Beastforged Bond

B4 Chapter 26

A small creature of the squirrel family floated in the air, making funny sounds as one of the star-like particles surrounding it exploded. The beast’s fur transformed into a galaxy filled with countless stars as it vanished from the spot, only to reappear a meter to the left.Its golden underbelly glowed brilliantly as it reappeared, the starry stripes running along its back dimming ever so slightly. Turning toward me, it let out another fun sound, only to puff up its expandable cheek pouches when I reacted too slowly.

The particles oozing naturally from its starry stripes shimmered again, and one exploded as it teleported right in front of my face. It floated there, squeaked agitatedly, and tapped my nose with its tiny paws.

“Sorry, I was a little distracted. I hope you can forgive me, Cosmo.” I smiled apologetically at the Cosmic Chipmunk, which seemed more than enough to placate him.

Cosmo puffed his cheeks again but quickly forgot about his tantrum when the space around us rippled. He squeaked loudly and exploded in a puff of cosmic power. Again and again.

The young chipmunk was having the time of his life. He dashed smoothly through the air and used his only trait to wrap himself in space, teleporting around while ignoring everything happening around him, be it the seals placed here or the devices used to restrain spatial movement.

Cosmo blinked easily through space, which only grew slightly more difficult when both high-grade seals and ether devices were used together. Even then, the ether devices had to be amped up to their highest level to force the Cosmic Chipmunk to a full stop.

“How curious. Not even the Disruption Seals of the fifth Tier are strong enough. It takes both a Disruption Seal and a Spatial Cage to lock this fella down.” Bert mused.

The Master Beaster stood to the side, his attention shifting from his devices to Cosmo and then back to his screens.

“It takes a lot to block Blink. But the chipmunk can only teleport one meter at a time. More than that seems to be too straining for such a young beast.” Merlin towered near the Master Beaster, his arms crossed. He watched the Cosmic Chipmunk with steely eyes, which Cosmo had learned to ignore.

“Put thick walls around it, and it won’t be able to use Blink,” he added after some thought.

I nodded slowly. “That’s how they kept Cosmo in the Beast Temple. Rather than using expensive equipment, they put him into an underground prison near the Sanctuary. I was never allowed to feed Cosmo, which only makes sense, I guess. Cosmic Chipmunks were either only fed and taken care of from a distance, or they had someone teleport into their habitat.”

The mere thought made me angry. I had always believed the Beast Temple took great care of all its beasts. Worse still, I mostly still thought that way. With one exception.

The Cosmic Chipmunk had been isolated. He was the only one of his kind after his parents had died of loneliness. Loneliness, or the loss of freedom. The exact reason hadn’t been named in the Beast Temple’s official records, though the reporter had made guesses.

Anyway, the Beast Temple made me angry for endangering Cosmo. They should have learned from their mistakes, changed, and improved. At the very least, the authorities should not have captured beasts they couldn’t properly contain. That was the very reason they stopped their foolish attempts at raising fiendish beasts several decades ago. Those efforts had failed miserably and ended in deaths–fiendish beasts hurting themselves as well as their caretakers.

The reason the Beast Temple existed was to provide people with beasts that had been well taken care of. Beasts that would gladly bind with Blessed and Unblessed alike to strengthen their bonds. Cosmo had not been treated that way. Not as far as I could tell, at least.

If not for my World’s perfect compatibility with the Cosmic Chipmunk, and the connection that formed the first time we touched, he would have rejected me.

“Is the one-meter radius Blink’s limit, or do you believe the issue lies with the beast’s body?” Merlin tilted his head, brushing my outburst aside as he turned to Bert.

“Blink is a powerful trait–likely an Elite one, considering the ether cost and its ability to wear off restraints. But something as potent as Blink puts a heavy burden on the body.” The Beaster rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Cosmic Chipmunks do not grow much. The few reports I found also hinted at low physical empowerment. Instead, their minds are highly developed, which suggests a strong focus on their traits. That being said, I’m not even sure if Cosmo has the means to unleash Blink’s full potential as an adult.”

“That only means we have to strengthen his body the physical toll is the only thing blocking Cosmo from using Blink’s full power.” I chimed in, but Merlin shook his head.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Your focus should be on the Elemental Phoenix and your other Soulkins. The Cosmic Chipmunk’s trait won’t change even if you strengthen him. As for mental empowerment, you already gain more than enough from Aureus and the Phoenix. Oh, and that Horror Tesser you picked up. Once it hatches, of course.”

“Why not strengthen all Soulkins? Nullblade has been growing stronger, and so have the Fire and Earthen Aspects. If we nurture Cosmo, Blink will surely evolve.” I retorted, only for my argument to be shut down once more. This time by Bert.

