Beastforged Bond

Results. That was going to be an issue, since there was nothing to show yet. In all likelihood, there wouldn’t be much to show for the foreseeable future.

To join the Grand Camp, I had studied a lot of files and reports about Beasters and their work. Beaster Bert and the Zerogs had provided me with the resources at that time, which earned me a high enough ranking to make up for my insufficient strength. It had only been a little over a year, and a lot had changed, but I was confident in my knowledge.

After reading a stack of books, listening to the Elemental Phoenix’s commentary whenever someone talked about alchemy–Volix liked talking about his past-life actions a lot–and recalling everything I had learned, I thought I was ready to get started as a Beaster Apprentice. Big mistake.

Beaster Bert was not satisfied with my knowledge. It was nowhere near extensive enough to meet his criteria.

“You will be my first student after I have been acknowledged as a Master. That, as well as your official record as a late Ruler’s Scion, mean a lot more than you can probably imagine,” Bert had said, his words still ringing in my ears. “You won’t like it, but your status, past and present, carries heavy weight. A responsibility to perform better than everyone. You were a Scion, which means you are among the best of the best. That does not change just because you change occupations. To some, that weighs even more heavily.”

To summarize his point, Bert wanted me to be the best. And that required a perfect foundation. A lot of studying. That day, my watch was flooded with ninety-nine-plus notifications in a matter of minutes, each containing a series of files related to Beasters, ether plants, beast parts, evolutions, mutations, beast potential, and many other topics I had yet to dig into. Some files were closely related to the concoction process, the reactions between ether plants and beast parts, and other material that would come in handy in the future, but Bert had locked them.

I was supposed to study and pass the theory test for full-fledged Beasters with flying colors. It was ridiculous. Unfortunately, the Elemental Phoenix could not have agreed more.

You need a flawless foundation. That won’t take too long with my help. A few years to study everything should be more than enough.

Volix consoled my already sore heart, which did little but make the ache worse.

Spending years as an Apprentice was definitely not on my to-do list. If anything, I wanted to be a full-fledged Beaster, capable of concocting the serums Nox needed to keep up with Aureus within a year or two.

Aureus had advanced to a true Earthheart not too long ago, yet his potential had shifted drastically. Transforming from a faux Earthheart into a proper sacred beast altered everything. The Ether Gates formed through Aureus’ soulshare had evolved into Earthen Gates that strengthened the weave considerably. Each Earthen Gate reinforced the weave further, but that was only the beginning. Aureus’ advancement had resulted in the creation of a sub-Aspect and the upgrade of his Earthen Aspect.

The Gravity Aspect formed, which was all Aureus needed to fly, while the Earthen Aspect became Major. More Earthen Gates formed as Aureus’ potential increased, and it did not look like the creation of Gates would stop anytime soon. As a sacred beast, Aureus’ understanding of the Major Earthen Aspect dictated his potential. Hence, it was only a matter of time before Aureus would advance to a Guardian beast and push beyond that stage.

To think that the Mutant Soilback, once a frail Wild beast, had evolved into a partial sacred beast to reach the Awakened rank. A year ago, Aureus powered through the Awakened Rank to advance to an Evolved beast. Now he possessed a Major Elemental Aspect and was growing rapidly toward becoming an Unblemished beast.

His path hadn’t been easy, and I doubted his future advancements would be either, but I was excited about our future. Aureus’ growth into a Guardian beast, his rise to an Overlord, and finally, through the creation of a Runic Heart, his ascension to a Monarch. It might take decades, but the Earthheart would eventually catch up to the Elemental Phoenix he had seen fight in the underground sea.

Volix would power through the Ranks much faster, but I was equally excited to fight side by side with the Emperor beast who had crushed several Rulers half a year ago.

But while Volix and Aureus possessed the potential needed to advance, Nox and Resh didn’t. Resh, the Mirage Serpent, hadn’t been with me long, but the serpent was old and uninterested in power. That couldn’t be said about the Ferronox Mantis. Nox wanted to grow. He had to grow. To keep up with my progress and join my fights alongside the other Soulkins. He couldn’t be left behind. That would hurt him far more than any defeat ever could.

He needed Beaster serums or alchemy potions, maybe even both if that would help him. And Beaster Bert, who had just discovered a new evolutionary path for Craglings, was going to help me. Soon. All I needed was to build a perfect foundation, preferably as fast as possible.

