I feed the boy some blood once more from myself which shocks the boy, but he accepts it none the less, I found out over the last few days most new mothers do this to their child to give them energy and increase chances of survival and adjust their bodies to the energy heavy blood of the beasts here.

It was seen as an act of intimacy and familiarity, after the boy eats, he gets up and follows me to the playroom made for children too young to be begin training.

He is only 4 years old, and his sister was 2 when these things have taken place, truly the world is cruel.

I know we will need to know what happened to the village and why they were attacked and massacred like that, but the boy needs to recover some before then so as not to upset his recently recovered body, the boy seems uncertain and only sits on the small swing made from stone and rope.

Watching the boy to make sure nothing was wrong I feel the priestess approach me from behind, she sits on the ground next to me and looks at the kids running around the playground.

"Childhoods vary greatly from one continent to the next as from what I have heard from some people speak of theirs it is often worse in the other continents then here as here children are a blessing and one is lucky to even have one child and for those blessed with a second it is nothing short of a dream, but children are commonly born all the time in your continent some even purposely killed before birth because someone doesn't understand the blessing they have been given. It is nice to see how much you care for the boy who isn't even yours by blood, I honestly think if your where born here you would have fit in far better then you do on your own continent."

It is true I don't fit in with my continents as I take in the unwanted and protect the children they would view as trash or tools, although I am a task master and harsh in training them, I always give them a means to survive on their own without having to repay me for common decency a child should be given.

Safe and sound is how a child should feel growing up even if you are hard during training you need to give them a place and time to rest and be themselves, somewhere they can experiment on their own.

She pats me on my shoulder before standing up and walking away leaving me to watch the children running around laughing and screaming as they run around playing, I look to the boy just sat silently on the swing and know that although lost now the boy will recover and although he can never be the same he can gain a new family once he is ready.

We walk back to the room for him to rest as although he is fully recovered it is best he doesn't push himself to far in the coming days so as to give his body time to build up energy.

Looking at him napping in bed after his time in the park I walk to the priestess's office to speak on what they could find out about what happened from the scene of the massacre and the energy remnants left behind, not a lot but they think they may know the place they originated from.

Based on their words they know of about 6 separate continents on the planet each with something unique or distinctively different about it, mine for example is very restricting on cultivators making it so even if a powerful cultivator comes they are restricted to no more than the immortal grade even if they have achieved a higher realm they will not be able to access large amount of their strength and abilities.

My continent was dubbed the 4th continent, with the one I just came from being the 3rd, and this one is the second continent.

The numbers are based on the amount of energy present and usable on that particular continent like mine although restricting they can still use most of their cultivation, on the 6th continent it acts as an energy void absorbing anything that enters it making it so even an immortal will live only a normal life spans within the continent.

The 6th continent however grew the best fauna due to the nature of it absorbing the energy into the earth and the plants being the only thing immune to this over there, only the highest-grade cultivators the ascending ones can live their long term.

They say that cultivation is divided into 11 stages, energy gathering, core formation, mind bridge, body forging, jindan, immortal, master, grandmaster, evolved one, fusion, and energy body.

I am only at the start of the 7th stage and most of those on the sixth continent have been there a very long time meaning that new arrivals are rare and outmatched so badly they can't hope to survive the harsh fights and greed there without the support of a longer lived one.

She tells me the signs on the body indicate someone from the 1st continent as they are not an energy body person but was above grandmaster making them a person of the 1st continent.

She tells me once I reach grandmaster the best thing is to go to the 1st continent and continue my cultivation there until the energy body stage, so it is best to leave this continent only after reaching the grandmaster rank and that once I do then I can find the one to perform the massacre.

Nodding my acknowledgement of her words and my intent to oblige by them I ask her how I reach the grandmaster rank, and she says it will come naturally on its own from this point forward as everything past the master stage is about knowing oneself and living by that to better meld and grow your spirit partners bond with you.

