Without knowing that Rhydian had finally woken up, Mira made her way back to the Mercenary Association building to take on more missions.
On the way back, she thought more about whether she should go through the F.LD.I.L trials first or not. Part of her wanted to go through the trials first because she doesn't know how long they'll last, but another part of her felt it would be foolish to do such a thing.
The trials will always be there, but the resources at the Mercenary Association might not be. Also, she might come across one or two of those items during her mission.
The Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine Source might not be too far out of reach, all she has to do is find one. This is the one item that Mira felt wasn't worth going through the trouble of doing an F.LD.I.L trial.
Spirit Stone Mines aren't that uncommon in the Cultivation World and new ones are constantly forming. The only problem is that the various organizations of the world generally occupy these before anyone else can get their hands on them.
A Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mine shouldn't be too rare in the entire Mortal Realm and if Mira only needed to find one to gather Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, then things would be much easier.
Unfortunately, she needed a source.
Spirit Stone Mine Sources are incredibly rare for any Spirit Stone Mine to have even amongst Low-Grade Mines.
A Spirit Stone Mine Source is exactly as its name describes. It's the reason for a Mine to keep producing Spirit Stones at a constant rate until the Qi in the Source runs.
However, not every Spirit Stone Mine has a Source. Most Spirit Stone Mines are formed because Qi has seeped into the Earth for a long enough period of time for the ground to crystallize, turning into Spirit Stones.
That's a way oversimplified version of the process, but that's essentially how things work, but if a Mine has a Source then it can keep producing Spirit Stones even after they've all been harvested.
One can imagine just how amazing such a Mine would be for any organization. It's for this reason that the Mercenary Association doesn't sell Spirit Stone Mine Sources and it's these Mines that are probably the reason why the Mercenary Association only deals in Contribution Points instead of Spirit Stones.
Suddenly, Mira was shaken out of her thoughts by a voice in her head.
"I'm on my way back to you. I should be there in a few hours at most. Let's meet at the location I dropped you off at previously. Also, I'm bringing back a little surprise for you. I'm sure you'll like it." Elenei's voice replayed in her mind.
'Alright, I'll wait for you to arrive before doing anything else.' Mira responded back and that's where the conversation ended.
She switched her destination from the Mercenary Association building to the area Elenei dropped her off at when she first showed up here at Quake City.
It didn't take her long to make it there and now all she had to do is wait. Having nothing else to do, Mira sat down and decided to meditate until Elenei arrived.
A few hours passed by in a flash, and Mira was awoken from her meditation session as she sensed Elenei and Rhydian approaching.
With a flash, a giant icy Phoenix landed in front of Mira and before the two could greet each other, a golden silhouette hopped off of the Phoenix's back and jumped on Mira, licking her face.
Mira didn't defend herself as she knew exactly who it was, but she was surprised that Rhydian had finally woken up. She let herself be licked by this lazy wolf for a few seconds until she got sick of it and pushed her off.
With Rhydian now off of her, Mira was able to get a good look at her beast companion. She could tell that the wolf made a breakthrough and was now a Peak-Stage Rank 5 Beast. She was a lot bigger now and was getting close to two meters tall.
In her previous body, Mira would still be taller than Rhydian, but now that she's in the body of an 8-year-old, Rhydian towered over her.
A suffocating aura also surrounded Rhydian and Mira could tell that just based on her aura alone, this wolf should be able to take on Mid-Stage Rank 6 Beasts or even higher. She wasn't quite sure because just like humans, beasts also go through a qualitative change once they reach Rank 6. Their bodies become stronger, any hidden potential in their bloodline is revealed, a Beast Core is formed in their bodies, their intelligence increases, and several more benefits.
At least, that's the case for normal beasts, but Rhydian isn't a normal beast. No, she's a beast that shouldn't have even appeared in the Mortal Realm and is part of a species that once dominated the Heavens!
If she wasn't able to fight beasts above her in cultivation, then she would be a disgrace to her species!
