Chapter 110 - Experiment 2

(cont'd)

"So… to avoid trouble, the portal should not be opened for too long?" Fumio asks, finding it inconvenient.

"Yes." Red nods.

"Leave it to me, boss." Fumio suddenly becomes earnest.

"My elixir control has improved tremendously since I came out. I will focus on defending the hill while you focus on your business inside." He volunteers.

"You don't have to. I will be stepping out every hour to recharge anyway. I will keep watch while cultivating." Red refuses.

"I see…" Fumio nods.

"Why don't you go back to the city instead? Muscle Master has been closed for two weeks now." Kotone tells Fumio.

"Oh… I forgot about them." Fumio just realizes.

Six months' worth of time inside the treasure dimension with nothing in mind but training, and focusing on his elixir control for the past few days, it was not surprising for him to forget.

"Ah. That's right." Something crosses Red's mind.

"Go back to train Haruto." He adds on Kotone's suggestion.

"Eh?" "Haruto?" Kotone and Fumio are surprised and confused hearing the unexpected name.

"Kotone. You once asked me if Haruto can learn our 'practice', correct?" Red asks.

"I did?" Kotone cannot remember.

"Yes. During our lunch in Chofu last May." Red reminds her.

Kotone only gets a vague recollection of it as it has not only been 6 real world months since that lunch, but a year in her mind.

"S-so… The reason you brought him up… Is because he can?" She asks in suppressed excitement.

"N-no way…" Fumio meanwhile is in disbelief.

"He can't of course …  But the 16 basic poses and basic breathing technique can be beneficial to him. And if he can strengthen his body, it MIGHT even strengthen his superioris ability." Red reveals.

"T-that's great news…" Kotone is more than thankful of Red.

"Wait… That means my sister can benefit from it too?" Fumio asks.

Before, he always felt envious of Sayuri, but after becoming a cultivator and all the power he got from being one, he is more concerned about her safety instead.

"Yes. And I can have Kotone supervise her." Red suggests.

"Boss… uh. I'm not saying that my sister is a bad person but… You haven't met her yet." Fumio scratches his head. While he values his sister, Red's secrets to him, are just as valuable if not more.

"Well. It's not useful to them without us anyways." Red shrugs.

"What do you mean?" Kotone asks.

Red does not answer them immediately. Instead he activates the portal once again, attaches the two treasure fragments together before burying them together.

"I'll explain inside." He says and leads the way in.

As soon as the three are inside, Kotone and Fumio are in shock of who they see are waiting for them.

"Aren't they…" Kotone cannot finish her question in confusion.

"Phew…" Fumio meanwhile, sighs in relief.

The two other people inside after all, is Ippei and Amon; the two accidental trespassers from six days ago, who Kotone and Fumio thought Red already killed.

"Sir." "You called?" Ippei and Amon greet Red.

"You've met these two before." Red gestures to Fumio and Kotone.

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you again."

Red's human sl*ves greet Red's disciples.

The behavior takes Fumio and Kotone aback and they give Red a questioning look.

"I was really about to make them disappear, but I found a good use for them." Red says.

"So you're keeping them as prisoners here?" Fumio asks.

"I'll let them go soon. If they squawk, it's not only them that will suffer the consequences." Red explains.

This makes Kotone and Fumio entertain the idea that the two superiori are better off dead, than involving their families.

"And. Thanks to them, I was able to figure out which of our techniques are beneficial for the superiori." Red adds, making Kotone and Fumio shudder.

"Assume pose 1." Red then orders Ippei and Amon, which the two follow.

"Now." He turns to Fumio and Kotone.

"Why did I have you two start with the 16 poses?" He asks.

"To unlock our meridians." Fumio answers first.

"And the more cycles of the basic breathing technique while in the poses, the meridians expand." Kotone supplements.

"That is correct." Red nods.

"The superioris on the other hand, already have their meridians unlocked since birth." He explains.

"T-they're natural born cultivators?" Fumio asks in envy.

"Hah. No." Red scoffs.

"Their meridians are only functional based on the abilities they were born with. Ours can be used on many things. In the future, once you learn more techniques from me, it will be easy for you two to reproduce many superioris abilities." This makes the two excited.

"Okay. So, how do the sixteen poses benefit the superiori then?" Kotone asks.

"Before that, how do they grow stronger?" Red asks rhetorically.

"The superiori's meridians expand and mature as they approach their prime. The more they use their abilities, the more potential they can use. However. Their meridians are stiff, and no matter how often they abuse their abilities, and I'm guessing that very few of them actually achieve the maximum of their potential." He continues to explain as he materializes thick strings made of spiritual energy.

His two students are still mystified by Red's display of his elixir control.

"But we can help them with that."

Fumio and Kotone see Red's spiritual energy threads 'stab' the two superiori in the thighs, to the part where they figure are where two major meridians are located.

"Let me guess, boss. That stimulates their meridians?" Fumio asks.

"Yes." Red confirms.

"Like how we massage stiff muscles." Kotone asks.

"That's the perfect example." Red nods in approval.

"Do you two still remember the abilities of these two?" He asks his students as he retrieves his spiritual energy strings.

