Esdeath had achieved half of her goal. Here, in the heart of the desert, she had secured a Rank A Time path essence stone and all the necessary materials to merge and refine it into a Time Cutting Edge essence stone.
Once she succeeded, defeating the Great Serpent would be her next objective. If she managed that, it would be a bonus. She might even be able to use the serpent's body to refine a powerful Space path essence stone.
Esdeath had already gathered several other Time path essence stones, so letting Maruti have the ones from the lair didn't matter much to her. Besides, not all of the stones they had found were of the Time path anyway.
After that, both of them decided to make the dragon's lair their temporary shelter. The air was thick with the lingering, powerful scent of the bone dragon, a scent that would likely not fade for weeks. Many of the powerful residents of the area would have surely known of the bone dragon's presence.
So, no monster or beast would dare to approach the cave carelessly. It was safer than any other place they could possibly find.
For the next two days, Esdeath focused solely on refining the Rank A Time Cutting Edge essence stone. She used the Rank A Time Wave essence stone and the body of the Year Beast as the main refining materials, supplementing them with things like Rank B Time Cutting Edge stones, a Rank C Time Flow essence stone, a Rank D Acceleration essence stone, and several other materials.
She even used the lower-ranked Time path essence stones to speed up the flow of time within her own body, drastically reducing the time it took for the refinement process.
But doing so drained her badly. She had to concentrate three times as hard, making her head spin and her vision blur. The mana cost also skyrocketed, although it was actually quite manageable since her body couldn't handle channeling such a vast amount of mana all at once anyway.
For the next two days, Esdeath poured all of her energy into refining the essence stone, even employing the advanced techniques she had learned back at the academy.
Meanwhile, Maruti was doing something similar. She was in the process of absorbing the Rank A essence stone she had found.
There were two types of absorption. The first was to fill the essence stone with your own mana and will, slowly absorbing its power into your body. This was the method Maruti was currently attempting.
The other method was also called Essence Stone Absorption . In this process, one masters the usage of a particular essence stone so completely that it becomes an instinct, a literal part of their body. The already absorbed essence then fully merges inside the body, and can never be extracted by any means.
Maruti was doing the first method. Although her work looked easier than Esdeath's on the surface, in reality, what she was trying to do was no less difficult.
Because unlike most essence stones, which were already refined by someone else and had their mana stabilized, the only work required was to replace the will inside and use your own mana to slowly absorb it, a process that took time based on the rank.
But her essence stone was self-produced by nature itself. In short, it was a 'Wild essence stone.'
It was the same type of task the teacher had assigned them all at the academy: to refine a Moonblade essence stone.
She had to pour all of her mana into it, completely overwhelming its natural state and marking it as her own.
But there was a vast difference between a Rank B essence stone and a Rank A essence stone.
It was like she was trying to fill a dried-up ocean with a single bucket of water, Pouring it again and again but It was never enough.
Sweat poured from her body, drenching her clothes. She panted continuously, her lungs burning as she poured her mana into the stone for hours on end without any rest.
Meanwhile, Esdeath was also struggling with her own refinement. Yet, no matter how hard she focused, there were always some minor mistakes in the delicate process.
"Ackkkk!...FuuCKKKKK!...", Maruti suddenly shouted, her voice raw with frustration. As if letting out all her pent-up feelings in one go, she collapsed onto her back, grabbing her head in her hands.
At the exact same time, 'BOOM'!...
Another blast happened just beside her, towards Esdeath's side of the cave. A wave of merciless, crackling electricity shot through Esdeath's body, making all of her hair stand on end, a strange, tingling sensation crawling over her skin.
She had failed in refining the Rank A Time Cutting Edge essence stone once again.
After the chaotic energy finally calmed down, she laid down beside Maruti as well, letting out a deep, weary breath.
"Failing is dangerous each time. I just lost three years of my lifespan," she sighs, her voice heavy with the weight of the cost.
Failing or getting interrupted while refining an essence stone was always dangerous. The exact danger depended on the type and rank of the stone you were working with.
