Lea was a pain in the ass. Somehow, I had attracted her ire. And the worst thing about that wasn’t even that everyone watched our spar. What really got to me wasn’t even that Daniel’s sister beat the living shit out of me without breaking a sweat. The worst was that she looked damn good while she thrashed me.
Lea blocked my attacks easily. She redirected my punches and used my momentum against me effortlessly. I toppled, a new ache in the chest area joining all those other aches, and Lea’s legs shot forward, sweeping me from the ground. My face was the first to hit the floor, adding another pain to the repertoire, and the rest of my body followed behind.
I was already on the ground, but that hadn’t stopped Lea before either. Knowing she was out for my life—at least, that was what it felt like—I rolled to the side and jumped to my feet. A small burst of ether was enough to push me from the ground, but Lea was just too fast. Her leg smashed into the floor where I landed a moment ago, but her eyes were already upon me. So was her fist.
A punch to the chest knocked the air out of me, and I slumped to the ground. This time, however, I couldn’t get up before Lea’s feet crushed down on me.
“That’s enough,” Merlin said, and Lea retreated, even though she didn’t look happy.
Why are you doing this to me?! I wanted to scream, but I held it in. Preserving what little energy I had left was more worthwhile than shouting at Daniel’s sister.
“Adam is still a little foolish, but he isn’t too bad. A fledgling, sure, although with a sharp beak.” Selene’s voice rang out beside me, and she sounded oddly happy. And as encouraging as her words were, I knew she didn’t say that to motivate me.
Looking up, I caught the old demoness staring holes into Merlin, who did not look half as happy.
“I’m not sure about his beak, but he is a fledgling,” Merlin grunted. “Too weak to take care of himself, and too young to spread his wings to fly.”
“Teens at his age progress rapidly, so he will be fine.” Selene nodded, her eyes twinkling as they remained on Merlin. “Training a teenager is very different from training children. Adam knows what he’s learning for, and I don’t think he’s doing this half-heartedly. He has been giving his best ever since.”
That was actually a nice comment. It made me smile, even though Merlin’s follow-up destroyed it all.
“Giving his all, huh.” Shaking his head, he turned to Daniel. “Are you fine with this?”
Fuck you, too! I screamed internally while Daniel fidgeted around, avoiding his uncle’s eyes.
The look of discomfort on my friend’s face lasted no more than a few seconds, and he met Merlin’s bottomless gaze.
“Yes, I am, and so are my parents. We are happy with Adam. He is doing great!”
Merlin cocked an eyebrow and turned away with a shrug.
“If you say so,” he said and nodded toward Selene before walking to the door of the combat simulation room. Lea was about to follow behind when Merlin glanced back at her. “I will be busy with the Council and Ruler Wale. Stay here and train with Swordmaster Selene. She knows what she’s doing—most of the time.”
He glanced at me when he uttered the last part, but it hardly mattered to me. At this point, it would be weirder if I hadn’t noticed his dislike toward me. It was obvious to everyone.
Selene took Merlin’s words to heart, and the twinkling in her eyes died. I almost felt bad for the Swordmaster, but I was glad she finally seemed to see Merlin for what he truly was: a jerk. Although, as unfortunate as it was, a damn powerful jerk.
Lea bowed politely toward Merlin, but she did not seem particularly happy with her teacher’s order either.
“Sometimes, I really hate our uncle,” Daniel muttered, which earned him a glare from Lea. “I know you idolize him, but even that has its limits, sis.”
She didn’t look like she agreed, but Daniel couldn’t care less.
“Are you exhausted?” he turned to me. Scrambling to my feet was hard, but it was answer enough for Daniel. “Good, because you and Aureus need to be exhausted for this.”
Hmm? I lifted my head with some difficulty, ignoring the pain shooting through my entire skull.
“Teach finished his latest project, and he wants to see you,” Daniel said brightly.
Beaster Bert wanted to see me? It had been a while since I saw him. More than a week, actually—since he and his wife tore through the two-headed lion.
Aureus and I hadn’t received any serums the entire week, although I was sure they held back to ensure our bond would recover flawlessly. It took almost a whole week until my World and the bond settled down, fully recovered, but we were back at our peak.
Was that related? He probably wanted us to start consuming serums again. That would be perfect. Aureus and I were growing stronger without serums, but they accelerated the process drastically. They granted power, and that was exactly what I needed—not just to fight beasts or protect people if the Bastion was attacked again, but to stop others from beating the living shit out of me, too.
