Wolverine, followed by his fellow disciple Cheetara, patrolled Best Buddy’s domain first, before offering the same courtesy to the town of his subjects. All seemed well. He especially looked out for a sign of a rolly-rolly or the cry of its neighing giant. Cheetara did the same, aware of the importance of keeping an eye out for any potential bad guys coming to hurt the town. Satisfied with the peace, Wolverine headed back, his speed even greater since his breakthrough moments after his Best Buddy left. Cheetara, knowing this was but training, pushed herself to keep up. The sunlight wolf couldn’t help but be proud of the kitten.
After his failure with the wraith, which reminded him of his failure with the red bad guys, the sunlight wolf cub tripled down on training. Best Buddy praised him during morning exercise and while that made Wolverine happy, he wanted to make the master of the land gawk. He also wanted him to praise Cheetara too, so he intensified the kitten’s program.
“Big Brother Woofy,” she said when the duo made it back to the familiar yard.
“Hmm?” Wolverine asked. “What’s the matter, Disciple Cheetara Cutie?”
“Is it possible to train the new… uhmm, whatever they are?” Cheetara said.
“I’ve overheard Best Buddy and Soul Brother Chenzu talking about what they are,” Wolverine said. “In the barn, there are cows and their pack leader is called a bull. The pink things are pigs. There’s the tasties—I mean the chickens. The only ones we could probably talk to right now are the elicrones, as they are magical beasts, not just ordinary beasts.”
“Oh!” Cheetara said, excited. “Is it possible to learn the language of the ordinary beasts?”
“I don’t think they really possess a language,” Wolverine said. “For a creature to become a spirit beast like us or a magical beast, they must gain a core or a heart compatible with mana. From there, it is possible for them to develop intelligence. Not all elicrones are intelligent, I believe, but we won’t know for sure until we talk to them.”
“What are we waiting for then, Big Brother? Let’s go!” Cheetara cheered, bouncy.
Wolverine sighed. “Fine, let’s go greet them. Perhaps they’ll be allowed to join us for patrols.”
“I hope they have names,” Cheetara said.
“You really are a strange kitten,” Wolverine said. “Ordinary cats would love to eat an elicrone, let alone any bird.”
“They don’t look particularly appetizing, just beautiful,” Cheetara said. “They’re not fish, you know. Salmon’s my favorite.”
Somehow Wolverine could tell the kitten’s mouth watered at the thought of the food. Best Buddy fed her many varieties and followed something he called a diet to keep the kitten in tiptop shape.
But what he didn’t know, or at least Wolverine suspected his Best Buddy didn’t think much on, was that his aura purified and charged their food, increasing their vitality. For some reason, it didn’t offer the same courtesy for the humans. It was almost like some invisible entity assisted the man with taking care of the pets.
As they entered the fowl territory, the chickens fled, but the elicrones continued pecking at the ground, snapping up grasshoppers and even crawlies.
When Wolverine and Cheetara were close enough, the birds looked at them.
“Well, hello there, handsome. Are you here to take a bite out of me?” the female elicrone asked Wolverine, causing the sunlight wolf to take an unconscious step back, though he wasn’t sure why. The colors of her feathers were darker than her male counterpart.
“Don’t tease him, you masochist,” the male elicrone deadpanned. “He’s just a kid.”
The female only chuckled. “There’s a lot I can teach a growing boy.” She took a step toward the wolf. “We elicrones—ow!”
The male elicrone whacked his mate, shaking his head. “Sorry about that, lad, she’s only joking. She only started messing around like this after watching one of the humans. Well, she was already a masochist. Now she’s worse.”
“Don’t talk about me in front of me,” said the female. “It’s making my feathers tingle.”
“I… Maybe we should get going,” Wolverine said.
“Why?” Cheetara asked, completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere. Unlike Wolverine, the kitten never paid attention to Best Buddy and Mistress Milia flirting. Lucky her.
