Advancement & New Understanding

Ryder didn't know what to do, he felt his neck only to feel a wet sensation on his fingers. He looked up at her and then back to his hand as if he can't believe that had actually happened.

'What…? Vampires are real!? Wait what did she mean by mark? What does this mean! Am I going to become a vampire!?'

He was mentally freaking out, the only thing he knew about vampires was from the stories his mother used to read him to spook him into behaving!

He believed they were supposed to be vile monsters that looked nothing like a human! He thought they kidnapped people and drank ever last drop of blood in there body killing them!

After seeing a real vampire he didn't know what to believe. He didn't know if this was a disguise or if this was truly what a vampire looked like.

In his confusion Elysia just giggled watching his facial features changing as his mind ran a mile a minute.

What neither of them noticed was the powerful beast leaving the area. As Sebastian watched them he sighed as he looked over to another large mountain similar to the one they were on a couple miles away from their location.

'Thankfully they gave up… I wouldn't have been able to guarantee the boys safety if they had attacked us for this fruit… however it looks like the other groups are going to have some problems. They are heading towards the other basins'

Sebastian let out a sigh as he looked back at Elysia giving her a disapproving gaze.

"Elysia! You know we aren't supposed to claim mortals like this! If your father was to find out about this he would have the boy killed before the rest of the households found out!"

"Then I guess you'll just have to keep it a secret then. I'm sure Ryder doesn't want to die, and I don't want to be grounded so you'll have to keep this a secret hehe~"

She laughed again before jumping off of Ryder, she soon sent soul force into her finger before a beam shot out touching the mark on Ryder's neck. Instantly it had been covered up making it impossible for most individuals to see.

"Now don't go telling people about us ok~? Our world doesn't like being in the public's eyes you see? So do yourself a favor and wait for me to come pick you up next time!"

She soon skipped up next to Sebastian as the butler pulled out a hand sized piece of paper with runes drawn on both sides.

"Take this Ryder, if you can't leave here by yourself then just tear the paper and it will send you to the outskirts of The Star Light Mountains closest to The Cosmos Dynasty. We shall take our leave now"

After throwing the talisman to Ryder he began to release a black smoke that completely swallowed both him and Elysia while the girl was waving off Ryder before finally vanishing from sight.

He sat there for a couple minutes, he didn't understand what had happened or why this was happening but now he felt like a headache was slowly starting to form.

"…Why am I always meeting such powerful or exotic people…"

He took a couple minutes to compose himself as he looks around the mountain. He noticed many of the beasts began to spread out leaving the area but one thing caught his eyes.

Inside the basin the same liquid from before had begun to form at the bottom pooling into a small puddle. Instantly Ryder's mouth began to water again, he could feel himself getting thirstier as time went on.

'Why are you hesitating? Go down there and devour all of the energy you can!'

Cain's words yelled out to him, soon his rationality was completely destroyed as he jumped into the basin reaching the liquid in mere moments.

Moments later his hands had made a cup as he brought the liquid to his mouth. He held it inside his mouth for a moment as he forms it into a small liquid ball just to bite down into it.

The effects were instant! He could feel the energy running through his teeth before it had begun to strengthen them. Slowly the energy began to move from his teeth to his skeleton! The once blue energy had now turned golden as it tempers his bones directly.

Before he would only feel a sensation of empowerment running through his entire body. Now he could pinpoint exactly what was being strengthened as he swallowed the filtered liquid sending a surge of Soul Force through the rest of his body before merging with his Soul Realm.

'…He's almost there he just needs another push…'

Cain watched the boys progress noticing how close he was to breaking through to 2 star silver rank he sighed looking at the floating white flame next to him.

He let out a much more heavy sigh before he moved the soul towards Ryder's mouth forcing it to manifest.

'Chew boy'

He was hesitant at first but nodded after a couple seconds of thinking to himself. Quickly he felt a massive change start to take place! This soul was of a higher rank then he currently was so the power contained rushed towards the barrier holding him back from reaching 2 star before it completely destroyed it in mere seconds!

A rush of golden light surrounded his body as his Soul Realm expands! The energy washed over his entire being enhancing every portion of his body. At this moment he felt a sudden pain running throughout his body after the breakthrough was already done.

"W-what is this pain! Ahh… it hurts…"

'Quit your crying, if it didn't hurt then something would be wrong with you! My technique is much stronger then any technique you would find on this backwater planet! The soul force you eat when swallowed correctly your body with go through many changes.

These changes only happen when a break through is made but the more you eat soul force the better. The energy will run through every muscle, nerve, bone… every portion of your body will be molded into the most optimized form for combat!'

The boy had a look of realization on his face, though he didn't know how exactly this energy could do that he wasn't going to give up this opportunity and decided to quickly consolidate his cultivation before planning his next step.

———

A slender girl stood in a field, the entire area around her was shrouded in darkness before the darkness began to change. It was molding to her wishes before a purple light began to shine in the darkness.

This put a smile on the girls face as she pulled on that light breaking it up just to put it back together over and over again. The sight of this scene would make many people question why she was doing this yet she seemed happier with each attempt!

After a couple minutes of this she noticed that purple light changed from its previous physical form into a liquid. This wasn't the result she wanted however, quickly she began the process again. This time she created a form of heat made of star power evaporating the liquid just to reform it into a liquid with the coldness of space around the girl.

Eventually the liquid stopped forming leaving a large amount of Interstellar Gas. The once purple color transformed into a pink then a red. It was constantly changing as she took control of the gas making it surround her body making her look more mysterious then before.

"Finally! Thanks Anna! I don't know what I would have done without your insights on our families star power!"

"D-does this mean you won't tell mom what I did?"

"… Ok, fine I won't tell mom. Just think about your actions a little more next time ok?"

"Of course! I won't ever do something like this ever again!"

She quickly pounced on her little sister pulling her into a hug as she thanked her. Kaylee rolled her eyes before returning the hug.

"Ok ok, let's go. I can't let Ryder gather all the beasts by himself! Since Jacob is in no shape to fight I'll have to gather what I can!"

She broke free from the hug as she began to head away from the safe zone towards the mountains. She hadn't been injured during the attack, if anything she was in peak condition since they focused on knocking her out before she used her powers.

At this moment she was happy about her progress but the frustration of her uselessness was slowly starting to get to her. So she decided to train with Anna before heading back into the mountains.

"I'll be around ok? If you need any help I'll immediately jump in so go wild sis"

"Thank you, but I don't think you should follow me this time. Unless I do it by myself it won't feel right even if I get all the bodies needed for our team to pass"

Anna didn't reply this time, she knew this talk would just frustrate both of them since they were both very stubborn when they made up their mind.

Instead she just decided to wave off her sister before going back up into the clouds to follow anyways.

'Sorry sis, mom told me to take you and Ryder back the moment you pass the test… it seems like she wants to have a private talk while the other factions are preoccupied'

She let out a little sigh as she enjoyed the cool night breeze, the mountains slowly began to have a purplish mist spread across it enveloping everything around Kaylee as she headed deeper into the mountains.