Chapter 875: The second day of the evaluation trial (part 28)

"The basic capacity of my technique was directly unlocked since my progress was at 15% from the very beginning, but now I have reached 19% and for my second improvement I will be obtaining the capacity to set up an "aspect" of my own creation, for the transcendent library".

"So, I’m thinking on setting up an aspect that compiles all the available information at the time to produce a...", unaware of it, that receptionist girl started spilling out everything that was in her mind.

Time sure flies when one is having fun because before Angela realized, more than an hour had passed, and her reward time was over, as Aster subtly reminded her by jokingly saying.

"If we don’t go down the mountain in the next five minutes, what are the chances of our lunch being eaten by those little gluttons?", which made Angela slightly pout to her insides.

’Ugh, I got lost in my own little world and kept talking for more than an hour about the many different details I could extrapolate and quantify, did I perhaps bore him...’, Angela’s thoughts were interrupted by Aster patting her head as he added.

"I think your idea of crossing all the available details you see for an estimation of "threat level" is amazing, though we should never thrust in what an enemy "allows" us to see, we could use your estimation as the best case scenario for those girls to be aware of what they are fighting", he said, which made Angela’s pretty hazel eyes sparkle.

Aster wasn’t just saying empty words, he genuinely listened and seriously considered every single thing she spoke about for the past hour, in order to give her this answer.

"Besides your theory that passing 50% of progress for a manual’s volume will come with a mission to obtain a new technique, is worth paying attention to, I originally wanted to bring my galaxy forge to 40% after reaching 30% today, but I will instead focus in absolute, thanks to you", added Aster.

There were limits to what Angela could extrapolate from the information she has access to, but with her pride on the line she assured Aster that the chance of obtaining another unique mission for a completely different technique after reaching progress on the second half of a manual’s volume, was at least of 90%.

And that’s huge, the manuals don’t directly include any clues as to what the techniques that a participant would be able to learn through them will be like, they are just a compilation of training methods and other knowledge, since they are just normal mortal books, you can’t get "inspiration" from them like a cultivator might get from their manual, in this place the unique missions fulfill that aspect, but even then you don’t know when they will be triggered nor the requirements for that to happen, or well that was the case until know, because Angela could "see" that with her technique.

In other words, under the correct circumstances, with Angela’s help, the members of the camp won’t have to wait until they get a feeling of what the conditions to trigger their unique missions are like, anymore, Angela will be able to directly tell them the specifics.

Of course, she can’t just create that result out of nowhere, so they have to have some progress regarding triggering their unique missions, but at this point there is no member of the group who doesn’t have that, which means that a whole bunch of unique missions are about to be triggered with a bit of help from a certain glasses wearing girl, who was all smiles right now.

"I say we hurry up because they 100% will eat out lunch if we are late~", said Angela as she got up, Aster still had one last little "reward" for her in storage though, as in he chuckled as he got up and then after holding onto her hand, he... jumped off the top of the mountain.

Normally that would worry any mortal girl to death, but Angela simply giggled knowing that there was a 0% chance that Aster wanted to harm her, and she was right because below them was a thick and bouncy grass cushion which softly received them as they reached the ground.

"I will have to take a daily break at the top of miss Esmeralda’s jade mountain and end it this way from now and onwards", said Angela as she accommodated her glasses which had slightly moved out of their normal position due to the descend.

"That’s fine, just don’t tell Eris or she will make this training for those poor girls", jokingly said Aster which made the receptionist girl softly laugh.

They walked towards the dining area and were welcomed with a familiar and appetizing smell, one that let alone the group from the myriad occupation sect, but probably every single group in this place has not been able to enjoy ever since they arrived here, the delicious smell of freshly baked bread.

Apparently, that was the result of Sarina and Mylene’s cooperation, and it was also the reason as to why Aster went straight to the western area outside of the camp earlier, because he didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

"We are ready big brother~", happily said Kana as she ran towards Aster while carrying a picnic basket accompanied by the little wyrm who was also holding onto one, with her tail of course.

