Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

In regards to the reason for Hal choosing Irma, they were quite shallow but in no way sexually motivated.

Irma was not the only seventh-rank Alchemist that Arya knew of in the Silva Duchy and while she had shown to be far more dedicated than the rest of her fellows, she was not the indisputable best although she did quite well for herself.

Anyway, if anything, Hal had chosen her at random...

His most important quality in who he recruited for his pill business was that the fellow was female as he was much more comfortable with allowing female access to the Harem space as opposed to a male and even then, there was a good number of female Alchemists that he could have chosen from.

"You are really taking advantage of my calm and level head. You are threading very close to the point where I stop restraining myself and eject you from my home. Your mysterious means be damned.!" as Irma spoke, the storm about her head got stronger.

The Spiritual perceptive energy within the room gained an attacking edge that was targeting the part of Hal she considered most vulnerable... His mind.

This was true for most cultivators but possessing an Astral sense which he could use to mimic spiritual sense through his [Equipoise] skill, Hal\'s mind was quite formidable.

That said, Irma\'s prepared attack on his mind was going to make quite an impact on account of her possessing a Spiritual sense at the Seventh rank as opposed to Hal\'s Astral sense that had not yet broken through to that range.

Hal sighed and let out his Astral energy while he used

[Equipoise] to make it devoid of Astral energy so that it mimicked Spiritual sense.

He did not let it out to be threatening but rather to signal to Irma that he at least knew a good deal of what he was talking about.

His Astral/ Spiritual sense was at the sixth rank and possessed a sort of purity that gripped Irma\'s perception which flooded the room.

"I was certified as a fourth-rank Alchemist just over a year ago and if you wish to confirm, It should only take you just a few calls to all your fellow Alchemists in the Silva Duchy. It will most likely also be revealed to you through them just how young I am which might give you a much better understanding of why you should trust me when I say my technique is the answer to all your problems.

A year ago, I was at the fourth rank and today, I am two ranks higher with actual battling prowess that far surpasses anything you might attempt.

From the moment I stepped into this room, I knew your cultivation and it does not scare me..." Hal said.

"Are you...?" Irma attempted to interrupt but Hal just raised his hand and pushed through it.

"I am not threatening... Neither am I bragging... I am simply stating facts. If I wish to leave this room right now, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to stop me.

Yes, I am that confident.

You are free to say no to my proposal, I did not come here to force you but I do pity you" Hal said and unlike how he had been smiling when he first entered the room, he now spoke with a cold and calculative expression.

Irma remained physically unmoved although the fluctuations of her perception which filled the room, told a different story.

"Yoy pity me? How dare you?!" as she spoke with her voice raised a tad, the formation beneath her glowed aggressively as the effects of her perception in the room increased.

"Yes, I do. I pity you. What I am here to offer you is a way to accomplish what you have been walking towards for at least a millennia... A means that you will actually be able to control and command and will not be reliant on something as fickle as Luck.

At the moment, your mental rank surpasses mine by a good deal but it is only a matter of time before I not only meet you but also surpass you. This is me giving you the chance at a headstart.

This block that seems to plague all you oldies will never plague me.

If you truly don\'t want it, then I will leave... but at least don\'t reject the notion just because you believe it is impossible and are put off by my age.

Surely, an Alchemist whose profession is really all about defying the norm and always pushing boundaries should be a bit more open-minded right?"

Silence...

For a good while, Irma just stared at Hal while Hal stared right back at her with neither of the two saying a word, and then the woman took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and spoke,

"What evidence do you have to back this claim of a technique."

Hal shrugged,

"I\'m just going to give it to you right now."

Without standing from his chair and without making any attempts at getting closer to her, Hal passed the formless information into the room at large where it was quickly snapped up by Irma\'s mental perception.

Irma was quite cautious about it all but soon, she had it in her head and began to mull it over.

It took no more than a minute before her eyes widened and she looked over at Hal,

"This is... This is amazing. How is this even possible?!" she asked as she began making use of the technique and found it completely outstripping all of the information she previously had in her head.

This was gold!

To an Alchemist... This was a magnificent treasure.

It is funny how the mind works... The more she mulled this technique over, the less she cared that Hal had trespassed.

The more she made use of the technique, the more she saw the hope of breaking through her mental block and the more differently she saw Hal.

And then... It was gone.

The technique was wiped from her mind so clearly, it was as though it had never been there in the first place. She did not even have a memory of how the technique worked.

She could still feel the effects of using the technique but it had been retrieved in its entirety by Hal who was quite satisfied as he had managed to hook the Seventh rank Alchemist.

All that remained was to reel her in.

The technique had gone with a failsafe... It was just a demo as Hal was not about to so quickly let go of his bargaining chip.

"I trust you found that interesting," he said with a smile.

Irma paused and then cleared her throat,

"It was alright I suppose. What exactly is it that you want in exchange?" she asked and did quite well to keep her voice and tone under control.

She realized she had put herself at a bit of a disadvantage by showing so much excitement especially now that the technique had been taken from her and she had basically given Hal all the power in the oncoming negotiations.

She needed to take it down a notch... Act more aloof. She did not want to come off as desperate.

The problem was; she WAS desperate.

She had gotten a taste of the good stuff and like a drug, she wanted more of it.

A chance to get ahead of her fellows and the only actual chance to cross that mental block.

Hal could tell what she was doing but he did not care... The front she was putting on was not working on him.

"I require you to work for me. I have come up with a business that involves the mass production of pills.

You work for me, you get the technique" he said with a shrug.

Irma narrowed her brows,

"Just how many pills are we talking?" she asked.

"Right now, a hundred but in the grand scheme of things, trillions," Hal said.

Irma\'s eyes widened,

"Trillions? All by myself? What time would I have to actually practice the technique?" she asked.

"Well, that is just it... You will be practicing the technique by making these pills.

Is the natural manner of improving Spiritual sense not by actually using it in Alchemy?" Hal said and he was right.

Putting strain on one\'s Mind/Spiritual sense was how one improved... The formation Irma was sitting on was especially for this purpose and constantly placed her mind under stress in hopes of advancement.

Hal\'s technique weirdly worked in a similar manner as cultivation... It was much more straightforward and a tad simpler but even then, it could still be used the normal way.

"As for the pill production, you will be walking with someone else but you are free to recruit whoever you please but must ensure that they agree to the same agreement that you agree to and sign the same contract you sign," Hal said.

"Contract?" Irma asked and Hal nodded,

"Of course. We need to get this in writing... Writing that ascertains secrecy with fatal consequences to come upon you should you break the agreement." Hal said and as he spoke, he retrieved a scroll upon which all he had said was written but with weird wordings that have a feel of agreeing to servitude.

That said, the contract, upon careful studying by Irma was quite binding and made it clear that Hal was to give her the technique upfront after the signing of the contract, and if she did not receive the technique and it did not perform as he had described, the contract would be rendered void.

This particular wording made Irma more trusting of the process.

Plus, Hal had signed it already in the shiny red color of... Blood?