From time to time, young adults acted as childishly as teenagers pumped with hormones. The same applied to most beasts, even if it didn’t look the same.

  In Nox’s case, I found myself watching a bloody fight.

  The Ferronox Mantis charged at a young adult Aceraspis. The humanoid beast–three meters tall with a hunched insectoid frame–evaded the first attacks before using the thick chitin layers covering its body to block the rest. Nox’s scythes dug deep into the chitin but failed to sever the Aceraspis’ arms. Instead, they got stuck, which the Aceraspis immediately exploited. Its elongated jaw opened wide, snapping toward the Ferronox Mantis to ram its fangs into the smaller mantis.

  Nox, albeit smaller–his height stuck at two meters–was covered from thorax to head in dark, heavy-looking plates. The plating didn’t slow him, nor did the scythes stuck in the Aceraspis as he triggered Nullblade. The Aceraspis screeched in pain when the Ferronox Mantis tore his scythes free of the limbs.

  Nox escaped the jaws snapping shut around his neck and circled the Aceraspis like the agile knight he was. Predator triggered just as the Aceraspis spun around, clawing at Nox’s abdomen. Ignoring claws that scraped uselessly across his plated exoskeleton, Nox hurled himself at his humanoid opponent, his scythes flashing through the air, carving deep into the Aceraspis.

  Dark green blood trickled to the ground as Nox weaved around the most lethal incoming attacks while ignoring those that posed no threat. His blades, amplified by Nullblade, sliced effortlessly through the Aceraspis.

  Instead of falling back to focus on defense, the Aceraspis’ attacks only grew more furious. The more damage it sustained, the angrier the humanoid beast became.

  I exhaled deeply, and Sophie beside me sighed softly. She shook her head as the spar continued but didn’t intervene, even as ether poured out of the Aceraspis. The humanoid beast’s chitin armor suddenly shrank, compressing around its frame, boosting its strength and ferocity. It attacked faster, and even the weakest strikes–ones that should never have pierced Nox’s exoskeleton–scratched deeper than before.

  Acid dripped from the Aceraspis’ claws, sizzling as it hit the ground, but the spar only escalated when Sophie’s Soulkin grew too agitated. Acer’s claws blurred and shot toward Nox’s head, delivering a blow that would kill if it connected. Sophie shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to stop the Aceraspis, but her control over the frenzied Soulkin broke.

  “We have to stop him!” Sophie panicked, circulating ether through her body as she prepared to charge into the arena.

  “That won’t be necessary.” I shook my head, failing to hide the grimace any longer. “Nox is playing with Acer.”

  Even though the Ferronox Mantis wasn’t much faster than the Aceraspis at this point, Nox could see everything. He knew how Acer would move even before Sophie’s Soulkin did, and he took full advantage of that.

  The claws heading for his head never even came close. A set of scythes tore through the air, drawing dark green blood as they carved through the beast’s arms, nearly severing them.

  Rushing ahead, ignoring the acid dripping onto his exoskeleton, Nox struck again. Acer stumbled as the Ferronox Mantis collided at the worst possible moment, felling the Aceraspis. Two blurs of gray and black flashed between the Soulkins, and Nox’s scythes cleaved through chitin and deep into Acer’s chest. Twisting the blades inside his opponent, I felt Nox’s excitement surge–only to be amplified by killing intent.

  That was when I stepped in.

  “That’s enough.” I hollered, voice amplified by ether, willpower coiling around my bond with the Ferronox Mantis. Nox froze as my authority took hold, restraining him before bloodlust could consume rationality.

  “You won.”

  Sophie rushed to her Soulkin, while I remained still, waiting for the Ferronox Mantis to turn to me.

  “Are you sure about that? Last time didn’t end well for you.” I smiled at my trusted companion.

  Nox hissed, pulling his weapon-arms free of the Aceraspis, and charged at me in challenge. He rushed past Sophie, reaching top speed in a heartbeat, showing a momentum and excitement he hadn’t displayed in his fight against Acer–his entire focus locked on the challenge ahead.

  He appeared before me in an instant, weapons raised, but I was faster. Just like the Ferronox Mantis, I used Predator. It took no more than a split second to decide the outcome. My arm shot forward, Nullblade coating my hand as I plunged it into a thin seam in Nox’s exoskeleton. The armor offered little protection against my attack, and Nox wasn’t trying to stop me anyway.

  His scythes descended, but earthen pillars burst from the ground at blinding speed, striking the mantis’ arms from below. Ignoring the blades coated in Nullblade, the pillars yanked the arms aside just as a spark of fire surged from my fingers, burning the Ferronox Mantis from the inside out.

