Three months of Wondering through the Gulch left Colin and Gabe in a rough state. Their faces were dirty their clothes were torn and their moods were wearing down. Gabe was excited still by all the changes he was going through, but over twelve weeks of dodging monsters, sneaking around other dangers, and leaving behind all the treasures they stumbled upon was enough to dampen his expression slightly. To his great relief though, they weren’t far now from a city. And he quickened his pace thinking about the hot bath that awaited him.

they had finally reached the other side of the gulch and Gabe had bonded with four more beasts thus far. three of which were just more undead Zombies who attacked them and one was a Rocky death cat. A beast not any stronger but much better at purifying energy. The world of primeway was littered with low level creatures like this, they made good feeding stock for the real monsters of the world the ones Gabe was soon to get his hands on. His soul room was full now, and he was gaining power like never before even from these weaklings, plus the giant’s tear was constantly cultivating even while he wasn’t, though it was a low grade giants tear and didn’t fully supply all of his ten soul beasts. at this rate He would grow so powerful so fast that the heavens would shake in fear if they were watching. He got giddy just thinking about it.

"This is a small but dangerous No'man's land." Colin said as the two left the rocky ground of the Treasure land and traveled down hill into a wilderness of sparse tree's with Black foliage and blood red soil that grew thorny brambles and black vines. Most plant life on the chaos continent was dark in color like this, as normal green plants would mutate if the chaos energy around them was too thick. "Apparently most of it is under the control of a Laughing Devil." Colin stated. Gabe grunted. "there a Farming city here even with a laughing devil?" No'man's land usually had one or two Farming cities built on it or near it unless a powerful beast made it too hard for a city to survive. Farming cities were off shoots of Families or factions. They were home to the lesser talented Channelers who simply hunted the nearby lands for beasts or for treasures. They didn't claim the land around them but Farmed it for any resources it had. Sometimes even starting a mine or two if precious metals were found in the ground, or Spirit crystal. If a city like this was started then you wouldn’t find any smaller towns or villages nearby, because they would all flock to the much safer place where numbers were on their side. "Yep, there's one right in the middle." Colin said. And pointed to it on the map he had out. This land was split into several different valleys, deserts, and canyons. "Should take us about about a week’s time to get there." Gabe nodded. Even though he was tired of foot travel, he wasn’t in the same rush that he used to be in, that’s why he and Colin had taken the safe route of going around the dead goat gulch instead of thinking up some crazy way to go over it. He also hoped that on the way he would find a good beast to replace one of the weak soul beasts he had… he already would have gotten rid of Sisfar if the demon in a bottle didn’t still have a treasure store hidden somewhere. Gabe had already decided that once he got the goods the bastard was leading them too, Sisfar would die.

The two Channelers made sure to travel as carefully as possible through the wilderness, even outside the treasure land dangers were everywhere. Quicksand, poison plants, monsters to strong too fight. for days they only came across powerful Beasts that they had to carefully avoid, or weak beasts they couldn’t use. Until they passed a tree where an upside down sleeping Nexus wasp was sitting. The six foot tall wasp was a champion realm Beast, and was such a good find that Gabe couldn't pass it up. Colin didn't speak a word when he saw what Gabe was staring at, instead he quietly grunted and put his face in his hands to moan. This wasp could kill them both easily, just like the Rotting flesh boar could have if everything hadn’t worked out perfect. That boar however was slow and cumbersome, this wasp would be another story if it woke up. It could fly, and it had the speed to kill them both in a heartbeat.

Champion realm was the last realm for either beast or Chaneler that still required sleep. After a channeler passed this breakthrough into the master realm their life span would go up by at least a hundred years and sleep would become obsolete. This wasp must have been in a recent fight that took all of its strength as there were holes in its large transparent wings and its insect like face was leaking fluid as it slept. Gabe had to act quick on his good fortune. Before it woke up and all hope was gone of taking it.