“Like I said, don’t pay her any mind,” the male elicrone said. “Mistress Milia named us in Master Nate’s stead. I’m called Sir Bright and she’s Lady Feathers. Unfortunately, the master of this domain hasn’t paid us a visit yet. It’s a little unnerving to not have his direct blessing.”
Wolverine watched Sir Bright for a bit before speaking. “Nice to meet you, Sir Bright… uh… and Lady Feathers. I’m sure Best Buddy Nate will come around. But…” Wolverine sat down. “If you want to increase your chances, you should join us on the quest for power. Cultivate with us and he’ll soon notice you.”
“Notice us?” Sir Bright asked.
“I’m in!” Lady Feathers said, her voice perky.
“Yay!” Cheetara cheered.
Wolverine wondered if he let the natural furiousness of his wolf heart soften too much for his junior. Maybe he did, because the sunlight wolf would give everything to make sure she was safe. The kitten would certainly do the same for him.
He turned to the new recruits and nodded. “Training begins now. I will teach you the ways of a cultivating magician and how to use your magic to understand the human language. Unfortunately, we can’t speak back without evolving. That’s just the way nature dictates things.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of evolution. Perhaps I should become human and get spanked—”
“One of these days, your unclean talk will be the death of me,” Sir Bright interrupted with a sigh.
Lady Feathers only laughed. Cheetara, still oblivious, tilted her head.
“We welcome weirdos just fine,” she said, prompting a surge of laughter from Wolverine that he wasn’t expecting. He almost doubled over. After he finished, both mana birds looked embarrassed. Although, Lady Feathers had a smugness about her that made Wolverine weary.
“Maybe you should try the great bird path, Lady Feathers,” Wolverine said. “Perhaps the legendary Phoenix.”
“There are Phoenixes that take human form, right?” Lady Feathers asked.
“No, there aren’t,” Sir Bright deadpanned. “A Phoenix is the ultimate divine form of a bird. Except… I’m not sure if they exist anymore. Many have ascended to other realms.”
Wolverine sighed. “Lesson one. Connecting to the domain and taking in mana to cultivate.”
Hector knocked on his mother’s door again.
“Mother, come out of there already. No amount of cultivating will suddenly make you what he is, not without centuries under your belt.”
No answer.
“Mother, please. Everyone’s worried about you. Even—”
“Young Master Hector!”
Hector turned to see a maid running toward him, stopping to pant when she caught up. “Young Master, the guards spotted him. He’s back!”
Suddenly the door burst open and, at last, the Red Star emerged. Hector expected a mess, given how she locked herself in her room without warning. However, he was not expecting the feeling of a power increase and a well-dressed person to emerge from there.
“What does he want?” Gwendolyn, the Red Star asked, her voice flat.
“To meet with you,” the maid said.
“He what?” Rose asked as she approached, her voice suggestive. “He didn’t give me that kind of impression.”
“Now is not the time for jokes,” the Red Star said, silencing the trio with a stare they’d feared since childhood. Although they didn’t exactly fear it these days, but respected what it represented. Strength, the ability to command a room, and might. However, they had a feeling if that man grew serious, no amount of might would stop him.
“Let’s go,” the Red Star said.
“I wish he’d take me,” Rose said. “I’m sure our genes would bring forth an unstoppable heir.”
Hector rolled his eyes, holding back his comment as arguing with her accomplished nothing, except for a headache and feeling bad for any man caught in Rose’s web.
“Where are Yani and Elise?”
“Yani’s with her new betrothed, probably torturing him, and Elise is meditating,” Rose replied.
With a mission to stop super soldiers from abducting the hero’s party and potentially destroying the town, we arrived at Wingston and requested an audience with the Red Star. The guards, recognizing us, clearly updated on the full story, rushed ahead of us to deliver the message. I did ask Mandi if she wanted to come before we took off, but the petite redhead opted to stay back. She worked intently on her project, following the instructions of the high-ranked book, and didn’t want to return without having something breathtaking to show to her mother. I could not fault her there. To impress the Red Star, the girl would have to push herself. But not too hard. I planned to personally lend my mana to assist her.