"Ippei… has wings made of soil. And Amon has flame bees." Kotone recalls.

"Wasps." Amon corrects.

"Yes. Wasps. Whatever." Kotone does not really care, which offends Amon.

"Now. After four months under my experimentations, I present to you the new them." Red says.

The two superiori, receiving Red's commands on their soul, immediately stand up and activate their abilities.

White owl wings burst out of Ippei's back, and flame wasp the size of a ten-wheeler truck appears behind Amon.

"Whoah… holy shit." Fumio steps back in shock at the size of Amon's flame wasp.

"Huh… My goodness." Kotone's brows jump in surprise seeing that Ippei's wings no longer are made of compact soil, but what looks like white colored stones.

"Ippei's wings are now made of lime-stone and his powers can now last for sixteen hours straight flight." Ippei, receiving another order from Red flaps his left wing to Kotone's direction, shooting sharp feathers to her way.

While the feathers are as fast as arrows fired by non-superioris archer, she easily dodges them.

"Amon's change meanwhile, is not qualitative like Ippei's." Amon, receiving the order from Red, summons hundreds of small wasps at once and sends them Fumio's way.

Fumio's figure blurs and dances amongst the flame wasps. A few moments later, the small wasps are wiped out.

"After four and a half months of stimulating their meridians, Ippei came from being a bottom-feeder D-Class to a low-tier C-Class. And Amon from a low-tier B-Class, to a peak B-Class." Red concludes making Ippei and Amon deactivate their powers.

"…" Fumio and Kotone are intimidated by how quick the two superiori grew in strength.

"Uhhh… Boss. Uh… what happens if they're given more time?" Fumio asks.

Red knows what Fumio actually means with the question. "Ippei here is quite young, and he is also a physically enhanced superioris. He can still grow stronger especially if we apply resistance seals on him. But Amon has already reached the limits of potential."

"T-that's… cool, I guess." Fumio is more than relieved.

"I wonder what Haruto's potential is?" Kotone wonders aloud.

"He's just 19, right?" Red asks.

"Yes." Kotone nods, the question making her anticipate.

"Well. Why don't we find out in the future?" Red smirks.

"…" Kotone is disappointed at the non-answer.

"Anyways. Fumio. This will also help immensely with your elixir control, output control more specifically. I will teach you how to do it later." Red says.

"Thank you in advance, Fumio." Kotone immediately feels grateful.

"You'll be doing the same with my sister once she earns boss' trust." Fumio shrugs.

<>

Nerima, 5pm.

*tap**tap**tap*

Sayuri is briskly walking to a random restaurant for an appointment.

She would run if she can but her fear of damaging her company-issued heels and expensive office dress stops her from doing so.

*Bump* She accidentally bumps into a random male pedestrian, making the pedestrian fall on his butt.

"I'm sorry!" She apologizes immediately.

The pedestrian, processing the strength he felt from Sayuri, does not dare accept the apology.

"It's fine, young miss." He says as he stands up.

"T-then I'll be on my way. Thank you." Sayuri sighs in relief that she did not offend someone she should not have, and proceeds to walk inside a building.

Soon, she arrives at the building's tenth-floor restaurant. After looking around, she immediately finds her destination.

"Sorry sir. I'm late." Sayuri apologizes profusely and keeps on bowing as soon as she arrives at  Tezguniuth's table.

"Hey, hey. Sit down. You're making a scene. Good lord." Tezguniuth is taken aback by Sayuri's behavior.

Sayuri, not wanting to offend her new boss, takes the vacant seat in front of him.

"Sorry again." She apologizes one more time for good measure.

"It's fine. Order  first." Tezguniuth hands her the menu to calm her down.

"I…" Sayuri wants to refuse, but Tezguniuth's stare forces her to choose.

Soon, she is done ordering form a waiter.

"Salad? Puhup…." Tezguniuth snickers.

Sayuri, seeing her boss' mood, sighs in relief. .

"Tell me, Sayuri. Why were you late?" Tezguniuth asks.

"I uhh… The equipment for our Itabashi branch was delivered today. It was-" Before she can explain further, "Alright." Tezguniuth gestures her to stop.

"It's a valid reason. Why were you acting as if you made a severe mistake?" Tezguniuth asks.

"I…" Sayuri struggles to find an answer.

"Afraid of getting fired?" Tezguniuth asks.

"Y-yes." Sayuri nods.

"No… that's not it. What else?" Tezguniuth reads Sayuri.

"…" Sayuri cannot answer.

"Have I been a horrible boss? You're not afraid of me, are you?" Tezguniuth frowns in confusion.

"N-no! Of course not." Sayuri exclaims.

"It's just… With a job with so many perks… I think making mistakes is not excusable." She says.

"Ah… A pressure on yourself then." Tezguniuth now understands why Sayuri looked so burdened since she started her job.

"What I want from my employees is their longevity. They can make mistakes here or there, but as long as they can serve the company for years to come, that's ideal to me. Do you understand?" He asks.

"Y-yes, sir." Sayuri is consoled.

"Very good." Tezguniuth nods.

Suddenly, he notices someone from over Sayuri's shoulder, is staring at him.. He would have ignored the stranger, but the stranger's stare is something he knows quite well.