'As if someone had poured hundreds of books into his head,' thought the prince. 'But that doesn't make sense...'
Records showed that Ren came from a modest family. Limited wealth wouldn't allow the kind of library needed to accumulate such knowledge. And although the academy had an impressive library, the boy hadn't been there even half a year.
Was he really some kind of genius or...?
"Tell me about your spore," Julius said casually.
The mushrooms in Ren's hair pulsed with nervousness. It was the question he had been dreading since this journey began.
But then, something changed in his expression.
"You know what, your highness? It's not fair," Ren stopped, turning toward the prince. "You ask all the questions. How about I ask something too?"
Julius blinked, surprised by the sudden change in attitude. Then smiled, amused by the boldness.
"About my beasts, I suppose?"
"Exactly!" Ren's mushrooms pulsed with genuine enthusiasm. "What's it like having a Qilin? And what's your other beast?"
The prince laughed softly. The boy was skilled at diverting attention... but perhaps if he played along it would make him relax...
"The Qilin is the beast of royalty as I already told you," he began, watching Ren's reaction. "My father is the only one who has a platinum rank one. An impressive sight, truly."
"None have managed to take it beyond gold 3," Julius sighed. "I myself stalled at gold 2. The cultivation... failed after that and my Qilin matured."
Ren's mushrooms pulsed with curiosity. "Why?"
"There's something different in my father's method," the prince shrugged. "Some detail we haven't been able to replicate. He insists it's simple, but..."
"Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to see," Ren commented, surprising Julius with the depth of the observation.
"True. As for my other beast," continued the prince, "it's a rank gold 1 elemental wolverine."
"The ones that can adapt to different elements?"
"Exactly, it's popular among nobility too. I have it attuned to the earth element, though changing its neutral element in juvenile stage isn't difficult. Most of my sisters prefer water, my brothers fire..." he stopped, a nostalgic smile on his lips. "A shame both beasts are already mature. The decisions we make when young all our life..."
Ren's mushrooms pulsed more intensely. "How... how do you manage to have two beasts?"
Julius smiled enigmatically. "Sorry, but that's a royal family secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."
Ren froze for a moment, until he noticed the gleam of amusement in the prince's eyes.
"Just kidding," Julius laughed at Ren's expression. "The method for obtaining two beasts isn't really a deadly secret. It's just... impractical to replicate on a large scale."
The mushrooms in Ren's hair pulsed with curiosity while they continued advancing.
"Unlike Yino we don't have easy methods to cultivate double tamers," the prince continued, his expression becoming more serious. "According to our recent visitor, they've found a way to make the process quite replicable. They're even experimenting with three beasts."
"Seems so... but they have their own limitations," Julius nodded. "Their abyssal beasts seem to have the limit at silver 3. No matter how many they accumulate, if that's the limit in their individual power…"
Ren processed this information while his mushrooms analyzed the tunnel ahead. The mana pressure was gradually increasing making it a bit difficult to advance, but he could still endure about 14 minutes more without major problems...
"Wouldn't it be better then..." he began without thinking too much, "to share the method with Yano's people? If Yino can give two or three beasts to their tamers, keeping the method secret seems like a disadvantage for the kingdom."
Julius stopped, observing Ren with renewed interest.
"It's more complicated than that," he finally responded. "The method has... implications that could affect the kingdom's economy and would be problematic for people to know for various reasons."
Ren's mushrooms pulsed while pointing to another tunnel. This one showed signs of recent destruction, though local beasts had begun rebuilding it.
"The worms and beetles have been working," Ren commented as they passed. "They use their secretions to reinforce damaged tunnels. It's fascinating how they incorporate crystal fragments into..."
"How do you know so much about the depths?" Julius interrupted. "Not just the tunnels and beasts, but their behaviors, their habits..."
"There are many books in the academy," Ren responded automatically.
"You read that much?"
"In the library of the..."
"You haven't been at the academy that long," the prince cut him off softly. "And your family... Besides I feel it's half lies..."
He stopped. Something in Ren's expression had changed.
The mushrooms in his hair pulsed with a different rhythm while the tunnel opened into a wider cavern. The air here smelled different, like death.
"So this is where..." Ren whispered.
Julius's Qilin illuminated the cavern with its radiance, revealing a scene of major destruction. The walls showed marks of battle, and in the center...
"The hydra," the prince approached the corpse. "Or what's left of it."
The beast's massive body had been practically consumed completely, only the hard parts of its armor remaining. Purple crystals sprouted from some of its wounds, creating a grotesque statue that glowed faintly under the Qilin's light.
"The attacker's abyssal energy I suppose," Ren murmured, his mushrooms pulsing while failing to analyze the patterns. "The crystals around, the mana, even the way beasts rebuild the tunnels is strange here..."
As they skirted the hydra's corpse Ren grew bold enough to ask...
"Your highness?" Ren stopped beside the hydra's crystallized corpse. "Could I... could I collect some parts of the armor?"
Julius blinked, as if the idea hadn't occurred to him. "The armor?"
"The diamond scales," Ren explained while his mushrooms analyzed the most valuable sections. "In the market, even a single hydra scale can be worth..."
The prince had probably never needed to worry about the market value of anything so he hadn't thought about it.
"Of course," Julius smiled, understanding the situation. "Take what you can carry. Just avoid the parts affected by abyssal energy."
Ren's mushrooms pulsed while identifying the best pieces. Some scales here, a tendon fragment there... each piece worth a small fortune.
"As for the rest..." the prince manifested his second beast.
The wolverine that emerged was massive. Its fur had an earthy tone and its body seemed to partially merge with the ground beneath its paws. Crystals and minerals sprouted from its skin like natural armor.
"Watch," Julius commanded his beast.