109: Poisonous Past

The process became more of a blur than he intended. All of a sudden, the normally automated procedure of his Craft spell became convoluted after using Arcane Control, splitting off various parts of the corpse into their own components. It wasn’t just the physical parts he was focusing on, but the internal aspects of magic that they contained as well.

He truly regretted not putting more effort into studying magic some more, considering he felt like he was tapping into concepts that were outside his knowledge. The only thing he knew of was how to make an effective enchanted weapon.

For now, he organized the parts that he separated into neat piles for his simple mind to comprehend, putting each individual part for viewing during his crafting. One side held all the poisonous aspects of the magic the centipede contained. Another had all of the parts that were magically conductive, and the other contained the non-magical parts.

The non magical parts were, surprisingly, its exoskeletal carapaces. It should’ve been obvious for Aidan considering that, rather than providing some sort of poisonous substance, the carapace was just naturally tough and hard to pierce. This also included the mandibles, its scythe-like jaws sharp enough to warrant extreme danger for Aidan if it wasn’t for his Phase spell.

One of the magical components consisted of the antennae, used for searching for its prey that carried some sort of mana capable of reaching far and wide. Perhaps it was sonar-related, or another form of sensing magic like how he used vibrations for his searching. The spines and claws carried tiny veins that were heavily saturated with mana, but nothing contained the poison that it heavily used. Was it some form of enhancement magic to keep itself powerful to carry its own heavy weight? Then came the blood which flowed as easily as water within the crafting space, the perfect component to contain loads of mana.

Finally, there were the poisonous parts. The venom glands and the tail barb were obvious, each one containing heavy amounts of poison that could delete someone from existence just from a touch. There were also the digestive sacs that contained the very same acidic type of poison that could also be used for its own combat.

Seeing all these parts in hand, he decided to form the blade of the sword using both the poisoned parts and the non-magical parts by fusing together the powerful mandibles and carapace to form the heavy outer shell of the blade. Then, from within, he poured in as much of the poisonous magic as possible.

The final part was fusing the magical parts together to form the handle of the blade, which would be used to connect both himself and the sword together for his own magic to work on it. All of it was done in a matter of minutes, not realizing that his head was aching like a blaring alarm from how much mana he was spending.

When he finally altered the creation, according to his idea, straight to the letter, he dropped the spell and finally gave himself a break. He breathed heavily, noticing that he wasn’t just sweating profusely, but his nose was also bleeding from the constant concentration. Wiping away the blood before the others could notice, he saw the Craft orb disappear to reveal the weapon for his eyes to see.

He was… shocked, to say the least. He didn’t even put any effort into its appearance, only focusing on its internal shape and constitution. What appeared was a devilish looking sword. The blade was 30 inches in length, around the size of a human arm. The edge of the blade had circular waves, with a mostly flat blunt end on the other side. It was colored in a deep purple hue, with lighter colors following the edge of the blade with hints of darkness scattered like veins across the surface. The hilt guard also had that circular wave design, but it was compact and orderly before tapering downwards to the handle.

He scanned the item for its description, only to be met with the same surprise as its appearance.

Venom Rich Sword of Disaster (Epic)

A sword created with masterful use of mana control beyond normal limitations. Each part from the Disaster Centipede was used meticulously to pour its very essence into this sword. When dealing damage, the blade lets loose a poison that eats away not just health, but mana and stamina at an alarming rate. The poison can be altered to only limit one resource pool, increasing its potency added from the missing elements.

Poison Control–Mana cost: 35

Requirements: Must be over level 50 in order to use this sword. Otherwise, the poison magic within the sword will infect the user due to lacking magical prowess.

This was the first time he ever created an Epic-rarity item. Seeing the requirements, he was glad that it included this little tidbit, as he was certain the poison was definitely powerful enough to come alive just by looking at the thing.

Another notification fell on top of him, which was only to be expected at this point but he was certainly glad to see it.

You have gained a title!

“Epic Crafter”

Create your very first Epic craft. Breaching into the Epic stage should be a milestone, not your final destination.

