《Travelers of Ten Thousand Worlds》 Chapter 1 A New Beginning (1) It had been a year since Altyria woke up in this world scarce of world essence. Without it, she was not able to cultivate and strengthen her body. The sun high up in the sky indicated that was in the afternoon. She dashed through the forest arriving at a beautiful clear lake. She bent down to look at her reflection in the water. Altyria was a Lylin Sacred beast. She had white short fur with crystal blue eyes. She looked almost identical to cats she had seen when she had ventured into the city half a year ago. However, her ears were a bit longer compared to cats. Altyria cleaned herself and drank water before heading deeper into the forest. Her goal was to gather enough materials to make a spiritual array that produces and condenses world essence in order to cultivate. Although she still had the body of a Sacred beast, without spiritual power, she was no different than a household cat. Throughout this year, she had been mistaken as a stray cat whenever she had gone to the city scouring for the needed materials. If she did not have her ten thousand year old soul, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to sense all the incoming dangers in the city and would have long been caught by humans. Her last material needed for the spiritual array was a thousand year old herbal plant called kenflin, which she had sensed the location of it deep in the forest when she had used her soul power to scan the area. Altyria trotted through the forest, passing by low ranked beasts who kept away from her as they sensed that she was a dangerous being because of her soul power. She arrived at an open field filled with various bright flowers. To her surprise, these flower had a bit of world essence in them. Located west of this flower field was the kenflin herb that she was looking for. She ran through the flower field and came to an area covered in toxic plants. The toxins produced by these plants did not affect her, but they were deadly to other living beings. Hidden behind these plants was a medium sized cave. It was slightly larger than the cave she currently inhabited. She stared at this cave thoughtfully before inspecting each corner of the cave. She nodded in satisfaction. Altyria decided to use this cave as her new home. It was deep in the forest where not many other beasts roam. It was near the flowers that contained world essence, which could be absorbed by the spiritual array increasing the amount she could absorb into her body. And most importantly, the cave was hidden by large toxic plants that could ward away any humans or beasts that happen to come by. Having decided on this, she ran back to her old cave, which was closer to the edge of the forest. It took her about an hour and a half to arrive there. She packed up all the items that she had by using elastic leaves that she had found in the forest. After having made sure that nothing was left behind, she made her way back deep into the forest to her new home. Upon arriving at her new home, she carefully lay out all her belongings: a couple special stones and herbs needed for the spiritual array, some berries, dried meat, and shiny rocks and soft cloths that she had found in the city.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She put all the materials needed for the spiritual array aside for tomorrow. Setting the array would take a couple hours since she had no spiritual power in her body. The burden on her body would be great so she needed to rest to prepare for tomorrow. Altyria made sure the toxic plants covered the entrance to her cave. She ate a couple berries and a piece of dried meat. Then, she walked twice in a circle on the soft cloth before lying down to sleep. ¡°Altyria! You¡¯re my only best friend! Please, you have to help me! My fiance¡­.¡± The scene changed to a dark cold room. ¡°I have no other choice, Altyria. You¡¯ll forgive me, right? I can¡¯t afford to lose him. He¡¯ll live on in your place¡­.¡± Altyria jolted awake as she panted. Her heart was beating fast as she recalled her so-called best friend trick her into the dark room and forcefully remove her crystal core. The crystal core was the source of power and life of a Lylin Sacred beast. Without it, the Lylin would not be able to survive for long and would slowly wither away in pain. Altyria shook her fur before closing her eyes once again. ********** Altyria woke up the next morning and ate breakfast. Although she liked tasting food, she preferred relying on world essence rather than eating. If she was able to set the spiritual array, then she wouldn¡¯t need to go hunting and searching for food. She would then be able to concentrate on cultivating and increasing her strength. Although she had not met any real danger this past year, she knew that there must be dangers elsewhere outside or in a deeper area of this forest. Additionally, if she ever met a powerful beast that had awakened from its slumber, she wasn''t sure if she would be able to protect herself. Altyria was sure that there were other spiritual beasts besides her, but she had yet to come across one. The ones she had met in the forest were normal animals that she could scare away with her soul power. Altyria cleaned up the extra food and set it aside. She surveyed the cave briefly before setting each material in the required spot to set the spiritual array. After placing the materials in the right spot, she then used her soul power to set the array. Using soul power to set the array puts a heavy burden on the body; however she had no other choice but to do so. The reason why was because she had no spiritual power. Spiritual arrays set by using spiritual power amplify the power and effect of the array. Soul power doesn¡¯t amplify the power of the array but it does increase the effect just a bit. Using pure raw materials would only allow one to set the array at the bare minimum and could easily be shattered. Based on her soul power, she estimated that the spiritual array could be set in 5 hours. During this time, it was crucial that she doesn¡¯t get disturbed; otherwise, there would be a backlash. After 5 hours passed, Altyria successfully set the spiritual array. She lay down in exhaustion for half an hour before checking the array to make sure everything was all right. Her tail swayed in happiness as she closed her eyes and felt the world essence slowly gathered in her cave. To her surprise, there was a lot more world essence gathering in her cave than she expected. She guessed it was thanks to the flowers outside the cave that supplemented the world essence into her cave. Once, again, she lay down on her soft bed and started cultivating in her sleep. Altyria as a Lylin Sacred beast specialized in spiritual power and setting spiritual arrays. Her species was most skilled in setting traps, scouting, and causing illusions. Lylin''s physique allows them to be able to absorb world essence in their sleep. This was the reason why their spiritual power rank were usually so high. What Lylins were most hunted for was their crystal core, which held a tremendous amount of spiritual power. Because of this tremendous amount of spiritual power, many cultivators in Altyria¡¯s previous world hunted Lylins to the brink of extinction just to use it as an elixir to increase their own power or to bring someone back to life. What most cultivators didn¡¯t know was that Lylins were also able to sense spiritual treasures. Thus, for those who knew of this ability, they called Lylins Treasure Fairies. Unfortunately, Altyria was the last of her species in her previous world. She may be the only one in this current world as well. Chapter 2 A New Beginning (2) Thanks to her physique as a Sacred Beast, Altyria was able to cultivate spiritual power very quickly even though she had to rely on the spiritual array to gather world essence. There were various types of traits that were ranked. The main ones were spiritual power, physical, soul power, agility, and elemental powers. Spiritual power could be used to set a spiritual array, inscribe markings on weapons that could add an effect or amplify its power, or form illusions. Physical included strength and the toughness of the body. It also included the body¡¯s stamina and endurance. Strength was how strong the body was. Toughness was how durable the body was. For example, having a really tough body would allow one to be able to accept a beating without receiving any damage to the body. Stamina was how long the body could last if one was running or any heart rate increasing activity. Endurance was how much the body could tolerate from any external force. Soul power was the strength of one¡¯s soul. The longer one lived the stronger the soul was. Soul power was very convenient when scouting out an area or checking how strong the opponent was. If you couldn''t see through your opponent, then you¡¯re weaker. Soul power could also be used to suppress others by exerting one¡¯s soul aura. Agility was basically speed and one¡¯s reflexes. The higher the agility was, the faster one could run, dodge, or attack. Elemental powers included fire, water, wind, ice, thunder, light, dark, etc. There were variant types of elemental powers as well. For example, purple thunder or black fire. In her past life, she had the following ranks: Overall Rank: SSS Spiritual power: Rank SSS Soul Power: Rank SS Physical: Rank A+ Agility: Rank A- Lylins were stronger in the spiritual aspect rather than the physical aspect. Altyria had reached the bottleneck of rank SSS and was the most powerful spiritual power user. However, at the same time, she was the most sought out by hunters who wanted her crystal core. The crystal core of a rank SSS Lylin was not only able to bring someone back to life, but also highly increase one¡¯s spiritual power or allow one to use spiritual power if they had not been able previously. This was the reason why Altyria fell in the hands of her ¡®best friend¡¯ and died. When she first awakened in this world, she ranked:The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Overall Rank: E+ Spiritual power: Rank F- Soul Power: Rank C (SS) Physical: Rank E+ Agility: Rank E Rank F was the lowest rank. The ranks are categorized as the following: F > E > D > C > B > A > S > SS > SSS > ??? Nobody had ever crossed the triple S rank, so it was still unknown whether a rank higher than triple S rank existed. Since Altyria was in a world with barely any world essence, this world was considered a low level world. This meant that the highest rank that could be achieved was a rank C. Thus, her soul power was lowered to rank C. If she was in a different world, then it would be higher. Additionally, she wouldn''t be able to turn into a human as her physical trait needed to be rank B. However, because of her low physical rank, there was a burden on her body whenever she used her soul power. She needed to have at least a physical rank C to not have any burden when using soul power in this world. To reduce some of the burden on her body, Altyria only used it to scan no more than 5 meters around her. In order to increase her physical and agility, she would need to either do training or eat the meat of beasts that would help increase these traits. By running spiritual power throughout her body muscles, it could help stimulate the muscles and make it easier to strengthen. However, this could only be used if one was below rank D of the physical trait. Time flew by and five years passed. Altyria stretched out each of her legs and shook her fur. She had broken through spiritual power rank F- and increased it to F. Considering her circumstances, this speed of cultivating was very fast. However, once she reaches rank D, it would take much longer and harder to increase the rank. She tossed away the molded food that she had set aside and left her cave. Altyria contentedly sniffed the flowers before spreading out her soul power while walking around to sense where the nearest source of water was. She found a waterfall not too far away from her current location and it was much larger than the lake she had used before moving caves. Altyria ran through the flower field and into the forest. She kept an eye out for any beasts that would help increase her physical and agility traits; however, they were very rare because this was a low level world. When she was 5 meters away from the waterfall, she sensed a strong beast heading there as well. It seemed that it would reach the waterfall 2 minutes before she would. As she arrived, she slowed down and looked at the direction of the beast. It appeared to be a tiger. This tiger was three times larger than she was, but she was not afraid. She was able to sense with her soul power that the tiger was pregnant and would not take the risk to fight with her. ¡°Kew!¡± Altyria cried out to let the pregnant tiger know that she was here to clean and drink water. Although the tiger was just a normal animal, Altyria didn¡¯t want to fight a meaningless battle, especially since it was pregnant. The tiger stared at Altyria for a couple seconds before deciding that Altyria was telling the truth and walked over to the waterfall to quench its thirst. It kept its ears perked and occasionally looked at its surrounding. Altyria paced over to the other side of the waterfall and started drinking the water. After satiating her thirst, she proceeded in grooming her fur. Altyria kept her ears perked, but also spread out her soul power to sense any beasts that are close by. Although she had spread out her soul power, she was still unable to sense a beast hidden in the darkness that had been watching and following her since she had left her cave. Its eyes glowed golden as it greedily watched Altyria groom herself from the darkness. Chapter 3 A New Beginning (3) Altyria took her time grooming herself by the waterfall. She first started from her ears, face, body, legs, and then tail. The tiger finished its business and slowly made its way back into the forest. Altyria silently watched it leave before continuing what she was doing. After she finished, her fur was wet and stuck to her body. I should find a spot to dry myself, Altyria thought to herself. Altyria scanned the area where the sun shined brightly. She spotted a large boulder closer to the forest that was away from the waterfall. She trotted to the boulder and leapt on top of it. Immediately, Altyria could feel the heat from the sun warm her up. She decided to stay here to dry her fur and sunbathe at the same time. Unbeknownst to her, the figure in the darkness watched her from start to finish and showed no intentions of leaving. However, if that mysterious figure had intended to harm Altyria, she would have sensed it as she was very sensitive to those with harmful intentions toward her after what happened to her last life. Hours passed before Altyria woke up from her nap while drying her fur. The sun had passed its highest point, but was still far from setting. Her fur shone brightly against the sunlight creating a white glow. Her crystal blue eyes narrowed as she gazed at the clouds. What should I do now¡­? Altyria asked herself. She looked down around her as the boulder was pretty high up. She noticed black shadows in the waters of the waterfall. Unable to hold her curiosity, Altyria headed to the waterfall to investigate. She slowly approached the lake and peered in the water. To her surprise, there were fish that had somehow appeared in this lake! It wasn¡¯t there before when she arrived in the morning. The only way for it to get to this lake was by going down the waterfall. Her whiskers quivered in excitement. How long had it been since she had tasted fish!Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The lake was deep so she couldn¡¯t wade in the water where the fish swam. She decided to lay a small spiritual array that would attract and trap the fish in place that would allow her to catch it. Having made this plan, she put it into action. Thanks to her 5 years of cultivation, she was now able to set an array using her spiritual power only, and not having to use materials like she did before. Setting this spiritual array took her 10 minutes even though is covered a small area. The stronger her spiritual power was, the faster she could set an array. Now, all she had to do was wait. Altyria sat under a tree, her tail swaying slowly from side to side. 1 minute passed, 5 minutes passed¡­.10¡­30¡­1 hour¡­ Altyria flicked her ears in frustration. Why were no fish going into her array?! Just when she was about the walk up to the spiritual array to check if she made any mistakes, two fish got trapped in the spiritual array. Altyria ran up to it in excitement. She peered into the array to find the fish swimming in circles. To her surprise, the fish were much larger than she expected and they were able to help increase her agility trait! They were about the length of her tail. Altyria tossed the 2 fish away from the lake. She dragged both of the fish onto the boulder where she sunbathed. Altyria happily munched on the somewhat large fish while thinking that she had finally found a source of food that could help her increase one of her low ranked traits. After filling her stomach with the 2 fish, Altyria decided to take the route with a rough terrain back to her cave in order to train her physical and agility traits. This route was twice as long compared to the route she took this morning. Brimming with energy, she took off into the forest, jumped over boulders, climbed trees, jumped from tree to tree, and climbed steep slopes. As her physical and agility traits were still low ranked, Altyria took a very long time to complete this entire route. It took her almost 6 hours to get back to her cave! Although she had just cleaned herself this morning, her fur was covered in dirt. Looks like I need another cleaning session tomorrow¡­ Altyria drowsily chuckled to herself as she slowly entered sleep while absorbing world essence. After 15 minutes, another figure appeared inside the cave. It was the figure in the darkness that had always been watching her. It slowly walked up to her and sniffed her body. Seeing how exhausted she was, it couldn¡¯t restrain itself from sending some of its spiritual power into her body to help her recover. After a while, it stepped back and gazed at Altyria with its glowing golden eyes before disappearing into the shadows. During this whole time, Altyria never sensed it coming and going. She didn¡¯t even sense it sending its spiritual power to her body. Instead, the moment its spiritual power entered her body, she slept even deeper. Chapter 4 A New Beginning (4) Altyria woke up the next morning and felt refreshed. She had thought she would still be sore after yesterday¡¯s training. However, contrary to her thoughts, she was in better shape than before! She stretched her legs before heading out of the cave. Altyria was lost in her thoughts as she planned what to do for the day when her foot stepped on something cold and soft. She looked at her foot. Hmm? Fish? This is the fish I caught yesterday at the lake! Altyria felt baffled and wary. She did not sense any creature come near her cave at all when she slept. Yet, these two fish suddenly appeared near the entrance of her cave. She sniffed the fish, but did not smell the scent of the culprit who placed these fish here. Should I eat it? What if it¡¯s a trap? Hmmm¡­I¡¯ll just take a small bite. Although she knew it was a stupid move, she could not resist taking a bite from the fish. Her instincts told her that the fish was clean. She slowly chewed on the fish. She could tell that it was caught and killed not too long ago as the meat was still tender. Delicious! There is some sort of spice added to this fish. What could it be? Altyria tilted her head to one side while staring at the fish. Altyria shrugged as she could not think of what it could be and continued eating the delicious fish. Just as she was about to eat the second fish, she noticed that it was not raw meat. Can this be eaten? Did it get burned? Altyria hesitated on whether to take a bite or not. She sniffed and poked it with her paw. It smells more appetizing than raw fish¡­ Altyria decided to give it a try. She took a bite and chewed. Her eyes widened in surprise. W-What is this?! This taste sooo much better than raw fish! The spice added to this fish enhances the taste as well! Altyria started devouring the fish and finished it in less than a minute. She stared at the fish bones in disappointment. She spread out her soul power to see if the mysterious ¡®creature¡¯ was nearby so she could ask for its cooking method, but she did not sense anything. Her ears and tail drooped in disappointment. Oh well, guess it¡¯s time to go training again. Altyria once again took the long rough route to the waterfall. This time she was a bit faster since she was going downhill so she did not need to climb as much. Going downhill helped train only her agility while going uphill helped train both of her physical and agility traits.