They weren’t the only ones, Dahlia, Nina as well as Lina who were following Mylene and Sarina, also had baskets in their hands.

"Thanks for making me company, I’ll go with sisters Eris, Valentina and Mikaela, enjoy your meal", said Angela as she patted Kana’s head to then leave towards the leader’s table.

Aster greeted those seven and then after taking a deep breath, he looked at Sarina as he said.

"Mmm, I smell rye bread, boar meat and maple syrup, so that’s why Kana wanted lots and lots of chips, today’s main dish is perhaps sandwiches?", which made Kana and Espi giggle.

"I knew big brother would know it right away", said the little girl.

"Mm, we found rye and ground it using the waterwheel, bread made with it goes well with boar meat and it has a long shelf life, so I asked Mylene for some yest to make it with stone ovens crafted by the girls of the blacksmith peak", added Sarina with a smile, to which Mylene sighed.

"I even helped Sarina make a vegetable soup with a smell rich enough to trick Mira, on the other hand you are also a Wolfstein like Cami, so I guess your nose is really sharp", said the pink-haired girl as they walked into one of the small tree agglomerations within the camp, namely the one where Sarina’s private garden was located.

Once they arrived, Sarina and Mylene placed the mantles on the ground and started placing the empty plates, cups and other utensils on top of it, Aster of course helped as well, not without saying.

"Are we going to get our lunch stolen by the dangerous "predators" that are looking at us from the top of the trees, or something like that?", jokingly said Aster, which earned him a soft growl from one of the trees.

"Grrr", Mira who was accompanied by Guardian and Lauren, jumped down from the tree and elegantly landed on the ground next to Aster.

The ligress girl spent the past hours with Aria, so she wanted to share her meal with her "kitty bestie" as well as with Lauren whom she was looking after now as well.

"Sister Lauren come, me and Espi prepared a larger sandwich for you~", happily said the little girl.

"Hisss~", which was seconded by the little wyrm, as they took out a sandwich twice the size of a normal one, those three started taking out the solid food namely the sandwiches and chips and placing them on the plates of everyone, while Mira and Dahlia poured the beverages in the cups of everyone.

Lina and Nina served the soup while Guardian moved the baskets that were empty out of the way, everyone cooperated creating quite the harmonious scene, which brought a smile to Sarina’s pretty face, this was her reward time and she loved sharing it with a bunch of lovely girls.

"Let’s just wait for everything to be served", said Aster.

Sarina’s smile brightened as she had Aster wrap his arms around her waist from behind, as he sat on the ground with the blond roc mother on his lap, she helped making the food and everything, so she deserved to be tended to during her reward time.

"Mm~", with a soft nod Sarina leaned the back of her head against Aster’s shoulder, sharing a nice meal with her daughter, those little girls, some friends and her lover was perfect, life was good.

Of course, it didn’t take long for everything to be ready and seeing those cute girls almost drooling at the food, Aster gave the greenlight and everyone dug in.

"It’s different than eating that grain called rye, I like it", said the lynx as she bit onto her sandwich, unlike all the other people present, Guardian has never eaten bread before, so this was a first for her, she wasn’t the only one who was positively surprised though.

"Woah, this bread is delicious, even when made with mortal ingredients is night and day when compared to the bread we were given back then", said Lauren as she took continuous big bites of her sandwich, which earned her a head pat from Mira.

"Don’t rush, Kana and Espi made many of these large sandwiches just for you, and there is also dessert later", said the ligress who was furious on the inside, knowing what the badger girl was referring to.

"Mm, I’ll listen to big tiger sister", said Lauren as she though slightly, slowed down.

It hasn’t been that long since Cassandra found Lauren, around one year and though the young badger girl didn’t really seem affected by the fact that she was made to work in the mines and fight in a cage for the entertainment of some sick bastards, she still had some habits that would make any decent person feel angry on the inside.

For example, she eating a lot is normal given that she is a beast descendant, however she rushed to eat as soon as food was in front of her, she only learned to enjoy food after meeting Cassandra so she was still new to that.

