Spirit Beast Enlightenment: A Beast Taming Progression Fantasy

The pressure came off of Ryker in waves. He didn’t even particularly release it on purpose. All he did was enter a state of focus, and suddenly it was like the world had primed itself to listen to his call.

Several of the Valorian Clan members found themselves shaken. After Ryker appeared looking so hobbled, many who felt that this was already a joke had begun to turn their brains off, pawning it off to the first of them to end this quickly so that they could go home or maybe court one of the several young misses that had come here for the spectacle.

However, this…

Alaric found himself shaking. He was supposed to be the first up, the order having long since been decided. But now…

Ryker’s gaze flashed, and it suddenly landed on him. After reading the body language of everyone else, it was easy enough to figure out exactly who his opponent was.

“Scram up here.”

Ryker didn’t speak very loudly, and yet his voice still seemed to boom. The sunny skies above began to slowly cloud over, and the sharpness of the light of midday dimmed, becoming overcast.

It looked as though it just might rain at any time, but nothing could be more overcast than Alaric’s heart.

There was a heavy silence that hung through the arena, and most didn’t even know how to react to these changes at all. Very few expected that things would happen like this.

What they didn’t know was that Ryker had no interest in this farce. His mind was solely focused on making sure that his family would be able to survive in six months' time.

He had only issued this challenge for two main reasons.

The first was in order to avoid punishment that would have resulted from what he had done the night he arrived. He didn’t have time to waste with the Valorian Clan’s petty rules.

The second was in order to claim the resources that were rightfully his.

As for a potential third byproduct of all of this… he didn’t mind wiping the years of humiliation he had faced out in a single sitting.

Alaric might not have been a child of one of the Glory Mythics, but he was a mainline descendant. In fact, he was a descendant of a familiar man who went by Old Crow.

Old Crow was, of course, the retired member of the Sealing Cores that had clashed with Ryker on the night of his return. His bloodline was one of the more powerful ones in the family outside of Leopold’s main line, and he was obviously of the same generation as the Patriarch. Though, just as obviously, his age was showing much more prominently.

All things considered, Old Crow was a first cousin of Leopold, so Alaric was family, though distant. It was just that… Ryker didn’t care.

Alaric knew that he couldn’t throw the face of his bloodline by backing out now. He walked toward the arena slowly but firmly. As he did so, he summoned his beasts one after another, aiming to give himself the largest chance there was.

By the time he had stepped onto the arena, all nine of his beasts had surrounded him.

His team could be said to be well balanced. He had two flying beasts in the skies, three tanks at the forefront, a perfect mount, and three more beasts that very clearly had an array of area control abilities.

Alaric was a 5th Circle Talent, and all of his beasts were also 5th Circle Talents. He was 24 this year and was steadily holding onto his placement on the Glory Path, being a recently promoted Third Ascended.

To others, at this cultivation Realm, and with the support of six Second Ascended and three Third Ascended Beasts, he should be able to steamroll Ryker.

And yet, despite the fact Ryker hadn’t brought out a single beast, the apprehension in his heart and that of everyone else only grew.

“Ready?” Ryker asked lightly.

He could have attacked already, and yet he waited patiently, allowing Alaric to prepare everything he wanted.

Alaric knew that he was being humiliated, and he could practically feel his grandfather’s enraged glare from here, but he could only grit his teeth and reply.

“Yes.”

“Then attack.”

Silence fell, and the wind rustled Ryker’s sky blue robes. Despite the frailty of his appearance, he was immaculately dressed even more so than usual. His little wife had taken greater care of him this morning than even he usually did, and that was saying something.

But right now, the fluttering of these robes was nothing more than a taunt to Alaric. Had Ryker come for a battle? Or a gala?

He used his rage to gather up his courage, and at that moment, his tank beasts charged forward.

The battle began suddenly and forcefully, but Ryker had still yet to summon a single beast. He only raised his finger, his other hand clasped behind his back. He took a single breath and then exhaled.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The air rippled like the surface of water, and the Dao of Sealing combined with the Divined Chain Spiritual Resonance. Before the beasts could take a third stride toward Ryker, they were sealed in place, crashing to the ground.

Alaric’s expression changed. He immediately slammed his palms forward from the back of his horse mount. He was used to dealing with Divined Chain since those of the Glory Path sparred all the time, so he also knew how to dispel it. Yet, when he tried…

CLANG! CRACK.

Alaric’s Divined Chains shattered on contact as though they weren’t worthy of even standing before Ryker’s own.

Tap. Tap.

The two bird beasts in the skies unleashed a squeal as they plummeted from above like a pair of hot potatoes.

Ryker knew each and every one of these beasts like the back of his hand. He didn’t need more than a few seconds of observation to seal them away. And what mistakes he made in his speed could be more than made up for by his Dao of Sealing…

Alaric didn’t even have the right to stand in front of him.

