Chapter 281 - Six Masters, Five Apprentices.
The one who pointed looked by far the youngest of the six with black hair tied into a ponytail and an easy-going smile on his face.
Now that Hal had the time to observe the room as a whole, he noticed the one who had pointed was also the only one not to have a youngster sitted close to him even though there was an empty seat nonetheless.
Among the others present were three with grey hair which was surely a testament to their age despite them still looking relatively young and the other two had brown and black hair each.
Looking at the apprentices present allowed Hal to understand the youngest man's statement of 'another pretty boy'.
Of the five apprentices, four were handsome males with expressions varying from ass-kissing to condescending.
Of course, not all expressions were directed at Hal.
The branch head drew himself to full height with an air of smugness about him as he moved to introduce the most notable Alchemists in the Silva Duchy. He pointed to the three with grey hairs,
"This are Masters Antonin, Firmin, and Leopold"
The three whose names had been called only made a curt gesture with their heads before The branch head moved on and introduced the Brown and black-haired Alchemist masters as "Masters Marc and Nicholas" respectively.
The two made the same gestures.
And finally, the youngest of them all was introduced,
"He's Master Alexis and the latest addition to the ranks of notable Alchemists. He's regarded as an Alchemy genius and is now mentoring a genius of his own. The lady Adeline Silva."
'So that's her name' Hal thought.
With the Alchemists introduced and their apprentices ignored, the branch head pointed to Arya,
"This is Alchemist Nadia"
Suddenly the impassioned looks of the six Alchemy masters changed and they looked up at Arya with a gaze of interest while she made a respectful gesture towards them.
While she was very well known, her spiritual sense was still at the Sixth rank while Masters Antonin, Firmin, and Leopold were at the seventh rank intermediate but not quite at the eighth while the other three were solidly at the seventh rank.
They all outranked her and she saw no reason to show disrespect, however, once she straightened up, she frowned slightly as she turned towards the branch head,
"What about Lady Eleanor. I remember quite well that she was a notable Alchemy master in the Silva Duchy as well." She said.
The branch head looked a little taken aback before clearing his throat to speak but before he could, Master Antonin interrupted with an input,
"Well, she declined to visit today even though we had something important to discuss. Apparently, she wishes to break through to the eighth rank and 'Does not wish to waste her time like the rest of us'"
Although Antonin chuckled at the end of those words, it was clear he did not take kindly to Eleanor dissing the meeting.
Arya took a seat and so did Hal and Karmen.
"In other news, I have heard so much about you Lady Nadia and top of it all was how you braved the dangers to the Dystopian continent and struck a blow to their Alchemist Guild." Master Nicholas said and while he worked hard to hide it, Hal could still detect faint awe in his words.
Arya bowed with a smile,
"You honor me" she said.
Hal of course knew what they were referring to.
When Arya had made use of the Alchemist Organization's influence to go across the border and search into her mother's origins, she had also worked as an agent of the organization.
She infiltrated the Dystopian Alchemy Guild (as it was called) and stole a precious Divine pill recipe that could only be refined by an alchemist whose Spiritual sense reached the limit of the mortal realm.
An alchemist whose Spiritual sense became Divine or more crudely called the legendary Rank 9.
Of course, after that, she also performed other notable deeds that guaranteed that while still at Rank 6, she was still highly respected among her peers.
"No, instead it would be far more accurate to say that we do not honor you enough" Master Antonin said in a calm voice and his eyes closed.
"So who is the pretty boy?" Master Alexis asked even though it should have been obvious.
Master Marc rolled his eyes,
"What is your issue with handsome youngsters." He asked and it was obvious that this was not his first time asking Alexis that question.
Alexis shrugged with a smile,
"In my experience, they are usually entitled pricks who believe the world should fall at their feet just because they look good and are from prominent families" he said and Marc's apprentice, a handsome young man from a prominent family sneered at him.
"Actually, Hal is not from a prominent family. I found him in a city now called Sapphire city and recognized his talent" Arya said with a light smile.
"Oh, is that so?" He asked and I stared at Hal for a while finding it hard to believe what Arya said.
"Yes, it is so" Arya replied with a nod.
"What of the girl?" Alexis asked and from the look in his eyes, Hal could tell he had picked up on Karmen's protectiveness and was making the assumption that she was his guard.
"She protects him as best she can" Arya said.
"Oh I see" Alexis said with a smirk as though she just proved his point.
Master Antonin being the only one present with a female apprentice decided to bring order to the room,
"Enough. We were having a discussion before Alchemist Nadia arrived and I will much prefer we continue now. Nice as it is to finally put a face to your illustrious name, I'll like to leave here as soon as I can.
The fact that I came here alone should already prove I am much better than that old crone" he said and the last part of his words was directed at the branch head who cleared his throat again,
"I do admit that it was not right of Lady Eleanor to ignore this meeting but we also have to respect her diligence to continue to further herself on the path of Alchemy.
Anyway, yes, we should continue the meeting and I would like for Lady Nadia to be a part of it" he said.
"We have no issue with her staying." Master Leopold said and the so-far silent Firmin nodded along with everyone else.
"Well then, the apprentices will have to excuse us as the conversations are about to become too sensitive to be discussed before possible participants." The branch head said.
"Of course they have to leave. Adeline left already and I would have expected the pretty boys to take that as their cue to leave as well" Alexis said and Hal was starting to believe he had no intentions of letting his prejudices go.
He wondered what a handsome entitled prick once did to the genius Alchemist.
"Well, then I should leave as well. My apprentice is here to take the Ranking test." Arya said.
"So what? You don't have to be there with him" Antonin said just as his beautiful black-haired apprentice stood up to walk out of the room and await the end of her Master's meeting.
The branch head turned to Arya and retrieved a token from his spatial ring which he gave to Hal,
"That token will allow him to take the tests free of all charges just as I promised. I would really like for you to stay" he told her.
Arya sighed and after Hal told her it was fine she agreed just as he stood up with Karmen and left the room soon followed by the four male apprentices.
Once outside, he met the black-haired female apprentice who smiled at him tentatively,
"I can lead you to the test center if you want"
Hal smiled at her,
"Sure, why not."
Chapter 282 - Assessing The Competition.
Hal saw no reason to refuse her help since she was being helpful and so far the male apprentices seemed to be trying their absolute best to ignore him.
"This way" she said and made to leave when one of those same young men cut in and stood between him and her,
"What's your rank?" He asked.
Hal narrowed his eyes and smiled lightly,
"I don't think that's really any of your business" he said and made to walk around the young man but another blocked his path.
"He asked you a question" said the other one.
Hal shrugged,
"I heard him. I just don't want to answer." Once again he made to walk past the two but could not help but pause when another spoke up,
"Well, we want you to answer" he said and there was a charisma about him that made Hal consider that he might actually be the leader of this renegade gang of theirs.
The one with charisma drew himself to full height,
"My name is Blaise Augustus" he said and paused as though to allow it to sink in.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Hal asked with a confused expression.
"You are joking, right? I'm a member of the Augustus family" he said.
Hal shook his head,
"Sorry, that really doesn't ring a bell. You should have heard where I am from right. I have no idea who any of you are" he said.
Blaise blanked and then composed himself as quickly as he could,
"You know what? That doesn't matter. It's not what this is about." He said.
Hal shrugged,
"Well, I don't care either way. I just want to follow that lady to the test center. None of this intrigues or interests me in the slightest.