So, from this point on it is all by oneself then, well this may take a while to advance then, but it is fine as I intend to watch over the boy until he is powerful enough to do that on his own.

Although one would think bonding with the partner would make him immediately a master level it doesn't as he needs to build up the energy required for such grade though he gives off the energy feel of one the amount of energy is only at the energy gathering stage.

Awakening ones bond to early isn't good as it could kill them due to their body being too young for the burden, many in such situation die due to varying reasons.

The biggest one is being unable to accept the energy from the blood even if the person is their own parent or even an omega as most animals have an instinctive dislike of others for survival sake, my own animal is one of the few ones ignored by predators and that nothing fears despite its large size because as long as they don't attack them they also won't be attacked and the sky mammoth is a nomad so it doesn't claim territory but rather travels all over.

They are the only creature that can be called a completely neutral animal that none of the others either fear or eat, making it perfect for the boy to use during the awakening especially since I am an omega, and it was even more easy for the animal in him to see me as non-aggressive thanks to the animal within me.

She does warn me to keep the boy close though as if he leaves and a sky mammoth smell the blood in him it will attack the boy thinking he hurt one of their kind.

I thank her for her kindness and telling me all of this as she really doesn't have to but she has one request that I leave some of my blood here so for cases like these in the future they can increase the survival chances of the child, I agree without hesitation as I owe the people of this continent for their kindness and if this is how to do so then I have no problem with it.

After drawing some blood, she lets it freeze before sending it to be stored away for later use, finally we speak of the boy and his current state.

She is uncertain which creature exactly he has bonded with as usually one uses the temple to make a bond and allows one to understand one's self-easier, but the boy can only use the array once he is ten as any sooner and he risks doing permanent damage to the mind.

So, all we can do is use the features known of fangs from top and bottom as well as a species that has a bark with grayish fur and purple eyes an unusual thing around here and only truly suiting one species specifically.

The species the boy presented with is a bearlike creature with powerful strength and speed with little natural predators or even competition amongst other species, they are a mostly solitary kind though do gather during abundance times but will even eat each other during times of hardships.

But the biggest ones are their resilience and patience as the area they live in is often cut off from the main area due to the thawing and refreezing of the water, because of this food can be scarce so they wait for hours and days on in to simply track and kill one prey to eat along with going long times without food and the rea they live in being near the frozen zone north of even here where most species already struggle to survive and they are seen as one of the toughest species out there.

They have a certain friendliness to them as they can be gentle in their own way especially to their cubs, but overall, they are an aggressive and dominate species known to do whatever is needed to survive.

Well at least I know that no matter what the boy will thrive in any situation which is good but also worrying as it may lead him to isolation and even worse if he doesn't learn the limits of what can and can't be done, I will help the boy as much as possible as although I can't help him understand himself or increase the bond with his partner I can help him absorb energy and give him some of my own to speed up his growth.

We leave the fort once the boy is adjusted to the changes and able to leave without problems, setting out they give me blood and meat to trade with the other tribes and cities for incase they aren't as welcoming to outsiders as the two places I have been.

We head out to adventure and learn in other tribes so the boy can truly realize how large the world truly is with his own eyes, the boy is young without anyone left in his life that he knew and could call family though children are treated much better here an orphan that needs blood from only an omega to survive will not have an easy time as not all tribes even have one and the few that do may not have an omega compatible enough for the blood to work as it should.

Once the boy is grown enough to hunt some he can return to the normal diet but until then his body needs what it views as a mothers nutrients so I will take care of him until then, after that I will let him choose what tribe or city he wants to be a part of or if he wants to live alone then help him set up a residence for him.

Traveling with the boy is slow and often need to stop to rest and sleep in caves, although the boy won't die thanks to his partnership, he still needs to preserve his heat and recover from all the moving.

We rest in little caves and spots where the wind is less harsh so the boy can curl up with me for warmth and nap as we head south east towards another city, we should pass two tribes before we get there and once we get to the city she said it is a more normal city not like theirs which is for raising the spirit beast priests and protectors.

