Enslave?

Sek instantly dove into Jody's shadow as he blew past.

Deep in the forested mountains of the Desolate Wilds, that same exceptionally handsome little boy was once again rapidly advancing through the forest. Merely this time, the boy was dashing madly through the mountains as if his life depended on it. On his back was a knapsack made of magic beast hide. Inside the bag, a soft purring sound could occasionally be heard.

"Not so sure that this was a good idea anymore, guys," Jody didn't dare to dally in the face of a pursuing God Beast.

He was starting to wish he left the damn pup in the cave. God beasts had the strength that approached his mother Isis' level at birth. By the time they reach adulthood, how powerful would they be? Jody knew that nothing but death awaited him if he was caught. The bizarre bazaar trip truly opened Jody's eyes up to what real strength was in this world.

He couldn't face such opponents, divinities and all.

He was aware of how small he was. He also became aware that his mother was a desolate beast level warrior.

How could Jody be willing to die here?

Once he was successful in this trial, he would be rewarded! He had plenty of serenity crystals now and would certainly get training. On top of that, he had already collected most of the herbs on his list with more to spare. Sylvester convinced him to sneak into a suspicious-looking cave for a lucky chance. This supposed lucky chance was now purring in his backpack.

"How could we just leave it? It was all alone. It clearly needs us to adopt it. Can't we keep it?" Xavier sent his thoughts to Jody's mind.

"You have no idea what kind of dog shit luck you have, kid! This Twilight Sphinx cub is like a living, breathing gold mine!" berated Sylvester via telepathy. "Relax. There's no way for the so-called 'mother' to track us unless she's already reached third-level spirit beast or above..."

ROAR~

Before Jody could hear the rest of Sylvester's thoughts, a massive lion-shaped beast burst through the trees, releasing a roar that shook the surroundings intensely. The beast had flowing purple hair that seemed to be made of pure flames for its mane. The feline beast's face was slightly human-like, and it had a vertical slit on its glabella as if it possessed a third eye.

"Adult Moonfire Sphinx? No...not quite," murmured Sylvester through Jody's mind.

"We…are going...to die," lamented Jody as he looked at the roaring beast.

The monstrosity had a pale gold manasphere with a terrifying amount of stars that Jody didn't dare to count. There were hundreds of them, probably over a thousand. Meanwhile, Sek Si felt her life had become so thrilling yet so perilous since she met this moron. They were about to be obliterated for sure,

At that moment, the little Twilight Sphinx cub poked its head out of Jody's bag. The Moonfire Sphinx saw the little captive cub and instantly went ballistic as it pounced towards him with its enormous maw, ready to tear little Jody to shreds. The little cub hopped out of the bag onto Jody's shoulder.

Jody made no attempt to stop the little guy's escape, even though the adorable little gold cub was small enough to hold in one hand. However, the cub merely purred as it rubbed its little face against Jody's face. This caused the adult Moonfire Sphinx to pause its advance, staring at the scene in disbelief. Then, the giant Moonfire Sphinx briefly growled menacingly before suddenly transforming into a small grey creature shaped like a man with spirals for eyes.

After changing, the mysterious creature slithered away like a snake and disappeared.

"...what...just happened?" asked Jody, as he was totally baffled.

The Moonfire Sphinx gave up on its cub just like that? Was it sad that its cub was friendly with someone else? Could this be a case of parental magnanimity? This seemed like too much of an extreme reaction.

"That was no true Moonfire Sphinx, Trill loser. It was a Level 2 Trickster." Came Sylvester Tricko's emotionless voice via telepathy.

'Does he not care that we almost died?' Thought Jody.

"Oh? A spirit beast? Like Bright?" asked Jody.

Sylvester paused for a moment, then replied, "No. Bright is an anomaly. Like you and that mother of yours."

"Ours," Jody replied, to which Sylvester snorted and Xavier giggled.

Jody had some knowledge of Tricksters from the family library, which he had studied recently due to Bright's existence.

Once a vicious rank beast reached level nine, they would evolve differently depending on their bloodline. Beasts with the bloodline of a god beast evolve into spirit-rank beasts, embarking on becoming a Demi-God Beast. This shouldn't be confused with pureblood Origin God Beasts that were born from chaos.

