NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: New services
Sunny was laying in the snow breathing heavily.
'It was way too close. Since when have I been fighting so rashly?'
Despite the fact he did win he wasn't feeling any happier. It was the revenge he delivered, yes. For that his spite was satisfied, he should feel satisfied. After all the spite was his driving force, and the foundation of his desires.
Yet... it was very childish way of thinking. Desire doesn't lead to happiness. It's not better at all. Half of his cohort is still dead. The Falcon Scott is also dead. Professor Obel is dead. Their lifes were lost forever.
If it was possible, Sunny would at least bury the bodies, but he couldn't even do that much. For that to happen he would have to spend time digging through the ruins of the Falcon Scott. It was still buried in the snow, and somewhere deep there were corpses. Millions of them. That was somewhat possible, but also would take all the time he had, and it still wouldn't be enough.
However leaving them there was also a dreadful though. Places with so many dead humans tend to be susceptible to corruption.
'Sorry that I could only destroy it.'
...
It wasn't even worth that much anymore. How many Shadow Fragments could he get from the Winter Beast? Just seven. Not that Sunny knew it for sure. It's what he assumed based on the amounts of Shadow Fragments he obtained in the past.
The blizzard died down. He could feel the cold lessening with each minute. The Fiend was eyeing the corpse so he could almost see his saliva.
"I won't give it to you for your information."
The ogre looked at him in dejection.
"I was lenient lately about what you should eat, but now I think it's a waste of potential. Eating that Titan wouldn't do much good for you. You already have fire, which makes you resistant against hot, and cold so I'll pass. Sorry, buddy."
The Fiend roarred in cries of desperation. Sunny sighed. It was really a bold move to pass on the possibility of acquiring an ice affinity through eating the Winter Beast, which this time was pretty high. The Corrupted Titan's body should be really rich in qualities that made it so fearsome. If that wouldn't give him an attribute it's hard to think of anything that could. However, there's no worth in making the Fiend so diverse, if it couldn't increase his survivability.
Sunny got up from the snow, and started collecting the spoils. The body was very precious, and even that was an understatement. Selling it was enough to make him rich, but also it was the best material for crafting he could hope for. That was true not only for the main body, but it could be also said about many pieces of ice that were the outer shell of the Winter Beast. They were used by the Winter Beast for so long so they turned into some kind of part of it. It was a species' stuff, and Sunny couldn't really figure out how exactly it works.
Hide, horns, bones, fangs, even eyes... everything seemed to have worth. It's not that Sunny never had more potent materials. In the Third Nightmare he butchered a Great Monster tens of times. Nonetheless it was incredibly precious. The amount of materials could fill a spacious storehouse.
...or his Covetous Coffer which lately was even bigger inside than before. Becoming a Terror, acquiring Soul Weave, and advancing to Transcendence elevated its capacity to another level. Sunny took everything with intention to hide what happened to the Winter Beast from the world. Whoever was responsible for killing it would get a lot of attention.
...
Nephis was drinking her morning coffee while scrolling through her communicator. Among messages from her cohort friends, and Fire Keepers there was one peculiarity that wasn't a meme sent by Effie or a photo of her child. The message was short:
"Breaking News: Winter Beast is dead! Don't tell anyone except Cassie. Don't read earlier messages."
...
There was a lot of work to do around the body parts. In their raw state they weren't really useful. They needed to be cleaned, cut, polished, and many things that could make Sunny dizzy. The thing he wanted the most was a weapon.
Manifested shadows were quite good, insanely adaptable, but they were also very plain, and inferior to any Memory counterpart of the same Rank. There were various reasons for that, but the most important factor was that Manifested Shadows were durable, and sharp only due to the quality of essence used to shape them, and the given form. Enchantments on the other hand exceeded the physical form of a Memory giving them additional qualities.
If Sunny turned a bone of the Winter Beast into a transcendent Memory, it would already be more durable than the weapons he could manifest from the shadows, so in some sense it was worth it. If he could add some proper enchantments related to sharpness, and durability, the effect would be even better.
Of course, it was easier to say that than actually do. Sunny is still a beginner when it comes to crafting items. He also didn't know many enchantments that were actually good enough to serve as a basis.
In little time he had, he could transplant some enchantments from a razor Memory into a sword Memory, produce a lesser version of the same enchantment, elevate an enchantment, isolate an enchantment. Many things he has done were rather about adding some utility or an overall upgrade than offensive power.
'One step at time.'
The information about his return to Brilliant Emporium didn't catch much interest, but the very fact that Aiko could take more liberties while taking orders moved the business. Now in addition to turning items into Memories he could offer upgrading some of them to a higher Rank, and some minor enchantments.
Many Awakened have no Memories. Many fresh Masters have Memories that don't match their current power, but don't want to sell them neither. Memories were always rather rare goods. One could slay even a hundred of Nightmare Creatures, and not have any.
If one possessed only one or two Memories he wouldn't sell them even if they weren't that much of aid anymore. However they would gladly pay Sunny to upgrade them. Sunny could do that under the condition the Memory in question was enchanted to enhance its own durability.
Two weeks passed in such a manner. Uncertain people were visiting the Brilliant Emporium to check if they could upgrade their Memories.
Usually they could, if they were asking to upgrade an awakened or sometimes even a dormant Memory to ascended. Sometimes... there was no way, and Sunny had to explain that the Memory would shatter from the strain. The number of orders quickly increased so he had to limit them just to keep up.
Sunny couldn't elevate a Memory on the spot. He had to take some time studying its weave, and obtain a shallow understanding of the way it works. Only then he could modify it to withstand the power of a greater core.
Somewhere on the way there was also time to study some more thoroughly. They weren't that great, not as good as the Puppeteer's Shroud, but they achieved some sort of the same kind of effect in different ways which broadened his perspective on the ways in which physical properties could be improved, and helped to cover his lacking basics.
From time to time he decided to add a gift to a Memory transplanting [Unbroken] into it.
The enchantment originally came from the Midnight Shard, a sword he obtained on the Forgotten Shore. He mastered its enchantment during the Antarctica Campaign utilizing its modified version in one time use Memory meant to deal a devastating blow to a Fallen Titan. It was insanely complicated, but it also had functions that made it quite versatile. It could increase the durability of a weapon to a great degree. It provided an incredible boost to one's power if he was nearly dying. It could to some extent prevent death if the wielder was unwilling to die despite the pain. All just in one enchantment.
Sunny already turned one alloy sword into a copy of the Midnight Shard to have an example to work with. Personally he didn't need that kind of lifeline. His shadow avatars in the moment of grave danger could be easily dismissed, not to mention the enchantment was currently too weak for the current him. However what if the enchantment could be elevated? Then it would still lack utility, right? Like everything it's a matter of the perspective.
For example, from the perspective of an Awakened that just wanted to have a sturdier armor, it was a great boon, and at the same time a motivation to not dare to give up on life. From Sunny's perspective it was a way to see how the [Unbroken] reacts with different enchantments, and materials.
The more diverse Memories will be modified with [Unbroken] the greater will be his knowledge about how the enchantment works. The greater the knowledge, the sooner he will be able to derive a transcendent version.