We arrive in a tribe slightly larger than the boy's tribe was, it has a fire pit in it and the houses where fresher most likely this tribe is a more recent one.

There are few children here as we pass through the streets with only seeing two out and about, even the training area lacked anyone younger then around 20 making it clear this is not only a new tribe but a dying one as if no new children are born each death of someone when hunting will be devastating for them.

I clutch the boy close as I see a few people far too thin for comfort though the two kids where both healthy and chubby cheeks it is clear this tribe will soon collapse, and the kids won't survive that.

I decide to stay for a while some help with the hunting in exchange for them teaching me things, I give them some of the food I brought and have them tell me about the problems with hunting which prove to be because a virus outbreak in some of the beasts leading to them also getting it after eating their meat and many dying from it.

It took a lot to kill people here so for a virus to do this is strange, I need to see this for myself as clearly this can't be normal, or I would have heard of it already.

Hunting with them while leaving the boy back at their tribe leaves a bad feeling in me so I bring him with us to begin teaching him the ropes even if he can't do anything until he is older, the people here try and talk me out of it by saying he can play with the kids back in camp but I refuse saying he is in a unique situation and without my blood he will starve.

They drop it and soon the hunt comes to and end with us having caught a walrus, watching the others eat it while feeding the boy my blood some of the other bearers here asked me why I am still feeding him my own blood when he is this old.

I tell her he has had a early bonding which is why he can travel with me but he is picky with blood and if not right could lead to a negative reaction so I simply will use my blood until he stabilizes, they seemed shocked as they had assumed I used a talisman to bring him as both he and I have hidden our animal features as is respectful if you don't intend to fight.

The boy growls at her staring and bares fangs making me put my wrist to his mouth again and silence him, no need to antagonize someone who simply doesn't know.

She looks away and seems to finally realize she is being too intrusive; I am only here for a bit, and she has no need to know us more than the basic information. Sitting around the fire pit in the tribe I see the people laughing and playing despite the so-called disease that ravaged them and notice the lack of any true animal features, although true most hide them, when one is playing around or having fun like this, they usually show them but nothing.

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I have changed my mind; we leave at the crack of dawn before whatever trouble is here can realize we know something is off.

Setting out I stop to look at the two kids and see them eating meat, but the smell of the meat is one I know all too well, it is the smell of humans, and it is clear what truly became of this town as whatever the thing in this tribe is it is not a normal creature.

I will have the next tribe send a message to the fort city one this matter because whatever has caused this is not good, there is a clear cascade happening of things not being how it should be from the tribe massacre to this one's cannibalism.

I need to tell the fort city that they may be under invasion already and simply don't realize it, all I can do is pray it makes it on time.

Leaving the tribe as though I am going hunting like usual, I head towards the other tribe to send the message while trying to put distance between me and this tribe, though I am uncertain why whatever those things were didn't just eat me there must have been something they where after and whatever it is means they need to keep people alive.

We hit a blizzard and take a rest in a small cave in one of the rockier mountainous areas, sitting in this cave I hear footsteps coming and put the boy behind me to hide.

A person with dark purple hair and clearly foreign like me appears and I tense as I know a foreigner is not always a good thing especially lately, the man seems to realize I do not trust him as he raises his hands in a show of surrender and asks me if he may rest for the time.

I wait for him to sit on a rock before returning to the boy, I feed the boy and curl up around him while keeping a close eye on the man.

"Have you seen or heard of a thing that looks human but isn't or a town that has disappeared, I am from the first continent and which to find a creature that ran away from ours before we could kill it and now, I am sent to deal with it." I hesitate as he may be simply testing me for my knowledge to decide whether to attack or not.

He seems to realize this too and sighs before unstrapping his sword and armor as a sign of not wanting to hurt me, the two kids also didn't wear such things but were the best fed ones among them.

I look and decide if he attacks, I at least have a better chance with him out of his armor and disarmed then if he did keep them, I tell him of the tribe with the kid's and the one that died off a few weeks ago while pointing him in their directions and he thanks me.

