The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 86: Absorbing the Elemental Essence Crystal

On the roof of their residence, Bahamut sat with Ren, staring at the items in front of them in awe.

One was a white rolled-up scroll with a beautifully inscribed tip in blue. The text was dark gold and seemed to shimmer like stars.

The other was a fist-sized stone that looked so common that anyone would take it as such. The only thing that didn’t make it common was that it was floating. It refused to stay down.

"The scroll is yours. That is your beast art technique," Bahamut placed it in front of Ren.

"Before you ask what it does, I can’t explain it to you. All I can say is, with this, you can form your core and get very powerful in a small time. Who knows? You might hopefully get your humanoid form too, just like Sel said, by ranking up and evolving," Bahamut added quickly with a wry smile.

"...Ah... okay. Thanks. So, how do I use it?" Ren asked with a raised eye, his whiskers moving cutely while his red eyes bore into Bahamut.

"By... Uh... System!"

"You didn’t have to shout, motherfucker!"

[The System can help Ren to assimilate the technique. That way, it would be easier to learn. But that is all that it can do.

As for the Elemental Essence Crystal, you just need to absorb it. But beware. It’s best to absorb it slowly or risk injuries.]

"Uh... thanks," Bahamut said with a chuckle, and turned to Ren. "That’s it, bro."

"I saw it clearly. Thank you," Ren retorted sharply and dragged the scroll closer.

"System... Hit me."

POH!

Ren rolled and hit the wall of the roof so quickly that Bahamut couldn’t even process it.

"I didn’t say hit me literally!" Ren screamed as he held his left eye.

"The system can hit people?" Bahamut asked in confusion.

[Do you want to try?]

"Nah. I’m good. By the way, how do I share the essence stone with Ren?"

[Just break a piece for him.]

"Thanks."

With that said and done, Bahamut transformed his right hand into a bear’s claw and slashed a quarter of the stone for Ren. He then put it in front of the bunny, who now had a black eye from a conceptual being’s punch.

"System? How do I absorb it?" Bahamut asked again, expecting a lash out. The system was becoming human, more and more each passing day.

[That’s why you learnt meditation. And you will have to move a bit further away from Ren, because it can cause a phenomenon based on your concept, and the affinities within you.]

"I get it. Thank you," Bahamut breathed a sigh of relief. He feared the system would even insult his mother... He wasn’t even sure if he had one.

’Let’s not think about it.’

Bahamut then got up and turned to look at Ren, who seemed to have fallen unconscious all of a sudden, which shocked him.

"System?"

[He’s going through the assimilation process. Just place the crystal by his side. He will be alright.]

"Okay."

...

In an enclosed, yet open stone room, Bahamut sat cross-legged with a stone hovering in front of him. He had returned to his master’s place to use her cultivation room.

The room was nothing too extravagant. It was just like any other cultivation room, just wider, with stronger walls and an open sky.

As for how he was able to use the room? Well... It was a privilege that direct disciples enjoyed. Plus, almost no one used it. The newer disciples were Sel and him. The older ones were either Inner Disciples or Core Disciples, so they had their own private rooms. And Elder Silvia didn’t need this room for cultivation.

So it was opened and free for Bahamut and Sel.

Bahamut inhaled and exhaled for a minute, calming himself down. He was feeling excited and a little anxious as to what could happen, so he had to calm down first.

As per Sel’s words, anxiety and meditation never worked. It’s best to meditate and, in turn, cultivate with a cool mind and body.

After preparing himself, Bahamut closed his eyes. Bahamut let the world thin... sound dulled first; the distant wind over stone, the faint creak of the walls expanding and contracting with temperature... He was becoming one with it.

The weight of his body faded until only his posture remained: spine straight, shoulders relaxed, and breathing deep and slow.

He did not reach for the stone. He remembered Sel’s words...

Meditation wasn’t about grabbing. It was about letting your awareness touch things.

So he opened his senses. His senses spread outwards, covering the room. A more, stronger part of it formed around the essence crystal.

Soon it trembled.

At first, it was subtle... a faint oscillation, like a coin vibrating after being struck. Then Bahamut felt it... Resistance. The crystal was pushing back, so he adjusted.

