"How are you here alone? This shouldn't be possible with your strength… or rather lack strength," this was the main thing bothering Jodye Trill. Something fishy was going on. Of course, Jodye knew this because he knew that they were not actually alone.

"I… well. I wasn't alone before, I traveled with a team of treasure hunters called the Crimson Riders. I got separated from the group. A detachment of us was exploring in a cave to the south when we were ambushed by fiends! While the big brothers were fighting, some others brought me away," Aiken Moon recounted his recent experience with fear in his eyes.

"Okay, so how did you end up as lunch for the big guy over there?" ask Jodye Trill.

"We encountered them while escaping! First big brother Lexi fought with the Deep Mountain Stag, while we tried to return to camp and get the captain! I told him it's weaknesses, but I fear the worst may have happened to him," said Aiken Moon, his face melancholic. "Then, big brother Tyler fought the Shadowblitz Lion. Big brother Franklin brought me away to this clearing before returning to help the others!"

Jodye Trill chose not to respond as he pondered. His crystal blue eyes made Aiken feel like they could see through to his very soul.

"But, but!" Aiken Moon was becoming a regular chatterbox, his previous anxiety lessened a lot, "This Shadowblitz Lion cub sniffed me out and attacked me! I hid under the ledge, and the next thing I knew the Deep Mountain Stag rampaged over and kicked the Shadowblitz Lion cub! Then I heard a roar that scared me silly, and the cub's father came thundering over! After that, both beasts began to combat each other! I am miserable these days. That's when you crashed landed riding on bolts of lightning and fried those two Vicious Beasts, super cool!"

Listening to Aiken grow more animated, Jodye felt like he had a better idea of what happened now. He also knew what to expect next. Further still, he had just discovered his next adventure. A cave full of fiends? Sounds perfect for Saint training! This would give him an opportunity to test this Saint Scripture.

"The big brothers that brought me away still haven't returned, I can't believe they were slain!" whined Aiken Moon, "The captain will surely kill me if he learns I, a mere map boy, survived alone. Big brother, you have to help me!"

"Stop it with the big brother thing, aren't you embarra.s.sed? Besides, there no way I'm older than you, kid," responded Jodye Trill indifferently.

...

Meanwhile, in the trees above the three youngsters, a skinny man dressed in clothes that seemed to magically blend in with the environment was holding a serenity crystal shard. If he didn't move, he would be near impossible to notice.

"Be on standby. This little show off n.o.ble brat seems a bit full of himself and doesn't know how to conserve power. It should be easy. We'll split the spoils as previously agreed," the skinny man smirked as he spoke while pouring true essence into the serenity crystal shard. As he finished speaking, he swiped his hand by the little pouch on his hip and after a flash of light had equipped himself with a set of spiked ebony bow and a quiver of razor-edged arrows. The arrowheads were made of black metal and surrounded in red slaughter runes. "My blackheart arrows have 60 bp of slaughter force a piece. Add in this C-grade combat gear, the Blackheart Bow, along with my pure force, and no n.o.ble under the Great Scholar rank would stand a chance before my bow!"

"Ready when you are Franklin. This kid's aura was golden, that's the Soph.o.m.ore rank! It's pretty scary magic, but there's no way a scholar realm brat could use an attack like that twice!" said a voice from the serenity crystal shard. "The idiot was probably just trying to be seen as a hero."

"Ready on Lexi's right, Frank! Not to mention his skin is brown like those guys in the inner wards. This kid's probably loaded, this is our luck!" said another voice.

"Hehe, we just wanted to gain a little extra benefit, and watch the slave boy frolic. But who knew we would land such a big fish. Heaven truly loves The Crimson Riders today!" said Franklin. "Well, those of us smart enough to escape anyway."

Upon thinking about the scenes in the depths of the cave, Franklin caught a chill and had gooseb.u.mps crawling up his arms. Pus.h.i.+ng these memories aside, he gave an order, "Good! You will attack at my signal, my first arrow, take his head off! If he's being protected by a treasure, just keep him still for 2 seconds and then scatter!"

After speaking, Franklin took out a silver dagger then launched it with his pure force! The blade hit a tree branch a couple of dozen meters away from where Dessa Chimes was sitting a mere second before. The target was, of course, Dessa. Merely, before the dagger could hit her, Dessa felt as if someone had gently pushed her from behind as she fell from the tree!

...

"It's Jupiter, right? Mister Jupiter sir, could we be serious? No one that would be so gullible to believe you were five years old."

"Actually, I'm six? That reminds me, one second." Jodye Trill looked away from Aiken as a magic looking black tome appeared in a flash of purple light and floated in front of Jodye. The heavenly grimoire opened to the first page, and information appeared in Jodye's mind line after line.

[Name: Joseph Goldwolf]

[Age: 6 years, 5 months.]

[Status: 99% Health, 4:30 pm]

'Sage Path: Advanced Soph.o.m.ore rank, 16 BP.'

't.i.tan Path: Level 9 Wimpy Man Realm.'

