“Bartender! Bring me another round of Riot Goo! Thanks. So kid, what’s a great brat like you doing alone in this wild city?” Sigma was drinking a glass of what looked like green sider, the so-called ‘Riot Goo.’ Jodye had surprisingly heard about this alcoholic beverage from Kold Rondo. It was made using 13 rare medicinal herbs, and a slice from an origin fruit called the Gooey Mamba fruit. This was Void Door Realm Origin Fruit! Just a slice was enough to make a keg of Riot Goo full of rich energies.
One mug was enough to push a Scholar Realm sage a step ahead! Jodye felt excited, as ever since his original immortal conception awakened his origin veins and origin pool had been increasing in size daily. He had a lot more energy than other experts at his level, and it was only growing. However, Jodye was apprehensive for one reason. Once the cute girl with red hair behind the bar brought over a mug of riot goo and placed it in front of Sigma, the latter unceremoniously slid it in front of Jodye. The bartender looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just smiled and pretended to be blind. The dimples of her smile made Jodye’s heart race a bit, which he thought was strange. Was his body starting to enter puberty? This should be years away, but Jodye also knew that he cultivated the Titanic Rage path and Chaotic Thunder Annihilation. His body could no longer be considered a normal hero body.
“If I drink a lot of this, then will I be unable to benefit from the direct consumption of a Gooey Mamba fruit?” asked Jodye Trill innocently as he sniffed the mug in front of him.
“Oh?” Sigma raised a brow and suddenly looked at Jodye directly, “You even know about riot goo? Haha, how unexpected! Well the answer, my young friend, is no. You could drink this stuff every day, and all that would happen is that the drink itself will affect you less. Anyway, once you break through to the Mage rank, your body will transform once. Unless you’ve experienced this, then it is fine.”
“You sure know a lot about the Mage rank, mister,” Jodye Trill said with a smile as he took a sip. As the cooling liquid went down his throat, it turned into a fiery stream of energy by the time it reached his stomach, instantly circulating through his spiritual meridians. Jodye circulated the titanic rage law, and the chaotic thunder annihilation started flowing magically on its own. Jodye’s body was immediately refining the energy, and prompting Jodye to continue gulping down the mug.
Sigma’s face experienced many changes. First, he scoffed. This was because he realized the kid was probing his level by testing his knowledge base. ‘Tch. Clever brat.’
Then his expression changed to one of surprise when the boy took a sip and didn’t even cough any out. He just looked a little hot, at most. ‘Tch. Tough brat.’
Next, Sigma was shocked to see Jodye put the mug back up to his lips and start downing the whole thing like a cold glass of water!
Sigma was stunned. What was this now?
“AHH,” Jodye let out a mouthful of bad air, and raised his hand over the bar, “Hey dimples, bring us two more rounds!”
“…” Sigma was speechless as the bartender brought four more mugs over. This stuff wasn’t so cheap, you know? It wasn’t too much for him to handle, but who knew this little glutton would be a closet alcoholic? Sigma was merely jealous of this brat’s talent at such an age and wanted to play a prank. Talk about not judging a book by the cover! He could even feel the little freaks atmosphere growing stronger by the minute. It was at this moment that Sigma started treating Jodye with more sincerity.
This kid was a prodigy!
“Less of this kiddo, what is it you wanted with this old Sigma?”
“Well, Uncle Sigma it’s like this,” Jodye Trill downed another mug after speaking. Sigma didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when he heard how the boy addressed him. Who’s your damn uncle? However, Jodye ignored Sigma’s obvious indignant posture and continued, “I practice a very complex body transformation art from my family. However, I’m stuck in a bottleneck. I need some medicinal herbs with specific properties, but I don’t know of any herbs that have these properties. Since you’re a powerful master, I figured you might need an assistant or something to handle some mundane tasks. As compensation, just teach me all of your herbal knowledge! So? Sweet deal right?”
Sigma stroked his chin after listening to this kid. He felt that the kid apparently wasn’t lying at all. Perhaps he knew to lie to an expert of Sigma’s level was near suicide. Since this kid was so smart and had such a powerful spiritual sense, he didn’t think he could hide his cultivation level from the brat that much. He was sure that Jodye would know the realm even if he didn’t see the rank! Furthermore, he honestly did need an assistant for some of his alchemy and sorcery experiments, but more importantly, he wanted to teach a disciple40discipleone who accepts the knowledge of and assists in spreading the doctrines of another, taking them as a master. before he returned home. He just hadn’t been able to find any young or pretty masters that fit the bill.
