that if it is absorbed, it can help a person further refine their astral sense. This is of course an obscure way to refine astral sense and as such it is not widely known'
When Amelia saw the gleam in Hal's eyes she rolled hers
"It is most likely just a tale, I doubt the 'Salmon' truly exists. I asked my master and she told me it's more likely a fable to justify picking a stupid name for the city. The dispute might have been real though"
Hal mused for a while before his eyes widened
'She asked about the Salmon in her sect, I am willing to bet that someone knows it's actually an astral beast. If so then they might know of it's true value, if I don't act fast, I could lose this golden opportunity'
A waiter came by with their meal and once again, Hal noticed the respectful look, and he decided to put his planning with grimiore on hold to ask her why and she told him it belonged to her family, thus confirming his suspicions.
"Does that intimidate you?" Amelia asked in a seemingly casual voice
"Why should it? I might not look like it but I am very wealthy and have a powerful status to boot" Hal smiled
"As a Payne? Or as Lady Melinda's boy toy" Amelia said folding her hands below the chest
"Choose your pick. Are you jealous?"
"You are not going to deny it?"
Hal shook his head as he took a bite of his meal "why should I?"
"Master was right, men have no shame. You have a relationship with her and y-y-you are here d-d-d-doing whatever this is" Amelia's face was pink with annoyance, so agitated she began to wave her hands around
Hal chuckled "would you rather I lie to you?"
"No, I want you to be honest and commit to me. That is i-if you are serious about pursuing me"
"I can't do that"
"Why not?, if it's the money I will pay her back. Eventually"
"It has nothing to do with the money. I like Melinda." Hal shrugged
"And you're still going to try and woo me" Amelia asked and hal nodded
"No woman can tie me down, I want to eat all my cakes and have them"
"And what makes you so sure I will fall for you?"
"I am just that good" Hal whispered as a sweet scent spread out from his body, the instant she inhaled the scent Amelia became flushed
"Rogue!!" She was understandably indignant.
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Back on earth Hal had been with a lot of women, his looks were just a little above average but he was far from terrible looking, he had a muscular, fit physique from his regular workouts, taken together, he was a real package with raw sexual magnetism. He had trouble with commitment, in the sense that he did not want one. However after arriving in this world and sleeping with Melinda, he had made a decision, if he likes a woman enough, he will accept her into his fold. It was his best compromise, seeing as he planned to remain a philander.
Amelia was the first he would pitch the idea to and as such, how he handled the situation would help to better handle the situation with others in the future and also making use of his pheromones were helping him gain better control of it.
However when Amelia's face continued turning more flushed he decided to rein the pheromones in.
"You have no shame. What did you do to me?"
"Nothing. Yet" and with that he leaned in over the table and took her lips, he meant it to be just a peck but she leaned into it and kissed him as hard as she could with the table between them. When their lips parted for breath, Hal smirked
"See, you are not much of a saint. you just took advantage of me" He said
"I don't see you complaining,besides you kissed me first" she smiled back at him. After the kiss she felt much more bold, his lips were like a drug of courage that melted away all her inhibitions.
Hal nodded and stood from his seat "I have to go now, I will see you again in a few days"
"Why, where are you going?"
"This incident with rad has pointed out just how weak I am. I will use this few days to increase my strength"
He acted so freely with her that she had almost forgotten he was just at 3rd stage of the energy sensing realm, plus, he said it with such zeal that she almost believed him
Almost.
"You're going after the ghost salmon aren't you"
"Of course not"
She raised her brows skeptically, but Hal just smiled and kissed her forehead before heading out of the restaurant
"Bastard" Amelia sighed as she watched him leave touching the spot he had kissed
...
Hal made his way back to Master Swanson's store and asked to leave for the rest of the but not before giving in a reproachful look
"I could have died, and you did nothing" Hal told him
"No, you wouldn't, I would intervene before things got out of hand, but you need to fight your own battles"
'Why do the 'good' guys always have to be so principled, this is insane. The bad guys don't care about such stupid Principles, they just try everything to win. The 'good' guys however fight without support and claim to have fought with 'honor'. What a bunch of baloney' Hal thought
"I will be away for a few days" was what he actually said
"Why?" Master Swanson asked and Hal gave him the same excuse he had given Amelia only adding that he would also have to tend his broken ribs.
"Here, take this" master Swanson said and tossed him a green pill of a darker shade than the one Amelia had given him.
Hal accepted it, nodded his head in thanks before leaving the store to return home.
Hal told Melinda his plan and as expected she was against it
"It is too dangerous, the 'salmon's' lair is supposedly in Tretch forest and the place is crawling with demon beasts, you will be swarmed before you find it " she said
"Don't worry I will be fine" Hal said stroking her hair and while she was still a little worried, she decided to trust him.
