Book 6 - Prologue

Book 6 - Prologue

The skies were blue and there wasnt a cloud in the sky, as Jake rode on his pterodactyl. Jasmina swam in the water beneath them at an impressive pace, searching the water with echolocation.

Despite it being winter near Cascadia, Jake was traveling even further to the south, by the equator. The weather was warm, and he was having a blast exploring the world of Highlands.

It had been a few days since their Winters Giving celebration, and Jake had already collected several templates. When a creature or beast was friendly and willing, scanning them did not take overly longjust a few minutes.

Unfortunately, scanning a complex intelligent humanoid did take a long time. Jake would need hours in total to scan one of the Highlands beastkin. Thankfully, he could split this up into several sessions with an individual.

He had scanned Roxo, who was helpful to give up his time. Many of the Hearthtribe elites that had joined for the Prime Instance were busy, doing one of two things.

Making war, or making babies.

When the winter front came in, it was like an instinct of the beastkin to have a child. It appeared their normal pregnancy period would cause them to give birth in late spring and early summer.

Of course, when Jake contacted Roxo and Darris who hadnt yet left to join their Conquest and PvP activities, they didnt tell Jake they were making babies. They said they were doing their duty, which, Jake was thankful for. Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

He had done his duty too.

Suddenly, Jasmina felt a spark of alarm, a fear of something, and Jake felt something shift in the distance.

Unable to protect her entire body, he still covered her upper body with a Barrier as he saw a tentacle erupt from the water like a spear, covered in auril. The barrier held and deflected the attacking limb with a burst of flame searing into it, but it quickly twisted and went toward her unprotected snake-fish body.

Jasminas tuning fork staff vibrated as she sang a discordant note, causing the oncoming tentacle to freeze in motion. Continuing her song, she retreated toward Jake with haste, him having changed his course with the pterodactyl. He leaped down to fly directly at her in his flight suit, descending rapidly.

What Jake saw with his Umbral Gaze, his new bloodline ability, was surprising. It was a giant octopus, that utilized the gray auril much like Davonius, the chameleon beastkin shaman of Bastet. It was covered in an armor-like coral that shifted along with it, making it difficult to detect.

The creature continued toward Jasmina, its body moving closer after its prey. Jasmina then controlled the water, slowing its approach.

Until Jakes Aura washed over the creature. It froze once more as it detected something it couldnt understand, and while Jakes Hearthian Presence was welcoming to most creatures, it was still a somewhat alien feeling to them.

Jake created a runic platform where he landed next to Jasmina, then provided a peace offering. Dumping the meat of a giant crab out of his Storage Ring and into the water, the large chunks of meat creating large splashes of water. He had a whole lot where that came from. In addition to capturing various templates, he was also hunting auril beasts and collecting meat.

His pregnant wives appetite was insatiable, and not just the monstrous one.

The octopus was large and tentacles as long as a semi truck, but it wasnt at the level of a boss. Jake sent to Jasmina to sing a song of calming, to try to reduce the creatures aggressiveness.

It immediately sensed the crabs flesh in the water, snatching large pieces of it with its large tendrils and bringing it back to its beak. Jake pushed his Aura further, trying to make himself feel like less of a threat, and more of a friend.

The creature started ignoring Jake, and continued eating his peace offering. Thus, Jake began using his Enhanced Capture Template.

Soothing lights gathered around the creature, and it just happily enjoyed its offered meal, the lights not bothering it at all. Jake even dumped a school of fish he captured, allowing him a little more time to get the job done. The larger, complex creature took a bit of time, the beast of the sea having three auril hearts.

Its meal completed and its hunger sated, the octopus covered itself with its gray auril, and disappeared as it returned to the depths. Luckily, Jake had finished the job in time.

Jasmina rose from the water, her fish-snake body treading water to bring her humanoid body close to Jake.

He patted her snout and ran his fingers down and along her neck, which he could tell she liked. Nice work, Jasmina. That was scary for a moment, huh, girl?

She nodded, but he could tell from their bond that she hadnt been overly worried. Now that Jake had entered the second Tier, he was like a god living among mortals as he traveled throughout Highlands.

His wifes teasing voice entered his mind, [Are you almost done playing with that other woman, husband? Remember, do not have too much funif you do, I better be there to watch. You said you wanted to be here when I used that dao treasure. Its almost time.]

The next voice sounded a little angry. [H-How could you waste such a yummy crab like that? That was for the baby! And Me! And Blood! Lia and Tanda could have had a little, too.]

Jake laughed. He guessed that if he ever became a god in truth, nothing would change back at home. I can collect another one, not to worry. Ill be back shortly.

***

Jake arrived back at the Refuge through his portal, depositing Jasmina in her sanctuary. He found all his wives, and his future wife, busy in his living room.

