Just as Haoshe explained to Arbor, the realm they are in is only one of two hundred and fifty seven. What Mo Haoshe did not tell Arbor is the information regarding the realm that they currently reside in. It has been dubbed the God Realm by everyone who knows of its excistances. The God Realm is at the top of the chandelier, signifying its place above all of the realms. One of the realms directly below the God Realm is named the Divine Realm.
The Divine realm is structured akin to the Earth that Arbor grew up on, except that is an extremely large planet with an even larger sea. Many continents filled with numerous species of life are separated by vast seas. One specific area in one of the sea’s has long been known as a forbidden area.
The waters in this sea have been given the name, The Living Sea. The sea is as smooth as a mirror that reflects the sun, stars, and clouds that drifted above it. Only when a human attempts to cross it would it come alive. Those brave souls would be faced with a powerful storm of wind, lightning, and unnatural waves, almost as fearful as a heavenly tribulation. When those whose power exceeds the storm cross it, gigantic water monsters would rise from the depths of the ocean, deterring them away from the area. Expeditions led by armies of the strongest cultivators in this realm have attempted to defeat the sea monsters, but were faced with an army double their size! What lays beyond the storms and waters is unknown to mankind.
If someone is lucky enough to make it through the storm and the ravaging creatures, they would have to travel for tens of thousands of miles until they arrived at the place they were searching for. Here lays an archipelago made up of about a hundred islands. Each island is inhabited by a family of animals, beasts, and mythical animals, thought to have gone extinct. The feline, dragon, kanine, aves, insects, and all other classifications live in the archipelago. The stronger of the species live towards the center and dilipitate towards the edge.
With the many breeds of life in this archipelago, there is one that is deemed forbidden, humans. The story of the two humans is for a different time.
On one of the islands there is a cave located towards the peak of the mount. Inside the cave there is a small batch of eggs are huddled together in a nest made of twigs and leafs. Walking back towards the eggs are Aegaeon and Celeono, two royal griffins,who just dismissed their servant.
“Those tigers wont stop anything to gain power and the eagles won’t do anything to stop them. Self righteous my ass. We griffins are to few in number to make a stand for ourselves. Even with our superior bloodline and being classified as a mythical creature, we are too few in number to stand up for ourselves.” Aegaeon vented his anger after hearing the news.
“We have no choice but to submit to them Aegaeon. As the leader of our kind you have to make the choice that will benefit all of us. You know that they have too much power and we have no choice,” Celeono’s response was interrupted as a bright light cast down upon one of the eggs from the heavens.
They knew that this was a common occurrence in their lives and those around them. If a human gave birth to an animal soul spirit, that meant that there was said animal connected to them by fate. If that fate was good or bad, only time would tell. Upon the birth of the soul spirit that contains anything that would have sentience, a bond be established. This bond could turn into a slave, friendship, companionship, lover, or mutual agreement depending on the personalities of the human and the beast.
One of the eggs in the batch started to levitate into the light as it was being summoned. Soon enough the egg disappeared as it approached the top of the cave.
Celeono rubbed her head on Aeg's neck before just resting it on him. They both watched the light disappear. Tears flowed out of their eyes.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“It may be a curse at this moment, but it can very well be a blessing in the years to come.” Cel softly said.
They could only hope that his human would treat him well.
…
"Utterly exquisite." Haoshe exclaimed.
While the two were fighting Arbor could feel the essence in his body slowly building up. He has a faint idea of what is happening. Thalli had taught him that training was a way for cultivators to increase their prowess. 'This is the essence that she told me about. I can feel the energy in it. I have only just started on this path. I can't get left in the dust by any would be genius out there in the hundreds of realms…I can finally live the life I always wanted.' Arbor happily thought to himself.
"This where we stop. Arbor lookup." Telum interrupted the fight.
When he looked up, he noticed the tree and felt an extremely familiar feeling with it. An extremely big grin crept up on his face. A pillar of light shone down from the heavens connecting to the translucent tree. His soul spirit started to shine with an exquisite light.
"Woah, woah, woah, what is going on?" Arbor questioned his seniors. He gazed at the translucent tree hovering above his head.
As cultivators who have lived for millions of years, Sol, Vulcan, Thalli, Telum, and Pona have seen every grade of soul spirit. The first glance at Arbor’s gave them the reasoning as to why Haoshe selected him out of the rest of the pool of people. A hint of astonishment, praise, and jealousy appeared in each of their eyes for a fraction of a second before disappearing.
"Looks like you are going to get yourself a pet. You see that little guy towards the base of the trunk? You have a fused soul spirit. You will be meeting your companion any second now." Sol broke the silence and brought everyone back to their senses.
A bright a hopeful smile appeared on Haoshe’s face.
Three seconds later the same egg that left the cave popped out of tree as if it had been living inside. Arbor reacted swiftly and took a couple of steps back and caught it. Still dazed at how an egg came out of the tree that has no substance, Arbor became lost in thought at how strange, amazing, and yet terrifying all at the same time his new life is.
"Arbor there are a couple of things you need to know. First, never ever show your soul spirit to anyone. Ever. The only acceptable circumstance is in a life and death battle. And make sure that you kill the other party. No questions asked. Second, you must incubate that egg until it hatches. You two have been brought together by destiny. Lastly," Haoshe paused due to uncontrollable laughter, "I will begin teaching you the art of healing."
“May I ask my second and third questions now?” Arbor changed the subject.
“Ask away.”
“I have an inkling as to who you are, but are you... truly it?” Arbor inquisitively asked.
“Yes, I am the tree of life. But us Gods aren’t as you believe us to be. Some of us are born naturally through the laws of the earth, while others are born and created in the typical fashion. I was born from the laws of the world and have been around for far longer than anyone else in this world or the next. Unfortunately, I am not the first. There are records of the time period of the absence of a tree of life.” Haoshe told Arbor.
“Arbor you also know that the gods born from the laws of the world have certain restrictions on how they can use their powers. He is no exception. That is part of the reason why there are only six of us here.” Thalli went on to explain.
“I cannot bring life back to a person’s soul that has already been dispersed.” Haoshe slowly explained.
Arbor understood the message being delivered and nodded. “My third and final question is, what is the true reason that you brought me here? By everyone's reactions, and the importance placed on me, it must not be for some silly reason.”
“It's your existence. I believe you are the key to ending this struggle between my opposite. As long as you survive and mature, you won’t be restricted. There is a greater enemy out there that I believe you are the one who will help triumph over.” Mo Haoshe exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye.