Gabe opened his eyes and found himself standing over the pearl with his hand still on it. Exactly where he'd been seven years ago. He jerked his hand away and stepped back. Malner was now beside him looking worried. "Master, are you alright?" Gabe nodded slowly. "I'm just fine." For the first time in Years he could think clearly again, it was as though his very soul had been restored. It felt good. His mind was a bit hazy and felt like it needed a long sleep, but it so much more free then it had been. He looked around and remembered everything well now Even the big Boulder in the middle of the room and all the treasures he had gotten from this place all those years ago. "H.... How long have you been waiting for me?" Gabe asked Malner with a bit of a dazed look in his eyes, but a very profound smile about being back in the world. The man shook his head. "Less then a second master. The Pearl takes less then a second to do those awful things." He said clearly remembering his own experience in that terrible place. Gabe found it hard to believe it had been so quick. He remembered seeing Malner In the Maze when the old man showed past prisoners. And... was that Sisfar? "That will teach you to touch things you don't know about." Sisfar said amused like he was smiling at Gabe feeling the hell that he had once felt. Gabe ignored the demon and shook it off. he wanted to rest now, He wanted to take a long rest in the light.

Everything felt different now, this place, his plans, his time on Primeway. his whole life looked different to him and he felt like it would never go back to the way it was. And he didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He turned for the door to look for a place to sleep. "Hey wait kid! Aren't you going to check out the rock? I think you'll like this one it’s a thousand times more valuable than that stupid pearl." Sisfar suggested. Gabe grunted, his curiosity was itching about the big rock but his lust for treasure had died long ago in that pearl, so he was willing to wait and find out about it tomorrow. He wasn't tiered physically just mentally, and the fuzziness in his thoughts was only just now beginning to subside. Still he figured he could risk a headache to discover what it was, some good news might help the sadness he was still carrying. He looked at the huge rock and walked up closer to it making sure not to touch. Using his soul sense for the first time in years and felling relief that he now had his Channeling powers back he couldn't find a single thing wrong with this boulder, it looked like a regular rock. Maybe it was a joke Sisfar was playing. "Sisfar what is this?" He Said forcefully not in the mood to learn this was some kind of Trick. "Touch it kid, then you'll see." at those words Gabe flinched the last thing he wanted to do was touch another unknown treasure. He sighed and said. “Sisfar if this is a trick, or something dangerous I’ll cut ties with you so fast you won’t even be able to squeak before you die.” After no response from the demon Gabe reached forward slowly and felt the hard mettle ore. He understood now, after feeling it so closely. There was life in this rock. Some kind of Beast life hidden within. He couldn't sense what it was or how powerful it might be only that it was alive. "I've tried many times to break off some of the mettle, but it won't even dent." Sisfar informed him. "I found it one day in a lake sized crater west of the mountains. It fell from the sky apparently. I've been curious about it ever since so I kept it here. Even with my Avatar powers I couldn't sense through the thing unless I touched it. It seams just like a regular boulder to everyone." Gabe was extremely curious as well now, he’d never heard of anything like this. "I thought maybe you could use it in your extra slot kid." Sisfar suggested. Gabe had gained a full open space for another soul beast in his Soul room after reaching the champion realm, and with his strong soul he could now bond with a beast with the power level of the avatar realm, no Channeler had ever been born to hold anything over the totem realm, to have such a powerful beast as a soul bond meant thousands of years of channeling to increase the power of the soul beast you already had, but now Gabe could just instantly bond with a beast at the very top of the food chain. "And it's just been sitting here? It hasn't moved for all this time?" Gabe asked. Wondering if it was asleep or in a coma. "Not a hair." Sisfar answered. "Think about it, if you don't like whatever it is. Or it turns out to be useless you can simply cut it off And get rid of it. But at least we'll know what it is. If it really is a beast anyway." Gabe felt like there was some risk involved here that Sisfar forgot to mention. What if it was a Diety level beast, after all it could hide it's level from even Sisfar. Trying to bond with a beast that was more powerful than what you could hold in your soul would backfire on a channeler and likely kill them. But even if this thing could hide It’s presence from an avatar realm chananeler didn’t mean it was that strong. Their were hundreds of beasts with traits that allowed them to hide even from beings realms of power above them. And the likely hood of a Deity beast not Ascending after reaching the finale realm were negligible at best. Most Ascended the very moment they could, not worried about family or friends just anxious to move on to the higher plain. It was much more likely that this thing was just another Haunted object, like Sisfar. That would explain it's toughness and it's lack of power Signature. Gabe sent a mental message to it to see if it would respond but it was literally like talking to a rock. So he decided it was worth a shot to see if he could bond with it, if it really was just a Boulder with a weird sense about it or a haunted object then he had nothing to lose. He bit his finger, the pain nothing to him anymore and drew the Binding rune in less the thirty seconds flat, His speed traits had gotten stronger and he was getting good at this after doing it so many times. He imagined uses for such a fast Draw of the binding rune, it definitely had promise if he could get even faster with it. The rune just stayed there after drawing it, blood dripping slightly from the bottom but the shape staying perfect as though nothing could undo what had been drawn. still it didn’t change or light up, Gabe thought he felt something in his chest but was disappointed with the absence of anything spectacular. He was about to give up and call the stone’s life force just an illusion when suddenly his chest exploded with pain. His mind went into shock as the pain spread from his chest to his very Soul swelling and throbbing. He felt like he was being Pushed open from the inside out. Like his Soul was being stretched like a balloon till it might pop. he cursed as he realized that the Boulder must have been a Deity level beast. Too powerful for him to hold. His mind finally cleared all the way from his trauma in the dark space as he felt his last seconds of life approaching. He smiled at this irony, to have just made it out of the dark and back into this wonderful life only to die a minute later, He had taken one too many risks and now he was going to die. "Master!? Are you okay?" Malner asked as Gabe fell to his knees.

