Klaus spent close to three days inside the memories of the Star Monarch.
This memory was vital to him, considering it had the potential to shape his understanding of beast taming and how best to utilize his blood.
So, for three days, he moved through memories of being born and raised by his mom.
For some reason, he didn't know who his dad was, and strangely, his mom looked exactly the same throughout the two lives he had remembered so far.
They were both elves, and for 15 years, they lived a good life.
Until it was discovered he was a forbidden-born, and just like his life as Fruity, he was chased. But this time, instead of escaping, his mom was killed, and he was captured.
He was captured by the Elf Council and imprisoned for three years.
However, for reasons he didn't understand, one of the elf princesses, whom he had never met before, came to his rescue and helped him escape. She came, said nothing, but just opened his prison and set him free.
But he couldn't get far before he was captured again.
They pressed him for the identity of the one who freed him, but after three weeks of silence, the Elf Council decided he should be executed, using nature as their weapon.
Forbidden borns cannot be killed using normal means. Doing that will cause a great calamity for the one who did that down to their last root.
So, he was banished to the Forest of Anarchy, one of the deadliest places in the elf universe. However, the day before his banishment, the same elf princess visited him and gave him a necklace.
This time around, she said something that, to this day, Klaus doesn't understand: "One of the seven, one must become whole, to rise and ascend to the pinnacle."
Those were the words she said to him before he was banished.
The day the forbidden-born was sent away, it was said that the heavens rained down their blessings on the elves for sending away a threat.
But while that was a victory for them, they had also sent someone to where he truly belonged.
The day Efad appeared in the Forest of Anarchy, the dimensional cube given to him in the form of a necklace activated.
That day, the sky turned majestic gold, and when the Star Monarch bloodline awakened, the entire forest came to life.
The monsters hidden within, the beasts, and other demonic entities lurking in the depths of the forest began to seek out the one whose blood reeked of power.
They all wanted to know who this person was, and if they had the strength, they would capture him, imprison him, and turn him into their blood bank.
But destiny had other plans.
The day Efad, Klaus's ninth incarnation, made his appearance in the forest and awakened his bloodline, the two notorious cats who were on the run from an entire dragon race—the Crystal Dragons—met him.
The two were the Black Tail Immortal Phantom Cat and the Red Tail Immortal Phantom Cat.
They are some of the most dangerous beasts in existence, and that day, they encountered the newly awakened beast tamer, who was lost and unsure of where to go or what to do.
In fact, he was unaware that his life was in danger, simply because his cultivation was far too weak. However, these two somehow found him, and for a moment, they contemplated eating him.
Well, they tried. But as they were getting close to him, Efad stumbled and pricked his hand.
When his blood appeared, the two cats froze, and for a whole hour, they did nothing.
But when they recovered, they began begging for a taste of his blood in exchange for protection.
Obviously, Efad agreed and gave them his blood, not realizing that after tasting it, they would forever be bound to him.
It took ten years for the two phantom cats to finally evolve after ensuring they were in a safe place.
They took Efad to their hideout and provided him with everything he would need to raise his cultivation base while they evolved.
Ten years later, after they became divine beasts, Efad also changed. He learned a lot about the dimensional cube he was given and his bloodline.
He even received a visit from his first incarnation.
It was similar to how Klaus first met Fruity. In ten years, he went from Ascended to Void-stage expert, and during that time, he managed to form contracts with ten beasts.
When the phantom cats became divine beasts thanks to him, they learned about him, and it was then that they chose to officially form a contract with him.
He gained many abilities from them, and for 30 years, they moved through Anarchy, contracting dozens of terrifying beasts and monsters.
By the time the thirty years were over, Efad had reached the Chaos stage, and he had under him 48 divine beasts and 2 vampires he obtained after experimenting with his blood on zombies.
It was something Paragon told him to do. At first, he forcefully tried it on just any zombie, but it didn't work; instead, it made them more aggressive.
But he met two zombies on one of his hunts who, for some reason, thought they were zombies; their reasoning never left them. They were a different kind of zombies.
He offered, and they accepted. That day, he managed to bring two vampiric zombies under his command.
Then the phantom cats said if he wanted to have even more beasts, they had to go to the Land of Monsters. According to them, that is where he would find the best fortune.
It was then that Efad realized he didn't just pick the monsters under his command randomly. No, he realized he saw their potential, and that was why he contracted them.
It was an ability he always had, even before he was banished. He saw through lies and deceit. It was also why he didn't rat out the princess who set him free. He saw she was not someone who meant him harm.
Klaus woke up from the memory just as Efad set off to the Land of Monsters with his beast companions.
The moment he woke up, the face of a certain elf puppeteer appeared in his mind, and for a moment, a smile appeared on his face.
He then extended his hand, and the dimensional cube Efad used appeared in his palm. This cube was given to him during the trial in the dungeon.
Now, he finally has access to the most dangerous thing anyone can have in this known universe.
This time, Klaus had finally found something that, if paired with the Paragon Forge, would give him a fighting chance in all of the battles yet to come.
"Land of Monsters, huh?"
The faces of the two cats who never grew old but always remained young and petite. They were his best friends and his protectors.
They were the ones that made him who he was when they provided him with cultivation resources in exchange for his blood.
They were also the ones that showed him the true value of his blood and why he was special.
They were also the ones who showed him the path he had to walk if he wanted to one day bring an entire galaxy of elves to their knees.
"I hope they are still out there somewhere in the universe" Klaus sigh.