Jody started to dash back toward the camp with light steps, hiding his aura with the serenity earring he received from his mother. The Twilight Sphinx kitten, Eureka, was now resting on his head as it had seen Sylvester do. Despite Jody's big movements, Eureka seemed in no danger of falling or swaying. Moreover, Jody could barely feel her up there. Impressed by this, he picked up his running speed by pouring astral light into his legs. He was eager to start training! Before coming to the Desolate Wilds with his mother, he always begged her to teach him how to use serenity force.
Lady Isis had yet to budge because, in her mind, Jody simply wasn't ready as his rank was a bit low. However, after seeing his explosive physical strength and natural mana control, she was forced to re-evaluate this son of hers. She realized Jody was ready, and Isis herself was not. The boy practically begged her to help him, making her feel like a bad mother. Thus, she devised a trial for him to face for her to begin training him.
She had hoped that Jody would become stronger through the trial, and thus she could genuinely take him in as a disciple. Jody was unlike Kamila, who had worshipped Isis since infancy. With her current level of patience combined with Jody's current level of formula, Isis would probably end up killing him by mistake if she attempted to teach him.
Of course, Lady Isis would never actually allow Jody to wander alone in the forest.
He was only eight this year!
Thus, she had given him the serenity earring that bared her brand. Isis had eyes and ears all over, and with the serenity earring, they could easily track Josiah. She even ordered her guards not to help her son unless he was on the verge of being killed. It was inevitable for one to face dangers when on the path to strength. Isis could still recall that two months prior, Jody had been prepared not to take any action at all because he knew he was safe. Had Isis not allowed Sek's shadow barrier to be detected, even she wouldn't know of her son's strength. She didn't want her son getting used to the idea that there would always be someone around to protect him.
Ultimately, he would need to face dangers alone and survive to become stronger. To continue behaving so stubbornly would damage her child's foundation and future achievements. Their camp was situated right on the outskirts of the Desolate Wilds, where the beasts weren't that powerful, and they wouldn't be disturbed. Why shouldn't she let him explore a bit? She was certain the boy wouldn't get in too much trouble out here.
As Jody walked toward the camp, he greeted all the guards he saw. He was about to pick up his pace when he heard some interesting gossip.
"The Limited Apostles have just ransacked another one of our rookie squads," said a Frozen Night squad leader. "They killed every single noble in the squad, and only two humble warriors escaped to survive."
"Those bandits we've been seeing?"
"Audacious!"
"Those damn bastards! They think they can swagger around the dark forest just because their leader is a peak rookie combatant?" said another Frozen Nightguard. "If our mistress goddess discovers this, they won't even exist anymore."
"I heard our Mistress is sending out a team of top rookies to handle the matter."
"Isn't the young master in the Freshmen rank? Maybe he should be sent there for the experience."
"Are you nuts? The mistress goddess would never let the young master do something so dangerous."
"Didn't you hear the reports this month? The young master clearly doesn't know what danger is. He needs to be shown."
"True."
"Indeed."
"He's crazy as hell."
Jody could perceive the black lines on these guards' foreheads when they spoke of him.
Had he really made such a commotion these few weeks he was away? Suddenly, Jody was no longer in a rush to see his mother. He felt like he was being underestimated! So what if he had caused a bit of mayhem earlier? He just wanted to figure out the extent to which he was being guarded and protected.
"These Limited Apostles sure are bold to intrude on the mistress' territory," Sek suddenly appeared from Jody's shadow.
"What dog ass Limited Apostles? Are those the goons that kept jumping me?" Jody wondered aloud.
"Should be. Every time we ran into one, they attacked or tried to capture you," Sek said after a few seconds of thought. "Although I caught you fighting the air more than once. Were you dreaming? Are you a sleep fighter?"
Jody's face felt hot at those words, as he didn't know how to explain. It seemed various strange actions accompanied those gaps in his memory.
"This young master will go clean them up post haste.," the boy harrumphed instead.
"Wait, what?!" Sek Si nearly screamed, appalled. She urged him, "Jody! You can't be serious? Let the First Lady handle it..."
But Jody pulled out his serene sound mirror and injected his mana into it.
A light panel instantly appeared, and Jody entered a specific combination. In an instant, he could hear voices over an open radio channel.
"We have the Limited Apostles location pinpointed. There are two Sophomore Scholars, three Freshman Scholars, and fifteen Force Foundation Saints for a total of twenty rookie-level combatants. Rookie squads A & B will proceed in pincer formation at 1900 hours."
"1900 hours?" thought Jody whimsically. "This is standard military time, so that should be in four hours from now? Let's see just what rookie squads A and B find at that time."
Without another word, Jody dashed through the forest again. Sek frowned but dove into his shadow before it got far. He entered another code in the light panel, and the map on his mirror showed him the precise location of himself and the target. The Limited Apostles camp was only several hundred meters from his current position.
"These things are terribly useful. I wonder who made them?"
If Jody knew that his mother was the one who invented this technology, how shocked would he be? However, it would be a long time before he discovered this. Thirty minutes later, Jody observed a small camp of more than a dozen warriors on a tree branch.