This time when he tried to walk past them, with Karmen glaring the entire time, they let him pass, and then he met the black-haired lady in front with her arms crossed below her breasts,
"This 'Lady' is Irene Chastain, cultivation and Alchemy genius of Chastain family and this should interest you as you are the competition and we are 'assessing you'." She said.
Now they all made a sort of semi-circle around Hal and Karmen and Karmen's eyes flashed crimson quite ready to burst out her fiendish armament and cut them all down.
And Hal was honestly very tempted to allow her to do so as the five were really starting to get on his nerves.
So despite him not being remotely interested, the other three guys decided to make use of Hal's silence to introduce themselves...
Dex Hooche, Odon Ariste, and Isidor Colbert.
... and in the process, embellish their names as much as they could for enhanced effect.
All five were quick to reiterate to Hal that they were not in any sort of alliance and, were at their most competitive, however, they now had a common enemy in Adeline Silva.
While they were the cream of the crop, Adeline was a step further and someone the guys were obviously interested in while also working to surpass.
"And this concerns me how?" Hal asked with a sigh.
Irene looked over at the door, behind which the Alchemy masters were having their meeting,
"Do you know what they are discussing behind that door? They're discussing the Alchemy convention. Where Alchemists from across the continent converge at the Empire's center; the Imperial City and during which there will be a competition for young Alchemists to showcase their talents.
Not only do we get the chance to win superb rewards, but there is also a chance that we dazzle enough to be awarded the title of Alchemy Master and get the opportunity to serve the empire..." She said.
"Also, we get to meet the Emperor. Some people don't get the chance to meet him throughout their lifetime. It's bad enough Adeline easily outranks us all, we don't need another Darkhorse." Blaise added to the nodding of the other guys.
The idea had intrigued him at first since rewards could be won but all that went out the window the moment an opportunity to serve the empire was mentioned.
That said, it still made for a cool concept.
"And when is this convention?" Hal asked.
"In seven months" Odon replied.
'Hmm, that's about four months after the Royal Academy selection' Hal thought.
Irene noticed the faint glint in his eye and pointed right at him,
"Don't get any ideas mister." She said.
"Is this supposed to be to intimidate me not to participate?" He asked.
Blaise tilted his head back,
"Well, we can't actually stop you from entering if you wanted to, especially since your master is Alchemist Nadia. However, we demand you tell us what your Rank is." he said and withdrew a token from his spatial ring.
On the token was three stars which Hal took to mean Rank 3.
The three other guys withdrew their tokens and on it was three stars as well.
Irene's had three bright stars and one dull-looking star which Hal took as Rank 3 intermediate. From this Hal, could infer that Adeline Silva was at least rank 4 since they all admitted she was the best.
Hal shrugged,
"I don't have one" he said and the statement was met with an eerie silence that seemed to pervade for a few seconds.
Eventually, it was broken by Isidor,
"What?"
"You heard me, I don't have a rank and I am here to take the test for Rank one so if you can finally stop all these shenanigans and let me go, that would be great."
...
So the shenanigans stopped and they finally allowed Hal to pass... only to follow after him to the test center where they were sure he would not be able to lie.
Indeed, once Hal arrived at the test center and showed the token he was given by the branch head and would let him take the tests for free, he told the examiner the exact same thing and asked to take the rank one test, and only then did they truly believe him.
"Damn! Rank one? That's a little disappointing." Odon said.
"A little? That's a lot disappointing. I don't want to be in competition with someone that pathetic." Dex said.
"You don't have to worry, Rank one can't be allowed to compete, right Blaise?"
Blaise nodded with a smile,
"That's right." He said.
Irene rolled her eyes and could not believe they were this dumb,
"The fact that he doesn't have a rank yet does not mean his spiritual sense is weak. He might just never have had the chance to take the test.
You do remember he's from a city with no Alchemy testing center. For all we know, Alchemist Nadia might have been mentoring him for years and only brought him to take the test when she was sure he was ready." She said.
Blaise placed a finger on his lips and looked thoughtful for a short while,
"That's possible. Well, we'll just ask her what his spiritual sense rank is." He said and his words were directed at Karmen who had not followed Hal into the test.
Karmen met and held Blaise's gaze for a while before she finally said,
"What?"
Blaise looked a little taken aback that she was not the least bit intimidated by him but he decided to table that and asked what Hal's spiritual sense rank was.
Karmen shrugged,
"I have no idea" she said and looked over at Hal through the transparent partition.
At that time, Hal had been given instructions on what to refine at which point he lit a fire underneath the cauldron before shrouding it with his Rank 4 astral sense now made devoid with Astral energy and then...
*Bang!*
...the cauldron exploded and Hal cursed,
"Damn it. I was a little over-eager" he said with a serious expression even though he had done it on purpose to garner attention and showcase the rank of the sense he was using.
The five felt it through the partition and gaped while Blaise could not hold it in,
"Fuck, he's at Rank 4!"
Chapter 283 - Bring Me The Good Stuff.
Hal smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
'That should shut them up' he thought even though he knew it would probably have the opposite effect.
Not to his detriment of course.
He requested another cauldron which he was handed although he was advised to make use of his personal cauldron with which he would be more used to and hence more efficient.
Hal preferred to use the cauldron they had however because he was considering this an opportunity to refine his Alchemical skills even though that might sound silly since he was in the midst of an important test.
However, as Hal saw it, he had a margin of error which was the number of times he was allowed to make mistakes and he had not surpassed it yet for the Rank one test with which he was given even more grace.
He would refine pills like he was refining Rank 4 pills and would most likely fail multiple times but would make complete use of the grace he had to make sure once he moved on to higher rank tests, he would be much, much better.
In other words, this was sort of a practice run for him.
After all, the branch head had been so gracious as to offer to foot the bill so why should he be shy and not take full advantage?
So he began his long chain of failures with the Examiner glaring at him and wondering what kind of idiot this was.
The manner in which Hal placing ingredients in the cauldron was barely passable even for an apprentice and there was such lack of sophistication in the refining process at large that he began to wonder if Hal might have done the impossible and stolen the token so that he could simply waste resources.
After all, why the hell would the branch head offer to foot the bill for such an inexperienced and wasteful individual who should never be allowed near a cauldron.
This assessment by the Examiner might have seemed a little harsh but it was more than justified when Hal turned to him and said,
"What the hell is this?"
"What is what?" The Examiner asked in confusion.
Hal gestured at the ingredients he still had,
"What are all these low-grade ingredients? They burn so fucking quickly" he said with a serious expression.
The Examiner blanked. Was this young man really going to blame the ingredients for his own incompetence?
"You are... messing with me right?" He could not help but ask and Hal stared at him for a while before chuckling,
"Of course. Of course, I'm messing with you. Now *wink* how about you bring me the good stuff. *wink* *wink*" Hal said.
"Is there something wrong with your eye?" The Examiner asked.
Hal looked taken aback,
"What are you, an idiot? I'm trying to pass you the message to take away these low-grade ingredients and bring me the good ones you are hiding in the cupboard over there."
The Examiner glanced at the cupboard,
"There is nothing..." He began but Hal interrupted,
"Don't say there is nothing. I know it's there and I really would prefer you told me the truth." Hal said in a low voice and looked the examiner in the eye.
Somehow, the Peak stage Cosmic phenomenon realm Examiner began to feel cold sweats at his back as he started into Hal's royal blue orbs.
It was as though they compelled him to speak.
It was as though they compelled him with fear.
"Alright fine, there are better grade ingredients and I store them away so you wasteful examines will not waste them." He confessed.
Hal nodded,
"And you do this for other examinees even though they pay for good grade ingredients. Hence taking advantage of their inability to tell the difference?" He asked.