Gabe watched almost detached as through the pain in his core the rune began to glow in front of him. Starting very dimly, then becoming brighter. As it increased so did the pain in his soul the very limits of it’s flexibility reached long ago in the midst of this shattering ache. Until finally the rune glowed bright enough and the whole boulder shot into his mark like a phantom. The pain began to fade the moment it did and Gabe stood from the floor with his hands on his stomach. "You bonded with another soul beast? And choose that?" Malner asked incredulously not understanding what was going on, and impressed that his new master could have two soul beasts. Gabe nodded. "Take me to the Cultivation room. I need to sit down." He said. “I’m through looking at this treasure store.” After coming so close to what he thought would be his death Gabe decided that when your luck reached a certain point you should just wait and let things settle before pushing any further, otherwise it was like eating too many sweets, you would wind up with a stomach ache no mater how good it was. With his shoulder around Malner’s neck they walked slowly out if the treasure room and into the Cultivation chamber where Gabe sat on the cushion in the middle of the room and immediately projected his soul into his soul room to see what had happened. His mind was still way to tired to deal with anything like this, but how could he rest with something unknown and dangerous inside his soul. he found all his soul beasts and The boulder when he entered the dark room. But Before he could speak and see if it was alive, it shouted out the same question he had. "What happened!!?" a High pitched static-like voice said it’s voice sounded like the wind rushing through a cave. "Where am I?" Gabe was about to answer it and then he realized that it was just a High level Avatar beast. He could feel it now, sensing it’s power realm, He took a deep breath. Then what was all that pain about if it’s wasn’t a deity beast then why did it hurt him so badly to bond with it. Before he could try and figure it out the Beast started to grow limbs. Bright Glowing Purple and white Tentacles began to stem from the rock and flow out as if it were swimming. The Nine tentacles looked made of light as they reached a length twice the height of the Boulder and hovered behind it. "I demand answers! If they are not forth coming it will be the death of everyone here!!" It yelled. Sisfar laughed with a demon’s glee. "You've been bonded with my friend!!" He said completely amused by it's predicament. The boulder spun from side to side. "No, no! That's impossible! I'm much too powerful for a Human Channeler to.... what?!" He stopped mid sentence. "I am not so weak! Who has drained my power down to the low Realms!!!." It’s anger was as clear in it’s voice as it’s confusion was. Gabe decided he'd seen enough and didn’t want to waste anymore time, He took control of the beast and spoke calmly keeping Sisfar from interrupting him with just a thought. "I have bonded with you. You are now one of my soul beasts. Yes it IS possible, because clearly it has been done just now. Now tell me your name and exactly what you are." The beast shuddered under his control, fighting it and struggling but Gabe’s control over his soul beasts had never slipped even once after he got his Heavenly rune. The rock answered with a strained voice. "My title Is Star-Stone. I am a Celestial Dragon Eater." Gabe's eyes widened from the name alone. "A dragon eater?" He'd never heard of anything like that before, what kind of power would it take to poses such a fierce name. he knew the beast was telling the truth about it’s breed because it would be impossible for it to lie under his control. "Yes. Now tell me why I am only at the Avatar realm? And how you were able to bond with me. I was a level five Second-Deity." Gabe had never heard of that realm, but a sudden fearful thought hit him. "What Realm is that?" Star-stone answered with frustration. "The realm above First Deity you child. Have you no understanding of the basic realms of power?" Gabe almost did a back flip, this was all a little much for his tired mind. "Wait!" He shouted. "You mean you were a Level five Of the Realm That comes after Diety Realm? How? There's not enough spirit energy on all of Primeway to reach a level like that." The beast twirled twice before it answered, hovering above the ground like a Squid in the water. "I'm not from Primeway. Is that where I'm at now? A Starter world where the energy only allows for the Deity realm to be reached?" Gabe nodded. Star-stone spat out a list of curses Gabe didn’t understand. "So, I am on a starter world somehow. Reduced to an Avatar Realm of power, And bonded to a lucky Moron who doesn't know the Basic Realms of power. And.... why are there so many other Beasts in here!?" He demanded. Looking around he just now saw how many other creatures were with him. Gabe smiled. "Better lucky then Strong if misfortune is your foe." He quoted a line from a song he'd once heard a bard sing. "I have been gifted with the ability to hold Over ten Soul-Beasts." Star-stone looked at him, even without any eyes it’s gaze was filled with frustration. pausing where it was for a moment it nearly shouted. "That's impossible, Human’s have far too many limits. You are lying to me, and I demand the truth!." Gabe pointed to the rune drawn on his soul’s stomach. "Drew this myself." He said proudly. "It's a Heavenly rune." the soul rune shimmered as he thought about it.

