The Soul Furnace Mimic rumbled low, its silver bands glowing brighter, it spat out a final plume of violet flame. With a wet, resonant thoomp, the tongue slithered out, heavy with a fresh bundle of black-and-silver armor.
The Dark Gear shimmered with abyssal runes, veins of purple light chasing across the plates like lightning in storm clouds. The set exuded an aura that prickled the hairs on my arms. It was still my Ninja Gear—but reborn, refined, and elevated.
Before I could reach for it, Felicity stepped forward, her braid swaying over her shoulder. "Allow me," she said, her tone sly. With delicate fingers she plucked each piece from the Mimic's tongue, the flames reflecting in her eyes.
I raised an eyebrow. "Feeling bold tonight?"
She smirked, brushing past me toward the captain's quarters. "If you want to test it, you're not doing it half-dressed out here on deck. Come along, Lord Ash."
The title rolled off her tongue like a dare. I followed, curious, anticipation buzzing through my veins.
Inside the captain's quarters, lanternlight threw warm glows across the wood-paneled walls. Felicity set the armor down carefully on the bed, each piece gleaming like it had been hammered out of living shadow. She turned to me, one brow cocked. "Strip."
I chuckled, untying my Gi and peeling it off. "You're being awfully bossy tonight, and it looks good on you."
She came forward first with the ''Zubon'' or the trousers. They were slim fitting at the crease and knee but baggy at the thigh, fly and inseam, allowing a full range of kicking motion. She knelt before me as she looked up at me with a grin. "One leg at a time Master." I stepped through, right leg than left leg. She slowly pulled them, tugging them when she needed to. She darted out her tongue and slid it up my chest as she did so, it actually gave me a full body shiver. "If your trying to get on my good side? I'll warn you now, it's working. Keep it up tiger."
She smiled wide as a certain kind of gleam was shining in her eyes.
Next she retrieved the ''Uwagi''or jacket. It was a sturdy stylized cross-over jacket, slightly baggy. She walked around me, slipping it onto my left arm, kissing the back of my neck as she moved around to my right side, slipping it onto my right arm. The Uwagi hung open. She retrieved the ''Obi'' or belt. The Obi held the Uwagi in place.
She planted kisses on my collar bones as she crossed the Uwagi over, then fastened it into place with the Obi. I felt my skin and passion beginning to heat up. She picked up the chest piece, cradling it like something sacred. "How we doing Master?" Her voice dipped into a husky tease.
The Dark Gear's chest plate slid against the Uwagi with a surprising coolness, as though it had been waiting for me. Felicity tightened the straps at my shoulders, her fingers lingering just a fraction longer than necessary. "Is that too tight, Lord Ash?"
"Not at all," I said, smirking down at her. "You know how I like it tight."
Her eyes flicked up with mischievous sparkle in them, before she knelt to secure the greaves. The runes pulsed faintly as she fastened them, the abyssal qi resonating with my eon qi.
Piece by piece, she outfitted me—armguards, bracers, boots—her touch careful, deliberate, almost ceremonial. Every fastening was punctuated by the same question, her tone flirty "Is that too tight, Lord Ash?"
By the time she reached the final piece—the mask, sleek and sharp-edged—the air between us was taut with unspoken tension. She held it up, smiling faintly. "One last piece. Ready?"
"Ready? I said with mock deference. I was born two weeks early because I couldn't wait to get started."
She giggled at this.
When she set the mask into place, the entire set lit with a pulse of dark light. The runes surged to life, weaving a lattice of abyssal qi around me like a second skin. I felt lighter, sharper, faster—the world itself seemed slower. My vision adjusted, catching details I'd never noticed before the flicker of candleflame, the subtle patterns in the wood grain, the cadence of Felicity's heartbeat.
I clenched a fist, feeling power ripple through me. "Whoa, this is damn good."
Felicity stepped back, arms crossed, smirk proud. "Not just damn good, but damn deadly too."
I flexed my arms and legs, testing the Dark Gear. In it I moved like liquid shadow, no resistance, only empowerment. A faint aura hummed off me, the abyssal qi whispering in harmony with my blood.
"Felicity," I said, meeting her gaze through the mask's shadowed visor, "this isn't just gear. It's evolution."
She tilted her head, her grin widening. "And you wear it well, Lord Ash."
I flexed in the Dark Gear, shadows curling at the seams, abyssal qi thrumming through me. But even as the power sang in my blood, a thought itched at the back of my skull. What are the stats? What exactly had changed?
I realized just than I had no way of actually seeing the stats or inspecting them. I had no knowledge of what I had gained exactly. As if answering my question, words shimmered in my mind—foreign, radiant, carrying the weight of a whisper from beyond: ' 'Eye of Heaven.' '
The phrase rang through me like a bell. My pulse quickened. I dove into the Philosopher's Stone, pages of phantom parchment whirling until one anchored itself before me. There it was—etched in silver script, Eye of heaven. It wasn't my imagination after all! I quickly read the required items.
Recipe: Eye of Heaven.
Allows a Cultivator to expand their insight and project spiritual vision and or ranged attacks.
Required ingredients:
One Cyclops Eye (Level 25 or higher).
Three Siren Pearls.
One Vorpal Eye Headband.
I blinked. I already had all of it.
With a grin tugging at my lips, I unclasped the Vorpal Eye Headband, its sharp threads shimmering faintly in my hand. From my inventory I withdrew the massive Cyclops Eye—still faintly glowing with ancient vitality—and three perfect Siren Pearls, each one pulsing with liquid song light.
"Convenient," I muttered, already feeling my blood stir with anticipation.
In the next instant, I slipped into Dark Gear speed. The world blurred, lanternlight and shadows bending around me as I ninjutsu'd back up to the deck. I landed silently, boots whispering against the planks. The Soul Furnace Mimic stirred at my arrival, silver bands glowing faintly like it already knew.
"Dinner time," I said, feeding the ingredients one by one to its massive purple tongue. The Mimic snapped shut with a wet chonk, then shuddered as violet flame bled from its seams.
The entire deck thrummed, silver bands shifting into a new rhythm as the forge began its work. A ghostly outline of an eye briefly flared above the chest, burning like a star before sinking back into the fire.
Felicity emerged from the captain's quarters, braid loose now, leaning against the railing with arms folded. "That another toy you're cooking up?"
"Not just a toy," I said, grinning as I wiped sweat from my temple. "The Eye of Heaven. A way to see what I'm really working with. And even more, the projection of Spiritual sight!"
The Mimic gave a low, contented rumble as if in agreement, violet flames rolling like waves across its seams.
"How long?" she asked.
I walked back to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, "Twelve hours. Give or take an hour." I turned to the chest, watching the purple fire fold inward, focusing on the slow, steady pulse of the craft. "But it's worth the wait."