In the spacious dining hall of the Maplean family, two tables were pushed together. A map with drawings that had landmarks which were easy to make out was spread across them. There were a group of individuals standing over it, observing it with a focus they probably wouldn't have at any other time.

A group of green skinned folk consisting of 5 females and one male were among the lot. The others stood a little behind one particular woman, it was a sign of their rankings to anyone who paid attention.

The moment Yotta materialized a spiritual form, she was guaranteed to sit in a leadership position. She would become an important pillar the Crying Dart tribe leadership will have high hopes for. If their tribe could produce their own master, there was a possibility for them to charge out and occupy an entire mountain region of their own.

This Crying Dart tribewoman now had the qualifications to speak around those who mattered.

Her eyes couldn't stop lighting up in wonder whenever she looked at the silver lizard standing on her shoulder out the corner of her eye. She had the urge to squeeze it in a tight hug, but didn't dare to out of fear of displeasing it.

"I have to admit, you came through this time Clan Head. Remind me to show you my appreciation later, I'm sure I could put together something suitable for you".

There was a satisfied smile on Raiken's silver snout.

"What place has the best refinement material among all these areas"?

With his fingers stroking the handle of his sword, Kiszac thought carefully. Concealing information from the lizard didn't cross his mind, as long as it didn't plan on doing harm to Grey-Wolf village, he didn't plan on resisting the lizard's requests. He even wanted to get on it's good side, their village could raise up more powerful warriors if the lizard was in the mood to give guidance.

"From what we know through our sources, the Indigo Streamline is the least plundered among the blessed lands. There are many other sites where precious material could be harvested, but the areas with the highest level ingredients are all occupied by formidable forces. Some of these creatures have achieved levels that make their areas of control terrifying forbidden zones".

Even a steady warrior like Kiszac felt insurmountable pressure at the thought of these beings.

"So these figures are strong enough to claim an entire region's resources all to themselves unchallenged"?

"Well, not completely", responded Kiszac, "every now and then a new figure attains mastery in their refinement practice. If they're confident in their chances of victory, they set off to challenge the Lord of a region. The winner of the battle gets the region, while the loser is reduced to a refinement resource for the victor, spoils that will only make their killer even stronger".

"Since these areas are marked as forbidden, I'm guessing that the material one could find in them should be the most mature and of better quality"?

The Red-Nose clan head considered for a moment, "It should be the case, even a master might have to leave their corpse behind if they were unlucky and were found be the Regional Lord".

"Which of the sites has a concentration of metal essence"?

That was a useful piece of information he wanted to have. His refinement of a Steel Wyrm spiritual body could be advanced quicker.

"There aren't any places on the southern mountains that I can think of like that. Setting aside the forbidden regions that no one has a complete map of that is".

It wasn't the answer Raiken was hoping for.

Left with no other choice, he soon decided to simply turn the forbidden zones over in his quest for useful refinement material. His eyes crawled around the map for a place to begin.

"Don't let me hold you up for too long Clan Head. I recall your Chief saying that you all had a sensitive matter that needed to be seen to. After I teach my chef a few methods till where she won't slow me down too much, I'll be continuing on with my travels".

The map was already recorded in his mind, there was nothing else for him to ask the Clan Head about that he could think of.

"Yes I understand, then I'll be taking my leave since everything seems to be to your satisfaction. If you need anything else, you can just send for my son. There isn't anyone in the village who doesn't know where my house is".

Raiken waved absently at Kiszac in acknowledgement.

_________________________________________

In one of the rooms on the highest floor of the Maplean family dining hall, a woman with straight braids and a high collared shirt confronted Liqi, folding her arms.

"What you just told me is so unbelievable, you couldn't have made it up. And because it isn't a made up story, that means it's real. You agreed to serve as the personal chef of an unknown super lizard that could easily turn a human into a refiner. A Clan Head even escorted it here personally, meaning that the creature was very dangerous and shouldn't needlessly be offended".

The woman looked at Liqi, giving a helpless sigh.

This woman was Marlhi, the one in charge and had the final say in what went on in her family.

Looking at the disappointment she disliked to see coming in her mother's eyes again, Liqi sniffled as tears welled up.

"Will what I did bring trouble to the family? At least I'll still learn cooking like you always wanted, is it really that bad"?

Marlhi released a deep breath to get a hold of her frustration, she didn't want to upset her daughter.