Yet today, one had just walked right into his life, “Listen, kid, I like your moxie. You have great luck, as I am going to give you a wonderful opportunity. How about you agree to worship this old Sigma as your master?”
“Pass,” Jodye Trill waved his hand in front of his face like there was a bad smell. Sigma was pissed, but Jodye ignored his anger, “You are not more powerful than my mother. The most I could honor you as is a teacher, but what is there you can teach me? This isn’t something to be decided lightly.”
Listening to him, Sigma calmed down and nodded. He didn’t doubt such a unique kid had great lineage, and the way the boy spoke with eloquence reflected this. Besides, only ghosts would know if an expert was protecting him in secret. While this was unlikely, being that Sigma was a master himself and he would notice right away in most cases, there was always an exception to any rule! For example, what if this was a peak level expert? Sigma wouldn’t be careless.
As he was quite a forward thinker, Jodye’s previous words resonated with Sigma well as he stated, “You cannot be from around here, I would have certainly heard of a Scholar Realm genius such as yourself if you were known. Bones that seem to be younger than a decade old, energy reserves that outmatch an early-Earth Science realm warrior’s, and the light in your eyes is particularly bright. How many primary level concepts have you comprehended, I wonder? You likely don’t even know how much of a talented target you are. No, I believe you’re some runaway brat from a broken clan of negus. You…”
“Yo, what the f*** did you just call me old man?! If you want to disrespect me, then we can just fight to the death now!” Sigma was dumbfounded as Jodye yanked his collar down and scolded him, and there was even full slaughter intent leaking from his eyes.
‘Why?’ Of course, Sigma wasn’t the slightest bit afraid for his life. He just wondered what would make this child suddenly want to surrender his life like this? Because he called him a negus? That was preposterous unless…
“Boy, could it be that you have misunderstood the term negus? It is the name of your people,” As he spoke he lightly swatted Jodye’s hand off his collar. The little guy was quite solid for his realm, it was a bit scary. But only a bit. “Who are your parents to have not taught you this? The Negus are the progenitors of our human clan, the first of the hero race to take on the name ‘human,’ separating us from our elven brethren. However, when the first Voodoo Priests used forbidden magic that robbed heroes of their destiny, it was the negus who reversed the situation. Since then they have been referred to as the negus, which means the sovereign rulers by blood.”
“Ah!” Jodye Trill was flabbergasted by this new info, and also most of the bones in his hand felt like they had just been shattered. Sigma was left impressed once more when he saw Jodye just switch to his other hand as he downed another mug of riot goo.
Anyway, what the hell was a negus?
Jodye thought for a moment that he had been called a derogatory word from his previous life and reacted reflexively. He felt his rage manifest into energy once more and suddenly felt like he had figured something out. Unfortunately, his throbbing hand made it impossible for him to concentrate the new clearer image of slaughter in his head in the short term. However, he ignored the pain as if it wasn’t there and responded, “Neg… us? Elven brethren? Could it be that the elves and these negus are also members of the hero race?”
“Boy, are you truly even human? Are you not really a trickster or some weird demigod beast with a human fetish? How could you possibly know about the hero race, but not know who they are? Who you yourself are?” Sigma was getting annoyed by this kid, he could figure out if Jodye were smart or stupid. Sigma reasoned that this boy must have grown up in a great noble household which let him hear certain terms, but since he was a genius, he was probably very sheltered. Once he thought like this, Sigma felt he understood things better, “The Hero Race can be split between two factions, namely Humans and Elves. The humans all descend from the Battle Saint clan, the progenitors of the Heavenly Saint Essence cultivation system. Whereas the Elves descend from the Immortal Sage clan, the progenitors of Immortal Sage Origin cultivation system. However, legends say that before these two factions existed, there was only one. Controlled by the Negus! In fact, both humans and elves have negus among their ranks.”
“The negus were the first heroes. The cultivation system they created help the hero race gain a foothold in this vast universe. Their innovative use of the laws of samsara fate changed the world. Or so they say, anyway,” Sigma finished off another mug of Riot Goo as he finished his sentence. He was already feeling tipsy when he met this brat, but now he was totally on the wave. He babbled on without noticing much of the profound look in Jodye’s eyes, “They say you negus clansmen all have special bloodlines that can assimilate with nearly any race. The pinnacle of humanity. Apparently, humans and elves only exist because of this trait of the negus. Well, this life star doesn’t have many races in the first place though…”
“Mister… you’re not from Gaea are you?” Jodye Trill asked this question via the telepathic link they had established earlier. The way the man talked hinted at a knowledge base that was beyond this place’s level.