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. After she left, the mysterious figure that Altyria had hoped to find appeared from the shadows. As it gazed in the direction that Altyria left, it flicked it tail in happiness that Altyria liked the fish that it had roasted for her. Although it very much wanted to appear in front of her, it knew that it was not time yet. It had to wait a bit longer before it could appear before her. If it appeared now, Altyria might be wary and it did not want to scare her off. It had already waited thousands of years for her to appear. It did not mind waiting a bit longer. It once again returned to the shadows to chase after Altyria and watch her. Altyria finally arrived at the waterfall after taking 5 hours to go through the rough terrain. Her paw pads on her forelegs were bleeding because she accidently landed on sharp branches when she jumped off a tree. This resulted her taking the same amount of time to go uphill, which was much more difficult than going downhill. She had no choice but to endure the pain and continue down the path to the waterfall. She slowly cleaned her injured paw pads and winced as it stung with the contact of the water. Altyria was mulling over the fact that she was not careful enough and got injured as a result. After cleaning her injury, she proceeded to bathe and clean her fur. Not too far away, the figure frowned when it saw Altyria¡¯s injury. It hated that it could not personally clean the wound for her. If it did, Altyria would definitely be on guard towards him and that was not what he wanted. Therefore, he could only restrain himself and not go to her. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and it disappeared back into the darkness. As usual, Altyria did not notice the mysterious figure watching her as she bathed herself. She was still full with the two fish she had eaten and did not have any interest in catching fish at the moment. She slowly limped towards the tall boulder she had slept on yesterday. Altyria planned to take a nap again and sunbathe before heading back to her cave. She could not stay here too long since she injured her paws and it may take her longer to return home. Walking around in the forest at night was a dangerous thing to do. Although it was unlikely that Altyria would meet a spiritual beast, she did not want to be walking around in the dark with injured paw pads. Her habits from her previous life were deeply ingrained into her soul. One of which was not to wander around in the forest at night. Altyria did not plan on changing her habits in this world because these habits that she had developed had always helped save her life or prevent herself from being in a very dangerous situation. After Altyria slept in the sun for 3 hours, she slowly headed back to her cave taking the short route. She picked up some fruits and berries that she had found along the way and a small rodent that was nearby. Altyria did not need to eat and could merely rely on absorbing world essence to provide the nutrients for her body; however, she liked the variety of tastes of the foods. In her past life, she did not eat at all because she automatically absorbed the world essence in her sleep. Thus, she never bothered trying to eat food that she had seen others eat and refused when asked if she wanted to try some. World essence was the purest form of energy. Therefore, solely absorbing it would be the best for cultivation as it helped increase cultivation and enhanced the body. Food, on the other hand, either had no world essence in it or had impurities. It only provided the body with nutrients to grow and did not help increase cultivation. Once eaten, the impurities would be absorbed into the body. Altyria was aware of this, but she still wanted to eat food. She had regretted not trying out new food in her previous life. Now she had a second chance, so why not? She could clear out the impurities with the world essence that she absorbed every night from her spiritual array, so she did not have to worry about the impurities accumulating and affecting her cultivation. Altyria finally arrived home when the sun had just set. She took a bit longer since she was also carrying the food that she had gathered on the way back. Altyria slowly reorganize her food storage before lying down on her soft bed to sleep. Chapter 5 A New Beginning (5) Soon after she fell asleep, another figure appeared in her cave. The mysterious figure had medicinal herbs in its mouth as it came in the cave. It cast a sleeping spell to make sure that Altyria was in deep sleep before walking up to her. It put down the medicinal herbs on the ground before inspecting the wound on Altyria¡¯s paw. Seeing that it was not too swollen, it breathed out a sigh of relief. It slowly chewed the medicinal leaves one by one and applied it on the wound. Afterwards, it took out cotton gauze from its space and gently wrapped the wound. Before leaving, he gently groomed the fur on her forehead. The next morning, Altyria woke up and discovered that her wounds were treated and wrapped with some type of soft cloth. She stared at it for a couple minutes unable to come up with an answer to how this happened. What is this cloth? It¡¯s really soft, like the cloth of my bed¡­ She sniffed her wound a couple times. Medicinal herbs? It seems pretty effective since my wound is almost entirely healed up, although the world essence that I absorbed during my sleep played a role in aiding the healing process¡­ The other side should not be a threat to me since it has not done any harmful things. Thinking back, she had only been receiving help from this mysterious figure. First she received those fish that she loved. Now, it helped treat her wound. She really wanted to meet it to give her thanks, though she did not know if she would ever get the chance to since it had never showed up. Since this only happens when I am asleep, should I try pretending to be asleep to see if it shows up at night?Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Altyria nodded at this thought. After deciding to do so, she got up and checked the entrance to her cave. As expected, there were two roasted fish wrapped in leaves on the ground. It was still steaming with heat. Altyria brought it into the cave to eat. Once she filled her belly, Altyria checked the status of her body. Overall Rank: E+ Spiritual power: Rank F Soul Power: Rank C (SS) Physical: Rank E+ Agility: Rank E Although no trait increased its rank, she could feel that her spiritual power and agility will soon be able to reach the next rank. She estimated that it would take another month at this rate. Thus, she continued her usual routine of taking the rough terrain to the waterfall and when returning home to train her physical body. At night, she decided to try to see if this mysterious figure would come. She buried herself in her bed and closed her eyes. She started absorbing the world essence and slowly eased her breathing to seem like she was asleep. Minutes passed, yet nobody showed up. I don¡¯t believe that you won¡¯t come! Altyria retorted in her heart. Since it came so many times, she believed that it would come during the night. However, she was left with disappointment. She stayed up half of the night and still did not see the mysterious figure show up. Disheartened, she thumped the ground with her tail before going to sleep. In the darkness, the mysterious figure chuckled at Altyria¡¯s actions. It had noticed that she was pretending to sleep. It stayed in the darkness watching her, but it did not want to meet her this way. Since you want to meet me so badly, I shall meet your request. It slowly receded into the darkness once again as if it was never there in the first place. Altyria woke up later than usual since she had stayed up late at night. She thrashed in her bed in frustration. Stupid, stupid, stupid guy! Dare to play me! Showed up so many times, but don¡¯t show up this one time! She snorted before fixing her bed and leaving the cave. However, the moment she stepped out of her cave, her entire body froze and her eyes widened in surprise. She had not sensed anyone near her cave, yet there was a figure not too far away from her. When she saw that figure, her heart started beating rapidly. H-How¡­.?! She had not thought that it was possible to meet another one of her kind here since world essence was scarce in this world. She had thought she would be the only one here and mentally prepared herself for a solitary life. However, what appeared before her eyes broke down all the mental preparation that she had made. Before her eyes was another Lylin. This, she could not deny. Chapter 6 A New Beginning (6) To be exact, it was a male half-breed Lylin. Although only half of his blood was Lylin, Altyria was able to sense that the other half of his blood was from a tyrannical species. It gave off a sense of suppression that made others bow down before him. However, the male Lylin had carefully concealed that aura so it would not affect her. To think that the mysterious figure was actually another Lylin! The one who had secretly helped her and gave her delicious food¡­ Altyria carefully looked at him. He was 2 heads taller than her and his entire body was covered in black fur. His ears had some silver patterns, and his forehead also had a mysterious silver symbol. His golden eyes glowed as he stared at her. He stood not too far away from her with something wrapped in leaves at his feet. Judging from its scent, she knew that it was the fish that she loved to eat. [You are¡­the one who treated my wound and gave me fish every day?] Altyria used spiritual power to speak to him. The male Lylin had been staring at Altyria wondering if he had scared her. He watched her eyes widen in shock and then saw her in a daze for a couple seconds. He was hesitating whether to walk closer to her when she spoke to him using spiritual power. Seeing her cute little face, he could not help but tease her a little. [What do you think?] He tilted his head slightly to one side. Altyria [¡­] [Then what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Altyria.] [Fish.] [F-fish??] Seeing her blank expression, he chuckled and decided not to continue teasing her. [I¡¯m just kidding. My name is Chrome.] He picked up the fish in wrapped leaves from the ground. He walked slowly towards Altyria afraid that any sudden move would frighten her.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Altyria watched him come over at a slow pace. The scent of grilled fish slowly penetrated her nose causing her stomach to growl, even though, technically, she did not need to eat. Her eyes were fixated on the leaf wrappings. Chrome saw her eyes fixed on the object that he was carrying in his mouth. His eyes shone with a smile and quickened his pace to her side. He put down the fish and quickly unwrapped it for her. Altyria watched as Chrome unwrapped the fish and put it in front of her. She licked her lips as the scent of grilled fish filled the air. She hesitated before saying, [Have you eaten yet?] Chrome was surprised for a second before replying with a gentle smile in his eyes, [I have already eaten. This is for you.] [O-oh.] Altyria blushed slightly, but her white fur covered it so it couldn''t bee seen. Chrome sat down beside her and watched her eat. His eyes overflowed with gentleness that would shock anyone who actually knew him. After a couple minutes, Altyria finished eating and was licking her paws clean. [Why do you help me? We have never met before.] Altyria turned her head and her blue eyes stared at Chrome. [Do you know how Lylins choose their partners?] [P-partner? No¡­] Altyria was somewhat confused at this slight change in topics. Her heart started beating a bit quicker. Chrome gazed at her and said, [Usually, the female does not search for their partners. It¡¯s the males that do the searching. Males would feel an induction deep within their souls when they are near their partners. The closer they are, the stronger that feeling is.] He paused carefully watching her eyes before continuing, [A couple weeks ago, I happened to be passing by this forest when I felt that induction. I followed that feeling until I found you, but I did not show up in front of you because I didn¡¯t want to scare you.] Altyria took a moment to process this information. Although she was a Lylin, she did not know how her species would choose their partners since she barely met with her kind in her previous life. She did not know whether he was telling the truth, but her sixth sense told her that he would not harm her. She looked at Chrome¡¯s golden eyes not knowing how to respond to him. Seeing that she was silent, Chrome softly patted her head with his tail. He softly said, [I know it¡¯s a bit sudden, but I wish to soul bond with you. I wish to be your partner. I am willing to wait for your answer.] [Soul bond?] Altyria was unfamiliar with this term. [Soul bonding is creating a link between the souls of partners. Once this ritual is performed, the partners would be called soulmates. One would be able to sense their soulmate¡¯s feelings, location, and whether they are in danger or not. The stronger the soul bond is, the more one could sense from their soulmate.] Altyria flicked her ears. Why did it sound like the partner was stalking and peeping instead? Just as she was about to say something, Chrome said a few words that almost gave her a heart attack. [Thus, while I wait for your answer, I will live here with you. Wherever you go, I go. You can think of it as a trial period.] Chrome said with a sly smile in his eyes as he gazed at her. Chrome¡¯s eyes gave her the feeling that he was a hunter watching its prey. Chapter 7 A New Beginning (7) Altyria frowned at his words. Although she was grateful to him, she did not like being tied down. She valued her freedom, especially after what happened in her previous life. Her eyes darkened for a moment before returning to normal. She did not want to think of her dark past anymore. Chrome caught sight of her emotions and served soft again, [Alti, I only want to soul bond with you. I won¡¯t ask for more until you are willing.] He hesitated before adding, [I want to bring you out of this forest and take you to new places where you can enjoy yourself. Without soul bonding with me, I won¡¯t be able to take you with me.] Altyria¡¯s heart jumped when she heard him call her ¡®Alti¡¯. However, his following words caused her to ponder. Chrome gazed at Altyria lost in thought as he slowly wrapped his tail with hers. She was so into her thoughts that she did not even realize this intimate action. Lylins wrapping their tails together indicates that they were partners for life, yet Altyria subconsciously did not feel uncomfortable with this touch. Apparently her soul had already recognized Chrome as her other half, therefore his action did not produce any rejection. By the time Altyria realized that her tail had been entwined with Chrome¡¯s tail, a couple minutes had already passed. [Y-you!] Altyria stammered, not knowing what to say. She could not deny that her soul did not reject Chrome, but the same could not be said about her heart. After all, she had only met Chrome face to face for the first time and only held feelings of gratefulness for him. Finally, she sighed and only said, [Fine, trial period it is.] Chrome¡¯s eyes brightened and tightened his tail that wrapped around Altyria¡¯s tail. [Although my soul does not reject you, it does not mean that I am willing to give my heart to you.] Altyria made sure she clarified her thoughts. Chrome¡¯s eyes slightly dimmed but returned to normal in a flash. He understood what she meant. There were pairs of Lylins that soul bonded, but the relationship between them was that of friends and not lovers. Many of those pairs had no love between them and only mated for the sake of increasing their population. They often lived separately and only stayed together when mating or when the female was pregnant. After giving birth and raising the young for a couple years, they would once again live separately.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. However, Chrome was influenced by the other half of his blood. Although he did not know what his other half of his blood was, the longing for finding his soulmate was intense and he could not deny these surging emotions now that he had finally found her. It seemed like he still had a long way of chasing his wife. Thinking this, he untwined his tail and looked at Altyria. [Then what shall we do to start off this first day of my trial period?] Altyria felt a little lost when Chrome released her tail, but that feeling disappeared in a flash. She flicked her ears and looked at the sky. About an hour had passed since she woke up this morning. She should do her training for the day. [I¡¯m going to go train. Are you going to come along?] [Of course.] Wherever my wife goes, I follow. Chrome did not dare say this sentence out loud and only said it in his heart. [Then let¡¯s go.] Without waiting for Chrome to reply, she ran through the field of flower and headed towards the rough terrain route to the waterfall. Chrome followed closely behind her. Although Altyria had gone through this route several times, she still had trouble jumping down from high places or climbing up steep rocks. Her physical and agility traits were still ranked bottom. While she continued to struggle, she peeked a couple times at Chrome who was following behind her. She saw that he was jumping from place to place very easily like he was just taking a stroll. Just from this, Altyria knew that his physical and agility rank was relatively high, at least a lot higher that her rank. After struggling for half an hour, she arrived at the waterfall. Altyria did not feel exhausted, but her paw pads were a bit sore since they were still soft like a newborn¡¯s paw pads. She had to temper her paw pads more before they would not feel sore anymore in the future and be more study. Altyria came up to the lake and washed her paws before lying down next to the water. Chrome also washed his paws before diving into the lake. Altyria got up and started washing her fur. After a couple seconds, Chrome reemerged from the lake with a large fish in his mouth. He dropped it near the boulder that Altyria usually took a nap on before returning to Altyria. When he got close to her, Chrome hesitated for a bit before licking her fur twice. Altyria stiffened when she felt him cleaning her fur, but did not say anything. Chrome¡¯s eyes brightened and continued helping her clean her fur. His heart was jumping with joy seeing that his Alti did not reject him and actually took steps to try to accept him. Altyria¡¯s body did not relax until 2-3 minutes had passed. In her entire life, including her past life, she had never had contact with males, even male Lylins. That was why her body stiffened as a reflex the moment Chrome¡¯s tongue touched her fur. There was a strange feeling in her heart, but she did not reject his intentions to be intimate, after all, she, too, wanted to find a companion to live with. She did not want to live a lonely life as she did in her previous life. As this thought flashed through her mind, Altyria paused for a split second. Chrome felt her moment of pause and glanced at her. Seeing that she did not move away, he continued grooming her. Altyria looked at Chrome. She hesitated before licking his fur dry as well. Chrome¡¯s body stiffened but relaxed almost instantly. He became more enthusiastic in grooming her. My little wife is accepting me more than I thought! Chrome thought in his heart as his heart trembled in happiness. If the people who knew Chrome saw the way he was acting right now, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize him anymore. His change was too great. Chapter 8 A New Beginning (8) After they finished grooming each other, Chrome went straight to grilling the fish he had caught. Altyria was interested in how he was able to make the fish so tasty so she sat at the side watching him while asking questions. [You¡¯re using fire to cook the fish?] [Yeah, the fish tastes better than eating it raw, but you have to watch the fish carefully and not let it get overcooked. Otherwise, the fish would be burnt and would not taste good anymore.] Chrome took out some spices from his space and sprinkled it on the fish. Altyria was a bit surprised when he took out spices out of nowhere. Her first thought was that he had a space ring; however, she did not see him wearing one. Although she was a bit puzzled, she did not ask where it came from. Altyria knew from her experience in her previous life that everyone had secrets and she should not pry into them. Chrome saw her surprise and said, [My power allows me to manipulate space and time. I used that power to create a space where I could put things in and carry with me. It¡¯s similar to space rings but it is larger and can carry living things inside.] He thought for a second and added, [My spatial power allows me to be able to conceal my presence. Additionally, my soul power is higher than yours, so that''s why you were never able to sense me nearby.] Altyria was surprised that he would explain it to her, but after seeing the gentleness in his eyes, she knew that it was because Chrome genuinely treated her as his soulmate even if she did not fully accept him. [The fish would be much tastier when adding these spices to it.] Chrome continued explaining how he grilled those delicious fish for her. After 15 minutes have passed, the fish was perfectly grilled and the aroma was so appetizing to Altyria that she could not wait to jump in and eat. Seeing her longingly staring at the fish, Chrome chuckled and no longer held her back [You may start eating it now. Be careful, it¡¯s still hot.] Altyria carefully checked the temperature of the fish. Seeing that it was not too hot for her, she took a mouthful. Her eyes narrowed in happiness. [So delicious! You eat some too! This fish is too much for me.] [Ah. I can catch some more to eat it when we go back home.] [Un!] Altyria nodded in agreement.