"Your situation with the lizard does indeed have the potential to end badly for us. If the quality of your dishes makes it dissatisfied, or some other area you lack in while occupying your position, the lizard could take it out on you in a fit of anger".

Having the possibilities be listed out by her mother made Liqi realize how hasty she was in making an agreement with the lizard. She never once stopped to consider what effect it could have on her family.

As she was carrying on with her list of things that could go wrong, Marlhi saw her daughters expression worsening, she quickly noted that she wasn't making it any better.

"At the same time, those are just the possible outcomes. If you stuff it with tasty food, I'm sure the lizard would be delighted to teach you everything it knows regarding magic"!

Marlhi recalled her daughter's expression from before. Not a lot of things could make her eyes sparkle that brightly. Her little girl was really looking forward to magic lessons with the lizard. Going back on the agreement wasn't an option either.

As it seemed, the Maplean family must use everything they had to make sure this wouldn't blow up in their faces.

"You gave me quite the scare for a moment there Mom. I understand that you're just worrying for me. After I learn enough from my magic lessons, I'll help you out in the kitchen Mother. The lizard said there were spells that could make the ingredients we cook with better".

Liqi's face brightened up again, completely falling for Marlhi's fake gushing.

As Marlhi watched the sparkle returning to her daughter, the smile on her face had less faking in it. She knew that without a backdoor to escape through, all they could do was go forward.

"Alright! Let's go meet that teacher you spoke so highly of"!

_________________________________________

As he walked back towards the village gate, Clan Head Kiszac couldn't stop thinking about everything that occurred. A creature that could do something even the highly respected gnomes declared was unlikely. No mortal creature he ever heard of could provide a smooth method of refinement for human beings.

Whatever kind of existence the lizard was, the Red-Nose Clan Head didn't want to be on it's bad side. If it could even teach humans how to be refiners, there was no telling what kind of other things they couldn't even image it was capable of.

All they could do was hold their breaths until it left.

When he arrived back at the huge square by the entrance, it was already empty. Those rascals probably scurried home to be the first to report and get merits back in their factions.

He saw the other Clan Heads standing with Gnash-Jaw's boys behind the Chief, who had his back facing them. Only his pants were left shredded on him, his muscular upper body glistened with sweat. A look of depression made his normally bright and alert eyes look dull.

"Oh, you're here Kiszac? What's the situation with the lizard"?

The Grey-Wolf village Chief asked without turning around.

At a different time, Kiszac would've been impressed by this, wondering how the Chief could identify him specifically without his sight. It had to be mentioned that these Clan Heads all had methods to conceal their traces and center of defense.

Even with him being the leader, the gap between them couldn't be considered wide. His concealment methods shouldn't be that easy to see through.

"The sobering thing is, I believe this is a creature from some distant and terrifying land. There are no records of it's kind around here. Chief and my two fellow Clan Heads, you won't believe what I'm about to tell you next".

Such a solemn atmosphere around the Red-Nose Clan Head stunned Roshi and Gnash-Jaw.

Gnash-Jaw narrowed his eyes, "What we've seen so far is already difficult to believe where this arrogant lizard is concerned".

Law of Divine Gates Ch.14 Pg.2

Kiszac stared at him silently before saying, "It could even guide humans in the way of Refinement. Don't believe it? I just saw the Clover family's 'Luck of the Clover' pop out of a glowing ball back at the dining hall. He proceeded to give a rallying speech to some young cooks, then he raised his hands, which rapidly turned into claws".

Everyone listening couldn't help freezing at that. They wanted to ask the Red-Nose Clan Head to repeat himself to see if they heard right. But the look in his eyes let them know that he was dead serious, and they had indeed heard him right.

They really wanted to deny it, but it would be disrespectful to continue doubting their brother's word.

"You don't have to look so devastated, the lizard is only here to find a cook to accompany it on it's travels. It chose the Maplean family's daughter for some reason. From what I know, she often skips her cooking lessons".

The Grey-Wolf Village Chief spoke up, "We'll just get back to this delicate matter later, at least the lizard doesn't seem to want to gobble up the Village".

It was all the Village Chief could do about it in this moment of helplessness.

"The Cloud Dove Clan sent around a summons to all Chiefs. Whether they be Chiefs of Villages, or the Chief of a cave. That would include me, it was permitted that we could bring no more than six of our best warriors. The others would need to stay behind to guard the village".

