16 Chapter 15
There were a few difficulties at first as the ST technique represented a completely different power system from a completely different universe. I naturally had to make a few changes to it to adjust it for this universe. Firstly, in the ST universe the cultivators did not have as wide of a difference between spiritual and physical training methods unlike the warrior and magus paths here and even there the ST technique was a bit of an outlier as it enabled the practitioners to completely fuse their spiritual and physical strength. Secondly, in this universe, the strength progression in the higher stages was completely dependent on understanding the Laws and Edicts rather than just accumulation of more energy far sooner than in the ST universe.
With all that in mind I sought to find the right path to advance, I first sought to control my greatly boosted Saint level spiritual energy to flow towards my dantian and also pull the mageforce I had refined so far. I stopped as I soon started to feel bloated, I did not want to risk exploding or something. After a little pondering on what I could have done wrong, I realised I hadn't made sufficient preparations to contain the energy I was looking to condense. I reformed the energy armour from the Trans Heaven Diagram technique that had dissipated a while back and now that I was paying more attention to my internals, I saw that this armour not only served to protect me from external damage but also seemed to strengthen and stabilise my internal body structure. Huh, that dude who originally created the ST technique was a bl**dy genius.
I tried to once again form the Nebula in my Dantian after my preparations and this time it was easier. I still felt a little bloated but it was more like I had a full meal rather than feeling like I was moments from exploding. The mageforce in my central Dantian had started to quickly drain into my lower Dantian behind my navel and as it swirled about in its new location it started to also absorb the ambient natural essences at a rapid pace. Soon a magnificent multicoloured Nebula was taking shape in my Dantian with its gases being comprised of the natural essences of this world.
It felt incredible once the Nebula was formed, even though my liquified mageforce was dispersed once again in a gaseous like state I could feel it was now much stronger, more like plasma than a gas really. It also greatly enhanced the rate at which I was able to absorb and refine the external natural essences for my own not to mention it being constant, my strength would now continue to increase at a steady pace even if I were to completely stop actively refining the energy, though the rate of improvement might be slower then. That was not even taking into consideration the fact that I could now observe and study the Laws and Edicts much more easily, it was like I had a constant connection to the external natural essences and with the Nebula mimicking the natural properties of the real thing in the cosmos it was as good as having a personal Dao in a snow globe that I can study and comprehend in my own time.
Naturally my breakthrough was not all good news as I instinctively felt the impending minor tribulation I would need to face, sigh, I was hoping I would not have to encounter those in this Universe but what can you do. Thankfully I felt that the tribulation was still a month from now so I had time to prepare, better tie up all the lose ends in this foggy valley soon then. I opened my eyes to see Sartius staring at me again.
"What are you looking at? Have you made your decision?" I ask him.
"I have decided to take up your offer to accompany you for the next decade human but know that it will only be for that time frame and I can reject any request that I feel is against my principles." He replies in a pompous manner.
"Right, again my name is Linley, let me just pack these sculptures here and dig up some of the ores for a bit. You rest up in the meanwhile, I'll recharge the healing formation for you." I first recharge the formation that was running low with more Life essence so Sartius could heal some more before I immediately store my sculptures in my 10,000+ metre cube Dantian space. I found no difference with the usage of magic now as I could still draw on and shape mageforce from my Nebula and it was not like the old central dantian was gone either so I could refill that too to ack as a secondary source.
I pack up my sculptures first and then go about digging up the precious ores from the caves, imagine my surprise when I even find bits of Adamantine ore scattered throughout. By the end of the one-week deadline I had kept I had nearly two dozen human fist sized pieces of Adamantine ore and plenty of other precious materials. I naturally stayed clear of the grand formation on the roof of Sartius' cavern, the one with Bloodviolet stuck in the middle as I wanted to leave that for last, I wouldn't really be able to dig other ores in peace if I pulled out that sword after all. I was also still feeling indecisive about pulling out that sword and taking it for myself knowing the disaster I would be unleashing if I did.
In the end I took a deep breath before floating up to the roof of the main cavern and with a little application of Earth magic, I peeled back the layer hiding the sword and formation from view.
"What is that? Why have I never seen that before?" Sartius asks me as he had woken up when I had returned and was now watching me carefully.
"This seems to be the reason for the higher-than-normal natural essence concentration in this place. I cannot exactly make out what or how it is doing it but the sword in the centre seems to be the core stabilising component." I venture. I don't immediately go about pulling out the sword though as I am still a formation buff and I want to study this formation as much as possible first. All I can make out so far is that there is a weak point in the plane's dimensional structure in this area where it seems to be overlapping with another place. This formation is sucking out the natural essences from that other plane to increase the concentration on this side, the sword works to plug up the largest gap to prevent anything other than the natural essences from the other side to make its way to the Yulan plane.
Once I've studied the formation to the best of my ability, I cast a divination spell one last time before I do anything rash. Imagine my surprise when I find that Dylin's escape and the Apocalypse Day remain constants in the near future. I do some more analysing to see how that event seems to remain a constant and find that the sword is destined to be pulled within a month from now, I could pull it for the sword or another beast that wanders in after Sartius leaves would pull it eventually. Even if I wasn't here in the wake of Sartius' battle against Gregor another beast would have wandered in here eventually and the end result would remain the same. With all these factors taken into consideration I decide to take the sword myself, that way I'll at least have a divine weapon as well as the favour of Dylin.
I reach out to the blade of the sword and 'accidentally' cut myself on the sharp edge while trying to examine it. The dust and dirt that was still clinging to the sword was shaken off as soon as my blood was absorbed by it and the whole formation starts shaking soon afterwards.
"Uh-oh, Hang on Sartius, we need to get out of here fast." I state before storing Bloodviolet and diving down to pick up Sartius.
"What the?! Unhand me human." Sartius complains.
"Be quiet for a bit, that thing looks like it will explode any moment now so unless you want to perish, I suggest getting out of here." I rebuke back. Sartius takes one last look back at the formation that was now glowing with trembling lights and decides to heed my advice.