Once Hal was alone in his room
"Now I wish I could improve my strength, it might not be useful against the salmon but it would help me protect myself until I find the salmon. Too bad I can't refine the essence I got from Melinda" Hal sighed
'Actually, since you have the Primordial Cosmic Art, you only need to wait a little while after a breakthrough before attempting another. You could have refined the essence the instant you got it'
'What? Why didn't you tell me that? If you had, Rad might not have been able to break my ribs' Hal mentally yelled
Grimiore was silent at first before he said 'I seriously want to point out that you technically did not ask me, but the truth is that my mind is still a little messed up so I tend to forget certain details'
Hal gritted his teeth before beginning to refine the essence.
His cultivation began to improve and in a few seconds the increase capped
'Sixth stage of the energy sensing realm. I thought it would be more than this. She's a whole realm above me' Hal wondered
'For a average cultivation technique, the increase would have capped at the seventh stage probably. but the purity of the cosmic energy won't be at it's highest. That's another one of the advantage of the Primordial Cosmic Art; it provides you with the highest possible cosmic energy purity'.
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Gregory Payne was fuming. After his wife had informed him of the 'apprentice', he had done his investigation and discovered it was the very same Hal he had sold to the slave house and then he had since begun to formulate his plans for reaping his life in a quiet manner but he had not expected that his son would actually ruin everything, he had to keep reminding himself that without this worthless son, he would not have an heir.
"F-f-father.." Rad began but was interrupted
"Do you have any idea how much you have messed up" Gregory said barely able to keep his rage in check
"F-father, it's not that bad, it is just a little spat between two youths besides it happened so fast there were hardly any witnesses" Rad said finally drawing courage
BAM!!
Gregory slammed his palm so hard on the wooden table that it cracked in two, Rad leapt back in fear
"Who gives a damn about witnesses, in this city who would witness or report a member of the Payne family even if they murdered someone in public. Only someone with a death wish would, so of course most would rather not witness anything so as to avoid being caught in a cross fire. SO I DO NOT GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE WERE HARDLY ANY WITNESSES" Gregory roared
Rad swallowed, he had never seen his father so upset, he was absolutely terrified, however Gregory was not done
"What I care about is the fact that you displayed obvious animosity, if peradventure something happened to Hal, we would be the first suspect and if Master Swanson decided to seek vengeance we would have to divert resources towards resisting him and in that case I might as well forgo my plans of becoming Mayor"
Rad was sweating bullets he knew Hal had bated him to anger but he just could not help it, the instant Rita's name was mentioned, he lost all reason. He also kept recalling the genuine fear he had felt as well as the vision that had instilled that fear, a vision he couldn't explain but had terrified him. The sound of his father taking a deep breath brought him back to the situation at hand
"Leave me and seclude yourself until I call for you"
Rad did not need to be told twice and left before his father's anger could return
As soon as Rad was gone Gregory sighed
'Since it has already happened, it is no use moping over it. I need to take some drastic measures, that boy has to die soon or else it would be too late'
...
Melinda's mansion
Hal was drawing a rune on a piece of rune paper (the rectangle shaped ones made with a special material that can hold astral energy) one out of the stack master swanson had given him for the sake of 'practice', although he never actually expected Hal to succeed with the abysmal amount of instructions he had received. Hal knew he probably could have requested for runes without paying but he could not see how he could ask without revealing what he needed them for.
So he locked himself in his room and after a few trials succeeded in creating a rank one rune. After his success he decided to try something bigger.
The moment he injected astral energy into the rune, the inky black rune turned a rich royal blue for a second before it imploded
"Grr. Failed again" Hal snarled, frustrated
'You should have known it was going to be a stretch. Just accept the fact that for now a rank one rune is your limit and besides, you were able to create one just by looking at it being done, do you even realize how rare that is. You have talent' Grimiore consoled
Hal agreed with him to a point, master Swanson had not officially taught him how to create runes, he had only really explained the importance of astral sense and showed him the runes he had to memorize as well as how to co join runes for the purpose of creating strong attacks or complex arrays which he claimed were still 'out of Hal's league'. Hal was sure that if he showed Swanson his ability to create rank one runes he would be called a genius but while that soothed his ego, he was far from satisfied.
Ever since he discovered and decided to go after Salmon, he had finally come to the conclusion that he could not base his talent on a place like this whose standards were far too low. If he had succeeded in creating a rank two rune he would have been a little appeased.
"I just don't understand what I am doing wrong, my astral sense should be strong enough" Hal said quietly but then he asked grimiore mentally 'why won't you tell me?'
