Two days later.
An exceptionally handsome teenager who looked to be a tall thirteen-year-old was dressed in an exquisitely tailored raiment made of silvery-white fur and steel. He stealthily approached a nearby cave and dashed through the forested mountains with a bag on his back.
Sek Si trailed behind him silently, not very easily matching his pace.
It had already been two months since the day Jody met Sek, and he had already grown accustomed to her unending presence. Sek seemed to have some sort of secret base in his shadow. Unfortunately, Jody's perception was only strong enough to sense its existence, but he couldn't venture inside without her consent. And once inside, it was tough to see outside. This was somehow different from Ke Si's ability, as Jody had no issue seeing through the butler.
"This is the cave. The other beast seems to have gone to the stream already. Same time every day. You've got less than five minutes to get in and get out. Move." Sylvester's indifferent voice rang through Jody's mind.
"Okay, I'm ready," Jody answered Sylvester using telepathy.
He took a deep breath and prepared to dive into the cave.
"You're not seriously going to go through with this, are you? It's suicide," Sek Si stepped in front of Jody and said bluntly.
This was not her first time admonishing this decision. In fact, Jody was not of a different opinion. Sylvester had just been too convincing. But it seemed the more Sly convinced him, the more Sek admonished him. It was almost as if she could hear the former.
Wait.
Jody face palmed himself immediately. He had never even considered that Sek could hear the wolfly princes. After all, Sek also shared a permanent mental link with him. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Merely, why did she pretend that she didn't hear them?
"I have to do this, Sek," Jody explained briefly. "You don't understand. Something was definitely calling to my blood from this place."
Jody was in the Desolate Wilds in the first place to complete a trial arranged by his mother. This was to get him ready for the upcoming Young Wolf Celebration Dinner. This would be the first stage for him to demonstrate his excellence before the entire House. It was definitely a big deal.
The adventure at the Underground Bazaar quickly escalated, resulting in Jody being brought away sooner than scheduled. There was an ambush, and Jody had a chance to witness firsthand how fierce his mother was using saint abilities! When his mother and Ke Si were bringing him back home to House Trillwolf, Jody harassed his mother repeatedly about training him to become stronger.
At first, Isis kept putting the matter off.
She would always find an excuse to change the subject. She was merely delaying the inevitable. Jody relentlessly pursued strength, and Isis had to admit the boy was now of a competent level she should take more seriously. Her newest recruits likely wouldn't last one round with her son.
Furthermore, she could never allow her son to be weaker than his so-called siblings. There were also far more pressing reasons for her to train him diligently. It was just that Isis also wanted to coddle her son longer for those very same reasons. How long would these blissful days last? Was it wrong to want to indulge in her time as a mother?
Unfortunately, her boy was simply not one to be pampered.
Thus, Jody's mother gave him a trial in the Desolate Wilds. His first task: collect serenity crystals! This was by no means an easy thing to do. Serenity crystals were only produced in areas of extremely dense, serene energy, also known as neon or yin force. These areas were typically also filled with the corrosive powers of death and ruin. Luckily, the Eastern Badlands had plenty of such regions. However, whether this was good or bad luck was a matter of perspective.
Even though Jody had been left to wonder on his own, he was forbidden from going into the dangerous areas where the more powerful factions and vicious beasts resided. However, who was Jody, if not a rebel? He frequently sneaked into these areas anyway, as he was just too curious.
In fact, it didn't even take a full day for him to disobey that order directly.
Still, despite his various treasure herbs, Jody had yet to collect a single serenity crystal. His mother would only train him if he presented her with a serenity crystal by nightfall tonight! He has run out of time. Thus, Jody had other goals and concerns. He didn't feel he had time to remember some underworld girl or pursue this newborn creature.
Had the young sky pup in his host space not been so insistent, Jody would never have taken a risk of this level. The Braveheart Lioness had already nearly killed him. Had Hopper arrived just a second later, the braveheart lioness would have offered him roasted Goldwolf. After that, the Desolate Wing Falcon tried to eat their brains. Jody had already learned his lesson.
The cave before them was the dwelling of a more terrifying beast. Yesterday, after the bird attack, he had stumbled upon the scene of a monster that looked like a flaming lion returning to this cave. The beast had flowing purple hair, seemingly made of pure fire force, for its mane. The feline beast's face was slightly human-like, almost like the face of an attractive woman, and it had a vertical slit on its glabella as if it possessed a third eye that was closed.
.
.
.
Just as Jody was about to high-tail it in another direction, Sylvester's voice rang out in his mind, "Wait, kid. Opportunity is knocking at your door! I sense a weak god-beast aura. If I'm not mistaken, that cave may have an infant god beast! This is an impossible chance that one can only find and not search for. You have no idea how incredible this is. If you can get the newborn to imprint on you, you'll be its closest kin for life!"
Jody had just never heard this puppy so excited.
"Imprint? How would I do that?" asked Jody, excited by the presentation but skeptical of the operation.
"Rather easily. On average, infant god beasts develop sight within the first five years after their birth. At the same time that their eyes first open, they develop a spiritual sense. This is how I can know that the infant beast in that cave has not yet opened its eyes," explained Sylvester patiently.
"Well, we have no hopes of getting it with that big one present," shrugged Jody.
"This is why we wait until it leaves once again," said Sylvester.
.
.
.
Thus, Jody landed feet first in today's situation. Nonetheless, as the whispers of the devil had already tempted him, he might as well dive straight into hell. The legend known as Trill Jody had never been afraid of danger. He had faced many harrowing battles this month. The scars on his arms, chest, legs, and face were evidence. Evidence that was very quickly disappearing due to his outstanding physique. Of course, if he let Sylvester cleanse him with sky fall, those scars would also disappear.