I shoot out of the cave at full speed while carrying Sartius, with my recent boost in rank it was easy. I then make my way towards the edges of the foggy valley where Bebe and Grandpa Doehring were camped out. I sent them a mental communication in advance to let them know I was returning and that we had to leave this place fast. Thankfully they did not question me too much hearing my urgent tone and decided to just follow along for now.
I picked up Grandpa Doehring as well and Bebe flew alongside me as we made our way outside the valley proper and headed towards our hidden base.
"Hmmm… a young World Bear cub… not bad human. You are quite lucky to have gotten it to follow you around but what is with this black Shadowmouse, how do you expect the great me to work together with the likes of this little vermin." Sartius comments after taking a look at Bebe and Grandpa Doehring.
"What was that you sh*tty lizard? You want a fight? I your father Bebe can take you on with one paw tied behind my back." Bebe explodes in a fit of rage. His spiritual energy was enough to help him understand Sartius' growls and besides, he had learnt quite a bit of the draconic tongue from Fey who had a draconic lineage.
"Humph, a little rat dares to talk back to this great one, know your place!" Sartius continues to provoke Bebe and I can only look on in awe as a little 9th rank beast provokes the 2nd Godeater Rat of this universe. I will forever remember this moment and tease Sartius with it for ages about the time he thought provoking a Divine Beast was a good idea.
"That's enough Sartius, don't look down on Bebe. Just the fact that he is flying on his own should tell you plenty about his strength. Don't go running your mouth off like that or you could get killed before you know it." I reprimand him.
"Impossible! This little rat is a Saint?" He asks when the fact that Bebe was flying by himself sinks in to his arrogant head.
"Humph, unfortunately not yet. It will only be a matter of time before I step into that realm though, then I will have you bowing and scraping before me you smelly lizard." Bebe proclaims cutely.
"Why if I wasn't injured…" Sartius starts to threaten before I finally lose it and knock him out. Finally, a little peace and quiet.
"Why did you bother dragging this cut up lizard anyway Big Bro?" Bebe asks. "Yes, I would also like to know more Linley. While I would normally be happy about you getting a beast companion as powerful as an Armoured Razorback Wyrm, this one seems a bit… foul." Grandpa Doehring inquires as well. I then decide to elaborate on everything I had encountered so far and the two of them eagerly listen to my recounting of events.
"You broke through to the Saint level Boss? As expected of my Big Bro." Bebe proudly declares in a really smug manner while Grandpa Doehring seems to be in a daze as he mutters things like- "Saint… 17 years… genius… my disciple…"
We eventually make it back to our hideout between the mountain ranges and the kingdom of Fenlai. We had also seemingly picked a good time to return as it was apparently the monthly rest days of the Ernst Institute and all my friends were at the base as well.
"Well, this story I need to hear." Reynolds says as we walk in on the gang in the main common room.
"What did you run into this time Linley? There had better not be any Saint level beasts involved this time." Delia says with a dangerous look in her eyes.
"Well… hehehe…" was all I could say before Yale facepalms himself- "Well at least I can confidently say it is not just my terrible luck. Third Bro is apparently that unlucky all by himself and needs no help from me." He mutters.
"Traitor… ow ow ow." Was all I could word out before Delia was pulling and twisting my ear again.
"Well, are you going to share the details or not dear brother?" Dixie asks me with a smirk on his lips. These traitors, after all I had done for them… how could they trample on the Bro Code and smile like that.
"Hang on, let me just have this guy settled a bit before I get into it." I tell them while gesturing towards the unconscious Armoured Razorback Wyrm. After I have Sartius carefully settled in my room with alarm wards around him to notify me if he wakes up, I make it back to where my gang was waiting to hear the story of my latest adventure- "Well, where to begin…" I start off.
"You broke through to Saint rank?!" George exclaims while everyone else was looking at me with jaws dropped after I had finished the edited version of my tale. Can't go telling them about the bits that would give away my future transmigrator knowledge or the secrets of the ST technique after all. I was at first debating if it would be wise to share the ST with Delia and Bebe at least but now I knew better, after analysing my nebula I had found that you needed all element and edict affinity to pull it off. I really lucked out on that front right from the get go it seems.
"Yep." I state while popping the 'p'. "Now that I've reached this rank, I plan to graduate from the Institute. I can even show off a bit more without fearing the forces of the Church, as long as I keep it well below my actual capabilities there is no way they can take advantage of me. In fact, I can use this chance to take advantage of them instead." I state.
"What did you have in mind Third Bro?" Reynolds asks me with a wicked smile and he was not alone and the same smile was spreading to everyone's faces, even the beast companions.
"How about I reveal the capabilities of a 7th rank mage for graduation? I could use the fame that being a 17-year-old 7th rank magus give me to acquire plenty of the Church's resources as well as use it to more easily reclaim my family's lost heirloom." I tell them and we discuss some more on that.
"Linley, you said something about sculpting a grand sculpture, can you show us?" Anna was the first to ask about that.
"Yeah, show me Linley." Delia demands and the others also wish to see it now.
"Alright, you guys wait here and I will set up all the pieces in the formations room. No peeking though, that means you two as well." I say towards Bebe and Grandpa Doehring in particular before locking myself in the formation room. Once I make sure that they cannot barge in or take a peek, I go about setting up the pieces of my magnum opus.
Right from the initial intense pre battle stare down, the first exchange of blows, Gregor stupidly striking Sartius' back, scenes of Sartius trying to find a gap, scenes of Gregor's suppression, Sartius diving underground and his later sneak attack, Gregor's counter, Sartius having his tail torn off, right up to the finale of Sartius killing Gregor and then turning to attack the watcher. I had arranged it all in sequence from the point of entry into the room so one could see how the battle played out as they walked around the room in a clockwise direction.
"Alright, you guys can come in now." I call out as I open the doors to the room. They all soon scramble in with excited expressions and are frozen as soon as they catch sight of the first set. They have looks of awe etched on their faces, even Grandpa Doehring is shocked silent as he sees my latest work. They continue in silence all the way to the final set of sculptures while taking plenty of time observing each piece.
