God Of Crafting

Going back to normal life after a series of high-octane experiences filled me with nothing but apathy and exhaustion.

I just didn't have any mental resilience left to face the challenges of the day.

For now, however, I had nothing better to do but try to make the most out of my breakfast, or rather, of my dinner.

When boiled down, this, in a way, was an essence of life. One aspect of it that was so mundane, hardly anyone paid it any attention.

If I wanted to have energy, I actually had to eat energetic food. And ever since I became a cultivator, no matter just how much the villa's chefs tried, it just…

It wasn't enough.

Sure, the taste was insane for my peasant mouth, but the food somehow… was lacking.

'I wonder if this is the cost of cultivation?' I thought, looking down at the freshly butter-fried potatoes with a sprinkle of various, carefully arranged spices in the company of a thick, dark-brown sauce with sizeable chunks of the sauteed, red meat flowing in it.

It sure tasted great!

'Maybe that's why they have private cooks?' I thought, raising my eyes from the dish to the servants who quietly went about their job, performing a perfectly coordinated yet uncannily silent dance.

If cultivation affected one's ability to enjoy food, splurging on some highly qualified cooks only felt reasonable. Where else were the cultivators supposed to throw their riches if not into compensating for the costs of their craft?

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'Wait…'

This string of ideas, a seemingly incoherent line of random thoughts…

This gave me quite the idea!

"What if I were to…" I mouthed off, silently whispering the words as the possibilities behind it dawned upon me.

I moved my eyes over to the huge, open kitchen before turning them back to my plate.

'What if I were to craft our food?'

My scythe served as the greatest proof that whatever I crafted, was likely to boast some insane potential.

'On that point, I wonder how well I could wield it now that I've stabilized my cultivation somewhat?' I thought, raising my eyes to the sky as I silently celebrated the moment of creative clarity.

"The spark in your eyes…" Claire softly spoke as she rested her chin down on her hand while staring at me from across the table. "It's back," she stated only for her lips to curve up in a straightforward, genuine smile.

"Yeah…" I nodded my head only to then drop my face down as I heaved a tired sigh. "But we don't really have the time to test it out now."

Just like our talk about the people behind the attacks and like many other topics before, I had no other choice but to put it on the back burner, with hopes that a time would come when I would pick it back up.

For now, however, it was time to finally have this discussion that I've ignored for a while now. A prospect that didn't become any less awkward to talk about than it was before.

And whenever I looked back…

As nonchalant as I was about everything that happened, it would be a lie to pretend like we were never in any danger.

The enemy had me by the balls and Claire by her neck, in fact!

'No matter who it is behind all of this mess…'

I silently grasped my right hand tight as I turned it into a fist.

'As cliche as it might be, but I really need to get stronger now, don't I?'

I breathed out a deep sigh to calm my heart down a bit.

"To begin with, that guy that you fought with…"

"We fought with," I quickly corrected the girl, unwilling to let such a blatant mistake… or an attempt to lessen her role in the process go freely.

Claire raised her eyes and settled them on me for quite a while before smiling warmly only to turn her glance back to her plate.

"The guy we fought with at the end, he likely had nothing to do with the group that attacked us first."

'That's…'

Those were actually fresh news to me. And in broke every quickly-made scenario I've managed to come up with to explain what was going on all on my own.

"Yeah. He belongs to a certain group…" Claire raised her eyes, sparing her servants just a single, short glance.

'Oh?' I raised my eyebrows as I pretended not to notice how she ignored the group's name before moving on.

"They are dangerous, fickle, and extremely annoying to deal with. Just like you… Just like we saw back then, right?"

I took a second to recall the recent events, only to then nod my head.

The topic of that cultivator somehow pretending to be whole leagues more powerful than he was… continued to rest in my pile of topics and ideas I had to work my way through. -exclusive-content

"Yeah," I nodded my head, only to shake my head a little to refocus my attention on the girl's story.

"On the other hand, those other guys…" Claire's mood suddenly changed.

It didn't drop nor did it grow any warmer… just took on a different shade of a troubled look.

"We can't be quite sure yet, but the leads we have points at two different clans. One of which," Claire raised her eyes up a bit, "we had absolutely no dealing with before. As for the other one…"

The look on Claire's face soured even further.

"Let me guess," I smiled helplessly, "the clan of that Karen we've met while out on a stroll?"

"Yeah… Oh, a question from me this time!" Claire fully perked up as soon as the thought struck her mind, making her nearly jump up in her seat. "What was with all of that spiritual energy we've gained?" she asked, making a lovely look of deep curiosity if not outright fascination as she leaned over the table and into my face, serving my eyes with both her bright smile but also her deep cleavage.

"Oh, it's mostly a guess but I believe someone managed to infect the spiritual circuit of the zone with some sort of a malicious AI," I presented my working theory I've constructed from all that I've gathered on the topic. "The chaos they created by siccing it at us…" I shook my head," my guess is, that's what they used to make their escape.

But how did it take over the magical beasts?" This time, I shook my head in defeat. "That I just couldn't figure out."