"You guys can go, I don't mind sitting this one out".

It surprised the Grey-Wolf Chief and the Clan Heads that Kiszac was willing to remain behind. He liked to go out during other Village gatherings to see how he measured up to warriors from other Villages. Seeing him not seizing the opportunity for once was unexpected.

They didn't think any deeper about it after being surprised. Instead it relieved them to have the sharp Kiszac staying behind to keep an eye on things.

"Very well. Gnash, Roshi, you can go get ready. You can also bring your eldest sons to gain experience if you want".

Roshi looked surprised at them being allowed to take their boys. "What if some bastards with a grudge against the Village decides to do something despicable like destroy the junior generation"?

Enruzan had turned back around after the shock of the lizard succeeding in teaching a human refinement methods. His expression couldn't be seen, "Whatever that freaky lizard did, I can sense enough power for 3 more transformations. The other Villages need to worry about if we'll take advantage of the setting to remove our competitors".

Before they could ask he continued, "Yes I can control it. The incident before was because I was caught off guard by the wildly berserk energy. My regular moon transformations aren't even half as intense".

With the unknown energy flowing inside him, the Wolf Chief felt a complicated mixture of confidence and depression. He was depressed about getting treated like a pet by the lizard.

"Just the howl of that other transformation could throw an elite's blood circulation into disorder".

Gnash-Jaw and Roshi suddenly looked forward to this gathering.

_________________________________________

"I can't decide when they're all so interesting".

Raiken complained, frowning at the map inside his head. His attention was suddenly captured by the landmark of a huge tree.

"I wonder if it's one of those Patriarch Trees that possessed the legendary Golden Sap of Life".

If it actually turned out to be the case, then even if his Steel Wyrm refinement was slower because he lacked materials, he could still further advance his sage eye.

"Should I get that infuriating spear to take a look for me"?

An irritated expression crossed his face when he thought of the bright green spear. The spear was one of the gifts given to him in celebration of his being born. In some difficult to figure out way, the spear was able to make use of his energy to refine itself a spirit body.

Not long afterwards, it learned how to resonate with the origin vibration of his Soul Force Field. The pesky thing was able to connect itself and rob a place in his Soul Force Field as a Soul Treasure. No one had ever heard of a Spiritual Weapon stooping so low.

Old man Dragon-Eye and his officers had a laugh at that for a long time. Raiken still hadn't forgiven the spear for making him lose face before his Grandpa.

"You useless thing! Is leaching off me all you know how to do? Get your rusty self out here"!

A flash of green light lit up an area in Raiken's Soul Force Field after a few hesitant moments.

Specks of green light gathered together, before becoming a youth who had bright metallic green skin. His hair stuck all around his head like a crown of blade edges.

He looked around himself for what could've disturbed his rest. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, he wanted to return to his blissful sleep.

There was a forceful pull that came abruptly, yanking him away, causing the green metallic skinned youth to disappear.

He reappeared in the physical world, staring back at Raiken with a startled expression.

"Crappy Spear, a freeloader like you sure has it made huh"?

The green metallic skinned youth could tell Raiken didn't forgive him for sneaking through a loop hole to become one of his Soul Treasures.

"You're in luck, even though I really want to turn you into a refinement resource, harvesting whatever metal essence I can from your body, I've decided to give you a chance to make up. It's an opportunity for you to repent from your lowly ways".

The Spirit Weapon who cheated it's way into the ranks of Soul Treasures wouldn't mind agreeing to anything that would make this evil child quit trying to dig him out.

"What can I do to be of service to you Master?"

For some reason, the spear's careless tone made him even more upset. "It's too early for a crappy spear like you to call me master".

The spear's only response was to stare back at Raiken while quietly waiting to be told the reason for summoning him.

Realizing the ease that it could get under his skin with, the baby demon forced himself to be calm.

"You notice anything out of place in your surroundings yet, or are your senses as crappy as you are"?

Without reacting to the insult, the spear gave a nod. "The energy here is richer, more in balance. Where are we"?

"On another world".

The spear gave him a skeptical eye, "Another one of your gimmicks"?

Raiken actually appeared to be offended by the spear's lack of faith in his validity. "I have to admit that even I couldn't come up with this good of a trick. We are truly out of that crappy prison. I feel bad for Grandpa and the others, but they can't blame me for making the most of it instead of being depressed about them being stuck back at that crap hole".

