— Eastern Badlands, Desolate Wilds, 2 months later
About ten kilometers outside of Saint Anubis City, deep in the barren plains of the Eastern Badlands, there was a vast and desolate forest that went on for miles without end. There were many ancient looking mountains and valleys, which were filled with desolate energies, and magical beasts. Creatures with dark powers ran rampant throughout the forest, and desolate energies permeated the atmosphere.
An exceptionally handsome little boy who looked to be a tall seven or eight-years-old child was dressed in exquisitely tailored raiment made of silvery-white fur and origin steel.
Jodye Trill dashed through the forested mountains with a bag on his back, as he stealthily approached a nearby cave. Sek Si trailed behind him silently, as if she wasn’t there at all. It had already been two months since the day Jodye met Sek.
“This is the cave. The other beast seems to have gone to the stream already. You’ve got less than five minutes to get in and get out. Move!” Sylvester’s indifferent voice was ringing through Jodye’s mind.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Jodye answered Sylvester using telepathy. He took a deep breath and prepared to dive in the cave.
“You’re not seriously going to go through with this, are you? It’s suicide,” said Sek Si bluntly. This was not her first time admonishing this decision. In fact, Jodye was not of a different opinion than her.
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The reason Jodye was in the Desolate Wilds in the first place was to complete a trial arranged by his mother! This was to get him ready for the upcoming Young Wolf Celebration Dinner. This would be the first stage for him to demonstrate his excellence before the entire House. It was definitely a big deal.
The adventure at the Underground Bazaar quickly escalated, resulting in Jodye being brought away sooner than scheduled. There was an ambush, and Jodye had a chance to witness first hand how fierce his mother was! When his mother and Ke Si were bringing him back home to House Trilleck, Jodye harassed his mother repeatedly about training him to become stronger.
At first, lady Isis kept putting off the matter. She would always find an excuse to change the subject. However, in the end, she was merely delaying the inevitable. Jodye was relentless in his pursuit of strength, and lady Isis had to admit the boy was now of a competence level she should take more seriously.
After all, she could allow her son to be weaker than his siblings. There were also far more pressing reasons for her to train him diligently. It was just that Isis also wanted to coddle her son longer for those very same reasons. Unfortunately, her boy was simply not one to be pampered. Thus, Jodye’s mother gave him a trial in the Desolate Wilds! His first task: collect serenity crystals! This was by no means an easy thing to do.
Serenity crystals were only produced in areas of extremely dense serene energy, also known as yin force. These areas were typically also filled with the corruptive powers of death and ruin. Luckily, the Eastern Badlands had plenty of such regions. However, whether this was good or bad luck was a matter of perspective.
Even though Jodye had been left to wonder on his own, he was forbidden from going into the dangerous areas where the more powerful factions and vicious beasts resided. However, who was Jodye if not a rebel? He had frequently sneaked into these areas anyway, as he was just too curious. In fact, it didn’t even take a full day for him to disobey that order directly.
Still, Jodye Trill had yet even to collect a single serenity crystal. He could only be trained by his mother if he presented her with a serenity crystal by nightfall! Thus, Jodye had other goals and concerns, he didn’t feel he the had time to pursue this newborn creature. Had the young sky wolf in his host space not been so insistent, Jodye would never take the risk of this level. This cave was the dwelling of a terrifying beast. Yesterday, he had stumbled upon the scene of a monster that looked like a flaming lion returning to this cave.
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, almost like the face of an attractive woman, and it had a vertical slit on its glabella as if it possessed a third eye that was closed.
Just as he was about to high tail it in another direction, Sylvester’s voice rang out in his mind, “Wait, kid. Opportunity is knocking at your door! I sense a weak god beast aura. If I’m not mistaken, that cave may have an infant god beast! This is an impossible chance that one can only find and not search for. You have no idea how incredible this is. If you can get the newborn to imprint on to you, then you’ll be its closest kin for life!”
Jodye had just never heard this puppy so excited.
“Imprint? How would I do that?” asked Jodye Trill, excited by the presentation but skeptical of the operation from the beginning.
“Rather easily. Infant origin god beasts develop sight, on average, within the first five years after their birth. At the same time that their eyes first open, they develop a spiritual sense. This is how I am able to know that the infant beast in that cave has not yet opened its eyes,” explained Sylvester patiently.
“Well, we have no hopes of getting it with that big one present,” shrugged Jodye.
“This is why we wait until it leaves once again,” said Sylvester.