I leave the cave with the boy alongside him, the boy is scared and won't speak with the man nearby, so we separate quickly without any fanfare.

He says he is in the hunter sect and when I come to the first continent to find him so he can show me around, I realize my omega scent so out as I have not bothered hiding it with the boy or even in the other tribe as the boy finds it soothing making me fail to take precautions.

I purse my lips and hope we don't meet again as I would rather not have someone who knows my secondary gender around, or one that clearly shows interest in me beyond my capabilities.

We enter the other tribe who tell us they saw the man to and that they were shocked by his questions and when I tell them to alert the ice fortress of both the previous town and the man, they stop as they realize that the thing he was hunting is only one tribe over and may have been aiming at them next.

Welcoming me with open arms and sending one of their strongest with the message they let me in, they ask if the boy needs more fur blankets, but I tell them it is fine.

Chatting, laughing, but not asking intimate questions or trying to budge in where they aren't needed as is considered polite in these parts, this is how a tribe should be not the other one where they tried to integrate you too much and too quickly as though you will join them no matter what.

We leave the next morning thanking them with some of the food on me before we head for the city as the tribe here doesn't have anything they can teach me that the other tribe hadn't already.

Entering the city, it is filled with designs and intricate carvings while most windows were a colored one while the kids here ran around through the streets, people are dressed in softly furred outfits and the meat stalls are selling their stuff for different stone wares and gems found in the drifts.

Here there are many more items unique to the lands as it isn't quite as desolate as others are meaning the creatures are more abundant and the materials are easier to find and harvest, the gems are called ice gems and are used for preserving food and blood along with lighting, keeping out wind, and just basic prevention of letting heat seep out of ones clothes it is a big part of why this area is so prosperous and most that live here do so comfortably and easily.

Thanks to the softer conditions more omegas are often born here making them more common and we even saw one or two while traveling through the market, the only other omega I have seen then them and myself is one from fort city.

Omegas don't hide their scents here and are treated with respect and often even slightly favored due to their innate weaker constitution, the two I saw are both happy and the smell around them clearly showed them as being mated in a happy and good relationship where not only the alpha marks the omega, but the omega also marked the alpha.

People see the boy following me and can tell he is an already partnered child so when they see me giving him my blood they don't question it, another proof of the strangeness in the tribe.

But a few of the alphas begin to control their scent after the action and I know most probably guessed me as an omega, this was bound to happen with the boy feeding off my blood despite being already partnered it is a clear message that the boys animal doesn't see me as a threat and for most creatures this only indicates one thing, I am an omega.

It is a tricky thing to hide one's secondary gender here like it was back in the other two continents as the beast part of you doesn't let you deny any part of yourself.

I see them not pressuring me and showing respect of not budging into my business and decide to let some of my scent out is for no other reason than to help the boy relax more in the new environment filled with many scents, I can see the small upturns of lips at the clear show of trust, but no one says anything or asks anything of each other.

I find a small house made for newcomers and sleep with the boy curled up with me under the fur blanket, I relax as I felt the safest, I had since the day of that test.

Waking to a small shine of light through the light blue window I wake the boy and have him clean himself, I have not been able to be too on top of hygiene with us constantly on the move but now that we are settling down for a while it is very important the boy gets back into the habit.

After getting ready we head out to see what type of job I can do as although I could just stay in this house and not do anything as I lack the need for food and the boy only needs my blood right now it is best to set the boy a good example and get him in the habit of working, I speak with the locals and they point me to the apothecary for learning new unique things so we go to a small place next to a butcher with the smell of medicinal herbs all over.

The omega male tending to the desk looks up when I enter and asks if I am here for some heat suppressants and I tell him no as I had spent the week of my heats in caves or locked in a room up till now making use of it to cultivate even if I had no direction for the energy I am gathering to go towards till now.