Thus, my first study session began. The Etheriam watch projected several screens showing the files Beaster Bert had forwarded to me, and I began to read. The mind empowerment from the Elemental Phoenix and Aureus worked wonders, and I finished the first extensive research document in an hour. I spent the following hour digesting the information, which would have been a lot faster if not for the constant quips interrupting me.

The reduction process right there is completely wrong. Help me, Primal Spirit! Please help me survive this amalgamation of utter nonsense!!

Volix screeched in my head, sounding a bit too desperate.

Why would anyone be stupid enough to use starturquoise residue here? If they were to use it five ticks later, it’d work a lot better. The success rate would be higher, not that it changes anything. Using starturquoise residue for a Basic serum is such a waste. Don’t they know anything!?

There were a lot more complaints like that, but I tried to ignore most of them. Alas, that was easier said than done. Volix went a step further and forwarded images that showed me how to process certain serums using different materials and concoction methods.

The Elemental Phoenix found mistakes in just about every paragraph, and he couldn’t keep his beak shut. But the worst was definitely that Volix was probably right. When he corrected yet another mistake for the sixth time… or was it the eighth? Anyway, the details didn’t matter. I double-checked Volix’s information and opened a few more screens to research the ingredients the Elemental Phoenix would replace others with, and why.

Some corrections were a little far-fetched, but others made a lot of sense. And if even I could tell, how did other Beasters not realize it?

It is a natural phenomenon. Even among Alchemists, it is rare for new recipes to appear. New creations are rare, especially revolutionary ones. Most do not bother experimenting with recipes that have existed for centuries, thinking others already did it long before them. I cannot hold that against them.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Volix chirped, oddly reasonable.

But what I can hold against them is their stupidity. Why would anyone come up with such a grotesque recipe to concoct a simple cleansing potion? The infusion of Bloodbloom Nectar increased the viscosity too much, which only reduces the overall efficiency. The impurities accumulated in a Wild beast will never be cleansed. They’re lucky if a third of tenacious impurities are expelled before their immune system resists the potion… serum… whatever.

The cleansing potion was apparently a big issue for Volix. I didn’t quite understand it at first, but it made more and more sense the more I thought about it.

While racial potential was crucial to a beast, Blessed could alter a beast’s potential. Just like beasts could evolve from consuming natural treasures, humans could recreate that process. However, they could do a lot more than that. They did not even have to stimulate an evolution to strengthen beasts that had long since used up their potential.

Serums and the effects of a soulshare were humanity’s equivalent to natural treasures. A firm soulshare with a powerful and growing World was enough to push a peak Evolved Soulkin to the next Rank. It could advance to an Unblemished beast given enough time. Serums could accelerate the process while also providing the means to further strengthen the Soulkin by unlocking dormant traits and evolutionary strands that would have never resurfaced under normal circumstances.

And the cleansing potion helped older Soulkins and beasts–creatures that lived long enough to accumulate heaps of impurities–to expel those impurities and receive the same benefits from serums as their younger brethren. There was more to it, since young Soulkins gained from a thorough cleansing as well, but that was another can of worms… a can I couldn’t be bothered to open. Not now, maybe not ever.

For now, I had to listen to Volix, absorb his knowledge, while going through more than a hundred files. Knowing Beaster Bert, I was pretty sure I’d only been given the first of many batches of documents. There were bound to be a dozen tests to perform, each more atrocious than the last. And no matter how annoying the tests were going to be, Beaster Bert would never accept anything worse than a perfect score. Neither would Volix, which promised to cause trouble.

Beaster Bert’s files were trying to teach me things that were clearly wrong in Volix’s opinion. Thus, the Elemental Phoenix tried to teach me correctly right from the start. It was much harder to re-learn something that had been taught wrong, after all.

That was nice and all, but it didn’t solve my biggest concern: how was I going to explain my knowledge to Bert? He’d never believe me if I told him that he, and all of humanity’s Beasters, were wrong. Not without exposing Volix, which was out of the question.

What a mess.

Volix agreed.

That’s your fault. Don’t act like it has nothing to do with you!