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Thus, Jodye landed feet first in today’s situation. Nonetheless, as he had already been tempted by the whispers of the devil, then he might as well dive straight into hell. The legend known as Trill Jodye had never been afraid of danger. In fact, it was the exact opposite. The old Trill Jodye was a world-class thrill seeker. Jodye’s greatest fear was that life grew too dull one day. He needed excitement!
Sek Si saw the determination in Jodye’s eyes and was baffled. This kid may be cute, but who knew he could be so stupid? She would absolutely not follow him, “Well I’ll stay out here, as the lookout. Yeah. You know, just in case you need me to rescue you, or call for help.”
Jodye paused and looked back at the Sek Si who had no capabilities that could save him from danger. Her shadow avatar’s true powers had not yet been awakened, and she was only at the advanced freshman rank of the Scholar Realm. Still, this was admittedly one sub-rank higher than Jodye as far as Sek knew. Of course, she was utterly unaware of how strong Jodye was currently.
In fact, Jodye Trill himself wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Theoretically, he was well aware of his might. However, apart from that first battle of his which was wrapped up in no time, he had yet actually to fight. That battle made him understand that he was a lot more capable then he was previously thinking. After all, he was only five years old.
With no practical experience, Jodye had no way of thoroughly understanding the limits of his strength. After all, he was relying on physical force while the residents of this world had supernatural powers. He couldn’t be sure that there wouldn’t be some type of disparity. That was part of the reason for him being so eager to take this trial.
He had to master his own battle force!
Resonate with the earth and attack the heavens!
Typically, his overprotective family would never let him out to gain experience. Luckily, his mother seemed to be feeling quite rebellious currently.
“Fine, you stay here. The glory will exist only for the brave,” said Jodye Trill while dashing into the cave. Sek Si was slightly affected by Jodye’s words and felt a weird sensation. What charisma! However, she stubbornly remained where she stood, speechlessly staring into the dark as if the darkness could not blind her sight.
Once Jodye entered the cave he was surrounded in pitch black. He couldn’t see a thing in this darkness, which was actually quite strange. With his current cultivation, he should at least maintain some minor visibility.
“The absence of light…or is it that light can’t approach? This cold air… Must be serene energy!” thought Jodye in delight.
Instead of feeling panicked, Jodye was excited as he reflexively activated his mind’s eye technique, and instantly a rock tunnel appeared before his senses. Jodye continued down the tunnel. After moving forward 15 meters, he found himself in a dimly lit stone cavern the size of a football stadium.
This space was full of milky white mist, a testament to the abundant origin energy permeating the atmosphere of the cave. To Jodye’s astonishment, the dim lighting of the cave was coming from dozens of tiny glowing crystals. The crystals looked purple, pink, and silver or blue all at the same time, giving them a mystical allure.
“Serenity crystals!” exclaimed Jodye Trill upon walking up to a cave wall. “So tiny! But there’s so many of them. They even have a silver glow instead of blue, amazing. Well, I can’t be wasteful…”
However, at this moment Jodye’s attention was drawn to a corner of the cave, where his spiritual sense detected movement. He slowly crept in that direction, noticing the purple light became brighter as he approached. Upon turning a corner in the cave, he finally discovered the source of the light.
There was a glittering nest made of large serenity crystals. The crystals shimmered in beautiful pink, golden, and silver lights. Laying in the middle of the crystal nest was what looked like a tiny kitten. The kitten had fur that look like pure gold, and a little tuft of three-colored fire on top of its head, burning in pink, silver, and golden radiance.
“Twilight Sphinx! It’s a baby Twilight Sphinx! No f****** way,” came Sylvester Tricko’s excited voice, “aren’t they extinct? Last seen in the Primordial Era? Don’t tell me that this is the friggin’ primordial era!”
“Less of that, tell me what to do next,” berated Jodye Trill telepathically, “Hurry, it’s definitely been like 15 minutes.”
“Next? What next? Just take the damn thing! Is there someone here to stop us? Are you afraid of an infant whose eyes have yet even to open?” replied Sylvester indifferently. Jodye felt annoyed. Who would rashly snatch a beast with ‘God’ in its name, wouldn’t that be foolish? Nonetheless, he proceeded to do just that.
Meanwhile, Sek Si’s eyes revealed traces of shock as she peered into the cave before she felt a strange wave of energy rush past her. A mere few seconds later she heard an enraged roar from a monstrous existence towards the south. Sek Si instantly paled and was about to rush into the cave, but she stopped in her tracks. A moment later a silhouette came flying past her from the cave entrance. The young boy left behind only three words.
“Sek Si, run!!”
