Mind’s eye test: Darkness subdues light

Mortal tier recipe. No cultivation requirements

It’s that time again, a recipe that ideally tests a specific technique. It should be pretty clear that the best test would be any recipe that requires you to be in absolute darkness, in which case this does that exactly whilst also being useful. Created for spies to make an easy get-away in any environment, it did not see much use in those early days with relatively open and clear streets. With the rise of urban expansionism it became extremely useful to slip away unseen into a dark alleyway, and as such gained a significant market.

Recipes that require specific environments are simply too rare at this level. It is not a fault of keeping things simple for mortals, but instead that the necessity for environments is born from the ingredients themselves or a certain reaction between them. In this case, it is the latter.

Ingredients and recipe Absorbing mass, 75 grams – non magical creature part Dry spell lotus, 1 flower – natural gathering stage flower Arcine (Abyssal) spore, 2 grams – natural gathering stage fungi Highly refracting crystal, n>4, 5 grams – non magical crystal Mystic’s water, 50 ml – natural gathering stage fluid

We make use of a Dry spell lotus due to the nature of this recipe. A full selection of darkness element ingredients at this level is far too difficult to acquire. As such we utilise several light amplifying ingredients and reciprocate their existence with the lotus. Yes, this makes the recipe relatively dangerous.

Absorbing mass is the remnants of a troublesome accumulating creature. These sort of beings seek out any similar biomass to their own and destructively make it part of themselves. There are even a few cases of these things growing to consume entire planets. The absorbing mass used in this recipe must be dead, if it wasn’t then chances are you’re already dead.

Arcine spores are one of the few abyss items that can actually be used. These spores occasionally float up from an abyss’ lower sections although they can rarely sprout on the surface. The mushrooms are almost entirely inert alchemically though, but they work quite well in a stir fry.

The highly refracting crystal is up to user discretion. As long as its refractive index fulfils the recipe criteria there’s not much else to say.

Mystic’s water is actually a combination of two other types of magical water. The only reason it is given a separate name is due to the incantation required to begin the merging of such waters. Titled the Mystic’s enchant, one can combine low-tier enchanted water with a jade lily’s internal pool of water. This resultant water gains slight recursive properties, this will be explained in more detail later.

Place your refractive crystal into the dry spell lotus’ flower and move all your ingredients and necessary equipment to a completely dark environment. If your eyes can make out anything then it is not dark enough. To see you must make use of the Mind’s eye or a similar sight technique.

The destroyed absorbing mass resembles minced meat in some way, and hopefully you bought this pre-processed version. If you bought a solid chunk and planned on grinding it yourself, best learn how to do so in the darkness. Absorbing mass in this state can only absorb energy, and that’s the last thing you need whilst grinding it down.

Mix together the arcine spores and absorbing mass. Just like adding spices to your burger mince. Too vivid?

Create a flat base from this meat and spore mix, then place it into a deep bowl. The lotus is placed on top, ensuring the crystal never leaves the flower. Now for the dangerous part.

To make up for the lack of darkness element objects we instead seek to create an ‘unnatural’ one. This works due to the dry spell lotus’ ability to subvert reality to a slight degree, in this case transferring the light refracting property of this crystal into the absorbing mass whilst replacing its effects. We replace it with the abyssal darkness contained within each arcine spore.

Of course, this reaction is so insanely delicate that even just an over-abundant natural light level can undermine the effects and produce a half baked good. A space with no light is hard to acquire at this stage, but just reaching the point where you cannot see will do.

The reaction is started by slowly pouring mystic’s water over the lotus. It will coat the delicate petals and flow down to your absorbing mass. After touching for a few seconds the reaction begins and the natural elements are thrown into disarray.

First rule of this step. Never open your eyes. No matter what happens, no matter what you see through your mind’s eye, do not look. A mortal mind cannot withstand the concept of truths and seeing even a fragment will instantly break you. The natural laws holding together your body fails and you reduce to pure energy. At least it is a painless death.

DO NOT LOOK

Second rule. Do not directly touch the nature subverting objects directly. This one goes without saying, but it still comes as a surprise when I remind people. At this level your inert stone tools should be capable of resisting the effects, however it is always best to prepare spares in case.

For the actual process, the only intervention required is usage of a teaspoon to constantly pour the mystic water on top of the lotus. As the water drips down it accumulates at the bowl’s base and after saturating the absorbing mass begins pooling. This pooling does nothing to aid the recipe, so some human intervention is required.

Every time you pour some mystic water onto the slowly changing crystal a pulse of distorted Qi is released. This will not harm your body but it may place you through extreme strain as the pulse moves through you. Additionally, your sight using Mind’s eye may turn blurry as the link between your soul and mind is shaken. Disable your technique for a few seconds whilst the link reforms before utilising it again.

When the phenomenon finally disperses and you count half a minute since the last pulse then you may stop transferring the mystic water. Remove the darkness emanating crystal from the lotus’ bosom and pocket it.

The name of this unnatural phenomenon is called ‘darkness subduing light’, it describes the creation of an object with the sole purpose of blocking light. There are many unnatural objects like this, each with their unique truth revealing phenomena, but one should be careful to not bite off more than they can chew. A powerful enough phenomena will garner attention from the universe, and pushing on the wall of truths too hard results in it pushing back.

Still, the recipe is finished. A standard dry spell lotus can be used thrice for this sort of process. Rinse it off in some purified water and store it properly, you can tell how many uses remain from the layers of petals. Every use of the lotus causes a layer to wilt, and since most of these lotuses contain three layers surrounding the core…

The darkness crystal’s real name is Hazed Reality.

Usage

As the introduction stated it is most commonly used as a getaway item. However, as it requires some amount of shadows in the nearby vicinity to work the usefulness in an open field is questionable. It brings up an important distinction between darkness and shadows, which for Qi are two separable concepts, but it matters little at this stage of alchemy. Just ensure there are shadows nearby.

The crystal is used by crushing it. The ritual destroys any concept of structure on an atomic level and aside from a surface similarity it barely retains any of the originality. Due to the fragile nature it is normally stored in a small container.

Crushing the crystal, with some shadows nearby, will coat everything nearby in a blanket of darkness. Remember, important distinction.

Use a sight technique to see through this darkness as necessary and make an escape before your opponent realises to also use their sight technique. Please do note, that as darkness also related to the realm of silence all sounds within this darkness are muffled. You are lucky to hear the screaming voice of someone beside you as a distance shout.

Lastly, the average lasting time for this product is 35 seconds. Why such an odd number? Because the universe is petty in that way.