Death... and me

In the end, Rean got quite a few favors and items. He didn't know if he would ever use any of it, but it was good to have them at hand.

"Phew... it is finally over."

Droman nodded.

"Indeed. Alright, let's go back and start practicing the formations."

Rean was about to nod his head when suddenly, a disciple entered his room in a hurry. Droman narrowed his eyes, seeing that.

"What is it? Do you need anything?"

The disciple then quickly bowed to Elder Droman as he looked at Rean.

"Fellow Disciple Rean, elder Javiu is summoning you urgently. It seems like it has something to do with the egg you left in his care."

Rean's eyes lit up as he looked at Droman.

"Sorry, elder Droman. I have to pay a visit to the Beast Taming District. I'll see you later in your room."

Before Droman could even answer, Rean disappeared from the room in a flash. 

'This boy... doesn't he know how to properly treat his master? Where is the paying of respect before leaving my presence?'

In the end, Droman sighed and left as well. 

Rean didn't know what Droman was thinking, and he probably wouldn't care that much either. He even used his Life Style First Form to get there faster.

Finally, he arrived at the barn where his egg was being taken care of. However, he was taken aback by what he saw. But before he could ask anything, he heard Javiu's voice coming from the side.

"Oh, you are here. That is your egg, so you go and do something about it."

At the moment, the egg was absorbing all the Spiritual Energy of the surroundings like a black pit. It was to the point where it was hard to stay close to it.

"This... what happened?"

Javiu shook his head after hearing that.

"No idea. It was still as always until suddenly, it became like this. Anyway, you better feed it with Spiritual Energy soon. From what I can see, it is trying to hatch, but for some reason, it needs a lot of Spiritual Energy to do so."

Demon Beasts absorbing Spiritual Energy to hatch isn't anything rare. Even the mammals do it with their mothers. However, the amount was usually small to the point that no one would notice. Elder Javiu could sense how weak the Spiritual Energy inside the egg during the nurturing was. He always thought that a useless demon beast would come out of it and couldn't understand why Rean put so much importance on it. At most, it was taking a lot more time to hatch than what he initially expected.

However, his opinion completely changed now. He had never seen a demon beast egg absorbing so much energy like this before.

Rean then looked at elder Javiu before saying.

"Elder Javiu, can you let me alone with it?"

Javiu didn't know why Rean asked him to leave. Still, since it was his egg and he paid to use the barn, he decided to do as Rean asked.

Of course, there was a reason why Rean asked that. He would need to access the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

Rean was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Obviously, he didn't have that much energy to give the egg. Without another choice, he could only bring out his Spirit Stones. Of course, if even Elder Javiu, who was in the Core Formation Realm, didn't dare get close to the egg, he wasn't idiot enough to do that either. That being said, Rean began to throw spirit stones close to the egg.

The egg's absorption power was really frightening. As soon as a Spirit Stone appeared in Rean's hand, its Spiritual Energy already began to flow out before he even threw them at it.

'Such a frightening absorption power. Still, why do I feel some familiarity with it?'

Sister Orb answered that question.

[Oh, that's because you kept this egg in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm for a long time. Although I don't know what demon beast it is, I knew it was something interesting due to its Life Energy Purity. After staying in the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm, the Yin and Yang power that exists here was also absorbed inside it. Most likely, a mutation happened during it that time that created this connection with you and probably Roan as well.]

Rean couldn't help but lament once again.

'I wonder why you always forget to tell those things ahead of time.'

[Teehee.]

A vein popped on Rean's head.

'If just she wasn't so much stronger than me...'

Leaving Sister Orb's memory issues aside, Rean kept throwing his Spirit Stones at the egg as it absorbed it without stopping. At some point, Rean's Rank One Spirit Stones were gone for good.

'Just how much hungrier it can be?'

Without another choice, Rean began to throw Rank Two Spirit Stones as well. Fortunately, he had received a payment recently. Because he already finished his own, Roan, and Malaka's weapons, he had no need for more High-Quality Materials. That being said, he took his payments with Spirit Stones alone.

The Spirit Stones then began to disappear.

10...

20...

40...

100...

200...

Before he could complain, a thousand Spirit Stones were gone, just like that. 

"For fucking sake! How much more are you going to absorb?"

Still, it was as if the egg completely ignored Rean's voice and continued to absorb the Spiritual Energy inside all th stones thrown at it.

It wasn't after around 3400 that it finally stopped absorbing the Spiritual Energy of the stones. Of course, Rean was feeling quite helpless. Even though he has a lot of Spirit Stones, that is still a tremendous amount.

*Crack.*

[Quickly. Elder Javiu said that you had to be the first one that it sees. It will help you form an emotional bond with it.]

Rean nodded as he approached the egg. 

*Crack, crack, crack...*

Thes egg's crack spread everywhere until suddenly, a hole appeared as a small head popped out. 

It was yellow...

It was small...

It was weak...

It was...

"A chick?"

Obviously, Rean didn't believe it was a chick. After all, the egg was several times bigger than a chicken egg. Naturally, this chick was just as big. Maybe an ostrich hatchling would be more fit. Besides, where have you ever seen a chicken egg absorbing over three thousand Rank Two Spirit Stones before even being born? That is ridiculous.

*Chi, Chi!*

The young chick flapped its plumed wings as it looked at Rean. It tried to get up, but it soon tripped, falling with its head on the ground.

However, it was thanks to this trip that Rean noticed the plumage on the top of its head. It barely formed the shape of a crown. Not only that, but the crown was made with black and white plumage, different from the rest of the body.

Rean then helped the 'sticky' chick up. One must remember it was just born. That being said, its body was still full of the amniotic liquid all over. However, Rean could feel the connection between him and the chick even more clearly now. Sister Orb was right. He could feel some of his own power inside it. At the same time, he could feel a little of Roan's power too.

"Sigh... Oh well, let's help clean you up first."

Rean then poured some water inside a tub and placed the chick there. While Rean cleaned the little guy, he also asked Sister Orb.

'What kind of Demon Beast is it?'

[No idea. But I can tell that the crown was obviously formed because of the Yin Yang energy it absorbed inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. It might have something to do with its own powers as well.]

Rean nodded as he thought about something. Right after, he began to gather Light Element on his hands. The moment he did it, the chick seemed to have understood something. It was then that Light Element began to gather around the chick as well. Not only that, but the white plumes that formed half of the crown shined as the chick absorbed it.

"This... it can also use Light Element?"

[Seems like it. This Demon Beast is probably quite an impressive one since it can mutate to the point of being able to absorb the same element as you. Judging by the other half of the crown that is black, it can probably use Dark Element too.]

The water on the tub then began to heat up as the Light Element gathered around the chick. However, the chick quickly got tired and stopped using its Spiritual Energy to assemble it.

Still, Rean quite liked the chick.

'Well, since it can gather Light and Dark Element, it is definitely compatible with Roan and me. Let's see what it will become in the future. No, wait! Perhaps, elder Javiu knows something about it.'

With that idea in mind, Rean finished cleaning the chick and brought it outside to ask Javiu.