He sat there on his kneeling steed, shell-shocked. The area around Ryker was completely untouched but for the shattered bits of the arena that he, himself, had caused.

“I…” Alaric began to speak when Ryker drew a line across the air with a finger.

A wind scythe took shape and suddenly rocketed forward with blinding speed.

Old Crow stood to his feet, but there was absolutely nothing that he could do. And even if he could… he wouldn’t dare to.

The wind scythe cut into Alaric’s chest like it was tofu before blinking out of existence. No one seemed to realize that Ryker could have cut him in half had he felt like it.

Ryker slowly lowered his finger and clasped his second hand behind his back.

“Next.”

His voice rumbled like thunder, and whether by coincidence or not, the clouded skies above shook as well, a flash of lightning zooming by before a thunderous boom echoed.

Old Crow’s eyes were practically popping out of their sockets, but he forced himself to sit back down.

Everyone could tell that Ryker didn’t have to injure Alaric. The battle was clearly over…

He had done it for one reason and one reason only.

Because he wanted to.

Ryker looked up toward Old Crow. He would injure his descendant to the point he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for months… and what could he do about it?

The next battle began, and it was no different. Again and again, Ryker never moved a single step. Many who had come for a show found their hearts fluttering with a cold breeze.

Was it possible for someone who seemed so weak and frail to display this level of power?

Eventually, there were none left that weren’t a part of Ryker’s direct family. These few were meant to pose the greatest challenge, the children of the two Glory Mythics, Geffrei and Hugo, the grandchildren of Leopold, and the first Elevated experts that Ryker would face.

One of the greatest hurdles to Challenging the Glory Path was the impact on stamina. And yet… Ryker didn’t look as though he had fought a single battle.

It all looked like a joke.

Even until now, no one seemed to know how to react.

Leopold sat on his throne in silence, his expression unreadable. Other than a slight hint of seriousness, even Ryker’s enemies hadn’t shown much of a reaction. It felt as though most of them were simply shell-shocked.

The feats of Ryker Valorian had long been spread… but it had been almost a decade since the last time many talked about him in earnest.

Even in his very early teens, Ryker had been able to keep up with the Glory Path, something that was a shock to many considering he was still stuck at the 1st Enlightenment Realm. Back then, it had been a huge deal, especially since Ryker didn’t have a Spirit Beast to rely upon.

However, it had been too long since then, and many had forgotten just the level of combat prowess Ryker had always been known to have.

What good was it having strong combat power in the Enlightenment Realm if all of your peers had now become Ascendeds?

Now, with every tap of his finger, every casual swing of his arm, and every moment he remained in the same exact spot, those memories seemed to be dredged up one after another until they returned to the forefront of their minds.

The public tended to have very short-term memory, but now they were being reminded… reminded of the genius that was Ryker Valorian, the child that set the galaxy ablaze when he completed his talent assessment ceremony and contracted his first partner at just three years old.

Thorne slowly stood to his feet, his gaze flickering.

Thorne was the son of Hugo, the middle brother of the Glory Mythics. Ryker’s father was the youngest, while Geffrei was the oldest. As for Thorne, of Hugo’s two sons, he was the youngest, though not nearly as young as Isla, who was too young to participate.

Before, Isla had felt that it was unfortunate that she was too young as all defenders had to be within three years of the challenger. But now, looking down at Ryker with a complicated glance, she felt that maybe… she was actually quite lucky.

Isla took a breath in the crowd and exhaled. As amazing as Ryker was, he had lost too much time. Her brother Thorne was already a First Elevated expert.

The gap between each Realm in the Ascension Realm was already enormous, but the gap between each of the three segments was even more exaggerated.

Until now, Ryker had yet to face a single opponent with a full slate of nine Third Ascended beasts, but now he was about to face her brother who had already helped more than half of his partners reach the First Elevated Realm.

The gap between Thorne and the others that Ryker had already defeated was far too large.

Thorne calmly stepped onto the broken arena. Unlike the others, he didn’t rush to summon his beasts.

He seemed like the quiet sort, his gaze hidden behind the frame of his glasses and his emotions difficult to read. He was no less meticulously dressed than Ryker, but the difference was that he was very clearly wearing robes designed for battle.

They were heavy, black, and when they flapped in the wind, it sounded as though heavy slabs of leather were slapping against each other.

In comparison, Ryker looked no different from an Imperial Prince, the slight golden embroidery accenting his sky-blue robes and giving him a rare air of majesty.

With a thought, Thorne’s Spirit Energy thrummed and a beast manifested.

