2034 Where?
Aina stood in silence for a while, but to the surprise of many, her expression didn't change at all, nor did she erupt into a burst of ash. She didn't seem to have ingested any poison at all. Even if she was immune, she should have at least felt some pain, but she didn't react like that in the slightest.
There were certain Ability Indexes that could allow one to be immune to certain poisons, but everything had their limits. They couldn't fathom why it was that Aina would be so confident; even those immune to poison wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to consume it, let alone so much of it in a single sitting.
Of course, how could these people know that Aina was used to far more pain than this? As a child, she would probably be thankful if she could spend a day with this sort of pain. It wasn't until she consumed Leonel's Cleansing Waters for the first time that she reached a state where that pain instead became itchiness, which was far easier for her to handle.
Plus, Aina had the ability to subconsciously understand everything she was about to put into her body. If she looked at the poison once, she obviously knew the moment she touched it whether it was within her capabilities to handle or not.
After several moments, Aina nodded to herself lightly. "I need…"
She listed off quite a few things.
"Mm, at least these territories will be useful for something," Leonel said, looking toward the Water Lotus territory.
All of the previously planned Force Pills obviously had materials that were likewise previously prepared by Leonel. He wouldn't leave such things up to chance. However, this poison was obviously a curveball, and unlike metals, Leonel didn't have a large supply of Force Herbs.
However, the Water Lotus territory had them available for purchase. It was a function that he had ignored because it was of little use to him. After all, Aina was the only Force Pill Crafter of adequate skill that Leonel had by his side, and she was already swamped with work. While Force Herbs could have some effect on their own, those that would be worth it were far too expensive. Leonel was already beginning to feel the pinch of a lack of points currently, so he didn't want to waste the few he had.
That said, now, this was a matter of life and death. It wasn't just Auran, but his armies as well. If he wanted to face off against Xavnik, he needed a counter to this poison, if he didn't have one he might as well pack his bags now.
Even he needed a counter. Although he could rely on his Innate Nodes, it wasn't good enough.
This poison still eroded Force away, and there were many entry points to his body that it could use. If he had to circulate his Force to his Innate Nodes first before he could get rid of it, over time, the amount of Force he would lose in doing this again and again would be too much. Essentially, it would drain his stamina far faster than it should.
If Orinik had been smarter, he could have used the poison like a continuous domain to drain Leonel over time. But the first problem with that is that draining Leonel is only an option you could take if you were confident in surviving until he was out of stamina. The second problem with that would be Orinik running out of poison.
Clearly, this wasn't a natural part of Orinik's body. Aina had to drain the entire rest of the contents to understand everything she could about it, that likely meant that there hadn't been much left.
But this didn't mean that Xavnik wouldn't be able to do so. So, Leonel observed Aina very carefully. He had every intention of paying close attention to her changes to see if he could come up with a perfect counter.
After buying two sets of materials, one for Aina, and another for Anastasia to grow in bulk, Leonel began to watch Aina. She didn't seem to mind; in fact, she felt an odd sort of peace with Leonel watching over her. Although they were in the middle of the ocean, it felt like home.
She pressed two fingers against her brows and then extended them. From between her brows, a strand of thick reddish gold liquid came out. Just from the faint smell, Leonel knew that it was blood, but aside from that, it also carried the hint of a fragrant flower smell.
Those who were watching couldn't help but shudder. A Blood Refinement method? It wasn't that they had never heard of such a method, but it was so impossibly rare that there wasn't currently even a single other person who could use such methods. In fact, it was so rare that maybe only a handful of others had been capable in the past… All of whom were Blood Sovereigns.
At that moment, the entire atmosphere around Aina seemed to shift. They had vaguely seen already that her strength was abnormal, especially for a Sixth Dimensional existence, but they had still felt that Leonel was too reckless in taking her as his partner rather than James or someone with more substantial and obvious strength. They thought that Leonel had put too much thought into a statement entrance as opposed to actually surviving.
However, these thoughts seemed to fall to silence at this moment, a heavy one.
While many still felt that Aina was too weak to have been Leonel's first choice in partner, just this ability alone was enough to be shocking to an extreme.
Aina's red-gold blood flew forward and formed a new structure. It took the form of a multi-layered rose with no stem. In place of a stem, there were tendrils of golden roots, stretching out toward the Force Herbs in the surroundings and enveloping them.
The gold color seemed to become contagious, moving from the roots and swallowing the Force Herbs up. As the roots returned to the floating, layered rose, faint bits of dust and ash fell. They were almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but the Ancestors of the Omann family couldn't help but feel their hearts skip a beat.
Those were definitely the impurities of the Force Herbs, but that was a process that should have taken several hours, several days even. It could be said that this was the most important step, in fact. This was what would decide the grade of the Force Pill, even more so than the fusion process.
But it seemed like with a simple touch, Aina cleansed the Force Herbs, leaving them with nothing more than perfection… Or had she?
The roots retracted and vanished into the layers of the rose. The rose itself began to gently spin, one after another, its layers collapsed and gained a more and more golden color. A rich fragrance began to fill the air, but the process remained delicate and smooth.
The shocking realization that a Sixth Dimensional existence had just refined Seventh Dimensional Force Herbs hit the spectators like a speeding meteor. They had been so distracted by everything else that they hadn't had the time to fathom how that could even be possible.
Suddenly, the last layer of the rose collapsed and closed softly, leaving the form of what looked like a yet to bloom flower.
Sparkling motes of golden light gathered from the surroundings, and Aina gently lifted her hand. The grace of their movement left one mesmerized, whether it was the gentle beauty of her long, slender fingers, or the elegance of their movement through the air, either one left one without breath to breathe.
And then, the motes condensed.
Silence ensued as the rose stopped spinning, its petals opening up one after another to reveal the floating mass of three thumb-sized green pills covered in complex purple Force Arts.
Aina smiled lightly, looking up toward Leonel. "Finished."
Leonel nodded and took the three pills. He held two between his fingers and palmed the third in his other hand.
Looking up toward the skies, his gaze suddenly sharpened as he struck out the palm that held the third Force Pill.
It rocketed through the skies with an inconceivable speed, vanishing through the layers.
…
Up above, Ancestor Alvaro waved a hand and shook his head. He didn't know how this kid sent an item through the barrier, but he really didn't seem to care about the optics. This Leonel was so reckless, but it only made Alvaro chuckle. The only problem was whether this pill would actually work; how could he not be skeptical?
He looked toward the Omann family, but they were a blank slate. Even so, the fact they were looking over made Alvaro feel a bit of curiosity.
Although Alvaro was hesitating, Kira was most definitely not. She rushed over and demanded the pill, so he could only helplessly release it and watch as she shoved it into Auran's mouth.
At this point, Auran's eyes were tightly shut, and he had no understanding of what was happening around him. When he sensed someone prying open his mouth, he wanted to fight back because he thought that it was from the Omann family. He didn't want it. But fortunately, he was too weak at the moment to have a choice.
The pill was forced into his mouth, and silence fell.
Even the Omann family couldn't help but look over. Despite their earlier confidence, after seeing Aina refine, they couldn't say anything for certain…
Just where had this little beauty with such skill come from?
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