PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

532 Capítulo 532 Veritas G-153.

As he walked down the muddy path, Desmond continued to adjust his robes in the area around his neck, a reflex action due to his discomfort as he breathed. It wasn’t until Desmond set foot on Veritas G-153 that he understood the meaning of Elaila’s words. Veritas G-153 was incredibly rich in resources and magical beasts; its atmosphere had a high density of high-purity mana, enough to make the air a bit stifling for Desmond.

While the excess mana in the atmosphere temporarily annoyed Desmond, he also couldn’t deny the wonders that were born from this phenomenon. Green meadows stretched beyond sight, filled with beautiful vegetation vibrating with vitality. Desmond would occasionally watch a magical beast or two race across the plains or soar through the skies, emitting strong vibrations of mana.

Magical beasts weren’t all there was to see, and with little effort, Desmond could see more than one plant glowing colorfully and luxuriously with mana. While it wasn’t going so far as to say that the dirt on the ground was a treasure, there was no doubt that the conditions on Veritas allowed its ecosystem to be imbued with at least a hint of mana.

As usual, having passed by the association’s headquarters, Desmond came straight to Veritas G-153, quickly finding himself in a relatively deserted area close to his target. Desmond was ready to complete his mission and take advantage of this world’s resources to train.

From the information Desmond had, his mission shouldn’t take too long, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to harvest the natural riches of this world without going overboard. That was especially the case with the magical beasts that were particularly abundant and powerful in this world. Desmond planned to temper himself by fighting them at the same time that he obtained high-level materials to create better equipment.

Since the world of Veritas was considered a high-danger area, right on the edge of what someone on Desmond’s level could visit, Desmond was ready for battle as soon as he set foot on the ground. Contrary to Desmond’s expectations, the area seemed pretty quiet. Even with the constant traffic of magical beasts, all of these acted quite peacefully despite the strong vibrations of mana their bodies emanated.

According to the description and the mission data, Desmond should travel north for a couple of hours and would soon arrive at his destination, a small rural community where his quarry was hidden. This time, Desmond was given a Shadowhunter-type mission, and his target was a relatively obscure criminal who used unknown means to escape to this planet.

Desmond found it strange that someone of his target’s level would have access to such powerful means of traveling between worlds since things like the hunter’s book were rarities among rarities. Still, he saw no point in investigating further. Since Desmond’s mission was to hunt down the criminal, that was precisely what he would do.

With a goal in mind, Desmond looked around him; in addition to the four blue suns shining high in the sky, Desmond also noticed that the grass in this meadow had a slight blue tint. Upon closer inspection, Desmond saw a predominantly blue color in the landscape, but Desmond didn’t find it too strange, concluding that it must be due to the sun’s influence.

.....

Desmond took a moment to enjoy this beautiful new landscape, and only then did he make plans to move; while he wasn’t in too much of a hurry, he didn’t want to waste time either; that was not his style.

Looking somewhat impatient, Desmond rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and couldn’t help but fall back into his habits of talking to himself when he was alone. “To think I would use the law of contradiction more times even if it is just an unexpected side effect. I finally have a chance to try this.”

Having revealed the ring-shaped tattoo of black and white feathers, Desmond muttered a few words to himself, and with a radiant glow of bi-colored lights, a small orb burst from the tattoo. The sphere looked like some kind of egg made of black and white light, but when Desmond muttered a few more words, it expanded, slowly taking shape.

At the end of the luminescent form, the shell pieces fell away to reveal the creature within. As big as a horse but much stockier, the beast looked like a giant, powerful version of an albino peacock with some draconic features. The bird’s legs brimmed with raw physical power, its claws seeming capable of cutting through steel like butter. The peacock’s head was beautiful and graceful. Although the peacock’s plumage was beautiful, soft, and silky, it was hard not to notice the protective layers of scales on some regions of its body, such as the chest and throat.

If there was one other thing to highlight about the imposing creature, it was precisely like Desmond’s tattoo, black and white intertwined in perfect harmony. It seemed as if the world’s most talented artist had found the perfect balance and distribution of shades in the beast’s plumage, turning it into a two-color work of art.

The peacock had a pair of wings folded to stick to the body and make it look somewhat chubby, but it was not difficult to see that these were large. However, just from its physiology, it was easy to assume that the beast was designed for ground travel and aerial maneuverability was not its specialty, even if it did possess such an ability.

This beast was something that Desmond had acquired at an exorbitant price almost impossible to pay, and that was only because the client was desperate for money. According to Elaisa, creatures like this were almost as rare as dragons, though certainly not nearly as powerful. The reason why this beast was rare was not necessarily its species but its nature; this was a bestial soul.

Beast souls were, according to Elaisa, a unique element of nature, extremely rare and precious, similar to elemental spirits. In essence, the beast souls were not real animals but a kind of manifestation of energy that took on spirituality, form, and function.

In essence, the peacock in front of Desmond was not a real animal but the physical embodiment of the bestial soul that he absorbed into his body. Due to their rarity and condition, beast souls tended to be used in specific ways, with mounts and battle beasts being the most common, followed by possession.

Beast souls were so coveted because they fused with the user, becoming stronger as the user’s strength increased. This way, no matter how you will use it, you will always have a reliable and powerful ally who will always be at your level to help.

In the case of Desmond’s bestial soul, it didn’t seem very suited to combat, nor did it possess a possession ability to increase Desmond’s power for short periods, but its speed and movement methods made it a godly mount.

To tell the truth, just in terms of speed, the peacock was almost 3 times faster than Desmond and could maintain that speed for hours without exhausting itself, unlike Desmond, who could only retain his maximum speed for an hour at best. That was even without considering the peacock’s tremendous mobility and the means of escape from it; with this beastly soul, as long as he had the time to summon, it would be hard to think of a situation Desmond couldn’t escape from.

Obtaining such a powerful mount that would always remain as strong as he was was already more than Desmond could ever wish. He did not expect that the mark left by the fusion with the bestial soul would become an arcane stigma that gave him access to the law of contradiction.

Desmond wasn’t entirely ignorant of arcane stigmata either; Elaisa had once told him that they were an excellent way to quickly gain a certain degree of arcane prowess and steadily keep that prowess at a useful degree. Because arcane stigmata were an auxiliary means, only Aura and Mana users used them; arcanists despised such practices as these never reached the zenith of arcane power.

Details aside, Desmond was eager to try out his new mount, which he named Zero. Desmond had no reason for choosing such a name, and he just plagiarized a cool name he heard on some TV series, acknowledging that his sense of naming was pretty bad.

Due to the relationship between the beast’s soul and its owner, Desmond didn’t need to utter a single word; Zero moved on his own, leaning gracefully so that Desmond could ride on his back.

If Desmond had to rank the softest things in the universe, he would no doubt put Zero’s plumage second only to his lover’s body. Despite the opposite polarity of colors in his plumage, Zero’s entire body was soft and warm, and if Desmond didn’t know better, he would never believe that this was not an actual living creature.

Pushing the unnecessary thoughts out of his head, Desmond climbed aboard Zero, ready to set out on the journey. Zero seemed to sense Desmond’s motivation, letting out a soft roar before flapping his wings a few times and running off at top speed.