Binding the Blackbellied Gibbons was as anticlimactic as my binding of Aureus had been—well, almost.
The female grasped Mom’s fingers with its tiny hands and held onto them as my mother initiated the binding process. She was struggling—probably rusty from neglecting her World for the last few years—and it took her almost ten minutes to finish the process. Dad wasn’t much better, though he had more pressing concerns than his meager soul energy control.
The male gibbon accepted the bond, but not before scratching my father's face. Dad turned out to be more excited than anyone and lifted the male gibbon to his face—way too fast for the beast’s liking—which earned him several bleeding streaks all over his face. The marks weren’t deep, but they served as a reminder that the Blackbellied Gibbons were still beasts. Malnourished and not as physically strong as raw physical-attributed 1-Star Wilds, but beasts nonetheless.
The female gibbon had to shriek at the male gibbon, and she slapped him on the back of his head to proceed with the binding process. Mom scolded Dad too, which was comical when compared to their Soulkin. Mom and her Soulkin dominated Dad and his Soulkin. Their dynamic promised to turn into an interesting relationship.
One way or another, I managed to do it. I helped my parents become Blessed!
Now all they needed was time to get used to it—and to train, of course.
***
Less than three months remained until the Camp would start officially. The first tests had already begun, and I was eternally grateful I didn’t have to join them. Of course, Daniel didn’t see it like that, but our situations were different. He was desperate to prove himself, while I was struggling to grow stronger, to catch up to the others.
“We received the initial report of Camp candidates,” Peter Zerog said, his eyes flicking from one holographic screen to the next. “This year’s Camp has 1000 spots. Close to 200 are already occupied by talented Blessed and retinues. If the records are updated, which they should be, 48 retinues will participate in this year’s Camp. That is less than expected, but their prowess is greater than we anticipated.”
Chloe Zerog waved her hand to materialize a cup of coffee out of thin air. She took a sip, her eyes drifting to Daniel, who was busy in the combat simulation room of the Silverstreak gym.
“Why are you here?” Selene grunted, displeased, pointing her python fang at Chloe and Peter. I had recently learned that she owned the gym and lived in the building next door. They ignored her entirely.
My breathing was ragged, my body beaten black and blue. The Zerogs had appeared in the Silverstreak gym without warning. After shooing Daniel away to train with illusions, they materialized a couch out of nowhere, treating the combat simulation room like their home. Selene, albeit displeased, accepted the disruption of our training. I was eternally grateful for the short break, even if I did not like anything that came out of the Zerogs’ mouths.
“You will be the weakest cadet,” Peter Zerog said matter-of-factly. He didn’t sound angry or disappointed, which I took as a good sign. “We expected as much, but we did not anticipate just how much weaker you would be. There are many talented Blessed in this year’s Camp. A lot more than last year. Even the retinues are special.”
“You don’t look unhappy,” I noted bluntly. If I’d learned one thing about Daniel’s father, it was that he didn’t like beating around the bush. He disliked speaking too much, which was also why he’d been so irritating when we first met.
“I’m not.” The corner of Peter’s lips curled upward. “You will be an underdog. Others will probably make fun of you for being weak, or they will treat you badly because their friends didn’t make it into the Camp—all while ‘someone like you’ succeeded.”
How is that a good thing? I wondered.
“You will attract more attention as you surpass your peers. It will be a struggle at first, but we’re confident you’ll manage.” He looked at Chloe, who nodded slowly. “You know about our initial plan?”
I nodded. They’d planned to prepare another Soulkin for me to bind.
“We discarded it,” Chloe snickered. “We didn’t invest as much into Aureus’ growth as we could have. We wanted to ensure your World would be large enough to fit a newborn Wild. That will change now.”
“Bert convinced us,” Peter Zerog said, as if that was all I needed to understand.
“Paralyse is growing stronger. Aureus is still a 3-Star Wild, but he can already paralyse multiple 4-Star Wilds in quick succession. Your bond with Aureus is also a lot stronger than we anticipated. We were surprised when you used Paralyse the first time, but we chalked it up to your desperation—thought it was just a coincidence—but we were wrong.” Chloe explained. “Bert told us you’ve been practicing Paralyse in the ethermist cube for the last few days. Is that true?”
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I nodded again. Moving hurt, but I sat upright to look at the Zerogs, only to see Selene staring at me.
“You used your Soulkin’s trait on me before, didn’t you?” the aging woman asked. Doubt and a lingering trace of excitement appeared on her face. “The itch... I think I’m getting old. To think I didn’t notice anything.”
She walked over and patted my back, which did little to alleviate my pain. It made everything worse, and I glared at her.
“Either way, we discarded the initial plan and will invest heavily in Aureus’ growth. Considering the facts and how much the soulshare will affect the Soulkin, it should be no problem to make him an Awakened beast before the Camp starts,” Peter said, his eyes lingering on me. “That means you’ll need a lot more soul energy. We will push Aureus to the Awakened rank, but that is only the beginning. He will have to evolve—and I’m doomed if he ends up a Cragling. Aureus is different—a mutant, intelligent. And there are no intelligent Craglings.”