"So, are we going to beat them all up?" asked Xavier via telepathy.
"Beat them? No, we will kill them!" a savage gleam flashed across Jody's eyes.
Sek Si appeared at his side and viewed him suspiciously, thinking, 'Which sky wolf is the young master talking to? Are those really his combat souls?'
"Killing them is a little bad for your boy wonder image, no?" asked Sylvester indifferently.
"Whatever, I'll just act like I thought it was okay after my mom did it. What am I, eight? After all, I've seen her kill more than once," with concerns to his image of being a child, Jody was no longer committed to it.
How could he become an expert if he kept wasting time acting like a kid?
Now was the time for action!
"Fine, just don't use up all your energy on the small fries. Take down the big fish first," cautioned Sylvester indifferently. "Those agents tailing you will likely report your activity soon. You probably have minimal time before they get here! The spoils go to the victor, but once they arrive, it won't be easy to say you're the sole victor!"
"Right!" shouted Jody as he launched himself from the tree branch into the air. The startled Sek Si retreated into one of the tree's shadows. At the peak of his arc, Jody started spiraling into several flips before diving straight down to the northern part of the camp.
Thud.
Jody landed strategically next to a weapons rack. His hand immediately gripped the shaft of a deadly-looking glaive with a six-foot-long pole and a three-foot-long blade. The weapon wasn't heavy at all, as Jody had a natural strength equal to 32.5 BP. He was stronger than most rookie combatants.
"So this is combat gear? All I have to do is pour in my mana, and it will augment my power?" Jody had some knowledge of combat gear, but this was his first time holding one.
All the old war heroes from the novels Lulu used to read used a glaive to slay dozens of enemies in one mighty swing! This seemed like the perfect weapon of mass destruction to Jody. He wondered if he could use blade crystals to enhance the power since it had such a long blade.
He marveled at its lightweight, as he pondered, "I wonder what grade of combat gear this weapon is?"
"Pour your strength into it, and we will find out," responded the nonchalant sky puppy in his head.
"Right," Jody's eyes brightened almost imperceptibly as his silver atmosphere burst out of his body.
The primary force phenomenon formed in the atmosphere above Jody. Five small white light spheres condensed in the void, looking like five stars in a silver sky. At that moment, his serenity earrings shined and hid his aura completely, but he could still personally perceive it.
As Jody poured his strength into the combat glaive, seven more white marbles condensed in the void for a total of twelve. As the momentum from these spheres poured into Jody's body, a layer of mana covered him in a thin film. This was a natural force momentum barrier formed from the heavenly resonance. His current defense was equal to 24 BP. If the power didn't reach this level, it couldn't even reduce Jody's momentum.
"Holy shit! This thing is an A-Grade combat gear?" Jody's eyes were wide with shock.
What a big windfall! A-grade combat gear could boost force strength by up to 45%! This particular weapon raised his power level by 40%. If Jody had mastered the secrets of astral light and blacksmithing like the ancient Titan T'Zhanè, he would have been able to double the efficacy of his weapons. This meant that his combat gear would actually boost his strength by 80% instead of 40%. That would be the strength of a C-Grade mortal armament, one tier above combat gear. Jody made a mental note to study Jupiter Titan's memories more thoroughly in the future.
He needed that skill!
'Sky Status.'
.
.
.
[Sky Status]
[Imp: Reporting celestial law status report.]
'Origin - Truth 0 - 25/1000 stars, 85 crystals.'
'Astral - Truth 0 - 1/1000 stars, 7 crystals.'
'Twilight - Truth 0 - 525/1000 stars, 1,128 crystals.'
'Death- Truth 0 - 99/1000 stars, 13 crystals.'
'Fate - Truth 0 - 1,500/1,000 stars.'
'Rage - Truth 0 - 20/1000 stars, 17 crystals.'
'Poison - Truth 0 - 5/1000 stars, 55 crystals.'
'Blade Crystals - 333'
'Dark Crystals - 30'
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.
.
'Merge 100 Blade Crystals!' Jody commanded immediately, noticing that there was no 'Blade Truth,' just blade crystals. Did this mean that only forces he had stars for could be considered truths? If so, why was that?
He couldn't experiment like this, not without conducting another one first.
.
.
.
[Imp: Command Received. Executing. Completed.]
[Imp: Reporting celestial law status report.]
'Origin - Truth 0 - 25/1000 stars, 85 crystals.'
'Astral - Truth 0 - 1/1000 stars, 9 crystals.'
'Twilight - Truth 0 - 525/1000 stars, 1,129 crystals.'
'Death - Truth 0 - 99/1000 stars, 13 crystals.'
'Fate - Truth 0 - 1,500/1,000 stars.'
'Rage - Truth 0 - 20/1000 stars, 17 crystals.'
'Poison - Truth 0 - 5/1000 stars, 55 crystals.'
'Blade - Truth 0 - 1/500, 233 crystals'
'Dark Crystals - 30'
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