But before he did anything, he sent his soul into his mark. His beasts all looked at him, only Sisfar had the ability to speak the others were just mindless animals. "So who are you kicking out?" the demon said, trying not to sound afraid. ever since he learned that Gabe could unbind with his soul beasts at any time, Sisfar had been much more accommodating and fearful. Without answering Gabe pointed to the small little Blood bat he had first used to test his soul space. he wasn't sure how to do this yet but he trusted that he could. the rune he had spoken with had not lied so far. He focused his will on removing the bat from his soul room and a string suddenly appeared before him. This string was transparent and had no color. It was very thin and attached to both the bat and his soul. He smiled when he saw it and tried to cut it with his mind. Without warning the blood bat exploded! blood spraying everywhere and onto Gabe in a flash of light. before all traces of it began to fade away. Soon there was no sign it had ever been there just an empty space in the black soul room. Sisfar let out a small sound that showed he was terrified. He never thought such a thing could be done so easily… without any damage to Gabe’s soul. Gabe smiled it was finally time for him to send the fear back to the little Bastard. Soon enough he’d do this same thing to Sisfar and watch the monster explode.

To muffle his footsteps and mask his scent Gabe used a martial art called Silent motion. It cut down all the sounds he made as he walked towards the wasp in the tree. Colin watched from as far back as he dared to go knowing his life was tied to this foolish teenager. The Nexus wasp was also quiet not moving as it slept, it Black Hard shell and steel hard stinger reflecting light of thier smooth surface. It was a dark element beast, and the distant decedent of the Killer Star wasp, a mid Rank Deity beast. Gabe wasn't a Dark element Channeler, but he had a theory. If he could suddenly and magically use the death element because of his Soul rune, then maybe he could use all of the chaos elements… he just needed the beasts to produce the energy for them. If he was right then he would be able to bond with this Wasp and gain an element which could increase his power ten fold. having more then one affinity was extremely rare and powerful for Channelers. If he was wrong than he’d just kick the monster out of his soul room when he was done. He grinned at himself. That is if it didn’t wake up and kill him first.

After climbing the tree slowly and with controlled movements and breathing he bit his finger and carefully leaned out holding on to the tree with one arm and reaching out with his other. The moment he touched the hard shell of the wasp with his finger gently he began to wright. Three minutes in and the wasp began to stir, a buzzing sound coming from its throat. But Gabe was already finished by then and the binding rune began to glow. The Wasp went still and the light got brighter before the beast shot into his mark and the bond was successful. Gabe climbed down from the tree smiling. He quickly took a meditative pose and cultivated. It was true! he really could bind with any Chaos beast and inherit the element it had. This meant he had already become a true fluke on Primeway, he didn't know of any other Chaneler even rumored to have more than two elements, three was already unthinkable. Colin didn't even berate him this time, as Gabe woke from his meditation the two just started back on their path in silence. maybe Colin was getting used to the danger. Or maybe he just didn't see a point any more in trying to convince Gabe not to act on impulse.

About a days left of travel away from the city The two found a small Crevice in a giant Earth tree. The tree stood thousands of feet tall and the inside of it was almost like a cave. It would be the perfect place to cultivate while they took a much needed rest. Gabe entered his Soul room and began to absorb the Death, fear, and Darkness energies from the surrounding wilderness. The chaos energy here was nowhere near as strong as the shadow Forrest or Gulch they had traversed, this was the reason none of the well known families had claimed this ground. still with his new Nexus wasp Gabe was gaining more energy then imaginable for any normal Channeler. The wasp was on par with his Rotting flesh Boar and in no time he felt a surge in his soul. Energy coursed through his body and his mark and Soul Rune began to shine brightly. Only this time the effect was ten fold, and the sound of glass shattering vibrated through the darkness. He broke through into the tyke realm. Gabe had never made it out of the first realm of Channeling, so this was his first ever Stage break through. His eyes shone with relief as he watched an array of golden runes light up . His jaw dropped with a crisp pop when he saw the tiny runes appear on the forearm of his soul. Beast gifts were unique traits that a Channeler got from his soul best whenever he achieved a New realm of power. It was a trait they take up from from the bloodline of their beast. each beast a Channeler had bonded to gave one of its random traits to its master as he climbed a stage in power. The higher the power of the Channeler and the beast, the higher the power of the trait.