"This is…" Grandpa Doehring exclaims as he stares into the eyes of the sculpture of Sartius from the final sculpture. Like everyone, he had a really strong reaction to that final piece which completely captured Sartius' relentless and unyielding spirit.
"Magnificent! What are you calling this Third Bro?" George asks after quite a bit of time.
"Hmmm… I want to keep the name simple, how about 'Relentless'." I decide on the name for this set of sculptures.
"Wonderful… such beauty… such grace…" Grandpa Doehring has broken down and is tearing up as his eyes still remain glued to the sculptures. It was a few hours and my friends were still looking at the sculptures in awe. They would even sit down and meditate every once in a while, when they caught a glimpse of the Laws I had imbued the sculptures with. I eventually let them be as I had sensed Sartius waking.
"What is the meaning of this human? Where am I? Where have you brought me?" He asks as soon as I step into the room.
"Relax, we're in the secret base my friends and I built." I tell him. "As for knocking you out, well… you were being a little too noisy. How about I introduce you to them, they are all admiring the sculpture I had made so it would be a good time for that seeing as you were one of the primary subjects." I state bluntly before offering to introduce him to the rest of my friends.
I don't get a reply from him but he doesn't reject either so I just lead him to the formations room where everyone was still too busy admiring my sculptures. Besides with the weakened state of Sartius and the strength of my friends, the dragon was no threat to them. Even that worry was unneeded though as other than a brief glance and introductions, no one said too much and returned to silently studying the sculptures as if they contained the secrets of the universe.
"Linley, you'll leave the sculptures here, right? I will come back to study them next month." Dixie asks. I had to nearly drag everyone out apart from Anna on the second day as they had to return to the Institute.
"Yeah, I'll leave the sculpture here for now so, get going or you guys will be late." I tell them.
"Why are you not joining us Linley?" Delia asks with a cute pout.
"I have grown quite a bit and gained a lot more on my last trip, Delia. I need to take some time to digest and stabilise my strength. I still have plenty of time left from my last assignment so I plan to use it to get a good handle on my powers. Don't worry too much though, I'll only be gone another month or so." I reassure her while cupping her cheeks and give her a gentle kiss on the lips at the end that leaves both of us wanting more. Yes, our relationship has progressed that far now (AN: What's the big deal, it's only kissing?)
I don't tell them about the tribulation that I would be facing in another two weeks or so as I did not want them to worry. I was determined to make it through and reach the pinnacle of this universe on my own and no heavenly sparklers were going to stop me. After most of them had returned to the institute, the magical beasts and Anna elected to spend some more time studying my sculpture. I retreated to my personal room to do some final preparations to face the tribulation.
The first thing I did was let Bebe and Grandpa Doehring know that I would be busy and to not worry or disturb me. I then sealed up my room before pulling out some Blueheart Grass along with the preserved blood of Sartius that was mixed with a great deal of his powered draconic core. After I had calmed myself, I ate a couple handfuls of the grass before drinking the blood in great big gulps, the cool mint like sensation of the Blueheart Grass was immediately washed away by the fiery potency of the dragon blood. It really felt like I was drinking lava, that was how painfully potent dragon blood was.
I did not stop until I had drunk all of the draconic core mixed blood and after another couple handfuls of Blueheart Grass to wash it all down, I sat down cross-legged to begin cultivating according to my clan's method. I roused the dormant dragonblood in me and also used the Blood Essence Refinement technique to increase my chances of awakening. After an indeterminate amount of time, I felt a massive flare in the energy being emitted from my blood and with it the pain that I thought was already intense, increased greatly.
I heard loud snaps and wet spulches as my bones and organs rearranged themselves, as they damaged and healed themselves rapidly. Soon black scales started growing over my body and I was bleeding all over, it felt as if someone was pulling out my spine one vertebra at a time as sharp spikes grew down my back along my spine and don't even ask me to describe the sensation of growing a tail. My knees and elbows felt like I had hit them pretty bad as a single sharp spike grew from them and the same was true for my forehead. Due to my strong mental resilience, I was sadly awake and painfully aware as each strand of my muscles was torn asunder and regrown stronger. I could feel a strange black liquid mix with a bright blue liquid and the resultant mixture start boiling angrily with numerous bubbles in my heart. I finally passed out when my fingers and toes started snapping one by one as my claws seemed to burst through my existing digits. Don't ask me to tell you how many fingers or toes it was before I fainted as it was all a blur by that point.
When I finally regained consciousness a couple days later back in my human form, my clothes were in tatters and there was dried blood everywhere in my immediate surroundings. I sat upright with a groan as I had curled up on the floor at some point, thank goodness I would only have to suffer that pain only once. Just the thought of having to experience that level of pain every time I wished to transform had me shuddering, I'd rather never transform in my life if that were the case.
I stood up and flexed my fingers and arms, stretched my body, basically I tested if everything was still there and I did not lose anything while gaining the dragonform. I felt fine, better than fine in fact, I felt great, the awakening of my lineage did not only give me access to the dragon form but it also pushed my physical body passed the threshold and into the realm of Saints. Now I was both a Saint in terms of magus and warrior and my Dragonform and Nebula added on top of that made me insanely powerful.
I then used the methods provided in my clan's manual to trigger the transformation, when I was finally fully transformed, I let out a breath I did not know I was holding. It truly was painless now, stupid first transformation, nearly gave me PTSD. My strength experienced another significant boost and I tested what this new form gave me, my claws were deadly sharp, as were the spikes all over me. The spikes seemed tiny in comparison to those of the Armoured Razorback Wyrm they were derived from but they were still awesome in my opinion, all in all I felt I looked much more fearsome than my clan's records of the normal bland blue dragonform of those who have natural talent. I examined myself in front of an ice mirror I had made and just admired myself in a very narcissistic manner before moving on to more tests.
The tail proved to be a little difficult to control accurately though as it was completely new to me. I glared at it with my molten gold-coloured draconic eyes as I smacked myself with it a couple of times, tripped over it or just lost balance. The thing was as long as I was tall and very prominent seeing as the Armoured Razorback Wyrm who my form was based on was mostly tail from the waist down. The spikes along my back spine continued down the tail and ended at a wickedly sharp barbed tip. I got decent control of it in a couple of hours and I was confident I would be able to fully master control in a day.