I couldn’t help but make a silent vow to improve myself, become a better master. I wasn’t going to do the work for them, of course, just give them the guidance. And hey, I’d fucking learn new things with them.
As we arrived at the last street, I caught the familiar face of Gaston, walking, flanked by guards. He looked tired, even frustrated, but still in one piece. His face went from shocked to pale to furious all in the span of two seconds.
“You’ve got some nerve returning here,” Gaston said, then grinned. “Luckily, I hired someone that will—”
Ronica interrupted with a loud yawn. “Listen, we’d love to donate to your hopeless cause, but we’re in a hurry.”
Gaston looked at her in disbelief. You could tell this fucking guy was still getting used to not being surrounded by yes men. However, Ronica did have a point. Normally, I’d consider sticking around for some daytime entertainment, perhaps let the petite headache kick his ass, but we had to go.
“This is your one and only warning,” I said darkly.
Gaston flinched. “I must’ve mistaken you for someone else.” He cleared his throat. “Pardon me.”
“No, you were about to allow me to play,” someone said. “Why start recruiting for an elite force and spending the money if ya ain’t gonna let us stretch our legs for a bit?”
A man dressed like a hobo stepped up, radiating a surprisingly strong aura. At least in comparison to most of the weaklings I fought. Listen, I wasn’t trying to sound arrogant, but there was simply no other way to describe people like Winn and Lou. Or Buffy McGee. He could probably give the hero’s party a small fight before they eventually took him down.
“So you chose to fuck up,” I said, then vanished. In reality, I simply pushed mana into my legs, and blurred next to the hotshot hobo. I say blurred because my surroundings blur when I move at concentrated speeds.
I stopped, creating a shockwave that scattered Gaston, the hobo, and the guards out of the way like feathers blown in a hurricane. This wasn’t my original intention, but fuck it. It did the trick. To make sure the hobo didn’t suddenly leap up to stall me with his true power, I gave him a quick jab and we were off. Believe it or not, holding back was actually getting tougher with these people.
While on the last stretch of the walk, I decided to check my stats. What I saw confused the hell out of me.
Nate
Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: **Divine Master Magician** Third class: Unknown.
Magician rank: 5th realm of the Lesser Dragon.
Class rank: Established.
Ability: Can make up to SSS and divine-grade potions.
Power: Crushing Strong.
Defense: Emboldened Steel.
Dao of Creation. Rank: Divine. Stage: Awakening. This is an early stage.
Advancing only two realms felt fine and not the gun-crazy speed the system forced at first, threatening to ruin me from the inside out, from the pathways of mana to the core it generated from. It wasn’t until later that I understood asking the system to slow things down was actually a test.
At least, I believed so.
To think that somehow I was developing a fucking third class. Why? Could it have something to do with the Dao of Creation? I didn’t feel any different. No new abilities, no insight. It may as well be placeholder text for all I knew.
“You made some strange enemies there,” Iris said. The entire trip here, she purposely ignored the onlookers that stared at her. Well, to be fair, they were likely gawking at our entire group.
We left Beakwing behind to fly off and hunt on his own, but we still consisted of a cluster of what the people assumed were new adventurers marching toward the Red Star’s manor. I wasn’t sure if many people saw me display a little power last time, but they hid it well if they did.
“Well, Mandi’s my apprentice,” I said. “Her enemies became mine, I guess. Even though we’re supposed to be living in peace and making potions.”
I’d actually decided to toss away the idea that my quiet life would stay that way. Still, don’t expect any dumbass training montages, because I’ve got a business to run. And an S-rank to obtain for my shop.
As we entered the yard of the manor, I could see and feel the Red Star waiting for us. And the transformation she’d undergone since I last saw her. Which wasn’t that long ago.
She still looked like a woman in her thirties, but her aura felt more refined, sharper, and even blazing at the edges with incorporeal fire mana.
Yet, that was just one realm increase.
I jumped two. Did daily training, meditating on the Dao of Creation, and making potions do this?
