Beastforged Bond

World refinement came easier to me after I created my own Mark, or Insignia, according to Volix, whatever that was.

Control of the ether and soul energy in the World increased drastically as long as my Insignia was lit alight. That, as it turned out, was all day long.

The Insignia glowed dimly at all times, offering all its benefits while also making it increasingly difficult to hide. It was white and relatively small, covering only a portion of my chest rather than my neck and half of my face. That was a good thing, although I doubted it would stay this small for long. After a few refinement sessions, I quickly noticed that my World regained its former glory at an unprecedented speed. As pleasant as it was to recover the soul energy Volix had consumed, the rapid recovery of soul energy spurred the Insignia’s growth.

The more the core expanded, the larger the Insignia’s flame grew. At the same time, the galaxy swirling around the white flame surged and spread further as I accumulated more soul energy. I tried feeding soul energy to the Elemental Phoenix, but the galaxy didn’t shrink. It stagnated until the soul energy consumed by the phoenix had been recovered and stretched further thereafter.

Containing the changes with the Mirage Serpent’s racial trait was worth experimenting with, yet it was not particularly surprising when that failed.

I couldn’t hide anymore. But maybe, just maybe, that was for the best.

***

It took several weeks to recover. I would have loved to finish up faster, but the whole procedure had already been quite fast. If not for the Blazing Gates forming an ether circulation system, it would have taken even longer. I tried to include the World’s core in the circulation, but that turned out quite difficult. It required a considerable amount of concentration to alter the circulation’s streams and maintain them. But it was worth it.

The Insignia’s effect spread and affected the weave as soon as the core was included in the circulation system. As much as it took a toll on my mind, it aided the absorption and annexation of ether considerably.

Thus, only a handful of weeks were wasted on recovering, without wasting any precious resources, one should add. Then again, I was probably the only one who didn’t devour precious resources like snacks.

Nox used his injuries as an excuse to demand more serums. He was adamant about consuming raw elemental crystals as well. I was not particularly fond of his obsession but caved in when Sapsie and Volix promised they would tend to the Ferronox Mantis in an emergency. The phoenix would burn through the energy ravaging Nox’s body while Sapsie would heal him.

Their plan had been detailed enough to hint at schemes happening behind my back. My Soulkins were talking to each other, scheming and devising plans. When I realized that for the first time, it stung a little. Now, I was happy my Soulkins adored each other. They cared about one another like family.

Aureus and Volix’s little ‘discussion’ lasted for quite some time, but they seemed cordial with each other now. They might as well become friends at some point, although that may take a while, as soon as their different opinions of the Spirits and some other minor things were resolved. Or so I hoped.

Other than Nox, the only one consuming even more resources was Resh. His hunger was quite worrisome, but that was yet another issue the wilderness could resolve. Aureus, Volix, and Nox left the camp with the onyx ring to hunt and store beasts. They returned injured, but satisfied, which was not particularly surprising. Nox hadn’t bothered waiting until his injuries were fully healed before he joined the sacred beasts.

Last but not least, there was Sapsie. She needed the least precious resources. Even Cosmo, who was only given two serums a day, needed more than the World Tree, for she only needed my blood. And that I gave her. Enough to make me feel drained, because that was exactly what I was.

Exhausted, pushing my body to its limit.

But the result was more than worth it. Sapsie was close to the Unblemished-rank. Her traits grew considerably, and so did our bond. Our soulshare reached the 1st Stage and was rapidly growing firmer. If it continued to grow this quickly, it wouldn’t surprise me if we reached the 2nd Stage by the time Sapsie reached the Guardian-rank.

Unfortunately, Sapsie’s soulshare made me impatient because its rapid growth stood in stark contrast to my bond with Cosmos, which did not grow nearly as fast. Daniel and the others would certainly hate me for thinking that way, but I wished Cosmo’s bond would grow even faster, even though it was already closing in on the 1st Stage less than two months into the bonding.

It was a luxury problem. I’d been spoiled rotten by my Soulkins. I was fully aware of that. Nonetheless, it felt like Cosmo was… different. He didn’t talk to me, even though his mind empowered me decently. He should be able to communicate with me, yet he only did so with images and emotions.

Calm down, will you? I cursed myself. Cosmos could probably sense my impatience, which only put the poor beast in a more precarious situation.

He was pressured to overperform, thus leading to failure–if one could call that failure in the first place. It was not like all Soulkins could communicate with their Blessed using words. Most relied on images and emotions.

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“Scott’s back,” Daniel called out from the makeshift camp.

Lea emerged from the nearby bushes, bathed in sweat. Her hair clung wet to her face, her limbs trembled violently, and her chest heaved heavily. If that didn’t make it clear enough, the presence surrounding her certainly did; Lea had been training like a madwoman for the last few weeks. Her performance against the Spawns and the Fiend crushed her at first. Then she turned her failure into fuel. The result was a woman obsessed with training.

Even I didn’t train as much.

