Deep in the forested mountains of the Desolate Wilds, that same exceptionally handsome little boy was once again rapidly advancing through the forest. Merely at 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 be occasionally heard.
“Not so sure that this was a good idea anymore, guys,” this child was of course none other than the five-year-old Jodye Trill! Jodye didn’t dare to dally in the face of a pursuing God Beast33God BeastMonster clan beast with fifth rank lifeblood. Once a Demi-god beast with more then 70% bloodline purity advances past level 9 they will evolve into a actual God Beast. Merely God Beasts that evolved from a lesser form will never achieve a strength higher then level 7. God Beasts are cable of, and mostly prefer, maintaining heroic form to cultivate greater law energy inheritances for a path to true strength! God Beasts had the strength that approached his mother’s level at birth! Jodye knew nothing but death awaited him if he was caught. The bizarre bazaar trip truly opened Jodye’s eyes up to what real strength was in this world. He was aware of how small he was. He also became aware that his mother was a beast.
How could Jodye be willing to die here? Once he was successful in this trial, he would be rewarded! He had plenty of serenity crystals now, he would get training for sure! It’s crazy how his trial had barely started before Sylvester Tricko 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 we keep it?” Xavier Tricko sent his thoughts to Jodye’s mind.
“You have no idea what kind of dog s*** luck you have, kid! This Twilight Sphinx cub is like a living, breathing, gold mine!” berated Sylvester Tricko via telepathy. “Relax. There’s no way for the so-called ‘mother’ to track us unless she’s already reached level three trickster or above…”
ROAR~
Before Jodye Trill was able to hear the rest of Sylvester Tricko’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 Jodye’s mind.
“We…are going…to die,” Said Jodye Trill as he looked at the roaring beast. At that moment the little Twilight Sphinx cub poked its head out of Jodye’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 Jodye to shreds.
At that moment, the little cub hopped out of the bag onto Jodye’s shoulder. Jodye Trill 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 Jodye’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 Jodye Trill, 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 to Jodye.
“That was no true Moonfire Sphinx, Jodye. It was a Level 2 Trickster30Trickstermonster clan beast with third rank lifeblood. when a level 9 vicious beast with god beast lifeblood reaches level 10 they evolve into low-level demi-god beasts possessing superior intelligence without their own complete demi-god physique. Due to their frail forms, they use their lifeblood powers to condense a cocoon or origin qi that takes on the form of other beasts. Tricksters fight to obtain the ‘life force’ required to condense a monster core by condensing enough god beast lifeblood. Condensing the monster core allows the trickster to upgrade its physique to that of one closer to a god beast and cultivate different lifeblood inheritances. Vicious beasts with a hint of origin god beast bloodline in them merely become higher level tricksters upon evolution, with a more complete true form. Tricksters are only born through the evolution of a vicious beast. Injuries received by tricksters in their true forms risk reducing their level since they must burn their lifeblood essence to recover and transform again. Level 1 Trickster = 1,000 BP Level 2 Trickster = 1,250 BP Level 3 Trickster = 1,600 BP Level 4 Trickster = 2 AP Level 5 Trickster = 4.5 AP Level 6 Trickster = 9 AP Level 7 Trickster = 14 AP Level 8 Trickster = 21 AP Level 9 Trickster = 30 AP .” Came Sylvester Tricko’s emotionless voice via telepathy. Did he not care that we almost died? Thought Jodye.
“Oh? A Trickster?” Jodye had some knowledge of Tricksters from the family library. This world didn’t only have many normal class animals. In this world, there were beings known as magical beasts, animals capable of absorbing and refining the natural forces of the heavens and the earth. The weakest level of these magical beasts are the vicious beasts. Once a vicious rank beast reached level nine, they would evolve differently depending on their bloodline.
Beasts that have the bloodline of a god beast evolve into Tricksters, embarking on the path to becoming a God Origin Beast. Thus shouldn’t be confused with an Origin God Beast35Origin God BeastTrue Monster Clan members, born from a primordial law pool, with the sixth rank lifeblood. immensely powerful creatures born from the primordial chaos. The are existences that rival the Heavenly Dao in that they are an embodiment of their own laws which grown stronger and more complete as they mature. A fully matured level 10 origin god beast would possess the strength to rip apart the barriers separating this universe from the next. Merely the Heavenly Dao is far older than Even the first god beast in this universe. Practitioners cultivate for millennia in hopes of becoming what god beasts are from birth. While it is possible for god beasts to reproduce the Heavenly Dao interferes when two god beasts of the same tier make attempts at reproduction. Too many god beasts in one universe would cause an imbalance of laws which would ultimately lead to the destruction of the universe. Origin God Beasts can rearrange the laws in their body due to their total control over these laws, to assume whichever form they prefer. Level 1 Origin God Beasts are born with strength at the Late Divine Enlightenment Rank., who was born as a god beast. A Trickster’s True Form is rather weak, as it could be said to be considered as the cocoon stage. However, Trickster’s are incomparably fast in their actual forms. Trickster’s are able to stimulate their unique bloodline’s to take on the appearance of their blood’s ancestor God Beast.