[Guardian 1: Cosmos Devouring Sky Wolf]

'Compatibility rating: 25%.'

'Tier 1 Primary ability and auxiliary abilities unlocked.'

'Active Summon time: 5 hours'

[Guardian 2: Mighty G.o.d Sky Wolf]

'Compatibility rating: 30%.'

'Tier 1 Primary ability and auxiliary abilities unlocked.'

Jodye nodded, and the heavenly grimoire vanished.

"Well anyway, about taking you home. Hmm, sorry dude, I don't plan on staying in Pangaea for too long. Nice meeting you though," Jodye Trill said indifferently while turning around.

"Well, actually I don't... I don't..." Just as Aiken Moon wanted to reply, he noticed a gorgeous crimson haired girl with porcelain skin falling from the sky above.

"Mr. Jupiter~~!!" Dessa Chimes called out in trepidation. She wasn't sure who pushed her, but Autumn Saver had asked her not to panic. She had thought this meant she was strong enough to survive the fall like Jodye. However, when Dessa actually felt the strength of the gravitational forces pulling it was quickly realized this thing called gravity is a vicious bully! Dessa may be strong enough to survive the fall, but she would definitely get hurt. However, once her eyes locked with Mr. Jupiter's sapphire like indifferent gaze, she suddenly calmed down a lot.

Jodye Trill was aware of her worries, but he just let her gain the experience. She would be of no use to him as a coward. He needed to place Dessa in extreme situations to temper her will and power! After all, she was only at the Force Foundation rank of the Fledgling Saint realm. This was the very beginning of Saint cultivation! Her bodily strength didn't surpa.s.s 4 BP yet. However, Jodye wasn't sure how much Autumn Saver could augment her power. It had to be a considerable boost for the child to have made it this far alive.

Aiken Moon immediately recognized this beauty. She was the inspiration for his manhood's first reaction in his short life. He had a severe crush on her, but no power to act. How glorious was he once? However, now he was nothing but a runaway slave. However, he still didn't want anything untoward to happen to Dessa Chimes.

Dessa was the only friend he had made in that h.e.l.l hole! What were the odds that as soon as he was rescued his friend wall fall into peril? All the color drained from his face as he started to panic, "Ah..ah.. sir please you have too… eh?"

Before Aiken could request this mysterious and powerful blue robed boy's help, he witnessed the same Shadowblitz Lion cub that was trying to play him to death earlier leap into the air and catch Dessa on its back. After landing it walked over to Jodye's front and looked down at him. Even though the beast was a head taller than Jodye, there was respect and slight fear in the Shadowblitz Lion's gaze.

"Little Aiken!" Dessa Chimes nervously climbed down from the big black and silver cat's back, rus.h.i.+ng over to her friend standing behind Jodye wit his jaw hanging. She seemed to have forgotten that she was terrified of death a moment ago. She cuffed his little face and asked, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere? What happened?"

Aiken Moon snapped out of it after Dessa grabbed his face. Tears started to fill up his eyes, before he buried his face into Dessa's bosom, crying silently. Jodye and Dessa looked at each other hopelessly. A child, was ultimately still a child. Though this boy was likely a couple of years older then Jodye, who could be like this freak child?

A ten-year-old child alone in the wilderness for weeks, Jodye was shocked he lived this long! Even if the strongest creature Jodye had encountered in this Dark Forest was only a level 5 Vicious Beast, that was still enough to send Jodye running! Let alone little Aiken.

"Mr. Jupiter, did you have to be so crazy! He's scared," Dessa Chimes grumbled cutely as she hugged the shaking little boy tenderly. Her expression reminded him of his mother and older sister Kamila. From this, Jodye could tell that these two had been somewhat close. He was momentarily touched.

However, upon thinking of Isis and Kamila Trilleck, the nine dormant astral points in Jodye's body instantly heated up. Jodye suppressed his thoughts, shrugging at Dessa and walking off to collect the battle spoils.

Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+

Several arrows surrounded by pure essence forces pierced through the air rapidly from behind. They were all aiming straight for Jodye's vitals! At the same time, two shadowy figures darted out of the bushes holding combat sabers. The sabers were surrounded by a brown atmosphere as they slashed out mercilessly with a strength that surpa.s.sed 110 bp!! Jodye was under attack from three sides and had no way to escape!

Merely, did he even need to escape?

"Two Saints. Brown aura, Perfected Essence Formation rank of the True Saint realm, hmph," Jodye Trill recognized his opponent's strength instantly with his great divine awareness and recovered memories. "They even have Advanced Nascent Pure force. Not bad, but not enough."

Similar to Sages, the strength of a saint could be discerned through the color of their true essence atmosphere or aura. Jodye used his divine awareness to alter the trajectory of the arrows, as his astral points exploded to life and he grabbed one blade in each hand. Jodye instantly spun into a spiral before the saint warriors could release their weapons, forcing the arrows to litter the bodies of the two saint warriors amidst their screams of pain.

