Chapter 17: Refining

Now that his spirit comprehension has increased, Evan could deploy his Spirit Search on anything at will. Before it was just a passive technique that would activate only when he was in danger. He was excited to shock Feldman once again.

'System, first off I need something else to call you. Secondly I'm going to need you to show me my stats.' Evan was smirking like a madman.

Feldman was watching Evan from the window. The kid had just sat down in the field for the last hour, then jumped up screaming like he had just won a contest. He didn't know what Evan was doing, but he didn't doubt that it was something helpful. The kid was just full of surprises and Feldman didn't doubt him at this point.

*Host has named me the Killer Instinct System. Would host like to rename system? *

'No, but something shorter.' Evan thought exasperatedly.

*Due to hosts specifications would the abbreviation KIS be satisfactory? *

'Actually yes. I like that.' Evan was pleasantly surprised. 'Show me my stats KIS.'

Name: Evan Freeman

Level: 0

Experience: Locked (Full Integration Needed)

Bloodline: None Available

Stats: Strength: 7

Speed: 6

Stamina: 5

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 76

Spirit Pool: 200/200

Soul: 10

Technique: Spirit Search (Level 2)

Refinement Techniques: None

Arts: Alchemy (Apprentice)

Art Tools: Refinement Fire (Alchemy)

Innate Ability: Infinite Paragon

Gained Ability: Locked (Level 11 Needed)

Attribute Points: None

Unnamed Techniques: 3 – 1 Body Refinement Technique, 1 Spirit Refinement Technique, 1 Spirit Attack Technique

'Oh, I had forgotten about those techniques. The tab also no longer says spirit refinement, and now says Refinement Techniques. This must be because Evias didn't know you could refine the body before.' Evan quickly picked apart the information. 'I bet that I could make that body refinement technique better, it was an accident before, and now I can control my energy.'

Evan quickly tried the process of pushing pure spirit out of his pathways and into his physical body. This time it was much smoother. After about 10% of his energy was pushed into his body, he started having to force the energy in using willpower, but after all the tempering practice he was easily able to push another 10% in. There was immediate pain, that familiar searing sensation was felt all over. He knew the pain was similar to the transmigration process but not as severe. Evan pushed through for less than a minute and heard the sound he was waiting for.

*Body Refinement Technique Upgraded. Please name technique. *

'Name body refinement technique, Unkillable Body. Name spirit refinement technique, Speedforce. The spirit attack technique will be named, Spirit Bullet.' Evan was decisive about the names of the techniques. He thought that if he could perfect his refining technique for his body, he could truly be unkillable. The name for his spirit refinement was just what his energy did. He forced it to speed up. And the Spirit Bullet was obvious.

Evan was happy about the progress, but he still had a task at hand. Evan quickly pulled out the Gum Weed and entered his spirit state. He then activated his spirit search. His spirit state allowed him to actually see what the spirit signature of the Gum Weed looked like. Then by activating his Spirit Search he could then see the faint traces of all different types of energy all around.

This allowed him to recognize similarities in the energies. The more similar it is, the more likely it is that they are the same plant just at a different rank.

He didn't use the information tab, as it didn't seem useful at the time.

The energy of the Gum weed was mainly white with small patches of bright green. The patches were so light in color that it was difficult to distinguish the white from the green. Quickly, Evan used his new spirit sense to search the area around him to find another signature that was similar. It took 2 seconds for Evan to realize that there was a very short grass less than 2 feet from his foot. The grass was very short, barely an inch high, and stringy.

Evan looked at the small grass and used the data tab from his Spirit Search.

*Gum Grass- Unranked- Short pale green, almost white- supplementing ingredient at all levels, helps solidify strength to minimize muscle damage. Allows for an increase in muscle elasticity. 2% agility gain per level

Rank F material- Gum Weed. Please inspect Gum Weed to unlock Rank D material name. *

'This is perfect. With my Spirit Search, I can identify any material.' Evan laughed out loud as he reached down and plucked the Gum Grass. He was careful to extract the root and plant in one piece, as this would ensure he didn't damage the plant. He was able to temper a material while it was still in growth, but he didn't think it was possible with refining. The flame alone would fry the ground around the plant, killing all nutrients.

He took the Gum Grass and ran to Feldman's house. Feldman had pull out a very low-grade alchemy furnace for Evan to use. It was just some unranked Red Steel with a small Blue Stone cauldron on top. It did not have a spirit flame fused into it. Next to the stove was a small cylinder with a sliding lid at the top. This allowed for the flames to be used to refine, and also acted as a tempering chamber. It was an honest to God terrible furnace, only used for practice from apprentices.

Evan ran in and took one look at the furnace. He did not want to use something so primitive. He was sure that he would be an amazing alchemist in no time and refused to use something that ugly. Feldman noticed the look on Evan's face and smiled.

"Evan, no master would allow an apprentice to use a high ranked furnace. If the elixir fails drastically, it could be damaged. And while they do repair over time, that could result in a lot of time lost for production." Feldman reassured Evan that this was common practice and also insinuated there was a high chance that he could fail.

Failure at this stage isn't so bad, it won't explode, but it will destroy the material. If refined too quickly the pathways will corrode and burn themselves, same as too high of temperature. If refined too slowly the impurities will simply melt and clog the pathways, same with a low temperature. If refined too slowly at a low temperature, you can actually freeze the impurities in the pathways, this is impossible to fix. And if refined too quickly at too high of a temperature the entire material disintegrates. It takes a balance a patience to refine properly.

"Then I will not use it." Evan stated as a fact and turned around. Feldman was about to scold his apprentice until he laid the material on the floor and created a dome of energy around the Gum Grass. He was going to temper the material on his own, which was fine as the low-grade tempering chamber wouldn't make any difference. The tempering only took a few minutes with Evan's master comprehension.

Evan then used his spirit energy as a table, picking the material up off the floor and floating in front of Evan's eyes. Evan raised his right hand and sent a small amount of energy through his fingertip. A small wisp of fire appeared. The flame had a rich crimson center, and the flames dancing around the outside was a vibrant gold.

Feldman gasped. This was an inner spirit flame, not just any inner spirit flame but it was the Refinement Flame. This was one of the 10 Great Flames. Feldman couldn't speak, every time he tried an odd gasp would come out of his mouth.

Evan had entered his spirit state to closely watch the spirit in the material. By watching the flow of energy through the material he was able to find the impurities in the pathways with ease. Adjusting the flame was easy as well, just using a push or pull of his mind to increase or decrease the temperature. Pinpointing the impurities was immensely easy as well due to his full control over the flame.

Evan had just started the progress, and a large gulf of flame enshrouded the entire material. The Gum Grass was only covered for a minute when the flames dispersed. What was in front of Feldman was as shocking as the inner spirit flame.

Sitting where the Gum Weed should be, was a large piece of Rubber Stalk. Rubber Stalk is the D rank material that Gum Weed eventually evolves into.

"That's enough for the day." Feldman's heart was racing a million miles a second. He wasn't just impressed. He was terrified. This was Evan's first time ever refining and not only did he not have a problem. He completely skipped over F rank refining and went directly to D rank material. This should be impossible without being at least an Intermediate D rank Alchemist.

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