Beastforged Bond

The Spawn didn’t get crushed by Aureus. Triggering Lifesight once more, I watched a mass that contained neither life nor ether dissolve. It transformed into a puddle and seeped into the upturned soil.

I fortified the soil with the Earthen Aspect in an attempt to restrain the Spawn, but that didn’t work out. If anything, the creature seemed to grow stronger as my control of the fortified soil faltered and faded. The ether imbued into the soil vanished inside the Spawn as it slithered through the ground, approaching me.

Calling upon Illusion, I created an image of myself exactly where I stood, doing the exact same thing I was doing at that moment. A moment later, leaving enough life-attuned mana to trick the Spawn, I used Blink and teleported away. Immediately after, ink-like spikes burst from the ground, piercing my illusion.

The ground ripped open and a massive maw shot out, devouring the Illusion in one bite.

How do you want to deal with this?

Aureus asked, all while willing the earth around the Spawn to shift. Earthen spikes rose from the ground with little effort, and they shot toward the creature a moment later, piercing through it.

Alas, there was no flesh or bone to harm, for the Spawn was still liquefied, its body more slime than beast.

I would have loved to burn the liquid Spawn and evaporate it, but since that was not feasible, we had to try something else.

Devising a plan with Aureus and my other Soulkins within moments, we got to work.

First things first, I teleported back to the Spawn. My scythe-appendages burst forth and cut through the liquid creature, Nullblade once again active, yet it did little to harm our opponent. But that wasn’t the point. I was the bait. A pretty tasty one once Sapsie released several droplets of nectar from the Pond of Life.

The Spawn screeched and expanded into a massive glob of black liquid. It remained acidic, melting down the scythe-appendages as they carved through its body, but that was fine.

It grew and grew until its massive body towered high above me. Then it crashed down upon me like a breaking tidal wave. Predator, triggered from the start, warned me of the impending death, so I did the only logical thing. I teleported above the Spawn and enjoyed the scene unfurling around me.

How could I not? It was simply impossible to look away, seeing that the piece of land the Spawn covered was no longer connected to the rest of Razarn. A small stretch of upturned soil, no more than fifty square meters, levitated in the air above the farmland.

As for the Spawn, every single droplet of its liquid body rested upon the floating island. It was all together, separated from Razarn, and best of all, the Spawn didn’t even seem to notice. It looked up at me and lunged forward, ready to consume me again.

And it did.

I allowed it to consume me – my Illusion alongside a large amount of nectar.

It was likely a waste, one I might come to regret, but the nectar was necessary to shroud the power of the Insignia I’d gathered all this time.

Leaving the creation of another Illusionary Adam to Tessa and the distortion of space to Cosmo, I squeezed as much of the Insignia’s power into the nectar as possible. Then I disappeared again, leaving a bright emerald mass where my illusion’s chest had been.

Maybe the Spawn noticed that this was yet another Illusion; maybe it didn’t. Clearly, watching the liquid creature’s maw split wide open, it didn’t matter. Why would it, given the sheer amount of life and ether imbued into the Illusion? Driven by instinct rather than highly developed intelligence, the Spawn’s maw snapped shut around my illusion. It swallowed everything whole: ether-illusion, life-attuned nectar, and the power of the Insignia included.

My connection to all three energies disappeared. Ether vanished instantaneously, life took a moment longer, and the power of the Insignia exploded and remained for several seconds. Still, it escaped my control, sending a wave of panic down my spine.

Did we make a mistake? The Spawn just devoured the Insignia’s power! I called out to the Soulkins while the glow of the Insignia’s mark weakened drastically. As weak as it had been before, it was now even weaker.

You are too impatient, Adam. Watch! Sapsie exclaimed, and I infused more ether into my eyes and the Insignia’s Source.

As I did, the connection to its power resurfaced. The Spawn let out a pained screech. Its liquid body collapsed onto the floating island, transforming into a puddle. Several drawn-out seconds that felt like an eternity passed in silence before the bipedal Spawn’s solid body emerged from the puddle. Its hideous face was scrunched up in utter pain, and its head flicked around.

The Spawn’s eyes darted in all directions at every movement, no matter how subtle, before turning back to me. Taking a step forward, I watched the creature take a step back, only to realize that an earthen wall blocked off its retreat. It tried moving to the right but found itself far more restricted than before.

One moment, the sky around us was empty, and in the next, a massive Earthheart whipped through the air. The Spawn turned and released a glob of acidic blood, but it never came close to hitting Aureus. Instead, their eyes met, and they froze. Aureus’ bond flared up, and I felt his ether reserves dropping rapidly. Sensing the cue, ether rolled through the weave, flooding it with tremendous power.

Kicking off the ground, I closed the distance to the target, the enchanted sword resting in my hands.

Nullblade’s greyish sheen shrouded the blade, and the ether circuits engraved across its edges glowed as well. Yet it was the white spark at the tip of the blade that I had to focus on. It drained all the power accumulated within the Insignia’s Source. I had only one shot. If I missed it, defeating the Spawn would grow increasingly difficult. Yet despite understanding the situation, there was no doubt in my heart.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I breathed out, adjusted my stance ever so slightly, and attacked.

The enchanted sword carved through the Spawn effortlessly. It tore through tough hide and dense flesh, leaving behind a faint white mark around the wound’s edges as it ripped the creature’s chest and abdomen wide open.

The Spawn tried to flare up and retaliate, but Aureus’ Paralyze had yet to wear off. It lasted for another moment, which was enough to finish my attack. Nox’s scythe-appendages shot forward and left deep gashes in the already gaping wound. Then, guided more by instinct than anything else, I stepped forward, my hand pressed against the Spawn.

“Rest in peace,” I muttered and released the white spark deposited in the Spawn during the slash.

