"Ughh"
Aeron woke up and felt his body was very heavy, he looked around dizzily and saw the giant snake lying motionless around him, as well as Arthur lying unconscious a distance away from him.
"Arthur?"
Aeron was still in a daze, but he could feel Arthur's soul was in the verge of collapsing. He suddenly felt a surge in soul strength, this phenomenon had confused him even further as he had just released the soul sublimation earlier to defeat the Golden Eyed Snake, but it was happening again.
"This means.."
Aeron said out loud as he looked at the Golden Eyed Snake, it was laying in the ground, but Aeron could still see some movements, he felt around and detected another soul connection within his body. One way or another he had tamed the Golden Eyed Snake, which should've made him ecstatic but seeing that Arthur's soul was breaking down doused his mood with cold water.
"What should I do now"
Aeron could feel his soul strengthening again, he knew Arthur could revive if he ever died, but that was under the premise that the soul was retrieved, he also didn't like the idea of his pet dying. But amidst his thinking.
"AAAaaahhh!!"
A sudden surge of pain assailed Aeron's whole body, he couldn't feel it before but now that he was outside the soul battlefield, he finally felt how his body could not handle a stronger soul. The heaviness that he felt on his body, was the result of his soul sublimation earlier, luckily, he used it on the Golden Eyed Snake's soul, otherwise he would've died from imploding.
'Maybe this should work'
Aeron endured the pain as he continued to think, he unsummoned Arthur then used the [Nurture] skill on it, Aeron could feel that there were changes within Arthur's body but its soul was still collapsing.
'Concentrate'
Aeron endured the continuous pain as he felt his body reach its limit, he started to direct the surging soul power towards Arthur by using the [Nurture] skill, slowly, he could feel Arthur's soul gradually stabilizing. After an hour of doing so Aeron felt Arthur's soul fully stabilize, but the problem was that his soul still kept on surging, he started directing the soul power towards the silver wolves. The pain started to recede, but he still had yet to spend the excess soul power, so he unsummoned the silver monkeys and the black monkeys, he slowly strengthened their souls, this included Ursa as well.
"Hooo"
Aeron was relieved as he felt his soul stabilize, he didn't know if there were any repercussions in using such method as there was no mention about it in his memories. Normally there would be a consequence in doing so, but Aeron had his [Level Up (Anomalous)] skill which consolidated his soul state. If it wasn't so, then Aeron might have faced a more severe side-effect other than exhaustion.
"That.. should be…. it"
After Aeron did what he had to do, the burden weighing in his mind was finally lifted as he blacked out.
In the Governor's office.
"Just because of their family dispute, they risked the safety of a pioneer city!"
The Governor stated angrily. He had never thought that something like a family feud would jeopardize his situation, of course that family was not something he could go against, but there were also other ways to get his revenge.
"I do not know why THAT should not be told to others, but their silence is causing the deterioration of humanity instead"
The governor said with a sigh, there were things that he could not say, he also didn't want to disturb those people as he knew what was at risk. Thus, he could only opt for a more humane revenge
"Lord Governor, are we really going to give up on this city?"
A man in green robe asked, the Governor had given a lot into building the city, of course there were many risks in doing so, but the most frustrating thing was that they could do nothing against those people as it was not their territory.
"Sigh, better now than later"
The governor answered, even if he stayed, he still had to give this place up later. The wolf king has escaped, if a Transcendant were to hold power in the city then it would be doomed in future, but if there were no Transcendant in the city, then they might have a chance to survive. Endure enough so the wolf king sets his sight towards a more practical location.
"Then should we start to find another location after this Lord Governor"
The green robed man asked, he knew the importance of a territory to a Transcendant as he had already been told about it.
"No, let us rest first, we've worked hard enough"
The governor said, in truth there were other ways to acquire territory in a more secretive way, but the importance of a city was towards the benefit of the people. Being able to establish a city would become a big contribution towards humanity, but the governor also knew about another information.
"Ignorance is truly a bliss; they can play their games however they like"
The governor said with a sigh.