This transformation ability was the unique innate ability of a Trickster. A level two Trickster who had learned to transform was powerful enough to demolish anyone with the measly strength of the Scholar Realm, such as Jodye Trill. Luckily, he had somehow managed to escape death.
“I don’t get it, why would the Trickster just let us go like that?” Jodye asked Sylvester via telepathy.
“Let me ask you this,” Sylvester Tricko’s voice seemed to contain excessive mockery, which made Jodye wince, “If the powerful beast was a mere Trickster, one that could morph into adult Moonlight Sphinx, then what does that make this little guy on your shoulder?”
“Then…this thing is a Trickster too! Either that or an absolute baby god beast!? Holy s***! Are you serious? Impossible. How could an origin god beast be born in some random cave here in the outskirts of the Wilds?” Jodye Trill was so shocked he exclaimed out loud.
Eureka!
He had indeed neglected this point.
If it wasn’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 Trickster.
However, it seemed to not 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 very likely to have somehow originated from the same source as that of the cub. This had at least an 80% chance of being correct.
If that were the case, it would never be willing to discard the cub unless there was a threat to its life. Or perhaps the cub was the stronger one!? Jodye held the Twilight Sphinx cub in the air in front of him with both hands. Jodye anxiously jerked his head to the left in a panic when he suddenly felt a presence directly next to him. However, it was only Sek Si observing 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?” Said Sek Si to Jodye Trill after Jodye told her it was a Trickster. 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 Jodye glanced at her again, Sek Si had already vanished. Jodye Trill was annoyed, but thanks to his mind’s eye being active he was immediately aware that she had merely retreated into his shadow.
‘What a wondrous ability…’ thought Jodye. Sek had, in fact, never 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, it was you that helped me out after all, huh?” Said Jodye Trill while staring into the cub’s eyes. The cub tilted its head to the side and stared back. Jodye Trill glanced below and took note of its gender. “I’m going to name you Eureka! Yes, it fits the occasion well.”
Eureka made a purring noise and nuzzled her face against Jodye. She seemed to like receiving a name.
‘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 Jodye 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 page hosted illustrations and data about his two guardians. The fourth and fifth pages were blank. Currently, Jodye’s heavenly grimoire only gave him access to the first ability: Summoner. Summoner had eight seals, and he had unlocked just the beginning seal.
Through this ability, Jodye Trill was able to use his [Cosmos Revolving Grimoire] to force a contract with any beast who’s soul was in a vulnerable state. With a mental command from Jodye Trill, the grimoire opened and flipped automatically to the blank fourth page. Then, different thoughts begin to flood Jodye’s mind, as if they were his own.
[No mental defenses detected.] [Would host like to enslave captured infant level god beast?]“Enslave?” Jodye was startled as he held the purring little Twilight Sphinx cub. Who could ruthlessly enslave something so cute?
“The benefit from letting the grimoire refine its soul is far more then what you’ve imagined. This is a true Origin God Beast, and you could assimilate its bloodline. How mighty would you be then? Don’t be soft,” came the emotionless and cold voice of Sylvester Tricko via telepathy. He sounded like a devil seducing Jodye with evil thoughts.
“I seem to remember that I am able to form a contract without refining its soul?” asked Jodye Trill, and he heard a disdainful snort in his mind immediately after.
[Initiate a standard beast contract rather than a slave contract.] [If the contract beast’s strength surpasses the host, the contract can be forcibly broken.] [As a result, the host will then suffer severe soul damage.] [This is not recommended.] [Continue?]“What do you think X?” Jodye Trill asked Xavier Tricko via telepathy. Xavier may be a bit of a character, but he was often the most level headed among the present minds. Jodye had already started treating these two guardians of his as partners in this strange new world. He would, of course, seek Xavier’s opinion. Especially in matters related to the grimoire.