The Examiner nodded, his hands now by his side while a part of his mind wondered why he was listening and speaking to a young man he was supposed to be testing.
Hal of course only knew the ingredients he was given were low grade when he kept attempting to refine them the way he would refine a Rank 4 ingredient and they kept disintegrating.
No matter the grade, such should not have been the case.
Especially not continuously.
"And I'm guessing the Branch head has no idea" he said.
The examiner shook his head,
"He doesn't" he said while lamenting in his mind about how Hal would report him and how termination would be the best he could hope for. Somehow, it never came to his mind to use his position of power as an examiner or his cultivation to turn things around in his favor.
And then Hal said,
"Awesome. I'm impressed!"
The Examiner blanked,
"What?" He was incredulous.
Hal chuckled lightly,
"I said I was impressed. Good for you! You seem like a very sharp individual. What's your name?" He asked
"Glenn, the Examiner answered and Hal grinned,
"Glenny, I truly do admire your good sense. Some might call it corruption but I call it brilliance and a healthy love of profit. What do you do with the high-grade ones you switch up?"
Glenn smiled slowly now calm that Hal did not seem to wish to report him,
"I sell the high-grade ones in the black market and claim to have used up the low-grade ones the examinees use in their test for my own personal research. No one really cares about those." He said.
Hal nodded,
"How smart of you" he said while Grimoire sighed at this idiot letting the devil into his mind.
Glenn took a deep breath and grinned,
"It's so good to finally get that off my chest." He said.
Hal nodded sympathetically,
"I can imagine. Oh well, I should get back to the test. Do you think I can have those high-grade ingredients? With them, I can complete these tests quickly and our conversation can continue." He said with a charming smile.
"Of course" Glenn said and hurried over to the cupboard to begin bringing out the good stuff which upon laying on the table Hal proceeded to refine the Rank one pill in minutes with absolutely no damage to any ingredient.
If Glenn did not know any better, he would have thought Hal had been faking his past failures and for the most part he was right.
While the failures were indeed partly due to the low-grade ingredients, once the high grade was brought over, Hal decided there was no need for wastage and refined the pill as accurately as he could.
Of course, before even attempting to refine it, he requested Glenn to offer him complete privacy which included the Examiner activating Runes that blocked the infiltration of spiritual perception.
And then he drew curtains before the transparent door.
If only he had turned back in time to notice Hal's eyes flash nightmarish black while he was drawing those curtains.
...
Meanwhile,
The five had been a little surprised to discover Hal's 'Spiritual' sense was at rank 4 and were starting to feel threatened once again when they noticed Hal begin to waste ingredients and seem completely inept in the subtleties of Alchemy.
Clearly, this was a case of having talent but never working to further said talent.
There was nothing to worry about, they thought.
Once Hal messed up past his quota, he would fail and all would be right with the world again.
And then Hal began to converse with the Examiner and they all wondered what was going on until he went into the cupboard to retrieve a different set of ingredients which he placed on the desk atop which Hal was refining.
After which he activated Runes that shone briefly before vanishing and then drew the curtains.
They found it a little disappointing that they found not continue to spectate his eventual failure but one person was grinning and it was Karmen who her master had turned to just before the curtains were completely pulled over the doors to wink as his eyes took on the Darkness of the Devil he was.
Chapter 284 - Hal's Preference.
Once done with the rank one pill which Glenn assessed and graded to have met the criteria while looking mildly surprised that the examinee who had been destroying ingredients just a while ago could actually complete the pill so flawlessly.
It really seemed as though Hal had been faking all along.
Hal ignored him and did not wait to be told he had passed as he asked to take the test for a rank 2 Alchemist.
With furrowed brows, Glenn went over to a different cupboard and withdrew the ingredients which he set before Hal and once Hal ascertained that he had been given the best grade ingredients, he repeated what he had done with the rank one test.
He failed as many times as he could in an attempt to fine-tune his skills and only proceeded to succeed on his very last try.
The whole refining took at least an hour, what with the failing constantly.
Although he needed to be completely focused on refining, even more than normal Alchemists since he needed to actively use Equipoise to separate his Astral sense from any bit of Astral energy, he could not help but chuckle at the look that would be on the branch head's face when he saw the expenses of this very wasteful test.
"This is your last chance. Fail now and that's it. You won't be able to take the test again for a few months." Glenn said.
Hal looked up with his brow raised,
"Oh, it's my last chance already? OK, no problem" and he proceeded to refine the way he should, taking absolute care until he had the finished pill in hand.
Now Glenn was suspecting something was not quite right because although Hal was not as Cavalier with this rank two test's last chance as he had been with the rank one test, it was still obvious he knew what he was doing.
At least to a stable extent.
With the Rank two test complete and passed, Hal was ready to move on to the Rank three test and for this time, he decided it was better safe than sorry and determined to be careful with it from the very start.
He had enough basic experience with Alchemy already, he might as well act like an Alchemist now and stop being deliberately wasteful.
Not to mention that this was also wasting time and it was getting late already.
Outside of the test center, the five apprentices still stood and wondered what was taking so long while they also seemed quite determined to remain in place and see the result of Hal's test.
Hal moved on to the third test and for the first time, Glenn finally felt he was looking at a wise Alchemist in the making.
While Hal's skills were a tad bit lacking, he was still quite diligent enough to complete the third rank pill in less than two hours.
"Wonderful. So I will now write you a certificate and you can order for your Rank token with the clerk..." Glenn began to say with joy before Hal interrupted,
"What are you talking about? I'm not done" he said while standing up and stretching.
"You are not?"
"Of course not, I still need to take the test for rank four" he said as though that should have been obvious.
Glenn blinked,
"Rank four? Hahahaha, you really think you are qualified to take a Rank four test just because your Spiritual sense is at Rank four? It takes more than that.
I was over two centuries old before I managed to become a Rank four Alchemist and have been stuck at that rank since then. The fact that you are so egotistical to think you can perform a miracle is hilarious." He said.
Hal did not look offended by the laughter and smiled lightly,
"I know it takes more than having a strong spiritual sense but still want to take the test. After all, that token from the branch head does entitle me to it does it not?" He asked.
"Well, it does, but..." Glenn began but was unable to complete,
"Good. I'll recuperate any lost energy and then take the test." He said and sat cross-legged to begin absorbing cosmic energy from the atmosphere to get rid of any fatigue he was feeling.
He knew being Rank four was a big deal and he could tell that from how the five outside spoke of the only rank four Alchemist among the young generation.
It takes a genius among geniuses to have the finesse to be so capable while so young and while Hal would not call himself an Alchemy genius, he felt he was good enough to just barely get that Rank four token and that was good enough.
He did not care if Adeline Silva was the better Alchemist, he just wanted to have a token that put him above the five on the outside.
Call it his Devil ego if you will.
Besides, he was here and taking the test for free so he might as well do it.
A few minutes later, he opened his eyes and feeling very refreshed proceeded to the cauldron which had been replaced with a better one that was capable of withstanding the strain that accompanied this level of Alchemy.
The look in Glenn's eyes was very skeptical because he had tested the genius, Adeline Silva, himself and Hal were nowhere near her level of finesse.
That said, he told Hal he was to refine a Rank four mending pill which was most likely the easiest to mess up since a 'good enough' pill could prove detrimental to the one taking it.
It needed to be at least near perfect to be taken as success.
The refinement began and despite dedicating all of his attention to it, the first trial ended in failure as expected and so did the second try and many more after that.
Glenn shook his head at the pathetic attempt and was only waiting out the eventual failure of the whole process.