Instead of probing the crystal as an object, he treated it as a process. He slowed his breathing further, syncing it to the faint pulse he now sensed within the crystal. He inhaled... and the pulse rose.

He exhaled, and it settled.

The hovering crystal suddenly brightened, as its stone-like exterior peeled off, revealing a beautiful, translucent crystal. The space around it thickened. The air bent slightly as it started revolving.

Then... It started leaking glowing particles. That was the elemental essence.

A thin stream of essence slid into him through his forehead and his chest. His muscles tightened reflexively, while he clenched his jaw to not break focus.

The stream of essence felt so cool and warm that he felt like relaxing, but he knew that it was an illusion, and a very realistic one. If he fell for it, he would lose the opportunity forever.

As the stream of essence increased, his suppressors reacted.

Weight slammed down on his shoulders, forcing his spine to creak. The stone floor beneath him groaned as fine cracks spidered outward while his breathing stuttered.

He had completely forgotten about the suppressors, and they had reacted when he least expected them to.

"Still not letting up, huh?" Bahamut muttered through clenched teeth as his aura flared.

The essence continued its crawl inside him, oblivious to what he was experiencing.

The essence was dense and pure, opening his pores to absorb more. As it reached his core, the change began. His inner world, normally chaotic, paused.

His concept seemed to tone down, especially the Brutality sub-concept: It turned instantly calm. The essence wrapped around his foundation... pushing into holes and loops.

Pain instantly flared. Deep, hot, pain.

His bones shook, his muscles compressed. His organs felt squeezed inward, as if the space inside his body had shrunk by a fraction.

Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but Bahamut did not move. He didn’t even resist. He endured it.

The suppressors pushed harder, sensing his growth and responding with cruelty. Sweat poured down his bare torso. His heart hammered like it was trying to escape his ribs.

Then something subtle happened. The essence stopped flowing into him and started circulating.

His core stabilized, the edges smoothing, while the density increased. Where before his power felt like a storm, now it had gained weight.

But that wasn’t all.

Bahamut exhaled slowly, a tremor running through his frame.

CRACK!

The sound echoed so loudly that even Elder Silvia, who was overseeing a duel between two of her disciples, heard it.

The sky instantly darkened as lightning flashed. A heavy pressure radiated as thunder boomed loudly.

But Bahamut didn’t hear.

He was currently floating upwards. He slowly flew through the open space above him along with the crystal as his hair fluttered wildly.

Behind him, two halo-like circles appeared, rotating so fast that they seemed stagnant.

One was crimson in color, and the other seemed like a normal reddish color. The second one, with the normal reddish color, was almost complete, and it completed the circle in an instant.

CRACK!

Bahamut’s aura exploded outwards as a faint outline of a circle, much larger than the current two, appeared after the second.

Lightning suddenly rained down around him as the circle became visible gradually.

Everyone in the Obsidian Citadel saw the phenomenon happening, and the knowledgeable ones among them instantly knew what was happening.

The First Awakening! 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

There were different versions of awakening, but there were the named ones, and that was in relation to concepts and affinities. Once a person reached the Circle of Initiation, they experienced a first awakening, which let them know what kind of elemental core they would form in Tier 2.

Not everyone experienced an awakening like Bahamut’s, but he wasn’t the first either. Just that, anyone whose first awakening caused a natural phenomenon was bound to be very powerful without even trying.

They were seen as chosen by the world itself because of how powerful they became in a short time after their first awakening.

Speaking of awakening... members of the sect gasped in shock and awe as something huge appeared in the sky. It was so big that even though it was just a faint outline, everyone could tell it was powerful.

They couldn’t see it was exactly, but whoever had caused it to appear was surely not someone to be trifled with... At all.

Back to Bahamut... His eyes were now opened and glowing of their own accord in a deep crimson light.

The circles behind him, including the third, which was now visible, stopped moving. The third one completed its formation in an instant, while a dense blast of power erupted from Bahamut.

CRACK!

The last crack sounded like the world itself was clapping. The crystal instantly turned into particles and entered Bahamut.

Then silence followed...

[Elemental Essence Absorption Complete]

[Foundation Reinforced]

[Concept Stability Increased]

[Self-Healing Efficiency Slightly Improved]

[All Stats Increased 100%]

[Evolution Requirements Met!]

[Starting Evolution in 30 Seconds!]