“Haha, so what say you boy?” Sigma paused for a moment in shock but swiftly recovered. He decided that no matter what he would leave a legacy behind for this planet through this child. Jodye was simply too unique, Simga doubted that he would ever find another hero youth like this one. They were fated to meet! “Are you willing to be my disciple?”
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Pangaea West Ward, Saint Anubis City — Magus District
High above the clouds of Lake Nicaea, there was a massive castle behind a powerful forcefield. Although the forcefield was just as powerful as before, this castle was no longer hidden within the opaque forces. Currently, the massive White Demon Castle in the sky could be seen by all. The area of the giant mass in the air was at least two-thirds of Lake Nicaea itself. In the center of the enormous castle was a shining and glorious white temple surrounded by Jackal God statues. These Jackal God statues gave off a dangerous aura and had a very eery glow in there pitch black eyes.
Within one of the private quarters of the castle, there was a thin and elegant woman who appeared to be around 25 years old, with sapphire eyes and a startling countenance. She had the beauty that could destroy a nation and sat in a posture reminiscent of a timeless painting. She wore a purple dress, and her inky black hair was braided down to her derrière as she combed the hair of an amazingly pretty little girl with multicolored colored eyes. The little girl appeared to be around eight years old and was wearing a green skirt and blouse. Any artist who witnessed this scene would undoubtedly be inspired to paint. One of the little girl’s eyes was as verdant and green as emeralds, and the other was a candy purple. Her long wavy black hair was being braided in the same style as the beautiful woman behind her.
“You grow prettier every day, Milly my darling,” said the bell-like voice of the woman. This blue-eyed beauty and little girl were, in fact, the captured Isis and Kamila Trilleck! “A pity you must spend these days of your youth in constant fear and captivity. Sometimes, I wish I simply never met that man…”
“First mother, I miss my little brother…” said the little girl Kamila Trilleck. Isis frowned and released her spiritual energy. Once she was certain that her sound isolation spell hadn’t been discovered or tampered with, she looked at this little girl in front of her and sighed heavily. To Kamila, this sigh felt like it carried the weight of an avalanche, and the sadness and helplessness buried within were like snow and boulders that threatened to drown or crush her. “Your brother… lives well. I can feel him. However, you must remember to never mention Jodye again. As far as they know, your memories have been wiped away along with mine. They could not possibly know about the secret art I taught you, it is beyond the level of the experts here.”
“These old men are all icky and gross! They’re always touching me, and trying to grab my face, and then there are their eyes! Their eyes are the worse, first mother, they all make me feel dirty and weird thoughts try to come into my head. If I didn’t have Styxx to help me, I think they would have used dirty tricks!” Kamila Trilleck’s eyes watered as she complained to lady Isis. This First Mother of hers was all Kamila had in this world ever since she had woken up. Everything she knew had somehow been stolen from her while she slept. Picture that? Falling asleep in heaven and waking up in hell.
Lady Isis could bare to destroy the child’s innocence by telling her the truth of the characters in this place, but she had to say to the girl something to keep her on her guard. There was no lack of disgusting characters in this castle, and Isis, unfortunately, could not monitor the girl all the times. Thus, she had described a few ‘dirty tricks’ to the little girl in hopes of adequately scaring her off. It seemed to be working so far, “You must continue to cultivate ascetically, Milly. The more you advance in the Seven Color Psychic Scripture, the more stable your mind will be. If you can reach the second or third stage, there’s no one in this castle other than those old bastards at the temple who can take over your mind.”
In fact, Isis was most worried about one of those old bastards having ideas about this favored niece of hers. Technically this was her step-child, but even more than that it was her best friend’s daughter and her own son’s older sister. Isis couldn’t help but care for the child, and not just because she was so adorable. They were surrounded by unknown dangers on every side.
Like two doves locked in a cage of fire.
Kamila Trilleck had listless eyes and a dull appearance. If Jodye were here to see her, he would most definitely think she had been switched with another child. How was this possibly his constantly energetic sister? Kamila stared out the window, silently staring at the clouds beyond the castle through the destructive forces in-between. Once Isis finished braiding her hair, Kamila rose from her chair and followed lady Isis to her powder room. Once inside she asked, “First mother, will you truly marry that creepy abbot who claims himself as my uncle? What about my daddy?”
Isis Trilleck’s gaze turned incomparably cold once Basalt was mentioned, and colder still once Osiris was mentioned, “Do not speak of your father from this day forward, Kamila. Doing so will be enough to see us both murdered.”
Kamila’s eyes flashed with a golden light of intelligence, as she responded, “They do not dare to kill the first mother. It should be myself whom they would kill.”