'Damn it' Hal groaned.
'You are really bad at this and this is with all the Alchemy tutorials you purchased from me' Grimoire mocked.
'Of course, I'm bad at it. I lack all the subtleties and I feel like I subconsciously don't want to learn it.
I truly do prefer Runemastering. It's a little more direct and has fewer steps to follow' He complained even though he knew certain branches of Runemastering had steps to follow as well.
'You'll get it right though' Grimoire said in a mix of offering encouragement and stating a fact.
'I sure as hell will' Hal said and it was to the great surprise of Glenn when a resonance sounded out of the cauldron and Hal retrieved a completed Rank four mending pill.
"Finally. Hopefully, that is the only time I'll ever have to refine a pill for a very long time. Now stop gaping at the pill and write me the certificate already" he said to Glenn who closed his mouth immediately.
"Of course! Oh My goodness, this is incredible." He said with his face alight with joy.
Hal nodded in a non-committal way and received the certificate Glenn issued him.
Glenn then turned away to walk out of the center,
"Oh, I need to inform the branch head personally." He said.
"Glenn wait" Hal called and there was an authority in his voice that forced Glenn to stop moving and turn back to see Hal's eyes were no longer Sapphire blue, but a nightmarish black that instilled fear in him.
"What the...?" He began but Hal smiled wickedly,
"Why are you in such a hurry? How about you let me know just how much you made from all those high-grade ingredients you stole."
"I don't think I want to do that" he said.
"Of course you don't want to but that is beside the point. Since I want you to tell me..." Hal said and paused as he released a torrent of Devil energy that caused Glenn's knees to buckle.
"...you'll tell me"
Chapter 285 - Robbery And Abduction.
Glenn reinforced his stance with the strength of his cultivation base and used Cosmic Energy to ward off whatever feeling was now rising in him.
The one at the foremost was fear.
Now that he had a good handle on his body, he frowned at Hal who was now grinning widely at him,
"So all what you said was a lie?" You are really going to report me" Glenn said.
He was far from being an invaluable alchemist. After all, he was older than all the youngsters outside of that door, and yet he only surpassed them as an Alchemist with one rank.
In the case of one of them, it did not even amount to a complete outrank.
This job as an Examiner was his only opportunity to toss his weight around and even then he could not test above his Rank and today he graded another youngster that was now at his rank.
He was definitely replaceable.
And he feared that Hal, who clearly knew the branch head would be the one to usher in that situation.
Hal chuckled,
"Report you? No of course not. Everything I told you was more or less true. I do admire your good sense and healthy love for profit but you should also know that I have a healthy love of profit as well.
So I ask you once again, how much have you made from all the high-grade ingredients you've stolen?"
He took a step closer and although Glenn wished to move back as well, he found himself unable to do so and the feeling he thought he had warded off with Cosmic energy was now back in full force,
"T-T-Two hundred thousand" he said in a quiet voice.
"Gold coins?" Hal asked with a raised brow.
"No, Blue gems!" Glenn corrected.
"Wow" Hal said but when he thought deeply about it, he realized it was warranted and he was only surprised because he had been judging with the prices of those ingredients in Grimoire when the Artifacts prices tend to be cheaper.
Speaking of which,
Apparently, Grimoire was only giving away things its past hosts had stored inside of it and while it had virtually everything, it insisted it lacked the volatile ingredients Hal wanted.
'I'm meant to give knowledge, the rest you get out of me are just bonuses' it had said.
'Since when are bonuses for sale, shouldn't they be free?" Hal had retorted.
'Well, they are not free here? If you don't like it, you can purchase it from local vendors!'
Anyway,
Now that he thought about it, Glenn must have sold rank four ingredients and they must have made up the bulk of his wealth which meant he was most likely cheated.
Then again, the Black market was a shady place to sell already.
'I was expecting him to have made a lot but that is so much. This is a good day.' Hal thought.
The moment he realized the Examiner was not giving him high-grade ingredients, he decided he might as well ask for it which he did with ensnarement and got the poor guy to open up all for the purpose of getting all he had.
This confession of greed gave Hal the opportunity to invade Glenn's mind. Almost as though Glenn gave him permission.
Of course, if it had been only about getting Glenn's wealth, intimidation and flat-out robbery were enough but Hal wanted to go a step further.
He wanted to keep Glenn under control.
And since he had decided to be screening those he made a part of his force, he was no longer interested in giving contracts or Devil marks to just about anybody so he went for the next best thing...
"Give it to me" he said and stretched his hand.
Glenn pulled off his spatial ring and placed it in Hal's hand. Hal inspected it with Astral perception and realized the amount in the ring was lower than the two hundred thousand but well above one hundred and fifty thousand so still a win.
He destroyed the imprint on the ring and it caused Glenn to have a Bloodsport before he emptied it of all the Blue gems and transferred it into his inventory as subtly as he could without raising Glenn's suspicion.
Then he imprinted the empty ring and slipped it on his finger as the perfect decoy when accessing his inventory.
"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Hal said before placing this hand on the paralyzed-with-fear Glenn and infiltrated his body with Devil energy while taking control of his confession of greed,
"You will never breathe a word of this to anyone and if you get the chance, keep stealing and selling the ingredients.
When I ask you to give me all you earn from the sale, you do so. Have I made myself clear?" He asked with a calm and quiet voice as Devil energy swirled around them both.
Almost as though hypnotized, Glenn slowly nodded his head,
"Good boy" Hal commented and retracted his Devil energy as his eyes turned back to their normal blue.
Glenn shook his head and looked away from Hal while working to regain control of himself now that Hal was no longer intimidating him,
"Well, I'll let you out now, Alchemist Hal." He said in a surprisingly calm voice and Hal smiled.
"Thank you, Alchemist Glenn. This has been most... profitable" Hal said as Glenn deactivated the Runes and pulled up the curtain before opening up the door to the curious youngsters on the outside.
Irene was the first to step towards Hal when he was out of the test center,
"What's your rank?" She asked.
"I don't see why I should tell you" Hal said before turning to Karmen who was grinning and knew to immediately lead the way out but before she did, she said to Hal,
"Master, they really want to know. Why not satisfy their curiosity?" She told him since if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Hal's rank was surely not lower than any of them.
And she could tell that without him telling her anything.
Hal shook his head,
"Nah, let them claw out their hairs in curiosity. Now THAT would satisfy me" He said and walked ahead so that Karmen had to run a little to catch up.
The moment he was out of sight after turning a corner, the five turned to Glenn who was looking agitated, and before they could even ask,
"I need to speak to the Branch head" he mumbled and walked away.
"The branch head?" Blaise said with furrowed brows.
"Do you think it's about Hal?" Isidor asked.
"Why would he want to see the Branch head because of Hal?" Blaise asked with a snort.
Irene sighed,
"Because Hal is a Rank four Alchemist" she said while looking into the room the test had been taken.
"What?" The other four were incredulous but Irene gestured at the room,
"This is how my rank four test went as well. I did not succeed with the pill of course hence my rank 3 intermediate but I can tell he succeeded.
Look out boys, we have another genius on our hands." She said with a strange mixture of Awe and a sneer.
...
Meanwhile,
Hal was back at the reception and giving his test certificate to the clerk who eyed it and looked up at Hal many times before going off to lodge in for the Rank Four token.
Hal was a little surprised that the meeting of Alchemy masters was not yet done despite him spending so many hours with his tests that it was now nighttime outside.
He was waiting for the Token when he felt something was off with his surroundings,
"Karmen" he called but she was already wielding her Cosmic Armament and using the flat side to smack an assailant!
