"Nessa, yeah, yeah, that's right! I will keep her, she will be much more satisfied with my bed, don't you worry. Perhaps I'll plant another seed in her. She may give a good harvest yet. I remember her flavor being quite lovely. I apologize if she felt more spacious lately; recently, we've been into four-on-one, hahaha…
"Well, I suppose for you it no longer matters…"
"An… ANOTHER?! YOU DIRTY BALD MOTHER.." Vera's heart felt like dead ashes as he roared.
How many of his sons belonged to one of these men? How terrible was this? But before Vera could finish his curse, the centipede's mouth became six feet wider as it bit off Vera's top half. Blood and guts drenched the other two cloaked figures.
The centipede then crushed his remains into chunks of flying meat. Basalt's face remained unaffected as if he had never known a Vera Barong. He didn't even glance at the two shivering figures in black cloaks.
"As for you, you damn idiots, listen clearly," As Lord Basalt spoke, he took out a serene sound stone and used neon force to send a message to his subordinates.
According to Basalt's earlier words, they swiftly set out to eradicate Vera Barong's family. The White Demon may be many things, but he always stood by his words.
Basalt looked down at the two trembling figures, whom he considered ants beneath himself, and spat in disdain before continuing to speak, "The demi-god beast kings of the Badlands have an unspoken agreement with that bastard old sky wolf. There are no Tricksters from this area that would dare attack the Lord of House Trillwolf, and this is a fact that he knows himself!
"However, it's true that ruthless Sage assassins are too variable for this situation. A Heaven's Master level Saint must do it, or you will fail, which means I will fail. Which means you and everyone you have ever loved will die in misery."
Basalt waved his arm, and a purple gust of force tossed the two figures in black, tumbling over each other and out of the main hall. As the main hall doors closed, they only saw Basalt's evil purple eyes as his voice traveled next to their ears. "Failure is the same path as death. Remember this, and walk carefully with each step. Mark my words. Osiris. Trillwolf. Must. Die!"
The two figures in black cloaks exchanged looks with each other before they each crushed a crystal that teleported them away.
As the doors closed, a wide grin appeared on Basalt's face. "Soon, my Lady Niagra, soon. Soon, I will taste your wonderful flavor again, and our Oblivion God Cult will enter a new era. That punk brat you have laid with will die at my hands! You may have fallen, but I will help you rise. Let's see who that old monster will put his faith in at that time, hahaha..."
"My liege, it has been confirmed," said the elder to the right of Basalt.
His voice was dry and aged, like crumpling paper beneath a boot tip. It had a sandpaper effect on the skin, dragging flesh across the bones.
"Excellent! I want him to suffer and suffer over and over again!" Basalt had a manic look as he looked at the man to his right, "Speaking of Enora… it seems I need new insurance. Altis, fetch her for this seat. Here."
Basalt tossed over a pink-black medallion, which the elder seated to his right called Altis caught dutifully.
"Make sure to deliver that to your seed. He will be a cove member in the future," he said easily.
"Yes, my liege," replied Altis obediently.
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— Saint Anubis City, Magus District - House Trillwolf
At the same time, in a large and beautiful courtyard, a little boy and little girl spoke freely as they sat next to a pond full of milky white water, watching two mid-sized fish play. One fish was black with a white runic pattern on its sides, while the other was the opposite of this, white with a black runic pattern on its side.
These were magical beasts named neodawn fish, and Jody had caught them when his mother and third mother took Kamila and himself out on a picnic at Lake Nicaea. At the time, Jody asked his mom if he could fish in the lake, which had tickled Lady Isis. She assumed that her son learned about fishing from one of the servants. She knew very well how inquisitive and insistent this observant pup of hers could be.
Thus, she condensed a blade made up of a teal energy and cut out a rod from one of the nearby trees.
She created an item from her energy!
His mom even gave him good bait along with the rod! Jody was stunned. Even more stunning was his mind's eye allowed him to perceive worldly energies even when passive.
However, to Isis' shock, the boy was a genuine fishing prodigy. If he were born in a small village, he would be acknowledged as the reincarnation of their fishing god.
The first thing he caught was a mid-sized neon fish! This was more than good luck, as neon fish were known to only appear for legendary warriors blessed by serene force and possessing a significant destiny. This was a good omen! Even crazier was that this neon fish had a mate already but was still willing to be caught!
