LIGHTNOVELONLINE CH12: Tempering
The carpet was sticky with sex fluids, and there was no way a proper Sect Master would force his disciples to clean up his mess. Cinder lazed about in his chair, reading something on her tablet while Rias and Akeno surfed the channels. Rias had a fluffy white towel around her head intricately twisted into a spiraling cone while Akeno used a blowdryer. Both devils lounged naked comfortably, exposing their breasts to him while contemplating a show to watch while they ate breakfast. The redhead practically sunk into Virgil’s armchair. Not a serious bone in her body could be seen while she relaxed next to the ruined carpet.
Vergil leaned in and kissed Rias; the devil’s eyes widened before they closed, and she sunk into the kiss. The devil girl’s pillowy lips pressed welcoming against him while he enjoyed his redheaded waifu. He broke away and kissed Akeno and paused at Cinder. The dragon girl gave him a predatory smile.
“What are your plans?” The charmander asked.
“My brother sent me a text asking to meet with you; what should I tell him?” Rias bit her lip. “He sounds insistent,” Rias said.
If she was feeling guilty about her brother coming down on him, she shouldn’t have. Vergil expected it but didn’t have time to play with Sirzechs. The man’s older brother posturing could be put on hold; there were more important objectives for the day.
Shiro reached the semi-finals, and Mark made it to the quarter-finals. Recruitment from Dragonball Earth had increased though the exact percentage would need to be compared to former monthly reports.
He stepped into the stain and felt the cold, sticky puddle cover his toes. The puddle of cum had gone up in his priority list over Sirzechs, the strongest Super Devil. Perhaps when they found the harry potter universe, house elves would be a high priority, or he could look for some succubi with maid fetishes. Vergil preferred the latter one over the house-elves aesthetics shouldn’t be ignored.
“Cinder, purchase some cleaning solution, spray the puddle, and try to dry it up. We don’t want mold.” He looked around to see some amused girls. “Alright, I will pay someone to clean once I return. Tell your brother that I will meet him next week.” Vergil said.
“Where are you going?” Akeno asked.
“Don’t worry about it. My body needs tempering, and the sex marathon has already done its part.” Vergil said while texting his inner disciples to work hard and chaise the peak stage. “I will be back in a few hours.”
The girls gave him a look like he was dumb. Akeno tossed her hair back, and Rias slowly removed the spiraling cone of red and white from her head. It seemed they had the misconception that they were going with him.
They weren’t coming with him; it would make his tempering more difficult. Rias was strong and had the power of destruction, functionally like Shikaraki’s quirk decay. Akeno was also incredibly powerful, and once her fallen angel heritage was unleashed, she could use holy lightning. Unfortunately, neither could help him temper himself unless he sparred against them. The point of going to the dungeon was to break the barrier between the natal and foundation-building realm. Cinder was the only one he would consider inviting, but only to give her training to help her evolve.
“To cultivate is to seek power to be strong alone. Bringing the three of you would defeat the point. Stay here and have fun, watch tv, and hang out. I will be back.” Vergil said.
None of his girls took that well. Vergil could see it on their faces that, at the first opportunity, they would cut and run for the dungeon. Rias and Akeno might see it as an investment; Cinder could see it as guarding her investment as well. Women were like that. If he put himself in danger unnecessarily to the point it could impact them, they would be against it. Cinder saw him as a prized mate and didn’t want to go through the trouble of finding a new one. Rias wasn’t completely out of the woods when it came to Riser.
Vergil could sense that Rias intended to use him as her lover, shield, and sword if she could. Of course, Akeno would follow Rias to the end. He had his own life to live, so he left.
…
In a lab in the dungeon's depths, beyond even the gods of pokémon, an embryo was developing in a gestation tank. Green fluids surrounded a glowing golden clump of cells destined for greatness. Power could be felt from the pod in such magnitudes that even the strongest pokémon feared to approach it. Long cables covered the lab as row after row of gestation pods showed malformed creations from the mad science of a bodiless demon. Towa had generously given Garlic Jr. access to his former body. Still, instead of taking it and leaving his dungeon core behind, Garlic Jr. had taken the DNA and ran numerous experiments.
The dungeon core once Garlic Jr. felt his new body slowly adapt to the DNA of thousands of pokémon natural, environmentally altered, and genetically engineered. Once fully formed, it would be perfect and powerful, more than a match for any Siayans. Unfortunately, Towa had wanted an army of demons in exchange for the body, and Garlic Jr. had lived up to his bargain.
