At the moment, Elizabeth could be seen squinting menacingly as she had grown tired of the "princess treatment" she had received since the moment Ygdris started guiding her around. With everyone somehow already knowing her to be the Shaman Priestess, she was looked at like a G.o.ddess; revered even. But hours of such treatment wore down the roots of her bones to reveal her previous antisocial self; even her Affections Functions telling her the people"s expressions were genuine didn"t help.Since she had been evaluated to be in eerily perfect health after awakening from Gryzmott"s soul attack, Elizabeth followed the Agrian King within the stronghold of Kuy. That was the closest secure place adjacent to where she had been struck; a place thousands of kilometers away from the capital.
However, with just a step through the stronghold"s teleportation formation, Ygdris and Elizabeth found themselves in the heart of the Empire. Ygdris told Elizabeth a surprising amount of cla.s.sified information before dropping a bombsh.e.l.l.
"…Now then, before I arrange a s.p.a.ce for you to cultivate in, which bloodline are you in possession of?" He had just about gone over most of the places within the capital; having shown Elizabeth though most of his palace.
"…" Caught unprepared Elizabeth kept quiet as she felt that telling the truth would end poorly for her. The Primordial Ghost G.o.d Bloodline was what granted her the Infantile Wolf G.o.d Form; it was the reason she could pretend to be a Shaman Priestess. However, disclosing such information might turn Ygdris against her.
"What? You"re not willing to tell me?" Ygdris said as he smiled at Elizabeth; his smile devoid of any ill intent. He continued, "Or maybe… you don"t want to tell me that you weren"t initially a demihuman to begin with, right?" Now his teeth were showing through his smile; looking as if he knew all along.
Unable to conceal her reaction fast enough, Ygdris said, "Relax, this always happens when a Shaman Priestess "awakens." I also know the bloodline you possess is beyond the scope of the Spirit Realm."
Upon checking Ygdris"s Affection Rating and seeing that nothing had changed, Elizabeth didn"t immediately teleport away. She further calmed down as she heard, "Seriously… what do you think I"m going to do? Kill you? I was born with my beast bloodline, so obviously I can"t steal yours. Even if I wanted to use you as some sort of cultivation furnace or treasure to boost my bloodline, it wouldn"t be worth it considering the difference in our levels. Even then, it would be beyond stupid to try that when we can share a better, mutual, relationship and take each other to higher peaks."
Without another word, Ygdris showed his sincerity by manifesting a variant of the Soulbound Contract; letting it take form and hover a foot away from Elizabeth"s eyes.
[Status
Name: Spirit Bound Contract
Grade: High-tier Spirit Grade
Description: Proposed by the demihuman Ygdris, those bound by this contract will swear on their cultivation bases and bloodlines to never cause harm to each other; directly or not.
Effect: Those contracted — the user and Ygdris — pledge their loyalty to each other such that any ill intent projected will be reflected. Killing will result in the immediate collapse of one"s cultivation base and the disintegration of their bloodline. Limited only to those at or below the Spirit Realm.
Status
Name: Ygdris
Level: 45
Rank: Peak Core Formation Stage
Affection Rating: Loyal Peer
Current State: Highly Expectant
Description: To him, this is a once in a lifetime chance. Getting in good graces with you is his ticket to transcending this low-level world and making a name for himself amidst the stars!
s.e.x: Male
Strength ~79,000
Endurance ~81,000
Speed ~79,450
Defense ~79,700
Intelligence ~111,000
Luck 10
Core Qi ~5,050]
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"Oof, he"s just barely at the Peak of the Core Formation Stage…" Elizabeth had to restrain her instinctive desire to gag at the sight of such "abysmal" stats. The only stat the Agrian King had up to "par" — Par being the baseline for perfection in Elizabeth"s books — was his Intelligence and Core Qi parameters.
Elizabeth accepted the contract before saying, "I hope you can keep this between us."
He nodded, understanding that what she was about to say would probably be highly confidential before saying, "Follow me inside this room. It"ll be your living quarters and be outfitted with various cultivation enhancing formations shortly after we discuss the details of your cultivation. No one will be able to spy on us in there."
Once inside the room, Elizabeth bluntly said, "My bloodline is that of the Primordial Ghost G.o.d." She drowned in delight as the previously serious and sagely Monster King now showed her a face of someone not quite accepting of reality.
