The Age Of Chaos (1): Living In Harmony
"I can only give one for free though.", she said.
After hearing that, the thought about taking all three of them left Leo's mind. He couldn't do anything if she were to reject and hence was going to make up his mind with just one, but then the old lady said something that picked his interest.
"You can choose one for free, but for the remaining two, you need to do some of the things that I want.", she said.
It was as if she was giving out some conditions. Leo wasn't against it as he thought that the things that the old lady might ask won't be complicated. Also, they will certainly not be impossible tasks.
Nevertheless, he was a bit hesitant as he couldn't promise anything.
He asked, "May I know what I need to do?"
"Right now, you are at level 02. One beast tool is enough for you."
"In order to get a second beast tool from me, you need to ascend the rank and attain the title of Beast Warrior."
"As for the task that you need to complete to get the third beast tool, I will tell you after you have achieved what I asked right now.", she said.
"…"
'The task that she mentioned is weird…'
'Why would my leveling up have anything to do with her giving me beast tools?', Leo questioned himself.
He wasn't an idiot. He tried to associate his leveling with the beast tools and ended up asking, "Grandma, does this mean the beast tools have some relationship with levels?"
The old lady was quite knowledgable, and she would never turn away from sharing something when asked.
"Son, the beast cultivators can have only one beast tools fused with their bodies in a particular rank."
"The cultivators from level 1 to level 10 can have one beast tools attached to their bodies. When they reach level 11, they can add another beast tool to their bodies. The third can be added on level 21 and so on."
Leo understood after hearing her. Basically, it was just like eating the hearts of beasts.
For example, after eating the heart for the first time, the beast soul will awaken. But before reaching the peak of the first rank, if the person eats another heart of a beast, his body won't be ready and would end up exploding!
"But Grandma, cant beast tools be placed on the ground or used without fusing? Just like father did?", he asked as he mentioned Leko placing the beast tools underground near the fences.
"Yes boy, you are right."
"There are beast tools that can be used without fusing."
"That is why the beast tools are classified into two categories – Spirit Beast Tools and Energy Beast Tools."
"Spirit Beast Tools are those types of beast tools that cannot be used until they have been fused with the body. For example, those three beast tools that you were looking at.", the old lady explained.
"As for Energy beast tools, you can use them without actually fusing with them.", she said.
"Then Grandma, won't the Energy Beast Tools be better to use?", he asked.
The grandma thought for a second and said, "It depends on the cultivator and the person who chooses a beast tool."
"The spirit beast tools, use the spirit or soul power within a cultivator's body to get activated and produce a desired effect similar to the beast from which it was made."
"Whereas the Energy Beast tools continuously liberate energy. They cannot be turned off. They will keep on absorbing and liberating energy with the desired effect until they have been destroyed."
A lot of info was given to Leo but he understood all of them.
He realized what were the merits and demerits of the two different types of Beast Tools.
"Alright grandma, I understand."
"For now, I choose that ring-shaped beast tool."
"I will train and be back at a later date to get the second beast tool.", he said.
The grandma was satisfied with this. She moved her right hand and opened the palm right after which, the ring that was hanging on the wall on a hook, started moving, levitating, and then finally coming to rest in her palms.
She said, "Here you go."
Leo took a look at the ring after the old lady handed it to him.
Weirdly enough, he felt some sort of attraction towards this old, not so well-designed ring.
He asked, "What kind of effects can this ring produce?"
The old lady smirked a bit and said, "To know its effects, you need to know an ancient story."
Well, Leo didn't have all the time in the world. He had to go and sell the body of the beast that was still at the orphanage and get back with money and hire someone people to host the funeral properly.
His heart had calmed down for now, but he knew that he had to rush things.
He had yet to reveal it to the grandma about Leko's death, but since he hadn't yet, he was forced to listen to her story which she was going to narrate.
Though, he asked beforehand, "How long is the story, grandma?"
"Haha, aren't you an impatient fellow?"
"It's not long, yet it's not short either."
"Hmm…"
"Let me ask you first, who knows you might have heard about it.", she said.
"Yes? Ask me, what?"
"Have you heard about the Tale Of Might Beast God, Leon?", she asked.
"Beast God Leon?", now this was something interesting.
According to Leo's knowledge, Ai had mentioned that there were no beast Gods until now for the past ten thousand years. Also, the things from before that time had become a myth and were believed to be just some tales that many people altered to suit their own taste.
Yet, the grandma was going to tell something about a Beast God, which was definitely more than 10,000 years old.
"Come sit here son, it will take at least ten to fifteen minutes…", she said.
Leo didn't hesitate and sat on a chair after bringing himself one.
She then started narrating the story, which was in recent times, believed to be fabricated.
Long ago, about 10,000 years ago, when all the continents in the world were united, the beasts and humans lived in harmony. The humans could understand the beasts and the same was true for the beats.
They helped each other and lived in peace. Every day was just another peaceful and enjoyable day for them.
There were no divisions nor did there exist any injustice. One could call that the Perfect Era!
But of course, not everything lasts forever.
The peace was soon destroyed when some humans started believing that they should be placed above the beasts.
It was not long after that, the humans started killing the innocent beasts. This developed a change in the beasts' hearts who then revealed their trump card – Soul Power.
The beasts had powers inside them but never revealed them in front of others. That was because they were never required to do so.
But that didn't mean everyone followed that rule. There were some beasts, that while helping humans, revealed their powers.
Nevertheless, the majority of humans were unaware of that.
When the beasts started killing humans brutally, good and bad ones alike, it forced the humans that were aware of soul power, to get revenge.
Of course, they couldn't use it instantly, but after a constant method of trial and error, they figured out – eating the heart of a beast awoke their beast souls and after cultivating and repeatedly eating the hearts, they just got stronger.
And thus, this ended up changing the Perfect Era, into the Age Of Chaos – that is what humans of today's world call it.