I spent one in the ice fort before we left so the next one is coming soon enough but I intend to just go through it like normal, I tell the person I don't use them, and he looks at the boy next to me and says he hopes all works out.

Guessing what he thought I meant by that but knowing I don't smell mated he must think I lost my alpha recently and so am not used to using them, I tell him I am here for a job and want one that I could bring the boy with for emergencies as the boy is an early bond one and needs blood near constantly to stay healthy.

He seems to understand that the situation isn't what he thought it was after that and nods, telling me that only some people can work with them with certain materials as the partners could interfere.

Telling me that because of most people's partners being carnivores they often lack a good feel for the earth and even sometimes can mess up even the most basic medicine due to that, I tell him it shouldn't be a problem as I am an herbivore species, and he freezes.

Herbivores are rare here as few plants can grow and most are known for being small but mighty, but my body doesn't fit that image, he asks me if I am willing to tell him and I contemplate.

The words of how to advance from the priestess was clear sign that I couldn't deny the omega side of me forever as it was as much a part of me as the rest of me, to truly advance I would need to face that side of me where I have buried and hidden it as well as I could since I first presented releasing scents rarely and even forcing myself to eat things most omega hate or never building a nest and truly experiencing a proper heat where I let nature take its course.

Here sex is seen as a normal thing that is a part of one as everything else is, an omega is expected to spend their heats with a partner if not on suppressants as one's instincts dictate.

But I have let the heats come but force my body to act like normal not truly letting my body do as it wants suppressing my instincts, I know most here see those like me as sick and ill needing help, but they won't interfere as I am a stranger to them and the priestess understood why I did as such.

I have conditioned myself to act like a beta so much my own body can't function as normal omega anymore, a sad but true fact that to this point has kept me safe but now can't continue if I want to grow.

I let my scent out from this point on and although I don't suppress my heats with the boy around my instincts are less on mating and more on care so when the next heat comes I sit on the bed with him curled in the blankets but it isn't enough, I know other omegas build nest in small enclosed places with soft furs and the items of their pack but I simply don't have either of such things on me for now.

I feel uncomfortable and stressed but unlike usual I don't ignore it but pick up or mattress and fur bedding and blanket and go to a closet big enough for both of us to lay down and little more than that, I spend the rest of the heat in there wrapped around the boy and feeding him my blood constantly with my scent flooding around us.

The heat ended and for the first time I didn't feel sore or even stressed and tired after the end of it, I just sat in my little nest with my scent still all over the place and the boys' fangs bug into my hand.

I left only the day after it ended enjoying the last sense of satisfaction inside me at the fact my cub is safe, I entered the apothecary with some of the scent lingering around me and the boy and the omega at the counter welcomes me with a smile not seeming to mind the smell at all.

Benzoin wafts from me as I work and small smiles lift from the people visiting as they can smell the clear satisfaction in my scent from the recent heat, before they would ask if I were okay as I always smelled stressed.

I talk with some of them I set out the different medicine recently made as well as help set up the plants for processing whether that is to be dried out or placed in certain jars, I look at the jars made of ice gems and really can't help but appreciate the many uses this one material can hold and wonder if there are perhaps others but no one thought to use a thing like that as a designated thing already existed for it.

I think of the meat ate here is done so mostly raw and with little things added to it as it is meant for the energy does not flavor and wonder if there isn't a way to improve the energy absorption with the things here.

I had learned many cooking styles through the years both before and after I stopped serving Bo Chang as although I learned it to serve him better I simply find the process soothing and methodical, after a while they let me start truly making basic medicines and it is clear why they said one needs a good connection with the earth as it took me three attempts for the most basic one.

Even a single off fluctuation in the plant done at the wrong time will ruin it and if you don't keep track you will make poison instead of a cure.

I stick on the most basic things learning the properties of different plants and the way they work together to get what effect, time passes quickly, and I start to train the boy in fighting though my styles are uniquely different than anything done here so I learn some from here to make something to match his home.

