Mysticant

Welcome to the weirdest cracked-ass chapter. I had so much fun writing this and I can swear to you that I am not taking any drugs, and have no mental illness. But hey, that is what they all say right? And that is a social stigma, everyone is unique with their own circumstances. :)

Grrraaww.

It was the roar of a Sabertooth beast. A tripodal beast with thick armadillo-like scales. The name sabertooth obviously comes from the fact that it contains large razor-like fangs that extend up to almost a meter. It remains a large mystery to many human cultivators how such beasts lie so far up the food chain. Normally people would assume that beasts would walk on four legs and those with more legs would generally move faster than those with less. However, this creature is an object of mystery and intrigue. Three legs, three tails, three heads, three mouths, three brains, and for some reason one stomach and heart. It actually runs faster than most beasts, swims faster than most fish, and actually has fur underneath its hard carapace-like armor. It also has a betrayingly adorable appearance which makes them popular mouths to fairies. This was the main reason why Millie recommended this beast as a companion pet.

Many mothers would scare their naughty children asleep by saying that if they choose to stay up too late, one of these sabertoothed horrors would come and devour one of their limbs, leaving them with one less each time. When Liu Xun first heard this story as a child, he had been scared silly as he obeyed all orders religiously. After finding out it was a lie, he had to praise the creativity of the one who created this story. According to the Guanxin Pill, these sabertooth beasts would generally rip their prey apart and voraciously devour them into pieces. If there was a bad joke which was ever made by one cultivator, he once made a poem which said "Even if we were torn apart by the cruel jaws of fate, we shall remain in the same belly of the Sabertooth Beast". The fairy was obviously not entertained by his creativity as he left with a large slap to the face.

Seriously, this Guanxin Pill gives me a lot of useful knowledge as well as quite a bit of useless ones as well.

Liu Xun thought to himself as he quietly observed the 2-meter large furry sabertooth beast. It was a mid-Core Formation staged beast. It was the alpha male of this pack as it guarded its territory. It religiously guarded its territory as the females took care of the eggs which have yet to hatch.

"Hey Millie..."

Liu Xun whispered while looking above his head.

Kiyu?

"Are you sure that we are able to steal this family's eggs? Firstly, they seem very strong. Next, I would feel bad if they are to lose their children just because I selfishly need a mount."

Kiyu...kiyu~~

"Huh, what do you mean go and fight the alpha like a man!?"

Kiyu~kiyu~kiyu!

"What!? If you pick a fight with the alpha, get it to acknowledge your strength, they will give you their egg with their own hands?"

Kiyu!

"B-but, that does not make any logical sense!"

Kiyu~kiyu kiyu kiyu!

"...unable to feed too many mouths across winters. Only half the brood surviving to maturity, they find it better to just orphan their children to other races that would not eat or harm their children unjustly whilst proving the strength to foster their children!? Are there such weird, mystical fantasy beasts out there like this?"

Kiyu!

The fox nodded with pride.

Okay, it seems that Liu Xun could no longer belittle demonic beasts any longer. Some of them are actually more intelligent than humans out there. This sort of calculative, risk-taking, and family-protecting behavior seemed to once again overturn his entire knowledge with regard to demonic beasts as a whole. In fact, this specific knowledge was never mentioned in the Guanxin Pill knowledge databank. It would also explain why some prominent cultivation families would raise a large family of Sabertooth beasts.

"Is it really okay to just walk up and say I want to take one of their eggs?"

Liu Xun said as sweat started to trickle down his forehead. He could feel a thousand alpacas running around in his stomach at this point. Not that he knows what an alpaca is, but the jittery feeling spread across him giving him a large feeling of discomfort. Was it nervousness, awkwardness, or just the plain weirdness of the whole situation getting to him? He doesn't know but he feels that someone had to be smoking some crack to be writing such a ridiculous scenario before him. Still, it is indeed a reality that the alpha male Core Formation beast stood there with its noble visage. Liu Xun decide to take a huge gulp as he swallowed down his saliva before appeared out from the bushes.

"Grawwwr, finally decided to come out?"

One head spoke out in a nasally high pitch tune like a young girl.

Upon hearing those words, Liu Xun seriously did not expect that Sabertooth Beasts could speak in human tongue. It must just be this one in specific.

"Was..adopted by human. Normal to speak some basic man tongue."

Another one of the heads spoke out, this time it was in the tongue of a young lady.

"Owner passed of old age, released to wild. New family."

The last head in the center spoke out, this time in the voice of an elderly lady.

"Excuse me, senior. Yes, I have come to ask if you can allow raising one of your eggs?"

Liu Xun was rather perturbed by the manly growl followed by the feminine voices that followed afterward. It seems that this was due to his past owner being a female. Moreover to speak in the same voice as their owner, such a peculiarity. Liu Xun could see how this popularity developed, but he still could not fathom how girls and women could favor such weird and abnormal creatures.

"Probably thinking how weird. Normal for us."

The main head of the sabertooth beast replied in a relaxed tone.

"Only one? You can even take two or three, don't mind."

The head to the left side continued.

"The overlord even here with you, do not dare to disobey."

The last head spoke out.