It was a beautiful rainbow-scaled snake with a body so thick that Ryker knew he couldn’t wrap his arms all the way around it. It must have been at least 20 to 30 meters in length, a true behemoth of a beast.

Ryker recognized it immediately. It was the Seven Color-Poison Serpent, a rare 7th Circle Talent Spirit Beast.

Its so-called Color-Poison wasn’t poison in the normal sense but rather attacked the senses. Its first five colors could take away sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—when all five were activated at once, it would snatch away proprioception, making it nigh impossible for one to control their own body. Its last two colors, however, were even more devastating. The sixth color could take away one’s sense of Spirit Energy, making it difficult to circulate, control, and even replenish.

The seventh color was truly mysterious as many didn’t know what it was meant to take away. In the end, it started to be used simply as a way to enhance the other Color-Poisons.

That said, it had a very special use against those with Spiritual Resonances… it was known to be able to suppress and even outright destroy them in many cases.

However, now that Ryker was seeing it, he had a feeling that he had a clearer understanding now of what sense it was meant to take away.

The Dao.

A marvelous beast indeed, and its position on Thorne’s team was likely no weaker than Phoenix’s position on Ryker’s own.

Thorne didn’t speak, but his intention was clear. He would crush Ryker with the same speed as Ryker had the others.

However, Ryker only blandly looked forward and spoke the same words he had spoken to everyone else.

“Ready?”

Thorne’s eyes narrowed and the air seemed to be sucked out of the arena. He seemed to realize that Ryker was truly treating him no differently from anyone else.

“No reply?” Ryker continued to ask. “Take all the time you need. I plan to be particularly heavy-handed this time around. Are you sure you only want to summon a single beast?”

A dangerous multi-colored aura began to emit from Thorne’s rainbow serpent. By this point, beasts, especially 7th Circle ones, were more than intelligent enough to speak and understand speech. How could it not know that its master was being mocked?

However, it was also well-trained. It certainly wouldn’t move without Thorne’s command.

“We will see if you have the right to say such a thing.”

BANG!

The serpent didn’t need a second word. It shot forward with a speed that dwarfed what should have been possible for its size.

A multi-colored Spirit Energy radiated out from it in waves and suddenly solidified into a rainbow Domain that expanded across the shattered arena.

Ryker pressed a finger down and tried to use his Divined Chains again, but the serpent and Thorne only sneered.

The chains broke apart the moment they contacted the swirl of seven lights.

The serpent bore down, covering the rest of the distance in a blink and smashing down with its tail.

The Seven Color-Poison Serpent wasn’t particularly known for its bodily strength, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t powerful; it was just that its poison was far more famous.

However, when it coated itself in its Seven Color-Poison armor, its durability reached an unprecedented level. The only way most had to break this shield was raw power because energy simply didn’t work on it. But the moment one touched it, they would slowly begin to lose all of their senses.

It was a creature so impossibly powerful that many could only wait to die beneath its might.

It seemed that the battle would truly end swiftly, so swiftly that Ryker might not even be left with a body when it was all said and done.

His parents clenched their fists, Jaana bit her lip so hard that she drew blood, and his grandmother looked like she was teetering on the edge of life and death, her body so frail that the wind could have blown her away.

BOOM!

What remained of the arena shattered to pieces as the tail swung down. Gasps resonated and many felt their hearts constrict. Even those who hoped to see Ryker fall wanted to see his corpse right this moment. If they didn’t, they would never feel at ease.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get such an opportunity. It was unknown who did it first, but soon there was a wave of people looking into the skies, only to find a pale-faced Ryker standing there from above.

“It seems that maybe I really was a bit too arrogant. I can take responsibility for that; I gave you all a handicap that was a little too big.”

Ryker’s Spirit Energy rolled, and it felt like slicing blades were cutting through his body, but he didn’t flinch in the slightest despite the fact his face only became all the paler.

At that moment, a Silver Mirror slowly floated up from his back to hang behind his head like a halo of white-silver.

At first, many thought that this was nothing more than a joke until they were frozen in silence. The implication of this matter suddenly hit them with the force of a meteor falling from the skies.

The silver mirror glowed, and the seven-colored light of the serpent was perfectly reflected within it.

Right then, even Leopold’s pupils constricted into pinholes. Ryker’s words from earlier couldn’t help but echo in his ears.

“If any one of your precious descendants can withstand 18 years of ridicule, 18 years of suppression, 18 years of… patience… then you can talk to me about what I lack. Until then, I’ve long grown past the age of needing guidance.”

He didn’t run out of patience at all. He had already long proven that his own path was correct, he was just waiting for them as fools to jump right into his trap.

Ryker’s talent had never fallen. He was still the very first 9th Circle Talent in the history of their galaxy. And when he moved, the world obeyed.

The Silver Mirror began to shine a blinding light.