But you would have if you could.

Aureus retorted right away.

I second that.

Volix commented a moment later.

Even if the sacred beasts were not best friends yet, they had one thing in common. They loved to team up against me.

“I don’t train that much,” I complained, but even cute, little Sapsie was against me.

Training here~ Training there~ You train all the time! When you don’t train, you play with us. That is nice. I would love to play more with you. But you don’t play a lot with us! Bad!!

Sapsie laughed jovially, yet I could sense a trace of sincerity in her voice. Her bond only confirmed my suspicion.

You want me to spend more time with you? But I’m already putting aside a lot of time for all of you.

Not enough! Want more~ Playtime and… while you’re at it… blood as well. Hehe~

She chuckled, smacking her lips.

Putting the part about wanting more blood aside, I considered her words. Then I returned to the camp where Scott was already waiting for us, his shit-eating grin said more than a thousand words could.

“Congratulations!” I exclaimed and walked up to my friend to pull him into a tight hug. “I am so happy for you!”

My heart was in the embrace. Scott had been through a lot. He deserved this more than anyone.

“Thank you.” Scott reciprocated the embrace in kind. A moment later, the divination beast emerged in our camp. It turned to me when Scott released me from the hug and lowered its head.

“Why is it doing that?” Daniel was the first to ask what we all wondered.

Scott’s eyes sparkled as he turned to his newest Soulkin. It looked up and met its Blessed’s eyes.

“That’s odd,” Scott muttered before falling silent again for the better part of the next five minutes.

“The bond is still a little bit wonky, but I think she’s showing her respect to you.” He cocked his head to the side. “…I think?”

His eyes turned milky-white next. The sight was familiar, if not for the silver streaks flashing through Scott’s eyes. They looked like shooting stars and pulled at my attention.

“Is that what you meant, my friend?” Scott muttered, his palm pressed against the divination beast’s head. The Unicorn’s horn shimmered and pulsed with energy that gave birth to more shooting stars. “I understand. How curious.”

I didn’t think it was possible for his smile to grow even wider, but it did. He muttered incomprehensible sentences to himself for several minutes, our presence forgotten. Then, the smile cracked. It slipped and was replaced by a scowl. Then Scott paled and spun toward Lea.

“Don’t join the Strikers!” he whisper-shouted at the young woman.

“What?” Lea’s eyes widened. “How did you know I was going to join the Strikers? I haven’t told anyone.”

“Don’t join them. If you really want to help the other Bastions, become an independent contractor.” Scott said all while ether poured out of him in quantities I didn’t even know he possessed. Sure, his World was massive, but the stream of ether coming from him was colossal.

Daniel listened intently. His eyes narrowed and he walked up to Lea. They exchanged heated words that rang muffled in my ears as Scott turned to me. The moment our eyes met, even more ether rushed out of him. It disappeared, consumed by none other than Scott, his lips parted for a warning.

Or so I thought.

“Did you know that Raffael has only one Monarch beast? Even after spending centuries at his current Rank, Raffael failed to bind a second Monarch.” Scott smiled at me, forced–surreal.

The news was not particularly surprising. As far as I remembered, not many Rulers had multiple Monarchs. There weren’t all that many Monarch beasts for Rulers to bind in the first place.

Scott’s news was not exactly new to me. It wasn’t particularly interesting either. If anything, Lea’s news was far more interesting.

Why would she want to join Raffael Torch’s team?!

“Raffael Torch spent centuries nurturing his World for an Emperor beast. He was ready to expel his most loyal Soulkin to bind the phoenix.” Scott’s eyes flashed silver. Blood trickled from the corner of his eyes, dark and viscous. “An old Overlord beast that had been with young Raffael from a young age.” He shook his head. “A World of fire, broken, unable to hold more than two Soulkins. Two beasts, one old, one–”

“A dragon,” Lea interrupted in frustration. “A fucking dragon! Everyone knows that the Ruler of Fire has a Magma Dragon as Soulkin. What are you trying to get at in the first place?” She spun around to her brother. “Why’s he acting like that? Don’t tell me you made friends with a crazy hoodlum?!”

That…

“Lea?” I called out, not quite sure what Daniel’s sister was getting at.

“Yes?” She snapped at me.

“You know that Scott has a divination trait, right? That’s the whole reason we were here. To help Scott bind his second divination beast.” I pointed at the literal divination beast standing beside our friend.

“Right, I know that. But why is he exposing my secret plan? He has no right to tell me what to do and what not–” The color in Lea’s face drained as quickly as it shot to her cheeks.

“He…” She turned to Scott. “Why again did you say that I shouldn’t join the Strikers?”

The shooting stars flashing through Scott’s eyes were the first to recede. The milky-white hue followed next.

“Because you are going to die, otherwise,” Scott said, his eyes rolling up until only the white was visible. “Swallowed whole by the Ruler who will bring ruin to humanity.”

As soon as the last word rolled from his tongue, he collapsed to the ground.