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The two finished devouring the fish and climbed up the boulder. Altyria found a comfortable spot to lie down and closed her eyes. Chrome decided that, in order to chase his wife, he needed to be shameless and take the first step. Otherwise, he would not be able to bring his wife with him when he leaves. Chrome walked up to Altyria and laid down right next to her. His fur was touching her fur. Seeing her having no reaction, he took a step further. Chrome stuck one of his forepaw under her head and wrapped his tail around her tail. Then he rested his head around her neck. Feeling Altyria shifting slightly, Chrome¡¯s body tensed. Altyria felt a little uncomfortable with this position, so she moved slightly to make herself more comfortable unconsciously. She had not woken up when Chrome wrapped himself around her. Chrome slowly relaxed after realizing that Altyria was still asleep and only made herself more comfortable when he wrapped around her. He closed his eyes but kept his ears perked for any danger. In a blink of an eye, 3 hours passed and Altyria woke up from her nap. She felt Chrome wrapped around her and struggled free. Chrome woke up the moment Altyria moved slightly. He felt slightly disappointed when Altyria untangled herself from him. [Let¡¯s go back.] Altyria said and jumped off the boulder. Chrome trotted lightly behind her and followed her through the rough, long route once again. By the time they were almost home, the sun had already set and the moon was shining brightly in the night. The flowers in the flower field glowed as tiny fireflies wandered. Altyria saw Chrome suddenly take off towards the direction of the flower field. She was about to question him, but she saw him run back to her with a mouth full of flowers. He came up to her and slowly tied the flowers together into a flower crown using his two paws and spatial power. Then, he placed it on top of her head. Altyria stared at him with wide eyes. [Beautiful.] Chrome nodded with satisfaction. Altyria flicked her ears in embarrassment. [Thank you.] Altyria said and ran inside her cave. Seeing her run off, like she was trying to hide, Chrome leisurely walked towards the cave as well. Inside the cave, Altyria took the flower crown off and inspected it. The flower crown had several bright colors and the flowers were neatly arranged together. The flowers gave off a soothing scent and a comfortable aura thanks to the world essence it contained. Altyria carefully placed the flower crown to a clean place in the cave and set a spiritual array to prevent the flower crown from being ruined or dirty. Chrome came into the cave and saw Altyria¡¯s actions. He swayed his tail in happiness and went up to Altyria. [Alti, if you like it very much, I can make one for you every day. You don¡¯t need to preserve it.] [No need. I like this one very much.] Altyria replied while looking back at Chrome. Her clear blue eyes were shining brightly. Seeing her bright blue eyes, Chrome¡¯s heart started beating faster and caused him to be in a daze. After saying that, Altyria circled around her bed and laid down to start cultivating in her sleep. Chrome snapped out of his daze and also squeezed in her bed and wrapped himself around her once again. Altyria opened one of her eye and stared at Chrome. Chrome also stared at her as well. After a couple second passed, Altyria closed her opened eye and went to sleep. Chrome flicked his ears and smirked in his heart. #1 from ¡°Manual of How to Chase a Wife¡±¨C A man has to have a thick skin and a certain amount of shamelessness to chase his wife. That manual is pretty useful. Maybe I should find other books like that¡­ Chrome thought to himself before kissing Altyria lightly on the forehead and falling asleep. Chapter 8 A New Beginning (9) The next few days, Altyria and Chrome followed a monotonous routine of training, eating delicious fish that Chrome grilled, taking a nap on the boulder, then sleeping at night. Once in a while, Chrome would take Altyria around the forest to find different types of ingredients and make a variety of food that Altyria had never tasted before. Altyria also took the time to gather materials that she could use for setting spiritual arrays. Although she did not need to use spiritual arrays at the moment, it did not hurt to keep them stored in case she needed them urgently. In a blink of an eye, a month passed. During this month, Altyria was able to raise her physical and agility traits thanks to her monotonous training routine and from consuming food that helped increase those traits. Her physical trait increased from E+ to D-. Her agility trait increased from E to E+. Additionally, after a month of absorbing world essence every night during her sleep, her spiritual power also increased from F to F+. Altyria had been immersed in the warmth of having a companion with her in this lonely world where she was all alone with no friend or family. Chrome had noticed that Altyria seemed to have forgotten about the trial period. Seeing her happy appearance, he could not bear to pour cold water on her, but he had no choice but to do so. Thus, he brought up this topic one morning before they left the cave. [Alti, have you made up your mind about soul bonding with me?] Chrome stopped Altyria just as she stepped outside of the cave. Altyria looked stunned and stared blankly at him for a couple seconds before panicking. [I¡­Um¡­] Altyria¡¯s eyes started swimming. [Do you enjoy being with me?] Chrome asked. Altyria¡¯s mind spun in circles before she nodded after a pause. [I know you like trying new food.] Chrome paused, and then continued in a soft deep voice, [If you leave with me, I can bring you to various places to try out their specialties. I can also personally make dishes that you like to eat every day. Wouldn¡¯t you rather go out and explore than stay here in the forest?] Chrome unknowingly used the tactics of ¡®an uncle trying to lure a kid into his car¡¯. Altyria thought carefully to herself about what Chrome had just said. She had experienced what it was like to have a companion and she did not want to go back to the days when she lived alone. She did not want to live alone in the forest like she had done in her previous life. What was worse than her previous life was that there were no materials that she could work with to do research. She couldn¡¯t even enjoy her hobbies here!Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. If she followed Chrome and left the forest, then she might broaden her horizon and see new things. She might even find materials for her research or hobbies. Most importantly, she could eat delicious food¡­ At the thought of being able to eat delicious food, Altyria unconsciously started drooling a bit. Chrome, who had been patiently waiting for a reply, saw the changing expressions in Altyria¡¯s eyes. And then, she started drooling¡­ Chrome had a hunch about what made her drool and calmly wiped her drool off her mouth causing Altyria to snap out of her thoughts. [Have you made up your mind?] [Un. I decided to soul bond with you and leave this forest to find delicious food.] Altyria nodded to Chrome and her eyes shined when she mentioned ¡®food¡¯. Chrome chuckled as he patted her head with his tail. His plan to bring his little wife home worked. #4 from ¡°Manual of How to Chase a Wife¡± ¨C Conquer her stomach. Although he mainly used grilled fish and a couple different snacks made from ingredients in the forest, he was able to quickly win Altyria¡¯s stomach. It just showed how much she loved food. At the same time, Chrome was worried that she might run off with someone if they offered her food. He made a mental note to himself to remind her not to accept food from strangers. Chrome collected his thoughts and said, [Are you ready to do it now?] [I¡¯m ready. What do I have to do?] [You don¡¯t have to do anything. Just close your eyes and do not reject the power when it enters your mind and soul.] [Got it.] Altyria closed her eyes and waited for him to start. Chrome raised a paw and seemingly ¡®waved¡¯ it around in the air, but Altyria did not notice his actions with her eyes closed. [I¡¯m going to start now.] Chrome got close to Altyria and placed his forehead on her forehead. Eno sa thea da efil. Deit yllanoitome da deknil yllanrete, eno emoceb ot sevlah owt. Chrome chanted a spell and the air around them started swirling gently. Altyria felt a mysterious force enter her mind and soul. It slowly wrapped itself around her mind and soul before disappearing. The next second, she blacked out. Altyria woke up and found herself in bed. She didn¡¯t see Chrome, but she could feel him some distance away in the forest. Sitting up, she inspected her mind and soul. She felt a delicate, yet powerful link that connected her with Chrome. She slowly explored these new changed. Altyria got up and headed out of the cave towards the direction where Chrome was. She trotted through the flower field and into the forest. After walking for a 4 minutes, she saw a tall figure causing her to freeze. She saw that figure turn and walk towards her. She stared wide eyed at this ¡®human¡¯ in front of her. [Chrome?] If she did not feel the bond between them, she would not have thought that this person was Chrome. [Ah, it¡¯s me.] Chrome had a gentle smile on his face as he knelt down before her. Altyria carefully looked at him. He had dark eyes that seemed to suck you in. His hair was black with traces of silver in the front. He wore a simple T-shirt with a black coat, jeans, and combat boots. Through the soul bond, Chrome had shared information about this world to her. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t even know what the clothes Chrome was wearing was called! Chapter 10 A New Beginning (10) Altyria stared at Chrome, who knelt on the ground with his left leg. His right arm rested on his right leg. [How did you change into human form? If I¡¯m not wrong, this world cannot support anything higher than rank C¡­] Chrome smiled and replied, ¡°Normally, that would be the case. However, I am considered an exception. Apparently, the other half of my blood allowed me to change into human form after 5 years from the time I was born.¡± Altyria blinked her eyes with interest. What could his other half of his blood be? It was so powerful that it allowed him to change into human form so quickly. She felt somewhat envious; after all, being in human form was more convenient to do things. Chrome saw the envy in her eyes and gently rubbed her little head. ¡°Alti, are you ready to leave? I must go back to take care of things?¡± Altyria nodded, then said, [Wait, I want to bring my materials with me. I don¡¯t know if I will be able to find more of them later.] Chrome gently picked her up into his arms and started walking back to the cave. With his long legs, it only took a short moment to return. Along the way, Chrome gently caressed her back and gazed at her tenderly as she flicked her ears once in a while. Altyria jumped down from Chrome¡¯s arms and entered the cave. Chrome had to wait outside because the cave entrance was only large enough to fit small creatures. Altyria picked up her materials and wrapped them in leaves. She brought it outside for Chrome to hold and went back into the cave. She did not forget to grab the flower crown that Chrome had made for her the other day. Before exiting the cave, she paused for a moment. Should she dismantle the spiritual array and bring those materials used for it with her? After thinking for a couple seconds, she decided to bring it with her anyway. Who knew when it might come in handy in the future? After double checking that she got everything that she wanted to bring with her, Altyria headed outside to where Chrome was. Chrome took her little packages of leaves, along with the flower crown, and placed them in his space. [Let¡¯s go.] Altyria felt a little excited to leave the forest. She jumped into Chrome¡¯s arms and pawed at him excitedly. ¡°Feeling excited, huh?¡± Chrome laughed. [Of course! I have only left the forest a couple times in my entire life. Those few times were not good memories though¡­] When she woke up in this world, Altyria had gone to the closest city to find materials. She had been mistaken as a stray cat and was often chased away by humans. Sometimes, she would get lost in alleys or almost get run over by cars.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. These ¡®few times¡¯ that she left the forest also included her previous life. She was a crazy researcher on spiritual arrays and inscriptions. The times that required her to leave the forest she lived in were when she ran out of materials she needed. Because she would isolate herself in the forest where no one else lived, Altyria would often be behind in times. She would often pay a large amount of money for materials when the price should have been cheaper. She had no friends that she could ask for the current prices besides her ¡®best friend¡¯ that eventually killed her. However, that ¡®best friend¡¯ of hers would often pit her and tell her the wrong prices. From the beginning, Altyria did not notice that her friend was pitting her, but when she found out, she was already chained up by her and had her crystal core removed. Altyria was lost in thoughts when she heard Chrome say something. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Those bad memories will be replaced by happy ones later.¡± Chrome turned around and stepped into the portal that had appeared out of nowhere. In a blink of an eye, their surroundings changed. Altyria looked around curiously. She searched through the information that she got from Chrome through the soul bond and found out that this was an office room. Chrome placed her on the couch and sat down beside her. ¡°Alti, since you have decided to be with me, then I¡¯ll need to explain some things to you.¡± All of a sudden, a screen popped up in front of Altyria. It said: Altyria looked at Chrome in surprise. Seeing that he was just staring at her without saying anything, she hesitated for a moment before pressing the ¡®accept¡¯ button. *Ding* A new screen popped up in front of her. ¡°What you should be seeing right now is the menu screen. From there, you can see a list of options, such as your current stats, party members, items, and tasks. I¡¯ll explain more to you later. For now, you can familiarize yourself with the system. The system will be very helpful in the future. When you don¡¯t need to see the menu screen, you can turn it off by thinking ¡®close menu¡¯. Similarly, you can think ¡®open menu¡¯ when you need it.¡± Chrome saw Altyria engrossed in exploring the system and walked out of the office. Altyria heard Chrome speaking with someone outside as she closed the menu for the time being and curiously looked around the office. The room was simply decorated with black, gray, and white furniture and ornaments. There was another door at the back of the office. She jumped down from the couch and walked towards that door. Using her spiritual power, she opened the door and took a look inside. It was a lounge with a large bed, bathroom, and a closet. Altyria heard the door open and walked back outside to the office. Chrome had returned with some snacks and drinks. Chrome saw that Altyria had gone into the lounge to explore and smiled. ¡°Do you like this place?¡± Chrome placed the snacks and drinks on the table. [It¡¯s pretty interesting, but this room is poorly decorated. You should add some bright colors to this room.] Altyria jumped onto the table to sniff the snacks and drinks. ¡°We can go shopping later, and you can help me choose some decorations.¡± Chrome rubbed her little head. ¡°These are some cookies and sweets that were available in the company cafeteria. I brought you tea, soft drinks, and juice for you to try. If you want more let me know, and I¡¯ll have someone bring more.¡± Altyria slowly nibbled the different snacks and savored the flavors. She took a sip of the different drinks. Her little face wrinkled when she tried the soft drinks. [What is this? I don¡¯t like it.] ¡°It¡¯s called a soft drink. If you don¡¯t like it, you can leave it aside and I¡¯ll throw it away later.¡± Chrome chuckled, caressing her little face and gave her a kiss. ¡°I¡¯ll start working right now. If you¡¯re bored, you can play with this tablet. If you are confused how to use this thing, let me know, okay?¡± [Okay, go make yourself busy.] Altyria waved her tail as if dismissing him and continued tasting her snacks while familiarizing herself with the system. Chrome sat in his seat and began reading the stacks of documents that had piled up because of his absence. One person and one ¡®cat¡¯ quietly spent their time in this office. Chapter 11 A New Beginning (11) Altyria munched on her snacks and sipped her drinks as she studied this system. Currently on the menu, it showed her current stats and items. Stats Overall rank: E+ Spiritual power: Rank F+ Soul power: Rank C (SS) Physical: Rank D- Agility: Rank E+ Soul Bonded: Chrome Skills: Spiritual array master, Inscription master Items: None Solstice coins: 5,200 Altyria saw that her mastery of spiritual arrays and inscriptions were listed in the skills. She also saw that she had 5,200 Solstice coins. Altyria looked around to find a piece of paper to jot down her questions to ask Chrome later. She spotted a notepad on Chrome¡¯s desk. Seeing that he was not using it, she used spiritual power to bring it towards her. Using spiritual power to hold a pen, Altyria wrote down a question about what solstice coins were and why she had 5,200 coins when she just joined his team. The pen paused for a moment. It said that she joined his team, but she was not sure if there were others on his team. She should ask him about that as well. Setting the pen aside, Altyria continued to look at the menu. On the left hand side, there was a column of buttons: Stats, Map, Party members, Tasks, System Mall Her eyes lit up when she saw ¡®Party Members¡¯. She tapped on it and the screen changed. There were four names listed, including hers: Chrome, Altyria, Dylan, and Yilan. It did not show any other information besides the name, so Altyria still had to ask Chrome about the party members. Next, she tapped on the ¡®Map¡¯ button. The screen changed into a large map that showed her surroundings. There were two blue dots on the map, which she assumed was her and Chrome¡¯s position. Currently, the map was at bird¡¯s eye view and showed lines, which indicated the different buildings. There was an option that said ¡®3-D¡¯ and she pressed that. The view changed and the buildings became real-life looking. Although she could not see inside the buildings, the blue dots were still blinking on the map. Altyria switched it back to the 2-D map, which is simpler, but easier to understand. Altyria pressed the next tab on the column, which was ¡®Tasks¡¯. Main Task
  • Gather information about the recent incidents at Duanxin High School.