***

Every serum required a base. The Base, as it was often called across the few texts I’d read, existed in various grades of potency, each having its use for all the serums that existed. Under normal circumstances, a Base of high purity rating was used for higher-ranked serums, yet that did not pertain to all of them. Sometimes, the materials used in the next step could not be processed with high-ether-purity Bases and instead required purities that would react with certain unwanted properties and be extracted in the final steps.

From my point of view, the whole Base theory was simple yet complicated. The core mechanic was rather simple, and it would be easy to follow as soon as a Beaster could produce the Base of every grade reliably. The really complicated part was not even about the Base. It was all Volix’s fault.

Alchemists do not need ‘the Base’. It is possible to use the Base as an apprentice or a young Alchemist, but it slows the concoction process and creates diminishing results. Adding ether crystal powder, Taraqun grain, and a Zutarunic leaf when preparing the Poenthic salve would create a stronger healing potion. Why would you concoct the Base first and dissolve the Poenthic salve after that as a secondary process when you can do it all together and improve the result by a good thirty percent?

Volix chirped irritably.

Clearly, the Elemental Phoenix had forgotten all about his earlier talk about the creation of new serums. Why would anyone think it could be done differently when everyone believed the Base was needed to stabilize the process?

If you do not make a mistake in the concoction process, you may even trigger another set of dormant properties and use the healing serum as a potent painkiller as well. It would not even hinder the consumer’s movement.

The Elemental Phoenix went as far as to copy the concoction process into my mind. As simple as Volix made it seem, it was difficult. It was a hundred times harder than concocting the Base in massive batches and dissolving the Poenthic salve in a low-quality Base before stabilizing it with stardust. Volix’s process took much longer. It required incredibly high ether control, perfect control of the fire used in the concoction process, and purified ingredients.

Each step was incredibly difficult, but the latter was the hardest. Removing the impurities in ingredients would take the longest, therefore making it harder to concoct the healing potion the way Volix displayed in my mind. Purified ingredients had to be used in a timely manner, or most crucial properties would be lost. The time frame was too small to purify the ingredients first before following up with the other processes. They had to be performed simultaneously, increasing the challenge once more by adding a multitasking aspect.

Or someone would have to help. Volix could do that for starters, yet I highly doubted he would help me.

Maybe once you are proficient enough to take the next step, I may help. A little. First, you need to learn and make it work on your own.

I could not help but curse Volix for that, which was probably a little too attention-drawing. Bert turned to me.

The Master Beaster walked over with a smile. “Is something wrong, Adam? Are you stuck somewhere?”

“I…” Unsure what to say, I groaned, “There is just so much to learn.”

He laughed at my misery and patted my shoulder. “The more you suffer, the greater your future rewards will be.”

I did not doubt that, but how was I supposed to survive so much suffering? The texts were no problem. Volix was the problem.

“Do I really have to stay away from serums for years?”

“Years? I don’t think I told you to wait years. Knowing you, we can start in a few months.” Bert smiled and looked at me more intently before quietly adding, “It took Daniel two years before I allowed him to concoct his first serum. You have a great advantage with your Soulkins strengthening your body and mind, but we shouldn’t rush anything, should we?”

My lips parted but snapped shut just as quickly. What was I supposed to say to that?

‘I just want to use the vast knowledge of my ancient phoenix to make revolutionary serums without looking too suspicious. A little alchemical explosion here and there to create a serum without Base, you know? Are you sure you can’t help me?’ That sounded stupid. Really, really stupid. Plus, it would be suspicious if I shared too much of Volix’s knowledge with Bert too quickly. I trusted the Master Beaster, but the thought of telling more people about the Elemental Phoenix or… just about everything regarding the Spirits was simply too scary. I dreaded the day my secrets unraveled.

“But you can help me with something else, if you want. You don’t have to help me, but it would be great if you could work on a few ingredients. Purify them for me. That would help a lot with the Council’s quota. How about…” The Beaster tilted his head. “How about we work on your sacred flame’s control for one hour at the end of your shift?”

I brightened at the prospect.

“Never underestimate the difficulty of proper purification. Your sacred flame might remove some of the challenge, but I need you to pay full attention to the purification at every moment. Please don’t burn too many ingredients.” He smiled faintly.

“I will do my best.”

In the worst case, Volix could help me.

I won’t.

The Elemental Phoenix rebutted without hesitation.

Thanks for nothing.