***
“Since your World has no restrictions, as far as we can tell with the equipment at our disposal, we made a decision,” Bert said after I sat down on the couch in the basement of the Beaster’s shop. “After careful consideration, the Zerogs and I decided to remove the containment solution within Aureus’ evolution serum.”
That was certainly not the first thing I expected to hear from Bert. I was glad he and his wife were fine — it didn’t look like they’d sustained any wounds from the attack a week ago — but something like a ‘Hello,’ a simple ‘How are you doing?’ or anything would have been better.
A quick chat about how messed up the attack had been and everything that had changed in the last week would have been great as well.
The public opinion of powerful Blessed had been tarnished. Berthold — or whatever that piece of shit of a human being was called — had been caught and put in prison, where he was waiting for the Council’s final decision. It looked like the Council was out for the jerk’s blood, if Chloe Zerog’s contacts could be trusted.
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Apparently, putting a Bastion in danger was a no-go — who would have thought? The only surprise was that Chloe said even Rulers had decided among themselves to never endanger mankind. If it could be avoided, they would never put the Bastions in danger. Not after everything that happened in the past.
Then again, that was just what Chloe said. I highly doubted the Rulers could be punished even if they were to endanger mankind’s survival. It was probably a good thing they never did something as stupid as Berthold.
Regardless, victims of the incident were still being recovered. The dome sustained damage and wouldn’t be repaired for another week or two, more than ten thousand innocent people had been killed, and dozens of buildings had been razed to the ground, causing damage in the billions. The skytrain network was still out of service as well, and the tension between unBlessed and Blessed was higher than ever. It was a fucking mess, and nobody wanted to talk to me about it!
Maybe that was the point… Maybe I was the one who needed someone to talk to. To empty my heart about the incident and all those deaths rather than avoiding the topic like my parents did. Even the Zerogs didn’t seem to like talking about it.
However, in a way, diving into work might be the Beaster’s way of coping with the situation, and that was fine. I was the one who wasn’t fine… or was I? Was it okay to feel like a mess even after one week had passed since that day?
“Adam?” Bert’s voice rang in my ears, pulling me out of my train of thought.
“Hmm? Sorry, I was–...” I blurted out loud, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.
The Beaster raised an eyebrow at me, but he didn’t look angry.
“You know what a contained evolution is all about, and what it means if we do not contain it, right?” he asked.
Containing evolutions was important, if not crucial. It ensured Soulkins wouldn’t evolve in ways that could possibly harm their Blessed. That usually happened when a Blessed allowed their Soulkin to evolve naturally. Sure, it was cheaper, as it did not cost anything to evolve a beast naturally as long as it had the potential and met all the other requirements to evolve — including months, if not years, of absorbing soul energy. However, cheaper didn’t mean better. In most cases, natural evolutions would be better as they allowed beasts to transform into their most compatible form, but they were also uncontrolled.
What would happen if a beast evolved from a non-elemental beast to an elemental creature? If the Blessed was fortunate, their World had the required elemental affinity and everything would be fine. Under normal circumstances, however, that didn’t work. Their World was more likely to be incompatible with the Soulkin’s new form, and the bond had to be severed in a timely manner or the World would break. Or worse, the Blessed might.
Contained evolutions also ensured the Blessed’s World was large enough to house the evolved Soulkin. No evolution pushed a beast from 5-Star Wild to a high-level Awakened beast or to the Evolved grade, but Soulkins could advance to an Awakened beast that required 30 soul energy units instead of nine-ish.
While that would be great in many cases, in mine it would shatter my World into smithereens.
All that talk about evolutions and the ability to initiate a loosely controlled evolution was exciting, and my heart skipped a beat as Beaster Bert retrieved a vial of liquid stars. I had not the faintest inkling of what kind of serum Bert had prepared, but it looked like it contained stars.
I could feel the serum’s potency from the distance, condensed ether sloshing through the tiny vial. It was a lot more potent than anything I had seen in the last few months.
“Is that a second-grade serum?” My heart drummed wildly against my rib cage, threatening to escape my body. “B-by any chance… is that… is that what I think it is?”
