"What the hell, Aphro? Now? OF ALL TIMES!?" Caelus thought, pissed off, not knowing exactly how to make it stronger, so he'd have to make use of his hands and legs and tail to fight back while he made his attacks stronger.
Li dashed forward with his sword, swinging up as Caelus spun slightly, sending his leg up and crashing into Yun Li's head, sending him flying to the side.
Using Mana to enhance his leg, looking over at the guards, he put his staff away, into his pocket, as it disappeared into his inventory. Moving both his hands, he grasped the shoulder of each one, pulling them in to hit each other's heads. Of course, they resisted the pull and pushed Caelus back, who was sent flying.
"Shit shit shit, Why NOW!?" Caelus only grew more irritated; only then did he realize he had to stay calm to adapt in this fight. Yun Li got up, enraged that he had been hit that hard.
Caelus took a few seconds. Simple Cut was Simple, yes, but it was stuck at the foundation, so to advance it, he had to change it, make it something different than just that.
It automatically chose the easiest path. Still, it didn't follow the opponent. If they dodged it, it'd miss, and it couldn't trick the opponent into thinking it was weaker or into blocking the wrong area. It used little Mana but had high penetration, but not serious damage, so he needed to sharpen it.
While he was thinking of adapting this, the rest of his brain was working overtime, keeping a track of the two guards and Yun Li, his body was nearing its limits without the use of Mana-
"That's right, I could just use another Technique, I could MAKE Another one for right now!" Caelus realized, smiling to himself, while also shifting right, up, and left, or teleporting, as that wasn't much of a technique to try and dodge, though just barely being able to- His human mind was still in panic mode.
Too Yun Li and the guards, he looked like he was toying with them, having fun. Like they were just some random foot soldiers. It was infuriating-
"ACKNOWLEDGE ME YOU REPTI-" Yun Li screamed out, his sword moving faster as there was less resistance against it, to which Caelus finally formulated a new technique for right now. At the same time, he has to update Simple Cut, Horizon Step, and Burning Temptation.
Taking Simple Cut as his starting point, he completely transformed it, grounding it in the concept of a cut.
But instead of making it broader, a calm expression fell on Caelus as he pointed a finger at the guard, launching himself back upright, and, right as Caelus was next to him, the sound of air screaming came and went, growing deafening. As his finger, scaly and all, looked like it was cracked, like it was disconnected, yet his finger was still there.
"Rupture."
He spoke, and soon space cracked, just like glass, though only nearby. He didn't stick to Physics or science; he could make other things that abided by it, but he didn't need to now, given the Mana and how it worked.
[Rupture - 50% Efficiency, Virtuoso Level Power - With Draconic Body and Mana Regulation, it is about Equal to the Guard's Cultivation level]
Finding it cool, the guard went flying, sent out like a powerful blast, knocking him out as he crashed into a tree. Powerful, but it took time, and it could be dodged; they would have to react in time. The chestplate on the first guard crumpled like paper.
The other guard paused, now cautious as his Mana flared up, coating his body, protecting him as the one against the tree tried getting up.
Caelus's eye turned to look; as they made Eye contact, the guard stayed still. Even if he needed to protect, even if he wanted to fight his instinct, he had to stay with it.
Yun Li rushed in, moving like water yet striking with little to no air resistance. His blade swung to the side, Caelus just barely getting cut, his Scale, incredibly durable, flew off, painful, but he held in as much as he could. He was trying as hard as he could to cap out his Adrenaline, so it didn't burst.
[Oh, would you like to automate the Adrenaline, so you have more space to use stuff? It'd be bad if you just had one entire part of your brain occupied...]
"YES. DO THAT." Caelus's eyes shifted, looking down to meet Yun Li's expression, calm. He noticed his own reserves felt quite depleted from the Rupture, so he would have very few uses for that right now.
[Alright! :3]
[Automation Beginning - 40% Finalized]
While Aphro was doing that, Caelus's hand moved, grabbing Yun Li's face, and pulling him up and throwing him to the side, only then teleporting once more.
Right behind, as his leg pulled back, moving up and sprang out at full force, not only the scales being able to cause more damage, but the enhanced Mana, which he also coated his scales, had Yun Li crash into his own leg, while being kicked to what was a cactus of the sharpest blades.
Piercing into his body, Yun Li's face contorted in rage, yet he also became more cautious, seeing he couldn't so easily beat this Wyvern, at least from what he thought.
Caelus, on the other hand, didn't bother anymore. Wanting to leave, his leg moved back onto the grass, with Yun Li bleeding out from the back and his clothing shredded from his moving in pain.
"...I'll be going now." Caelus took a second, blinking as the wind blew against his face softly. Disappearing once more, as he reappeared in the building where he got the material for the pills.
Moving his leg up, he noticed the blood, realizing Yun Li would've died... Only to remember he had Mana to heal himself, so he'd be fine.
Caelus cleaned up the blood, soaking any leaking blood down into the ground and the rest on his leg into the scales for the tiny amount of nutrients it had. Once done, he noticed a doorway leading to an area labeled 'Furnaces - Free to test.'
Convenient, Caelus entered the room, noticing at least 40 furances from his Mana, each one in its own room, so people didn't disrupt each other.