Garlic Jr. had started with 10 clones with Dialga’s DNA. They weren’t an army, but hopefully, they would keep Towa and Mira off his back while his body matured. Of course, it would take time to ensure it remains stable.
A time portal appeared, and Garlic hid his creation and opened the pods of the time demons.
Towa stepped out of the portal white hair tossed back, strutting into Garlic Jr.’s lab like she owned the place. She put a hand on her buxom hips and looked over warriors Garlic Jr. released.
“They don’t look like much; maybe it would be better if I killed you and tied up loose ends. I don’t see a return on my investment happening anytime soon; the supreme kai of time’s warriors aren’t entities these toys can handle.” Towa said.
“Foolish woman, what they lack in power, they make up for in utility. These clones have the DNA of a god of time. Each of them can transverse the passage of time innately.” Garlic Jr. said.
Towa approached a blue-skinned demon with a blue sphere embedded in its chest. The smallest hint of God ki flickered within the gem. Garlic Jr. was confident his creation was powerful enough to sway the demoness.
“I don’t like your tone,” Towa tapped one of the entities with her staff. “Fortunately, you are not the end result of the process to create soldiers that surpass the time patrol. Dr. Gero will give them perpetual energy, the same power as androids 17 and 18. He will take these ugly, unpolished gems and make them shine.” Towa turned back to his seemingly weak dungeon core. “When I return in a month, I expect 10 more,” Towa said.
The woman reached forward and touched his dungeon core. The act had him frothing at the mouth. How dare that disgusting hell slut touch the majesty of his perfect form.
“Will that be all, Towa?” Garlic Jr. asked.
“For now,” Towa said and left.
…
The dungeon did not want him to descend its floors. The only way forward was over a mountain of bodies. Fortunately, that was exactly what he needed. Cultivation had three requirements to be successful wealth, companionship, and talent. Wealth was listed first because it was the most important; without resources, cultivation would stagnate or become impossible. Companionship meant mentors to teach techniques or disciples to pass techniques onto. The final requirement was talent, and Vergil felt that he was a middling talent at best, so he needed a lot of wealth to make up for it.
A dark cloud hovered over a cold dormant volcano beyond the swamp where pokémon had gathered in greater numbers with higher power. It was here he planned to temper himself and inch closer to the body foundation-building realm. He had a feeling that if he climbed to the mountain's peak, he would face an Articuno, the incarnation of blizzards. He planned to fight and learn from the pokémon on the mountain and hopefully develop techniques of his own to pass to the Sect.
Frostlass blotted out the false sun, and the temperature dropped as sapient poison gas erupted from a hole in the largest mountain on the first floor. Angry snowflakes Cryogonal blasted the ground around him with ice beams until he punched one and shattered it. That’s when Abomasnow 9ft yetis with the arms of gorillas and the morality of plants started bombarding him with boulders of compacted ice and snow. A Beartic, a polar bear, swatted him, and he swatted it back. Every time he killed something more of a different type of pokémon appeared. Ice-type rapidash with blue flames from the orange islands rammed at him with their unicorn horns or blasted him with ice beams. Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar blew noxious gas in his face while he stepped up the mountain.
Vergil felt like he was making a difference as the baggage train trailed behind him longer with his victory over each pokémon. Not a scratch reached him from the battle, but he could feel the cold bite through his clothes, forcing him the shiver no matter what he wore. He stomped against the mountainside and felt his foot dig a crater into the rock. Digging his feet into the mountainside helped him keep his footing. The trails the pokémon created were a maze only they could navigate, forcing him to make his own path up. Unfortunately, at every turn, there was an attack.
He continued to shiver, miserable but hopeful. The spoils train continued lengthening as he slaughtered his way up the mountain. Zenni and yen, pokéballs, stat-increasing items, elemental stones, and rare techniques dropped as he slew his way up.
Vergil turned a corner, and a Mamoswine shot out of a tunnel shaking its massive ivory tusks back and forth. It's every step shook the ground as the earth split, opening fissures as the pokémon charged him. Then, earth-type move energy struck him as the massive beast slammed a heavy tusk into him. Vergil impacted the rock wall before the monster slammed into him.
This was the moment he crossed the barrier. Vergil pushed against the Mamoswine’s tusks, his muscles bulging as his body used more ki and psychic energy to power itself. If anything helped him breakthrough, it would be a life-or-death struggle.
That was what he thought until he realized his body wasn’t fooled. “I can’t cheat at this.” Vergil smiled at the pokémon before punching it with his full strength.