*Bam!*
The one she had hit and was dressed head to toe in black and a mask that shielded his face took the attack and grabbed hold of her Armament before punching at her but she leaped back to avoid it.
Unfortunately, she was leaping towards a second assailant who had his fist drawn back for a punch but suddenly Hal was in between and landing a kick on the side of the assailant's face.
*Bam!*
This assailant could not shrug off the kick and fell to the ground while drowning in pain.
The one Karmen had tried to smack was dashing towards her again so she let out the fog of her fiendish bloodline and punched him right in the stomach.
"Ack" he doubled over and thus presented his head in the perfect position for her to kick and knock him unconscious as well.
And then there were more assailants and both Hal and Karmen were easily outnumbered.
"Where the hell did they come from?" Hal could not help but ask, considering the security of the Alchemist organization should not have been so easily broken, as he summoned his Cosmic armament that was thinly shrouded with a cosmic phenomenon.
Then he heard a deep voice that he thought he recognized say,
"Don't resist"
...and then...
*Bang!*
The sound of a mild Explosion from which he detected Astral energy and everything turning black was the last thing he remembered.
Chapter 286 - Black Lagoon.
The Meeting room of the Alchemy masters...
It was official...
Arya was bored.
Immensely so.
For hours, the Alchemy masters made decisions and then disagreed only to agree again and then realize the other branches might not like their decisions.
So they would dismantle the discussion again and pass minutes insulting the other branches and their sense of superiority.
After which they would argue on who had been on the bad end of an altercation with the branches the most.
Then they would insult each other once again before finally settling in a decision.
However, that decision would not hold for long and the whole process would start again.
She hated it and was willing to take anything as long as she could leave and never be involved in an argument or 'meeting' with this masters again.
The only person who she found remotely okay to be around was Master Alexis and it was only because he the most silent of the six and also looked to hate the meeting as much as she did.
And then as though the universe was smiling down at her, there was a knock on the door,
"Go away. This is a private and important meeting." The branch head called.
"I believe you will want to hear this sir" Glenn's voice sounded from the other side and when the branch head looked to be poised to tell him to return again, Arya spoke up,
"Why don't we just hear what he has to say?" She said and the branch head told Glenn to come inside out of respect for her.
He also asked the Alchemy masters first and none of them minded.
Glenn pushed open the door and looked to be close to bursting as he reported,
"Branch head, the apprentice you sent over to be tested passed." He said.
"Oh, is that so? What rank is he now?" The branch head asked.
"The Fourth rank" Glenn said.
There was immediate silence in the room as many wondered if they had heard wrong,
"Did you say the fourth rank?" Master Antonin asked.
Glenn nodded vigorously,
"Yes, I did. He refined this pill" he said and took out the pill Hal had refined for all of them to assess which they did.
For one thing, they could all see that the workmanship was shoddy and it only just counted as a Rank four pill but it was a fully formed rank four mending pill nonetheless.
"Congratulations Alchemist Nadia" said the branch head.
"Yes, congratulations." The other Alchemy masters chimed in while Arya was pleased to see her Master's success.
She was smiling and about to speak when she sensed something and dashed out of the room.
It was more like a tug on the tethered connection she had with Hal but it was enough to alert her that something was not quite right.
"There is a conflict going on in the Building" Master Antonin commented as with his seventh rank intermediate spiritual sense coupled with his sense as a Semi saint, he could easily pick up on the going ons in the building.
His perception range was just that large.
However, since their meeting room was meant to give complete privacy, it also shut off their senses from the outside and made them incapable of sensing anything until Glenn opened the door.
The Branch head being at the Semi saint realm could sense it as well and the fact that Arya ran outside made it intriguing and worth his input so he stood up and followed.
When they arrived at the reception, they found Arya with a very angry-looking Karmen holding her head and spouting so many swear words, she made the old men embarrassed.
She hated that she had been knocked unconscious and when she came to, Hal was gone.
"What happened here?" The branch head asked but Arya was focused entirely on Karmen who was giving her a rundown of the events in a low voice. So the branch head turned to the clerk and asked the same question even though Hal's absence made him guess the answer already,
"I don't know what happened. I left to have his Rank Four token ordered and heard the sounds of combat. When... When I arrived it was already too late." The clerk said.
When Arya heard those words, she turned to glare at the clerk who gulped at the angry look in her eyes and the faint red fog he could see starting to appear not just from her body but from Karmen's as well.
She believed he must have had enough time to come and at least offer support but just like anyone in the Silva Duchy, he couldn't be bothered with the safety of a stranger.
The fact that it was the norm did not make it any easier for Arya to accept.
That said, there was a more important question to ask,
"Where were the guards?" Arya asked in a grim voice.
At that time, there are others arriving at the reception and the clerk's voice was much calmer when he said,
"They were all knocked unconscious. I and a few others found this by their bodies" he stretched out rune sheets which had obviously been used already.
"Damn Runemasters." Master Firmin said but Arya was far from interested in sharing his sentiment since she knew it was more about his dislike for their 'tainted' senses.
The branch head looked solemnly and for the first time since they arrived at the Alchemist organization, he looked like someone of Authority as he drew himself his full height,
"I promise you, Alchemist Nadia, I will leave no stone unturned and I will find your apprentice.
I can only hope he is still in the capital."
...
Hal woke with a start and the first thing he noticed about his environment was that he was lying on a grassy ground and surrounded by trees.
Also, it was daytime.
"Great, so I was kidnapped and taken to a forest. Bad guys lack ingenuity in this world, I mean, Where is the creepy basement?" Hal lamented as he sat up and noticed he felt nothing.
He felt no different than he had before falling unconscious.
"Good, you're awake" a voice said behind him and Hal recognized it as the voice he had heard just before he was knocked unconscious.
He turned his head and looked upon the face of Ehrlich, who was apparently supposed to supervise.
"Who would have thought supervising involves an abduction. I am so shocked." Hal said with his voice oozing with theatrics.
Ehrlich actually cracked a smile, albeit a thin one that looked to lack humor,
"I needed to make sure you had no one with you. This mission is supposed to be completely solo after all."
"Wait, mission? Are you telling me, it's started already?" Hal asked and stood up from the ground.
Ehrlich nodded,
"That's right. This whole area is called Black lagoon and is situated in the Silva Duchy. It is a Black market site ruled by those rightly referred to as the scum of the earth. They trade in many goods that are not exactly illegal per se but still need to be done away from prying eyes.
The individuals here follow the same structure of power as the Duchy although they don't have as many experts.
That said, there are many here who can squash you like a bug so watch yourself. You are just strong enough to be a slave and good-looking enough to be an escort and tool of pleasure." He said.
Hal felt a chill at the back of his neck and looked down to see his clothes had been changed into a different and actually good looking attire,
"You pervert! Did you strip me?" He asked in outrage.
"Will it make you feel better if I told you a lady changed you?" Ehrlich asked with a straight face.
"Maybe" Hal said.
"Oh, okay then, a lady changed you."
"I don't believe you"
"Not my concern.
Your mission is to discover who it is that is supplying a brand of Technique that not only increase strength, it creates monsters.
Find out who it is and if they are above your strength level, only perform reconnaissance and contact me with this" Ehrlich said and offered Hal a communication talisman.
"Good luck" he said but remained where he was.
"Aren't you leaving?" Hal asked.
"Oh I will but not now. I'll follow you out of the forest and to the city itself after which I will fade into the background and watch from a distance."