Seeing an open door nearby, Caelus took a step, reappearing right in front of the entrance to the room, walking inside, and closing the door.
Once it did, a timer began: 10 days, the maximum time one needed for Virtuoso Pills.
[Automation Finalized]
[Is there anything else you need?]
"No, but- Do I just throw in everything at the same time, or do I do it after I put on the fire myself?"
[First, put in two scales, then one Blood Yin Flower, the other two scales, and then the Phoenix Bearing Fruit. Put it on the fire and stir it slowly, like stirring a pot with Mana. Or your hands if you're crazy enough for that :3]
"...Not doing that." Even if it had some unknown benefit, it also had to have a downside, hence why he wasn't going to test it up close, not until he was at least well off regeneration-wise and also better at pill making.
Taking out all four scales and one of the fruits and flowers, he threw in two scales, grabbed the Blood Yin, and threw it in as well. The other two scales, and finally the Phoenix Bearing fruit, taking a breath, his mouth began to burn brighter, and as he opened his mouth, facing downwards to under the furnace, the flame engulfed it, not just going on the wood below, meant to let it burn without being destroyed.
But it also went higher till it reached the ceiling. As he stopped his fire-breathing, the flame engulfing the furnace also calmed down a bit to about half the height of the furnace, which was already double Caelus's size.
Moving his hand, Mana spread out, going into the Furnace as the fruits and scales began melting in some manner; an aroma from the flower wafted out, attacking his senses. Still, he kept strong, lifting it up with Mana without protecting it from the heat. He lowered the temperature slightly to slow the process. So he had a better time to actually mix it and create the pill.
"Calm. Don't think of anything or anyone that distracts you..." Caelus was definitely trying his hardest, part of his brain processing how the Mana was mixing it together, another regulating the temperature, another making sure it mixed properly, and the last part thinking about how he could change his older moves.
[Seven Hours Later]
"Dammit. AGAIN." Caelus spoke, not just keeping everything to his thoughts; even with Dragon scales, he didn't succeed for four attempts, so this would be his last one right now, but he was getting a better hang of it.
Each pill took about an hour or two, sometimes longer than usual. Finally, Caelus took a moment, took a breath, and noticed the fire was smaller, burning less, and almost perfect. Waiting a bit, he put two more scales in, his final Yin Flower, two more scales, and then the Fruit.
Waiting for half a minute, he let them melt and mix together, this time cleanly, turning more into a liquid, he increased the heat for the scales once the fruit and flower mixed, taking the liquid out in a Mana sphere, from that the scales slowly began shaking and reacting violently to the heat, only to finally calm down and melt, he knew why it did but he didn't want to assume that, so he'd ask Aphro afterwards.
Putting the mixed flower and fruit liquid back in, mixing it with the scales, he watched them almost instinctively converge, as if preserving their form even if amalgamated in some manner. Letting go of the Mana sphere, this was different, and it was floating even within the Hollow Mana Sphere, spinning wildly. It finally stopped, falling down into the flame and absorbing all the heat from his Draconic Breath.
[Peak Grade Virtuoso Pill made!]
[First Pill Mission Completed]
[Peak Rank Sky Grade Virtuoso Pill made - Benefit - Will give one Extra Layer for Mana Sphere and increase the efficiency of Mana.]
[Rewards - 2,000 Gold + Higher Mana Reserves!]
[Name: Caelus
Species: Archidraconis
Path: Arcane
Auxiliary Path: Literature (Inactive)
Realm: Virtuoso IV
Progress: 10% too V
Affinity: Spatial
Status: Enhanced
Mana Reserves: Enough to fill a Small Lake, with an increase (20% from Mission), enough to fill a Normal Lake. 70% of Reserves Left (After fight)
Techniques: Simple Cut (Locked), Enhanced Simple Cut (Defective), Mana Barrier (Works), Horizon Step (Working), Burning Temptation (Internal Damage if Used), Rupture (Virtuoso Level Technique. Disjunction and Congruence (Works due to being made in Virtuoso)
Inventory Gold - 883 + 2,000 Gold = 2,883 Gold... Bars.]
"...Excuse me, Gold BARS?" Caelus stared in Disbelief, going to see how much it cost. He shook his head, got up, grabbed the pill, turned to the doorway, and went out, noticing tons of people waiting inside. Seeing them turn almost instantly to him, along with Yun Li, who was searching for him. "Wait... I forgot I could've even used Disjunction and Congruence."
Caelus, without a second thought, teleported, using up two percent of his reserves to go as far as possible, appearing at the Tianyun Mountain.
"...I am not going to risk that," Caelus spoke to himself. Holding the pill, he stabilized his own Mana, flowing clearly through his body. He realized he could also control how much goes anywhere, changing up his foundation more. He created valves, like those in the heart, that allow blood to flow in and out through the same pathway. Taking his time, as he solidified it, finally finishing with his foundation, he found this best right now.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked Supreme Foundation! Without getting it as a benefit or reward from a Mission.]
[Loading Description...]
[The Supreme Foundation is the most powerful foundation any cultivator can make or get, either from a manual or their own creation.]