+2 Intellect

+2 Dexterity

For a moment, he wondered if he should even touch it, even though he created it himself. Considering all the blood he spilled and the pain he was going through, he grabbed the handle and marveled at its beautiful appearance. Despite looking like it came out from a crazy assassin guy who uses poisons in any action-packed movie, there was a serene beauty to it. It was definitely dangerous, but it was a part of nature itself. Dangerous, poisonous creatures were a part of nature, a fellow defense mechanism to protect themselves from the more powerful predators.

But when mixed with another powerful predator, that poison became a potent weapon for all to fear. Not wishing to wait any longer, he returned to his party members who were eagerly enjoying their break, with Nina looking back at him expectantly.

“Were you successful?” Nina asked, but when she spotted the sword in his hand, her eyes showed mild surprise.

“You tell me,” Aidan couldn’t help but make a grin as he showed off the sword to everyone there. 

The siblings both became in awe at the majesty of his newly-made weapon, much to Aidan’s delight. And even more delightful, Nina took a clear interest at the design, tilting her head ever so slightly to look at it deeper.

“You clearly went above and beyond,” Nina commented. She gave a respectful nod. “There’s a lot of power from that sword just by its appearance.”

“It’s freaking Epic tier!” Haley exclaimed. “How’d you do that? You never made anything beyond Rare rarity, right?”

“This is my first,” Aidan answered back with a nod. “Even got a title for it.”

If he was honest, he thought the title bonuses were a little lacking compared to the time he made his first Rare craft before he even got a class. Then again, he could only guess that making a Rare weapon was quite a feat if you never even had a Class, and he supposed that he would’ve gotten a regular Rare title if he had a Class then. This meant that, like the title description said, reaching Epic rarity when crafting was considered a milestone for experienced crafters, which he wholeheartedly agreed on why this would be a difficult milestone to achieve.

“Looks dangerous,” Van commented, then he turned to Aidan. “Think you can make another one for me?”

Aidan chuckled. “If we find another Disaster Centipede, it’ll be on the list. I think I got a breakthrough into making some sweet equipment for us.”

Despite saying that, he inwardly frowned that his Craft spell didn’t rank up from its silver status. He was going to have to keep experimenting with a lot more different types of materials and see how well they worked in order to improve that spell.

“Well, let’s not waste anymore time,” Nina said. “If you like, why not try out that new sword of yours while we make our way out of the third floor?”

Aidan grinned eagerly at that. “At your command.”

…..

In her childhood, Selene always had everything she desired. Simple things, most of the time, whether it would be the luxurious sweets to the high quality toys and dolls one could only dream of. Where little girls dreamed of riding splendid white horses, Selene was already riding her own same horse across the lands her family owned.

But she belonged to the Alcatrox family. Those simple things weren’t enough to sate her growing greed and desires. The one thing that she knew she couldn’t just simply purchase was always out of her reach, gnawing at her very bones even to this day.

And that very thing was always taken by none other than her darling little sister, Nina. Her talent, capable of piercing through veils to reveal hidden status information one could only salivate to acquire, was always within her grasp. Such a talent was perfect for a noble family like the Alcatrox who were always on the up and coming to acquire as much power as possible, enough to rival even the royal family of Ghalea.

Nina had always taken the most attention, given the greatest roles in any position, and was always treated as part of the family’s inner circle, always there on the side when their family sought for power. She was always the one given the most love and care by her parents, something that all the children of the Alcatrox family loathed about her.

Selene was a bit different. Rather than scheming behind Nina’s back to try and take her power for themselves, she was always doing her own rudimentary work for the household, doing the best in whatever situation put upon her by her family.

As time passed, she started to learn that her family was slowly tearing itself apart. The children of Alcatrox began to plot more deviously, eventually leaning towards the realm of torture and kidnapping. It got to the point where even her parents ignored what was going on, mostly busy dealing with the aftermath of their own incompetency.

All the while, she watched as her little sister made her grand plan, and soon she vanished by taking everything that belonged to the family. And what did Selene do?

She took everything she could from the family as well to begin her own journey for power. But unlike Nina, she had nothing that had gotten in her way. While her family tried and failed to keep Nina under bars to keep her power for themselves, Selene had made many connections and contacts that allowed her to get started on her own business venture, giving her the assets and savings she needed to keep herself afloat.