Gabe was stunned by what this meant for him. Not only was it a sure sign that he had passed into the Tyke realm of Channeling, but he had never imagined he would ever get a beast trait. Hunted objects had no traits to give, and would never acquire any. But now he had nine of them from his other bonds! Nine!!! He quickly looked them over and interpreted the meaning of the runes he had unlocked these runes were much like his soul tattoo, almost as complex but much smaller and less mysterious. For most Channelers they would be impossible to read and would need to be brought to a rune master to interpret. But Gabe had studied runes for far too long to be stumped by these. After a minute or two of deciphering he could tell that Most were traits for innate boosts like bodily toughness, or increased strength. Because of his low power level these didn't give him a lot. But he had three of each, and they stacked on top of eachother which would mean he could probably be stronger then a Channeler five or six levels above him. The other three were interesting though, one was from his Rotting flesh Boar, it gave him a low leveled version of its healing ability. He would be able to heal from most Wounds much quicker, and couldn't be crippled easily. It also made him more receptive to Healing from Life Channelers, which could be the difference between life or death in a pinch. The second rune was from one of the Undead. It was a rare trait that allowed him to enslave low leveled Death Beasts. Enslaving beasts was incredibly hard, it took a lot of power to write the rune on a beast that would force it to obey you. And each person had a very small limit to the amount of beasts they could control, if they tried to enslave too many the beasts would rebel and try to kill them. This trait would allow him to force small Death beasts under his will without the rune. But he could only use it on a limited number, maybe four or five. Finally the last Trait was from Gabe's nexus wasp, it was the ability to channel the Perfect spirit energy that his soul beasts produced outside of his soul room and into exterior objects. This was an extremely rare trait at such a low level, as the perfect spirit energy his beasts cultivated could power and purify Rare treasures and artifacts just like it did to his soul. Usually this ability was only learned by the Master Realm Channelers or higher. Gabe had hit the jackpot! With this he could buy low grade items and increase their strength until they were mid grade. Then sell them and make a heavy profit. Though this would take months and months for even some of the strongest Channelers to do maybe even years for the rarer Treasures. Gabe would cut the time in half by using all ten of his soul beasts! He grinned from ear to ear and thanked the heavens for his good fortune.

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Before he left his Soul room Gabe noticed some changes. For starters it was bigger now, not big enough to hold another soul beast, but almost half way there. which meant that he could possibly gain another Slot when he passed through his next realm. The second thing he noticed was that some of his soul beasts had gotten bigger, and stronger. He could feel more powerr in them. This was common for soul beasts, as they grew with the Chaneler. Allowing the beasts to Not only grow levels, but sometimes Conform into their next realm. It was a much slower process then human cultivation but very helpful as when they grew so did their potential to Purify Spirit energy. What really confused Gabe though was that Sisfar had also grown. He didn't know much about Hunted objects as Soul-Beasts but he didn't know they could also advance in power. The ship in a bottle was the size of a full grown dog now, more then three times it's regular size. And the haunted ship seamed to be somewhat translucent, looking much more hunted then before. Reaching out with his mind Gabe forced Sisfar to turn around in the air. The bottle compiled, relieving Gabe's fear. He thought that with Sisfar's power boost it might become harder to control him, but he could feel that he still had full control. Ever since he got the heavenly rune his control over his soul beasts had become absolute, he no longer doubted his control over Sisfar.

