Please Touch Me, Master

In Bi Chen's hand was a stone—it was dull white, having a slightly bright hue about it that warbled with prismatic energy. Dark colors tainted its corners, showing its impurities, but this was without a doubt what he had been searching for all this time.

—An Essence Core.

The Core fit into his hand, about the size and shape of an eyeball. He held it like it was precious gold, a crazed smile appearing on his face.

He felt ecstatic.

'What a pleasant surprise…' His thoughts still found it a little unbelievable that he got an Essence Core from a Rank 1 Abomination. The drops for these were very rare, and with his bad luck, Bi Chen had figured it would simply be better to target a Rank 2 for one.

'Looks like my luck could finally be turning around.' He turned to the excited Ash and nodded at her, commanding her to bring out all the items he placed in her [Pocket World].

"Yes, Lord Bi!"

Her enthusiasm rose immediately, and she rushed to his front, removing all the weapons and items that she had saved in her ten subspace slots. Among them were the weapons belonging to the deceased slaves, as well as a few special consumable items. There was a 'Flash Stone', 'Ignition Rock', and a few other special things.

There was also a pitch-black Labyrinth Stone—an item that Bi Chen had personally harvested from the Labyrinth and placed in Ash's care. It wasn't a particularly special item, and it looked very ordinary as well.

It had the form of a moderately large simple stone slab with a smooth surface. It was larger than an adult's head, but smaller than two heads put together. The slab looked like something one could use as a stool, but other than that it looked useless.

Bi Chen especially beamed at this stone and brought it closer to him while casting his gaze on the other items at his disposal.

'Craft… Refine… Deconstruct: how many times have I repeated this process back when I played this game? I've lost count…' His smile widened considerably. 'Right now, I have to craft something… an Artifact, but what should I Craft?'

From Bi Chen's view, he had a few options, and they each served varying purposes.

For example, he could turn his ordinary sword into an Artifact, thus improving his offensive capabilities—even if just a little. There was also a shield among the loot, so he could make an Artifact out of that instead, bolstering his defenses.

'There's the fact that I'm practically almost naked, so I could also invest in some bits of clothing, which could also help improve an aspect of my stats, maybe?' 

After his fight with a few Abominations, his trousers had become even more tattered. 

It was barely hanging on.

Bi Chen knew he wouldn't be embarrassed if he became naked, but he considered the uses of clothing and how they could help increase his strength. He considered a few other things, racking his brain on which path to follow.

After considering it for a while, he decided to go with the simplest answer.

'I'll Craft a Rank 1 Sword Artifact.'

He placed his sword next to the Labyrinth Stone, and then placed other pieces of metal next to it. Afterward, he added some of the jewels that Imelda wore before she died, and then—of course—he placed the Essence Core among them.

'These are all the ingredients that I need. Looking at what's left, other than my lack of Essence Cores, I have enough for three more tries for Rank 1, and one try for Rank 2.'

Bi Chen was satisfied with this.

A smile continuously remained on his face as he replayed memories of his time on Earth playing the game and engaging in crafting. It was like a separate mini-game that he was also very invested in.

While he was engaging in this thought, Ash drew closer and stared curiously at him.

"Lord Bi, may I ask a question?"

He calmly nodded, "Go ahead."

"Are you about to Craft something now? I see you've gathered some materials, and even the Essence Core…"

"Indeed, I am."

"But… there is no Crafting Stone." Ash mumbled, looking mildly confused. "The Labyrinth Stone can't be used for Crafting… or is there a special method I don't know about?"

Bi Chen silently chuckled.

He knew that Ash would get curious and ask him this, and he was glad that she did.

This gave him an opportunity to display his knowledge and also exercise even more dominance over her. Without wasting any further time, he slowly opened his eyes and stared at the stone in front of him.

"Kneel right next to it," He commanded her.

Ash obeyed, but a puzzled expression still remained on her face. She knelt at the right side of the Labyrinth Stone while on the left side were all the materials that Bi Chen wanted to use to craft the Artifact.

"What now, Lord Bi?"

Bi Chen rose to his feet and walked behind her, explaining a few things while keeping an air of absolute calmness. "The Labyrinth Stone is indeed no Crafting Stone. However, it can become one if a certain condition is fulfilled."

In the game, if Players couldn't purchase Crafting Stones on their own, they could make their own using a Labyrinth Stone and an ingredient. In fact, this was actually shown in the Crafting Tutorial, where the System forced the Player to sacrifice a Slave to activate the Labyrinth Stone and turn into an object capable of forging an Artifact.

"What is the condition, Lord Bi—gurgh?!"

Right as Ash completed her question, Bi Chen sliced open her throat with a sharp stone he had picked up around, causing pitch-black blood to gush out almost instantly. The blood spurted on the stone, sizzling on it like hot water.

Ash screeched, spasming violently to reflect the evident pain she was experiencing.

However, Bi Chen held her tightly, grabbing her by the hair so he could accurately direct the flow of blood to the Stone right in front of her. Even as she shook, he steadied her well, ignoring the tears in her eyes and the pain she displayed.

He stepped on her legs, making sure her shifting was minimal, and his strong arms were more than sufficient to restrain her.

As such, despite how much she wriggled, very little blood was wasted.

Most of it poured on the stone, which was now shimmering brightly—almost like a red-hot casting iron. Energy bubbled up from the Labyrinth Stone, giving it an eerie glow, one born from blood and screams.

Bi Chen saw this and his delight increased.

'I was worried that Ash wouldn't be a proper sacrifice, since a living Slave is usually sacrificed in the game, but it looks like I didn't need to be so concerned.' He was relieved that the desired effects were occurring right before his eyes.

Of course, in the games, the details were far less visceral than this. 

In fact, the process was a lot more straightforward: simply select a Slave to sacrifice and drag the icon to the Labyrinth Stone. It was nearly instantaneous.

'But in reality it's quite a troublesome activity. Thankfully, I'm larger than her and I'm stronger… so I can steady her and allow her ichor of life to bleed into the Stone, allowing it to absorb her Essence until it is satisfied.'

What confused Bi Chen a little was the fact that Ash was screaming in pain.

'So she can actually feel pain?' He silently wondered. 'When she fought those two Abominations, they injured her considerably, but she didn't seem to be suffering at all.'

He had also asked her if she felt any pain, but she told him that she was overwhelmed with so much joy serving him that the concept of pain didn't even register in her at all. Bi Chen had assumed from her statement that she was like him—devoid of pain.

'Or is it because I am the one inflicting this damage on her that she feels pain? I'm not sure…'

Regardless, he didn't care.

Ash wasn't going to die anyway, so the situation was fine.

'One of the reasons I raised her Level was also for her to be useful in moments like this. I'm not sure if her death will mean the loss of Levels, and if she dies in Level 1, she'll expire… which is why I could only do this when she rose to Level 2.' 

And thankfully, the whole process worked.

[Basic Crafting Stone has been created!]

{You can Craft, Refine, and Deconstruct Rank 1 and Rank 2 Artifacts with this sturdy slab of stone.}

'As expected… I got the Basic Crafting Stone.'

Of course, there were higher tier Crafting Stones, but they required more sacrifices or higher-tier materials to make. They were very expensive and out of Bi Chen's current capacity, so he could only settle for this one, at least for now.

'Now then…' Bi Chen flung Ash's lifeless body to the side, not even watching as it slowly faded and fused with his body. She had entered her recuperation phase, and once she had fully healed, she could be summoned again. 

With all the distractions out of the way, he licked his lips excitedly and readied himself for Artifact Crafting.

'… Let's begin!'