The mimic chest stretched wide like a yawning maw, rows of spirit-forged teeth shimmering with chi. Its tongue pulsed with a molten-red light, twitching hungrily as I stood before it. Faint glyphs pulsed across the mimic's surface—the signs of its soul furnace forge activating for the first time. "Alright, let's start small," I muttered, setting down a bundle of minor goods. The major offensive was in twelve hours, and I wanted to gain every possible advantage for this fight that I could. Besides I had been hankering to play around with this thing ever since the Delta Pirates Inheritance war.
I fed the mimic, Three Harpy Feathers for wind essence. Cracked Scale Shell Plates Fire-aligned defense scraps. Three spoiled ember flare apple (Unstable qi fruit.)
The mimic's throat gurgled, glowed briefly lime green, then sneezed out a shimmering, ugly-looking feathered shoulder guard:
Junk Output: Wind-Singed Ember Mantle +1 agility, smells like bird vomit. I blinked. "Yup. RNG confirmed." chuckling I tossed it aside,and cracked my knuckles.
"Let's try something real next..." From a hidden compartment in my traveling bag, I drew out a leather-wrapped scroll:
The Spatial Eye Path.
This rare tome had been looted from the Tomb of the Thousand Lords—far too precious to risk blindly. "No chances," I murmured. I sat cross-legged, unrolling the scroll. Aided by my recent mental energy training with the mind pearl, I scanned and absorbed the entire Spatial Eye Path, burning it into my memory crystal-clear. Only when I'd committed every glyph and diagram to my mind did I rise. The tome contained the startling secrets of spatial control. And thankfully it functioned through any spirit path, particularly the vorpal path.
Then, reverently, I sat the scroll before the mimic. "This..." I said, "plus this." I added the Mind Flame Talisman—a qi artifact I had carried since Dusk bane outpost. The mimic's tongue twitched. Its eye opened wide. The room dimmed. The Mimics Transmutation Began. The mimic shuddered violently. Its body turned deep obsidian, then violet, then eclipse-black, shot through with runic gold veins.
Faint screeches echoed within its interior—almost like spatial fissures being born and dying at once. I stepped back. A purple eye formed at the top of the mimic's lid.
It blinked once, twice...PLOP!
The mimics purple tongue slurped out of its mouth and on the tip of its tongue was a headband. I picked up the headband from the tip of the mimics' tongue. The Mimic spoke in a guttural hiss!
"Item Created – Vorpal Eye Headband Talisman
Rarity: Rare.
Type: Head-slot Talisman
Bound to: Ash upon contact.
Form: Black silk headband with a single silver-white qi eye that subtly blinks.
Trait – Spatial Awareness +++: Enhances cultivators' mental perception of qi distortions, hidden enemies, illusion domains, and dimensional rifts.
Can freeze Spatial Domains.
Passive – Mind Flame Retention: Reduces mental fatigue and boosts clarity during intense cultivation or memory recall." I picked up the Vorpal Eye Head Band, my fingers tingling as qi laced up my arm. "Damn... this is insane! With this I can freeze spatial domains?" "You mean like time?" I asked the mimic. The mimic gave a satisfied burp and settled down, its eye half-lidded, almost smug. " I'll take that for a "yes"."
"If that's what it can do when I'm cautious… what if I fed it an inheritance token... or one of those Siren Pearls?" I smiled to myself.
"This ship is going to be my forge, my lab, my vault... and maybe a little chaos machine."