Sometimes, a person could even lose a limb, or they might feel extreme pain. In Esdeath's case, she felt both the sharp, electric pain and the sudden loss of three years from her lifespan.
The truth was, she probably would have had a better chance of succeeding if she hadn't been so worried about keeping the Time Wave essence stone and the Rank B Time Cutting Edge stone safe.
She was so focused on protecting them that she couldn't give her full attention to the refinement, worried that by some chance, they might get destroyed in the process. Losing them would have been a huge setback.
****
For the next few minutes, both Esdeath and Maruti were silent, just enjoying the peace and letting their minds rest.
Then, Esdeath broke the silence. "Actually, I think we're doing this the wrong way," she said, sitting up and turning to look at Maruti.
"Forget about trying to absorb your essence stone right now. Just get help from Lilith or Kailith when you go back," she said. After a short pause, she added more.
"You have a real talent for refining essence stones. So, you should focus on refining my Time Cutting Edge and your Dragon Bone essence stone instead. I'll back you up with my mana, so you won't have to worry about running out or taking too long to recover," she explained her plan.
Maruti thought about it for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face, and then she nodded. "Hmm... that's actually a really good idea."
***
With their new plan settled, they both shifted their focus. But first, they needed to recover properly. They went out and hunted some small desert animals, cooked the meat, and ate their fill. They let their bodies rest completely, recovering from the deep exhaustion and the drain on their mana.
Another day went by because of this, and they didn't make any progress on their goals. It had already been four days since they had made the dragon's lair their temporary home.
Finally, on the fifth day, Maruti took the lead again, ready to refine the essence stones with the resources they had left.
Meanwhile, Esdeath sat directly behind her, placing both of her hands on Maruti's upper back. She began to steadily channel her mana into Maruti, giving her a constant and reliable source of power.
The difficult work started once more. Both of them sat in the same position for hours on end. A transparent, swirling vortex formed in front of Maruti as she carefully poured the refining materials into it one by one.
Two more fiery phantom hands emerged from her body. All four of her hands moved in a fast, blurry motion, as if they were shaping and molding the transparent vortex with pure skill and will.
There were failures, of course. But each time something went wrong, Maruti felt like she had learned something, that she had gotten a little bit closer to successfully finishing the refinement.
****
Two days later, both Esdeath and Maruti fell backward, collapsing onto the ground with exhausted bodies.
But this time, a wide, deeply satisfied smile was on both of their faces. Esdeath raised her right hand, and a transparent liquid hovered just above her palm. It looked like a free-flowing wave from the ocean.
It was the Rank A Time Cutting Edge essence stone.
Meanwhile, held tightly in Maruti's grip was another essence stone. It was quite big compared to the size of an average essence stone, almost as large as Maruti's entire palm.
It was shaped like a small dragon's skull.
It was the Rank A Dragon Bone essence stone.
Neither of them could keep their eyes open any longer. Their eyelids shut down instinctively, and they both drifted off into a deep and peaceful sleep.
They ended up sleeping for one more full day, allowing their bodies to completely recover from the exhaustion.
Because the effect of the time acceleration was still active, that one day of sleep felt just as restful as three days of normal, continuous sleep.
"Yawnnn...", Esdeath yawned, stretching her arms and legs out and rubbing her temples to clear her head.
She was the first one to wake up. Not only did she feel completely fresh and rested, but she also felt incredibly happy, almost giddy. She felt an urge to make jokes, to jump around, and to laugh for no reason at all.
The feeling seemed natural at first, but the moment she looked over at the still-sleeping Maruti, a sudden realization hit her like a splash of cold water.
The effects of Maruti's Halo of Happiness were starting to get really strong, messing with her mind.
Esdeath had under her Halo of Happiness during the entire refinement process, and it was still on while she was asleep.
She immediately tried to create some distance between them, even though a small part of her mind was telling her not to, urging her to just stay close and embrace this wonderful feeling of happiness.
"C'mon, dammit," she gritted her teeth and forced herself to move. She stumbled away until she was about twenty meters apart from Maruti.
Finally, she felt a sense of relief as the overly powerful happiness faded, allowing her own feelings to return to normal.