"Alright, I will try to summon you into the beast space. Are you ready?" Zuriel asked, meeting Stormshell's gaze.
Stormshell nodded.
Zuriel took a deep breath and exhaled, thinking about the instinctual pulling sensation he had felt when thinking about his beast space and Stormshells' shared connection with him.
Suddenly, Stormfall's body scattered into countless specks of light that vanished into him. Zuriel closed his eyes, feeling his body being drawn inward. The sensation frightened Zuriel, but he remained calm.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed, and Zuriel felt a cold breeze brush against his cheeks. Opening his eyes, he stood before an azure blue water spring. A mix of fertile grasslands, dense tall palm trees, and rocky outcrops surrounded the spring, creating diverse habitats for his beasts.
Some areas of the terrain were slightly elevated, resulting in natural hillocks and valleys that provided varied environmental conditions.
Zuriel pressed his right hand against his throbbing head as information about the 8-star-ranked Blue Spring Oasis flooded his mind.
The Blue Spring Oasis beast space was a vibrant, semi-tropical environment that resembled a fertile desert sanctuary. It had lush greenery, crystal-clear water bodies, rolling sand dunes, and rocky outcroppings.
A perpetual azure glow emanated from the central spring—the heart of the oasis—known as the blue spring, which was about fifty meters in diameter. The oasis spanned around 20 arcs of land, approximately 81,000 square meters, providing ample space for his beasts.
The beast space particularly supports beast types of Water, Earth, and Nature, amplifying their growth rate by approximately 25%, faster than outside or in their natural environment. They also gained additional boosts according to their affinity when training. The ecosystem was tailored explicitly for them.
Unfortunately, a beastmaster's beast space didn't expand or grow as they became stronger. The type of beast space a beastmaster awakened, along with its capacity, is a fundamental criterion that determines their limitations and potential for growth in the future.
With poor talent and a low-ranking beast space, a beastmaster's fate was essentially sealed for life. Of course, the author hinted at a way to enhance one's beast space. But Zuriel couldn't quite remember the details since the main character had only encountered a character who casually mentioned it, as he had no use for such information given his talent.
Zuriel couldn't recall all the events in a novel he had read merely to pass the time.
Nevertheless, the beauty and functionality of the Blue Spring Oasis made Zuriel understand why the Zahara household had spent a lot of resources on his beast space awakening. It was one of the most coveted beast spaces among beastmasters with C-ranked talents.
Now that it had improved to an 8-star beast space, equivalent to possessing the beast space of a beastmaster with B-ranked talent, its value had skyrocketed even more.
Sensing movement within the bushes, Zuriel quickly turned his head to the side, his body tense with anticipation. Stormshell leapt out from the foliage and rushed towards Zuriel, prompting a sigh of relief from him.
This was a new experience, and he still needed time to adjust to having a mythical tortoise as a pet.
"You scared me," Zuriel said, picking up Stormshell and cradling him in his arms.
"Let's try to leave here," Zuriel muttered. He closed his eyes and thought about exiting his beast space.
A bright light flashed around him, and suddenly, he found himself back on his bed. Sensing the stiff movements within his joints as he attempted to move, Zuriel realised that his body had remained outside and unmoving while he was within his beast space.
At the same time, his spiritual body formed from his consciousness, and mana entered his beast space. According to the novel, formidable beastmasters could materialise their spiritual bodies into another beast master's beast space and directly shatter it, crippling the beast master.
At the same time, manifest their beast space in the outside world. Even though the author mentioned this, Zuriel dropped the novel after a certain point. Hence, he had no idea which formidable beast master to look out for. The 'thegreatquill' was too unreliable, so he had to be prepared to adapt and make some changes of his own now that he was also one of the main characters.
"Munch! Munch!" Stormshell spoke.
"Alright, I will send you back," Zuriel said, understanding Stormshell's words. Even though the magical beast was cautious of him initially, after Zuriel gave it a name and took it into his upgraded beast space, it seemed to have forgotten whatever suspicion it had of him.
Zuriel hoped that his encounter with the crewmen would also go smoothly and that no one would think that the first and only child of the Head of the Zahara household was possessed.
As Zuriel prepared to get up from the bed, the door was abruptly pulled open. A man dressed in a fitted double vest over a loose linen shirt and black trousers with a green sash tied around his waist, holding a sheathed blade, stepped into the room, balancing a tray on his hand.
It was the same man he had seen when awoken the first time. His name was Finn Steelheart, Zuriel's first mate and the second in command of the ship.
"Captain, you are awake!" the middle-aged man exclaimed. He briskly dropped the tray on the table and raced towards Zuriel.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, his eyes scanning Zuriel's body from head to toe.
"I'm alright. I'm just suffering from a huge headache and can't remember some things clearly. That's all," Zuriel responded, removing the man's hand from his body.
He swiftly thought of an excuse to justify his actions if they conflicted with Zuriel's character. After all, the story didn't delve too deeply into his personal lifestyle. It only showed the world from his point of view whenever he encountered the main character.
Upon hearing his words, Finn widened his eyes in shock before a look of disbelief emerged. "You lost… your memories... This can't be! Do you... still who I am, captain?" Finn asked, his voice tinged with hesitation, his eyes wavering as he looked at Zuriel.
"Of course, I remember you. You are my first mate, Finn Steelheart," Zuriel responded, grabbing Finn's shoulder. "Even if I lose my memories, I will never forget you and everything you have done for me."
While Zuriel was consumed by his rage, conquering dungeons to gather more resources and endlessly training his beast to have his revenge on one of the main characters, Finn was the one who managed the ship and always located the main character with his subpar navigation skill, no matter where he was or the distance. In simpler terms, he was Zuirel's compass, always leading the cash cow to the main character for slaughter.
Moreover, Finn and all the crew members were sea slaves bound to Zuriel by a contract. Still, even when Finn had the opportunity to take his contract and destroy it after each time Zuriel was beaten close to death by the main character, he didn't do it. Finn chose to wait until the contract was completed before leaving.
While the main character dealt with betrayers and protected loved ones from their enemies, Zuriel had someone who would stay with him through thick and thin. The author may have done this as a plot device to explain why Zuriel always managed to locate the main character and advance the plot. But Zuriel didn't care because the person before him was real.
If his character remained consistent, as in the novel, Finn would be the most loyal right-hand man anyone could wish for.
Finn's eyes widened even more at Zuriel's words. 'Captain… No one has told me such words before..' Finn thought, his heart tightening, unable to believe that the young man, now his master, had such a soft side despite the arrogant and ruthless behaviour he had shown earlier.
His expression softened before becoming enraged as he remembered the person sending the captain into his current state.
"That…" Just as Finn was about to utter a word, Zuriel swiftly spoke.
"How is the prisoner?" He asked, swiftly changing the direction of the conversation.
According to his knowledge, this was the beginning of the plot where the main character had allowed himself to get captured the control of his ship, which his father had procured for him. The main character tricked the hearts of the crewmates against the former Zuriel, promising them freedom and a chance to become powerful beastmasters in exchange for throwing him aboard and gaining control over the ship.
The main character's plan worked, and the former Zuriel and Finn, who refused to terminate his contract, were thrown off the ship and left to survive on their own in the vast expanse of a raging, stormy sea.
Due to Finn's loyalty, the main character was touched and saw the remaining crew left behind on the ship, unfit to follow him.