Spirit Beast Enlightenment: A Beast Taming Progression Fantasy

The first thing Ryker thought when he finally laid eyes on his first Cyprus Seaking was that they were truly too beautiful. Ryker had seen beautiful Spirit Beasts before, but this just felt like it was on another level entirely. Even the violet fox couldn’t seem to compare.

The Cyprus Seakings only seemed to be distantly related to its ancestral seahorse lineage. Looking at them, they looked more like majestic dragons snaking through the seas. Their bodies were long, covered in an array of sky-blue and golden scales. Its spine was lined with dorsal fins that were as transparent and delicate as a koi fish’s fins, flowing through the water like silky fabric.

The scales that coated their bodies looked to live and breathe like plants swaying in the water. The sky-blue scales were in the shape of gently sculpted leaves, while the golden scales looked like refined blades capable of cutting through anything. Every time the creature took a breath, these scales would lift and descend, almost breathing along with it.

The color of their eyes varied from various shades of blue to striking golds, but what they all shared were a pair of horns that looked like branching coral reefs. These horns exuded a tremendous vitality and a lethal danger that shook the soul.

Ryker only saw this creature from afar, but he couldn’t help but feel a great amount of shock. It wasn’t just because he felt that it was too beautiful, though that might have been part of it. It was because staring at this creature, he felt every fiber of his being standing at attention. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and his heart plummeted.

This creature was only in the 7th Circle, and it was clearly the bottom of the barrel when it came to Cyprus Seakings if what the turtle beast said was true. On top of that, its cultivation wasn’t all that special, being at the Second Ascended Realm, just a step beyond him. For Ryker, who had battled two Third Elevated Spirit Beasts at once, this was hardly a cultivation Realm that he gave much of a damn about.

And yet, everything told him that if he tried to face off against this creature to test its power alone like he had originally planned to, he would be crushed. This was a shocking realization for Ryker. Of course, he could probably still eke out a win if he used Prometheus and the Silver Mirror, but right now, he truly felt like he was at a loss.

In this situation, what right did he have to snatch a 9th Circle Talent? His beasts weren’t even in the Ascended Realm right now, he was playing with fire.

To the side, the timid turtle didn’t say much, just watching from the distance just like Ryker. Then, it looked back and forth between Ryker and the creature ahead, but in the end chose to remain silent.

“Say, timid turtle,” Ryker suddenly said, regaining control of himself, “if I want to steal a Cyprus Seaking egg, how do you think I should go about that?”

Ryker said it mostly as a joke, but what he didn’t expect was that he would actually get an answer. After appearing taken aback, the timid turtle shuddered all over and hid his head. Just when Ryker was about to turn his attention elsewhere, the timid turtle spoke.

“… The Cyprus Seakings have a mating ritual they all undergo. The women enter a special valley where they store their young. Later, the men come in and compete against both one another and the restrictions left behind by the women. When they’ve conquered an egg, they then have the right to fertilize the egg and rear it.

“The weaker Cyprus Seakings will incubate the egg themselves, but the most powerful of them will choose special forces of nature to incubate their young in. However, these places are exceptionally dangerous. You might actually be better off just fighting one of them off instead of just battling it out like this.”

Ryker’s expression flickered. This sort of ritual was common for seahorse Spirit Beast lineages. Much like non-spiritual seahorses, there was a transfer of eggs and the fertilization process was handled by the men. But obviously, in this context, the process was a bit more complicated than that.

It seemed that the female Cyprus Seakings would have time to prepare tests for their potential mates. Only by passing these tests, and presumably battles against one another, could the male Cyprus Seakings win the right to fertilize the already prepared eggs.

Obviously, stealing these pre-fertilized eggs would be useless. These were only gametes, so a child hadn’t technically been conceived yet, so it would be worthless in his hands. At the same time, stealing such eggs would require entering this secret location, and presumably coming across these powerful Cyprus Seakings. That was even more ridiculous than just stealing a useless rock of an egg.

What the timid turtle said was enticing, but it was likely also correct about the danger of such regions. However… Ryker’s gaze couldn’t help but flicker. Sure, these regions would be dangerous, but they should also have pockets of safety, or else wouldn’t they just be sending their eggs in to die?

“Bring me to the best area.” Ryker said. Since this turtle was so timid, it would be a shame if he didn’t take advantage.

…

Ryker exhaled a breath, looking at a monstrosity of a region that left him more shaken than he expected. Maybe… he had dismissed the timid turtle’s words too casually. Before him was what could only be described as an underwater hurricane. The waters spun around wildly, and even while hundreds of kilometers away, Ryker felt a strong pulling force that he had to give his all to resist.

The power of Dao here was several times more powerful. The normal waters were already enough for Ryker to feel suffocated, but now the difference was akin to night and day. If the normal waters had about the strength of a Tier 2 Dao, this danger zone was at least Tier 4 or maybe even 5. It was so far beyond him that it was difficult to grasp exactly what level it was at… And worst of all this was just what he could faintly sense from its outer edges. Who was to say that what was on the inside wasn’t far worse?

As though all of this wasn’t bad enough, he could see that there were several Cyprus Seakings patrolling the region. Though they were only 7th Circle, all of them were Elevateds and far more powerful than any Ryker had seen until now. The timid turtle was already shaking furiously. Even though they were so far away, they had to travel deep into Cyprus Seaking territory to make it here. One mistake and they might truly be finished.

Ryker gave the turtle a glance but didn’t say much. Instead, he found a secluded location and began to observe the raging waters from afar. He had been able to make so much progress in the Dao of Water even when there was no Dao to be sensed. All he had done was observe the water around him.

