After all the affairs of the night, and a few other discussions amidst the Vinia Royal Guard, the Beast Hunters and I; I returned with them to their camp which was only a short distance away. A quick tent was prepared for me... at least I was rest assured of having a place to rest my head.
Thirty minutes later, I was seated cross-legged inside my tent, listening to the peaceful snores from the other tents, and wondering.
I was wondering what this place really was; who these people really were; what I really was!
From the latter conversations with the others, I came to the knowledge that those possessing the same unique constitution as myself were all under the same lineage... yet, I was not a royalty, neither were any distant relatives of mine related to this place in anyway... at least, it's rational to make such a conclusion.
"Could it be that I do not actually possess the Royal Spirit Bloodline?" I muttered under my breath. Shaking my head, I said, "The Mystical Beast of Illusions should know."
I then drove my consciousness into my Arerat Symbol, where the MBI sat gracefully.
"Hey, I have some things to ask you."
"Yes, Young Mistress?"
"Tell me all you know about the Royal Spirit Bloodline."
"I don't know... I thought those folks are a native of this place... how am I supposed to know?"
"Huhn?" my brows furrowed. "You don't know anything about my constitution?"
"I never said that."
'Just what the heck was this!' I was getting pissed already. It seems this fellow is really having its fun.
I sighed slowly, then said softly, "Please tell me all you know. And tell me how come you know about these things."
"Firstly," it began, "I only know about YOUR unique constitution because I live in YOU! And secondly, I was only born a couple of days ago... so don't think you'll be getting much from me."
"Wait... what?"
"You heard me. When your cousin Dorothy created me, that was my day one. Only... you didn't let me enjoy the daylight for long before caging me in this horrible, though spectacularly peaceful, place!"
"I'm sorry," I sincerely said. "You know it wasn't deliberate. So what's your purpose; what abilities do you have?"
It shrugged then said, "All I know is that, I have the ability to cause illusions in all sorts of beasts. If one knowledgeable in thaumaturgy were to use me... they'd probably be unfazed by any sort of beasts, and not need the aid of a beast tamer... ever!"
"So you mean I can only unleash your full potentials by becoming a thaumaturgist?"
"Exactly!"
"Is there no other way?"
"Of course there are other ways... remain a beast tamer and pray you meet other mystical beasts and entrap them in your arerat symbol, where I'll transform them into true essence for you to make consecutive breakthroughs... which I guess you're already an expert in."
It sounded like a nice idea... it's like saying, wait for the day when a banknote falls from the sky... it's feasible right? Where do I damn get mystical beasts in illusionary worlds?! I mean... even the Beast Hunters claimed that they couldn't identify that crimson-eyed mystical tiger... meaning, even here in this illusionary world, it was still really rare!
"What other way?" I asked.
"Be a formation master!"
"Huhn?"
"Formation masters are the second most renowned occupations in the Phantom Dynasty after beast tamers. You should know that right?" it asked.
I nodded. I'd learnt of the same thing before.
"There's one particular formation that is the hardest to learn... and that's the Illusion Formation. Once activated in a particular area, anyone who steps in would fall into illusions and probably meet with their demise..."
"Jeez... no wonder they're that powerful," I said.
"Indeed, it is even said that they possess, also, the ability to create their own worlds."
I then looked down at my fingers, asking, "Does this have anything to do with storage rings?"
"No, not at all. The ability to manipulate space is only a feat that could be carried out by Spirit realm cultivators."
"Spirit realm cultivators?" I was shocked. "Wait, how do you even know all of these?"
It thought for a while, then finally looked at me helplessly, "I really don't know how I know so much... It probably is an innate ability of mine."
I nodded, falling into contemplations.
Pushing the miscellaneous thoughts off my head, I returned my consciousness from my arerat symbol and then opened my eyes once more.
"I have one more day before the test ends. My activities here would definitely affect my scores in the test. I really need to help them find their princess... I have to meet up with the cutoff mark!
"But before then, I have to see if I can push for some breakthroughs... if only I had some cultivation technique manuals with me!"
By absorbing the crimson-eyed tiger, I'm sure that I could make a breakthrough through a whole realm. However, without a suitable cultivation technique to guide me in the way forward at this juncture, it was as good as impossible!
I sighed, once more. Just then, I heard a mighty loud roar over my head. My bones rattled, and instantaneous sweat covered my body. An ancient wind covered the surrounding air, and a chill ran down my spine.
It seemed like I wasn't the only one who noticed this.
"It's finally here, let's take it down!" a familiar voice called out from one of the nearby tents. "Guards, take your position!"
I quickly ran out without the slightest hesitation. It seemed that the others had never been asleep but were only faking it to attract whatever it was that caused that change of atmosphere.
The darkness of the night was extremely thick. The campfire had already burnt off into ashes, leaving thick smokes spiralling into the vast sky.
Raising my head up to the moon, more of an impulse than out of desire, I noticed a big, floating body which temporarily blocked my view of the moon before rotating around our camp, not stopping once.
No one had to tell me what it was. It was more than obvious.
"A dragon."
Almost simultaneously after I said those words, I heard a heavy harrumph from the sky, and a loud order from someone close by, "Archers... shoot!"
Whooshing sounds of arrows soared into the air towards the mighty aerial beast.
Seeing this, the dragon was pissed off, and so did not even bother to dodge the incoming spears. And, unexpectedly, to everyone's surprise, the archers were unable to even leave a scratch on the dragon's body.
Seeing this reaction, they screamed, "Retreat!"
The dragon screwed it eyes, and a cold glint could be seen from the moon's phosphorescence.
As if saying, "It's my turn," the dragon faced those who had shot the arrows and slowly opened it's mouth, advancing closer.
"Guard yourselves from its breath!" They all closed in on themselves and hid behind the shelter of their shields.
I kept watching in disbelief, though thankful that the dragon didn't pick on me... after all, I wasn't part of the take-the-dragon-down folks or something.
Taking some steps backwards, preparing for the effects of the pillars of flames that would pour down from the parted lips of the dragon, I was jigsawed at what next I saw.
Instead of seeing pillars of flames, what descended from the sky was a mountain of frost, totally freezing every single one of them to the ground, and living space for their heads to take in oxygen.
Involuntarily, my lips parted and I muttered, before falling to the ground in fear, "A glacier-dragon? It really exists... so the legends are real?"