"What?" Ygdris feigned not being able to hear properly. It humored Elizabeth as they both knew full well the depths of his cultivation base. A Core Formation Expert not being able to hear her while being just a couple feet apart was beyond dubious.
"My beast bloodline is that of the Primordial Ghost G.o.d. Do you want proof?" Elizabeth offered.
"Proof?"
"Yeah, along with the bloodline I received the innate ability to layer my physical attacks with basic soul attacks. You know, something that should normally be impossible for beings under the Spirit Realm."
"…Alright, t-try one on me," Ygrdis said, still hesitant on believing Elizabeth. He couldn"t be blamed though, as the Primordial Ghost G.o.d was a Divine Beast; a G.o.d-level ent.i.ty. Seeing someone linked to such a prestigious bloodline appear in the backwaters world of Endrin should be impossible.
Elizabeth looked at Ygdris as if he were an idiot, "Dude… We just formed a Spirit Bound Contract. Are you trying to kill me?"
It was a mystery whether the Agrian King, a mighty expert at the Core Formation Stage, was baffled by the fact that a junior, who hadn"t even dipped her toes in the Spirit Realm, dared to address him as "dude." Or if he was just ashamed of his own stupidity for suggesting his Spirit Bound partner strike him with a soul attack.
"You know what, just take the fact that I survived a Core Formation expert"s soul attack as a testament to my bloodline." While it was true that having the Primordial Ghost G.o.d"s bloodline helped Elizabeth tank the hit from Soul Extinguishing Thunder, it was by no means all that went in securing her life. With just her bloodline it would be anyone"s guess as to whether or not she would survive.
"R-right, anyway… What do you plan on doing now?" Ygdris started, "I mean, are you just going to cultivate in seclusion for now, or would you like to train within my Empire"s various Danger Grounds."
"Mhmm… First I"d like to know what the outlook is for pure humans over here. I have a couple of confidants who have no ties to the Irelian Empire and training with them would be ideal…"
"Uh… That will be "challenging" for your friends, that is… We have a complete counter-culture to the humans across the border. While they condemn and hate us half-beasts, we hate them just as fervently. Most, if not all, of the humans you"ll see in my territory are slaves, if not rogues. I might be able to bestow a special status to them and sticking by your side might make their lives a bit easier over here. But the general public will not be pleased, seeing the Shaman Priestess engaging with pure humans…"
"That"s fine, I couldn"t care less what other people think." Elizabeth thought for a second before adding, "I"m going to leave for about a week then… When I come back I"ll seclude myself in cultivation until I break through to the Spirit Realm, and then perhaps go on a couple of adventures along the Danger Grounds."
"You"re going to leave?" Ygdris couldn"t quite understand Elizabeth"s reasoning. He didn"t know of her Gateway Magic nor the fact that she was an other-dimensional being. To him, it was like hearing that she wanted to leave the safety of the palace for no reason.
"Oh right, I almost forgot to mention it. I"m not originally from this dimension. Every once in a while, I need to check how things are going in my home-world, so don"t freak out if I wind up vanishing without a trace for extended periods of time."
"…" Speechless, Ygdris could only stare at the anomaly before himself with a twitch in his eye. She had done nothing but surprise and shock him since they first saw each other. First by flying at speeds nearing that of Core Formation experts, then surviving a soul attack, then revealing her Divine-tier bloodline, and now explicitly revealing herself as an other-dimensional ent.i.ty; one who could apparently move between dimensions at will.
"Bye, then~" Elizabeth said before the colors that made up her form were drained and she vanished from the spot. With the recently formed Spirit Bound Contract, she didn"t mind letting him in on some of her secrets as his loyalty was all but guaranteed.
While she thought that the conflict in the Shadow Realm concluded better than she had expected, the overall conflict in her life was only beginning. The enemies she had made with the Irelian Empire would have to wait for her strength to rise, but the Cataclysm and its myriad challenges would wait for no one. The Second Stage of the Cataclysm was fast approaching and would descend upon her unsuspecting home planet any time now.
Taking a week to think over the impending apocalypse, training a fresh batch of Mages for Earth"s defense, and focusing purely on her cultivation were the most important things to do now. With her s.p.a.cetime, s.p.a.ce, and Time Affinities all at Good Tier, she was prepared to seriously seclude herself until all her parameters were that of a Transcendent Foundation expert; a true cultivator!