This made getting hurt much less terrifying.
In fact, the old Trill Jody was a world-class thrill seeker. Jody's greatest fear was that life grew too dull one day. He needed excitement! That was why his fear of the Braveheart Lioness made him so angry! If he ran into that beast again, it could taste his divinity of infinity!
Sek Si saw the determination in Jody's eyes and was baffled. This kid may be cute, but who knew he could be so stupid? Just because that rampant sky wolf demanded so? It was just a combat soul! She would absolutely not follow him to her death, and she was tired of his recklessness. She had almost died more times this month than in the last five years combined.
"Well, I'll stay out here. You know, as the lookout. Yeah. You know, just in case you need me to rescue you or call for help. Right? Yeah. Sounds good."
Jody paused and looked back at the Sek Si who had no capabilities that could save him from serious danger. Her shadow avatar's true powers had not yet been awakened, and she was only at the advanced Freshman rank. This was one sub-rank higher than Jody.
At least, as far as Sek knew.
Of course, she was utterly unaware of how strong Jody was currently.
In fact, Jody himself wasn't so sure about that anymore. He had previously failed to calculate the strength of the divinity his labors afforded. He never imagined they would be so dominating. It was like having several comprehensive boosts. Theoretically, he was well aware of his might. However, apart from that first battle of his which was wrapped up in no time, he had yet actually to fight another sage. The few bandits he faced were neither educated nor worthy. And the recent escapades against the beasts of this forest were eye-opening.
After awakening, his battle force had become linked with his rage force. The angrier he became the more his rage force bolstered his energy. These battles made Jody understand that he was much more capable then he previously thought. Of course, this was largely due to the abilities of the Negus and Titan lineages. After all, Jody was only eight but his capabilities were expansive.
With no practical experience, the kid had no way of thoroughly understanding the true limits of his strength. Before, he relied on physical force, while the residents of this world had supernatural powers. He couldn't be sure that there wouldn't be some type of disparity. That was partly why he was so eager to take this trial.
Now that he knew how to utilize his battle force, his astral light had become Jody's second strongest weapon. Mastering his own battle force allowed one to learn how to resonate with the earth to attack the heavens! Jody's overprotective family would typically never let him out to gain experience. Luckily, his mother seemed to be feeling quite rebellious recently. So Jody was going to take advantage while it lasted.
"Fine, you stay here. The glory will exist only for the brave," Jody told Sek while dashing into the cave.
Sek Si was slightly affected by Jody's words and felt weird.
What charisma!
However, she stubbornly remained where she stood, speechlessly staring into the dark as if the darkness could not blind her sight. Once Jody entered the cave, he was surrounded by pitch-black darkness. He couldn't see a thing in this darkness, which was actually quite strange. With his current Sage formula, he should at least maintain some minor visibility.
"The absence of light...or can't light approach? This cold and still air…it must be a serene force!" thought Jody in delight.
After watching his mother's mastery, Jody became increasingly familiar with serenity. Instead of feeling panicked, Jody felt excited as he reflexively entered the high state by activating his mind's eye, and instantly a rock tunnel appeared before his senses. Jody continued down the tunnel. After moving forward for fifteen meters, he found himself in a dimly lit stone cavern the size of a football stadium. This space was full of milky white mist, a testament to the abundant mana permeating the atmosphere of the cave.
To Jody's astonishment, the dim lighting of the cave was coming from dozens of tiny glowing crystals. The crystals looked purple, pink, and silver or blue all at the same time, giving them a mystical allure.
"Serenity crystals!" exclaimed Jody upon walking up to a cave wall. "So tiny! But there are so many of them. Some even have a silver glow instead of blue, amazing. Well, I can't be wasteful..."
However, at this moment, Jody's attention was drawn to a corner of the cave, where his spiritual sense detected movement. He slowly crept in that direction, noticing the purple light became brighter as he approached. Upon turning a corner in the cave, he finally discovered the source of the light.
There was a glittering nest made of large serenity crystals. The crystals shimmered in beautiful pink, golden, and silver lights.
"Neon..." Jody was stunned as he saw the glow.
Neon was serenity at an extreme concentration of purity. Laying in the middle of the neon crystal nest was what looked like a tiny kitten. The kitten had fur that looked like a soft golden blanket and a little tuft of three-colored fire on top of its head, burning in pink, silver, and golden radiance.
"Twilight Sphinx! It's a fucking baby Twilight Sphinx! No fucking way," came Sylvester Tricko's excited voice, "Aren't they extinct? Last seen in the Primordial Era? Don't tell me we are in the bloody primordial era!"
"Less of that, tell me what to do next," berated Jody telepathically, "Hurry, it's definitely been like fifteen minutes."
"Next? What next? Didn't we craft that bag you're carrying? Just take the damn thing! Is there someone here to stop you? Are you afraid of an infant whose eyes have yet even to open?" replied Sylvester indifferently.
Jody felt annoyed. Who would rashly snatch a beast with the word God in its name? Wouldn't that be foolish? Nonetheless, Jody proceeded to do just that.
Meanwhile, Sek's eyes revealed traces of shock as she peered into the cave.
She suddenly felt a strange force wave rush past her and her expression went blank for a couple breaths.
A few seconds later, she heard an enraged roar from a monstrous existence towards the south. Its atmosphere was so massive that rookie sages like them could never assess its power level. Sek instantly paled and was about to rush into the cave but soon stopped in her tracks. A moment later, a silhouette came flying past her from the cave entrance.
The young boy left behind only two words, "Sek, run!!"