Looking at the wolf in front of her, although they had the same cultivation, Mira's instincts screamed danger.
Likewise, Rhydian stared at Mira in disbelief because her instincts were also screaming at her that Mira was dangerous. She's always known Mira was dangerous, but that's just because she was a little cub who didn't know how to fight and barely had any cultivation. Now that she's grown up a bit and reached the Peak of Rank 5, Rhydian was sure she would be much stronger than her even if they had the same cultivation, but it looks like she was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Rhydian started to panic a little on the inside because she knew her companion relatively well. She knew Mira is a sadistic bitch who loves making her train! Before, she could kind of get away with it because she was stronger than Mira, but now it looks like she won't have a choice.
Sure, she could probably defeat Mira if the two of them went all out, but it would be a hard-fought battle that would leave both parties severely injured by the end of it. However, it's not guaranteed that she'd be able to beat Mira because she knew that the silver-haired little girl in front of her had way more experience in battle than her.
Fighting someone like that is the last thing Rhydian wants to do right now.
The two of them continued to stare at each other for a while and although Rhydian couldn't speak just yet, Mira could understand her thoughts and intentions and vice versa.
Right now, Mira could sense a trace of panic in Rhydian when she learned of her strength and she couldn't help but chuckle darkly.
"Hehe~ Little Rhydian, how was your sleep? Was it good? I sure hope it was because I've been dragging your lazy ass around for a while now and I think it's about time for you to prove your worth. Me and you are going to be busy for a while to make up for all the time we missed together. Isn't that great?" Mira said in a tone that sounded way too sweet compared to her normally cold voice, but this only made Rhydian's stomach drop further.
She was about to run away from her demented companion, but before she could move Mira appeared beside her and tackled her to the ground.
"Now, now. Why would you want to leave all of a sudden? Didn't you miss me? I even prepared a few missions for us to complete as congratulations for waking up. Are you really not going to accept my kindness?" Mira said in a sweet voice that only made Rhydian try harder to break free from her grasp.
Unfortunately, Mira is an expert grappler and even though Rhydian is much bigger than her, their strength is about the same so the wolf wasn't able to break free. In the end, Rhydian could only cry out with a loud howl and protest to Mira through their link.
*Awooo!*
Hearing her howl, Mira bonked Rhydian's head and scolded her in a cold voice.
"Shut up, idiot! Do you want to attract all the attention here? Do it again and I'll be sure to pick a difficult mission and use your dumbass as bait!"
*Awooo…*
Rhydian howled in a lower voice, much to Mira's satisfaction.
"Good! Also, put those wings away for now. We aren't strong enough to deal with the consequences if someone finds out what species you are."
*Woof! Woof!*
"I know you hate doing that, but I don't care. I also would like you to keep your wings out as that would be more convenient, but we are too weak right now if the world learns of your existence. If you want to keep your wings out, then get stronger!"
*Woof! Woof! Woof!*
"Sigh… Yes! I actually did prepare missions for us. Or, well, we're about to go get our missions. I need to do these missions in order to advance in my cultivation. We'll probably be busy for around a year or so."
*Awooo?*
"What's your job on these missions? To be my mount, of course! I can't take Elenei around everywhere for risk of her getting exposed and me having to go on the run because of this. So that leaves you! I'm sure you can fly at extreme speeds with those wings of yours. They should prove quite useful in our upcoming adventures."
*WOOF!*
"Fuck you! You either be used as a mount or you be used as bait! Choose! If you become my mount then you can at least fight with me, but if you don't want to be my mount then you can only be used as bait! If you don't want to choose one, then I'll make you do both!"
*....Woof...*
"That's better. Alright, let's get going. We don't have time to waste. Elenei, go into my Soul Sea so the strong people here don't detect you. We can talk while you're in there."
"Alright!" Elenei nodded then turned into a ball of light that shot toward Mira's glabella and into her Soul Sea.
Mira nodded and ran back to Quake City with Rhydian in tow.