Despite their broken language, Liu Xun could tell that this beast was highly intelligent. Perhaps it was credited due to its previous owner or was it just the capability of the beast itself.

Grawr.

Grr.

Graah.

A softer roar was heard from behind. The sabertooth beast took a moment to look backward and roar in reply before facing Liu Xun once again.

"6 eggs, you can choose up to 3. If you want just one, fine. But you have to fight for it."

All three heads spoke at the same time with different voices. It seems they are at least in unison about one point.

Liu Xun nodded as he slowly placed the fox on his head down onto a rock. Millie was rather displeased to leave her comfy spot but accepted the fact as she watched Liu Xun take out his sword and spear. He then got into a battle-ready position as he prepared for the challenge.

"Youth, do not disappoint."

The sabertooth beast roared out as it raised its paws.

[Warning host! Mawing claw attack from the front (Very Strong).]

[Warning host! Mawing claw attack from the left (Very Strong).]

[Warning host! Mawing claw attack from the right (Very Strong).]

The sabertooth appeared in front of Liu Xun in an instant. Surprisingly, it used all three of its legs to attack! The tree tails behind it could surprisingly support its entire body weight as it launched that lunging attack. Liu Xun was definitely caught off guard even though he knew that three attacks were coming.

Its claws swiped down with ferocious momentum. It was most definitely a trained killer. Its attacks were fast, decisive, cunning, and graceful so to say the least. To be honest, looking at the black-robed youth's cultivation base which was merely mid-qi gathering, the Sabertooth Beast did not have many expectations.

With the face of the overlord, it could just give one egg for the youth to raise after a customary battle just for show. It was to protect both its pride as well as the overlord's. It had already learned to not offend the various parties if possible from its previous owner who mentioned that less trouble is always better if possible. It leads to a long life. And truthfully, its owner died of old age and not any other reason which could pop up in the process of cultivation.

The three claws stopped just before the youth's face as the Sabertooth beast looked with ease. It seems that the youth was completely incapable of responding to its attacks. It is a disappointment, but he could just hand over the smallest egg which is least likely to survive the winter. But a flash of surprise colored upon the beast as it realized that whatever it just attempted to attack we merely an afterimage.

Thud.

A brief weight could be felt pressing on its back as the Sabertooth Beast noticed that the youth was sitting on its back with his spear pointing towards its heart. Very impressive, such a cultivator is most definitely worthy of fostering its best child. If not, it could even take the three best!

This sabertooth beast was originally the runt of the brood and in the end, it managed to rise up to the top of the food chain over here thanks to its owner. If even something as weak as it could emerge to be the strongest under foster care, imagine how strong could the strongest child be! The sabertooth beast nodded its three heads as it admitted defeat.

"Amazing human, to target the gap in armor."

"An instant decision and action. Did not see nor predict."

"Too complacent. My loss."

The three voices rang out one after another from young to old. They did not spare their praises for the youth, he truly deserves such credit. The tiny fox looked upon the scene with boredom as if she had long expected such an outcome. She gave a light yawn as it quickly appeared above Liu Xun's head once again.

Liu Xun who had noticed that Millie had once again occupied her self-designated spot sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. He then looked up towards the large beast before him. The weird-looking beast somehow started to appear more majestic in his eyes, was he really being affected by all this weirdness as well?

The large beast went back into its cave before bringing out three eggs. It seemed to be very eager as it pressed upon the eggs to him.

"Willing to entrust."

"Strong human."

"Can take all."

The words once again came from the beast.

Liu Xun felt very troubled as he felt significantly troubled by this offer. It sounds tempting as it called upon his deeply buried greed, yet his humanity, as well as the pressure of raising three new beasts, weighed significantly on his heart. Sell these eggs to other cultivators? Would you actually sell children that someone entrusts you to someone else? Liu Xun felt that he definitely could not do such a thing.

The pressured youth looked at the eggs with hesitation. Upon looking at such a reaction, the Sabertooth Beast knew that it found a trustworthy owner. If one had to carefully deliberate to such an extent, they are more likely to be more reliable. Liu Xun took a short moment to hesitate before he finally made up his mind.

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Welcome to the Fate's Edict.

This is merely just a story to you, but it is the lives of the characters in this story. There would be several branching points in the story where I would force you to make a decision even though I have already a pre-set branching path for most choices. Today, we look at Liu Xun who has the choice of accepting the number of eggs. It would directly affect future arcs, their owners are determined depending on your choice 1, 2, or 3 along with future choices. But the fates shall change and your choice will be met with its consequence. The effect would only be mentioned once you have reached the specific checkpoint in fate, it would mention what happens if you have chosen the other options as well. Poll closes in a week. The story shall be written according to your choice, so choose carefully.

You have been dealt your cards, now let us look at the possible effects:

1-7: Arcana of Beginnings - EGG

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3-

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Mysticant

No pressure okay, it is just some fictional characters dying at most, no pressure just chill. And it is only the first choice, there tends to be at least one every arc. All fate choice chapters will be labeled with *Chapter number*, every fate consequence shall be labeled with [Chapter number]. The next chapter will only appear after the poll closes in 7 days. Meanwhile, I will be stockpiling chapters. So have fun!