Chapter 201: The Partner
Priam took the Jade Slip and thanked her respectfully. On his arm, his tiny ethereal companion squirmed, gliding gently across his skin with obvious excitement.
At that moment, Mishnar pulled out another Jade Slip from her storage space and handed it to him.
"This might help you too. It’s a compilation of basic knowledge used by ordinary Beast Tamers."
She explained that Beast Tamers were a specialized branch of Catalyst Mages. They weren’t known for being particularly strong in direct combat, but they were notoriously difficult to kill. After all, they used their contracted beasts as living shields while attacking from a distance with a huge variety of methods.
Most of the time, Beast Tamers also specialized in Inscriptions, Talismans, or Catalyst Mage combat styles that allowed them to fight personally.
In the wild, ordinary beasts were usually pathetically weak compared to Mages. However, through a Beast Tamer’s proper nurturing techniques, it was possible to multiply their raw power several times over.
Of course, the amount of resources required to make an ordinary beast useful in high-level combat was something any average Mage would consider absurd.
However, high-level Catalyst Mages who specialized in production tended to be absurdly wealthy and didn’t mind spending fortunes.
Mishnar even mentioned a famous case in the Divine Plane: an Inscription Master who was also a Beast Tamer. He gathered a pack of ten beasts and nurtured them with the best resources possible from birth.
Fighting together in perfect sync, those ten creatures managed to kill a low-level Sage entirely on their own.
That was probably the pinnacle of power a Beast Tamer could achieve.
Even so, the amount of resources consumed to raise that group was equivalent to ten years of the Ironweald Sect’s entire budget. In other words, it was a feat completely beyond the reach of ordinary Mages.
Priam listened quietly. In truth, he wasn’t a Beast Tamer, but this knowledge could genuinely help him raise his partner.
"I’ll investigate thoroughly and punish whoever was responsible for sending that disciple after you during your exile with the harshest possible measures," Mishnar declared in an icy voice. "For now, return to your faction and prepare for the next competition. It’ll be a true life-or-death battle involving every faction in this branch."
Priam nodded seriously. With a simple gesture, he recalled the tiny ethereal figure back into his inner space.
The instant the creature entered, the overwhelming aura of the Primordial Chaos Beast vanished from the room as though it had never existed.
Mishnar was slightly stunned.
’What a terrifying Ancient Art...’
It was almost impossible for a Beast Tamer to completely hide the presence of their partners. A Mage of that type could usually be identified by their aura alone. But even though it was a Primordial Chaos Beast, not even Mishnar could sense its presence within Priam anymore.
Besides, if it were something simple and common for every Beast Tamer to possess a Primordial Chaos Beast, then that type of Mage would automatically become the most terrifying existence of all.
That meant the Ancient Art capable of doing something like this could only belong to an incredibly ancient and famous race. Yet that only left Mishnar puzzled, since she’d never even heard of Priam’s race before.
Priam stood up from his chair, and Mishnar activated her emblem, distorting space to send him back.
...
A few seconds later, the scenery changed, and Priam reappeared right in the center of his faction’s territory.
He took a deep breath of fresh air, finally relaxing a little...
"COUSIN!"
An excited shout rang through the air. Turning around, Priam saw Flaris, Shione, Lumiere, and Dandara running toward him.
The eyes of all four shone with an intense mix of relief and excitement.
"Hmm? I was only away training for two months. There’s no need to make such a big fuss," Priam said with a faint smile. "How are things around here?"
The four of them let out long sighs, finally allowing all the tension that had built up to leave their minds.
Shione stepped forward and spoke bluntly.
"Our faction currently has a little over nine hundred people. Everyone else... was properly expelled."
Priam nodded seriously. It was the expected outcome. There had been far too many potential traitors and opportunists who had joined his faction. At least now they could have a reasonable amount of trust in the members who remained.
"Boss, I only gave your potion to those who proved absolute loyalty. I swear on my life they won’t betray us," Dandara said in a solemn tone.
Priam snorted.
"You don’t need to pressure yourself so much. I trust you. Even if you make mistakes, I know you’re doing your best, so that won’t change."
Dandara froze for a moment, swallowing hard as she clenched her fists with determination. A faint blush appeared on her face.
Priam nodded in satisfaction. She was completely motivated and focused! Now Final Boss-style Dandara should take control more often!
Standing beside them, Flaris snorted. He was certain his cousin had no idea he was digging even deeper into that young woman’s heart. He really had no clue how much of an impact he had on people.
After a few seconds, Dandara spoke.
"None of the expelled members took anything besides basic knowledge. We still have around three hundred Divine Flow Opening Potions left."
"Good. Sell them to disciples from the other factions," Priam replied calmly.
"Use every point you earn to buy materials for the other three Divine Physical Refinement Potions. You can find the herbs at the sect’s marketplace. As for the rarer ingredients, negotiate directly with the sect’s beasts. If it’s possible to buy what they want with contribution points, don’t hesitate."