Before that though I spent a moment checking the front portion of the region between my legs to see if Little Linley was alright and there were no adverse effects to him. I reached down and found a mostly smooth area in that region and started panicking at first. I only calmed myself later as upon further examination I found that a region of extra sturdy scales had grown over that part of my body and was protecting Little Linley like a cup guard, the shell layer was retractable so I could still go about my business without having to revert back to human form.
I spent the next couple of days fully adjusting to my powers and alter forms while meditating on the Laws in my spare time. I also observed my newly formed Nebula and noticed that it had changed a bit after I had awakened my Dragonblood legacy, it now had a distinct pressuring aura to it that I took to calling 'Dragon Aura', uninspired but… whatever. Bebe, Grandpa Doehring and Sartius were surprised and in awe of my transformation, Sartius most of all.
"You… you are of that clan…?" He had asked me in shock and a little bit of rage.
"What? Have you heard of or interacted with my Dragonblood warrior clan?" I ask him out of honest curiosity.
"Humph… have I heard of that accursed clan of dragon hunters? Though it was a long time ago, every dragon of a certain age or power is told about that clan of humans who had obtained dragon like powers from somewhere. If that wasn't enough, there were plenty of cautionary tales told among our kind that warned us to be careful of them as they would hurt us for bloodletting often. The insult they put our kind through… I thought them all to be dead long ago though, it is disheartening to see they still live." He rants and looks at me with disgust at the end. Sigh, looks like it is getting harder and harder to try and build up our relation up to the point where he would seek to form a bond of equals with me now.
"Sigh, look I did not hunt you down or beat you up for bloodletting." I explain calmly. "I only took some of the blood from when you were injured to help me awaken my powers. Can't let the blood of such an amazing dragon as you to go to waste after all, either way I promise to do my best not to insult our shared blood." I tell him and he just turns away from me to curl up and sleep after giving me a cold humph.
"Why that prideful stupid lizard, how about I take it down a peg?" Bebe says while brandishing his claws.
"Let him be Bebe." I hold the little mouse back and begin to stroke his fur to comfort him.
I decide against leaving the base for any training outside as Sartius seems to have become really broody and I was afraid that it may escalate to conflict with the others if I wasn't around to mediate. I wasn't afraid for the others as they could take care of themselves but Sartius on the other hand, I was afraid where he would get beaten to death due to his pride. Due to these reasons I decided to take all three of my beast companions to observe my minor 3-of-9 tribulation despite Sartius not having formed a bond with me (AN: I know the ST wiki and the novel say 4-of-9 tribulation but IDK it just makes more sense and flows better when you have 3-of-9, then 6-of-9 and finally 9-of-9 so that will be the way it is in this story).
After some consideration I decided to fly north when I still had a week to go. I reasoned it would be better to be away from the Union's border with the Cult as observers in that region would be more common. I also did not want to venture too much into the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and risk falling under the radar of Dylin or whatever deity that crawled through the crack in the foggy valley (AN: It is Dylin). With that being said I finally settled for a vast expanse of wilderness with plenty of hills in the Duchy of Din, east of the Kingdom of Hanmu. I settled down on top of a hill and had Bebe, Grandpa Doehring and Sartius settle down on a neighbouring smaller hill.
I set about preparing a defensive formation before sitting in the centre of it to meditate and get myself in peak condition to face what was to come. The few remaining days crept by and the time of the tribulation finally came, the skies were filled with dense clouds far faster than was natural and with no apparent source. The wind picked up with fierce gales and the clouds overhead rumbled with lightning, the divine kind generated and refined from the natural essences.
"Big Bro… will you be alright?" Bebe asks me with worry and Grandpa Doehring just looks on in determination. I had told them both a bit more about what is happening without mentioning transmigration and all. I told them I was practicing a powerful but dangerous technique that would test the practitioner every now and then. I did everything I could to reassure them before and now all that was left to live through this and destroy any remaining doubts they had. CRASH* the thunder and lightning were concentrated and getting far more powerful than what was natural and finally with an almighty crash, the first lightning bolt struck me.
I stood ready in full dragonform with smaller arcs of lightning dancing across my scales and spikes in a loose lighting cage/armour thanks to my understanding of the Laws of Lightning. Fortunately, in this world one can supplement one's strength with the Laws and Edicts instead of just depending upon just their internal strength or treasures like in the ST universe. I make full use of this and the first bolt that struck me was dispersed by my defences and absorbed by the formation surrounding me. My idea was to use this method to capture the instantaneous burst power of the tribulation and slowly refine and absorb it into myself at my own pace.
My idea seemed to be working as I could easily withstand the first bolt and in the time the second was gathering, I absorbed as much of the power stored in the formation as I could to leave room for the subsequent bolts. I used the Laws of Devour from Darkness as well as the Essence of Earth and Vitality of Earth Laws to absorb the power to myself. Soon the energy in my Nebula started to get denser and it started to swirl about with purpose. From the next Bolt on I was able to directly absorb a chunk of the tribulation lightning's power directly into my Nebula before having to rely on my armour and the formation despite the bolts getting progressively more powerful.
Soon the third and final bolt struck and I was still standing with ease. I must say it was quite easy to bear compared to the pain of my first forced dragonform transformation. I took a seat after the last lightning bolt hit me and the tribulation clouds were disappearing. I focused on absorbing the power I had trapped in earnest for fear of it fading away if I delay it. The show was not over apparently as soon after the clouds cleared another phenomenon occurred, this one native to this universe. The Laws descended with all their glory carrying with them a portion of Will for little old me and it felt incredible to my senses. For the brief moment that the Laws had descended I felt as though as I was submerged in a stream of infinite energy and like any normal person, I decided to make the most of it and absorb as much as I could for as long as I could.