Branch Task
  • Destroy/seal 100 spirits: 46/100
Altyria tilted her head to the side. Tasks? Spirits? Did Chrome have to deal with spirits? Although she did not know why Chrome had to do these tasks, she intended to help out. She had confidence that her spiritual arrays could play a role in destroying or sealing those spirits. These spirits should not be too strong since there was barely any world essence to support these spirits unless some means were used.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Altyria jotted down some questions about the tasks on the notepad. Chrome had been working on his pile of documents while looking at Altyria once in a while. When he glanced at her, he saw that she was writing something on the notepad and assumed that she must be familiarizing herself with the system. Since he did not explain anything about the system, he was certain that he would be asked questions. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was about time for lunch. ¡°Alti, let¡¯s go out for lunch. Those snacks aren¡¯t enough to fill you up.¡± Chrome got up from his desk and walked towards her. Altyria looked at the snacks that she had not finished since she was so engrossed in the system. [Okay, what are we going to eat? I want to try something other than fish!] Altyria threw everything that she had been thinking about to the back of her mind when she heard that they were going out for lunch. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a restaurant that is known for their dessert. I have two other party members in our team. One of them is also in this office building, while the other one is out gathering information. I¡¯ll introduce you to the one here first, then the other one when we meet up at the restaurant.¡± Chrome took out his phone and texted his teammates. Once he was done, he scooped Altyria into his arms and headed out the door. Outside Chrome¡¯s office was a wide space with several other rooms. These rooms were conference rooms, a small cafeteria, and office rooms. In the middle of the open space were desks with computers, tables, and couches. Chrome walked to one of the three office rooms and opened the door. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re going out for lunch. You have 5 seconds to get to the elevator; otherwise, I¡¯ll leave you behind.¡± Without waiting for the other person to respond, Chrome turned around and walked towards the elevator. [Isn¡¯t 5 seconds too short? It seemed like he was half asleep.] Chrome smiled but did not say anything. He gently caressed her soft snow-white fur. The elevator arrived and Chrome stepped inside. The next second, Altyria heard hurried footsteps coming towards their direction. ¡°Chrome, can¡¯t you give me at least 10 seconds??¡± A man ran in a hurry into the elevator as he yelled out to Chrome in an angry voice. ¡°Phew! Safe!¡± Chrome glanced at his watch. 4 seconds had passed. ¡°5 seconds is more than enough for you.¡± ¡°5 seconds is not enough for me! You don¡¯t know how much I had to¡­¡±The man had started complaining until he saw Altyria resting in Chrome¡¯s arms. Altyria had been staring at this man since he entered the elevator. He was wearing a black custom-made suit. His hair was combed back and wore a studded earring on his left ear. He appeared to be in his early 20¡¯s with a handsome face. He had a proportional body and was about 176 cm tall. He had grey eyes with a rogue-like smile on his face. Altyria scanned him from head to toe. Hmph! Although he could be considered handsome, he is still lacking compared to Chrome! Altyria flicked her ears at this thought. ¡°Hey, when did you get a cat? You know we are not going to be able to bring it with us later.¡± Chrome ignored him and looked at Altyria with tender eyes as he gently rubbed her little head. Dylan saw that tenderness spewing out of Chrome¡¯s eyes and rubbed his own eyes to see if it was an illusion. Seeing that it was not an illusion, Dylan had an O-shaped mouth. ¡°Alti, this guy is called Dylan. He¡¯s a bit of a fool, but he gets the work done.¡± Chrome¡¯s face darkened a bit when he discovered that his little Alti had been staring at Dylan since he came into the elevator. He quickly covered her eyes with his hand. ¡°Alti, don¡¯t look at this fool too much. His stupidity is contagious. Later on, you¡¯re not allowed to stay alone with him.¡± [Stupidity is contagious? I didn¡¯t know that. Un, I¡¯ll stay away from him so I don¡¯t lower my IQ. If my IQ lowers, I won¡¯t be able to do my research.] Altyria nodded. ¡°Y-You! How could you say that I¡¯m stupid?! I¡¯m considered an international hacker, you know! My IQ is at least 185! I¡¯m. Not. An. Idiot.¡± Dylan stressed his four last words. ¡°And, you didn¡¯t answer my question. Since it could talk with spiritual power, it¡¯s not normal, is it?¡± Altyria readjusted herself in Chrome¡¯s arms. [Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Altyria, a new member of the team and Chrome¡¯s soulmate. Just for your information, I¡¯m a Lylin, not a cat.] ¡°Oh, oh. Nice to meet you. You can call me Dylan. My specialty is anything related to electronics, including the internet. If you ever want to blacken someone¡¯s computer, you can count on me!¡± Dylan patted his chest proudly and extended a hand for a handshake. Chrome looked at him in disdain when Dylan was introducing himself, but when he saw Dylan¡¯s hand extend for a handshake, Chrome stared at him with the expression: If you dare handshake with my Alti, I¡¯ll waste that hand. Dylan saw that cold look and shivered. He quickly retracted his hand and smiled with a ¡®He he¡¯ laugh. At this time, the elevator door opened at the underground parking lot. Chrome stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his car. Chapter 12 A New Beginning (12) Altyria looked at variety of different cars in the parking lot. [Which one is your car?] Chrome took out his keys and pressed the button to unlock his car. Altyria saw a black sports car light up twice. Chrome opened the passenger seat door and placed her on the seat. At this moment, Dylan ran up to them. ¡°Hey, hey! Boss, let me in the back seat. I don¡¯t have a car.¡± He glanced at Altyria, then at Chrome. Chrome¡¯s sports car had seats in the back but was very small. The passenger seat had to be folded to get to the back seat. Dylan saw how gentle and careful Chrome treated Altyria, and knew that Altyria being his soulmate was true. Since that was the case, he must thoroughly hold onto this thick thigh. Chrome knew what Dylan was thinking but did not care. Altyria would just have one more person available to serve her when he was not around. He scooped up Altyria and stepped aside to let Dylan get in the back seat. Altyria curiously looked at Dylan squeeze into the back seat. [Is he able to fit back there? I am small. I can sit in the back.] ¡°No. Since he wants to sit in our car, then he should sit in the back. The passenger seat is only reserved for you.¡± Chrome flatly refused. ¡°Yeah, yeah! I¡¯m getting a free ride, so this is just a matter of course.¡± Dylan added trying to please Chrome so he get a few days off from work. Seeing both of them dismiss her idea, she nodded and jumped back onto the passenger seat. Chrome closed the door, got into the driver¡¯s seat, and started the car. Chrome drove the car towards the restaurant. He saw Altyria stand on her hind legs to look out the window and reduced the speed of the car. ¡°Sister, is this your first time in Z City?¡± Dylan asked curiously. [Un. I¡¯ve only been to the city that was closest to the forest that I lived in.] She answered as she continued looking at the changing scenery of the city. Chrome saw Dylan¡¯s expression and answered, ¡°The Forbidden Forest near B City.¡± ¡°The Forbidden Forest?! Oh, no wonder you¡¯re not a cat.¡± Dylan nodded to himself. [Why is it called the Forbidden Forest?] Altyria looked at Chrome. Seeing that Altyria stopped looking out of the window, he sped up the car. ¡°It¡¯s called the Forbidden Forest because there had been many incidents in the past where people disappeared there. After so many disappearances, they closed off the Forest and called it the Forbidden Forest and did not allow anyone to go there. However, every once in a while, there would be some youngsters who like to impress girls and enter the forest as a group. At times, those youngest would be lucky enough to find the way back to the city, while other groups had not been lucky enough.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! [When I lived in the outer edge of the forest, there had been many young humans entering the forest looking for fruits and nuts. They would leave the forest before the sun set. Nothing happened to those who left before the sun set. As for those who couldn¡¯t leave before the sun set¡­] Dylan swallowed his saliva and asked, ¡°What happened to them?¡± Altyria looked at Dylan. Her eyes started glowing white as she stared at him. Dylan started feeling a bit uneasy by the way she looked at him with her glowing eyes until she answered him. [They got eaten by beasts, of course. The only scary thing about that forest is the mist that covers the entire forest once the sun sets. It causes one to lose their sense of direction, and most of the time; humans would end up getting lost and getting eaten by beasts. Natives of the forest are not affected by this mist.] Dylan patted his chest and sighed in relief. ¡°So, as long as you leave before the sun sets, nothing would happen. Hey Boss, should we check out what causes this mist? It might be related to our task.¡± Hearing the word ¡®task¡¯, Altyria glanced at Chrome. ¡°We¡¯ll talk more after eating.¡± They arrived at the restaurant and parked the car. Altyria used her spiritual power to open the door and was picked up by Chrome, who started walking towards the entrance of the restaurant. Dylan got out of the car and ran to catch up to Chrome. Chrome pressed the button to lock the car and stepped inside the restaurant. ¡°Hello, may I ask how many guests?¡± The waiter asked when he saw Chrome and Dylan come in. Then, he noticed Altyria in Chrome¡¯s arms. He saw the brand-named clothes they wore. He knew they were wealthy customers and hesitated before saying, ¡°Sir, this restaurant does not allow pets inside.¡± Chrome took out a gold card that had the name of the restaurant on it and showed it to the waiter. The waiter saw the card and immediately became more respectful. ¡°Sir, would you like to eat at the Garden Room? It was newly renovated just a week ago.¡± Chrome nodded. The waiter bowed and led them up to the fourth floor into a room where it was filled with different elegant flowers and bonsai trees. On one side of the room was a small balcony with small planted pots. A large table was in the middle of the room with comfortable chairs. Chrome placed Altyria on the table and sat in a chair. Dylan sat on the opposite side of them. The waiter gave them the menu and said, ¡°When have decided what to order, press the red button on the side of the table and I will come take your order.¡± The waiter bowed and quietly closed the door. Chrome opened the menu and browsed through. ¡°Alti, do you have any type of dish you want to try. There are a lot of different types. Although you said you don¡¯t want to eat fish this time, I still recommend trying a fish dish.¡± [You decide what to order. I don¡¯t know what is good.] ¡°Should we wait for Yilan to come first before ordering?¡± Dylan asked. Chrome replied coldly, ¡°By the time she arrives, my Alti would already be hungry.¡± After saying that, Chrome pressed the button to call the waiter. The waiter knocked on the door lightly and walked in. ¡°What would you like to order?¡± Chrome read out several dishes, some soup, desserts, and tea. The waiter wrote it all down and read the list of dishes again to reconfirm the order. Before the waiter left, Chrome informed him that they still had one more person coming. The waiter nodded and bowed before leaving the room. ¡°Boss, we can¡¯t finish all those dishes! Even if I have a large stomach, it¡¯s impossible.¡± Dylan exclaimed loudly. ¡°We can pack them up and bring it home to eat.¡± Chrome said coolly. Altyria jumped off the table and explored the room. She walked towards the various flowers and sniffed at them. Then, she looked at the bonsai trees while admiring their different shapes. Chrome walked up to her. ¡°Do you like the arrangement of this room?¡± [Yeah, it gives a relaxing atmosphere. The flowers don¡¯t give off a strong scent, so it won¡¯t affect the taste of the food.] Chrome rubbed her little white head. ¡°The food should almost be done.¡± Chrome took her into his arms and walked back to the table; however, he kept her in his arms instead of placing her on the table. At this moment, someone knocked on the door. Chapter 13 A New Beginning (13) ¡°Aaahh! So hungry~¡± A young girl walked in. She appeared to be in her early 20¡¯s. She had shoulder-length almond-colored hair, bright peachy eyes, and an easy-going smile on her face. She wore a white v-shaped shirt with a cardigan, skinny jeans, and a pair of black 7 cm heels. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± Dylan said to the girl. The girl took a seat. The waiter had also entered the room with refreshments that were ordered. After placing the drinks, the waiter said, ¡°Please wait a couple more minutes. The dishes will soon be ready to be served.¡± He bowed and closed the door quietly as he left. The girl grabbed a glass of juice on the table and chugged it. Chrome glanced at the girl before placing all the delicious drinks that he thought Altyria would like to drink closer to his side. He grabbed a couple straws that were placed in a box at the side of the table and placed them in the drinks. It was only then that the girl noticed Altyria in his arms. ¡°Wow! Where did you find such a beautiful cat? Snow white fur with crystal blue eyes! Let me hold it!¡± She said while stretching out her hands. Chrome frowned before saying in a low voice, ¡°Yilan.¡± The girl, who was called out by Chrome, stopped her arms hung in the air. ¡°Hahaha, Lan Lan, you can forget about touching a single hair of Altyria. Boss, won¡¯t allow it.¡± Dylan laughed with glee when he saw Yilan¡¯s sad expression. ¡°Since when did you start calling Chrome, Boss? Why can¡¯t I touch her?¡± The latter sentence was directed towards Chrome. ¡°Well, I call him ¡®Boss¡¯ because we may have more members joining our team in the future. I thought it would be a good idea of getting in the habit of calling him Boss now. When new members join, they would know who the leader of the team is.¡± Chrome kept silent and placed Altyria on the table for her to try out the drinks. Dylan replied for Chrome, ¡°And, Lan Lan, she¡¯s not a cat. She¡¯s a¡­forgot what it was called¡­¡± [Lylin.] Altyria inserted the word as she was drinking some orange juice. ¡°Right! A Lylin! Her name is Altyria, Boss¡¯ soulmate. Just as you just heard her, she can speak using spiritual power.¡± Dylan kept babbling on and on, but Yilan wasn¡¯t listening. Her mind was stuck on the word ¡®Lylin¡¯. ¡°Are you serious?!¡± Yilan shot straight up from her chair. ¡°She¡¯s a Lylin? I can¡¯t believe I would actually see one in my entire life! Dylan, do you know how rare they are. I¡¯ve only read about them in ancient texts, but to think one would appear in this world with barely any world essence¡­¡± Yilan was so excited that she rushed up to Altyria. Had it not been for Chrome, Altyria would have been picked up by Yilan and be spun in circles.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Chrome¡¯s face turned dark from her actions and said in a cold voice, ¡°Sit.¡± Yilan automatically stopped and sat in the chair. Although she couldn¡¯t touch Altyria, it didn¡¯t stop her eyes from staring. Altyria was somewhat puzzled. Yilan¡¯s behavior appeared as if she had never met a Lylin before. Do they not know that Chrome is also one? She looked at Chrome, who slightly shook his head. Well, since he did not want it to be known, then she would not mention it. After trying the orange juice, she tried a dark orange-colored drink that had small, black chewy objects at the bottom of the glass. [What is this drink? It tastes sweet and delicious. These small black things are also very chewy.] Chrome opened his mouth to explain, but Yilan was one step further. ¡°That¡¯s Thai tea. Those little black things are called pearls. Oh, and the drink next to the Thai tea is called a milkshake. The one on the right is¡­¡± Yilan continued introducing the new types of drinks to Altyria one by one. When she finished naming the drinks, Yilan said enthusiastically, ¡°I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. My name is Yilan, Dylan¡¯s twin sister. I was born after him, so I am the younger one. You can call me Lan Lan. I am particularly interested in medicine and mythical beast lore, so if you need any medicine or have any questions about mythical beasts, you can knock on my door!¡± Dylan rolled his eyes and said, ¡°You should say that you¡¯re a research maniac instead.¡± Yilan quickly glared at her older brother. Altyria¡¯s eyes shone brightly as she faced towards Yilan and also introduced herself, [Hello, my name is Altyria. As Dylan had said earlier, I am Chrome¡¯s soulmate and a new member of the team.] Yilan had a look of surprise. ¡°Chr-Boss.¡± Yilan changed the way of addressing Chrome midway when she remembered what Dylan said. ¡°You already added her to the team? Did you go through the soul bonding ceremony yet?¡± Dylan also looked at Chrome when a knock on the door interrupted them. The door opened and two waiters pushed carts of food into the room. The two waiters placed each dish on the table. Chrome had ordered too many dishes, so Altyria had to climb back in Chrome¡¯s arms. Altyria had not noticed how naturally her actions were. There were empty chairs near Chrome, but she had subconsciously climbed into Chrome¡¯s arms instead. Chrome had noticed her natural dependence on him and his mouth tilted upward. He used his free hand to gently rub her little white head. In his heart, he was thinking: My little wife is slowly accepting me in her heart. Number 5 from the book was quite successful¡­ #5 from ¡°Manual of How to Chase a Wife¡± ¨C Constantly appear before her eyes so your existence would not be forgotten. Dylan and Yilan did not see this scene. They were looking at the variety of dishes that were ordered. Dylan had seen the tenderness from Chrome, but Yilan had not. If she saw this scene, then she might have fallen out of her chair in horror. ¡°Thank you for waiting; here are your dishes. Please enjoy your meal. If there is any need for our service, please call us using the red button on the table.¡± The waiters bowed and once again left the room. Altyria took a look at all the fragrant dishes. They smelled so good that her mouth started to drool a bit. She restrained herself from pouncing onto the table. Thinking that she had finally found a fellow research maniac that she could talk with, she looked towards Yilan with sparkling eyes and said, [Lan Lan, is it true that you love researching?] Yilan saw her sparkling eyes and a thought flashed through her mind. She gasped, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are also the same as me? I think this is fate! I can tell we¡¯re going to be best friends already!¡± Yilan was once again in a state of excitement and chattered like a bird. When Altyria heard ¡®best friend¡¯, her eyes dimmed and her emotions fluctuated for a second before returning to normal. Chrome noticed her one second change. He looked at her with gentle eyes and rubber her head. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first before talking.¡± With their Boss¡¯ order, Yilan closed her mouth and picked up her chopsticks. Dylan immediately started with the meat dishes. Chrome put a large place in front of Altyria and began to put parts of each dish onto her plate. He took the tender meats of the fish and meat dishes. He took a bit of vegetables and other side dishes on another plate. Chrome placed the dessert on the side while giving Dylan and Yilan a look that said: You can eat the leftovers of Alti only. Dylan merely shrugged his shoulders, but Yilan had a sad face because she liked eating sweets. Chapter 14 A New Beginning (14) After an hour of eating, everybody was full. Although they had not finished every single dish, the rest of the food could be taken home. The desserts that Chrome had set aside for Altyria had not been touched yet. Dylan pressed the red button on the side of the table to inform the waiter to bring boxes for the remaining dishes to bring home. Chrome looked at Altyria. ¡°Are you full? Do you still have room for dessert?¡± Altyria was lying on the table in front of Chrome. She flicked her ears when she heard ¡®dessert¡¯ and said, [I don¡¯t think I can finish them all by myself. Lan Lan can eat them too.] Glancing at the eight various desserts on the side, Altyria licked her mouth. Chrome smiled slightly and slowly placed the sweets in front of her while explaining what each dessert was made of. Altyria glanced at Chrome with a helpless expression in her eyes. She intended to share them with Lan Lan, but Chrome stubbornly gave them to her. Yilan was staring pitifully at the desserts as she watched them be placed in front of Altyria one by one. ¡°That¡­Altyria, I want the green tea flavored cake with strips of coconut on it?¡± Yilan nervously glanced at Chrome. Sure enough, his face turned dark to the extreme. Altyria heard Yilan and glanced at Chrome. Seeing his dark expression, she brushed his face lightly with her tail to appease him. Through the soul bond, Altyria knew that Chrome wanted Altyria to choose the desserts that she liked first before sharing the rest with others. Seeing his face return to normal, she nodded to Yilan. ¡°Yay, thanks!