  A look of panic crossed his features, and the fury deflated, ending the challenge as quickly as it began.

  You win.

  Nox surrendered for what felt like the hundredth time. Honestly, it might as well be.

  Returning Nox after one-sidedly crushing him usually worked. It was no different this time either.

  Once the mantis vanished into my World to recover, I turned to watch Sophie tend to the Aceraspis. Fabienne, wearing the same cloak that had shrouded her body and most of her face since as long as I could remember, was already at work too, kneeling beside Acer and using one of her newer spells.

  During my absence–including the time spent training with Ruler Kazriel–Fabienne’s Goblin Shaman had broken through and learned several new, useful spells as well. Some didn’t seem like they’d help a lot in combat, but they transformed her into an even greater supporter–and that was exactly what we needed right now. Someone with versatile powers–a lot of healing, to be precise.

  Once it was clear Acer would make it through without any lasting damage, my attention shifted to Aureus dealing with Daniel’s Thunderhorn Bull on the other side of the arena.

  ‘Dealing’ was probably the wrong word, since Coco charged through earthen walls like they were made of paper. They slowed the Thunderhorn Bull a little, depriving the beast of some momentum, but that wasn’t enough to counterbalance Coco’s clear superiority.

  As unfortunate as it was, Aureus lost against Coco in the physical aspect. And that was more than fine, as small holes opened where Coco’s hooves were about to land. Earthen spikes and palisades with pointed ends spread across the arena, severely restraining Coco’s movements–if she cared about her well-being.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Aureus did not fail to account for the Thunderhorn Bull’s stubbornness, but it was surprising just how bullheaded someone could be.

  What did you expect? Daniel is exactly the same, I reminded Aureus, who didn’t bother responding.

  Coco and Daniel had been together for as long as I could think. They were both natural, stubborn beings, and being bound and all did little to alleviate that issue. As far as I was concerned, Daniel and Coco had only amplified one another’s stubbornness over the years.

  That the Thunderhorn Bull would risk injuring his legs–which did end up happening as spikes tore through Coco’s hind legs and underbelly–was accounted for. Not to this extent, though.

  Lightning bolts jerked out of Coco’s head, some missing Aureus by a few meters, while the rest were blocked by walls and hurriedly conjured earthen shields. As impressive as the projectiles hurled through the air looked, Coco was not a great spellslinger. The Thunderhorn Bull was a physically attributed beast.

  It was at the peak of the Evolved Rank as well–one step away from breaking through, two from evolving, if Daniel’s excitement could be trusted–but its mental strength held no candle to Aureus’.

  Golden light flared in the Earthheart’s eyes just as a sinkhole opened up before the Thunderhorn Bull. Paralyze triggered and Coco froze, but he did not disappear into the sinkhole. Lightning poured out from under him even as his body stopped listening.

  Spears made of compressed soil arced through the air and struck the unmoving target, piercing the bull’s electrocuting fur, but the pain only seemed to work in Coco’s favor. The beast regained control of its body and charged ahead, riding on the lightning pathway forming beneath his hooves.

  Coco’s body transformed into an incarnation of lightning. He vanished in a lightning flash and emerged merely a few meters away from Aureus. A split second later, the Thunderhorn Bull was about to crash into the Earthheart when something shifted. Coco’s feet dug deeper into the ground beneath him and his movements slowed drastically.

  Momentum took over as time around me came to a crawl. Aureus did not panic as Coco attacked. Instead, he used what we–I–had been waiting for a while now.

  Relying on the pressure weighing on him from days of constant fights–spars the Earthheart simply couldn’t win–Aureus comprehended something at last. If it had been any later, I would have been forced to resupply Kazriel’s stash of serums. Alas, that was not necessary.

  Coco was pulled to the ground by the immense pressure crashing down upon the beast, yet no matter how hard Aureus tried, that alone was not enough to defeat the Thunderhorn Bull. Especially not when lightning spears came flying toward Aureus, chipping several black scales upon impact.

  The Earthheart’s focus faltered. It was no more than a moment, but that was all Coco needed to shatter the pressure and crash into Aureus’ massive, seven-meter-long body like a skytrain.

  Although he was pushed back and lightning crackled across his body, no severe damage was done–courtesy of the Thunderhorn Bull.

  “We lost,” I announced, smiling a little too brightly.

  “Smiling like that when you lose doesn’t really feel like a victory to me,” Daniel grumbled, pointing a finger. “Be sad or angry. Show some emotions, or teasing you will only be half as fun.”

  Coco rubbed his head against Daniel’s arm and they looked at each other, engaging in a quick conversation.

  “Aureus unlocked a new trait? I know you’ve been feeding Aureus some of Kazriel’s serums, but did you really find a suitable serum to unseal another trait?” He stared at the Earthheart, curious.