Was that a–
“No, that is not an evolution serum.” Bert threw me a pointed look. “The serum will further reinforce your bond. Given the data we’ve collected about you and Aureus, the serum should be effective. If it works as intended, the reinforced soulshare will also affect Aureus and enhance his potential. With a little bit of luck, Aureus will reach 5-Star once the last properties of the serum settle, completing the preparations of mind and body.”
“As long as it works out, which it should, you will be busy feeding Aureus soul energy for ten days, maybe two weeks. You can still refine your World in the meantime, and you definitely should do that if Aureus grows as fast as we predict. That way, neither you nor Aureus will have problems once we proceed with the evolution serum.”
Did I hear that right? Bert was talking about evolving Aureus… right?
Thinking about Aureus, his potential evolution, and how much would change if Aureus advanced to an Awakened beast, my heart skipped a beat. Somehow, the thought of evolving Aureus had been so far away all this time. Now, all of a sudden, it was so close. Soon…
“The data on Pith Potency and the other serums have been good enough. Nonetheless, I recommend visiting the shop daily for thorough examinations. I know all those tests are boring and it will take up a chunk of the time you need to prepare for the Camp, but it is a crucial measurement to ensure your safety,” Bert explained, placing the pre-evolutionary serum—I named it like that myself—in my hands with a reassuring smile.
My heart was racing, drowning out the world around me, but my body was already moving. Aureus appeared on my forearm and rushed to the small glass vial resting in my hand. He didn’t care if he injured me and exposed his ravenous gluttony and impatience to everyone in the room. I barely managed to remove the cork when Aureus reached the vial.
“Once Aureus digests the serum, and the results are within an acceptable range, we can proceed with the evolution serum. Merlin was generous enough to provide the fragmented core of a Lesser Earthen Drake for the serum. That may be a bit of overkill, as most of the potential contained within the evolution serum will be wasted and discarded by Aureus, but the core of a Lesser Earthen Drake is definitely compatible with our little mutant Soilback. There shouldn’t be any compatibility issues,” Bert clarified.
Merlin provided a core? The… core of a Lesser Earthen Drake? I’ve heard about Drakes, but I had yet to read about Lesser Earthen Drakes.
However, no matter how suspicious Merlin’s sudden generosity was, I was glad. Not because Merlin was generous, but mostly due to Aureus’ excitement. It didn’t require a firm bond to tell that Aureus would have loved to consume the Lesser Earthen Drake’s core as is—unrefined and definitely not ground into an evolution potion. Maybe the fragmented core was already enough to stimulate a natural evolution, but it looked like Beaster Bert and the Zerogs wanted to push us further down the path with the pre-evolutionary serum, whether it was for our safety or to make full use of our potential—Aureus’ potential.
That made sense, and I agreed completely. Since we had three months left until the Camp would start—or was it two? No… there should be close to three months left now that everything had been postponed with the Mistrals’ attack. Maybe we would have even more time before the Camp started, though I highly doubted that. Regardless, I was happy Bert and the others focused on our safety. By providing Aureus with both the best training and resources, they strengthened him for the evolution. Not only did that increase Aureus’ chance at success—apparently an evolution could also fail miserably—but the probability of unlocking more racial traits was much greater with a well-fortified foundation as well.
Furthermore, the stronger the foundation, the better the resources, and the Soulkin’s natural potential, as well as the empowerment provided by the Blessed’s World, the higher the chance was for a stronger evolution that may or may not allow the Soulkin to evolve further.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I asked Bert when Aureus disappeared in my World. The pre-evolutionary serum was empty—Aureus didn’t leave a single droplet—and the little glutton wasn’t moving anymore. Aureus was rolled up in the World, golden particles coating him in a paper-thin cocoon. He’d be out of service for up to two weeks if Bert was right.
“Now?” Bert patted me on the shoulder with a pitiful smile. “Now, you’ll have to train harder than ever. Stimulate the bond as much as you can and make full use of the next few weeks.” He grimaced and added, “Your World will struggle a lot. Maybe not in the next two weeks, but Aureus’ evolution will fuck you over if you’re not careful. You need to push harder than ever to create enough space for Aureus, so you better refine your World at all times. Stimulate the bond and World like there is no tomorrow because you do not want to be on the receiving end of a Shattering. Especially not with a physique that will suck you dry.”
Great. That was really… reassuring. Not.
However, no matter how I looked at it, the thought of losing my World, of losing the bond with Aureus, was motivating like nothing else.