“Blink is already an Elite trait. The Cosmic Chipmunk would have to evolve to upgrade it. And to be honest, even Cosmo’s evolution might not enhance Blink. It would likely unlock another trait instead, though I wouldn’t even know where to begin researching Cosmo’s evolution strands.” He sighed. “If we had a few years, it would be a different matter. But now? The economy is only slowly recovering. The regions have been ransacked, and even the beasts the Outsiders ignored were killed by none other than ourselves when they attacked the Bastion.”

That was true. All of it. Resources were scarcer than ever, and the Council had announced that more refugees would be transported to our Bastion because the Bastion was deemed the safest now that the Outsiders’ hidden encampment had been taken care of. No more Outsiders had been sighted since then, and hunters returned to the wilderness.

They returned empty-handed, not even a Wild ether plant in their pockets.

One had to travel through several Zones and cross no less than two regions to find ecosystems that survived. Traveling back and forth did not carry much risk, considering the Zones and regions in between were void of danger, but moving from A to B took time.

Then there were the movements that had to be taken into consideration. First things first, the only unscathed Zones were Unblemished or Forbidden Zones. Some Evolved Zones survived as well, but the strongest predators pushed the weakest away. A reshuffle was happening, changing all we knew about the beasts and Zones. Everything was changing, and we had to adapt, sending stronger Blessed out into the wild to ensure no accidents would occur.

After all, the Zones were not as permanent as we believed them to be. Unblemished beasts had been sighted in Evolved Zones, and Overlords in Unblemished Zones–if the reports of those who survived could be trusted.

“So you want Cosmos to grow up like a regular beast and that’s it?!” I growled. “It’s the perfect time to feed him serums right now. Pushing his potential past his racial limit is a dozen times easier now than it will be when he’s fully grown.”

Merlin and Bert looked like they had something to say, but I kept going.

“If this is about resources, I have more than enough. Sure, the inheritance is not what it used to be, but I’m not going to crush any of my seven Soulkins’ futures just because the ingredients are a little expensive.” My angry voice filled the entire room, only for a message from the Mirage Serpent to quench it. “... If they want to grow. Resh only wants to eat and sleep, but I am going to give him that as well!”

The older men regarded me for a while. Merlin tilted his head at me, his eyes calculating rather than cold as steel.

“You have seven Soulkins?” He squinted his eyes at me, sounding confused and doubtful at the same time. “I thought you had only six Soulkins. Did I miss something?”

Bert looked as confused as Merlin.

“I…”

A bad headache crept up the back of my skull just thinking about explaining that mess.

That didn’t sound good at all.

“We’re trying to defeat Raffael, Adam. Not your average Ruler, but one of the oldest Rulers who is still alive,” Merlin said straightforwardly, his tone as calm as a lake. “He may have lost an arm, and there may be some issues with his World, but he is still well advanced into the Ruler rank. To defeat him, we need to know everything to fight him in a year if we’re unlucky and he finds out about the phoenix.”

Merlin was not wrong. If anything, everything he said was right. We had to prepare for the worst case.

So, with a heavy sigh, I told Merlin and Bert about Sapsie as well. How I got her and what she was capable of. And while I was already at it, I told them about Aureus’ growth and that he could form Gates by deepening his understanding of the Major Earthen Aspect.

“Earthen Gates… Liferoot Gates… And those traits…” Bert muttered, rubbing his temples in pain. “A Soulkin that grows by consuming its Blessed’s blood. Two sacred beasts with no potential limit as long as their elemental understanding deepens… one of which is already at the Emperor rank… And what was that about the Mirage Serpent? You mentioned he’s been growing again, haven’t you?”

I smiled wryly at the Master Beaster.

“Nox’s been growing as well. Slowly, but that wouldn’t have been possible without a strong bond. The empowerment your World provides. I see now. I get it.” He chuckled mirthlessly, his eyes drifting back to me. “Your World is a cheat. Of course it is. It makes sense now. All of it!”

Bert nodded vigorously, his hands clamping around mine. “We can figure out how to safely trigger evolution and mutations with your World. That’s why everything worked out until now. Because your World stabilizes all processes. It provides the right amount of chaos, stability, and potency to squeeze the very best out of your Soulkins!”

I stared at the Master Beaster, lips parted, but no word came out.

I knew it. He was mad.

Volix called out in my head.

Mad~ Mad~

Sapsie repeated cheerfully, all while Merlin stared at me as if he were seeing me for the first time.

“Just who are you?”