So what could he accomplish now? Since his current Dao wasn’t enough to enter, he would just have to strengthen it until it was. He fell into a comfortable silence as though he had forgotten every and anything. He had always been able to focus well thanks to his Pure Soul, so it wasn’t long until he had truly sunk into a state of absolute stillness.

In that moment, he became one with the waters around him, sinking into the feeling. The progress was slow. Or, rather, it was much slower than what he was used to, but that also made sense. Before, he was just learning one Dao Path at a time. But now, he was trying to elevate a fusion of 33 Paths all at once.

For every inch forward, he had to retreat again and again. But soon he realized that Tier 1 wasn’t enough to describe his current Dao. There also seemed to be a Lower to Peak portion of it. As he inched toward Tier 2, he could feel himself leaping through the ranks, and as he did so, the pressure seemed to vanish.

Just by growing from Lower Tier 1 to Middle, the world could no longer seem to pressure him. When he grew to Higher Tier 1, he felt that he could exert just as much power over this region as he had had the Rivarius Clan ocean. When he reached the Peak, he felt that he had sublimated. Everything around him became peaceful and it was difficult for even the timid turtle to sense him.

Ryker opened his eyes three hours later, his gaze flickering. He actually felt that he couldn’t make much more progress like this. He would probably have to waste an entire week to make it to Tier 2, and that was unacceptable to him. He knew too little about this world to waste so much time. He had still yet to even confirm if this was outside the prison or if it was just another Iteration just yet.

“Let’s go.” Ryker said. Reaching out a hand, he grabbed the timid turtle who put up a false pretense of struggle and rushed ahead. He was much faster now than before, and his senses spread over a much wider range.

It was then he realized why making it to the Peak of Tier 1 was so different. His Dao and that of the Daos he sensed around him were on two completely different levels. The former was made up of 33 Paths, but what he could sense here, even among the strongest, were a combination of three to four at best.

As he traveled deeper, he sensed some wisps of five and six Path fusions, but they were still wholly inferior to himself. In fact, even the patrolling guards couldn’t sense his presence at all as he had truly become one with the water around him.

Ryker realized something after reaching the edge of the underwater

hurricane and his Dao began to undergo a myriad of changes. Rather than keeping all 33 Paths activated at once, he began to change them with the flowing currents around him. In that moment, not only did he become even more difficult to detect, but the pressure that was beginning to mount around him vanished again. In fact, he was even able to easily protect and shroud the timid turtle as well.

‘This feels excellent.’ Ryker picked up the pace. The water around him frothed in certain locations and rushed by like blades in others. Ryker felt that in a situation like this one, even a Mythic would get shredded to pieces if they didn’t have some sort of Water Type Spirit Energy affinity at the very least.

Despite the ease of it all, Ryker was quickly beginning to feel that the distance was much too far. By the time he had traveled for an hour, he was beginning to feel some real fatigue, but he couldn’t sense the end of the path ahead. It felt like he would be traveling through this abyss forever.

The Cyprus Seakings that could travel to let their eggs in here were truly monsters. Ryker didn’t know if they had achievements in the Dao comparable to his own. At the very least, the one Cyprus King he had truly observed only followed two Dao Paths, and they were separated at that, but there was no telling what the more talented of them would be capable of.

Ryker grit his teeth and continued to push himself. If things really went south, he would just hide in the prison for a bit. He didn’t believe that it wouldn’t be able to protect itself in this storm if he alone was already capable of doing so. However, this was a rare moment of training that he wouldn’t give up.

His depth of Dao wasn’t increasing because he didn’t have the mental capacity left to ponder over the mysteries of this water. However, his control over it was growing with time. Having to constantly switch between Dao Paths, seeing how they synchronized and separated, how different combinations of Paths could elicit different results, endlessly fascinated him.

Ryker had long since entered the Ascension Realm, but what he had yet to do was form a Domain of his own. He hadn’t had the time yet, and something was telling him that casually forming a Domain without first incorporating his Dao would be foolish. Feeling the power of this danger zone, he realized what the power of a True Domain could be like. At the very least, this had great potential to be half of it.

‘As for whether this will be all…’ Ryker’s gaze flashed as an idea came to mind. But it was then that the torturous journey suddenly came to a stop. Or, rather, Ryker chose to stop moving as he sensed a great danger ahead. Ironically, what was ahead was the calmest part of the underwater hurricane, the eye of the storm.

Ryker had hoped that maybe there wouldn’t be any other hurdles to leap over, but it seemed that he wasn’t so lucky. Well, he had also expected this. This was the younger generation of the Cyprus Seakings, the best of the best. They wouldn’t just casually leave them out without any sort of protection. In this case, the protection came in the form of a powerful killing array. It carried runes that Ryker had simply never seen, and more importantly than that, it inherited the Dao.

‘You can use the Dao even in forging with Spirit Patterns… amazing…’ It felt like he was learning something new every day, but he was also kicking himself for not having realized this already. Of course, you could, how could he not have thought of it?

However, the formation was the least of his worries. Ryker was confident that with his foundation and his comprehension of the Dao of Water, given enough time, no formation could possibly stop him for long. The issue was that along with the formation, there was a slumbering Cyprus Seaking elder. Some of the scales of this old thing had already been worn down and fallen off. It was clearly long past its prime, and yet Ryker felt like his heart was in his throat.

The reason for this was simple. This wasn’t a creature in the Ascension Realm. This was a God Beast.