A trickster's true form is rather weak, as it could be said to be considered the cocoon stage. However, spirit beasts are incomparably fast in their actual forms. They can stimulate their unique lifeblood to take on the appearance of their ancestors.

This transformation ability was a spirit beast's unique, innate ability and what earned them the name Trickster. A second-level trickster who had learned to transform was powerful enough to demolish anyone with the measly strength of the rookie-level, such as Jody. Luckily, he had somehow managed to escape death.

"I don't get it. Why would the trickster just let us go like that?" Jody asked Sylvester via telepathy.

"Let me ask you this," Sylvester's voice seemed to contain excessive mockery, which made Jody wince, "If the powerful beast was a mere trickster, one that could morph into an adult Moonlight Sphinx, then what does that make this little guy on your shoulder?"

"Then...this thing is a trickster too? Either that or...no...no, is it a baby god beast!? Holy shit! Are you serious? Impossible. How could an origin god beast be born in some random cave here in the outskirts of the Wilds?" Jody was so shocked he exclaimed out loud.

Eureka!

He had indeed neglected this point.

If it weren't for the fact that he had various stealth techniques from his brief career as an assassin and the Serenity Crystal Earrings that his mother gave him at the start of his trial to mask his aura, he would have never been able to obtain this baby sphinx from right under the trickster's nose. A vicious beast needed to have a god beast's bloodline to evolve into a spirit beast.

However, it seemed not to be so simple right? If that trickster was guarding this cub with its life on the line due to assuming the role of its mother, the trickster's bloodline was likely to have somehow originated from the same source as the cub. Maybe the cub itself? This had at least an 80% chance of being correct in Jody's mind. If that were the case, it would never be willing to discard the cub unless there was a threat to its life.

Unless the cub was the stronger one!

Jody held the Twilight Sphinx cub in the air in front of him with both hands. Jody anxiously jerked his head to the left in a panic when he suddenly felt a presence directly next to him. But it was only Sek Si, who observed the little cub in his hands.

"I think the trickster was its guardian, right? Did it leave because the cub already acknowledged you as its father?" asked Sek Si. Her voice was cool and gentle, as if a soft whisper in his ear, "I can't believe you didn't die. I thought I would need a new master."

"A new…less of that, where the hell have you been all this…and you're gone," when Jody glanced at her again, Sek Si had already vanished. "I'm pretty sure I won't die if you don't, you jerk..."

Jody was annoyed, but thanks to mind's eye he was immediately aware that she had merely retreated into his shadow.

'What a wondrous ability...' thought Jody.

Sek had barely left his side since the day they met. At least, not for very long periods. It seemed she could travel between shadows under certain conditions. If he had such an ability in his last life, he would have remained a spy and assassin indefinitely instead of retiring.

"So, you helped me out after all, huh?" asked Jody, staring into the cub's eyes. The cub tilted its head to the side and stared back. Jody glanced below and took note of its gender. It was a baby girl. "I'm going to name you Eureka! Yes, it fits the occasion well."

Eureka made a purring noise and nuzzled her face against Jody. She seemed to like receiving a name.

[Imp: A creature of twilight has offered you their soul brand! Accept it?]

The twilight imp suddenly sent an alert.

"Definitely accept!" Jody was pleasantly surprised.

[Imp: Accepted a creature of twilight's soul brand!]

[Imp: Awarding 5 Twilight Stars. 530 stars remaining.]

"Pretty lucky!" Jody immediately grew fond of this adorable little kitten.

Cosmo!

With a thought, the Cosmos Revolving Grimoire was summoned, and it appeared in front of him in a flash of violet light. The grimoire currently had only five pages available. The first page allowed Jody to check his own status or overall condition. Everything about himself was within the mysterious runes of the first page, and he needed only to sink his perception inside the page, and the runes would dance and form hieroglyphs.

The second and third pages hosted illustrations and data about his two guardians.

The fourth and fifth pages were blank.

Currently, Jody's heavenly grimoire only gave him access to the first of three primary source abilities: Summoner.

Summoner had eight seals, and he had unlocked just the initial seal. Through this ability, Jody could use his source artifact to force a contract with any beast soul in a vulnerable state. With a mental command from Jody, the grimoire opened and flipped automatically to the blank fourth page. Then, different thoughts flooded Jody's mind as if they were his own.

[No mental defenses detected.]

[Would the host like to enslave the captured infant-level god beast?]