That aside, she also had trouble to stay quiet, not like the energetic little girl and little wyrm who are bundles of energy that play around all the day, but as in Lauren couldn’t just sit a moment and relax or take a break even if she was tired, and what’s worse is that as soon as night came, she goes to bed whether she is sleepy or not.

Because she wasn’t given any rest during day and was locked in a small room as soon as night came, it has gotten a little better now but she still requires Cassandra to give her some things to do prior to going to sleep which are enough for her to actually get sleepy, like reading a book, then bathing and only then going to bed.

Aster is not one of the few people that can surprise that wicked older sister of Lina and Nina, for nothing, there was another way to help someone control the speed at which they eat, namely conversation, though normally it naturally happens since in his group it’s a rule to always share their meals together while talking about their day.

"How were the flying lessons Lauren, did you prefer flying with Sarina or with Esmeralda?", said Aster as he drank from his cup and enjoyed the fresh and slightly acid cold apple juice made by Mylene.

Lauren who was munching on a slice of boar meat that slipped out of her sandwich smiled as she answered.

"It was fun, when I saw swordsman big brother being enveloped by wind, I got interested in trying it, but I think I ended up liking flying with Kana’s mother and sister eagle more, maybe because they also have beast lineages like me", said the young badger girl.

"I get sister Lauren, flying with sister Esmeralda’s wind is nice, but being carried by sister Regina is interesting on its own, right Espi?", said Kana to which the little wyrm cutely nodded in response.

"Hisss!".

Apparently at some point, Kana and Espi gave Regina puppy eyes and so the giant eagle also gave them a ride, it was a different experience than with Esmeralda or Sarina, it might have looked a bit weird from the snake’s point of view to see the little wyrm having fun while being carried by an eagle, considering that normally, an eagle would only carry a snake like that if it had hunted it and was going to eat it, but well, everyone had fun.

"And how about you two, looks like you had fun with miss Layla and Lieze, earlier", added Aster as he gazed at Lina and Nina who had their swordsmanship training "desires" fulfilled by the time they met Aster once again.

"Yeah, I honestly had a hard time believing that white haired sister was as strong as sister Iris, but damn, she can really hold her ground, considering she blocked both my and Nina’s swords together, with hers", said the sister in the middle, with her carefree usual voice.

"Mm, her sword was also quite heavy despite its normal size", added Nina as she stole a gaze at Aster, she looked cute not directly saying that she wanted him to make a heavy short sword for her, luckily Aster had those two covered.

"I have improved my technique to control "density" of efficient mortal steel alloys, so, I’ll have large but light swords as well as short but heavy ones, ready before tomorrow’s lunch time", he said which made those two’s eyes sparkle.

And speaking of that, Lauren actually took the initiative to stop eating as she added.

"Swordsman big brother, can you make a proper whip for sister Cassandra, she used most of her share of metal for my gauntlets, so the spikes on her whip have broken before and had to be replaced with lower quality metal", that was an innocent proof of how much Cassandra weighted in the young badger girl’s heart, she prioritized Cassandra over her food.

"Sure, Espi is good at handling leather so I’ll leave that part of the whip for her, but I’ll personally replace the spikes for high quality steel ones", said Aster.

"Mm, thanks", said Lauren as she continued with her meal, as if it was a competition, the badger girl, Kana, Espi and Nina, were the last ones to finish their meal, and now it was dessert time.

And since this was Sarina’s reward, Aster prepared an extra detail to sweeten the blond roc mother’s heart, as in he asked for a little "favor" from the ligress who froze the maple coated strawberries for him on the spot, before Aster personally fed them to Sarina.

’Is this "offering" enough so that my roc queen doesn’t eat me?’, jokingly whispered Aster at Sarina which made the latter chuckle as she bit on the sweetened strawberry.