At the same time, Jodye felt his origin energy, which was left under 40% after using thunderbolt purgatory four times, fall below 10%. Extending his divine awareness, he saw Sylvester sprawled out on a tree branch, yawning next to a ma.s.s of flames. Oddly enough, the tree was not burned in the slightest, despite the raging green and black flashes of fire. Jodye relaxed knowing Sylvester had cleaned up the sniper.

All of this happened within a few seconds. By the time Aiken Moon and Dessa Chimes turned their heads anxiously to check the commotion, what they saw were the bodies of two warriors taking turns blocking a volley of arrows like a pair of hurricane twins, before flying off in opposite directions cras.h.i.+ng into the bodies of the dead beasts on the ground. They laid in puddles of blood that was leaking from the various holes in their bodies.

"Defense boys, defense," Jodye Trill was dusting off his clothes casually. The only reason it was possible for those arrows to kill these two experts is that they had sent all of their pure essence energy into their weapons to deliver a fatal strike! Their bodies had absolutely no defense prepared, and thus they were easily pierced through. "Dessa, I need you. Please come help me skin these vicious beasts. Ah, maybe we should have some barbecue."

"Ah, you!" Aiken Moon was startled by this scene and then incensed, "You! How could you make a weak girl like Dessa do such… eh?"

As Aiken spoke, Dessa Chimes dashed past him excitedly, already helping Jodye carve up the vicious beasts. For Dessa, the thing she wanted the most was to be of use to Mr. Jupiter. She wouldn't hesitate to do anything he asked of her, even if it was jumping into a pit of fire or den of poisonous snakes!

"Barbecue, barbecue, yes, please! Oh, but Mr. Jupiter, who were these people?" asked Dessa Chimes. She was still a bit apprehensive as she glanced around the woods far more frequently than before.

"Mercenaries," said Jodye Trill kicking over a bearded man in leather armor, "The mantis stalks the cicada, while oblivious of the bird hunting him from above. They were here even before we were. However, I noticed the moment I arrived that they were here.

Dessa's eyes sparkled with the light of realization! Mr. Jupiter was so cool, he seemed to know those dangerous men would attack before he even made a move!

Aiken Moon was shocked stupid! He couldn't understand why the sweet but timid Dessa he remembered was acting this way but chalked it up to Dessa being accustomed to being ordered around. He rushed over to prevent her from hurting herself but was shocked again! As Jodye showed her what to do, she was able to carve up the beasts with no problem. Aiken wasn't even sure he could do the same unless he could recover his previous cultivation level.

"Is that all?" Jodye Trill was searching the corpses of the two strangers who attacked from the shadows. They had nothing but some gold and silver crystal notes. However, a magic pouch suddenly fell in his hand, as a sky wolf puppy casually landed on his head. Jodye was excited, "Score!"

"This! This is!" Aiken Moon shouted out in alarm, "It's big brother Lexi! So this is? Ah! It's big brother Tyler! No, Mr. Jupiter, you killed two members of the Crimson Riders! Oh no, no, no. We're in big trouble now."

"It was actually three, I suppose. Technically, the guy shooting arrows from above killed these two, even if I killed him," Jodye Trill considered Sylvester's deeds as his own, independent or otherwise. They were of one soul, after all.

"Arrows? Mr. Franklin?! Oh no, oh no! Mr. Jupiter, you don't understand, you must escape! The captain of the Crimson Riders is a madman! He's a True Saint at the Killer Essence rank! He can already kill with true essence directly! I hear that he has almost manifested his natal weapon." Aiken Moon was terrified and urged Jodye. Jodye felt touched by this kids concern and thought that this Aiken Moon was a genuine guy.

However, inwardly he turned vigilant.

A late True Saint realm expert was indeed threatening.

Then again, so what? Did he need to encounter this man?

"With my tier 1 primary spark, Devour, I can consume anything at or below your level and convert it into whatever energy you need," said Sylvester via telepathy, "As long as said energy is original, divine, or worldly. I can also refine the flesh of beasts into pure energy. Perhaps save the corpses of those you kill from now on. I don't want to contaminate your lifeblood, but we may be able to use them to restore power in battle.."

"Awesome! I think. However, isn't my rank lower than theirs?" responded Jodye.

"Are you truly an idiot? Is your body's const.i.tution inferior to theirs?" scowled Sylvester.

"Oh." Jodye Trill nodded as he pounded his fit on his palm. So it could also be like so, "In that case, let's do it."

"Store them away for now. Let's see if we can find you a better circ.u.mstance to improve your strength. An opponent at the Killer Essence rank may be troublesome, but there is no need for us to fear for our lives," said Sylvester coldly.

"Right," Jodye Trill replied telepathically as he pulled all the beast carca.s.ses, corpses, and the magic pouch into his s.p.a.ce ring. Then he stretched before responding to Aiken out loud, "We'll be fine, kid. I can't take you home, but you can definitely follow us until you're safe."

"But Mr. Jupiter…" Aiken Moon seemed unreconciled like he had more to say.

"Less of that, where is this cave you spoke of?" asked Jodye Trill impatiently, cutting off Aiken's next words.