Chapter 12: Between Wings and Secrets
After my thoughts and feelings had calmed, I finally began to think clearly. I wondered what I had forgotten here — I couldn't believe my mother had been unaware of his intentions.
I never thought she would agree to let Aislin start a relationship with him.
More than that, beginning a relationship in itself wasn't considered shameful among the spirit beasts. By the rule of evolution and strength alone, and because I could defeat him at the age of 49,000 years, they wouldn't give it a second thought. So there had to be another reason.
That said, given my mother's and Aislin's intelligence, coupled with my obsession with training, perhaps my reaction was predictable. It seemed my mother had decided to help Aislin hint to me directly — that I must act or I could lose everything. Although they hadn't expected my return within a few months — this was not the supposed time for my return — one could say I had interrupted their plan before it even began.
Of course, it's possible all of this was a product of my imagination, and they had no plan at all, but my revenge would be catastrophic. Naturally, once I officially declared that Aislin was mine, and that I would tolerate no one near her, so to speak, to avoid any incidents, only then would I be able to arrange my revenge properly.
While I was drowning in thoughts about conspiracy theories and countermeasures, my mother and Aislin had already approached me. But when they noticed the resolute determination in my eyes, my mother looked pleased. Well, that really was my mother's plan — my little joy. As for Aislin, she was extremely happy that I had gotten rid of that nuisance.
Aislin spoke:
"Yason, you came back quickly. You have no idea how—how—exhausting this was. I can't find the words to describe it. He followed me everywhere and harassed me, saying we were the perfect pair. Even after I defeated him in battle, I couldn't kill him. I couldn't stop him; he kept trailing me. On top of that, I had planned that once I could raise my power quickly and become at least twice as strong as him, I would kill him."
After I listened to Aislin, I looked at my mother. If she had had enough patience to hold her questions and let me speak first, things wouldn't have turned out like this for Aislin. She immediately started asking questions, complaining, and boasting without stopping for even a second.
"Enough talk so fast. You don't even give me a chance to answer, especially since I suddenly felt exhausted after the trip. As soon as I arrived, I faced a very strong opponent, and you…"
Aislin retorted: "Yason, who are you trying to fool? You can fight for weeks without tiring, and you killed that pest with almost no effort."
Yes, I'd forgotten that Aislin had no sense of tact. But as I was thinking about what to say, my mother jumped to my rescue.
Selena said: "Aislin, stop bothering Aeson. Give him a bit of rest — he always has time to tell you about his adventures. You don't want him to run away from you."
My mother laughed, silencing Aislin.
Since Aislin loved to chat, she usually spoke with me, though it was more like talking to a listener. Still, after I left, she probably didn't just go off to fight the ice spirit beasts, but also to chat with them. They likely couldn't endure it and fled.
"Well then, let's go to the cave and talk there. And more than that, even though I was gone only a short while, I saw so much… and I missed you even more," I said quietly. Then, I wrapped Aislin in my wings, and my mother embraced me as well. The only difference was that she was twice my size.
We then headed toward a cave near a lake, in the heart of my mother's territory. Only our family was allowed inside, so no one would disturb us, and I could tell them everything as if we were at home.
There was also something amusing about the embrace — spirit beasts didn't have such a custom. The first time I hugged Aislin and my mother, not only did they fail to understand the reason, but I also received a swat from their tails, purely instinctive. Still, it hurt. But over time, they grew used to it, especially Aislin, who loved to sleep beneath my wing — something that could also be considered a kind of hug.
After five minutes of flight, we reached our place of rest, and I slowly began to tell them what had happened to me and what I had seen.
To be honest, I didn't need to explain much, since I had already gone with my mother and Aislin to the Ice Scorpion Clan before. Even so, I found myself sharing small details with them — like my encounter with the Heavenly Snow Empress, who was the Ice Phoenix, or talking about some of the battles with the Ice Bear Clan or the Ice Giant Clan.
Still, my mother remained firm in her refusal to speak about Aislin's father.
But I was certain that he might still be alive.
Where was he? I didn't know.
Even the Snow Empress never spoke of him, nor mentioned him at all, which made me suspect there was a secret hidden behind it.
However, I did receive a hint from the Snow Empress, the Ice Phoenix, who said that he had abandoned being a spirit beast.
To be honest, I didn't completely understand what she meant by that, but I realized he hadn't died — he had simply stopped being a spirit beast.
Had he… become a human?
Anyway, it is well known that spirit beasts can become humans after successfully crossing the hundred-thousand-year threshold.
Spirit beasts at this level are able to choose to remain as spirit beasts. As such, they can still transform into a human form while remaining spirit beasts, and this does not change.
However, if they choose to become a full human, they can return to being a spirit beast as long as they have not surpassed the sixth level of human cultivation. But if they do surpass this level and do not return to being a spirit beast, they will never be able to go back in this lifetime.
In any case, this makes little difference to them, as they are not threatened with extinction like spirit beasts, who are regularly hunted and killed by humans.
Therefore, to my knowledge so far, no one has ever chosen to return to being a spirit beast after opting to become human.
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