It must be said that the energy available to one when the Laws descend is truly immense as it is even enough to let people create divine clones while safely splitting their Soul between the original body and clones. The Laws were also much more easily discernible during this moment and I did not waste that as I started to gleam insights in to the Lightning's Laws of Judgement seeing as I had the tribulation as a reference. With the new portion of Will, my rate of absorbing the essences within the region the Laws had descended was greatly magnified and after the Laws receded it only took me no more than 10 minutes to completely refine and absorb the tribulation's power stored in the formation. Considering the tribulation bolts were not spaced out more than a minute apart and the Laws had descended for only a couple of minutes, the time I spent absorbing it all wasn't that short.
"Hmmm… Wow… That felt great!" I exclaim after letting out a huge breath and stretching a bit. I immediately stand and strike out at the air in a flurry of attacks. I could easily warp the space of the Yulan plane and I felt that if I put a little more power to it or invoked the Laws, it would be easy to shatter the space on this plane. I was beyond pleased that just my raw physical power had reached such a frightening degree.
I am soon lost in the sensation of my newfound strength as I pull out my Blades of Chaos and start practicing with them as well. I was so lost in my own little bubble that I had completely missed the presence of another person for quite a while now. This person had sensed the odd phenomenon of gathering clouds and my tribulation and had decided to finally check in person for once.
POV change-
The person had been observing the young dragonblood warrior for quite a while now, ever since the kid had pulled out that little sword he had used to plug up the gap to the Gebbados Planar Prison in fact. Imagine his surprise when he figured out that the little punk was actually a descendant of that clan he had created using the blood of the Azure Dragon, the so called Dragonblood warrior clan.
His surprise only grew at finding the Laws descending with a portion of Will after the young dragonblood warrior had withstood three bolts of lightning that had mysteriously gathered in this place. The lightning itself was quite interesting, powerful too, as not may Saints would be able to survive being struck by one of them let alone three back-to-back. This young one showed a lot of promise and he really doubted if anyone from this plane had reached such a level at such a young age.
While all that was shocking indeed, the biggest surprise for him was when he discovered the boy's contracted beasts, one in particular stood out. Is that…? Could it be…? For so long he had thought that he was the only one of his kind in the entire universe but here… there was apparently another of his kind… a descendant.
He had at first thought to keep some distance with this descendant, Bebe and his dragonblood warrior partner, Linley. He had thought them too weak so he did not seek them out as soon as he discovered them in the foggy valley. He had instead decided to take some time to investigate into the origins of this descendant of his to learn how he came to be and how he had ended up as the magical beast companion of the young Dragonblood warrior. He would meet them later, probably shake Linley up a bit for daring to contract his descendant.
Thankfully it seemed as though Linley had not enslaved or mistreated Bebe and was in fact taking good care of his descendant so he decided to cut Linley some slack when he finally decides to meet them. The fact that both of them were also very strong and growing well, put his mind to rest and fostered good impressions in his heart.
The descent of the Laws and granting of a portion of Will to Linley threw his plans out the window though and forced him to meet them far sooner than he had expected lest some other overtly inquisitive busy bodies interfere. He already had to flare his aura to warn the Planar Overseer Hodan and the recently escaped Dylin away so they would not poke their noses here. He also sent out a message to all the other big players on the Yulan plane just in case, while some challenges would be good for Bebe and his companion, it would not do to have some old monster kill them out of spite.
"Well, that was impressive." He said out loud, finally revealing his presence to Linley and the others nearby. At his level it was simplicity itself to hide his presence from Saints so the boy's reaction was expected, and very entertaining.
POV Linley-
"Well, that was impressive." A new voice calls out and pulls me out from my celebrations.
"GAH!" I exclaim in shock. Here I was getting a big head and showing off after having stabilised my Nebula and also getting a portion of Will but that fantasy was cruelly trampled by this reminder that there was always someone stronger.
Turning around to the new speaker I was confronted with a middle-aged man in grey robes, he had long black hair that came half-way down his back, a black beard that covered his neck and small black eyes that were twinkling with mirth at having caught me by surprise. It was Beirut, the Big Honcho of the Yulan Plane and Lesser Sovereign of Wind in all his glory who stood in front of me so, yeah, it was a very good reminder for me not to get so full of myself at my level.
"Ummm… Pardon me, my Lord, I was not aware of your presence until now. Is there anything I can do for you; I hope I didn't disturb you with the ruckus I caused a while ago." I ask in a humble and polite manner. Even though I cannot directly let him know I have identified him, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to have him believe I had assumed him to be a Deity level being at least.
"Well, aren't you a polite one. Your name is Linley, right?" He asks me and I was panicking internally at finding out that I was already on this old man's radar. I comforted myself a bit as I had already expected something like this, especially as I had formed a contract with a very important descendant of his.
"Ummm… yes, that is my name Milord." I answer awkwardly and it was exactly then that Bebe, Grandpa Doehring and Sartius had run up to our location. While Grandpa Doehring and Sartius remained quiet and cautious in front of this mysterious stranger, Bebe; bless his furry cuteness; was more open, openly hostile that his. He was squeaking away threats and planning ways to fight if the situation escalated.
"Haha, aren't you a feisty little one? Fret not though as I have not come to make trouble for you or your friends." Beirut chuckles as he extends his arm to scratch Bebe's head. Of course, he would not mind Bebe's behaviour, in canon he was one of the main culprits responsible for spoiling Bebe rotten after all.
"Squeak squeak!" Bebe voices out loud in shock while also mentally communicating with me and Grandpa Doehring- "Careful Big Bro, this person seems to be really tough. I tried to evade him just now but my body completely froze up." He warns us.
"Everyone calm down, I think this person might be a deity level expert. I doubt we could do anything if he means to harm us, let's just be grateful he does not seem hostile and see what he wants first." I quickly communicate with the others mentally while keeping my eyes on Beirut. The small smile he gave told me that he had caught our silent conversation, as to be expected of someone at his level I suppose.
"I most certainly don't mean to harm any of you, I just want to talk. I have been observing you for a while now, especially you two." He says while gesturing towards Bebe and me.
"I am honoured to know we have gotten the attention of such an esteemed person Milord." I continue to remain polite without coming off as completely subservient, it was a fine balance to be honest.
