Markandeya stood alone in the energy core, his breath steady but his heart racing. The beast trial had honed something vital within him—not just instinct or reaction, but the clarity to understand his place in this vast, unknowable existence. He hadn't merely survived; he'd evolved. And evolution in this world meant more than just spiritual energy.
It meant connection.
Before him, the system interface shimmered faintly, pulsing with an invitation.
[System Prompt: Initiate Core Resonance?]
Cost: 10 Points
Reward: Unlock Cosmic Bonding Feature
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
A wave of energy surged from the core, washing over him like liquid starlight. It wasn't painful, but it forced him inward. Deeper than before. Through his chakras, his qi spiral, his proto realm... into the very essence of his being. A still place. A silent place.
And then it spoke.
Not in words. In impressions.
Cosmic Bonding: The ritual of true companionship. In this multiversal journey, no cultivator travels alone.
The interface shifted again.
[Initiate First Bond: Choose Affinity Type]
Options: Beast | Artifact | Element | Will-Form | Shadow
Markandeya frowned, absorbing the choices.
"Beast feels obvious... but what about Will-Form? Or Shadow?"
A soft voice whispered from within the system. Familiar now. The Chat.
[Universal Chat Member: @Aether-Scribe has sent a message.]
@Aether-Scribe: "Your first bond shapes your early path. Beast bonds give growth partners. Artifact bonds birth living tools. Elemental bonds amplify cultivation. Will-Forms are rare—instinct born into form. Shadow... is dangerous."
He pondered. Beast was a path he understood. He'd observed them, respected them. And he needed a survival ally.
[Choice Confirmed: Beast Affinity]
The core pulsed. Then—
[Searching compatible entity...]
[Match Found: Abyss-Spine Cub (Unhatched)]
Markandeya's eyes widened. A swirl of smoky violet energy formed in front of him. Inside it, a floating egg—dark as night, threaded with glowing cracks of indigo and silver.
[Beast Profile: Abyss-Spine Cub]
Type: Growth-Type Spirit Beast
Traits: Dimensional Phasing, Bone Spikes, Adaptive Sentience
Bond Level: 0 (Unhatched)
He reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the egg, a spark leapt into his soul.
Memories not his own. Vast cold. Pressure. Hunger. The feeling of being buried beneath cosmic tides.
The cub wasn't conscious yet—but its instinct was ancient.
[Bond Established]
[System Note: Hatch by feeding resonant energy through emotion-channeling meditation.]
He sat, cradling the egg, and let his mind dive deep. Not into technique or logic—but into warmth. Hope. A fragment of his first joy when he touched the flame of spirit. The thrill of the mist beast trial. The wonder when he first saw the spiral of qi rotate.
The egg warmed.
A crack.
Another.
And then—
A small, shadowy creature emerged. Four-legged, its fur shimmered between dark grey and deep blue. Bone spikes ran along its back like a ridged crown. Its eyes—void black, like portals.
It sniffed. Then licked his hand.
Markandeya laughed.
[Abyss-Spine Cub Hatched. Bond Level 1]
Traits Unlocked: Partial Dimensional Phase, Spike Flick
The cub blinked at him, then shimmered—and vanished. He felt it settle somewhere within his proto realm, sleeping.
[Passive Granted: Beast Anchor – Slight boost to spiritual stability and threat awareness.]
With the bond complete, Markandeya opened his status screen. A new tab glowed faintly: [Companions]. Another titled [Quests] had also appeared.
[New Quest Available – Rank Initiation Task 1]
Name: Echoes of Origin
Objective: Investigate your past to uncover karmic traces. One memory fragment must be fused into the soul thread.
Reward: Rank Point ×1, Memory Technique (Rare)
He blinked.
"Past? You mean Earth?"
The system pulsed.
[Memory Archive Pathway Opening... Prepare for Soul Dive]
Without waiting, the system drew him in. The core shimmered. His body froze—spirit plunging through a river of fragmented thought.
He felt the soft scrape of a school desk beneath his fingers. The dry air of a summer fan in a cramped Indian classroom. Old books. Chalk dust. The feeling of sitting at the back row, half-listening, half-dreaming.
He was back. Just for a moment.
A teenage boy, dreaming of stars.
The teacher's voice droned on, but he was sketching diagrams in the corner of his notebook—wormholes, spirit cores, the physics of imaginary things.
A memory surfaced fully—one he hadn't known he still carried. He had stood in front of an internet café, watching a YouTube video titled "What If Cultivation Was Real?" That had been the spark.
He touched that memory.
The soul thread lit up.
[Karmic Trace Acquired: Seed of Wonder (Earth-Origin)]
[Memory Fused]
[Technique Gained: Wonder Visualization – Meditation method that allows one to enhance insight and attunement to unknown energies.]
Markandeya woke in the energy core, gasping.
His mind had expanded again.
"This is how I grow. This is how I climb the ranks. By knowing myself. By bonding. By learning."
The cub stirred in his soul realm.
He looked toward the cosmic wall where the chat interface now gleamed.
[Universal Chat Tier 0 – Rank 0 Initiate]
[Points: 13 | Quests Completed: 2 | Rank Task Progress: 1/10 | Rank Duel: Not Initiated]
Markandeya cracked his knuckles.
He had a beast companion.
He had a soul technique.
And for the first time, he understood that this path wasn't lonely.
He stared into the glowing core and whispered, "Let's begin for real."