“You…” Isis was briefly caught off guard before she remembered the unique abilities this girl had after her awakening. This freak of a little girl was no less amazing than her own boy! This was a difficult feat to accomplish, even for siblings. “Sigh… Milly, do you not believe that I will willingly die before I allow any harm to befall you? Be more cautious, your death is no different from my own.”
“First Mother…” Kamila’s eyes became wet immediately after hearing Isis’ words. She was speechless. What could she say towards such love?
“Trust and believe, my beautiful little girl, the day these animals dare to touch you will be the day these white walls are permanently stained red!” Lady Isis’ words were as sharp as ice blades, and her gaze was fierce. “I am… not in control of what happens to me next. However, this was a choice that your father and I made together, Kamila. Now, promise your first mother that you will obediently behave the way you’ve been told until I can get you out of here.”
“But first mother, I simply cannot allow you to fall into the hands of these monsters in sheep’s clothing, I will not! You may believe I do not know what they will do to you, but I DO. I know! We must not let them, we can never let them touch you like they do the poor big sisters downstairs!” Kamila was frantically tugging on Isis’ dress as tears ran down her face.
All the emotion Kamila had been repressing was flooding out. However, as she touched the hand in front of her, her little fingers started to freeze. An enormous pressure suddenly bore down on her tiny shoulders. The next thing she heard was her first mother’s emotionless voice, which felt like it came straight out of the deepest and darkest hole in the world.
“Promise me,” Isis repeated icily.
“I… but… I… I promise.” Kamila resisted briefly but ultimately submitted. She understood that being here only gave her first mother more to worry about.
Kamila was an enormous burden for Isis! This was Basalt’s insurance on controlling her. How could Isis rebel if Kamila was in custody? How tragic was it to be young and weak? Unable to wrestle with your own fate or the fate of those around you? She needed to hurry and grow! Then she could save her first mother!
However, wouldn’t it be too late by then?
“Good, sweet child,” replied the lady Isis as her spiritual pressure dissipated instantly. An absent look was in her eyes as she stared at the hickeys on her neck. There were only two people in this world who had ever managed to glamour her or even touch her skin… one captured her secret before manipulating her into loving him and one rescued her in secret before doing the same. The latter was one whom she once loved dearly, and the other was one whom she absolutely loathed from the deepest depths of her soul. She had a physical connection with both and had children with both. However, the first child was born from shame and violation while the second was an accidental creation of love.
She accepted this batty plan way back before her son Joseph’s conception, and it was to get revenge for herself and her daughter. It seemed like the only route at the time because the enemy was just far too powerful and crafty. Thus, she didn’t mind a great sacrifice to achieve her revenge. Life had little meaning to her before that handsome man came to her rescue. Unfortunately, this man too just wanted to make use of her to achieve his own aim. She despised this and yet fell in love with him in spite of herself. Nonetheless, she still harbored extreme hatred, and she desired nothing more than vengeance! However, once her son was born, her vengeful heart finally wavered a bit.
Many times since then Isis wondered; was there really no other way than this?
Tragically, this was no longer important, as they had already passed the point of no return.
Her son was missing, and the plan was in full effect. Nothing could be changed anymore.
She had to play her role effectively, or it was all for naught.
Isis Trilleck stared into the mirror in front of her, and her eyes became fierce once more, before returning to hazy and demure. “This is what we must do, my darling. Come, let us go visit Grand Abbot Basalt. It’s dinner time.”
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Pangaea South Ward, Black Heart City — Outer District
Back in the bar, Jodye Trill was still ruthlessly rejecting the tutelage of Master Sigma. Jodye felt that if he accepted a teacher who was weaker than his mother, it would be an insult to her as his teacher. Unfortunately, he didn’t really know how strong his mother was in reality. Even if uncle Sigma was a master and far more powerful than himself, Jodye didn’t care. Would he be killed just for refusing the man? Also, if that was the case, Jodye simply didn’t fear to die for his beliefs.
“Kid, you’re really starting to piss this Old Sigma off. Do you think this is my true competence? I’ll have you know that if I weren’t on this cursed star, then I would be able to flatten this whole continent!” Huffed Uncle Sigma haughtily, “You simply don’t know divine grace when you encounter it, brat. Fine, leave me.”
“Ah, come on unk. It’s not so serious, right? I have great respect for you, but my mother is my teacher! How could I just betray her for a master of an inferior rank?” Jodye Trill shrugged as he spoke helplessly. However, he just realized a second later what Sigma had just mentioned.
