Valentina transformed into her small, ethereal beast form, which was barely 20 cms tall. She hopped onto Damien's shoulders, and he felt that he could walk around with her resting on his shoulders.
Seeing her cute cat form after a while, he stroked her head and felt that it was really soft and pleasing to stroke.
"Purrr…" Valentina let out a gratified whimper as she enjoyed his caress. She turned her head and licked all over his cheeks affectionately.
"Haha, your tongue almost feels the same just as your human form." Damien chuckled as he patted her.
He lifted her in his hands as her limbs rested in the air. Seeing her cute face, he gave her a quick peck on her nose.
"Mewww…" Valentina happily swayed her limbs as Damien kissed her.
After cuddling with her for a while, the two set out, and Damien chose a quiet and secluded spot as he crushed the stone Triton had given him.
Within five minutes, Damien felt someone suddenly appearing beside him and touching his shoulder. But he didn't resist, and within a moment, his surroundings changed so fast that he was sure that a Heaven Ethereal Realm practitioner was carrying him somewhere.
Before he knew it, he even got inside an ethereal spatial formation. Within a few seconds, he was standing in front of a group of small buildings he had seen before.
'Wow, this fast!' He turned around and saw a sky blue masked figure releasing their hand from his shoulders.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The figure removed their mask, and Damien saw that it was Shania, whom he recognized as Triton's protector.
She looked at Valentina resting on Damien's shoulders and asked curiously, "You brought a cat?"
Damien smiled, "Senior Shania, she is my pet, and the last time I suddenly disappeared, she was quite frightened. So, this time I simply took her with me."
Shania nodded in understanding and smiled, "I see. Well, follow me. Master Triton is expecting you."
Damien followed Shania, and after passing by some buildings, a two-storied white building came into sight. It relatively looked dignified and well maintained compared to other buildings.
Damien guessed that this building must be some kind of headquarters for the Forsaken. As he walked in, he saw many cloaked figures with different colored masks walking past him.
Most seemed to fix their gazes on him, and he could feel them scrutinizing him from top to bottom. But he didn't mind it and felt that they must be pretty skeptical about his arrival, especially the part where he was going to be one of them.
Shania led Damien towards the first floor, and she knocked on the biggest door in the corridor.
"Come in." A calm voice responded.
As Damien got inside, he saw Triton discussing something with Blake, and there were silver masked people lined up on both sides of the room.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Triton turned around and said with a faint smile, "Welcome, Damien. I am glad you are ready to join us."
"Of course, do you have the Rank 7 Pill ready?" Damien directly asked as if he was asking for something trivial.
Triton's eyes twitched while some of the masked men harrumphed. Shania had an amused smile on her face while Blake sighed as he shook his head.
Triton felt that he should not be surprised that Damien would ask for something like that in a blithe manner.
Triton cleared his throat and said, "Of course, we haven't forgotten as we don't gain anything by duping you. Blake, please."
Blake opened his hands as a small and elegant jade box appeared on his palm. He walked forward and stood in front of Damien.
He offered the jade box to Damien as he said, "Here, kid, this box contains a Rank 7 Profound Healing Pill which could heal you within two seconds even if you are in a near-death state. Of course, as your cultivation increases, the more time it would take to completely heal your body. But this pill is even effective to heal Profound Ethereal Realm practitioners!"
Blake continued in a serious tone, "Remember to not use this pill until and unless it's absolutely necessary. You won't even find this in any market...not even the black markets can get their hands on this every year. Only every ten years or more are they able to get their hands on one of these. So without me telling this much, I know you understand how precious it is, and we expect that you show the same sincerity to us."
Damien's eyes sparkled as he accepted the jade box from his hands. He still couldn't believe that the Forsaken had put so much importance on him that they even really gave him a Rank 7 Pill just to rope him in.
Without even opening the jade box, Damien could sense the strong medical aura and verify that it was indeed a genuine Rank 7 Pill. He knew that it was kept inside a jade box to preserve its medical aura from leaking out and losing its medicinal prowess.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})But if it was a Supreme Tier Pill, there was no need for any jade box or anything as its medicinal properties wouldn't be lost even if it was exposed.
He was sure that there was something they knew about him that made them this determined. But seeing that there was no harm at present, he nodded and said, "Of course. I will keep my words always as long as you people do."
Blake nodded with an approving look and walked back towards Triton.
Triton spoke, "Now that we have kept the end of our deal, let's start the initiation process by placing the seal on you as we discussed."
Damien nodded and said, "Okay, but you also need to place a seal on my cat as well. She's my best companion, and I can't bear to not pour out my inner thoughts to her. So, you understand, right?"
Damien didn't want to keep anything related to the Forsaken from Valentina as she would always accompany him. He didn't want to lose any memories related to the Forsaken or let them think that he betrayed them just because he confided in Valentina.
Triton arched his brows as he didn't think Damien was so into animals that he would keep a pet and adore them to this extent.
After all, Damien didn't strike him as a cat person and wondered if he misjudged him. He looked at Valentina resting on Damien's shoulder with her eyes curiously looking around and studying everyone closely.
Triton felt that he had never seen such a strange and cute cat before. She wondered what kind of an ethereal beast she was, especially seeing her two tails and ruby red eyes.
There was also some kind of mystic aura surrounding her, which made others hesitate to approach or study her closely.
Triton felt that anything related to Damien was either shocking or strange. He nodded and said, "Of course, that's of no issue."
Triton nodded at Blake and said to Damien, "Come, follow me."
Damien was a bit surprised, but when he saw Blake and Triton walking towards a small and inconspicuous brown door on the other end of the room, he thought probably that's the room where he would be getting his seal placed.
But when they opened the door, all he saw was Blake activating an azure spatial ethereal formation.
'Oh, seems like I have to go to a different place.' Damien thought.
The three entered the spatial ethereal formation, and within just a moment, they were standing inside a medium-sized courtyard.
When his eyes focused, he saw an old and frail woman dressed in simple white robes sitting on a chair with her eyes closed and seemed as if she was in deep meditation.
"Hmm, she is not weak as she looks. Her cultivation is at the Sixth Level of the Profound Ethereal Realm." Luna mentally spoke.
'God damn! I seriously can't get used to how people's looks in this world do not match with their power levels. It seems like lately meeting powerhouses has been my job.' Damien didn't expect to meet one of the supreme existences in the whole continent so soon, even before he officially joined them.
He wondered if she was the leader of the whole Forsaken group.
But all Damien could feel was as if she was only just an ordinary grandma one would see relaxing in some public gardens.
As the three came closer, the old woman slowly opened her eyes which seemed stark blue in color.