Blood splashed across the snow, adding some color to the mountainside along with brains. “Sorry, I’m not feeling it; this little mountain hasn’t shown me a threat,” Vergil said and gripped the nearest Gengar with telekinesis and watched the pokemon’s ever-present smile vanish. Then, he crushed it with telekinesis before charging toward the peak.
He hadn’t reached the peak when he stepped into the territory of a titan. Vergil felt the intent to freeze him solid and leave a corpse on the mountain clearly. The ground beneath Vergil’s feet trembled as a powerful entity made itself known.
“Regice,” a pokémon made of ice called, stopping Verigl in his tracks. Suddenly the air froze as a powerful blizzard blasted him against the mountain's edge. It thrust a hand into the ground, and ice pillars exploded against his chest. The creature approached, freezing the air as it summoned another powerful blizzard.
It was a legendary, a weak one but still legendary. Vergil could feel his body growing colder and knew that this was a real threat, something he could battle without holding back. The pokémon stood 15 meters tall and floated in the air while the world froze. It was more a force of nature, like an elemental, than a pokémon. Being near it hurt Vergil through his cultivation and ki armor.
Vergil raised his hand and blasted it with a flamethrower. Before the attack reached the ice type, the flames winked out. The air around Regice was so cold that when his flames neared the pokémon, they caused an updraft that snuffed them out.
He reviewed his techniques and settled back on the flamethrower. If it hit the pokémon, then it would be super effective.
Vergil pressed a hand against his cold face and felt a crack. A piece of blackened dead skin and a drop of frozen blood fell off. He couldn’t feel any pain which wasn’t a good sign. Of course, his light clothes weren’t built for this situation, but that was the point. This was tempering.
A smile spread across his face as the cold hands of death inched closer to him. That was what he needed to hammer away his weakness.
He shot across the snow and reached out with his hands. Flames gathered before erupting in a compact stream. Vergil felt the heat eat his face and knew he was getting somewhere. Feeling heat was a good sign.
Massive ice spears smashed around him as the legendary took him seriously. A spear sliced through his side as he tried to dodge but was caught. He continued unleashing flamethrower as he controlled the output of the technique. Haki allowed him to guess where the pokémon intended to stab, giving him enough early warning to move out of the way or minimize the damage.
The colossal ice legendary was strong, but Vergil saw his flamethrower sink an inch closer to the pokémon. In a sense, he was using ki to make fire and telekinesis to direct it. Fire pokémon used their mouths, but Vergil had other means to use his technique.
He didn’t have the same ki mutation as Dragonball, but his ki could sharpen, be refined, and adapt to techniques. Flamethrower was stronger than flamethrower.
Vergil might have had a better chance of finishing the monster if he had used a physical attack; unfortunately, getting close to the Regice was deadly. The monster was 15 meters tall and had a massive field of -200c; it was a miracle Vergle’s flamethrower was close. He began to sharpen and refine his flamethrower to combat the monster mid-fight.
The barrier of cold was the best whetstone to put his fire attack against. He had plenty of ki, and throwing fire in the wind warmed him up a little against the blizzard.
While he used the pokémon to practice his flamethrower, the Regice blasted an ice spear through Vergil’s shoulder.
He felt it as his frozen blood rolled down from the wound. Vergil touched the wall. What he needed to cross the threshold was a technique of his own creation to act as the foundation for his body refinement. After battling the Regice, he concluded that his body needed to counter dangerous environments.
While that sounded like a braindead solution, it made some sense stuck in a blizzard atop a frozen mountain facing a legendary. If Vergil was battling a creature of ice that exuded an aura of cold, he needed an aura of heat hotter than his opponent.
He already had something he could use to help his body. From his loot train, he took a firestone and crushed it before letting his body absorb it through his hand. It was the first taste of elemental power, but Vergil felt the embers of what could be erupt from within his body.
The very outer edge of his skin began to produce heat to counter the Regice’s blizzard. Of course, it wasn’t enough at first, but Vergil had gained vast wealth. He used a second, third, fourth, and fifth firestone on the spot boosting his body’s fire reserves more. Other stones would be needed if he wanted to upgrade himself further.
It wasn’t a true step into foundation building, but he was three-quarters of the way there. Then, he felt the icicle in his wound melt with the change. The legendary shot forward and punched down with a massive fist. Vergil was no longer in a hopeless fight, so the pokémon put in the effort to kill him. But, like many cultivators before him, he bought power with his wealth.