'Because there are certain rules that need to be followed, I don't have access to such information unless you exchange them for currency' Grimiore told him
Hal sighed and withdrew another 3 inches wide, 6 inches long rune paper, drew the same rune and injected a subtle amount of astral energy so that it glowed rich royal blue before returning to previous inky black.
'Rank this' he said to grimiore
'Still rank one mid grade' grimiore told him instantly
'Damn it, I was expecting the experimentations with rank two runes to pay off'
Ranked runes were not officially graded, however it's grade still refers to it's potency so it is quite important. A rank one rune rune created by a mediocre rune- master with mediocre astral sense, would be low grade and if Hal had succeeded with the rank two rune it would have been low grade too. The rune of a rune master of an established rank within the limit of said rank would be mid grade just like Hal but if said rune-master had surpassed for example; rank one, his rank one rune would be referred to as high grade.
Hal added the rune to the others in his inventory and prepared to leave but just then someone knocked and he didn't need the use of astral sense to know who it was.
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"Come in, Melinda" Hal would have been lying if he said he had not expected her to visit him before he left
"I still don't want you to go. What if castor followed you?" She said the instant she was inside
'I don't really plan to go alone however I have to show those people I am unattached' Hal thought
"That would be nice, except for the fact that I don't want to travel with anyone I do not fully trust" was what he actually said
"But you trust me?" Melinda asked
"Yes, I do"
"So let me go with you. Any demon beast that I cannot handle, we will be careful to stay away from"
'Sigh. In situations like this there are a few options of escape without causing hysterics. However, nothing beats the perfect distraction' Hal thought before he stood up and swept Melinda into a kiss. For a brief moment she forgot why she came to him, and when they stopped to breathe, she almost just went back to the kiss just to once again feel the euphoria that often accompanies the bliss of a mind with no worries
Almost.
"You can't distract me with this" she told him firmly
"Are you sure about that?" Hal said before lifting her into his arms, and laid her on the bed.
In a matter of seconds their clothes were gone and in the afternoon light, Hal felt her body, kissing from her cheek to her neck to her collar bone, moving downwards towards her breasts which had always been in his opinion a woman's best feature. He kissed her cleavage, held one of her breast with his right hand while he kissed the other before sucking a nipple into his mouth
"Annhg" Melinda moaned while still struggling to believe that the sensation was already better than the last time and they had only just begun.
Of course what neither of them knew was that every part of her body that Hal touched with his hands and lips became an erogenous zone, as such her body was presently feeling a multiple pleasurable sensations.
The more Hal kissed her the wetter her forbidden zone became and the more moans leaked from her lips. Then Hal's hands were gone, his kisses getting lower and lower until he arrived at her pussy, which just like the day before was covered with very little dark hair.
At that moment the room was permeated with pheromones, the more Melinda breathed it in, the better she felt.
It was not the first time that she had gotten an oral treatment from him but the sensation still took her by surprise.
It didn't take long before she pulled Hal's face closer and rode it until she screamed out loud as she had an orgasm, after which Hal rose from her area with a grin, when Melinda looked up and saw his massive organ, she refused to be intimidated so she pulled him closer and soon he was inside her and pounding away, while Melinda continued to moan in increasing volume.
Hal just revelled in the sensational feel of her inner walls, and how much she gripped and milked him, soon after, he spilled into her as well and once again there was an exchange in essence, but the session was far from over, Hal turned Melinda on all fours and kept going for two hours, she released her fluids constantly, and he spewed copious amount of semen into her as well.
Hal's libido seemed endless but Melinda's was not and after two hours of constant copulation she fell unconscious and hal held her as she delved into deep sleep knowing that when she awoke he would be gone.
Hal then sat cross legged as he began to refine the essence, however the more he refined the faster and easier it was for his body to absorb it, the absorption was so smooth that it did not cause a reaction and so by the time he was done he had only advanced to the seventh stage of the energy sensing realm
'What the actual fuck?' As Hal cussed violently in his mind he scanned his body and understood why;
It turns out that his potentially limitless advancement was actually limited. The truth was that even after grimoire's revelation of the advantage of the Primordial Comic Art, Hal had studied the cultivation technique and discovered that it was true.
On paper.
In reality it wasn't so simple because even if he could, his body would get use to the speed of advancement but he would still need to get used to his strength.
After he had refined the essence and advanced to the the sixth stage he had to be very careful with the brush master Swanson had given to him, the only time he allowed himself to be careless was when he had slept with Melinda and he could only afford it because she was stronger and much more durable than he was. So he would need to be careful so as to know how to maximize his strength to his advantage. He would not have even refined the essence yet if not for his urgent need for strength.