Avalara, Tanda, and Ophelia, were working on ecology planning. The world was still growing, and shifting, and Avalara had much control over this. Their gaming table had a hologram above it, with the world of Highlands pictured, along with many other areas zoomed in. The girls were gathered around it with thoughtful looks, but smiled at him as he entered.

Tanda bounded toward him, her black wolf tail wagging as she collided with him. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. Did you enjoy your hunt, my mate?

Jake nodded, returning her tight hug. I did. The octopus was a welcome find, but I found a few other useful creatures, too. If we ever have to fight in the water, Ill have quite a bit of confidence. Whats all this?

Ophelia chuckled from the table, her golden wings fluttering and her blue eyes looking on at Jake with a bit of mirth. Were still planning things out. While building something like Berris precious castle is easy, projecting the worlds growth along with its people and species movements to place it in a location that matters, and continues to matter, is a lot more complicated.

Avalara added with her calm voice, Its not just that, but all the immigrants. Valtor predicts well have hundreds of thousands over the next several years. Many are desiring to live on the world of Hestias Champion, along with our special environment. If not for him, Id be a little lost on how to predict this at all.

Jake looked on at the holograms, trying to get a feel for what they were working on.

The odd geography of Highlands with the many plateaus was interesting and effective for protecting the beastkin from Tartarus and the wildlife, but the game would change in the second Tier.

Many of their enemies would be capable of flight or scaling walls with ease, and as Jake understood it, the flat-footed dinosaurs of Highlands incapable of climbing would no longer have this problem at the second Tier.

Not only would they be more capable of controlling their vines and more in-tune with the auril energy, but the creatures would also evolve and change somewhat as they ascended.

Blood continued, Of course, scholarly pursuits and business, along with pure art or music are important too, but the goal will be for each child to choose one or more of these two paths in addition to that. As Faye would say, conflict is the truth of our multiverse, and to not be prepared means to do a disservice to yourself, and for us to choose something else over that would be the same.

Jake nodded. And I take it the sports are still a little moremartial focused than just sports? And then, were somehow earning an income from all these activities, to pay for them?

Berri nodded. Thats right! And, both the sports and the crafting can earn money, so its win, win, win!

Blood smiled. Shes right. While we may be able to fund all of these efforts with altruism and philanthropy, the children themselves will benefit from becoming self-sufficient instead, earning their own way, and forming a sense of comradery in working toward these goals. It is only a mandatory two hours per day at the middle or junior high school level, but ramps up to four at the high school level.

She continued, Its at those times that most primary studies in the Alliance shift towards adventuring and personal magical progression among those gifted as well. Ours will be no different.

Jake understood the latter was hardly different from most work release programs on Earth, though often the four hours or more of early release was something reserved for seniors ready to leave for the workforce or college, and more.

The only thing different here was that selecting one of the two paths was a mandatory part of the curriculum. Jake also understood that many races were completely different, and might arrive at these ages for being able to utilize magic sooner or later than others.

I like what you girls are coming up with. I suppose the larger challenge here, in my eyes, is the difficulty in making money from the childrens sports and martial artsmagical or not. Adults who have money are often not that interested in seeing other children compete, let alone paying to watch or enjoymost are just there to watch their own kids.

Blood nodded. I think for now well have a unique product that those in the multiverse might be interested in, but it might not scale all that well. Berri is definitely pushing to sell all sorts of memorabilia for the childrens parents, as well as making money off of food sales in the coliseum. There is much to learn and try here, to find profitability will be a moving targetbut Mysticus and Amara are helping out with their calculations, so we have a great foundation.

Jake raised his brow at that. The odd, unliving magical abacus was somehow using its mystical calculations to help them predict aspects like that. With that kind of help, their success seemed plausible to him.

He once again gave them his love and received theirs, and teleported to his cultivator wifes lair, knowing Fhesiah was ready for him. He hurriedly left because his wives were voracious. Bloodberri was hungry, but they didnt like to feast in front of him.

He had no problem with it as it was necessary, but she was eating a whole cow worth of food in minutes, and was becoming bashful at the act. Her stomach was magical and quickly broke down all food rapidly, bones and all.

Because of that, she had little need for chewing besides for her own enjoyment and fitting the food in her large mouth. It was an odd thing to watch her swallow large pieces of meat and bones after taking bites and chewing very littlethough he suspected, when he wasnt around to watch, she was probably going a bit further than even that.

Arriving in Fhesiahs cultivation chamber, the room was currently a bit larger than he was used to. It had to be increased in size, just to fit the giant painting that sat in the back.

Formationsmagical lines and glyphs etched throughout the roomcarried mystical energies, following some heavenly laws that Jake couldnt understand. Fhesiahs proxy hearth rested within the wall, sending Qi into the formations, the powerful energies being drawn from their Divine Item.