Law of Divine Gates Ch.14 Pg. 3

Just like he always wanted, Raiken gave the spear the shock of it's life.

"There's something I want you to check for me. I want to know if that's a Patriarch Tree in an area I saw on the map. If it is, see if it'll give me some of it's Golden Life Sap. Still harvest it anyway if the tree refuses to do so willingly".

Harvesting a few drops of Golden Life Sap won't do irrecoverable harm to the tree. It would slow down the creature's refinement practice though. One only needed to guess a bit to predict that the tree wouldn't surrender it lightly.

The spear received the directions straight to it's mind from Raiken.

After scattering into specks of light, the spear took off to carry out it's task.

At that point, two figures came down the stairs. Raiken saw his new chef walking together with a lady on side of her.

Without expecting much, he took a look at her spirit body. He blinked upon seing a dormant spirit surrounded by a cocoon of thick chains. For a dormant spirit to be in that state, it had to have something about it that could cause catastrophes.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't interested in removing the chains to see what they kept locked in. That was the work the practitioner who it concerned would have to perform themselves though, or the quality of their spirit body would decline.

The woman standing beside his chef looked at him when they made it up close, trying to see if she could detect wickedness in the lizard's heart.

"My Chef, this woman has an interesting spirit body. She should become quite strong if she trains it".

A delightful look of surprise came in Liqi's eyes at what the lizard said. She looked at her mother happily, clapping her hands.

"Excuse me Esteemed Lizard", Marlhi's mother spoke up. "Can you tell me why if I possess a formidable spirit body, the traits of a refiner never displayed themselves"?

Since they couldn't back out of the agreement from fear of facing the lizard's wrath, she wanted to take a look at it's teaching capabilities to see if they could at least get something positive out of this nightmare.

"Yours is a special case. Everyone else failed at getting initiated as Rifiners because they lacked materialization formulas. Shaping the energy into a stable form that also had clear expression sounds easy. It's only a beginner step, yet people still had trouble with it".

Before she knew it, Marlhi found herself listening seriously, where before she was looking for flaws.

"The difference in your case is, you would have to spend more efforts on your materialization field before more properties of your spirit body could be manifested physically. Because of the nature of your spirit, fully condensing it will be more demanding and have higher requirements".

"Why is that so? I thought you said it was a good spirit".

Marlhi discovered she had become emotionally invested in the matter concerning her spirit. She didn't want to fall for the lizard's tricks, but something within her moved her to listen.

"It's because you have such a good spirit that condensing it requires more work. The world denied it's existence, covering it in a container of seals. This was because the world didn't want to see it's debut happen".

Seeing her wearing an expression as if she didn't believe him, Raiken knew what to do to cease all doubt.

"See it for yourself then if my word isn't enough".

A flash of light on his finger grasped her consciousness, condensing it into a strand of pure mental energy.

Before Marlhi knew what was going on, she appeared in a dark space that seemed terrifying and cold.

Fear quickly took over her thoughts, she felt like a prisoner, trapped in a dark place she could never be free from.

The sound of rattling chains made it through the fear crowding her awareness. She looked from corner to corner, before noticing the blurry image of a ball of thick chains.

Upon gaining awareness of the image, she suddenly felt the need to be closer to it. She was able to make it a short distance closer when a wall of light appeared in her way.

Ramming against the wall in a rage produced no effect. In desperation, she continued until the energy Raiken used to send her consciousness there was all gone.

After her consciousness regained it's previous state, Marlhi sat down heavily in a chair, staring off into space with dull eyes.

Looking at her mother being like this, Liqi grew anxious.

"Little Lizard, what's wrong with mother? It's scaring me".

"Settle down, there's nothing to fear with me here. Your mother is alright, let her come out of it. It's merely the effects of her coming in contact with her spirit's condition, directly sensing it".

One of the young cooks came to inform them that the meat was cut. Liqi didn't stop stressing until eventually her mother's condition returned to normal.

She hugged Marlhi tight, all of the stress left her tired out.

As she patted her daughter's back to reassure the girl, Marlhi looked at Raiken, the image of those chains were still clear in her mind.

"That's truly my spirit trapped in that state"?

"Yes", he replied calmly to her question.

"Those chains are seals, you'll have to keep improving in your refinement if you want to remove them".

The feeling that an important part of herself was taken away brought an uncomfortable sensation to her.

"What are your conditions to give me guidance, I want to know how to free my spirit"?