Soon enough, she ventured off on her own, eventually creating a small but high-class elite team of adventurers capable of tackling quests that the higher class demanded. Thanks to her vast connections and information network, plus on top of her own abilities, she managed to accrue various favors that would lend a hand if she ever wished to expand. For a while, she started off slow, wishing to get a lay of the land and ensure that nothing unexpected occurred.

While something unexpected definitely occurred, it was more to her favor, and it was none other than her valued partner beside her.

So, plans have changed, and she soon found herself on a journey across the country with said partner in tow, granting him all that she could to ensure that he kept empowering himself further on his own goal. That eventually led her into the Leafair dungeon and soon to the Raining Treasures Hotel that was raving on the second floor.

So who would’ve thought she would eventually meet her little sister Nina again? The heavens were certainly playing tricks on her.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Selene’s thoughts were pulled away from her wondering when her attendant asked, making her face the young girl that barely reached to her chest. Her short size indicated that she was a child, but in truth she was in her high teens, reaching 18 sometime soon. Her long pig tails fluttered as she tilted her head at her, her eyes showing concern.

“I’m fine, Maren,” Selene replied with her usual smile. “Just old memories resurfacing.”

“It’s understandable, seeing that you just met your sister,” The older wolfman said by her side, back straight and facing forward, his eyes always on alert for danger. Despite having such a capable bodyguard with them, he was always resolute in his duties. “But pardon me for saying this, the mood between you two was… tense, to say the least.”

“That’s barely scratching the surface,” Selene giggled. “Honestly, it’s not worth digging into the past. Let’s just say that she and I have our issues, and it all stems from family matters.”

“O-Oh,” Maren uttered. “That does sound complicated.”

“Family does that.”

The voice spoke up for once, as her partner walked forward with a heavy gait. He let loose his hood from his head, revealing his face to them all. He smirked at them.

“But you sure you don’t want to patch things up with her? It’s not too late to mend things between you two.”

“Oh dear, whatever gives it away that I want anything to do with her?” Selene said, her smile never leaving. It was enough that Maren felt her intent before backing away, getting closer to her old friend the wolf man.

“I don’t know, just sayin’,” The man chuckled. “Still, I can see where the family resemblance comes from. She was a cutie, like you.”

“I hope you’re not fascinated enough to join her now, are you?”

“Nah, she’s a bit too stiff for me. Didn’t even smile once. I don’t know how anyone can deal with that.”

“Well, I do bring the worst out of her,” Selene giggled. “But enough about that. Do you feel it being any closer?”

The man turned to face forward, his eyes distant as a moment of stillness passed.

“It's pretty far,” He replied after a short moment. “Probably a few more floors down.”

“Perhaps we should have restocked while we were at the hotel,” The wolfman said, turning thoughtful while rubbing his chin. “Unfortunate.”

“I-I have plenty of supplies in storage,” Maren said helpfully, making Selene smile and rub her head.

“Good girl. I can always rely on you.”

Maren lowered her head, immediately taking in the head pat with a small blush blaring across her cheeks.

“I'll make it easy for us and crash through this floor,” The man said, raising his arm and twisting his shoulder to stretch his muscle.

“Make sure nobody sees you,” The wolfman warned.

“I know, Erick, I know.”

With that, a wave of shadow radiated from the man, surrounding him in a cloak of darkness before instantly disappearing into the air. From Selene's perception, she could already see the destruction wrought by him a few miles away, dust clouds scattering about and harsh magic being at play.

Erick shook his head before facing Selene. He opened up his spatial bag and brought out a plush chair before placing it onto the ground. Selene immediately sat upon it, which was followed by Maren summoning a tea set with a heater, the fire already burning and ready to heat up her favorite drink.

“Come, let's take a moment and enjoy the view.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The two replied in synchrony as Maren offered a cup to her mistress, Selene enjoying the citrus scent before taking a sip.

If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that she no longer needed to have Nina as part of her plans for control. After all, when you have someone like Evan, there isn't a need to have a potential risk like Nina as part of her team.