He had been pleased that the limitation was not that difficult to adjust to and had not expected that his body would get used to Melinda's essence and help in nourishing his body and bloodline, it was still useful, it just no longer provided high advancement in cultivation, of course there were other factors that had been involved the first time, one of which was the fact that she had been her first time so her essence was at it's purest. This body's essence had been as well.
Hal stood up and stretched, a quick look in the mirror showed that there had not been much of a difference in his body.
'Okay, it's time to go' Hal thought as he picked up his clothes and put it on, the recent activity had caused him to perspire a little but hal could not care less, he was going into a forest after all.
He kissed Melinda on the forehead, covered her body in bedclothes and left the mansion.
As hal walked towards the city limits, he was aware of the city's beautiful sights as well as the attention he seemed to garner even with his pheromones reined in and the lack of change in his physique. He was also however aware of the four men that stealthily followed him from behind.
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The moment he was out of Melinda's mansion, Hal knew he was being followed, mostly because those following him did not bother to hide it that well. There was confidence in their sneaky gait, obviously their information contained his 'strength'.
'This is interesting' Grimiore mused
'What is?'
'The strongest is at the Eight stage of the energy sensing realm, two are at the fifth stage and the other two are at the sixth stage. This is the combat experience you'be been seeking' if Grimoire could clap, it would have.
Hal groaned. In a normal case he believed he could survive the attack however his strength was still a little unstable so he ran taking care to limit his speed to that of the third stage.
"I can't believe this guy is actually thinking of running" one of the assassins whispered to another, not having expected hal to hear
'What an idiot, I just don't want witnesses' Hal mentally snorted
Hal did not really know the city all that well, however he guided himself with the use of astral perception and soon found somewhere empty, but while heading towards it, the group of five seperated with two running ahead while the other three chased from behind, Hal knew what was happening, he was being herded, guided towards an ambush. It seemed a little unnecessary to waste this much time killing an 'inferior' target unless,
'This guys really take joy in their work, Good thing I'm prepared' Hal thought as he withdrew a scroll out of his inventory and came to a stop surrounded by the five of them.
"This is the end of the line for you" The one who was obviously the leader said from behind him
'Just my luck, of all the assassins I could get, I had to get the chatty one' Hal sighed mentally before activating the rune and tossing it into the air creating a dome of rich royal blue astral energy
'This should keep away prying eyes but it won't last long' Hal mused before dashing forward with speed above his 'strength', to attack the fifth stage assassin in front of him, however his poor control over his strength caused his sudden speed to be explosive and slammed into the assassin causing the both of them to fall to the ground
'Damn it' he cussed feeling so embarrassed
"I meant to do that" he said before plunging his hand right into the assassin's chest
"Arrrrgh" he roared and it jeered the others out of their shock. The second fifth stage assassin ran forward and made to grab him but Hal slammed his chest and jumped backwards, the assassin made to follow but was shocked to find an activated rune on his chest unfortunately he had barely a second warning before it exploded and blasted him backwards
"Puchi" he spat out blood while clutching his chest
One of the sixth stage assassins made to move forward
"Stop, the two of you should go together, and do not underestimate him" the leader instructed
Hal knew he had lost the element of surprise and he also knew they would be looking out for runes now. Things were about to get serious.
The two came from both sides making it impossible for him to fend off both he withdrew another attack rune but it proved useless when his target activated a defensive rune which blocked Hal's rune effectively. With no hope of defending himself Hal leapt backwards but he still got hit.
"We came prepared" The one who had successfully hit Hal said smugly.
Hal finally revealed his true cultivation strength and the two became dismayed but did a good job in hiding it and instead they went in on the attack, Hal stood calmly, since he had decided to go all out, he might as well do it in a grand fashion.
The two were surprised, this guy was strong but he lacked experience, his attacks were uncoordinated and he seemed unused to his strength, he must have opted for a quick rise and neglected the importance of a good foundation. He had only succeeded till now through sneak attacks and the element of surprise. Then why did he seem so confident now?
The instant they got closer he dodged an attack from one and hit him in the chin, with speed that surpassed theirs, Hal grabbed the other assassin's neck and twisted it killing him instantly.
The assassin he had hit in the chin was groggy but beginning to rise back up so Hal ran to end him too but his attack was intercepted by the leader whose face was a mask of rage but how was he to expect that Hal had no intention of indulging his rage and made the first move which was to kill the assassin on the ground by using his leg to break his neck.
The leader took a moment to look around in resignation, Hal's hand was still red with the blood of his colleagues, he took a deep breathe
"Let me go and I will tell you who sent me. Do we have a deal"
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