¡± Yilan happily grabbed the little plate and started eating it. [You can have this one too, Lan Lan.] Thinking that it wasn¡¯t fair for her to eat so many desserts on her own, she gave Yilan another one. She also gave two to Dylan. Chrome did not like sweets, so he refused. Now, Altyria had four for herself: a pudding, red velvet cake, mint flavored ice cream, and cream puffs. Altyria decided to eat the ice cream and cream puffs first. The pudding and red velvet cake would be eaten later. As she decided that, the waiter came in with to-go boxes and placed the remaining food into them. The boxes were then placed in bags. After that, they cleaned up the table and left. Altyria licked the ice cream in the bowl. Her eyes squinted in delight at the tastiness. Chrome watched her tenderly for a while before he looked at Dylan and Yilan with an expressionless face. ¡°Altyria is from the Forbidden Forest. I have already investigated that area when I stayed with her there, so we don¡¯t need to look there anymore.¡± Chrome looked at Yilan indicating that she should report her investigations. Altyria sat quietly eating her ice cream while listening. She was a bit surprised that Chrome had gone to where she lived to investigate something, and at the same time, she was not surprised that Chrome had found nothing. After all, she had lived there for quite some time and had not discovered anything unusual besides the fog. Yilan drank some water and wiped her mouth. ¡°Boss, when I walked around Duanxin High School, I did not find anything unusual so far besides a couple low-leveled spirits. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll need to go back there again because the small courtyard at the back of the school was closed for maintenance. I think the problem may be there.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Duanxin High School? Wasn¡¯t that the place mentioned in the task? Altyria pricked her ears. ¡°Oh, right! Boss, have you already soul bonded with Altyria?¡± Dylan suddenly remember that Altyria might not know what they were talking if she did not have the system. ¡°Ah.¡± Chrome hummed a reply as he gazed at Altyria. ¡°Which one did you buy?¡± Yilan curiously asked. ¡°The 1 million one.¡± Chrome did not bother looking at them and continued looking at Altyria finish up her ice cream. [Soul bonding costs money?] Altyria thought that the ritual was performing using spiritual power or some other worldly force. She had felt that mysterious force when she soul bonded with Chrome that day. Seeing Altyria ask a question, Chrome, of course, wanted to be the one to answer her. ¡°Soul bonding does not require spending money; however, in the system mall, there are two types of soul bonding techniques that are available. One for half a million solstice coins and the other for 1 million solstice coins. The one for half a million solstice coins allowed the bonders to feel each other¡¯s emotions. On the other hand, the 1 million one allowed bonders to not only feel each other¡¯s emotions, but also to be able to locate each other and always be sent to the same place when going to the next world. Additionally, our items and solstice coins are also shared.¡± Altyria was busy digesting the information, but when she heard the last part, her mind exploded. Going to the next world?! Did he mean the afterlife? Chrome saw the confused look in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have already familiarized yourself with the system. In each world, we are assigned some tasks. The main tasks are the ones we need to complete. Branch tasks are optional, so we do not need to complete those if we do not want to. When we complete the main task, we will be sent to the next world. It may be a modern world, cultivation world, or a beast world, and currently, they are randomly assigned.¡± [Are there rewards for completing the tasks? Since I joined the team, I would leave to the next world with you too, right?] Altyria was a bit worried that she would be left behind. At the thought of this, her heart felt like it was being squeezed. Chrome sensed her emotions and quickly appeased her, ¡°I used the 1 million solstice coin soul bonding technique, so naturally, you would follow us when we leave. And for the rewards, normally we would get solstice coins. If we¡¯re lucky, we could bring items we find in the world with us to the next world. If you can place the item in your Items section in the menu, then that means the item could be taken to the next world.¡± Yilan added, ¡°Normally the main task would give us about 1-3 thousand soltice coins depending on the difficulty of the task. Branch tasks gives about 500 solstice coins max for each one completed, which isn¡¯t too bad.¡± [So, our task right now is to investigate the high school? What are we looking for?] This time, it was Dylan who answered her. ¡°We don¡¯t know exactly what we¡¯re supposed to be looking for, but we are guessing it is related to spirits since the branch task requires us to kill or seal 100 of them.¡± Altyria nodded. [One more question. Is there a limited time for these tasks?] Chrome replied, ¡°If there is a time limit, it would show up next to the task. This time, there is no time limit, so we can take our time.¡± [Oh.] Altyria nodded. Most of the questions she had were answered. Although there were some questions she wanted to ask, she decided not to ask yet. She needed time to digest this new information. Not to mention, she could learn more while helping out with the task. She was not in a hurry. Thinking that it was about time, Chrome stood up. He placed Altyria in one arm, grabbed her 2 desserts that she had not eaten with his free hand, and turned to leave the room. Yilan grabbed her bag and walked out of the door. Dylan shook his head about how his younger sister didn¡¯t bother helping him with the bags that had their to-go boxes. He grabbed the 3 bags and followed behind. Chapter 15 A New Beginning (15) Chrome put Altyria in the car and closed the door. He turned to Dylan, pointed to Yilan, and then got into his car. Before he closed the door, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to go shopping with Alti. You guys can head back to the office.¡± Yilan and Dylan watched as his car drove off. Dylan sighed, ¡°After sister joined the team, Boss started slacking off.¡± Yilan rolled her eyes. ¡°His workload is considered normal now. Before he was working like a workaholic. You¡¯re the one who should stop slacking off. You haven¡¯t even destroyed or sealed a single spirit yet, not to mention coming into contact with one.¡± Yilan walked to her red sports car and sat in the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Okay, okay. Then let¡¯s go spirit hunting instead of going back to the office. I can¡¯t stand paper work at the moment.¡± Dylan sighed as he got into Yilan¡¯s car. ¡°Well, where are we going to hunt?¡± Yilan placed her hands on the steering wheel as she thought. Spirits generally appeared in dark places, but they have also appeared in crowded places as well. ¡°Let¡¯s try Sunset Village. Maybe there will be flower or bug spirits there.¡± Yilan started the engine and drove off to their destination. On Chrome¡¯s side, Altyria sat curled up in her seat. Chrome glanced at her and said, ¡°Is the seat comfortable? If not we can get a seat made for cats or something.¡± [It¡¯s pretty comfortable.] Thinking that they were going to go shopping, a thought popped up in her mind. [I will be living with you, right? Is your house simply decorated like your office as well?] ¡°Pretty much. I live in an apartment complex at a high-end area. I don¡¯t have much in the apartment, so I will be relying on you to decorate it.¡± Chrome smiled at her. Altyria was dazzled by his smile, even though she had seen it several times. For some reason, her heart started beating faster, causing her to look away. [What do you have in the apartment? I don¡¯t want to choose something you already have.] Chrome reached out with one hand and rubbed her head gently. ¡°Let¡¯s stop by the apartment first. Then, we can make a list of what we need to buy.¡± Chrome made a U-turn and headed towards Tianhua Apartment Complex. After driving for 20 minutes, they arrived at the outer gate where the security guard was. The guard was familiar with Chrome, so as soon as he saw Chrome¡¯s car, he opened the gates. As Chrome passed by, he nodded to the guard and continued driving to the parking lot. Chrome picked up Altyria, along with her 2 desserts, and locked the car. He walked to the elevator and pressed the ¡®8¡¯ button. [You live on the top floor?] ¡°I bought the whole floor and renovated it. I got rid of some walls, so the rooms are larger. Well, basically there is a total of 1 master bedroom, 4 bedrooms, 1 large study, 2 bathrooms, 2 restrooms, and 1 storage room. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all connected, so the area is very open and spacious.¡± Altyria opened her eyes wide. [Wow, your house is really big! Wouldn¡¯t that mean we have to buy a lot?] ¡°We can buy what we need first and buy the rest next time. You don¡¯t have to worry about money, either. I am yours. That also includes all my properties, salary, and money in the bank.¡± Altyria blushed and buried her head in his arms causing Chrome to chuckle. The elevator door opened and Chrome walked to the door while pulling out his keys. Altyria jumped down from his arms and ran inside after the door was opened.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Inside the apartment, Altyria saw white walls without any decorations. The number of furniture could be counted on all four paws. She looked through each room and saw that it was mostly empty. The master bedroom had a large bed and closet. The study room had a large desk, bookcase, and a laptop. The living room had a black couch, and the dining area had a medium-sized table with 2 chairs. The kitchen was basically empty. Her mouth twitched. She could tell that he never cooked at home. Well, at least he had a refrigerator. Chrome walked to the kitchen and placed her desserts in the refrigerator. He went to the study and grabbed a notepad and pen. ¡°You look around and see what we need to buy, and I¡¯ll write them down.¡± Altyria started naming some items, which included some daily necessities. She walked to each room again to check what was needed. After 15 minutes, the list was written up, and Altyria was done inspecting the rooms. Suddenly, Altyria remembered that they would go to the next world after they finish the task. [Chrome, wouldn¡¯t buying these things be meaningless since we would be going to the next world later?] Chrome ripped the paper off of the notepad and said, ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure how long it would take to complete it. It doesn¡¯t hurt to buy these things. I¡¯m not lacking money either. If you want, I can put them in the space and bring it with us to the next world.¡± Altyria was surprised. [We can bring them with us?] ¡°Yeah, my space is an exception of the system and the space is gigantic. You can think of it as a cheat.¡± [Oh, cool! Then, let¡¯s buy a lot and put it in the space.] Chrome and Altyria got in the car and sped to the largest department store in the city. One by one, they bought the items that were listed on the paper. Chrome also bought items that Altyria liked and had the store assistants deliver all the items to the apartment. They also spent 2 hours browsing through the food and drink section of the department store. After purchasing everything, Altyria noticed some fluctuations in the air. She glanced at Chrome, who was looking through a furniture catalog and appeared to not have noticed it. She felt the fluctuations again and poked Chrome with her tail. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Chrome faced towards her. [There are some fluctuations in the air. It may be a spirit.] ¡°Can you sense where it is?¡± Chrome did not doubt her. [It should be on the floor above us, the 4th floor.] Chrome held Altyria in his arms and went up the escalator. As soon as he arrived to the 4th floor, Altyria pointed to the right. Chrome followed her directions and finally arrived near the electronics area. Altyria silently used her spiritual power and set an array that trapped the spirit in a small area. It also soundproofed the area inside the spiritual array, so people would not hear or see anything that they should not see. Altyria jumped to the ground and walked towards the spirit. The spirit was an electric type of spirit in the shape of a bird. It flew around trying to escape, but it couldn¡¯t. It had noticed Altyria and Chrome, and they gave off a sense of suppression causing it to panic. ¡°This electric type of spirit does not seem to hold any hostile feelings. We can just seal it at this place.¡± [How about making it become the guardian of this place? It requires using a seal, so it should count for the task.] Altyria felt bad to seal it when it had done nothing wrong. Chrome paused, then nodded and took a step back. Altyria drew some runes in the air using her spiritual power. The spirit knew that it could not escape and gave up trying. When it heard Altyria saying that she would seal it here to make it a guardian of this place, the spirit was happy. The moment it opened its eyes, this electronics section of the department store was what it saw. It treated this place as its home and lightly zapped anyone who caused trouble in this area. It also zapped thieves that tried to steal the electronics. Altyria¡¯s intentions of making it the guardian of this place was exactly what the spirit had been doing since it had been born. Its life would not have many changes. In fact, the only difference would be that the spirit¡¯s control over its power would increase and it would have a safe place to rest. It was a win-win situation for the spirit and Altyria. The spirit got to keep doing what it loved to do and Altyria did not have to feel bad about sealing it. As the spell was being cast, the area surround the spirit lit up. Little sparks of light flew around the spirit and the lights slowly turned into a golden statue. This golden statue was where the spirit would rest when it did not need to do its job as the guardian of this area. The statue was the spirit¡¯s new ¡®house¡¯, so to speak. Although it could also guard other areas in this floor, the spirit had no interest in doing so. It only had the affinity with electricity. After everything was done, Altyria felt somewhat tired. Chrome picked up Altyria, his eyes full of distress. If he knew that she would be tired like this, he would have just destroyed the spirit. He stared coldly at the golden statue. The spirit resting inside the statue trembled in fear. Altyria yawned. [Let¡¯s go back to our home.] Chrome stopped staring at the statue and caressed Altyria¡¯s fur. He gazed at her with gentle eyes as she fell asleep in his arms. Chrome¡¯s frozen heart had already started melting the moment he saw Altyria for the first time. He knew that she had not fully accepted him yet. However, this time, she said ¡®home¡¯, which indicated that she is slowly integrating herself into his life. At this thought, his heart felt truly warm. ¡°Ah, let¡¯s go back home. To our home.¡± Chapter 16 A New Beginning (16) While Chrome and Altyria enjoyed themselves shopping at the department store and sealing a spirit, Dylan and Yilan were having some ¡®fun¡¯ as well. ¡°Are you sure there are spirits in this park? We¡¯ve been walking around here for an hour already,¡± Dylan complained as he ate an ice cream bar he bought from a vending machine. ¡°You think spirits are like insects where you can find them almost anywhere? This is why Chrome assigned you to do paper work. You have no patience whatsoever.¡± Yilan snorted. ¡°Lan Lan, shouldn¡¯t you speak nicer to your older brother? You hurt my heart.¡± Dylan placed his hands on his heart and pretended that his feelings were hurt. Yilan slapped his arm. ¡°If you acted more mature, then I¡¯ll consider being nice to you.¡± The two continued bickering as they walked through the large park. Sunset Village was a famous park known for its beautiful flowers and greenery. Many people came to this park to walk their dogs, stroll around, have a picnic, or breathe some fresh air. Sunset Village had various shops and had a small caf¨¦ that was decorated with flowers found in the park every week. There was also a workshop where people could pay a fee to pick flowers and turn them into a bookmark or accessory. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the caf¨¦. I want to buy some desserts.¡± Yilan said while pulling her brother by the arm. ¡°All you ever think about are sweets and more sweets.¡± Dylan shook his head in disappointment. Yilan pinched his arm and retorted, ¡°And you¡¯re the one who thinks about playing games all day long!¡± ¡°Hss, ow! Be gentle!, will you? How will you find a boyfriend in the future?¡± Dylan rubbed his arm. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Yilan brushed him off and continued walking. They walked to the middle of the park where the caf¨¦ and other shops were located at. It was late in the afternoon on a weekday, so there were less people around. Yilan got a chocolate sundae and Dylan bought a mixed fruit drink. They sat at an empty table. Yilan pulled out a device that was shaped like a smart phone, which detected spirits, and placed it on the table. Yilan scooped a spoonful of her chocolate sundae and ate it. ¡°I guess our luck it not so good today. It doesn¡¯t seem like there are any spirits here in the park.¡± ¡°Tch, making me waste an afternoon.¡± Dylan grumbled. ¡°Hey, at least I can tell the Boss that you actually came out spirit hunting instead of staying in the office playing games.¡± Yilan pointed out. ¡°I guess¡­¡± Suddenly, the spirit-detecting device started beeping. On the screen, multiple red dots appeared in clusters. ¡°Holy¡­!¡± Yilan jumped up from her seat. ¡°Come on! They¡¯re heading towards the northern part of the park.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Dylan grabbed her arm. ¡°Wait, wait. Don¡¯t we need to get the sealing devices? We can¡¯t go there empty handed.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Yilan turned and ran back towards the parking lot. She opened her trunk and threw a bag towards Dylan while grabbing the other one. ¡°All right. Let¡¯s go before they disappear!¡± Yilan said in a hurry. The two ran towards the northern part of Sunset Village. Yilan kept the spirit-detecting device in her hand and glanced at it while running to make sure they were running in the right direction. When they came close to the location, they could feel the air fluctuating rapidly because of the number of spirits in the area. ¡°Hehe, didn¡¯t you say that spirits weren¡¯t like insects that could be found everywhere?¡± Dylan gulped as he looked at the multiple insect spirits. ¡°You think we won¡¯t be the ones who would be obliterated instead?¡± ¡°Stupid, this is why I had always been telling you to go spirit hunting with me. If you did, this amount of spirits would be nothing compared to the last time I went with Chrome.¡± Yilan gave him a look. Yilan instructed him to take out the devices and set them up in a specific order. There were 8 devices total. Yilan and Dylan placed the devices in an octagon with the spirits at the center of the octagon. The various insect spirits noticed Dylan and Yilan nearby. Their eyes turned red and the aura around them turned gloomy. A couple of them flew towards Dylan and Yilan. ¡°Hurry! Press the green button on the main device!¡± Yilan shouted. Dylan quickly pressed the button as he was told and the devices stared shining. Within seconds, all the devices were connected with each other through spiritual power that created a barrier, trapping the insect spirits inside. These devices worked by drawing spiritual power from a jade that was placed inside. Once the jade¡¯s spiritual power ran out, the device would stop working. Yilan and Dylan did not bring any extra jades with them, so they had to work fast. The insect spirits became violent as they smashed against the barrier. ¡°The barrier will only last for 15 minutes at most. Since these are an aggressive type of spirit, we should destroy them.¡± Yilan checked the device and made the decision. ¡°Fine by me. It¡¯s easy to get rid of them than sealing them, in my opinion.¡± Dylan took out his weapon from the items section of the system. Dylan¡¯s weapon was an enchanted glove that he had picked from a previous world. Thunderstorm Glove Attack: 55 Lightning Damage: 55 Item Description: A glove that increases one¡¯s attack power and adds lightning damage. Bonus property: Has a 15% chance of stunning the target. Although Dylan was a guy who preferred sitting in front of a computer, he was not a weakling. Instead, he was also guy who enjoyed using his fists when fighting. Yilan also took out her weapon from the system. Eltur¡¯s Glove Attack: 35 Attack Speed: +3% Item Description: This was a glove that Eltur had used when treating his patients. This glove is able to produce infinite fine needles that are strong enough to penetrate a thick tree trunk. Bonus property: Increases the speed of producing needles by 2% Yilan had interest in medicine. This also included Chinese acupuncture and other fields of medicine. By using these needles, she could throw them at the acupuncture points and cause her enemies to be unable to move. Depending on where she throws her needles, she could even kill her enemies in an instant. However, this time, Yilan was fighting against insect spirits. She wasn¡¯t sure if her needles would work since these spirits don¡¯t really have any acupuncture points. She aimed at the insects¡¯ head that were flying towards her and threw several needles. The needles pierced the shell of the insects¡¯ head, causing them to die instantly. Yilan sighed in relief. ¡°Good thing the needles still worked against these insect spirits.¡± She turned to the side where Dylan had run off to. Yilan saw Dylan smashing one insect after another while laughing like a madman. ¡°Hahaha, come weaklings! Allow me to send you to your dreamland!¡± Dylan laughed crazily as he slammed two insects together and threw them to the side. ¡°¡­¡± Yilan face-palmed herself and sighed. She wasn¡¯t sure if bringing Dylan to hunt spirits with her was a good idea or not. She hoped that he wouldn¡¯t turn into a crazy punching machine by the time they move on to the next world. Chapter 17 A New Beginning (17) Altyria woke up and stretched her body. She glanced around the place. Apparently, Chrome had brought her back to the apartment and placed her on the bed in the master bedroom. [Oh, right! I should check the branch task.] Altyria opened the menu and pressed the ¡®Task¡¯ button. Main Task
  • Gather information about the recent incidents at Duanxin High School.