“There are benefits to be obtained with either course of action. You won’t suffer a loss either way,” Said Xavier Tricko via telepathy. Xavier seems to know far more about the capabilities of a grimoire than Sylvester. Although Xavier didn’t say it directly, Jodye caught his hidden meaning: there was no real reason to kill the beast and enslave its soul, and there could even be some hidden benefits if he didn’t. However, ultimately the choice was his own.
“Continue,” Jodye gave the grimoire the green light. The next instant, the fourth page lit up in mysterious fate runes that flew out of the page and surrounded the Twilight Sphinx, Eureka.
The runes chained together as they wrapped all around Eureka, sinking into her body. Eureka was shaking and letting out contented purrs. On her the forehead of her face, which oddly resembled a little girl’s, a strange rune was glowing in the center. The rune flew out and landed on Jodye’s glabella, before melting within.
Then the page emitted a purple glow and Eureka disappeared. Once the light faded, there was a picture of a majestic looking adult Twilight Sphinx, surrounded by a misty nimbus cloud, a crimson colored third eye shining on its forehead. The clouds in the picture weren’t stationary, and the page felt alive. It’s vibrant pelt, which was typically gold in color, would sometimes shift to different colors. Sometimes baby blue, sometimes crimson, but there was a hint of bright gold in each color.
‘Summon Eureka!’
Jodye Trill felt the origin energy in his body empty by more than half as the Grimoire lit up and Eureka jumped out the fourth page and hopped right into his embrace. She rubbed her face against his as she purred.
[Summon Status: Infant Stage – Spirit Bound][Summon Time: undefined]The current status of Jodye’s contract beast appeared in his mind. Also, Jodye Trill felt indescribably close with Eureka, now. Almost as if they were blood kin.
‘Summon all Guardians!’
The Cosmos Revolving Grimoire flipped back to the second and third pages which glowed brightly with violet light. This time Jodye Trill felt his remaining Origin energy deplete by one third, as beautiful green and black flames danced into the air, and a majestic sword whistled as it slashed out through the smoke, landing directly in front of Jodye Trill. Jodye’s eyes brightened looking at the glorious heavy sword.
It was plain and unadorned but still looked majestic and overbearing. The sword had a fiercely sharp blade that was so bright red it seemed to be made of scorching hot metal. There was a red gem in the center of the guard, and inside the gem, one could see a little puppy boy sitting in the lotus position with his eyes closed. Behind the sword, the flames receded into the small body of a sky wolf pup. Summoning his own Guardians was apparently far easier than summoning other creatures, as the energy expended was far less.
[Guardian Summon Status: Infant Stage] [Guardian 1 Compatibility Rating: 62%] [Guardian 2 Compatibility Rating: 17%] [No Skills Unlocked] [Summon Time: 5 minutes]“The summoning time is still so short,” grumbled Jodye Trill.
“This is because you are weak,” said Sylvester indifferently, as he casually defied gravity.
“Oh, pretty lucky, she made a spirit bound contract with you.” Xavier Tricko said via telepathy. His voice sounded happily surprised. However, Jodye was frowning. Using the summon function for anything but his guardians took far too much of his origin energy, it was over half! This was rather impractical.
“She’s an origin god beast, do you think it would be easy to summon her? It will only get harder. However, since she’s spirit bound it means once she’s summoned she can stay by your side as long as you want. That you don’t have to worry.” Xavier Tricko reassured him, “Unlike us, who are soul’s bound by fate, you must grow stronger before we can truly help you. As your strength increases our compatibility rating will also improve. You’re simply too weak for now. Even if you can summon us with the grimoire, what can we do? You can’t even lift Fenrir yet.”
“Maybe if you took your Sage cultivation seriously enough, you wouldn’t have this problem.” Sylvester Tricko snorted at Xavier, then used his words to kick Jodye Trill while he was down.
It wasn’t that Jodye had been intentionally slacking on his Sage cultivation, he was worried: at the speed in which he cultivates energy, wouldn’t Jodye draw endless suspicions if he did it openly? His experience as a spy resulted in him being excessively cautious towards certain things. Not to mention his mother’s constant warnings lately.
How could it be okay to show off so much while he was still so weak? How could he be blind to the enemies his mother had at home, or the unstable state of affairs within the House? Merely, since Jodye Trill was currently a child, there was nothing he could do for these adult problems. He was presently weak and irrelevant.
Worst of all, soon he wouldn’t be cute anymore. How tragic was this? It was fun while it lasted, of course. All he could do now was raise his strength discreetly. For this reason, Jodye had not practiced the Bright Star: Battle Book since he had returned to Saint Anubis City with his mother. He didn’t want to cause another commotion like before.
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