Fhesiah sat on what looked like a prayer mat, but for cultivation. Dressed in her mothers robes, she was in her kitsune form, her three lustrous purple fox tails waving high behind her. She was scanning over the contents of scrolls and crystals, and she had done much to prepare herself for this moment.

The Qi in the room was extremely dense, pushing what was possible for them to collect and provide, and even withstand, in the second Tier. A non cultivator of the first Tier would almost immediately be wracked in pain, the energies like poison to their bodies.

This was even though much of it was heading toward the cultivation mat.

What Fhesiah needed to do was something Jake didnt fully understand. Of course, hed given quite a bit of effort to doing so, reading numerous books on the topic and spending hours on end in discussion with his cultivator wife.

A cultivators Dao, their Path, was simply something hard for him to firmly grasp with his mind, as he couldnt experience it for himself beyond feeling the effects of his wifes on the world.

Fhesiah smiled at him, her emotions filled with love and respect carrying over their strong bond. Im not so sure of that anymore, husband. Those divine sparks have altered your body in a manner that, in many ways, are far beyond what a cultivator could achieve, merging themselves with the heavens at this Tier. Your Presence and Aura are approaching a level of a cultivators Dao domain on their own.

Jake sat next to her, her tails enveloping him as he wrapped one arm around her waist. His woman was brimming with Qi at the moment, a vast quantity of saturation of the energy.

As she was not making it her own, this was something that should only be temporary. Spending too long with this much Qi in her body would eventually be like poison, but he knew this short duration would be fine.

He returned her smile, his own feelings for his lovely sage causing their hearths to connect once more. Their warmth and love they had for each other carried over their bond. It also ignited his wifes passion, but she dutifully fought this rather than jumping him. She had spent much preparation for this moment.

Who knows what the future holds. Im just happy I can witness this special moment for you. Im a bit worried about your journey, but I have confidence in you and us.

Jake was somewhat referring to their bond. Despite her leaving and entering a special Battleground, Jake thought there would still be some opportunity for him to help her, or at the very least, stay in touch.

Fhesiah turned back to the painting, the giant theatrical scene of a giant kitsune and its family facing off against a giant carnivorous plant monster. The energy within the room was immense, and on some level, the painting actually looked and felt alive.

The kitsune flames and their many tails almost danced as he moved the focus of his vision around, and the plants many maws seemed to ooze acidic drool as their tendrils swirled. There was nearly a wall of vines headed toward the kitsune, with many lances or spears of tendrils advancing.

It felt like there was little hope of either side coming out unscathed. Originally, Jake had felt like the plant monster was the villain or such when he had first viewed it.

Now he had an odd feeling, like it was no longer so clear. The kitsunes, even the younger ones that were thought to be being protected at first, had an almost malicious, or feral glint in their eyes.

Fhesiahs expression became serious, her lips forming a thin line. Conflict is Heavenly Law, as I always told you, husband. Good will is a luxury of the strong, for being weak is a sin or evil of its own that will lead to death and destruction. As the strong, it is our duty to grasp power, to take it when necessary in conflictfor if we are too weak, those lacking in benevolence and duty will send our kingdom, everything we care about and love, crashing down.

It was a sobering thought. In Fhesiahs world of cultivators, there was a thin, almost nonexistent line between those that were good and evil. Even pillars of righteousness and good likely committed their own crimes and atrocities on their path to power.

It was to the point where attacking another entity for power could almost be considered an act of self-defense, the limited resources for ascension contested and fought for. Cultivators had created a culture where might made right, and it took some mental gymnastics to empathize with, but Jake at least understood it.

Despite the dark tone of Fhesiahs warning, Jake couldnt help but give off a feral smile. In a way, he was thankful for their great enemyTartarus.

It was thanks to this wicked enemy, along with the Framework, that he would probably never have to choose to destroy someone or something undeserving in his path to power. There was no moral quandary for him to face, no villainous act he would ever have to perform for the good of his family and kingdom.

He only needed to defeat a singular, perfectly villainous entity, and the Framework would grant him reward after reward.

Twisted enemy guilds were muddying the waters, but their intentions were clear. They were serving the enemy whether they understood this or not, and they were deserving of punishment. Hearthtribe would sharpen themselves in these conflicts, and take everything from these greedy wolves wearing sheeps clothing.

Fhesiah nodded at Jakes thoughts, their entire familys matching. It was with those thoughts and more, that she retrieved her Dao treasure from her Storage Ring. Brimming with Source energy, the ornate vial had a special weight on the air itself, the dense Qi in the room rushing toward it.

This Source energy was supposed to be like Dao stem-cells. As Fhesiah harmonized her spirit with the heavens and took on these truths, the Source energy would join hers and elevate her epiphany. It would assist her with taking on these truths and becoming one with them.

It was time.