Later that day, Ri sat on her bed back in a comfortable pair of sweats and a sports bra. However, the bed was decidedly more filled than she was used to. .𝘤𝘰

To her left was Dyon, but Lyla and Little Black were here too, happily playing.

Dyon smiled at the scene, leisurely reclining in the piles of endless pillows. “So tell me Little Black, what changed?”

Dyon felt he had failed, in a way. He knew so much about so many things, but in a lot of ways, today was probably the most he had ever learned about beasts. The worst part was that he learned it from Elwing.

All Dyon knew up until now was that, other than his coincidental run in with the 25th White Mother, her husband, and Little Black, many of the creatures of the martial realm were simply evolved forms of creatures from the mortal realm.

A perfect example of this was Ores’ white tiger. From afar, it looked no different from one you might find in a mortal realm zoo, until you took notice of its striking stripes and crystalline teeth.

From what Dyon could garner, this was the perfect representation for what an earth level beast might be: slightly evolved forms of well-known creatures from the mortal realm. Their differences were probably due to cultivation, specialized pills, and selective breeding. The thought of this intrigued Dyon about the concept of a beast related profession…

But he hadn’t heard talk of it. After all, even if you were in such a profession, would you breed worth while beasts? How viable would such a profession be in the future?… it wasn’t like you could breed transcendent and supreme level beasts… could you?

‘Hmm, I guess it earth level beasts might be quite useful at this level though…’

Dyon had read about specialized units used during campaigns that relied heavily on such beasts. And, obviously, in a gate capped at the peak of essence gathering, weaker beasts like this might be quite useful.

Dyon was finally snapped out of his thoughts by Little Black’s response, a bit surprised to find the little boy blushing.

“Ah, Big brother, about that… I could have turned into a human whenever I wanted, it’s just that I grow faster in my beast form. So, I wanted to stay in that form longer so I could help you sooner…”

A sudden realization hit Dyon. ‘So that’s why he looks like he’s around eight years old despite being one year old…’

But, then, Dyon grinned. “I get it.” Dyon looked to Little Lyla who was getting her hair combed by Ri.

Dyon sighed. Little Black wanted to grow up beside Little Lyla, he couldn’t fault him for that. Dyon took Little Black as his younger brother, so, Little Black’s happiness came first.

Stretching out his fist, Dyon smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a normal kid Little Black. Let your big brother handle everything else.”

Little Black’s face lit up with happiness as his small fist bumped against Dyon’s.

Dyon smiled, rubbing his little brother’s head. “Tell me more about it.”

Little Black nodded seriously.

“High ranking beasts are often born with an advantage of having ingrown legacies… much of the information I need about wills, cultivation, and techniques are already within me. Only when I surpass my parents would I infuse myself with more information to pass it onto to my own kids,” Little Black blushed adorably saying this, but he tried his best to continue. “For example, my father had his legacy etched into his horns…

The truth is that human can do this too, but their bodies are much weaker in comparison to ours… The passing on of transcendent and supreme level beast legacies to your offspring is part of what makes it extremely difficult for high level beasts to have high level children. But, at the same time, even lower level legacies would be too much for a human new born to handle.”

Dyon nodded. ‘This much mean that male dragons have the ability to limit the amount of legacy they pass on to have lower ranking children… Or maybe, they’re the only beasts who are willing to do something like that?’

“So, the ingraining of a baby with legacies to help their future cultivation is more detrimental to humans than the benefits it would provide?” Asked Dyon.

Little Black nodded. “So, basically I have all of the information I need. But, with this information comes a choice. I had three paths: the beast path and the human path, and the much more complicated path that combines both.

“If I chose the beast path, I would never be able to turn into a human again. But, with that, comes a great boost to my body cultivation. However, there’s also a drastic dip in my energy and soul cultivation capabilities.”

Dyon smiled. ‘He’s quite well spoken for an eight-year-old. Seems both my little brother and sister are special.’

“If I chose the human path, I’d have a direct boost in soul and energy cultivating, but my body cultivating would suffer. Also, I would lose many of my legacies. Although the beast path loses you legacies as well, it isn’t anywhere near as many that disappear.

“And then there’s the final path, the path my mother and father took – combining both.”

Dyon pondered for a bit. “So, you can turn back into your beast form if you want to?”

Little Black nodded. “I can, but my growth will slow in proportion to how long I stay in human form. Meaning, if I spend a year in human form, I’ll only experience that level of change. A year in beast form is worth a bit more than five times that.”

Dyon smiled. “Little Black, I’m here to protect you. Take your time and live your life the way your parents wanted you to. When the time is right, we’ll go wreak havoc on your father’s enemies.”

Little Black’s eyes glistened listening to Dyon. He had long since accepted this big brother of his, but it seemed like with every passing day, that respect only grew larger.

“Big Brother, can you pick a name for me?”

“A name?” Dyon asked questioningly.

Little Black nodded. “Beasts usually have two names. One at birth. And another when they choose their martial path.” 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚

Dyon pondered for a bit. “I see…”

Little Black’s eyes glistened. “Can you give me a really cool name that means destroying mountains or grabbing the sky?”

Dyon chuckled, he had almost forgotten Little Black was still a kid. “Alright then. How about… Zaire Sacharro?”

A smile spread across Little Black’s small face. “What does that mean big brother?”

Rubbing Little Black’s dark hair Dyon smiled. “It means ‘river that swallows all rivers.’”

“Big bro, that’s super cool! Hehe.”

Ri and Little Lyla giggled at Zaire’s pure reaction. This was a really nice moment they were all content with. So, just like that, the small family of sorts spent some time together before Dyon and Ri sent them off to bed.

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