Chapter 287 - To Be Fair... R-18
Hal contacted Arya and Karmen through telepathy and informed them he was fine. When they mentioned the Alchemist organization searching and working to save him he told them to let it be.
After all, it was not like he could allow them to say where he really was.
If the organization wanted to take him for some sort of charity case in need of rescue, then by all means they were free to do so.
He was more concerned with how he would find this supplier and since Ehrlich had made it clear many times that he had given all the information he could, Hal decided he might as well get information in the city.
Once they were both out of the forest, Hal found an inn and paid for a room with Ehrlich getting a room right by his own to keep an eye on him.
Needless to say, Hal did not much care for it and once he was inside the room and had locked and secured it with Runes he retreated into his Mansion in the Harem space where he told Rita all that had been happening,
"So he thinks you are alone" Rita said and Hal nodded.
"To be fair, he has no idea I have a dimensional space which helps me not to depart from my ladies."
"So what now? You let us out and we help you catch this supplier?" Rita asked.
Hal sighed,
"Not exactly. I think it would be better you all remain here until I all sure I am out of the eyesight of the big dude."
Rita nodded,
"I see" she said and sighed with a hint of disappointment.
"You seem really bummed out." Hal said with a smile as her hand trailed the buttons that held his shirt together while her eyes flashed violet and she moved closer to speak into his ear,
"It's just a little annoying that you have to spend all that time working for some princess when you could just spend it with me." And with that, she pulled him close and pressed their lips together.
They were already on the bed anyway, so Hal simply fell sideways and began to strip her of her clothes while she did the same to him.
Hal began his slow trail of kisses from her lips slowly down to her abdomen and then to her pelvis so that he arrived at her moistened inner thighs.
"Wonderful" he could not help but comment as he stretched his tongue in a tentative lick of her juices and slow progress towards the source of said juices.
"Mmmnnggghhh" Rita moaned and grabbed the bedsheets while thrusting her hips at him.
Whether instinctual or deliberate, Rita began to release violet pheromones that saturated the room and quickly heightened the flames of passion Hal was already feeling as he delved into her pussy and licked at her labia.
His hand stretched over to the erect nub at the top of her pussy and he pinched it and drove her wild with pleasure as she continuously thrust her pelvis at him to gain more traction.
Then Hal let his tongue into her and began to eat her out with his tongue performing incredible actions and tickling the spots he knew with certainty to be the most sensitive to her.
Rita's hands went from the bedsheets to his head as she grabbed handfuls of his hair and pulled him against her pussy, essentially trapping him and leaving him with nowhere to go.
He had no interest in going anywhere either and licked until...
"Ohhhhh yessss"
... Rita moaned and groaned as she reached climax and squirted her juices directly into his mouth for him to lap it all up with due diligence.
He never stopped eating her out throughout her orgasm and helped her ride it out.
Once it waned, Rita smiled as Hal crawled up her body with kisses again until he was kissing her and she was enjoying the taste of her juices.
He grabbed her breast and kneaded it while she made use of her lust flames through his contact with her skin to run him wild with passion.
Hal retaliated with {Erogenous Touch} with him having the last laugh as Rita wound her legs around him and held him tight against her body.
That however did not stop him as he shimmied down to her breast and took her nipple into his mouth.
"Ahhnnn" Rita moaned as he sucked on it and the pleasuring of that sensitive spot went on for minutes before she grew impatient for the real deal and made her need known with the regular thrusting of her pelvis.
Although to be fair, the thrusting could have been due to the mini-orgasms she was having but Hal got the message all the same and placed his cock head at her entrance before thrusting into her to the hilt.
He groaned as he felt the tightness of her insides and how tightly they clung to him in an attempt to wring him dry.
Also, she did not let up on her infiltration of his body with lust flames which made the whole session all the more pleasurable.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Ohh that's it" Rita moaned and wound her arms around Hal's neck to pull him down and capture his lips in a kiss while they settled into a comfortable rhythm that drove them both to climax.
Rita came first though and she was soon screaming her joy out to the whole mansion as she had another orgasm which was destined not to be her last for the night.
Nothing made Hal happier than bringing the joy of climax because it always caused her to spasm and tighten even harder around him to bring him the pleasure he wanted.
The sensation was nothing short of wonderful and he never wanted it to end
If anything, his craving seemed to be increasing with time.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
Hal's hands were holding her legs and he had now lowered his head to her breast to suck her nipple while he continued pounding away.
Rita's hands were on his head and pulled him against her breast to keep him making her feel good.
Then her eyes took on the violet color of the succubus bloodline while his did the same as they both now released pheromones that guaranteed that anyone who entered would be incapable of controlling themselves.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
His hefty balls continued to smack her ass and his hands even went from her kegs to said ass which was pliant and pleasurable to knead.
"Ohh, yes, more more... Annhhhggghh come on fuck me, Hal. Never stop fucking me." She groaned.
"I never will" he said with a mild chuckle as the intensity of her thrusting back against him increased until she wound her legs tight around his back and held him inside of her as she felt the finale right in the way.
"Ahhnnnggghhhhhh" Rita moaned as she spasmed and gushed out pushy juice that not only coated Hal's cock but his pelvis as well while she tightened around him to the limit of her ability which was quite a lot and hard enough to hurt but Hal took it in stride.
Especially since all he felt was debilitating pleasure before he spewed large amounts of his seed into her pussy and Rita moaned and smiled at the warmth of it.
She fell into blissful slumber soon after and it was when Hal rolled over to the other side of the bed that he realized how preoccupied he had been, especially since Marla came into the room and he had no idea.
She was in no mood for chit-chat as their released pheromones had made her impatient.
She grabbed Hal's cock and after one tentative lick, she gobbled it up and licked it free of any juices.
Essentially preparing it for her use.
Chapter 288 - Lillian And Olivia. Part 1 R-18
As usual, Hal was a fan of Marla's enthusiasm as she performed her fellatio that got him hard in minutes.
She had climbed onto the bed and her whole attention was on that magnificent tool she wanted deep within her as well as the pleasure she would get from the act.
Her hand went to the base of Hal's cock as she stroked it and she grabbed and massaged his balls in an attempt to coerce his cum out of it.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
She was already naked and Hal stretched his hand to pinch her nipple hard which earned a moan of pleasure from her lips and it sent pleasurable vibrations down on Hal's cock and made him moan lightly.
He could tell Marla liked that as she was smiling around his cock.
Then she raised her head and stroked his cock a few more times and with him still laying on the bed, Marla mounted him and placed it at her entrance as she slowly lowered herself on it and moaned as she felt it thrust slowly into her.
She always loved the sensation of it spreading her open on the inside and getting her the pleasure she wanted despite the pounding having not yet started.
Hal groaned at the pleasurable feeling of being inside her as he grabbed her hips and pulled her up only to slam her back down.
*Pah*
"Mnnghh" Marla moaned and took matters into her own hands from then on as she went up and slammed down against his pelvis on her own volition as the pace slowly picked up and dropve her to her first orgasm of the day.
But it would not be her last as she did not let that stop her as she continued slamming down as hard as she could on him and driving his cock as deep into her as she could.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
Her hands were flat on Hal's chest as she felt around on his muscles while tightening her snatch around him to bring him to the climax he was always able to stave off as long as he pleased.
Hal enjoyed the tightening sensation and felt it was moving him ever closer to that climax but he was still surely going to outlast Marla whose self-pounding motions were slowing down.
He smiled and decided to take matters into his own hands by grabbing a tighter hold on Marla's hips and taking charge by lifting her and pounding her back down as hard as he possibly could.
