Cherno Caster [Noir Biopunk/Cyberpunk LitRPG]

“The backlash will be far more significant in the end result, but as you can see, I am no liar. Should you still not trust me, might I perhaps allow you to watch as I place the contingency upon the finished Cremation Cocoon Talisman?” Yao asked somewhat facetiously.

“No, I believe this will suffice. Our business, as it pertains to my investigation, is concluded, but I still have a request - as a customer. To start - you are familiar with the Wards and Barriers defense paradigm endemic to the Seven Spokes System, yes?”

“Of course,” Yao said, waiting for Krahe to continue

“Would you happen to be familiar with an alternative to Barriers which entails becoming semi-intangible through partly submerging oneself into the immaterial?”

“Spirit Walking, yes. I believe it is far more common in Tiengenzhen than the wider world, in fact - there is a nearly even split between those who prefer it over Barriers, though any well-rounded martial expert is expected to be skilled in techniques of both defensive types, and ideally others as well. In this, I find the Seven Spokes System’s layout to be a detriment, as it creates such a false dichotomy.”

That seemed to grab Casus’s attention, snapping him out of his state of silent observation that he had been in for much of the conversation. Nonetheless, he remained quiet, merely paying greater attention. It seemed to amuse Yao a touch.

“Do you think you would be able to procure or produce a voidkey specializing in Spirit Walking, then?”

Yao gave a knowing smile, as if she wanted to say something but decided not to, instead stating: “Procure? No, not in any reasonable amount of time. As for crafting one… As I am now? Perhaps, but I would require materials exceptionally well-suited to it. Parts from a beast naturally able to Spirit Walk, for instance, and special resonant metals or stones, a scroll on which I would be willing to make a copy of for you. Ideally, an existing key of that type as a core. Whether fully intact or damaged by forcible extraction wouldn’t matter. Of course, you would not be asking me this question if you already had such a key, but the limitations of my state are nothing if not suffocating. That is all to say, I cannot fulfill your request right now, but I believe I can help you approach that goal. Before we get into that, however, would you have a more immediate request?”

Krahe stood in silence thinking, holding eye contact with Yao, for a good twenty seconds, before she summoned a Wandrei Faust talisman into her hand.

“This talisman harnesses an eidolon. I don’t think I need to tell you what it does. Suggest improvements and provide the means to apply them. You are the Talisman Mistress, are you not?”

A thread of golden light extended from Yao, enveloping the paper and bringing it to her. She examined it with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, commenting: “How very crude… And yet, profound all the same. The brush strokes, in their roughness, embody a visceral nature which doubtlessly aids in the talisman’s combative ability, but it is abundantly clear that the roughness of the brush is a detriment to the delicate components. I presume these centipede-leg-like, or perhaps rib-like patterns around the edges cause the highest number of failures, am I right? You shall need a clean-writing brush for that, no wider than a single hair at the tip. The paper…”

Yao flipped it back and forth, waved it around, even sniffed it. With a grimace, she admitted: “It’s fine. No more, no less. It has no serious flaws, but no standout qualities, either. I can sell you some of my stock, so long as you swear not to resell or otherwise redistribute it. The ink, though, is good, I like it very much. There are layers of secrets in its formulation, I can tell. Just one charge of ink for each side, and yet all these colours. Very nice.”

She abruptly turned to Casus.

“Silberblut. Do you know of a place where one might be able to hunt soulbeasts?”

Before he even got halfway through his tentative nod, Yao already continued: “Fantastic. We will go there, and you will slay a beast. I will even be so magnanimous as to process it for you… But I must see what you can do for myself in order to be certain, and frankly, I need raw materials to work with.”

“For what?” Krahe questioned.

“A better brush, of course. We will find a beast with a nature suited to the kinds of talismans you intend to make, and use its body parts and spirit-remnants to produce a brush.”

“It will be a matter of weeks before an appropriate hunting ground can be scouted, and perhaps more before we find the right kind of soulbeast. Optimistically, a week if the only constraint is a destructive, wrathful, and/or malicious beast with fine fur,” Casus remarked.

Yao, smiling, answered: “I don’t see how that would be a problem. A truly sublime, custom brush gives twice the results with half the effort, but the minimum effort which it demands is far and above any generalist, mass-produced tool. Not to mention, the process of crafting such an item can be one of months - I, in my unparalleled skill, can do it much faster, of course. I’m sure you understand my intentions, Silberblut - if at all possible, it would be best to hunt both beasts in one hunt, given my limited knowledge of this land’s limitations on spirit beast hunting.”

Casus gave a nod of acknowledgment, and Yao kept on going without pause, pulling open one of her drawers. She pulled out a brush with a handle of dark wood and bristles of fine, white hair. A wrist-flick sent both it and the Wandrei Faust talisman flying into Krahe’s hand.

“This one ought to be an improvement over what you’re using at the moment.”

Looking around for a few moments, Yao’s eye landed on a wall-spanning shelf near the writing desk.