Branch Task
  • Destroy/seal 100 spirits: 73/100
Altyria¡¯s eyes grew wide in surprise. [73?! How did it increase that much? We only sealed one¡­] Altyria glanced at the digital clock at the bedside table. It said 6:27 PM. Altyria had been sleeping for several hours. [Did someone else go find spirits?] Altyria jumped off the bed. She could not hear anything coming from outside the room. Chrome had soundproofed his entire apartment when he renovated it. When she walked around the apartment, she noticed that the things they bought were already neatly arranged in the apartment. The decorations and furniture were neatly placed. Altyria walked into the living room and saw Chrome, who was wearing an apron, standing in the kitchen cooking. The odor of fried meat and steamed vegetables filled her nostrils. Chrome noticed that she had woken up. ¡°Alti, are you hungry? I¡¯m almost done cooking.¡± [En. Did you find more spirits after I fell asleep? I just checked the task and it showed 73/100. Before, it was 46/100.] Altyria jumped onto the new dinner table and watched Chrome cook. ¡°It must have been Dylan and Yilan. They probably went spirit hunting instead of heading back to the office.¡± Chrome placed the cooked meat onto a plate and poured the sauce onto it as well. Altyria stared at him in a daze. She had been with him in the forest for a month. Today was considered her first day with him in the city, yet it felt like she had been with him for several years. Was this because they were soulmates? Altyria always felt comfortable being with Chrome and easily accepted his care, although it felt a bit awkward at the beginning. Perhaps I do like him¡­a bit. Altyria thought to herself.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Alti?¡± Chrome saw that she was in a daze. He had just finished cooking the last dish and took off the apron. He carried the dishes to the dinner table. [Ah? What is it?] Altyria snapped out of her thoughts. ¡°Seeing you in a daze, are you still tired?¡± Chrome rubbed her little head. Altyria closed her eyes as she enjoyed his touch. [No¡­Just thinking that I like being with you.] Chrome smiled happily. ¡°This is only the first day I brought you to the city. I guess by the time we leave this world, you¡¯ll probably fall in love with me, huh?¡± Altyria pushed his hand aside and turned around in embarrassment. [I¡¯m hungry.] ¡°Okay, let¡¯s eat.¡± Chrome chuckled. Chrome placed a large plate that was specially bought for Altyria. He placed meat and vegetables onto her plate until they piled up before he started eating. Altyria looked enviously at Chrome, who did not have to stick his head into a bowl or plate to eat. [When can I change into human form again? Whether I eat from a bowl or plate, it makes my fur dirty no matter how I eat.] Altyria sighed. ¡°Soon. After about 3-4 more worlds, I will be able to buy an item from the system mall that would allow you to change into human form with no restrictions.¡± Chrome comforted Altyria. [No restrictions? How much does it cost?] Altyria had not looked through the system mall yet, so she did not know that there was such an item. ¡°It costs 10,000 solstice coins. It¡¯s pretty cheap since barely anyone buys it.¡± Chrome said. [10,000 solstice coins¡­We have 5,200 solstice coins right now, so we only need 4,800 more!] Altyria felt happy that she could turn into human form soon. Her tail started swaying in excitement as she started eating her dinner. Just as they finished their dinner, the doorbell rang. [It¡¯s Dylan and Lan Lan!] Altyria had spread out her soul power and sensed them. Chrome got up to open the door for them and returned to the dining room. Dylan and Yilan also followed behind. ¡°Boss, is there any leftovers?¡± Dylan saw the empty plates on the table and felt his stomach grumble. ¡°There¡¯s a bit left. Wash the dishes after you guys are done.¡± Chrome nodded and brought Altyria into the study with him. He placed her on the couch and gave her a tablet. ¡°I¡¯m going to do some paperwork. You can use the tablet to watch movies or read novels.¡± [Okay, make yourself busy.] Altyria nodded. There was an unknown feeling in her heart every time Chrome was so gentle and considerate to her. Her heart felt warm and was reluctant to leave it. She shook her head and debated on whether to watch movies or read a novel. After a couple seconds, she decided to read romance novels to see if there was anything she could use as a reference in regards to these unknown feelings. In the dining room, Yilan and Dylan helped themselves with the leftover meat and vegetables left in the pots and pans. ¡°Sure enough, Boss¡¯ cooking is the best!¡± Yilan exclaimed as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. ¡°Yeah, how many times have we eaten the dishes he cooked? Was it 3 times?¡± Dylan said with a stuffed mouth. Yilan gulped down a glass of water. ¡°Mmm, I think that sounds about right. Boss barely cooks, but I think we would be able to eat Boss¡¯ cooking more often now.¡± ¡°Hehe, as long as Sister is around, we¡¯ll have delicious meat to eat.¡± Dylan licked his lips. Yilan picked up the plates from the table and put them in the sink. She also put the pots and pans that needed to be washed in the sink as well. ¡°Okay, you wash, I wipe.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t Boss have a dishwasher?¡± Dylan said walking behind the kitchen counter. The two looked around briefly but did not see a dishwasher. ¡°To think that the Boss did not buy a dishwasher¡­Didn¡¯t he go shopping with Sister today?¡± Dylan felt puzzled. ¡°I guess he prefers to wash using his own hands.¡± Yilan shrugged. Sounds of water and glass clacking were heard from the kitchen. Chapter 18 A New Beginning (18) After 20 minutes, all the plates, pots, pans, and other kitchenware were all washed and cleaned. Dylan and Yilan wiped the kitchen counter and dining table clean with a towel. Knock, knock. The door to the study was knocked. ¡°Come in.¡± Dylan opened the door and walked in with Yilan. Yilan went straight to the couch where Altyria was reading novels on the tablet and sat down. Yilan sat took close to Altyria and her tablet, causing Altyria to move aside. ¡°Ah, I feel so tired.¡± Yilan said as she got comfortable on the couch. Chrome glanced at Yilan lying on the couch close to Altyria. His brows furrowed in dissatisfaction. Dylan noticed Chrome¡¯s dark expression and quickly pulled Yilan to the other couch. ¡°Hey! What are you¡ª¡± Yilan shouted before noticing Chrome¡¯s dark face. ¡°Oh, hehe. Hey, Boss, did you see the branch task progress?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Chrome replied faintly. At this time, Altyria¡¯s attracted by this topic. [You guys found so many spirits? It was 26 spirits total.] Dylan sat up straight feeling proud. ¡°Yeah, we went to Sunset Village and walked around for about an hour, yet we did not find anything. It wasn¡¯t until we sat down at a caf¨¦ that the spirit-detecting device finally had a reaction.¡± Dylan started telling how they ran to the area where the insect spirits were and set up the devices. When he started talking about how he beat the spirit insects with his fists, Yilan sighed loudly. ¡°Oh, you should have seen how he was punching those spirit insects. He acted like a total madman. If I did not know who he was, I would have called the police on him.¡± Yilan shook her head in exasperation. ¡°How could you say that? I¡¯m your brother!¡± Dylan exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s because you are my brother that I didn¡¯t call the police on you.¡± Yilan rolled her eyes. Altyria thought how the two of them got along together was amusing. It reminded her a bit of how she used to be with her best friend before her best friend met that person and suddenly changed¡­Altyria shook her head. It was something of the past now. She had a new life and people who she could trust. Chrome was her soulmate, so she could whole-heartedly trust him and not worry about betrayal. Chrome trusted Dylan and Yilan, so Altyria also trusted them as well to a certain extent. She looked at Chrome, who ignored the twins and continued reading the paperwork on his desk. Although only 20 minutes passed, her reading speed was very fast thanks to her spiritual power. In these 20 minutes, she had realized that her feelings were the same as described in the romance novels. It turned out that her heart had already fallen for him.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Sensing Altyria¡¯s gaze, he looked up, and their eyes met. Chrome¡¯s expression softened as he got up and walked over to Altyria. He asked softly, ¡°Are you bored? I ordered some materials that you could use for spiritual arrays. I wasn¡¯t sure which ones were needed, so I bought all of them.¡± His hand gently caressed Altyria¡¯s head. Altyria stared at Chrome¡¯s face as countless thoughts flashed through her mind. He usually had a cold expression that kept people at a distance away. Only when he was facing her, he would soften his expression. A man who would show concern for you. A man who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to lower himself for you. A man who would try to make you happy. A man who would only be hot towards you and cold towards other. A man who would do everything to make your wishes come true without hesitation. Could she ask for more? No, all she wanted was his heart. Why did she want his heart? Was it because they were soulmates so she would feel possessive? But some of the Lylin pairs were not possessive of each other. Based on these novels, she should be in love. Since when did she fall in love? Was it when he gave her grilled fish? Or during the one month trial period that he spent with her? She did not know. Right now, she only wanted to be with this man, her soulmate. Yes, her soulmate, the other half of her soul. He was one who would accompany her for an eternity, and she was the one who would accompany him. This fact would never change. At this thought, the thin thread that connected their souls suddenly glowed. Chrome, who had been staring at Altyria with a worried expression because she was staring at him with a blank expression, felt the change in the soul bond. That thin thread had a golden glow and grew stronger. Chrome¡¯s eyes turned ecstatic. This change indicated that Altyria had fully accepted him in her heart. Only when both soulmates truly accepted each other in their hearts would it turn gold. Altyria blinked her eyes at this change. She looked at Chrome with a puzzled expression. What happened? Without a word, Chrome picked her up and walked out of the study. If one paid close attention, they would find that he was walking faster than normal. Dylan and Yilan had been bickering with each other when they saw Chrome walk up to Altyria, who appeared to be in a daze. Yilan saw Chrome¡¯s soft expression and heard his gentle voice when he was talking to Altyria. She was shocked as if she had just seen a ghost. She turned to look at Dylan. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Dylan shook his head. Your eyes are not wrong. He patted her shoulders when Chrome suddenly picked up Altyria and left without a word. Dylan and Yilan looked at each other. ¡°What now?¡± Yilan asked. ¡°Go to sleep early, I guess. You could go watch TV if you want, but I¡¯m going to crash here for the night.¡± Dylan ran a hand through his hair as he stood up. ¡°Did Boss even buy extra beds? The last time I checked, the bedrooms were empty.¡± Yilan frowned. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to watch TV for a while in the living room. If needed, I can sleep on the couch.¡± The two of them walked out of the study. Dylan walked straight to one of the 4 bedrooms and looked inside. Surprisingly, the room was fully decorated with a bed, closet, small desk, and other furniture. ¡°Hey Lan Lan, Boss actually bought beds for all 4 bedrooms.¡± Dylan said as he looked through all 4 bedrooms. ¡°Really?!¡± Yilan ran over and peeked at the rooms. ¡°Great! Then I don¡¯t have to sleep on the couch tonight!¡± ¡°Give me your car keys. I¡¯m going to go buy a change of clothes.¡± Dylan said. ¡°Hm? Oh, I¡¯ll go with you. I need to buy some stuff too. Let¡¯s stop by the supermarket to buy some snacks.¡± Yilan thought as she touched her chin. ¡°Buying snacks? Are you planning on eating until late at night? You¡¯re going to get fat, you know.¡± Dylan looked at her up and down. Yilan kicked him and walked towards the front door. ¡°Who said that I was going to eat until late at night? Furthermore, I can¡¯t get fat no matter how much I eat, thank you very much.¡± Yilan pouted. ¡°We forgot to bring the spirit insect carcasses to the Boss. We¡¯ll have to remember to bring it with us when we come back.¡± Dylan muttered. ¡°You¡¯re the one who kept rushing me because you were hungry!¡± Yilan frowned. Once again, the two of them squabbled as they left the apartment. Chapter 19 A New Beginning (19) ¡°Alti¡­Alti¡­Alti¡­¡± Chrome repeatedly called out her name as he buried his face in her neck. He held her in his arms as he lay on the bed. Altyria pawed his face feeling baffled by his behavior. [What¡¯s going on?] She was able to feel his feelings even more clearly than before. ¡°Do you feel it? The soul bond changed!¡± Chrome couldn¡¯t suppress the happiness that surged from the bottom of his heart. Altyria checked the soul bond, and just as he had said, the soul bond turned gold and was more firm compared to before. She could clearly feel his joyful emotions and felt that their souls had truly become one. [This¡­] Altyria knew these changes were a good thing, but she didn¡¯t know how it became like this. [How did it become like this? I thought that the soul bond cannot be influenced by external factors?] Altyria looked at Chrome waiting for an explanation. Chrome gently kissed her a few times before he was satisfied. ¡°Soul bonding has two levels. The soul bond that you saw before was just the first level. When the soul bond turns gold, it means that it became the second level. It also indicates that both soulmates truly accepted one another in their hearts and they cannot live without one another.¡± Chrome paused as he gazed into her crystal blue eyes with his dark shining eyes. ¡°Soul bonders on the first level may feel like they have accepted each other, but they do not fully entrust their life to the other. I guess, in simpler terms, they do not love each other as lovers do. Most Lylin pairs were at the first level of soul bonding. That is why you don¡¯t see that intimacy between them.¡± As Altyria processed Chrome¡¯s explanation, she blushed and wished she could hide in a hole. The soul bond turning gold was equivalent to confessing her love to him. Well, it was the same the other way around, him confessing to her, but she was already aware of his feelings since he had been so straightforward from the beginning. Chrome watched her changing expressions with a soft smile. He suddenly felt that being in human form was not a good idea. He abruptly changed into beast form and curled up with Altyria. He felt more comfortable this way because their body size were more similar. Altyria was caught by surprise. [Hey, what are you doing?] [Hugging you.] Chrome rested his head on her head. [Let¡¯s sleep early tonight. We¡¯ll go to Duanxin High School with Yilan tomorrow.] Chrome lightly patted her back with his tail before wrapping his tail with hers. [Oh.] Altyria closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes. [I almost forgot! Chrome, where are my materials that I brought with me from the forest?] Chrome blinked his eyes and the materials appeared on the bed. [Are you setting up a spiritual array?] [Mhmm, my spiritual power is really weak right now. I must take the time to increase it while I have the chance.] Altyria replied as she quickly set up a large spiritual array that was big enough to cover the whole apartment.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! [Done!] Once she was done, Altyria could feel the world essence gathering in this apartment. Altyria flicked her ears in satisfaction and returned to bed. Chrome once again wrapped around her and they quickly fell asleep. An hour past, it was almost 10PM at night. Dylan and Yilan finally came back from buying what they needed. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the carcasses!¡± Yilan shouted at her brother. ¡°I already grabbed it. Let¡¯s go.¡± Dylan replied as he walked into the apartment complex. As soon as they entered the 8th floor, they felt a refreshing atmosphere that was not there before. The two of them looked at each other. ¡°Did the Boss do something while we were gone?¡± Dylan asked as he put down the things in his hands and scratched his head. ¡°You ask me, but who do I ask?¡± Yilan snorted. ¡°Whatever it is, it does not have any negative effect on us, so there is no need to worry.¡± Dylan grunted. He put the carcasses in the storage room and quickly walked to the bathroom to shower. He planned to sleep early since he was exhausted after his ¡®workout¡¯ in the afternoon. Yilan brought her bags of snacks with her to the living room and turned on the TV. She did not plan on sleeping until midnight. ****************** The sunlight shone brightly in the room. Altyria squinted as she stretched her body. She glanced at the empty bed and walked out of the room. ¡°Morning, Alti.¡± Chrome greeted her as he placed breakfast on the dining table. The sunlight shined onto his black hair, illuminating his face. His dark eyes were soft as he looked at her. [Morning, Chrome.] Altyria felt shy as she looked at him. The more she looked at him, the more she felt that he was more handsome. She jumped onto the table and sat next to her plate. Chrome leaned over and gave her a kiss. ¡°Wife, good morning kiss.¡± Altyria was caught off guard. She blushed at the word ¡®wife¡¯. ¡°Come, call me husband¡± Chrome softly coaxed her. Call him husband?! It was only yesterday that she ¡®confessed¡¯ to him, yet he was already stepping onto the next stage? Wasn¡¯t this too fast? Chrome felt her tangled emotions and sighed in disappointment. ¡°Well, I can wait until the day you feel comfortable calling me husband.¡± He knew that he was rushing too much, but he couldn¡¯t help himself. After all, he finally got what he wished for after so many years. He turned and walked towards the kitchen to get juice for Altyria. Altyria felt his disappointment. Her heart was tangled at this sudden recognition in their relationship. Although nothing much had changed between them, besides being more intimate, Altyria¡¯s mindset of ¡®I¡¯ll wait and see¡¯ changed to the mindset of ¡®he is mine¡¯. [Husband¡­good morning.] Altyria said in the lowest volume. Chrome, who had sharp ears, heard her words. He smiled brightly as he placed the glass of juice in front of her. The two of them gazed into each other¡¯s eyes, their hearts were warm. ¡°Aaahh, gooood morning Boss, Sister!