It was the sixth day since Adrian had left her. Her routine was more or less fixed by now. Wake up, miss Adrian, and then practice. Practice furiously! For hours, she would sit with her eyes closed, cross legged, and try to search inside herself for her beast.
Her sight had improved exponentially, so she could easily imagine entering her own body. But whenever she reached her core, the part where the beast should be lying dormantly, she could find nothing, but darkness.
It was said that the beast's spirit resided in their bodies in different colors. The awakened beast spirits had a lustrous brilliance. For Adrian, his beast spirit was sparkling blue. She had not seen it yet, but thanks to her soul knot, she could feel it. It was cold in essence.
Next time, when she met Adrian, she would try to search for his spirit. Maybe because of her improved senses, she could actually see it? Whenever she thought of his beast spirit, it appeared as an icy blue crystal ball to her.
According to the legend, an ice dragon had blue a blue ord as its beast spirit. The blue would majestically swirl inside the ball, and blinding light should surround it. Arella could not wait to see it with her own eyes, or rather sight. She wanted to confirm if the legend was true or not.
But more than that, she wanted to know what her beast spirit was like. She wanted to search for her own light. Inside her should be a crystal too. And it should be bright. Brimming with energy.
But all inside her was nothing but darkness. Every day, she made a futile attempt to find the light inside her. She did not have a set procedure for finding a way to connect with her beast. There was nobody to guide her. Whatever she was doing, she was doing instinctively.
She knew that in order to connect with her beast, she had to interact with it. Do things that the beast likes and let it out in the beast form. This was normally taught to the beasts. She was a tamer, so she never attended those classes.
But fortunately, she had Devon who shared everything with Anne and her. So, she had a vague understanding of how to connect with the beast. But, by the looks of it, her vague understanding was not enough to create any ripple.
Her beast had not even breathed or stirred at all. It felt like there was no beast inside her. There were moments that would trap Arella in the clutches of self doubt. Sometimes, she was not sure if she had a beast at all.
What if the beast does not want to talk to her? What if she had offended it somehow?
Doubts like rainy clouds would surround her every now and then, but she never stopped her feeble attempts. She could improve her senses, so, she was sure that she could one day connect with her beast too. She had no other option. If she wanted to improve her aptitude, she had to shake her dormant beast up a little bit.
So, that is why, from morning till night, she tried to look inside, waiting for her beast spirit to acknowledge her presence. But the beast spirit never appeared.
She felt dejected, but she still continued.
After lunch, she decided to take a break from connecting with the beast and focused on sharpening her senses. So, in the private grassland, while she was busy checking out the small animals beyond the barrier, suddenly her ears caught a different sensation.
It was the wind swirling sharply. She automatically tilted her head in the direction of the sound. It was coming from above her. The sound was as loud as a typhoon, but above her was nothing but a clear sky. She frantically closed her eyes to activate her senses. The loud sound of wind boomed near her ears.
She knew something was up there. But her eyes were not able to see it. She kept her eyes firmly closed. Her core was thudding at a higher vibration. Whatever it was, it was coming closer and closer to her. And at a very high speed.
She wanted to know what it was! A glint of determination tainted her eyes. She took long breaths to calm herself down and then, she found the source of the booming sound.
In her mind, she could see giant hawk wings. It was flying in circles above her! It was around a dozen miles above her. Each feather of it was sharp like a blade. Its body was bathed in a pure gold like essence.
The flapping of its wings made swift movements that were powerful enough to create a whirlpool!
Then, it looked down, as if it could sense her gaze. After looking at her for a few seconds, it dived straight in her direction!
When it was only ten miles above her, the hazy silhouette became clearer. Now, she could see it in its entirety. But what met her sight, left her speechless. Because she found that it was a human being, with giant Hawk wings protruding from his back!
Baffled, she tried to focus more on the creature. But it was the same sight that had greeted her before. It was indeed a man with wings! Was it a Hawk? No, it was half beast and half human! How, how was that possible? Confusion and terror struggled in her eyes.
No beast clan member was capable of achieving this feat! Only the Beast God could do so! She was panicking. Was it really the Beast God? Or was it something else?
Whatever it was, it was extremely fast! And it was coming straight towards her! She instinctively felt afraid and threatened by its unnatural form. It was an anomaly. But its gaze, speed, and aura were terrifying. She wanted to run! But before she could take a step to run, the creature landed straight near her legs.
She raised her eyes and took the creature's form in. But what appeared in front of her was nothing but a normal Hawk Beast! Soon, the Hawk Beast flew to the nearby forest, and after a minute, a man calmly walked out of the woods.
It was none other than Nicholas! But he was a normal man now. And earlier, only a normal Hawk beast had landed next to her. Then what about the creature she was in the air? What was it?
Were her senses deceiving her? Or could it be Nicholas himself? Was his powers at par with the Beast God? No, no. The Beast God was the most powerful. But Nicholas! How?
Noticing the unfocused eyes of the girl, Nicholas walked in Arella's direction. He was wearing his usual brown feathery cloak and there was nothing unusual with his form.
"How? How! My eyes must have deceived me! Maybe I am exhausted!" Arella muttered frantically.
"Listen to me Arella." Nicholas took a few steps in her direction and wanted to calm her down. She was shivering!
He didn't know that her senses had sharpened to this level! He was just here to inspect her progress. He had been doing so for every day. Her progress with the beast spirit had made no waves, but her senses were sharpening at an astounding rate!
And today, she was able to sense his presence from such a distance! Not only that, she also saw what was invisible to others. He was flying in his half Beast form. This was only visible to those with exceptionally alert senses!
He was both irritated and proud of her! She was truly his jewel! Her senses had reached half of what used to be her normal range and all this without any assistance from her beast! This was simply awe worthy!
But right now, he knew that his beloved jewel was exceptionally terrified. This is what happens when you surrender yourself to the senses. Everything you see, hear, or feel becomes amplified. Her hearing was good, her vision has improved and with it, her sensations have taken a giant leap.
The terror she was feeling at this moment was magnified too. Looking at her shivering small frame, he felt pity. He wanted to console her. So, he moved forward.
"Stand back! Don't, don't move!" Arella was too scared. Right now, she wanted to stay far far away from this anomaly of a beast!
Having a half beast form and half human form meant that he was powerful beyond control! He had tamed his beast spirit! And his beast spirit could yield to his demands! This was something that no ordinary beast clan could achieve!
"You…Who are you?" She muttered under her breath.
She stepped back, but she was trembling furiously! Her legs lost their footing and a sudden darkness enveloped her senses! And then, she slipped into unconsciousness!
But just before losing consciousness, two words silently escaped her mouth.
"Beast God."