"Well, let's get going then." He says and with a wave of his hand we all feel as though we were held in a strong grip by the wind. We were soon flying off at great speeds towards the east, it was far faster than what I could currently achieve.
"Pardon my rudeness, Milord but could you tell us who you are and what you wish to talk to us about." I venture.
"Oh, how rude of me. I am Beirut and you could say that I am the ruler of this plane." He drops a bomb of an introduction from the get go. Before continuing- "You don't need to worry though as I really have no hostile intentions towards any of you. I really just want to talk, I am in fact this little one's ancestor." He informs us while gesturing towards Bebe who was being gently cradled in Beirut's arms.
"Bebe's/my ancestor." We all exclaim. It wasn't all that hard to feign surprise for me as even I was not expecting the old coot to reveal that much to us at this point in time.
"I have a deity level ancestor?" Bebe asks him one more time.
"Why yes you do little one. How about you call me Grandpa Beirut." He says softly to Bebe.
"Linley, I think this really is the deity level expert from the Forest of Darkness in the north-east of the continent. I had always had my doubts about Bebe's identity but I never thought that he would actually be related to this expert." Grandpa Doehring communicates with me and I can only send him a brief message of agreement.
"Let's talk more when we get to my place." Beirut tells us and we spend the rest of the journey in silence. That was not to say that I did nothing but wait though as I used the chance to test out my Saint level Spirit Sense to scan the lands as we were whizzing over. Beirut did not seem to mind so I thought it was alright.
We completely crossed the width of the Mountain Range of Magical beasts within a minute and still maintaining our breakneck speeds. Eventually we were passing over what I assumed were the Anarchic Lands and I paid extra attention to my surroundings in the hopes of finding Beirut's old abandoned pocket dimension training area. I was in luck as just before we crossed over into the region over the Forest of Darkness, I could feel the presence of a massive amount of magicite gems buried underground against the edge of my senses. The place was quite close to the forest and like in canon, the reserves of magicite gems were huge so I figured I had got the right place. Perfect, with this I now have a reasonable excuse for being interested in this location.
Soon we stopped before a gigantic black metallic castle well within the forest and I was once again surprised at the speed with which Beirut had dragged us along. We had crossed hundreds of miles in just around 10 minutes, after a bit of calculations I figured that I would need a couple of days to cover this distance at my top speed and that was with me fully utilising all the speed related Laws I knew so far.
"Well, here we are. I welcome you all to my humble abode." Beirut says while gesturing towards his castle that was anything but humble. He set us down before the great front doors before walking ahead- "Come in, come in." He invited us as the doors swung open by themselves. After a brief shared glance between all of us we followed him in, even Sartius who was normally brash and prideful had kept his mouth shut for so long and I hoped that continued. I did not want him to get slapped into dragon paste after offending Beirut.
We were soon settled in a sitting room with a central table surrounded with a few comfortable chairs. Beirut took a seat in a comfortable looking armchair before gesturing towards the table where some drinks and snacks appeared soon after. "Come, take a seat, help yourselves to some refreshments." He said while still holding Bebe in his arms gently.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Beirut." I tell him before taking a seat followed by Grandpa Doehring also doing a courtesy and sitting on another chair. Sartius on the other hand was neither of an appropriate size or shape to sit on these chairs and had instead decided to settle down on the floor close to the table and us.
"Here, why don't you try this, little one." Beirut says as he picks up a strange yellow and purple fruit and offers it to Bebe. After sniffing it a bit, Bebe takes a few bites before his eyes widen and he starts eating with great gusto.
"Big Bro, you have to try this, it is delicious." He tells me as Beirut chuckles at his antics already in full doting Grandpa mode.
While Beirut was still doting on Bebe I reach out to grab another odd fruit for myself and Grandpa Doehring and Sartius follow my lead. With another thanks from all of us we settle to quietly eat for now as Beirut closely examines Bebe while stroking his fur. Bebe on the other hand is now completely relaxed and happily munching on his third fruit… fourth now.
"This is… How?" Beirut's small eyes suddenly widen and he stops petting Bebe, instead opting to more carefully scrutinize the little guy. The rest of us also pause to see what has gotten our host in such a tizzy.
"You… you figured out a way to safely induce a Soul mutation in someone. You turned my Grandson into a Soul mutate?!" Beirut questions me incredulously. There was a bit of heat in his voice at that point as he rightfully thought of the dangers of someone turning into a Soul mutate and that I had dared to try such a thing on his Grandson. He was already considering Bebe his Grandson despite there being many generations between the two of them.
"Soul mutate? I am sorry, Lord Beirut but I am unaware what that means." I answer back with nervousness. I was pretty sure that all my meta knowledge was protected from any type of mind reading but I was still unsure of what Beirut might be able to read from me. If the gaps were too much and obvious, would he suspect foul play.
"A Soul mutate is someone capable of using different elemental Laws or Edicts simultaneously and also fuse them together. They are very rare and powerful, naturally many have tried to become Soul mutates for the power it gives them but few have succeeded. In the entirety if the universe there might be not even be one Soul mutate for every billion deities." Beirut explains as if completely unaware of my inner thoughts which comforts me once and for all that my secrets were safe.
"Really, it's that impressive? I only thought it would be a great way for all my friends to quickly increase their spiritual power while also letting them use spells of multiple combined elements as well." I say with wide eyes while scratching my head.
"You…" Beirut is completely lost for words at my casual remark. This method was something even the high and mighty Sovereigns would kill for and here this brat was being so causal about it. As a concerned senior he thought to take the responsibility to properly discipline this junior to hide this knowledge so he would be better able to protect himself.
"Linley you need to take this more seriously, this method you have found to create Soul mutates is really incredible. If others find out about this, forget other deities, even more powerful experts like the Sovereigns might come to find trouble with you. For your own safety I ask all of you to swear an oath to the Laws to keep this secret, that way even if someone reads your mind the information would be protected. When you return, explain this to your friends and ask them to swear an oath as well. Do not share this with anyone other than your closest friends and family." He warns seriously.
