I Hate Systems

"It's…finally done!" Zit shouted happily as he slumped on the ground, causing the vase to vanish as he caught the bracelet that had been forged successfully.

"It hasn't even been long since I became an Artificer, but I've already refined a Gold Ranged Artifact." Zit exclaimed in utter shock, noticing how both the attributes were perfectly harmonious in the bracelet.

The bracelet was a shade of bluish-white, having transparent grooves while sporting a dark blue gem in the centre that pulsed with Origin Essence before slowly dimming out until it resembled a normal gem.

After admiring it for a couple of minutes, Zit gave the bracelet to Xuer, "This is the first of its kind, so I couldn't hold back and engraved my name on the underside."

"That's fine." Xuer smiled, "You're its creator, after all."

"This is so pretty!" She exclaimed upon gazing at the bracelet, watching light being reflected by the transparent grooves, further accentuating its glow while the surface was smooth like ice that had mildly begun to melt.

Xuer seeped her Origin Essence into the bracelet, gaining ownership of it as she observed the space within, "A space of 40 cubic metres. That's massive!"

"Without the attribute, it could have reached 50 cubic metres." Grisha said.

"But, my arrangements would deteriorate over time in a normal environment. But, even though it's smaller in comparison, the environment within is perfect for me." Xuer smiled, taking out a spatial pouch as she handed it over to Grisha, "As we had discussed, I've collected all the required pills, pill recipes, materials, and forging techniques in this. I also managed to get my hand on a formation related Trash Origin Art."

"Thanks." Grisha didn't waste any time, accepting the spatial pouch without any hint of misgivings. This was pretty much a transaction between the two.

She gave Xuer what she wanted while Xuer gave her what she wanted.

Grisha emptied the spatial pouch into her storage bracelet, giving the pouch back to Xuer, saying, "I'll bring you back to your Sect."

"Alright." Xuer nodded, watching Grisha place a hand on her shoulder before her surroundings changed. She noticed that she was within her room now.

"Hazen said we'll clash with the first System Host in the Folkan Secret Realm. So, be prepared." Grisha said before vanishing. "There's a marker of mine on your bracelet, so I'll be able to locate you through that."

"I understand." Xuer nodded, sighing once Grisha left, "For the past three years, I have been preparing for the same. Ranze had a lot to say about them."

She muttered, followed by a frown, "I hope they are as powerful as what Ranze said."

Upon recalling about Ranze, she sighed, "Where are you now? I haven't heard anything about you for two years already."

Hazen, Lanela, Ranze, and Xuer. These four were a team for the past three years, helping each other complete their respective preparations.

And, Grisha—her alias as Lanela—was the meant of communication between them. From time to time, she arrived to exchange information, resources, insights, etc. with each.

That was how everyone worked on their respective Origin Arts and other preparations. After all, each of them had their respective advantages. So, there was a beneficial trade relationship between each.

Compass Carburettor had the sleeper cells, Grisha had her Mysterious Sect, and as for Xuer, she was treading an interesting route herself.

A route where she would become a one-man army.

Xuer took out an Essence Stone from her spatial pouch, slowly infusing her ice attributed Origin Essence within as she activated an Origin Art.

Origin Art—Frost Formation!

The Essence Stone began to be covered by a layer of frost as Xuer seeped in her attribute of a crane, causing the shape of the ice to morph before turning into an ice sculpture.

Martial Spirit—Ice Crane!

Origin Art—Art of Formation!

Instantly, after condensing a piece of ice that resembled a pen, Xuer imbued Origin Essence from its tip, engraving a formation on the ice sculpture, causing veins of Origin Essence to form within the sculpture's body, with the Essence Stone in the centre acting as its core.

This Art of Formation was her original Origin Art that she created while referencing a formation-based Trash Origin Art. Formations were mysterious engravings of Origin Essence that unleashed the effect of an Origin Art.

But, the Origin Essence used to engrave the formation should have an attribute. After all, the formation would only be capable of displaying the effects of the Origin Essence's attribute. So, cultivators without an attribute would be unable to use a formation.

Well even then, formations were a complex field that seldom few would learn. After all, laying down formations took time and effort to unleash the effect of an Origin Art that they could naturally execute using their Martial Spirit.

So, it was a field hardly anyone ventured into. Only those who didn't like to fight studied formations.

As for Xuer, she expressed desire in this field, causing the Giant Whale Sect Master to spend a fortune to invite a formations specialist to tutor her in this field.

She took Compass Carburettor's words to heart, wholly taking advantage of the Giant Whale Sect to further her abilities.

An hour passed in such a fashion as Xuer had finished her engraving, slowly riling up her Origin Essence.

Origin Art—Puppet Control!

The ice sculpture resembling a crane suddenly flapped its wings and took off to the air, flying within her room as it opened its mouth under her control, unleashing an ice spike towards her.

Xuer defended against it using a wall of ice, noticing a hole being formed as a result of the impact, "The strength of its attacks is fairly decent."

The ice crane sculpture unleashed ten more ice spikes before its movements turned sluggish while its body showed signs of melting.

"Using a single Essence Stone as the core indeed makes it weak. Also, the ice would begin melting once its reserve of Origin Essence is used up. But," Xuer smiled, storing the ice crane sculpture in her storage bracelet, sensing the ice crane sculpture slowly beginning to absorb the ambient ice attributed Origin Essence with the bracelet's space.

Its body recovered while the Origin Essence in its core soon reached full capacity. But, the ambient ice attributed Origin Essence within the bracelet was almost emptied as a result, "There wasn't much within it anyway."

She smiled, slowly gushing her ice attributed Origin Essence into the bracelet, filling up the area. Xuer then got up, arriving before a cupboard that she opened and pulled a lever inside, revealing an entrance that she entered.

The entrance showed a flight of stairs as the very air here was cold while the walls and floor was covered by a layer of ice. This was where she had laid down a formation that emanated the effect of her Origin Art of Frost Formation.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sounds of her footsteps resounded in the silent area as Xuer arrived at the bottom, snickering in excitement.