Star-stone was utterly shocked. He'd gone from flying around the heavens to a Glorious fight with the most powerful Dragon he'd ever come across, to Crashing into the Planetary shield of a large Starter world, To a long dreamless slumber, And being bonded to a weak Young man with Eleven other soul beasts and a Heavenly Rune on his soul. What a long age. He wondered if he would live through this... somehow. He doubted it, freaks like little boys with twelve soul beasts would be hunted and killed long before they made it to their full potential and Star-stone would die along with him. Though this was the most powerful freak he’d ever heard of in all the heavens. Twelve soul beasts… what kind of monster would a human like that become if left alone. "So are we Cultivating?" He asked deciding he was too Emotional to think clearly and just wanting to get this over with. He would have plenty of time to digest this all later. Gabe smiled. "Sure, but we'll talk more about where you came from later." And he began to draw energy. Suddenly he realized something he had missed in the upset of things, something obvious. Star-stone was a Space element beast. "Son of a...." Gabe watched as what little space element energy was around flowed in a purple and white stream into his soul core. It was a tiny thing due to sheer lack of resource, but already he could feel the Space element unlocked for him. He grinned like a maniac to see it. This had unfathomable implications. The Space element was a Celestial Element, way outside The Chaos Source. If he could acquire it then he could acquire all of the Celestial elements, and probably the Geo elements too. To wield all of the known elements was more than unheard of, it was ridicules. An impossible feet that was the first of its kind on primeway. And with the space element alone Gabe was satisfied. The Gate scrolls in his pouch would be small potatoes if he could just learn to teleport on his own.

For two days Gabe relaxed, letting his world come back into focus while he cultivated, the lingering felling of fear in his heart subsiding after no shadow monsters appeared to hunt him here in the real world. The energy in the air around here Was so pure and filled with Chaos energy that he was Cultivating at an extremely high rate. So much faster than at the Greenwood family's Treasure land that it almost couldn’t even be compared. He was in awe of how Quickly he could grow if he stayed here for just a few years or just a single decade. Sisfar had hundreds of pills in this channeling Room, all of which were high quality and rare to even see on the high end market. A small handful of them were Space element pills He'd stolen from some poor man on the Celestial Continent. Gabe only had to swallow one and the Space energy contained Inside it was enough to supply Star-stone fully for twenty-four hours. What he found after taking this high grade pill for the first time was amazing, Star-stone was such a high realm Cultivator that he put out a stream of space energy Twice as big as Gabe's Death boar and Nexus wasp combined. He cultivated energy so fast that a pill that was supposed to last a week was drained in a day. if Gabe could just find some way to get more pills like this or find Somewhere he could cultivate Space spirit energy and Chaos energy he could grow even faster. But the pills he had would last less then a week. Sisfar had no reason to keep a large stock of these. And even with Gabe’s powerful draw The space energy naturally around was just so small. He now understood how Colin felt, being stuck here where the Cultivation felt pointless from how little you could gather no matter how much talent you had. You might have a mountain of potential, but because of where you were it was all Moot. "Sisfar, how exactly did Malner grow so powerful here? Even with thousands of years, his element should be unable to grow on this continent." Gabe asked curious about the Fire Channeler who now served him like a slave. Sisfar spoke passively. "It was in the contract, One hundred thousand Fire element pills for his eternal service. Along with a thousand year stent in a mid grade fire element treasure land to help him pass any blocks he had in his path to power." Gabe's eyes widened slightly not as surprised as he should be. "Eternal service!? You mean he sold his entire life? He can never get away from you?" Sisfar nodded his ship. "Yep, he was going to die of his weakness anyway. The helpless Trash could barely pass Embryo Realm when I found him. The contract will last until one of us dies, so he'll be yours forever kid. As long as you keep me with you. Heck even after you both ascend you have him as a servant." Gabe suddenly realized Why Sisfar had still wanted to come here even Knowing that the treasure store was the only Reason Gabe would keep him around. He was a tricky little demon.