"Thank you for your guidance, I will follow your advice, Lord Beirut." I honestly say to him as I can see the truth in his words. We all then make oaths to the Laws under Beirut's watch before continuing.
"Now Linley, could you explain a little more about this technique for me and could this be used on others like myself for example?" He asks to find out more about it from one of the creators directly so I explain it to him.
"Tch, it is very disappointing to learn that this procedure can only be carried out when the subjects are very weak. The chance of failure for someone of my level is just too high, I can only give up on it. It truly is very difficult for someone at my level to improve their strength further." Beirut sighs after I was done with my explanations.
It was natural after all as my technique only had an over 80% chance success rate if the subjects undergoing the procedure were under rank 7 in terms of spiritual/physical strength. The success rate for my group was only 100% because the one controlling the procedure was a unique 11-way Soul mutate who could adjust the natural essence combinations to cater to each subject's individual requirement. I naturally would not be able to do something like that for people that were a lot more powerful than me. For every rank after the sixth I expected the success rate to drop 10% and for Saints it would straight away drop another 40%. For deities, it really was way below 1%, if there were no other external factors to help, death was all but guaranteed.
"I would at least like to see this wonderous procedure carried out with my own eyes though. Linley, how about you carry out the procedure on this little dragon here, he should not object, in fact he should be very grateful to be given such an opportunity that even deities wish for." Beirut speaks up again after a brief bit of silence.
"To be honest Lord Beirut, even I really want to give this chance to Sartius but as you've said earlier, I should not share this with others easily. Sartius and I only have a tentative cooperative agreement for a short period of time so I am not ready to invest all that much into a simple stranger." I reply with a side glance to the dragon in question.
"Hahaha, well said Linley, well said. As they say good things must be kept in the family, it would not do to spread these gifts to outsiders that easily." Beirut responds with a laugh.
"Grrr… What is the meaning of this human? You had promised to help me get stronger but now you are withholding some techniques, you humans are all the same, your words cannot be trusted." Sartius finally could not take it anymore and growls at me. Despite being an arrogant and prideful dragon, he knew when to shut up and situations where he was confronted with powerful deities was definitely one of those so he had remained meek for quite a while and just observed. Imagine his joy when he found out that the human he was forced to follow around had a technique to greatly increase a being's potential that even a deity would covet. If that wasn't all, this deity that had invited them all to his place seemed to want to give him the chance to experience this wonderous technique. Unfortunately, the hateful human sought to deny this from him and even convinced the deity to his side, it was like being shown a wonderous divine fruit and then having it taken away just as he was about to take a bite; he could not take it anymore.
"Don't get too greedy Sartius, I am already doing quite a lot for you just by healing you up, without me you would have been dead long ago." I calmly tell him with an insincere smile.
"You… you had promised to help me get stronger human. Now I find you withholding these methods from me, is this not a violation of our agreement." He fires back trying to argue his case.
"I certainly did promise to help you get stronger, but that does not mean that I will use all of my resources just for you. There are many more methods I have that can help you even if they are not my best ones, they should at least help you easily reach Saint rank in a decade or so." I continue to insincerely placate him.
"I don't need your sh*tty second grade techniques. I will not be…" Sartius was now positively roaring in rage. Unfortunately, he had forgotten exactly in whose house he was throwing a tantrum in and was promptly shut up by Beirut. His body was pressed to the ground just from the pressure released by the Sovereign playing deity and it was all he could do to not pass out.
"Insignificant little worm, know your place. You truly do not know how fortunate you are to still be alive and being treated with the amount of respect Linley is giving you. If it were anyone else in his place, they would have most likely let you die and harvested your corpse and if they had the ability to heal you, they would have most certainly bound you with a servant contract soon after. Humph, compared with the choices of either being dead or a slave, your current position is already too good for you. Yet you still have the audacity to make demands?" Beirut glares and all Sartius can do is shiver in fear as he lies prostate on the ground.
"Know your place vermin and do not step beyond your station or I will not be so forgiving next time." And with that final statement, Beirut stops pressing down on Sartius with his aura but the latter still lay shivering on the ground.
I just silently watch on without commenting on this show. I was well aware of the difficulty in having Sartius form a bond of equals with me, adult magical beasts were very stubborn after all not to mention an old salted fish from the prideful dragon race like Sartius. He was centuries old and would not be moved by a few kind gestures from me or anyone else, the only way to convince him would be to dangle some bait/benefits and hope he bites. A little force would also help but there was only so much pressure I could put on a stubborn old coot like him but the pressure from someone like Beirut, that could very easily break him so I remained quiet and let Beirut take the arrogant dragon down a few dozen pegs.
After that Sartius remained quiet and did not utter a peep as Beirut and I continued discussing casually. Beirut seemed very interested in my many innovative methods to cultivate and was beyond pleased whenever Bebe would excitedly tell him about all he had learnt in his time with me. Grandpa Doehring would also occasionally contribute to the conversation after his cover was blown, there is really not that much I can hide from Beirut after all. Still the fact that Grandpa Doehring was still a 5000 year plus Saint expert and was influenced greatly by me to do more research ensured that he could contribute somewhat in our conversation unlike a certain Armoured Razorback Wyrm.
"Ahhh, now this is interesting. It is not every day you see situations like this where the Soul of an old Saint level expert is reincarnated into a new flesh and blood body. Your technique was truly impressive Linley, why I think even the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows would be envious of your Soul possession method." Beirut comments after taking a good long look at Grandpa Doehring in his World Bear body.
"Thank you, Lord Beirut. Their methods were in fact what inspired me to even try this in the first place. Though from what I had found out, the possessed experts of the Church have very limited growth, I think their future growth might even be stagnant. I had to do a lot of research to ensure that something like that would not happen to Grandpa Doehring and he could still continue his training later." I reply, I had gotten all this information from Yale's channels after all so I felt that it was fine to reveal them.
"Indeed, the Church and the Cult's methods could be considered inferior on that front but I think it has more to do with the Souls they use to possess the bodies themselves than anything else. Angles and Fallen Angles have very little growth potential and their strength remains fairly constant from their birth to their deaths." He tells me.