The bond, also commonly called ‘soulshare,’ was the link that connected Soulkins to the World. However, it was not only a connection; it was a gateway to the powers hiding on the other side of the link. A soulshare granted the Blessed a portion of their Soulkin’s power, be it physical, mental, or related to their trait. But to provide a noticeable portion of power, the bond had to be strong enough to widen the gateway connecting Blessed to Soulkin. The stronger the bond, the greater the soulshare’s effect.
As far as I could tell, most Blessed had to strengthen their bond over the course of years—several months if they were very fortunate—to be able to use their Soulkin’s trait. Even then, they would have to spend more ether than their Soulkin to access the soulshare. My situation was a little different. I was fairly sure I could have used Paralyse as soon as my core could contain enough ether to activate it. I hadn’t known how I used it initially, but now I knew, and while our soulshare was stronger than before, I was certain the connection had been firm enough from day one.
Now that the soulshare was stronger than ever, I gained a lot more power from Aureus. The physical empowerment was still not noteworthy, but my ether control had improved by leaps and bounds, and I felt like my studies had progressed better recently. The best, however, was the use of Paralyse. It cost a leg and an arm to use, but it was powerful. Incredibly powerful.
No – that wasn’t true. Paralyse was powerful and crucial for me to have, but it was not the best. Communicating with Aureus, bantering with my Soulkin, was the best. Power and all were great, but growing closer to Aureus every day was the best. I couldn’t have hoped for a better Soulkin, no matter how much he ate.
Aureus gained a lot from me as well. It took me a while to understand the value a World had to beasts, but now I got it. Even beasts with no potential could grow stronger than they should be as long as they were bound to a Blessed. Or… if they devoured a Blessed, thus consuming their World. I was still struggling to understand everything about Worlds, but our connection—be it the compatibility between my World and Aureus or our soulshare—was extraordinary, and it pushed both of us to greater heights.
“You want to leverage the advantage we can gain with Paralyse, but also the soulshare’s firmness to ensure my World won’t break by the time Aureus evolves.” Aureus had a powerful trait, so it was almost certain to alter his evolution. The glutton was bound to become something much rarer than a Cragling, which usually meant that it would be more powerful. He could also evolve into something weaker, but given Paralyse’s power, neither the Zerogs nor Bert thought that would happen.
One way or another, Aureus’ evolution would push his soul energy demands drastically. Even the weakest Awakened beast required more than ten units of soul energy. The weakest Cragling required eleven units of soul energy if memory served right, and my World was barely at 4.1 units.
“I know that’s a stretch, but if we can push your soulshare to the second stage, which would indicate a share between ten to fifteen percent, you could utilize the gains to meet the requirements of an Awakened beast in time,” Chloe said, though she looked troubled.
“My World is the biggest problem, isn’t it?” I asked, even if I knew the answer already.
“Most evolutions require a lot of time. Aureus will have to reach 5-Star Wild first. The progress will be slow, and you can adjust to it. We want you to spend two hours a day practicing Blasto Refinery’s 4th level in the ethermist cube. We will prepare serums for you so you’ll recover soul energy a little bit faster. It will strain your World, but you need more soul energy, or Aureus won’t be able to digest his serums properly.” Peter Zerog disregarded my question. “The evolution will commence in two months from today. If everything works out, we can initiate and complete the evolution before the Camp starts, without killing you or shattering your World.”
“Why don’t you give his Soilback an Earthen Core? I’m pretty sure he’ll evolve right away if his trait is as powerful as everyone says,” Selene asked, and I had to turn to the Zerogs for answers. It would be great if Aureus could evolve right away.
“We don’t want his World to shatter,” Peter snapped irritably. “What do you think we would have done if his World had been a little larger? Do you really think we would be wasting months on low-ranked serums to fortify their foundations? If we could ensure they’d survive the evolution, we would have forced Aureus to consume an Earthwyrm’s heart.”
Selene glanced at me and agreed, “Right, his World is minuscule. Even my World was larger than his when I was born.”
Thanks for the barb, demoness! I wanted to shout at her, but I was too weak, and I didn’t want to get thrashed – again.
“So… what’s the plan?”
The plan was fairly simple. My training continued as usual with one exception. Aureus was to stay in the ethermist cube for four hours every day instead of the two I was allowed to stay. Peter and Chloe told me to focus on Blasto Refinery’s progress when I was in the ethermist cube, yet they also made sure to tell me not to neglect my body. I was to temper my body two hours after I left the ethermist cube and to consume serums on a daily basis alongside Aureus.
The Zerogs’ investment in my growth was definitely shooting through the roof, but they did not look displeased. If anything, they were happy with me and Aureus. At some point, Peter accepted that I would be the weakest cadet in the Camp and that even the second weakest would be leagues stronger than I was. However, instead of lashing out at me, he encouraged me to become a wild card. The Camp’s underdog.
I wasn’t sure if I had what it took, but I promised myself to give my utmost. For myself, for Aureus, to grow strong enough to protect my family, and for the Zerogs – to help Daniel.
Still… Do the serums have to be so disgusting?