Beast-Tamer: Limitless Evolution-Chapter 20: Evolution Complete

Evolution Complete

(A/N: EVERYONE! I have news. It's probably bad from your point of view, but it's news nonetheless! Long story short, I've contracted this book, so from the next Chapter onwards, coins will be needed. Thank you all for the continued support, and I hope you all enjoy the story enough to spend your coins on it. Thanks for reading!)

"Phew." Osho let out a deep breath as he finished his cultivation for the day. He'd managed to squeeze in an additional two cycles for his Mana Circulation technique and an extra twenty minutes for the bond-strengthening technique.

His body felt sore after all of it, and his head hurt, but it felt good in a fulfilling way.

He turned back to Gale and blinked with surprise. He was still asleep with no signs of waking up soon, but the changes to his body were starting to show.

He was certainly bigger than when he'd just fallen asleep. Not by a large margin, but it was visible.

Moreover, they were faint, but Osho could see strange markings appearing on his feathers all over his body. They looked cool, but he couldn't help but grimace.

'Hopefully, they aren't too prominent by the time the process is complete.' He sighed and lay down.

'If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow... no, even if he wakes up before then, I'll still need to take the day off so I can test to see what he can do.' With that, he carried his phone and sent a text to Mrs Jane.

[Good evening, Miss. I'm sending this text to inform you that I won't be able to come to classes tomorrow. I can't go into any details, just know that I'm safe and it's nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience.] After that, he debated for a moment before sending another text to Ellie.

[Uh, I'm not gonna be in school tomorrow. Something came up. Yes, I'm fine, so don't come to check on me, I'm serious.] With that, he set his phone down and went to take a shower. After which he fell asleep next to Gale, his body subconsciously shifted closer in a sort of protective motion.

___

"Hm." Jane stared at the text Osho sent her with a thoughtful expression. Right now, she was in her nightgown, and her fiery red hair was loose behind her as she had undone her ponytail.

She debated prying but decided to give Osho his space and just sent him an 'Ok' reply.

After that, she suddenly received a text from the principal, and she unconsciously straightened.

[Jane, I hope the preparations for the outing are going well. Remember, all the classes are going together, and you'll be overseeing all of them and their teachers, including your class. Are you prepared?] She read through the message multiple times to ensure she didn't miss anything before replying.

[Yes, sir, all the preparations are going accordingly. No one is causing any problems either. Everything will be settled by the time the day arrives.] Not long after she sent the text, the Principal replied.

[That's good, I expect everything to move smoothly. That's all I wanted to say. Have a good night, Jane.] A small smile tugged at her lips at the good night, and she responded.

[Goodnight to you too, sir.]

___

Despite hearing her phone buzz, Ellie didn't stop her cultivation session. Her focus was on building her foundation as much as possible, and she was pushing her body to the limit of what it could endure when it came to cultivation.

It was naturally harder to use a higher-level cultivation technique, so it took her longer to finish a single round of cultivation compared to Osho, so the results were bound to be better. Still, the strain on her body was immense, so she was covered in sweat, which caused her clothes to stick to her body.

However, she didn't seem to care as all she focused on was cultivating.

___

Osho's eyes trembled before slowly opening. His vision was a bit bleary, but after a few seconds, they cleared up, and the first thing he saw was a pair of beady eyes over a beak staring at him.

Osho and Gale stared at each other for a few seconds before Osho reached over and playfully grabbed the bird's beak. Gale chirped playfully and flapped his wings at the gesture as he nibbled at Osho's fingers.

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Chuckling, Osho sat up to observe Gale and couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

His size had increased by at least 25%. It was not a huge amount, but it was noticeable.

'I guess I'll just chalk it up to a growth spurt. That's pretty normal at this stage.' He mused. What wasn't normal, however, was the number of markings lining Gale's body.

The markings were light blue and grey in color and had swirling patterns much like how the wind flowed, and they were made in such a way that they blended with Gale's feathers seamlessly. Osho imagined that if he flew high in the sky, they would serve as good camouflage, but on the ground, they were quite attractive, which was an issue.

He rubbed his head with his free hand as he thought about a solution.

'Well, this isn't too bad. Besides the marks and size increase, he hasn't had any other major visible change, and it isn't too strange for random physical traits to appear days after the beast gets hatched. Still, I'd like to avoid the hassle of explaining.' He turned back to Gale who was still happily playing with his fingers.

He then got an idea and sent Gale a command through their bond.

The bird paused and looked at him curiously, then he closed his eyes, and a moment later, the markings slowly faded, revealing his normal feathers.

'Oh! I didn't think that was gonna work.' Osho grinned and rubbed the middle of Gale's wings which earned him that familiar pleasured trill.

'Hm, I didn't think about it before, but his feathers are a lot smoother to the touch now.' He noticed. He also noticed that the muscles he could feel beneath the plumage felt firmer, but the flexibility hadn't been impeded.

'Hm, it seems like most of the changes happened beneath the surface. That's good.' He nodded to himself and mused.

That's when he felt Gale's hunger and looked down to see the bird staring up at him with gleaming eyes.

'Right, I'm sure a night of evolving is bound to leave anyone hungry.' He smiled and got up, Gale following suit and hopping on his shoulder.

Once more, he was surprised, he'd expected Gale's weight to increase with his evolution, but not only did he not feel heavier, but he actually felt lighter than before.

That's when Osho noticed the faint traces of wind the bird was using to offset his weight and prevent himself from being too heavy on Osho's shoulder. It was a surprisingly considerate gesture from the creature that made Osho smile.

Getting to the kitchen, Osho poured a bunch of beast food for Gale, he wanted to bird to indulge after a successful evolution, and Gale seemed to notice this as well as the portion this tike was much more than usual.

He happily got off Osho's shoulder and dug into the food while Osho prepared himself some breakfast.

As he cooked, his mind ran.

'I'm gonna spend a good chunk of the day exploring Gale's new abilities and limits. After that, I'm gonna make use of the training gear. Then I'll finally go to the black market.' He planned silently.

The Black Market

Despite the name, the black market wasn't technically illegal. It would be more apt to call it an unregulated trade zone. After the war with beasts and the creation of Citadels, much of the world's economy became centralized and highly controlled, especially when it came to beast-related materials, rare treasures, evolutionary items, and so on. However, the level of control inevitably led to scarcity, and trade was stifled for anything that didn't meet strict governmental standards.

The solution to this was the Black Market. An unorthodox trading hub where the regulations are a but more loose. People can keep their identities anonymous and unusual or restricted items can be found.

Things like rare beast parts, old-world tech, illegal cultivation techniques, unsupervised beast evolution experiments, things that the official market steers clear of but people still need.

Even high-ranking officials, powerful Beast Tamers, scholars, scientists, and so on, visit the Black Market because it is often to only place to get truly unique or ancient items as well as services that wouldn't be provided under normal circumstances. It operates under its own code and is a neutral ground that's enforced by powerful individuals or factions who profit from keeping it stable and not chaotic.

So while it isn't legal in the traditional sense, it is tolerated because it fills an important gap in the world's infrastructure. Just know that expecting refunds are an unwise venture, and one always has to be careful.

As for why Osho wanted to go there? Well, he felt that it was time to start capitalizing on his ability.