FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

"What the hell just happened?" questioned Eleanor in disbelief.

Theodore didn't have the mind to answer her either, as he was similarly shaken to the core.

He racked his brain for several minutes on why the situation with Arlo would differ from usual.

But even after several thoughts, he wasn't able to come up with a satisfactory reason.

"Ah!" he groaned frustratingly as he ruffled his short dark hair.

Realizing that he didn't have the luxury of thinking about such a matter, Theodore shifted his eyes back to Eleanor who also seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"We need to act quickly before the others come."

A strange light flashed within Eleanor's eyes when she heard Theodore's words.

The thought of killing him passed through her mind, but before she could ponder on it for a moment, Theodore's words made her discard the idea.

"I don't know who you are but I can tell you are very strong. But don't you dare think for a moment that you can take me down instantly? And you don't want to destroy these treasured plants, do you?"

Seeing that the Elven girl didn't respond immediately, Theodore struck while the iron was still hot, "How about we each harvest what we want?"

Eleanor looked at the tree of infinite resources, and with a single glance she could tell that there were about thirty fruits, "I want fifteen mana fruits."

Theodore's expression crumpled.

With an ugly smile on his face, he spoke slowly, "Aren't you going too far?"

The air around Eleanor suddenly changed. At the same time, a small fairy appeared above her head.

"Whether I can take you down or not instantly is something I won't know until I try."

Theodore narrowed his eyes. He could feel the mana in the area churning to the will of the Elven girl before him.

While he was also confident in his strength, he didn't want to fight it out now, not when he had yet to harvest any of the natural treasures before him. Doing so would only cause all the advantage he had built up to waste.

In the end, he had no choice but to relent, at least for the moment. "Alright. I will also take ten fruits."

Eleanor didn't seem to care, and the duo immediately sprung into action.

After almost ten minutes, they could pluck 25 mana fruits. They took so long because they had to be careful when plucking the fruits, not to mention that they had to preserve each of them in a special container.

They both tactfully left five fruits, as it was common knowledge that once all the fruits on the tree of infinite resources were plucked, they would all be forcefully sent out of the fourth zone to the third zone. It didn't take a genius to know what would happen then. The majority of those who entered the secret realm didn't die by the spiritual beast's hands but from themselves, something they both didn't want as there were still several plants and fruits around them that would be treated as divine treasures even on the outside world.

Some plants had fruits hanging from them, and from the archaic-looking patterns etched on them, it was obvious such fruits could directly enhance a person's comprehension of a particular law once consumed. And there were fruits of different colors filling almost one kilometer of the fourth zone. This place was simply a treasure area for mages.

Silently and with tacit agreement, Theodore and Eleanor moved toward the fruits bearing the law patterns of the laws they required and started harvesting them.

Their movements were slow and careful as they plucked and stored them, yet their faces shone with pressure as they didn't know when another person would arrive. The fewer the people, the more advantageous it would be for them after all. Which was why Theodore had left five fruits. In that way, even if one or two new persons appear, while they might be disgruntled, they could still endure and pluck four fruits out of the remaining five, buying him some more time.

Of course, there were more treasures that didn't pale in comparison to the law fruits waiting to be harvested.

Time slowly passed.

.....

Immediately when Arlo touched the multi-colored barrier, he felt as if he had connected with something his very soul had been craving for, for a long time.

However, before he could revel in that feeling, Arlo found himself in a different place as he felt his surroundings to have changed.

All around him was an Aurora of colorful lights, and beneath his feet was rocky ground covered in greenery. It didn't take Arlo a few seconds to realize that his preconception of being on a mountain was wrong, and after a few more seconds of studying his surroundings, he realized he was on the mountain floating deep within the secret realm.

No, He wasn't just on an ordinary mountain.

It was an egg!

While others didn't know, after the last mind trial, Arlo already knew that the floating mountain was actually a dragon egg, that Seraphina expertly made to look like a mountain.

Together with the law she had enforced at the creation of the small world, that no being could fly above a certain height from the ground, which was two thousand meters, Seraphina could ensure that the secret of her true identity would never be revealed. It was also one of the major reasons why she didn't directly communicate with any figure who entered her little world, opting to remain alone for thousands of years.

Barely ten seconds after he arrived on the floating egg, something else quickly captured Arlo's attention. The top of the mountain spanned an area of almost three hundred meters. A few meters from him, he saw three grand trees resting a short distance from each other.

It didn't take Arlo a moment to identify one of the trees.

"TIR?" He gasped in shock.

Even though the tree before him was far smaller than the one below, the number of fruits currently hanging from its branches simply could not be compared to the other. Arlo estimated the blue fruits to be over a hundred.

Shifting his attention to the other two trees, Arlo's heart pounded faster against his rib cage, loudly to the point that an outsider could hear. One of the trees bore white fruits while the last bore light-yellowish fruits.

Arlo recognized the energy resting within these fruits.

"Ki...and spiritual energy?"

That was right.

Even though the two kinds of fruits before him barely numbered ten each, Arlo realized that their importance was far greater than the TIR.

After all, the number of Ki and soul cultivators were few and far between.

"Before I lost all my cultivation, I used some of my essence of reality to preserve them in these forms. I thought I would need them one day if my plans were to ever come to fruition. Alas..." Seraphina's soft and beautiful voice sounded within his mind, as her words trailed off at the end.

"I will use them for use. Your efforts are not fruitless." Arlo spoke with a serious expression on his face, however, Seraphina didn't respond to his words, especially after knowing what awaited her.

<< Are you ready? >> Old bro drew Arlo's attention.

Arlo sat with his legs crossed before taking several deep breaths. Only then did he respond in a serious voice, "I am."

<< Let's get started. >>

Since Arlo couldn't offer his body to Seraphina to take, and since he couldn't kill her either, Old Bro proposed a method that was only possible because of its presence and godly powers.

Arlo was going to fuse with the unborn dragon!

Old Bro was going to tweak the technique of contracting with spiritual beasts to turn them into life beasts and use this newly formed but divine method to merge Arlo and Seraphina's existence into one. Both of them would be independent of the other. Of course, it was needless to say that Arlo would be the dominant one in this relationship.

It had taken Seraphina almost an hour before deciding after Arlo proposed the method to her when Old Old Bro informed him.

With a wry smile on his face, Arlo couldn't help but remember the words of the golden-emerald-haired girl with runic eyes.

"I didn't know she literally meant I would become a dragon among them."

Shaking his head to throw off the useless thoughts, Arlo received Old Bro's first instruction:

<< Summon the little slime. >>

It was finally time for Arlo to undergo his first world-shaking awakening!

*****

AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel. I hope we can all keep it up, <3.

Next Chapter: Becoming a New Species and Two Summons I