This caused its mate, the mid-sized dawn fish, to swim towards the shore of its own accord. These two fish, once paired, could not stand to be too far away from each other. Once paired together, they also released an extraordinary kind of resonance. Usually, the mate would attack anyone who dared to hook one of these fish. Yet, the neon fish practically delivered itself to Jody!
Isis didn't know what to say.
However, Jody didn't know about any of this. To him, they were merely beautiful trophies for him and his older sister to enjoy! He always felt his spirit power increasing when he sat next to this little pond, though he hadn't overthought about that. There were many places in the estate where this happened, and this pond just so happened to be his favorite of such locations.
Of course, as someone who frequents this relaxing spot, Jody was somewhat aware of the change the fish caused. Other areas felt a little cramped with energy. However, the energy near this pond felt natural yet potent.
"This princess once had a dream about us being fishies. We were two neon and dawn fishies, too." Kamila had her long, wavy, and epically black hair hanging loose as she dipped her little toes in the pond. Every time her foot touched the water, she would shiver, like she just got shocked. Yet, and still, she would instantly repeat her actions.
"As in, we were both fish in your dream?" Jody sat in all gold garments with a gold-linked wolf tooth necklace around his neck.
By wearing this necklace, the ambient Origin Energy around Jody continuously surged towards him. He had long since become accustomed to this, as his father had gifted this necklace months ago. While Kamila told her stories, Jody was busy running battle simulations in his mind.
He wanted to imagine how he would fight a powerful magician like his father or a mighty Titan like his master, T'Zhané. Unfortunately, he would constantly be trounced into nothing. He simply couldn't imagine how to survive against such monsters.
Thus, he gave up. At this time, on the battle stage within his mind, an American-style boxer was fighting against a Thai-style martial artist. The clash was rather intense, and Jody had yet to see the outcome. As a result, his focus was waning, but he didn't forget to divert a proper amount of his attention to entertaining his darling sister.
"Yes!" said Kamila, who was suddenly in Jody's face, staring into his pretty blue eyes. "Well, no. Milly was a fish. Little Joe Joe was a fish but suddenly became a water snake and swam away! But you're mine, so this princess chased after little Joe."
"A snake? Me?" asked Jody with a puzzled expression.
Why would he suddenly turn into a snake? Milly's imagination was getting weirder again.
"Yes! Milly became a snake, too. Oh, oh, then, and then, we got bigger and bigger, then you grew horns, and then this princess grew a horn too. Until one day, you went vroosh and jumped over the waterfall, but you never came back. So this princess just chased after you and tried to jump over the waterfall too, but Milly couldn't do it," Kamila was very animated as she used her hands to describe the scene.
But a koi became a snake that jumped over a waterfall?
'It's almost like the snake that jumped over the dragon gate to become a flood dragon, right? Or was that a fish, too?' Jody couldn't help but be reminded of an old Chinese legend as he listened to his sister's latest dream rant.
"Until one day, after trying several times, Milly finally did it! It was beautiful up there, little brother. But~~, before this princess could find my little brother, she got a head pain and woke up." Kamila was rubbing her little head as if reminiscing over the pain.
The antics of this older sister of his rather tickled Jody. Also, the hidden philosophy in her dreams scared him a little. Were these mere dreams? Such a strange land suggested otherwise, but since he was somewhat powerless and rather ignorant, he put it in the back of his mind. Despite his intelligence, who would take a brat's concerns seriously? In his own words, Jody was the most hip to his current circumstances.
Nonetheless, Jody's days would typically pass like this. During the day, he and his sister accompanied either his own mother, Isis, or Kamila's mother, Omotolani. Then, after dinner in the evening, he would return to his bedroom to train. Josiah Trillwolf had been immersed in formulating his spirit every night for several months. It was almost time. He would soon be breaking through to become...a wimpy man.
Honestly, Jody was still a bit dejected by the title of this first stage. He pretty much repelled his pride, reminding him that he was seen as weak even after stepping onto the path. He would have to walk further to get stronger.
Every night of the first month of skin-refining was nearly as painful as the first night. After that, it gradually became less strenuous. Until three months later, when it became downright comfortable. He loved how it felt when these energies came in contact with him now. It was so pleasing!