¡± Dylan yawned as he walked to the dining table, breaking that sweet atmosphere between Chrome and Altyria. Altyria looked away awkwardly when she heard Dylan come to the dining area. Chrome¡¯s gaze swept over him before sitting down next to Altyria. Dylan saw his Boss give him a look and he paused his feet. Did he do something wrong? Seeing that Chrome sat down, he shrugged. ¡°Good morning everyone~¡± Yilan rushed to the dining table and sat in her seat. [Good morning.] Altyria said softly. Chrome had woken up early in the morning and made omelet rice for her. She saw the smiley face drawn with ketchup on the omelet and her eyes softened. After looking at it for a couple seconds, she started munching on it. ¡°Hey Boss, I was so surprised that you actually bought beds to put in the 4 bedrooms. I thought I had to sleep on the couch last night.¡± Yilan suddenly remembered her surprise last night as she watched Altyria eat so cutely. Her hands were itching to touch her, but she restrained herself. She did not want to get her hands chopped off. ¡°If you want to thank someone, thank Alti.¡± Chrome glanced at her before eating his breakfast. Yilan smiled brightly to Altyria, who cutely tilted her head to the side in reply. Dylan went into the kitchen to grab himself some breakfast. ¡°Brother, get me some too!¡± Yilan shouted at him. ¡°Get it yourself, lazy girl.¡± Dylan rejected her as he sat down at the table. Yilan pouted before heading to the kitchen. ¡°Sure enough, with Sister around, we get to eat delicious food every day.¡± Dylan sighed with happiness as he took a bite. Chrome waited until Altyria finished eating before saying, ¡°After you finish, head to Duanxin High School. We¡¯ll meet you there.¡± After throwing those words to them, Chrome took Altyria and left the apartment. How could he spend time alone with his wife with two large light bulbs? Of course he had to throw them off; otherwise he would not be able to be intimate with his little wife. Chapter 20 A New Beginning (20) Duanxin High School. When Chrome and Altyria arrived, the students were all in class, so the campus ground was empty. Chrome had called the school¡¯s principal when they left the apartment. He walked straight to the Principal¡¯s office. Knock, knock. ¡°Come in.¡± The Principal raised his head to see who came in. He saw a tall young man dressed in casual clothing. His black hair had streaks of silver, and he held a pure white cat that had beautiful blue eyes. ¡°You are¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m Chrome from the YSA Agency. I called you a couple minutes ago.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, yes! I am Han Chenxi, the principal of this high school. Someone from your agency came yesterday. Unfortunately, the small courtyard was being fixed¡­¡± Altyria studied this middle-aged man. This Principal had a small pot-belly. His eyes wrinkled every time he smiled, and he had an upright manner. The hair on his head was thin. Altyria estimated that he would become bald at this rate. If the Principal was beginning to lose hair at this age, then¡­Altyria looked at Chrome, who was talking to the Principal. Chrome felt Altyria¡¯s gaze and gently stroked her back as he replied to the Principal. ¡°So far, my partner did not find anything abnormal on the school campus. Perhaps, the recent incidents are caused by something in the small courtyard.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll leave this matter to you. I have already informed the guard to let you in, but you¡¯ll have to be careful. The maintenance has not yet been finished, so there are a lot of construction tools lying around.¡± Chrome nodded and left the office. ¡°So, what happened, wife?¡± Chrome looked at his little wife in his arms. He noticed her looking at him with a weird gaze, but he couldn¡¯t ask her when he was still talking to the Principal. [That Principal was already losing his head hair at that age. I was wondering if that would happen to you as well.] Altyria looked at Chrome with innocent eyes, then she glance at his hair. Chrome: ¡°¡­¡± Chrome roughly rubbed her little white head before saying, ¡°Naughty. That might happen if I was human, but I am not.¡± He paused for a second, ¡°Wife, do you want me to become bald. If you prefer a bald man, then I can¡­¡± [No! I do not want you to become bald! You won¡¯t look as handsome as now!] Altyria refuted directly. [If you become bald, then I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll¡­] Altyria¡¯s mind spun in circles, [I¡¯ll draw on your head.] Chrome chuckled. ¡°Then, I will have to make sure that I don¡¯t become bald.¡± The two of them chatted until they reached the small courtyard at the back of the school. A guard stood at the entrance and noticed their arrival. ¡°Are you from the YSA Agency?¡± The guard trotted up to Chrome. Chrome nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been instructed by the Principal to assist you during your investigation. I have to watch the entrance to prevent kids from sneaking in, so I can¡¯t enter with you.¡± The guard took out a key and unlocked the gate of the small courtyard.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I have two partners that will arrive later. They¡¯ll show our agency badge to you when they arrive.¡± Chrome said as he let the guard see his agency badge. Then, he took out his phone and sent a text in the group chat before walking in. Altyria glanced around at this courtyard. The buildings were under construction and were not safe to enter. Surrounding the buildings were lush plants and beautiful flowers. Chrome leisurely strolled through the garden in the courtyard. [I don¡¯t sense any spirits here, and the task did not update¡­] Altyria felt somewhat puzzled. She was not sure what they were supposed to be looking for. ¡°It¡¯s ok. Just treat it as taking a stroll in the garden. We¡¯ll complete the task eventually.¡± Chrome caressed her back. Suddenly, a path appeared to the side of them. It led deep into a bamboo forest. [This¡­] ¡°This must be the spot.¡± Chrome marked the ground and walked down the path into the bamboo forest. On Yilan and Dylan¡¯s side, they just finished stuffing their stomach full. ¡°Dylan! Hurry and clean the dishes! We¡¯ll be given the cold eye by the Boss if we take too long!¡± ¡°Lan Lan, what are you talking about? The Boss already gives us the cold eye.¡± Dylan retorted. Yilan scrambled back and forth from the dining table and the kitchen sink. She carried the dirty plates and cups to the sink to be washed before using a wet towel to wipe the table clean. Dylan was in charge of washing the dishes. ¡°I don¡¯t care! Just clean faster.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already washing the fastest I can. If I wash any faster, it would not be clean, and you know how the Boss hates dirty plates.¡± The two finally finished washing and cleaning everything after 15 minutes. *Beep* Their phones made a sound indicating that they got a text message. They checked the message and saw that it was from their Boss. It said: Small courtyard in 20 minutes. ¡°20 minutes?! We haven¡¯t even left the house yet.¡± Dylan yelled. ¡°And why does Boss leave out some words every time he sends texts¡­¡± ¡°Who cares? As long as you can understand what he¡¯s saying, it¡¯s fine. Come on! Time is ticking!¡± Yilan said as she put on her shoes. Dylan randomly grabbed a pair of shoes and ran out of the door with Yilan. Unfortunately for him, he had grabbed a pair of sandals when he left the apartment, so every step he took made a sound as he ran. They rushed out of the apartment, jumped into Yilan¡¯s red sports car, and sped towards Duanxin High School. In the city, a red sports car raced through the streets, running through red lights and cleverly avoided any patrolling police. ¡°Woah! Watch out for that car!¡± ¡°Lan Lan, that¡¯s a red light¡­¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re driving too fast!¡± Yilan and Dylan actually arrived to the school in 10 minutes thanks to Yilan¡¯s crazy driving skills. When they arrived, Dylan got off the car with shaky legs. ¡°Lan Lan, I will never sit in the car when you¡¯re driving.¡± Dylan leaned against the side of the car. ¡°Tch, you¡¯re just a weakling. You need to exercise more than sitting all day.¡± Yilan glanced at him in disdain. She noticed that he was wearing sandals and wanted to scold him for not wearing appropriate shoes when working. However, she swallowed back her words because they were running late. ¡°What weakling? Didn¡¯t you see me yesterday beating up those insect spirits?!¡± Dylan suddenly become energized and didn¡¯t feel weak anymore. Yilan ignored him and walked towards the small courtyard. Seeing that he was ignored, Dylan shrugged and whistled as he followed behind his sister. They saw a guard standing at the entrance and walked up to him. ¡°Hello, we¡¯re from YSA Agency. Our partner should have already entered the courtyard.¡± Yilan smiled at the guard and revealed their badge. ¡°Ah, yes. That fellow went in already about 15 minutes ago.¡± The guard opened the gate for them. The twins thanked the guard and stepped inside. They walked around for 5 minutes before they saw the mark on the ground. ¡°Hey Brother, Boss¡¯ mark is on the ground there.¡± Yilan pointed to the mark not too far away from them. ¡°Boss made a mark here, but there isn¡¯t really any¡ª¡± Dylan inspected the surrounding where the mark was when a path suddenly opened before their eyes. It was the path that led deep into the bamboo forest. ¡°I guess Boss already went inside. It¡¯s already been almost half an hour.¡± Yilan checked her phone and sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll be given the cold eye.¡± ¡°Just blame traffic. Boss won¡¯t know.¡± Dylan smirked as he walked into the bamboo forest. ¡°Hey, wait for me!¡± Yilan saw that she was left behind when she was looking at her phone. The two of them followed the path that twisted and turned before arriving at an open area. What they saw caused their mouth to twitch, yet they did not dare to make any noise. What they saw was their Boss napping on a hammock with Altyria sleeping on his chest. His right hand rested on her back while his left hand was on the back of his head. It seemed more like he came out here looking for a good spot to nap and relax rather than completing the task. Chapter 21 A New Beginning (21) When they stepped into the open area, Chrome had glanced at them expressionlessly before closing his eyes again. ¡°30 minutes.¡± ¡°Hehe, that¡­uh, Boss¡­er, washing the dishes took longer than we thought it would.¡± The gears in Yilan¡¯s mind spun as she tried to think of a plausible reason for their tardiness. Dylan and Yilan stared at their Boss relaxing on the hammock for a couple seconds. Seeing that he was not going to take any action, they let out a sigh of relief. Because they were in a hurry trying to get here on time, they did not observe their surroundings carefully. Since their Boss did not give any orders, it meant that they had time to do their own thing. Yilan looked around this open space in the bamboo forest. The sunlight shone brightly in the middle of the open area. There were dark shady areas as well in this open space. This bright and shady contrast in this part of the bamboo forest gave off a mysterious atmosphere. There was a little hill on the other side of the open area, where it was the sunlight shined the brightest. Little plants and flowers grew around the edges of the open space. Yilan walked towards one of the plants on the ground and got down on one knee to inspect it. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this¡­¡± Yilan looked at it carefully. Suddenly, she uprooted the entire plant and stood up excitedly. ¡°This is a Kiscus!¡± Dylan heard Yilan yelling in excitement and walked over. ¡°What are you yelling so loudly for? Boss might punish you with overtime work if you wake up Sister.¡± Yilan suppressed her voice, ¡°Look what I found! It¡¯s a Kiscus! These are one of the best herbs used to make hemostasis. The effect is so much stronger compared to other herbs.¡± Dylan took the herb from her hand and looked at it. Then, he looked around the area and saw that there were more Kiscus scattered around in clumps. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll be spending out time picking herbs.¡± Dylan headed towards a different area to start picking the herbs. Yilan saw that her brother was going to help her and smiled. She turned to Chrome and asked, ¡°Boss, how long are we going to stay here?¡± Chrome, who was gently petting Altyria¡¯s fur, heard this question and answered, ¡°Until the sun rises to the highest point.¡± ¡°Oh, then we have about 3 hours to gather all these Kiscus!¡± Yilan smiled brightly at the thought of having so many Kiscus in stock and quickly started gathering them. Time slowly passed, and the sun was almost at its highest point. Altyria woke up and stretched her legs. Her little paws poking his chest while she was stretching cause his heart to itch. ¡°Rest well?¡± Chrome¡¯s eyes grew soft. He gently rubbed her ears.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. [En. Too bad I can¡¯t absorb world essence here. I feel like I¡¯m wasting time.] Altyria narrowed her eyes as Chrome continued rubbing her ears. ¡°You don¡¯t have to rush. This world isn¡¯t suitable for cultivation. The next world might have better resources or environment that will help in cultivating.¡± Chrome said as he got up from the hammock. It was at this time that Altyria noticed Dylan and Yilan crouching on the ground. [What are they doing?] Altyria saw that their action of plucking those plants on the ground was extremely fast. ¡°Yilan found some medicinal herbs that are really good for making hemostasis. They should be about done now. It¡¯s about time.¡± Chrome walked slowly, while holding Altyria in his arms, towards the other side of the open space where the little hill was. Altyria called out to the people still picking herbs, [Dylan, Lan Lan! It¡¯s about time!] The two people heard their names being called and stopped what they were doing. Seeing that the sun was about to reach the highest point, they quickly put the herbs that they picked to a safe spot and ran to where Chrome was standing. Right when the sun reached the highest point, the sky suddenly turned dark with traces of purple. The sunlight that was shining on the open area became a light purple-colored light. Everything turned black and purple. On the little hill in the open area, a large silver will-o-wisp appeared and seemed to be pulsating. As it pulsated, the fluctuations in the air increased. Dylan and Yilan got their weapons out. Chrome still stood there without any movement, besides gently rubbing her bristling fur. Altyria could not stop her fur from bristling. She got an uneasy feeling from the will-o-wisp that suddenly appeared. If it wasn¡¯t for Chrome blocking off the pressure from the will-o-wisp, Altyria probably would have coughed out blood and have major internal injuries. This will-o-wisp was originally a B ranked spirit, but it slowly changed its shape into a silver wolf with purple eyes and became an A ranked spirit. This spirit had a bloodthirsty gaze as it stared at Chrome¡¯s team. *Ding*
*Ding*
¡°Alright! This should be our final task.¡± Dylan said while pumping his fists. ¡°We haven¡¯t finished our branch task yet.¡± Yilan frowned. She wanted to complete the branch task to earn some extra solstice coins. She was tight on money for research. The Zizhu Wolf roared loudly causing them to cover their ears. A second later, sounds of wolves came from all directions. [About 50 wolf spirits are heading this way!] Altyria did a quick scan using her soul power, causing her body to have minor internal injuries. Apparently, she had been using soul power too frequently, so her body was unable to bear the pressure. Chrome¡¯s brows knit tightly together when Altyria had used her soul power. He had forgotten to tell Altyria not to use her soul power. She had used it several times already and using it any more would damage her body. Unfortunately, this had already happened. Chrome swiftly took out a jade bottle of pills and stuffed one into Altyria¡¯s mouth. The medicinal pill entered her stomach and a cool refreshing feeling spread throughout her body. The pain from the minor internal injuries eased. At this time, the Zizhu Wolf was now surrounded by gray wolves that it had called. These other wolf spirits were purple and were smaller than the Zizhu Wolf. ¡°I call dibs for the minions!¡± Dylan called out. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the final boss to the Boss.¡± Yilan said as she held several long needles in her hands. ¡°Ah.¡± Chrome gave his approval. Altyria had wanted to help out in the fight as well, but Chrome patted her bottom and held her tightly in his arms. His action caused Altyria to blush. This guy! How dare he ¡®spank¡¯ me! He is getting more and more shameless. I give him an inch, he takes a mile! I should¡­ (A thousand words omitted.) ¡°Your body is not well. You need to rest.¡± Chrome felt that Altyria was complaining about him through the soul bond. Although Altyria complained, she knew that she would just drag them down with her current strength, so she jumped out of his arms. She swiftly climbed up a bamboo tree. Chrome stared at the Zizhu Wolf, his eyes slowly turned gold. Chapter 22 A New Beginning (22) The Zizhu Wolf howled loudly and the 50 gray wolf spirits charged at them. Dylan ran straight up to the 50 gray wolf spirits. Once he was 1 meter away, he leapt into the air and slammed one his fist on the ground where the wolf spirits were. Lightning burst from his glove shocking the surrounding wolf spirits. His bonus skill also activated, causing the wolf spirits to be stunned for a few seconds. Yilan took advantage of the wolf spirits being stunned, and she threw multiple silver needles. The silver needles penetrated into the body of the wolf spirits, but it was not deep enough to hit the acupuncture points to kill them. The wolf spirits yelped in pain. 20 gray wolf spirits changed their targets and rushed towards Yilan, who was several meters away. She quickly threw her needles aiming at their eyes since the needles could not penetrate their skin deep enough. 5 of them were hit in the eyes, but the rest managed to avoid getting their eyes pierced by the silver needle. As they got closer to Yilan, she had to run around towards Dylan for cover. She was not good at close-ranged combat, and her needles were not enough to kill the wolf spirits. ¡°Dylan! Help!¡± Yilan screamed while running for her life towards him. Dylan punched a wolf spirit in the face. The lightning from the glove blasted into the wolf spirit¡¯s head, causing it to die. He was in the middle of dodging 21 wolf spirits that were attacking him when he heard his sister scream for help. 4 wolf spirits were already destroyed by him. He blasted the ground with lightning to stun the wolf spirits before turning his head towards the direction of her voice and saw her running in his direction. 