Coming out of his Meditation Gabe stood up from the ground and looked at Colin on the other side of the tree's cave like shelter. He was going to tell Colin about his Reaching the Tyke realm but looked at his hand first. His eyes widened. It was unchanged. He was still a level nine Channeler. Or so said his Channeler’s mark. But that was impossible, he had gained traits! Those only came from a realm increase. Just to be sure, Gabe reached out with his soul sense and found a Death Beetle. The Beetle was inside the wood of the tree and suckling death energy from it's roots. This was a level one embryo beast and barely as big as Gabe's hand. It was worthless in the world's eyes, as power meant everything on Primeway. Gabe began to push his will onto the Beetle and by instinct sent an invisible string of death energy into it. Immediately the Beetle stopped what it was doing and submitted to his will. He called it out of the tree and it began to burrow through the wood toward him. When it popped out of the trunk he knew that something was wrong with his Mark. He was certainly a Tyke realm Chaneler. Otherwise he wouldn't have any traits at all. He cut his ties with the Beetle and as if coming out of a daze the creature immediately started running away from Gabe, going back into its hole like it's life depended on it. Gabe stared at his mark for a moment and considered what could be happening, perhaps the heavenly rune had done something to it. Maybe it would never move again. He imagined walking around with the power of a God and the level of an embryo. It would have both upsides and down sides. He wouldn't be able to intimidate his enemies, or get any respect until he showed his strength. He wondered if it would affect his vitality, would he still grow old by the age of twenty? He doubted it, already he felt powerful. Much stronger then before and his instincts told him he had plenty of years to live. The average Tyke level Channeler lived for around forty years if they didn't pass into the apprentice realm. Gabe knew that he would be well past Tyke level by then though.

After a while he decided he would figure out what was wrong with his Mark later, he woke Colin from his cultivation and they started back on their way again. Colin just like before couldn't tell that Gabe had increased any levels at all, and Gabe decided he'd keep it a secret for now. No need to tell his friend everything. They weren't very far from the city now, but almost the moment they left their resting place they ran into trouble. "Hey there! Come a long way?" A deep voice asked them as a Tall burly man with bulging mussels walked up to them. His hair was long and red, and his light skin was wrinkled and rough looking. Colin and Gabe could both sense that he was a Level Seven champion realm Channeler. They both kept a straight face but their eyes darted around them looking for an escape just encase this man was a thug. "Yep." Gabe answered. "We've been away from the city for a while. How about you?" The man grinned. "I was just out to hunt for some rare beasts or treasures. Didn't think I would get lucky though... until now." He said that last part with a very sinister tone. Colin took a step back. Gabriel rose an eyebrow. "How's that? You aren't hunting Channelers too are you?" The man shrugged. "A kill is a kill." On Primeway power was law, and outside of sanctioned cities a Channeler could treat the weak however he wanted. "Well I doubt you would want to hurt us." Gabe said without fear. "We're from the Hellvine family." The only thing that protected most Channelers was thier Family name. If you were a part of a powerful Family house, then even the strongest Channelers would think twice before harming you. The thug's eyes widened, the Hellvine Family house was renowned everywhere for it's vicious ethics. It was known to go to war with other Houses just for one life taken. Or even use cruel tactics to destroy their enemies like forbidden torture and It's signature Move the ninth Breath of Agony. This move would cause unspeakable pain to Channelers and if successful would destroy their soul. Even if unsuccessful it might corrupt the soul. it was truly an evil but powerful weapon. "Is that so?" The thug asked suspiciously. Gabe cursed inwardly. "Show me your Family Totem." He demanded. A family totem was a sign every family gave to its members to prove their identity. The totem was an unbreakable crest that couldn't be reproduced by anyone outside the family. If anyone was caught making one or even wearing one that didn't belong to them, the Laws agreed upon by all the Family houses stated they were to be executed regardless of Title or Cultivation level. Even claiming to be from a family you weren't in was a Crime, and Gabe wasn't supposed to do it. When his family had taken away his totem they had ordered him never to use his family name again, but he knew it would be hard for them to enforce that on him. They would only expend the resources to punish him for it if he started to use it too frequently, or if he hurt their reputation. Not that it could be much worse.