This life star was cursed?
“A monkey’s your uncle, not me! You think you know everything kid, but let me tell you: You don’t!” Uncle Sigma slammed his empty mug on the bar. “You can’t imagine the things this old dog has seen with these eyes! It would blow the top off your little noggin, and your mum too!
Jodye was ruminating over whether he should indulge this man further when he heard many whispers from around them.
“Here goes that crazy bastard Sigma again. Every time he gets drunk he starts babbling on about this land being cursed and different galaxies. What a load of monkey bull.”
“Can you believe he’s found some teenager to be his drinking buddy? You think he had that type of fetish this whole time?”
“Last time I drunk with the guy ‘e went on and on about me ‘aving some kind of foreign disease. I tell you I’m fit as a fiddle, my doc even said it ‘imself.”
……
Jodye Trill shot a beam of divine energy secretly into the man’s body, and was shocked by what he saw! “Stage 5 Bingle Rot. Seems this guy got hit with a powerful curse not long ago…”
This time Sigma was astounded! How on Gaea would this brat know about something like that? Who exactly were the parents of this child who put not even Sigma’s esteemed self into his eyes? “Kid, you know about Bingle Rot? You could even identify the stage it’s reached with a glance?”
“Is Bingle Rot very rare here? It’s common in all the middle realms,” replied Jodye Trill nonchalantly.
“Rare ain’t the word, it’s nearly unheard of! That’s the reason this guy’s quack physician assured him he was healthy. They simply can’t identify the bingle rot!” Uncle Sigma was once again smiling amiably and speaking to Jodye as if he was a precious diamond. “Where are you from, kid? There’s no way you grew up here.”
“What was that punk!” A robust man who was trash talking earlier suddenly stood up from his table and bellowed menacingly at uncle Sigma as he stormed over, the spiritual pressure from his body wrecking a few of the surrounding chairs, “My buddy’s a top class physician! What the hell are you but a nutcase?”
Sigma was annoyed, and force momentum started to build around his finger. He was just about to make a move and show his dominance to the boy, gaining his awe and reverence. At least, that was the way it went in his head.
Fist Of Might!
Bang!
However, before Sigma could clean up this weakling, he heard a bang and turned his head in shock. Jodye Trill had punched the man so hard his face caved in as he flew out the pub in a trail of blood.
“As I’ve told you, I can take on no normal teacher. Besides, is it not rude to ask the very question you still haven’t answered?” asked Jodye indignantly, as he sat back down and wiped his hands like nothing had happened. Sigma was perplexed! How reckless and impulsive was this brat? Was there actually an expert at his side? How else could he dare to be so brazen?
In fact, there was an expert currently at Jodye’s side. Merely, Sigma was totally unaware he was the expert now by Jodye’s side. Sigma was the one that he planned to rely on.
“Fine, brat, I yield.” Uncle Sigma spoke aloud before continuing via telepathy, “My name is Sigma Octanis from the Heaven Howling Sect on Myriad Bone Island. I came to this star with a mission, which I have recently completed. However, before leaving, I wished to impart my Combat Arts and Cultivation techniques to someone on this planet, so that our Heaven Howling Sect can gain a foothold here.”
“Myriad Bones Island? On Kai #9?!” Jodye Trill was shocked. He knew of that planet! They were from a lower realm than the Titans, but they ranked at the top of that realm. It was in the Gold Star Realm, an upper star realm!
“Brat, you know about Kai #9?” At this point, Sigma could no longer deny that this child had otherworldly knowledge. He had never once mentioned the name of his home life star during his time on this one.
“Mn, less of that. I don’t get it Uncle Sigma, if this planet is cursed then why would you need a foothold?” asked Jodye via telepathy.
“Hmph,” Sigma harrumphed out loud and then spoke telepathically once more, “Well, look at who suddenly don’t have the answers? You’ve got enough out of me, kid, and haven’t given up nothing in return. Where would there be such free lunch in this world?”
“I don’t know what it is you cultivate, but I am definitely not suitable to inherit it. However, I know a kid with good potential and bad luck that might work,” replied Jodye Trill. He was actually talking about Aiken Moon. “However, I can learn your Combat Art!”
Sigma considered briefly. He was confident the boy was referring to the other junior who had followed him into town and wasn’t too far away. Those other two kids seemed to both have their origin pool’s sealed, so he had thought they were this child’s slaves. However, would an owner recommend his slave for an opportunity to gain his own strength and legacy? It was highly unlikely, causing Sigma to re-evaluate things.
“Okay kid, less of this for now. Tell old Sigma what it is you need to find?”