1 meter behind her was the 20 wolf spirits chasing hotly after her. Dylan: ¡°¡­¡± Dylan felt a little helpless about this younger sister who had no experience in close-ranged combat. It seemed that he should teach her some moves; otherwise she would run into this situation every time she fought. The other times, Boss was there to help. This time, he was there to help. But what if neither of them were there? He shook his head and dashed towards her. He leapt into the air once again, and slammed his fist onto the ground in the middle of the group of wolf spirits. Blasts of lightning struck the wolf spirits, causing some of them to be roasted on the spot. Yilan stopped running and threw a handful of needles towards the wolf spirits¡¯ heads. Like this, Dylan became Yilan¡¯s meat shield. He blocked the wolf spirits from getting close to Yilan, and Yilan would throw needles at the wolf spirits¡¯ forehead or eyes whenever she had the chance. On Chrome¡¯s side, the Zizhu Wolf rushed towards Chrome after it had howled. Chrome had drawn his sword the moment when the Zizhu Wolf made its move. Moonwalker¡¯s Will (Temporarily Sealed) Attack: 60 (250) Attack Speed: +2% Item Description: A sword created during the full moon, causing it to absorb the moon¡¯s energy. Bonus property: Increases one¡¯s movement speed by 3% when the moon is out. (Sealed)Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Chrome raised his sword to block the Zizhu Wolf¡¯s open mouth. He quickly manipulated the space around the Zizhu Wolf. The space around it suddenly compressed causing the Zizhu Wolf to struggle trying to get free. Chrome took a step back and raised his sword to stab the wolf when it its eyes turned red. Sensing an incoming danger, Chrome swiftly retreated from the Zizhu Wolf. Just when Chrome retreated, purple flames burst from its body. Chrome frowned. He couldn¡¯t get close to the Zizhu Wolf if it used its purple flames. The red-eyed Zizhu Wolf managed to free itself and growled with rage. It had been the ruler of this bamboo forest for hundreds of years. It had recently woken up from its slumber only to find that humans were in its territory. No one dared to bother or touch its territory as long as it remembered. It felt like its authority was being challenged; thus, it ordered its subordinates to attack any human that appeared in this small courtyard. The first 3 victims to be attacked by the wolf spirits were students that had sneaked into the courtyard during lunch. The students claimed to be chased and bitten by large gray wolves, but nobody believed them. There were no wolves in the city, much less in this school, which was located near the center of the city. At most, the teachers thought the students had been bitten by large stray dogs that had gotten into the small courtyard. However, when the wolf spirits attacked a second group of victims, a teacher happened to be nearby. The second group of victims was the construction workers who worked on the maintenance of the buildings in the small courtyard. That teacher had managed to escape from the wolves and ran to call for help. The Principal and other teachers could not deny it this time and had to believe that there were wolves. These two incidents occurred whenever there was a full moon. Thus, the Principal sealed off the small courtyard whenever it was the day of a full moon. Chrome¡¯s team was also called to deal with this group of wolves. Altyria worriedly watched Chrome. The Zizhu Wolf¡¯s speed was quite fast and was on par with Chrome. Although Chrome had a powerful sword, it was sealed because of this world¡¯s restrictions. Moreover, the Zizhu Wolf used its purple flames to block off Chrome¡¯s sword. Altyria saw Chrome use his space powers a couple times, but it was limited to special compression and teleporting. She assumed that some of Chrome¡¯s power was sealed, just like how her SS ranked soul power was sealed and reduced to rank C. Altyria frowned, her mind spun in circles trying to think of any helpful spiritual arrays that she could use to help Chrome. Slow it down? No, even if the Zizhu Wolf had its speed reduced, it still had its purple flames. She had to do something to prevent the Zizhu Wolf from using its purple flame. She stared intently at Chrome as he constantly dodged the Zizhu Wolf¡¯s attacks. Chrome never had a chance to be on the offensive side since purple flames would blast towards him whenever he got close. [Oh, that¡¯s right! I totally forgot about illusions!] Altyria¡¯s eyes lit up. She had not used illusions in a long time. However, in the next second, her ears drooped. Her spiritual power was only rank F+ right now. She wasn¡¯t sure if it would work against a rank A spiritual beast. Altyria shook her head. It was better to try it out than to sit here and watch everyone fight. She decided to set a spiritual array that amplified her team¡¯s weapon effect. With her current spiritual power, it would take about 6 minutes to set up a strong spiritual array. 6 minutes slowly passed, and Altyria finally set the spiritual array. Next, Altyria focused on condensing her spiritual power to cast an illusion on the Zizhu Wolf. The moment the spiritual array came into effect, Dylan¡¯s lightning blasts became more destructive and caused more damage. Yilan¡¯s silver needles were finally able to deeply penetrate into the wolf spirits¡¯ bodies hitting their acupuncture points. One by one, the gray wolf spirits were slowly destroyed until none of them were left. ¡°Phew! The workout today is even more tiring than yesterday.¡± Dylan wiped his nonexistent sweat. Yilan ignored what Dylan said and asked, ¡°Did you notice how your lightning attacks suddenly got stronger and how my needles were able to penetrate the wolf spirit¡¯s body?¡± ¡°Yeah, what about it? It¡¯s a good thing for us, so I wouldn¡¯t worry too much.¡± Dylan shrugged and looked towards the direction where Chrome was fighting with the Zizhu Wolf. ¡°Well, yeah¡­But¡­¡±Yilan started to speak when she suddenly remembered. ¡°Where is Altyria?¡± ¡°Hmm? Sister?¡± Dylan looked around the area. He noticed something white among the bamboo trees. ¡°Over there!¡± Yilan looked at where he pointed. She was about to call out to Altyria when she noticed that Altyria¡¯s eyes were glowing silver. Chapter 23 A New Beginning (23) Chrome¡¯s attack speed had increased the moment Altyria¡¯s spiritual array was in effect. His spatial compression was stronger and was able to prevent the Zizhu Wolf from moving for a few seconds longer. This was enough for him to condense his sword qi and attack from a distance. His sword qi attacks were also amplified by the spiritual array. Unfortunately, the attack power was reduced by the purple flames. However, the sword qi was able leave small wounds on the Zizhu Wolf. It only took seconds for the Zizhu to once again break free from the spatial compression. This pattern of fighting was repeated, and neither Chrome nor the Zizhu Wolf sustained major injuries. If the situation did not change, then this would turn into a battle of stamina. Dylan and Yilan saw Altyria hidden up in the bamboo trees. Her eyes glowed with a silver color as she stared intently at the Zizhi Wolf. ¡°What do you think Altyria is doing? Do you think she was the one who made our attacks stronger?¡± Yilan pondered as she stared at Altyria in the bamboo trees. ¡°Maybe. We don¡¯t really know much about Sister¡¯s powers yet. Anyway, perhaps she has a way to help end this drawn out battle. After destroying those 50 wolf spirits, the branch task is completed.¡± Dylan said as he glanced at the system menu. Main Task
  • Main Task: Destroy the Zizhu Wolf Spirit.
Branch Task
  • Destroy/seal 100 spirits: 123/100 (Completed)
¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go help Chrome.¡± Yilan ran towards the area where Chrome and the Zizhu Wolf were fighting. She threw her silver needles at the giant silver wolf spirit; however, the needles did not penetrate its skin. Instead, the needles bounced off its fur and fell to the ground. Yilan frowned and clenched her hands. She knew that she often could not help out during battle because of her lack of power. Her needles were good enough for fighting against low ranked opponents; however, once she met a high ranked opponent, she was unable to do any damage. In the beginning, she was only a healer, not a fighter. It was only when they started fighting frequently that she decided to help out in battle as well. She trained rigorously to increase her accuracy when throwing these needles. She increased her knowledge in plants and herbs, so she could develop medicine that could heal wounds during battle or cure toxins. Toxins¡­ That¡¯s right! Toxins! Yilan¡¯s eyes brightened. Poisons go hand in hand with medicine. She had to study toxins when she was trying to find a cure for some diseases or when she discovered a new type pf plant or herb. She still had some of these toxins with her. Yilan took out some small bottles. These had a paralyzing effect. Perhaps these would work on the Zizhu Wolf.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. During this time, Dylan had already joined the battle with Chrome. Dylan could not get close to the Zizhu Wolf, so he could only punch his fists towards the giant wolf spirit. Lightning bolts would shoot out from his gloves and strike the wolf spirit. These lightning bolts did some damage and sometimes stunned the wolf spirit. When the wolf spirit was stunned, Chrome immediately took the opportunity to cut large wounds on its body, so it would slowly bleed and weaken. Altyria was also ready to cast her illusion on the Zizhu Wolf. She had been condensing spiritual power in her eyes. Normally, she would not need to do this, but her spiritual power rank was too low. If her spiritual power rank was higher, she could cast the illusion instantly. Now that she was ready, Altyria was waiting for the perfect opening to cast the illusion. It would be best if the wolf spirit looked straight at her eyes since it was a rank A spirit, which was way stronger than her. That way, the illusion would have 100% effect on it. At this time, the Zizhu Wolf was furious. These humans dared to injure it and cause it to bleed. The power in its body pulsated, causing its fangs to grow larger and its claws to become sharper. Chrome and Dylan saw these changes and quickly retreated to a distance. Yilan was hiding at the side waiting for the chance to throw her bottles of paralyzing toxins at the wolf spirit. Altyria jumped through the bamboo trees until she got closer to the Zizhu Wolf. The Zizhu Wolf howled in anger, and then it disappeared, leaving only a gust of wind. In a flash, it appeared right in front of Chrome with its mouth stretched wide open. Chrome hurriedly blocked with his sword, but he was still too late. Its fangs sank deep into his left shoulder, but he managed to stop the fangs from going deeper with his sword. Dylan shouted: ¡°Chrome!¡± Dylan charged towards Chrome and pounded his fists at the Zizhu Wolf¡¯s head. At the same time, Yilan swiftly threw her silver needles at its eyes. The Zizhu Wolf saw the needles and quickly closed its eyes. As for Dylan, who was pounding on its head, it simply ignored him since he wasn¡¯t doing much damage. It only focused on Chrome. Chrome¡¯s sword was able to pierce its skin, so Chrome was the one it decided to get rid of first. Altyria, who saw that the Zizhu Wolf had bitten Chrome and was not letting go, almost went crazy. She screeched jumped from the bamboo tree down onto the wolf spirit¡¯s back without any hesitation. Once she landed on its back, she sank her claws deep into its skin and ripped a small chunk of meat out. Chrome was enduring the pain from his left shoulder as he tried to appease Altyria through the soul bond. He could feel that her emotions were out of control. In the next moment, he saw her jump down from the bamboo tree and land on the wolf spirit¡¯s back. ¡°Alti, don¡¯t!¡± Chrome used all his strength to break the Zizhu Wolf¡¯s fang and stepped away from the Zizhu Wolf¡¯s jaw. The moment he managed to escape from its jaw, the Zizhu Wolf covered itself in its purple flames as it howled in pain. ¡°Alti!¡± ¡°Altyria!¡± ¡°Sister!¡± Chrome, Yilan, and Dylan cried out in desperation. Everything happened too quickly that they did not have time to react. Chrome ignored his heavy injuries and ran towards the Zizhu Wolf that had ran several meters away and wrapped itself in purple flames. However, before Chrome got close to it, he saw a white flash that appeared in front of the Zizhu Wolf. After that white flash appeared in front of the wolf spirit, the wolf spirit suddenly started clawing itself. The purple flames that had protected it began to slowly burn its fur and skin. ¡°Alti!¡± Chrome reached out and hugged Altyria, who had fainted on the ground near the wolf spirit. The white flash that Chrome saw was Altyria. After she had ripped a chunk of meat from the Zizhu Wolf, it immediately burst out its purple flames. Luckily Chrome had already escaped, so Altyria did not worry so much. She had seconds to escape from the flames, but she was not quick enough. Altyria still got burned. She swiftly jumped into the air and spun in circles towards the head of the Zizhu Wolf. The Zizhu Wolf was enraged at the injury she caused so it had glared at her. Unintentionally, it allowed Altyria to easily cast the illusion when its eyes met her silver-glowing blue eyes. The illusion immediately came into effect as the Zizhu Wolf started injuring and burning itself. However, Altyria¡¯s body could no longer support her and lost consciousness. She had spiritual overdraft and burn injuries. Her body was already damaged because of overusing her soul power and now needed time to recover. Chapter 24 A New Beginning (24) Chrome immediately brought her a distance away from the Zizhu Wolf that had gone berserk with self-mutilation. Dylan and Yilan followed behind until they reached a safe distance. ¡°Alti!¡± Chrome gently patted Altyria¡¯s little cheek, but she did not respond. ¡°Boss, you¡¯re bleeding too much. Use these to stop the bleeding.¡± Yilan put away the toxins she had in her hands and replaced them with homeostasis bottles. Seeing that Chrome wanted to refuse, she said sternly, ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at Altyria. You need to treat your wounds, otherwise, you¡¯ll collapse. What do you think Altyria would do if she wakes up and sees that you are unconscious?¡± ¡°Yeah, Boss! Altyria already lost control of herself when she saw you getting bitten by a crazy dog. Wouldn¡¯t it be worse if she saw you unconscious?¡± Dylan also persuaded Chrome. Yialns¡¯ mouth twitched when she heard what Dylan called the Zizhu Wolf. Chrome no longer resisted and let Dylan treat his wounds. Yilan carefully wiped medicine on Altyria¡¯s burnt paws and other places that had been burned. He did not feel a single pain from his own injuries. Chrome only felt his heart ache as he stared at Altyria¡¯s injuries. Some of her beautiful snow-white fur on her underbelly was singed, the fur around her legs was gone, revealing the burnt skin, and her paws were severely burned to the point where he could barely distinguish the paw pads. He clenched his hands tightly until veins started popping out. During this entire fight, he had been unable to use teleportation. He had not realized this fact until the moment he tried to dodge the Zizhu Wolf that was about to bite him by teleporting. However, his effort was in vain, and he was not able to avoid getting injured. This place where the Zizhu Wolf lived must have some type of restriction, so he was unable to teleport. If he had known earlier, he could have been more prepared. If he was more prepared, he wouldn¡¯t have gotten injured by the Zizhu Wolf. If the Zizhu Wolf did not injure him, then Alti wouldn¡¯t have lost control of her emotions. If Alti didn¡¯t lose control of her emotions, then she wouldn¡¯t have acted recklessly and be injured by the Zizhu Wolf. The Zizhu Wolf. Chrome glared at the half-dead wolf spirit lying on the ground. He needed to vent his emotions, his self-blame and anger. He knew that this happened because of his overconfidence and negligence. He had smoothly completed tasks without failure and that lead to his overconfidence. This incident served as a wakeup call, telling him that danger could befall on them if they were not careful.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Dylan had just finished bandaging Chrome¡¯s wounds, when Chrome abruptly stood up. He grabbed his sword and slowly walked towards the groaning wolf spirit lying on the ground. ¡°Hey! Boss¡­!¡± Dylan stretched out a hand to stop Chrome, but let his hand drop. He saw the chaotic emotions in Chrome¡¯s eyes and did not dare to stop him. Yilan had finished treating Altyria and took out a small blanket from her system storage. She carefully wrapped the soft blanket around Altyria before holding Altyria in her arms. She looked towards Chrome, who had stood in front of the dying wolf spirit. Chrome stared at the wolf spirit as he raised his sword. He had calmed down his emotions when he was walking to the Zizhu Wolf. He felt that Altyria was fine through the soul bond, but the connection between them was dim and somewhat weak. Her life was not in danger. However, this meant that she was seriously injured and would be in a coma for a long time until her body recovers enough. It would be best to be in an environment with world essence. Her body would be able to automatically absorb the world essence and speed up her recovery. This world barely had any world essence, so they must move on to the next world. Chrome swung down his sword and cut the Zizhu Wolf in half. *Ding*
*Ding* Chrome was just about to press the button when he heard Yilan call out to him. ¡°Boss we should stay in this world for the maximum amount of days the system will give us. Right now, you are heavily injured and Altyria¡¯s condition is currently stable. We should rest for a few days. If we leave now, what if we get sent to a dangerous environment? Altyria would be in danger and you would not be able to protect her.¡± Yilan spit out everything she had to say briskly, scared that Chrome would push the button if she couldn¡¯t convince him. Standing at the side, Dylan nodded his head quickly, like a chicken pecking grains on the ground. Chrome lowered his hand. Yilan was right. He was injured and wouldn¡¯t be able to protect Alti if they were sent to a dangerous environment. He did not calmly assess what their next step should be. He was too preoccupied with the thought of going to the next world in order to let Altyria recover more quickly. Chrome pressed the button. *Ding*