He sat up and Marla wound her arms around his neck while she kissed his face and moaned into his mouth from the pleasure she was feeling.
It was almost as though Hal taking charge rejuvenated her as Marla was back to thrusting back at him with full strength.
Soon, they were going at it in different positions, with them both lying on their sides and Hal behind her with one of her legs raised as his cock went in and out of her.
Then Marla was on all fours and Hal was thrusting into her from behind while she trusted back at him and they made the sweet music that always came along with pelvis slamming into ass cheeks...
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Oh, right thereeee" Marla moaned as Hal's cock kept lighting up her insides with the pleasure If erogenous touch and the session did not stop for hours as Hal made sure he satiated her and she slipped off into blissful slumber with her pussy filled with his cum.
...
Once Marla was satiated, Hal was not and left the room to seek out Lillian where she was cultivating.
The moment he was inside her room, she could detect his presence and stood up immediately to smash her lips against his.
After all, why would he come to her room naked if not to give her a taste of that pleasure she had only felt once but had been craving ever since.
Olivia was crosslegged on the ground but did not open her eyes upon his entry and Hal had no interest in calling her out of such a diligent act.
However, once he and Lillian got into it, he was curious as to whether she would be able to keep her eyes closed and remain calm.
"Oh master, finally" Lillian said with a groan and Hal chuckled.
"Show me how eager you are" he said and her eyes lit up as she slowly lowered herself to her knees and grabbed his cock to give it a few pumps.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
Once again, Hal's cock reacted to the touch of a beautiful woman and slowly rose to its full mast before getting sucked into Lillian's warm and pleasurable mouth.
He moaned lightly at his second fellatio of the day while he could not help but compare skills with Lillian obviously being the most experienced as she did not just lick and tickle with her tongue,
She suckled at the organ as well and just like Marla, she cradled his balls and Hal could tell she loved how it filled her hand and the tease of the volume of cum it held and would spew into her throat.
Slowly Lillian let Hal's cock past her mouth and slowly towards her throat which it slid into slowly as she used it as an avenue to tighten even harder around Hal.
Hal could not possibly hold it for long and he had no interest in doing so as he groaned out his release.
Lillian's eyes widened at the sheer amount and as Hal released his pheromones which permeated the room, she leaned back and only allowed his cock head remain so she could let his seed pool inside her mouth and savor its delicious taste as well as the burst of energy it granted.
"Good work" Hal said with a smile and pulled her up to shed all of her clothes and move her closer to the wall which she gladly leaned against and thrust her ass out at him while he grabbed his still erect cock to place it at her entrance.
Slowly he slipped inside and Lillian moaned while she thrust back to get even more of it inside her.
Clearly, she was not going to stop until she had him deep within her pussy and was tightening as hard as she could around him.
Hal stretched his hands around and grabbed her breasts and used it as leverage to pound into her, in the process of which he pinched her nipples and got her wild with pleasure.
"Ahhnnn" Lillian moaned as her pussy grew wetter than it already was and further eased Hal's thrusting,
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
Hal took one hand off her breasts and eased it slowly towards her pussy while she focused all of her strength on bracing against the wall.
Once at her pussy, he found the erect nub at the top and pinched it to get her moaning and groaning while her legs twitched and her knees nearly buckled.
Hal smiled as he felt her squirt out juices with enough force to almost eject him.
Almost.
It was far from enough to negate his thrusting power which he increased and rammed even harder into her.
And then he felt another set of hands on his body as Olivia finally decided to join the fun and kiss at his neck while inhaling the scent that came off his body and had her pussy leaking in seconds.
Hal smiled as she pressed her naked, full and round breasts against his back,
"Took you long enough" he said.
Olivia smiled as well and replied as her body moved with Hal's as he never stopped thrusting into the moaning Lillian,
"Better late than never. After all Master, I am yours"
Chapter 289 - Lillian And Olivia. Part 2 R-18
"Well put" Hal grinned just as Lillian leaned forward against the wall, hence dislodging Hal's cock from inside her after which she pushed his chest and steered him to the large bed in the room.
Olivia followed after and the moment his back made contact with the bed, Lillian was mounting him and picking up where they had left off at the wall.
At which point, Olivia joined the foray and went on all fours on the bed to lean down and capture Hal's lips while Lillian began to pleasure herself and essentially run wild on his cock.
Hal grabbed the back of Olivia's neck and with {Erogenous Touch on}, he drew out a moan from her lips just as he reached over with his second hand to tease and knead her breasts.
The making-out session did not last very long as Olivia separated from his hold soon enough to crawl over to Lillian and engage her in a kiss as well. In the process, she tasted the residue of Hal's seed in the other lady's mouth before she moved behind her and grabbed her breasts.
Olivia palmed the two ample assets while she teased the nipples and essentially drove the other woman ever closer to climax.
Hal had his hands behind his head as he viewed this development and quite frankly loved it.
Lillian was squeezing ever tighter around him occasionally as she experienced mini-orgasms that served as harbingers for the major and mind-blowing one.
That said, Olivia's ministrations did nothing to stop or slow down the rate at which she bounced on Hal's pelvis.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Ohh, ahhnnnnn..." with that moan Lillian fell victim to her most debilitating orgasm yet and found herself suddenly incapable of sound as her mouth was simply open at the ceiling of the room.
All the while, she twisted in blissful spasm and Hal aided her along as he burst his nut deep within her and filled her up with large volumes of his rich-in-essence seed.
Lillian fell off of him soon after and Hal pulled her to the side on the bed but his still-hard cock did not have any reprieve as Olivia began her own ministrations which consisted of her sucking off the last of Hal's seed at the tip of his cock.
As well as licking Lillian's juices off of it while she stroked it not to get it hard, since that would have been unnecessary, but to get a feel of its impressive length and girth before she went on all fours and thrust her ass at him.
"I like that" Hal said with a sage nod as he rose and placed his cock at her entrance and buried himself to the hilt much to her pleasure.
"Oh my goodness" Olivia moaned
Being her first time with Hal, she had been more than taken by surprise by the pleasure it already brought her just by thrusting in.
'What have I been doing all my life?' She thought.
To her at that moment, any lady who never slept with Hal was missing out and she almost vowed to become an Evangelist of the faith.
Of the faith of intercourse with the Lord of Sapphire city.
What old life?
She saw no reason for that past and was only interested in having Hal inside of her as long as she could.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
Hal on the other hand leaned forward and grabbed her breasts from behind while savoring the feel of her pussy around him and how he was well on the way to shape it in the image of his cock.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Oh, you're the best. Never stop. Please never stop. I want more." Olivia groaned while thrusting her hips back against him just as she climaxed.
Once he had given it out with her, Hal pulled out and before Olivia could feel empty, he was placing his cock at a different, tighter and puckered hole.
"I've never..." She began but Hal stroked her back,
"Don't worry, you will love it." He told her as he began to push against the hole with his cock already lubricated with her juices.
Slowly he slid into her and she loved the full feeling she was having and reveled in the pleasure Hal's cock radiated in her.
As he pulled back and thrust back in and slowly picked up speed and settled into a rhythm, Olivia moaned at how good it felt and how much juices her pussy was secreting.
Hal, however, loved the tightness and knew his climax was not far off, and sure enough, a few more minutes of thrusting and he was pulling out of her.
Olivia took it as a sign and turned around before Hal could thrust into her very wet pussy to grab his cock and take it into her mouth to suckle it while only barely noting the sour taste of her ass until he came inside her mouth.
She realized soon enough just how much it was and how she could not possibly hold it all in her mouth.
Even then, she did let any of that precious material go to waste.