"Gather up those who want to leave the city with us, we'll escort them till the City of Isa, I might as well visit that friend of mine, is there any news about the girl?"
The governor asked the green robed man.
"Unfortunately, none lord governor, she seems to have gone deeper inside the Endless Forest, the Sky Stage Professionals can't go deeper as they'll be branded as intruders, and we also can't send those who are in the Mortal and Earth Stages because they will surely die"
The green robed man said, he didn't want to imply that the girl might be dead but he also didn't want to lie as he knew who the girl was, and since that person hadn't charged inside the Endless Forest then she was probably still alive.
"Sigh, his daughter has the same temper as his wife, how about that young man?"
The governor thought before asking about another person.
"The young man is the child of the Ironbull Family, but it seems his talent is subpar as a Tamer and went here to speed his leveling, although there is something more interesting about him"
The green robe said, he had been tasked by the governor after the governor knew that there was someone asking about a young woman exiting the Endless Forest.
"Ohh, what is it?"
The governor asked curiously, the green robed man would not mention the word interesting so lightly.
"He is the child of that famous couple in the Ironbull Family"
The green robed man said.
"He is? It seems I'll be missing some interesting events here after I leave, those people could have never birthed a subpar person, haha they might even be planning on going here instead, maybe I'll also visit that stubborn bull when I get the time"
The governor said as laughed, he would never carry a grudge as it would only cause him negative emotions, though that was not to say he would forget.
"There's also something you missed Titus"
The governor said.
"What might that be lord governor?"
Titus the green robed man replied respectfully.
"Even that old bone gave him a task concerning his daughter, do you really think he's subpar?"
The governor said while driving a point.
"That is not something I can judge lord governor, but it is also a fact that his Affinity is Grade-4"
Titus answered.
"Hahaha, remember this Titus, affinity is never relevant towards Tamer, the only thing that is important when judging a Tamer is his pets, and stop being so stiff"
The governor said as he tapped Titus's shoulder.
"You're so talented but you're too boring hahaha"
The governor added
"Yes, lord governor"
Titus replied respectfully.
'Titus's talent was something to be envied but his personality was as stiff as a board'
The governor thought as he shook his head in irony and amusement.
"Oh right, give this to the young lion, tell him to crush this stone when the time comes"
The governor said as he gave Titus a mana stone, but the mana stone had some sort of unreadable word inside it. This was a rune carved mana stone; runes were very hard to imbue thus there were only a small amount of them known to mankind.
"Yes, lord governor"
Titus said as he turned around and left the building.
"Eva, did you see something?"
The governor asked his contract beast. The giant eyeball suddenly transformed, but all the governor could see in it was a dark fog.
"Ohhh, interesting, really interesting, but is it a good thing or a bad thing? right Eva?"
The governor said, as a small white fox appeared on his shoulder. This was the true form of the Memory Eye. They would only ever show this form to their most trusted person.
"Young master, someone from the Governor's Office asked to see you"
Alexis said.
"Oh, who is it?"
Gerard asked.
"Someone named Titus"
Alexis answered.
"Oh that Titus? Hahah I got to meet him then!"
Gerard said happily, there were only a small amount of people who could match his talent, and this person was one of them. He excitedly made his way towards the gates.
"Titus! My friend!"
Gerard said shamelessly as he closed in with a hug. But before he could go near, he was stopped midway.
'Ohh'
Gerard thought as he exerted a bit more strength.
Boom!
There was suddenly an explosion which alerted the people around them. There was a transparent dome surrounding Titus, as a small crater formed between them.
"I don't remember meeting you before nor are we friends, the lord governor had told me to give you this, the lord governor said to crush it when the time comes"
Titus said courteously, a mana stone floated towards Gerard, as Titus bowed and started to leave.
"Give my thanks to the governor then"
Gerard said as he smiled, he had truly met someone talented, but their small confrontation was not enough to judge.
"I don't usually believe in rumors, but it seems there is a truth to what they say, young lion"
Titus suddenly stopped and talked. He didn't turn around but vanished into thin air. Gerard clenched his fist as he heard the words.