  The general belief was that Aureus had used up his potential already–that it’d be difficult to push him to the peak of the Evolved Rank without an evolution or high-rank trait. Even Guardian Beast meat would only slowly nurture him.

  Anyway, the problem with traits was not unlocking them. It was figuring out what traits your Soulkin had and feeding him the right serums to stabilize the unsealment process. Feeding the wrong serum could lead to severe issues, organ failure, a detrimental evolution of existing traits, or worse. That was why I had Daniel examine Kazriel’s serums and potions before feeding anyone anything.

  “I didn’t use any of the Trait Serums on Aureus. There was no need to risk pushing him down the wrong path when we’ve already decided what to do.” I waved him off.

  “And what is that grand plan of yours?” he asked.

  “I fed Aureus the Introspection AP serum. Six Advanced serums, one a day like you said.”

  “You did what?” Daniel sputtered. “Did you ignore the label I put on them? ‘Only to be used at the Guardian rank or higher’ is not a label I put there for no reason!” His cheeks flushed red, but he calmed down and exhaled deeply when Coco nudged him again.

  “At least Aureus seems healthy. So what did he find through introspection? He seems to have unlocked something.”

  Even though the battle ended with a loss, Aureus and I were quite happy. The battle’s pressure, combined with Aureus’ increased understanding of his body as an Earthheart, had been enough to locate and crack something.

  It was what we’d been waiting for. Definitely not a perfect trait and certainly not as strong as the Caldera woman who’d introduced us to it, but perfect as a bridge to greatness.

  Retrieving two serums, I removed the caps and emptied them into Aureus’ maw. One serum was from Kazriel’s stash. It completed the introspection and offered the stability needed to go through with it. The second serum was something Daniel was very familiar with. It would have been weird if he didn’t recall it, as it was the serum he’d acquired from the Grandmaster Beaster teaching him.

  It took some convincing, but the Beaster relented when Daniel told him I could pay with Tokens rather than Camp Coins. Daniel made a whole spiel about his excellent negotiation skills, bragging about how he convinced his teacher to make an exception for me, and so forth, but it wasn’t like the serum was cheap. I paid a hefty price of six Tokens for a single serum with nothing more than hope in my heart– and the desire to help Aureus become a true Earthheart.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re going to stay mysterious. Not after feeding him Terraflux Essence. You can’t do that to me!” he almost begged. “I need information. So does Coco!”

  Coco cocked his head to the side at the mention of his name.

  “You know what the serum does. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” I didn’t fall for Daniel’s trap and shifted back to the Earthheart.

  Doing what Aureus and I had just done was risky. There was no denying it. However, I had a trustworthy source–multiple sources, to be precise. One was the dozens of Caldera praising and revering Aureus, calling him a sacred beast the moment I summoned him in their home. And, of course, the Phoenix, a sacred beast bound to my inner World, forming a myriad of elemental-attributed Ether Gates.

  Since Aureus was a sacred beast, he could do the same. He had the same potential as the Elemental Phoenix. As much as Aureus wanted to doubt his potential, I believed in him a thousandfold. All we needed was to fix the one thing we didn’t know had gone wrong when the mutant Soilback evolved into an Earthheart–the first of his kind.

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it! You wouldn’t endanger Aureus with Terraflux Essence and the Introspection AP serums if you didn’t have a plan!” Daniel grumbled, while murky mana oozed from Aureus’ body.

  The serums activated without mistake, so I moved to the next step and stored Aureus in the inner World. A faint grayish-brown hue coated the Earthheart as soul energy and the ether of my core surged toward him.

  Faintly resembling the golden evolution cocoon as it took form, I had to remind myself that it wasn’t the same. Aureus was not about to evolve. He was merely about to become more of himself by engraving the Earthen Aspect on his heart.

  Aureus had been busy with failed engraving attempts for a while now. His last attempt was nearly a success but failed nonetheless. Worse even, the Earthen Aspect and his heart were damaged in the process. Hence, this time around, we used a little trick and invested heavily to avoid disaster as much as we could.

  Reaching for the trait that had yet to fully form within the Earthheart, Aureus moved it. Dissecting it with the effects of several exceedingly rare and expensive serums, he would successfully complete the work and, hopefully, merge his new trait with the Earthen Aspect to upgrade it into a Major Aspect while he was already at it.

  And then, once Aureus’ understanding of the Earthen Aspect reached even deeper, we’d complete the process and turn him into a proper sacred beast.

  Preparations had been completed, contingency plans devised and set into motion, but they wouldn’t be needed. I was sure of it. Everything would be fine.

  For once.