Dandara swallowed hard.
Sell three hundred Divine Flow Opening Potions?!
Each one of those treasures was worth at least one million contribution points within the sect!
If she priced them just slightly below the market value, every single one would sell in the blink of an eye. The number of points they’d earn would be astronomical!
With that fortune, they could easily buy all the materials needed to refine thousands of different potions, on top of satisfying every demand the beasts might have.
"I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. Get everything as quickly as possible so I can refine new batches for everyone," Priam said as he headed straight toward the central cave without wasting another second.
Flaris, Lumiere, and Shione nodded firmly, their eyes shining with complete focus. Now that their leader was back, they could finally relax and devote themselves completely.
"I’ll be back in the blink of an eye!" Dandara replied energetically, immediately dashing toward the forest.
...
Priam finally arrived at his private room. There was a mountain of things he needed to study and practice, but the moment he stepped inside, his first priority was only one thing.
With a simple thought, he released his little partner.
After all, he had promised to take proper care of her. That was his absolute priority.
The tiny ethereal flame emerged and floated gently through the air. Priam held out his palm, letting her settle on it, and smiled with genuine affection.
"Little one... I know you’re really curious about everything around you, but without a physical body to interact with the world, life’s kind of difficult, don’t you think?" he murmured softly.
Obviously, she still couldn’t understand his words directly. But through the bond of their contract, Priam’s intentions were perfectly clear to her.
The little flame quivered happily in his hand, giving off a warm glow. Priam chuckled quietly, realizing she had understood exactly what he meant and was more than willing to cooperate.
"Good. I’m going to read the Jade Slip now. I’ll explain everything that’s in here to you, so we’ll work through it together, step by step, okay?"
Priam made himself comfortable on the bed. Overflowing with energy and curiosity, the tiny creature began moving across his body, gently rubbing against his neck and arms.
Priam began absorbing the contents of the Jade Slip, calmly translating and teaching everything to her through their connection.
He expected it to be a long and exhausting process. After all, she had only just been born.
But Priam forgot one small detail: she wasn’t a newborn humanoid—she was a Primordial Chaos Beast that had spent hundreds of thousands of years being nurtured inside her egg.
Her intelligence was frighteningly high. On top of that, her Anima attribute of 95 wasn’t just for show.
A few hours later, Priam finished reading everything.
The record indeed contained ancient techniques for a spiritual race, teaching both the Art of Metamorphosis and the path to becoming a Mage.
However...
"Damn... The metamorphosis explained here is just the absolute basics," Priam muttered. "After that, it jumps straight into creating the body most compatible with that ancient race, not how to create a free-form body. Building a physical body from scratch is incredibly complicated, but... this is still far better than nothing."
Looking at the little flame, Priam noticed she had gone completely still, silently floating in place.
Before he could wonder what was happening, her ethereal form glowed with a gentle light and began expanding.
Priam’s eyes widened.
’She’s already using Metamorphosis? I only explained it once!’
Creating that body required manipulating life energy with a fair amount of precision.
For any normal Mage, controlling life energy and shaping it was a monumental challenge that demanded months of rigorous training. Much less for a newborn who wasn’t even a Mage yet.
"I need to remind myself more often that you’re a little monster too," he sighed with a proud smile.
The next second, the light faded, and her new form stabilized.
Priam gently caught her with both hands, feeling a subtle physical weight for the first time.
"Hmm... It turned out almost exactly like the spiritual race described in the record," he smiled, admiring the tiny creature.
Her new form resembled a small land-dwelling feline, about twenty centimeters long and weighing just over a kilogram.
However, since her original bloodline was connected to a Deer rather than a Cat, her instincts had made a few adjustments. She had soft fur in a beautiful earthy-red color, bright amber eyes, and two tiny deer antler buds growing from the top of her head.
She was definitely a strange-looking cat.
But an adorable one all the same.
"Meow~"
She let out a soft, needy little meow as she adjusted herself in Priam’s hands.
"It must feel a little weird moving around in this kitten form at first, huh?" Priam murmured, gently stroking between her tiny antlers with his thumb. "But it’s only temporary. Once you become a Mage and your meridians develop, you’ll be able to use Ether to change into whatever form you want. It’ll be complicated without a guide, but little by little, you’ll figure it out."
The little creature purred and affectionately rubbed her head against his hand.
"Oh! You need a name..."
Priam finally paid attention to that detail.
He thought for a moment while looking at the deep, warm color of her fur.
His eyes lit up.
"Mirra. What do you think? Mirra is perfect for you."
"Meow!"
She nodded enthusiastically, letting out a cheerful little chirp as she immediately agreed.
"I’m glad you like it, Mirra," Priam chuckled. "Now the next step is for you to become a Mage and condense your Jade Core. I’ll explain all the different types to you, and we’ll do this slowly, without rushing and without making a single mistake, okay?"
Mirra purred again, curling up comfortably in his lap with complete trust and contentment.