"Is that so, well I guess it is true that you learn something new every day." I reply.
"Still, I guess it is you I need to thank for my Grandson forming a bond with young Linley, brat. Just be grateful that your disciple turned out to be such a genius and that he has treated my grandson so well, otherwise… Humph." Beirut changes the topic and addresses Grandpa Doehring directly with a slightly dangerous look in his eyes.
"Ahem… well…ummm…" Grandpa Doehring breaks out in cold sweat from the look the powerful deity was giving him. He was praying to the heavens in thanks for all the good fortune that had recently befallen him since he had taken on Linley as a disciple, otherwise he truly would not know how he had died.
"Please be gentle with my Grandpa, Lord Beirut, I doubt he knew Bebe's background when he convinced me to try and make him my magical beast companion all those years ago. Besides he also helped me properly train Bebe to his current level." I gently request Beirut.
"Very well then, I cannot be too upset either can I? I really do not have any complaints as you've raised my dear grandson really well." Beirut relents as he pets Bebe while giving the little guy a look of doting pride. He really did not mind all that much as even he did not know about Bebe until a month ago. Besides, he had a nagging feeling that had he discovered the infant Bebe himself all those years ago, he would not have been able to raise Bebe to such a level. Sovereign or not, there was only so much he could do in training others, look at his own sons, even after all these years they are only at the level of Gods with most of their strength being thanks to their lineage and resources provided by him. He had a feeling that if it really was him who had found and raised Bebe, the little one would have been spoilt rotten and would not have put as much diligence into his training.
"It was not much Lord Beirut. Over the years, I have spent more time with Bebe than my own little brother, in fact I have long considered Bebe to be my little brother so naturally I would not spare anything to help him get stronger. To be honest, I still feel a little guilty for taking advantage of him when I had found him all those years ago. For whatever reason his parents were not around and I myself know the pain of losing your parents at a young age so at least for their sake I had promised to do my best in raising Bebe. I am just happy that he has grown so well and that you are also happy." I reveal some of my inner feelings as well.
"Still, I am very grateful and I'm sure that were Bebe's parents alive, they would also like to thank you for raising their son so well. If there is anything I can do for you Linley, don't hesitate to ask." Beirut replies.
"So, Bebe's parents truly are dead? I wonder if you know more about them Lord Beirut and if you could share some details." I ask after I had seen Bebe become a little depressed when it was revealed that his parents were really dead.
"Now is not the time to discuss those matters Linley and don't give me that look Bebe, there is nothing we can do for them right now." He responds and chastises Bebe at the end who was trying to push for more information.
"At least tell me how they died or if someone was responsible for their deaths." Bebe asks in a voice as though Beirut had greatly wronged him.
"And what would you do with that information?" He fires back before continuing- "Despite your impressive strength for your age you still have not fully matured and lack the power to do anything. Tell you what little one, once you reach the Saint realm, I will tell you what you want to know. For now, just be satisfied to know that your parents would be proud of you and that they loved you very much." He finishes in a soft tone to comfort Bebe who had become quite upset.
"Humph… fine be that way." Bebe pouts in a cute manner before scurrying out of Beirut's hands and onto my lap. I then have to comfort him and soothe his feelings towards his newly found Grandfather by telling him that Beirut only has his best interests at heart.
"Hahaha… ah youth, you truly do not understand how high the heavens are nor how deep the depts of hell go. Take a little bit of advice from an old man Bebe, do not go challenge everyone you might meet for there will come a day where you find you have bitten off more than you can chew. I may be able to protect you here on the Yulan plane from now but that will not always be the case." Beirut warns all of us in a truly bitter manner. I guess in a way it is true, Beirut, despite being a Sovereign has been forced to hide out here in his home material plane for fear of Augusta coming to look for trouble as Beirut had snatched the Sovereign sparks of the 4 divine beasts and their corpses out from under him.
"Still, I invite you to stay here for a few more days at least as I would very much like to get to know my grandson more. My offer still stands though Linley, if there is anything I can do for you, let me know." Beirut says after I had placated Bebe some more.
Now was my chance to try and get a few benefits for myself, I obviously can't ask for anything extraordinary right off the bat though. Maybe I can ask for a few pointers on techniques or materials I can use for crafting, with that in mind I ask him- "Lord Beirut, I hope you don't mind but I would like to ask you about a deposit of magicite gems that I sensed at the edges of the Forest of Darkness while we were flying over." I decide to ask him about the safest but still most important thing.
"Ahh… you found that little treasure, did you? Hmmmm… you can have it if you want, I have no use for it. Who knows, you might even find something special if you look closely." He hints at me.
"Thank you, Lord Beirut. Then I will go check it out while you and Bebe get to know each other better. One last thing before I go though, are there any Saint level dragons in this forest and would you happen to know their locations." I ask for one last thing before I leave.
"Why do you need to locate Saint level dragons, you have already awakened your dragonblood legacy have you not?" He asks out of curiosity.
"I still have some family members that will require it to awaken their powers, Lord Beirut. Besides, I plan to use the chance to test out my combat capability and harvest a few Saint beast cores for crafting purposes, there are a lot of uses for Saint level beast cores after all." I reply.
"Hmmm… It is alright as long as it is only to test your combat ability and collect some blood but I'm afraid it will cause too many problems if you go about killing too many Saint level beasts here Linley." He tells me, not even doubting for a moment if I could actually kill Saint level beasts.
"The number of Saint beasts on the Yulan continent must be preserved to maintain the natural order after all. Tell you what, I have a few Saint beast cores of various affinities lying around and they hardly mean anything to me so you can have them. I will have them ready for you while you check that magicite gem deposit and finish collecting the dragon blood you need, now there are some Saint dragons located here…." He offers to directly give me some Saint level beast cores and even tells me the locations of some Saint level dragons in his territory.
I thank him once again before heading out while Bebe, Sartius and Grandpa Doehring opt to stay back as the rank of the latter two is still too low and the former wants to interact with Beirut some more.
