Reunion

Gazing up at the dead molten giant, Greem entertained two trains of thought; one about how the fire creatures laid themselves to rest, and the other about just how many metals this particular one had smelted into its body when it was alive.

When a molten giant sensed its death draw near, it would make its way to this place, choose an appropriate spot and stand still.

When the literal flames of their life fizzled out, their super hot, heavy, and hard bodies would cool and solidify, trapping their consciousness core deep within their chests.

While it may be that they were dead, the defenses of the creatures were even greater in this state. The numerous materials they'd refined and infused into their forms would be strengthened even further. 

Whether it was Steelrock, Wrought Gold, Mithril, or Black Iron, these creatures had traces of all these super tough ores in their bodies. And they were Greem's current target. 

Material Perception, one of the Synergist abilities responsible for alerting him to any precious crafting material or substance in his vicinity, had been going off since he swallowed the essence.

How could it not, seeing the endless number of deceased molten giants standing silently on the island.

Focusing on the one he'd chosen, Greem digested the vague descriptions of the various ores he could sense and placed his palm flat against the 8 meter stall statue's leg.

Calling on Transmute, Material Appraisal, and Material Desynthesis, he channeled his life force into the rock giant and zeroed in on the areas highlighted by Material Perception.

Appraisal gave him an in depth explanation of the targeted material's properties, desynthesis separated it from the rock and other metals, while transmute molded it into shape.

This led to the scene where three distinct streams of metal; one with a dark gold hue, another with a pitch black appearance, and finally the last with a silvery, glossy shade, poked out of the giant and solidified into ingots.

Wrought Gold, Black Iron, and Mithril.

The metal blocks hovered before Greem, and he plucked one out of the air, holding his breath in doubt at what he was about to do.

He flooded the ingot with life force and activated another of the Synergist abilities; Duplicate Transmutation.

Right out of thin air beside the Mithril ingot in hand, another appeared and he caught it with his Spirit, raising the fresh duplicate up until it was level with its partner.

One thing in the essences' description he had failed to mention was the ability to replicate any dead, inorganic, or transmuted resources. 

It couldn't be helped. Suddenly gaining the knowledge and power to manipulate space and rewind time would do that to a person.

But now that he'd actually used it and comprehended the implications of his actions, Greem eyes grew wide, as did his smile.

He would never lack again. 

Duplicating a few more of each metal, he gleefully stored them and patched the holes left by his "harvesting" actions. No need to leave traces of that he was here.

Before he removed his palm from the giant though, he locked on the element core buried within it and popped it out, catching the cantaloupe sized crystal with an open hand.

The giant, fourth grade crystal's dull red surface refracted the bright glow from the ever present lava sea.

Sensing no soul within it, Greem didn't grow disappointed and simply threw it into storage. More than a hundred years had likely passed since this particular giant died, that's why its soul had long withered.

Still, that didn't mean its core was worthless, especially with his new crafting abilities. He could squeeze water out of stone if he put his mind to it. Finding a use for the core wouldn't even be a challenge.

Gazing upon the rows upon rows of the silent giants, he focused his spiritual and material perceptions to the utmost, singling out viable targets. 

Specifically element cores with the aura of souls, and metals he hadn't yet added to his collection.

He was going to get them all.

☀☀☀ 

A few days later…

Outside the volcano at the Zuber clan entrance, the two Pseudo Adepts stationed there frowned in unison when the unmistakable crunch of heavy footsteps reached their ears. 'Who?'

No one was supposed to come out this early. The time for the resource gathering mission was three months, and only one had passed. No apprentice could have possibly fulfilled the quota in this short period.

Well, it was a good thing Greem was longer an apprentice. Not that they or anyone else needed to know that. 

Clad in fresh clothing and his aura betraying the power of a Pseudo Adept, Greem exited the tunnel under the collective frown of the guards.

"The mission duration is three months. Why are you here at this time?"

Eager to see his lover and unwilling to antagonise a clan with a volcano in their possession, Greem put on a pleasant expression and retrieved a sack from the bag around his waist.

"I got lucky and completed my share of the quota early," he said, handing the bag over.

Both guards maintained their frowns as one of them grabbed it and examined its contents, his expression going a tad softer. He shared a look with his partner and nodded.

"Hand over your permit and you may leave."

Quickly complying, Greem passed them the sheet of paper and strode through the gap they opened, his movements picking up speed the farther he got.

Soon he broke into a light jog, and disappeared from the sights of the two Pseudo Adepts. It didn't take him long to arrive back in Palmyra town, where he hastily boarded a flying ship.

After paying the fare for Timbermaw Hold, he settled into a meditative position to use the deep dive technique to pass the time.

Due to the size of the Adept mainland and the sheer distance between the various settlements, it took literal days to go from one city or town to another.