Her eyes were twinkling after swallowing it up and Hal smiled before placing his cock at her entrance again for the last marathon to completely tire her out.
After all, ingesting his seed would grant her a burst of energy and libido which he saw as his duty to take care of.
A good master takes care of subordinates.
...
Hal decided, once he was out of Olivia and Lillian's rooms that since he has started and had the advantage of the time-warping Array, why not complete the rounds.
The rest of the ladies were cultivating dedicatedly but not to mention that dual cultivating with him was their main path of cultivating, there was also the fact that they would not be able to ignore him once he was in their vicinity.
They were not all in the same locations since the Mansion had many rooms so he went to that of Camilla and Irina first which he could locate with his Astral perception.
The two were not the only ones in the room and there was a third In the person of brown-haired Kyla who smiled brightly once Hal was in the room.
The trio had not been cultivating anyway so they quickly stripped their clothes and together began to pleasure Hal's body.
With Lust flames.
They all infiltrated his body with lust flames while gathering around his hard and erect cock to begin kicking and teasing.
*Slurp* *Slurp* *Slurp*
In the process, their lips met and none of them shied away from it as they and Hal released Pheromones that saturated the room.
Eventually, Hal had Irina down and lay between her legs as he ate her out and paid a lot of attention to her clit while the other two teased her breast with Lust flames while also fingering one another in preparation for Hal's cock.
Hal's tongue elongated and he reached so many regions within Irina that he left her squirming and begging for him to shove his cock into her as hard and deep as he could.
"Of course I will" Hal said with a mild chuckle before grabbing her legs after having placed his cock head inside her.
And then he thrust, much to the jealousy and impatience of the other two who never really stopped their ministrations,
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Mnngghhh, I love it!!!" Irina moaned and exclaimed as she was already having her first orgasm.
Hal grinned and nodded,
This was shaping up to be a good, long and incredible session.
Chapter 290 - That's Discrimination.
Hal sat cross-legged once he was out of the Harem space after spending Thirty hours in the time-warped Mansion, and refined all the essence he had gotten and was pleased to finally be heading ever closer to the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.
That said, he decided it was about time he got on this mission he had been given.
If there was one thing Ehrlich had made abundantly clear about on their way to the city out of the forest they had been in, it was that he would not be assisting Hal in any way and Hal would have to solve this all on his own.
Which was another reason he could not bring out any of the ladies in the harem space for support since he would not only have to explain how they were there, he would also be flouting his orders to do this solo.
Anyway, Hal was not worried.
For one thing, this was pretty straightforward.
Black lagoon from what he had been told by Ehrlich was mostly a lawless town where anything goes, so a supply of such terrible material was bound to not be really frowned upon, hence easy to find out simply by asking.
'This will be a piece of cake' he thought as he stood up and made his way to the door of his room.
'Why did you have to say that? Now I feel like you've jinxed us.' Grimoire said in annoyance.
Hal furrowed his brows,
'First off, what is with the 'us'? If anything goes wrong and the worst happens, you'll just move on to the next host. And second, how the hell does a book believe in jinxes?' He asked.
'Well, first you are actually right and I will most likely move on to the next host but it's not every time I get to have a promising host such as yourself. I fear I might be getting attached.
As for jinxes, who doesn't believe in them?' Grimoire retorted.
Hal shrugged at the reply and walked out of the room to find Ehrlich right there waiting for him,
"You were in there for three hours. That's one hour too many" he said to Hal.
Hal frowned,
"I don't see how that should be your business. You said you were only going to observe. So why not observe and let me do my thing, I have a process." He said and walked past Ehrlich.
Ehrlich shrugged,
"Yes, I am only here to observe but I am also here to offer you advice that doesn't infringe too much on you doing this on your own." He told Hal and followed him down the stairs.
"Where are you headed?" He added.
Hal glanced at him out of the corner of his eye,
"The hotel's restaurant. And I would prefer no one see us together."
Ehrlich looked confused at that statement,
"Why not? No one here knows who we are. For all they know, you are my younger brother."
Hal shook his head,
"Who cares if they don't know who we are? I just find it annoying that you will stay so close and yet so useless.
Now run along"
Hal said just as he arrived at the restaurant and frowned at how scanty it was.
The few he could see were clearly men of importance but also men dressed in attire that made them look like travelers.
Which was to be expected since this was a hotel.
At first, Hal decided to sit but there was a general feel to this place that did not put him at ease.
Not from fear of getting attacked but that there was no way he would get any of these people to speak to him and what he needed now was information.
He needed someplace indigenous to the Black lagoon. He needed someplace where people spoke freely.
Somewhere an obvious stranger like him could simply butt into a conversation,
He needed a Pub.
As for whether Black lagoon had a dingy bar where rowdy men grouped together to converse about whatever, he would have to go with a big, fat definitely.
And he was right.
After a few directions from quite a few grumpy-looking denizens walking the street, Hal was well on his way to the 'Black Pub'. Which was a name Hal felt showed they were just too lazy to pick something better.
He entered and it was mostly like how he had expected,
The room was dingy and it had a few rowdy men but emphasis on the word 'few'.
Most of those Hal could see were dressed respectably and in arguably better attire than his.
He went ahead to the bar and the bartender was a man with a jagged scar across his cheek which Hal felt was most likely by choice, probably for the purpose of intimidation, since there were many simple ways to get rid of scars.
Only a few scars were truly permanent.
Especially in a Black market site such as this.
That said, the intimidation factor was lost in Hal since he could tell the bartender was at the late stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.
"What would you like to drink?" He asked Hal with a smile that took him by surprise.
That along with the mild-sounding voice made Hal more sure of his previous assessment.
Since he did not really have a preference, Hal simply asked for anything good while he scoured the room for potential talkative fellows.
They were bound not to be too hard to find since they would most likely be the life of the party and sure enough, there they were with mugs of alcohol in hand and being as loud as they possibly could.
"You are not from the Lagoon are you?" The bartender said and Hal turned to him to shake his head,
"No, I'm not. What gave it away?" He asked with a neutral expression.
The Bartender shrugged,
"You just look new here... Like you don't belong" he said in a tone that told Hal he was hoping not to be offensive.
"So what? Because I'm more handsome than the bunch you usually get here, I don't 'belong'?" Hal said with a frown.
The bartender's smile wiped off his face as he wondered why he was feeling so intimidated by someone whose cultivation was not even clear,
"I meant no dis..." He began but Hal interrupted,
"Because that is Discrimination and I can sue you." Hal said with a serious expression.
Now the bartender was confused,
"Discrimination? Sue? What the hell is that?" He asked and Hal chuckled,
"Oh don't worry, I'm just messing with you." He said with a smile and turned away only to turn back suddenly and scare the shit out of the bartender as he said,
"Or am I? Send the drinks over to that table and make sure there is enough for all of us" he said and walked over to the cool table where the laughter was still booming.
Of course, before actually sitting, he did a little bit of recon through which he knew none of them could really threaten him. Well dressed as they were, the men in this pub were clearly very close to being the lowest on the social ladder.
The only person he was weary of was a fellow who sat by himself at a little corner in the pub.
His brown hair was tied in a knot at the top of his head while he took regular sips of alcohol.
Hal went over to the loud table,
"Mind if I join you?" He asked.
They looked up at him and smiled, though it was mostly drunken smiles due to their intoxication.
The least drunk-looking of them looked up at Hal and said with only a bit of a slur,
"Of course. The more the merrier. What's your name?" He asked
Hal pulled a chair and sat down as he said,
"Hal, Hal Klint"