The thug grinned when Gabe didn't answer or move and held out his hand. He stood about fifty feet away "Alright, give me everything you've got and maybe I won't kill you for trying to trick me." He said amused. Gabe let out a long breath and began to untie his Space pouch from his robe. A space pouch was much bigger on the inside then it seamed. They were very common items in the world as mid level Space Channelers could easily make them. Some very good quality Space pouches could hold an entire tree, or even a Large ship. Gabe wasn't going to let this Bastard steal from him though, he couldn't. It was likely they would both be dead after they handed over their stuff, and on top of that for the first time in his life Gabe actually had rare treasures. When he got kicked out of his family he was left with nothing. It was the Hellvine family's policy to not give wealth to those disgraced enough to be cut off. They believed in strength and if someone was strong enough then they wouldn't need any help to survive. On rare cases if they became powerful enough on their own they could gain back their Family title. He knew colin wouldn't like it, but they would have to fight this guy. He sent a mental message to his friend. At his low level he could only do so because his friend was so close to him. "Colin when I give the signal summon your soul-beast and have it attack." Colin's eyes widened, he couldn't believe they were actually going to fight this guy. He was more powerful then both the beasts they had risked their lives to capture, and a hundred times more powerful then ether of them. From the way he felt he was a Dark element cultivator, and could probably snap them in two in the blink of an eye. Gabe prepared to throw his pouch but Before they tossed their possessions to the waiting robber, Gabe summoned all of his Soul-beasts at the same time and ten beings appeared around the Man. A split second later Colin's Soul-Beast appeared. It was a Paradise Fox Owl. A beautiful life element Shining yellow Owl with a Fox's tail. It was the dessendent of a Low Level Deity beast called the Gods Angel fox owl, and was only about four feet big.

Gabe immediately took off running, reaching into his Pouch and pulling out a jar of Leapard Fish blood. Colin wasn't far behind him. The thug laughed as all the attacks the beasts were hitting him with bounced harmlessly off of him. Though the Rotting flesh boar, and the Nexus wasp were on the same realm as him, their power was limited to Gabe's tyke Realm by the heavenly Laws. So when the Man started hitting back the beasts around him poofed out of existence like mist, barely an obstacle at all. "How in the heavens did you call all these beasts?" He said as he killed the last one. "They can't all be your Soul beasts." the thought that there might be others around in the woods crossed his mind but he shrugged it off, it didn’t matter if they were all so weak. He immediately started running after his pray, much faster then Gabe or Colin could run. By now Gabe had drawn an explosion rune on a rock he had picked up. He told Colin to lay as many Rope traps as he could behind them but the Thug charged through the life ropes like they were barely a bother at all. Fumbling through his pouch with his death only a second away and colin looking at him as if he was crazy, because the fish blood he'd used in the rune would barely feel like a mosquito bite to the man chasing them, even if the explosion rune was of a high grade, Gabe got ahold of the glass vile with the leftover fairy dust inside. He pulled it out and unscrewed the top with his teeth, then pored the few flecks of gold dust onto the Blood rune and it stuck. Then he used his mind to seal the rune and suddenly Colin's expression changed. He had just made a Powerful grenade that would blow up anything under the elder realm, and do damage to even the realm above that. "Throw it!! Throw it now!!!" Colin screamed feeling the would be thug charging a deadly Blast of Dark energy. If it hit them they would both be vaporized instantly. They would likely be dead already if the chiseled thug didn’t underestimate them. Gabe tossed the rock over his shoulder as he ran, and with a bolt of fear shooting through his heart picked up his speed as fast as he could. "Run!!" He shouted, nether he nor Colin wanted to be around when that thing went off. Gabe didn’t even linger on the fact he’d drawn that rune in less than a second. BOOOOM!!!!! a blast went off behind them that shook the ground and sent debris flying everywhere. Gabe and Colin were hundreds of feet away and ducked behind two thick trees and were still thrown by the blast. The Thug had been right on top of it. The blast launched the two in the air and they flew thirty yards into a large tree that shook as the blast wave passed by it. Colin was knocked out, and his arm snapped. Gabe busted his head against the tree and felt his skull vibrate as he landed on the ground. If that rune had not been designed to keep the blast radios precise it would have wiped miles of land clean in an instant. But even with the brunt of it focused in a fifty foot circle The shockwave of the blast continued on passed them for another half mile slowly losing power. Gabe groaned painfully as he sat up and looked around. The grass was scorched bare and the trees too weak to survive the blast were ablaze and broken. There was a black charred ring almost a mile wide where the Forrest had been just a second ago. And the Man who'd chased them was gone. Not even a fiber of his being was left. "Haha! Eat that Bastard!" Gabe cackled. His head really hurt, but his increased bodily toughness had kept his head from caving in. He looked over at Colin and laughed, he must be tougher then he thought Colin had taken the blow pretty hard. They were both naked and charred black but still alive. In pain but alive!