This place is all about using what works and if it does then it is ingenious and if not then it is stupid as simple as that, they often have some strange styles as they specify integrating their bodies with their weapons use.

The boy is good with escrima sticks as they act as defense while being easily transferring the strength and deadliness of his body with less letting him out last any opponent with his incredible stamina so he can get that perfect strike, he is an opportune hunter like most and will tire the prey out to make the hunt easier.

I let my body heal from the horrific stress and suppression it has been under due to my act of ignoring my needs as an omega, I feel myself smiling and laughing with the people now.

The boy turns ten and I offer him to follow me to leave the city as I have leave the city as I learned both ice gem carving and medicine while here and no longer need to remain, I will leave after my next heat though the boy is getting too old to spend it with me I still cuddle him through it as I need something to calm my nerves during it and the one time I tried without him I came out stressed.

We pack up and leave after my heat as the boy intends to follow me and learn under me how to fully use the fighting style I have made for him.

Unlike when we came in the boy is at my mid chest level and he can last a long time before needing breaks, actually I take breaks more then he necessarily needs due to my instinctive need to make sure he is fine which he always gives a grunting noise in a fit of playfulness.

Clearly, he is feeling fine and even enjoying my worry, he knows that I am someone who suppressed themselves as an omega and knows my instincts are worse than most, so he puts up with it.

We make it to the tribe quickly and take a small rest there while I ask about any local specialties and plants around here which he says there are no specialties but there is a mushroom growing in some of the caves, I pick a few and try and match the flow of its energy with the preserved meat we brought much to the boys annoyance as he knows he will be the one taste testing my creations.

Another change is I have used my knowledge in medicine to try and spice the foods here with varying success the boys favorite is seal meat with a slightly spicy taste that has the texture of bacon, it is fattier filled one, so I look for the meats that are high in red meat to try and vary the meat he consumes.

I use a unique rock that is like salt and the mushroom while cooking this one using my own energy and an energy crystal, I cook the meat like a blue steak after fixing the mushrooms in the rock.

I season the meat in the rock and begin to let the mixtures of the energies bring out the energy in it while not letting it escape the meat but rather become easier to integrate and consume, the meal finished I sit it on a plate made from ice gems to cool slightly and let the boy go at it.

He lights up and I know this is a keep recipe the spicy seal bacon, salty rock mushroom blue steak made from a bison, a purely plant mix of some certain leaves a plant that is like a lettuce a fruit from a bush that is purple along with some shaved pieces of a plant known to be toxic but in this mix is neutralized and bring high energy (salad), and the last but not least a cheese with some raw meat as although animals with milk exist here the concept of cheese doesn't.

I made cheese the first time and the boy looked like he would get sick as he stared at the process and when he was told to eat it, he nearly ran away, he now demanded I make it for him.

I was saving all of them and how to find and make all ingredients for the boy as although it is nice here the boy will eventually grow too old to stay with me and will want to make a family of his own, I will let the boy have all the recipes to please any mate with his cooking in the future.

I want at least ten recipes by the time that comes so to the next meal creation it is, finding unique and strange fauna or different meats from animals we travel, and the boy learns how to track and hunt with me.

From fighting beasts to other people, I teach him what I can, having many things set aside for him to get when I leave.

He enters near the Jindan level, and I know he needs to go out on his own soon as he is without a doubt the longest student, I have kept with me for any time, he is also the only one to receive me more as a mother to him then a mentor or teacher like the others have.

I can feel the integration of my partner becoming clearer with each passing day and finally after a long time coming, I advance to Grandmaster.

I take an adventure with the boy to the frozen border as a last adventure and then give him the items I have been preparing for him, he asks me if I really have to go as everything is safe and calm here without any dangers or need for me to leave but if I want to truly grow I need to leave and so I say my goodbyes and give one last visit to the ice for and trade city.

Heading towards the east where the 1st continent is I am uncertain how far away it is but only one way to know and that is to go there myself, with the unique items packed up I leave with the prizes of this land added to my repertoire.