Crackle
Gerard unclenched it after a few seconds, his smiling face appeared again but there was some sort of malevolence hidden within his aura.
"This Titus is really someone special"
Gerard said as he placed the mana stone in his pocket and walked back inside.
Aeron woke up after a few days, he looked around him in daze, it seemed like he had been carried to his temporary base. Beside him stood a golden monkey who was about 2 meters tall, its muscles were pronounced as it stood vigilantly like a guard.
"Arthur?"
Aeron asked as he was still a bit confused with the situation.
"Master!"
Arthur said as he kneeled on one foot.
Thud
Aeron could feel the power behind that kneel, Arthur was probably unaccustomed towards his new strength. Aeron was actually weirded out a bit, he could hear Arthur talking like a monkey but he could weirdly understand it.
"How long was I asleep?"
Aeron asked, although he felt a bit sleepy still, overall, he felt his body was fine.
"3 bright suns and 3 dark suns have passed Master"
Arthur explained. This was how Aeron taught Arthur how to count the days. This was actually a weird thing about Gaia, there were a number of suns rotating around Gaia, the bright sun would be day, and the dark sun would be night. It was very weird actually, but this was according to the God Stage Professionals, there was even a theory that Gaia was like a huge floating island, but Gaia was too big that whether it was true or not, didn't matter much to humanity. But to Aeron, he just thought of the dark suns as moons.
"3 days huh"
Aeron said, he looked around and there were only brown monkeys around.
"How did you get out of the pet space Arthur?"
Aeron asked, he didn't remember summoning Arthur when he went unconscious.
"Master summoned me while asleep, pet space cannot accommodate me for long, also I apologize master as I spent all the mana stone when you were asleep"
Arthur replied, he had also raised something Aeron had forgotten, or rather didn't know about. The pet space was based on his soul capacity, he was probably sucked dry when Arthur who was currently a High-Grade Beast stayed inside his pet space, Aeron was after all currently only level 3. Although his soul became about twice bigger than a normal Mid-Grade Beast soul, probably because of the two soul sublimations he had undergone, it was not yet enough to carry Arthur who had a soul about 5 times more powerful than his. Arthur probably meant he put the mana stones on his hands while he was asleep to replenish the mana he had lost.
"Where's the Golden Eyed Snake? Also, where's Alexander and the egg?"
Aeron suddenly remembered. The Golden Eyed Snake was probably angry about the events that transpired and he had yet to know what to do with the egg, does he hatch and tame it? Or does he just release it as what the Grey Eagle mother would've hoped for.
"Giant Snake attacked master! So, I fought it and it went away when it could not hurt me and master"
Arthur said visibly angered, unlike Arthur, the Golden Eyed Snake was not tamed at a young age, it was also probably unconvinced about what happened so it tried to attack Aeron, but because of a certain rule, a tamed beast could not hurt the Tamer. But the Golden Eyed Snake was not a normal pet, its soul was much stronger than Aeron's so if it continued attacking Aeron then it would've killed him from exhausting his soul power. Of course, this type of event would not happen normally, as most Tamers would boast a stronger or equal soul power in comparison to their tamed beast.
The Golden Eyed Snake was also to blame about Aeron's 3 day sleep, as it had exhausted a majority of Aeron's soul power. Luckily for Aeron, Arthur was there to block the Golden Eyed Snake, the same with not being able to hurt its master, a tamed beast would also not be able to hurt another tamed beast intentionally.
"Sigh, It's better this way"
Aeron said, he had no way to make the Golden Eyed Snake listen to him as it was surely angered about what happened, unlike Arthur who was young so it wasn't much of a problem to Arthur when Aeron tamed it, but the Golden Eyed Snake was probably enraged by being tamed. Apparently tamed beast would be able to know its situation when it is tamed. Of course, Aeron could unsummon it but his pet space would probably not last long with a High-Grade Beast inside it, just as what happened to Arthur.
"And the egg?"
Aeron asked, he wanted to check his status plate, but he wanted to know if the egg was fine or not. Of course, it was probably fine, but Aeron still felt anxious about it after he had seen the Grey Eagle die for it.