"Mm~", the blond roc mother happily smiled as she was spoiled by Aster with a frozen dessert, of course this resulted in a bunch of girls looking at Mira with eyes full of expectation, so at the end Mira had no choice but to turn into a freezer.

’It’s good, but I’ll get him for this’, thought the ligress as she bit a frozen sweetened strawberry and couldn’t help but admit that it was tasty.

...

"Phew, I’m ready to have a second match with Lieze, if it isn’t a problem with you, we want to have our rewards on Thursday alongside sis and Iris", said Lina as she jumped to get up.

"Mm, I want to listen to miss Camila’s evaluation of the materials we brought, before getting our reward", added Nina as she followed her sister to leave, it might appear as if they were still doubting of the value of the quartz they collected, but that wasn’t the case.

’For having been "traumatized" by Mina’s wicked schemes, those two surely know how to use their brains’, jokingly thought Aster, if Camila said that their quartz were quite the treasure, that meant an even bigger reward, so those two preferred to wait for their materials to be further evaluated, it was cute.

And it also aligned with Aster’s schedule, since the batches of iron that he put in the furnaces should finish their process any second now.

"I would like to say that I’ll see you all at dinner, but honestly, I don’t know if Alice will be calm enough to eat with everyone, so we’ll see how things go", said Aster as he bid farewell to Mylene and the others.

He was followed by Kana and Espi towards the smithy, where the "surprise visitor" was already waiting for them, a tall girl with short red hair of a darker tone than the three sisters, Iris or Layla, namely elder Riley’s disciple, Blair.

"Hi, I checked on the furnaces a few times so far, the iron has been completely processed and both the especial batch you prepared as well as the normal ones are... quite something", said the short red-haired girl.

There was another girl among the ones from the blacksmith peak who could keep up with Blair in terms of learning mortal blacksmithing, but Blair has earned a reward first, so Aster told her to observe the progress of the furnaces during the day and look at the differences when compared to the usual.

’As I thought, she really has quite the talent for blacksmithing, to the point that she can "see" that, when she looks at the furnaces’, thought Aster as he nodded in approval.

Why would Aster have her do that you wonder, not only with the batch of iron to which he added those whitish crystals and charcoal, but also to the regular iron batches too, and the answer is simple, you just have to remember what big change has been brought to the camp between the last time the girls of the blacksmith peak worked and today.

"Carefully look at it and tell me if you can still "see" it once I have taken the steel out of the furnace", said Aster as he put on his protective gloves and used his tongs to take out the iron and place it on the anvil.

The first thing that both Espi and Blair noticed is that the steel had very little to no slag, the quality of the iron they obtained from Guardian’s lair was quite high, so the impurities in it were very little, however there was still some to remove once it was processed.

But this time, the steel needed a few strikes and it would be good to go, it’s worth mentioning that this was steel from one of the usual iron batches, so it didn’t undergo any special treatment, it was just iron placed inside a furnace.

But once again, there was a difference between the last time Aster worked in the smithy and today, namely the fact that there was now energy from the beliefs being produced by the members of the camp.

And that might make you wonder "But what does that matter in this case?", and the answer is simple, turns out that while in a much fainter quantity, the iron that was retrieved from Guardian’s lair... reacted to the energy of the beliefs.

It was due to that, that the quality of the steel increased a whole notch without doing anything else to process the iron used for it, this piece of steel that had yet to be touched by Aster’s hammer, was already of equal quality as a billet that was prepared by Aster to be transformed into a proper piece of equipment.

"I can’t see those shiny particles around the steel anymore, the moment you took it out of the furnace they disappeared", mumbled Blair.

It was normal for that to happen, if the things brought by Kana, Dahlia, Lina and Nina can be considered tempered body realm materials regarding the level of reaction they have with the energy of the beliefs, then the iron from Guardian’s lair is only half step tempered body realm, a pseudo material would be the best way to describe it.

But this surprise gain they had, which was obtained thanks to befriending a certain lynx, had way higher potential than that, as Blair gazing at one of the furnaces where the special batch of iron was processed, with sparkles in her eyes, suggested.