While Greem would have had no choice but to swallow this annoying long travel time in the past, his latest essence changed things.

Some of the ideas and blueprints he explored during his resting deep dive involved multiple ways of long distance travel. Even planar travel was included.

The crafting essence just seemed to make any of his ideas not only feasible, but improvable as well. His projections for the rocket pack's performance for instance, had hit new higher ceilings he couldn't believe.

He couldn't wait to reach the hideout Mary had prepared and start tinkering.

And though his mind was mainly filled with designs upon designs, images of his girlfriend and her supple body clinging to his own and doing certain… things, butted in from time to time.

He found himself missing the red haired spitfire more than he thought possible, and he didn't know why he liked it so much. He wasn't going to complain though.

Days passed in such a drawl manner until he was finally notified that they'd arrived at his destination. 

Making his way down the lowered plank, he looked about the hold, completely uninterested in the various stalls dotting the square.

With the nature of human settlements in this world, he quickly found what he was looking for and strode towards it.

Entering the dense forest at the edge of the settlement, he went in deeper a few meters before ensuring there were no eyes on him, be they magical or physical.

Once he got an all clear, he channeled his life force into his new ring—something he'd put together in the molten underground—and activated it.

Keenly aware of any and all with regards to himself, he sensed a thin film of energy fully enveloping his being before he disappeared from sight.

Through the use of Creation magic, he incorporated Spatial magic into the ring to mask his scent, sound, and appearance, and Spirit magic to let him use all these senses through the shroud. 

It was a potent method of obscuration capable of masking his presence from anything detection method below Second Grade. Hell, even beginner Second Grades would be hard pressed to detect him, Evolution magic pushing the enchantment to such a level.

Assured of his creation's potency, Greem deployed his implanted wings, the total 15 meter wingspan of the red and black appendages making not an ounce of disturbance in the surroundings.

Not having put his fliers to much use since he acquired them, he shouldn't have been able to use them with such ease. But his Adept level mind and supreme self-control made it a simple matter.

Spreading them fully, he didn't even bend his knees and simply did a single strong flap, sending his large form past the tree line with a non-existent whoosh. 

Confident he was undetectable in this state, he retrieved from storage a soap sized gem that had been cut in half and channeled his Spirit into it. The stone responded and shifted his grip, urging him in a certain direction.

Smiling brightly, he increased the strength of the flaps keeping him aloft and bent his upper body forward, shooting towards where the gem's other half was located.

Deep within the forest, at the base of one the multiple large trees that filled it, a section of its thick serpentine roots parted and a red blur shot out of the resulting gap.

Clad in her dark gray scale armor that accentuated her shapely curves, Mary held the warm tracking crystal and looked in the direction she could sense the other one in, her expression shifting from expectant to confused.

There was nothing. No sound, smell, or sight of the handsome hunk she'd be waiting for for weeks.

She glanced up and down, her narrowed eyes alternating between the gem and whatever it was referring to. 

Tired of the situation's weirdness, she unfurled her wings in a burst of red mist and made to flap them, only for to stop and smile like a loon.

Loud, wind sweeping sounds filled the area as Greem revealed himself and slowed the activity of his wings, lowering himself to the ground gently. 

Before his feet even touched the ground, a red blur slammed into him and a pair of warm lips meshed with his own. 

Raw heat surged in his chest and loins as he and Mary conveyed how much they missed each other, slick tongues and eager lips smothering each other in a haze of affection and lust.

After about a minute, the fervent smooching came to an unwilling close and the couple locked eyes with each other, Mary's own especially bright. "Are you…"

"Yeah," Greem nodded and let a bit of his aura loose.

Her smile grew even wider as the urge to jump and down like a little girl nearly overtook her. She instead fought against it and tightened her grip on his clothes.

"I've got all the blood ready. Do you think I should—" 

"Hell yeah. Let's go," Greem cut her off, shutting down any second thoughts.

Maintaining her smile, she turned away but kept one tight grip on his jacket. She retrieved a wand and waved at it the tiny entrance she came out of, the green specks from the magic stick moving the offending roots out of the way.

She led Greem down a set of earthen stairs and hid the entrance once more, the roots coiling like snakes to shut out the daylight and sight of the forest.

Deep beneath the tree, they both entered a large space surrounded by a spherical wall of dark brown earth covered in hardened roots and thick vines.

The half a tennis court sized room didn't seem to be the only one as four doors could be found at four corners on the wall. 

Looking around at the perfect place for a hideout, Greem asked as Mary rushed into one of the rooms. "This is where the werewolves were hiding?"

"Yep. They were a cautious bunch. I had to use scent concealing powder before I could get close enough in my bat form to track them."

Nodding in understanding, Greem looked in the direction of the room his lover vanished into and the latter came out in a blood red gown, his extremely sharp senses telling him she had nothing on underneath.