It erupted and exploded, forcing me to Blink away, yet I barely noticed any of it.

Staring down at the hand that had touched the Spawn, my eyes widened. The World within me rumbled… resonated. A familiar resonance, one I felt with most beasts, signifying our compatibility. That very same resonance came to me the moment I touched the Spawn, sending chills down my spine.

Spirits be damned. Did that really just happen? I wanted to scream out loud, yet no sound passed my lips. Instead, I stood there and stared at the Spawn as it faded away.

No… it was being sucked into the white spark… or so it appeared.

The Spawn’s outermost skin peeled off and faded into the surroundings, whereas its insides were torn and twisted apart as the spark devoured them instead. The grotesque and confusing scene didn’t last long, yet it left me wondering.

Was the Insignia really all that unlike the Devourer’s Spawns? If so… did that mean that the Primal Spirit and the Devourer were more alike than Volca and the other Spirits made them out to be? Did they even know about that?

They had to. Surely, they knew all about the Devourer. But what if they didn’t? Or… what if the Devourer and the Primal Spirit were not all that alike? What would that say about me?

Did I change the Insignia’s power? Was that why my World resonated with the Spawn?

I… didn’t know, but if there was one thing I did know, it was that I could bind the Devourer’s Spawns. And that… that was terrifying.

***

The floating island dropped not long after the fight ended. Gravity reasserted itself, and not even a minute later, the mass of soil that once carried the liquid Spawn crashed back down onto the ground.

Aureus landed far more smoothly on the farmland, yet he still collapsed, his chest heaving in strained effort. I used Blink one last time to reach the ground safely before collapsing beside the Earthheart. Tessa and Cosmo were just as drained as we were, but they sought restoration within the inner World.

We did it.

Aureus mused happily enough.

“Yeah, we did,” I responded between two heavy breaths.

But you are not satisfied. Is it because of what you sensed?

The Earthheart commented, lifting his head with visible effort.

“You sensed that?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

I don’t know what exactly you sensed, but I felt… something before the Spawn died.

Before the Spawn died. That was the crux of it. My World resonated with the Spawn, yet I didn’t know how to explain that to anyone. I could have avoided the topic, but that wouldn’t help anyone, and definitely not those I ought to trust the most. So I told my Soulkins every little bit of what I’d felt.

Aureus didn’t respond right away. His bond retracted and he locked away his emotions, yet I could still see something in his brilliant golden eyes as he looked up at me.

“I don’t know either, buddy. What am I even supposed to think about that? Does my World really want to bind a Spawn?” I asked, half-desperate and half-hopeful that someone would tell me what to do.

Maybe we can be friends with the Spawns? That would be so nice if, and only if, they stop consuming all that life! Maybe we could discipline them?

Sapsie commented, trying to sound as hyper and jovial as usual. Yet her voice was strained.

No kill?

Nox hissed.

“I don’t know, Nox.” I let out a heavy sigh and waited for the others to respond, yet neither Tessa nor Cosmo said anything.

Instead, an unfamiliar voice laced with bloodlust rang out from behind.

“Stop right there, you vile creature!!” the voice hollered, and I turned around to see a bark-covered Caldera with a spear resting in his hand, looking more than ready to thrust it straight into my eye.

Beside him stood a group of Blessed. Three Caldera, a human, and some Outsider races I didn’t know much about. The only thing I knew for sure was that they were ready for battle, their armor engraved with the emblem of Dracos, and that every single one of them was either a Grandmaster or a Ruler.

“Hello…?” I called out, struggling to come up with a better way to greet them. “I’m Adam, and this is not what it looks like. I think?”

Before the bloodthirsty Caldera could say anything, a grey-skinned Caldera appeared beside him and slapped the back of his head.

“Terv, that’s a human,” he sighed and pointedly ignored the bark-covered Caldera’s glowering look. “Just because you sense the absence of the Spirits in this place doesn’t mean you should expect everyone to be contracted by the enemy.”

I had no idea what that meant, but there was something special about the Caldera. In fact, the two Caldera were not the only ones who felt special. There was something about the entire group that made me perk up.

Spiritborne?

Another member of the group stepped forward, a man with the head of a shark and wings that resembled fins, his nose lifted into the air.

“Blood was shed.” His voice rattled in Common.

The other Blessed in the group joined the sharkman, one of whom belonged to a race I had never seen before.

“People died,” he muttered, and it felt as though death itself rolled from his tongue rather than words.

“A human and his Soulkin.” I nodded slowly.

“It looks like you know what happened.” The grey-skinned Caldera’s piercing grey eyes flitted over me. “Speak.”

So I did. I told them everything that had happened, starting from the moment Sapsie told me about the Spawn. Hiding Sapsie’s ability was possible, but I didn’t see a need to lie or omit anything.

“Your Soulkin sensed the absence of life? Must be a strong Life Beast.” The only human Blessed in the group spoke, his voice much calmer and weirdly pleasing to the ear.

“He is not lying? Max?” Terv, the bark-covered Caldera, grumbled. It wasn’t hard to tell that he didn’t believe a single word I said, but his expression changed as soon as the human, Max, spoke up.

“He speaks the truth. This young man here has no ill intentions toward us either,” Max said before turning toward Aureus, lying behind me exhausted. His lips parted twice before he lowered his head. “I greet the sacred beast.”

I barely even saw more than a flash as the Caldera turned simultaneously toward Aureus. Tendrils of ether rippled outward, gently touching the Earthheart, whose eyelids fluttered open. As soon as the Caldera met Aureus’ golden eyes, they dropped to the ground, uttering something I didn’t quite catch.

That’s even more excessive than the Fire Caldera’s reaction, I mused and waited until the Caldera got back up. It did take quite a while, but it didn’t look like this – whatever this was – was going anywhere before that.