As Jerald entered the room, he looked at Shang with a smile.
"You're not wearing your armor?" he asked.
"Yeah, about that," Shang said.
Jerald raised an eyebrow.
"I need a new one."
Jerald's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I take it you had a very tough fight?"
Shang nodded.
Then, he began to recount everything about the centipede and his fight with it. Jerald knew everything about Shang except for his control over Abominations, which was why Shang didn't need to keep anything a secret.
After Shang recounted everything, Jerald's brows furrowed. "Shang, I've fought maybe hundreds of True Path Stage beasts in my life, and I can tell you that not even one of them had any sort of power even similar to that centipede."
"I'm not exaggerating," Shang said. "This is exactly what happened."
Jerald nodded. "I know. If this came from anyone else's mouth, I wouldn't believe them, but I know you."
Jerald rubbed his chin in thought. "This doesn't sound like a beast at all. You said you saw a huge diagram. Do you still remember how it looked?"
Shang nodded. Even though Shang's mind was far below the power of his body, it still was vastly more powerful than a normal person's mind. Because of that, he remembered about 60% to 80% of the complex diagram.
Jerald summoned some paper and handed it to Shang along with a pencil. He knew that Shang probably didn't carry such stuff with him.
Shang reconstructed the diagram as best as he could and handed the paper back to Jerald.
When Jerald looked at it, his eyebrows shot up in shock.
"That definitely didn't come from a beast," he said. "You see how these circles are positioned in relation to each other? That follows the common Marnur Nomenclature for clean and dispersed creation for Magic Circles. When beasts use Magic, they don't use it in such a methodical and clean manner."
"These Runes also follow the classic Old Magic Library Placement. The position-"
"Jerald," Shang interrupted, "You know that I don't understand anything you say."
"Oh, right," Jerald said with a short chuckle. "In short, this is a Magic Circle that follows all the common conventions for smart Spell Casting. This is 100% a Magic Circle that has been designed by a Mage."
"And even if a lot of it is missing, I can tell you that the design of this Magic Circle is far beyond my level. The Runes interact in very unusual, unknown, and strange ways. It's like there are concepts in these Runes that us High Mages don't know about."
Shang raised an eyebrow. "High Mages, as in all of them or only the ones in the five Kingdoms?"
Jerald looked at Shang with a quick and surprised glance. "You think this comes from outside the five Kingdoms?"
"After what you've told me, yes," Shang answered. "You are basically already at the highest level in the five Kingdoms, and I think you can even estimate the power of the Kings. If this Magic Circle shows concepts that not even you know about, it can only come from the outside world."
Jerald looked at the ceiling as he hummed. "That might actually be the case."
"So, what do you think about the centipede?" Shang asked.
"From where it came from?" Jerald asked.
Shang nodded.
Jerald looked at the diagram for a bit longer.
"There has been scientific research into the potential creation of beasts. You know, man-made beasts. The Skythunder Kingdom was once thinking about replacing the warriors with beasts that followed orders and were specifically designed to do one task."
"However, the more the Skythunder Kingdom learned about how to make something like that, the more they realized how incredibly complex and monumental this task would be. In fact, not even the King we had at that time could wrap his mind around all the concepts."
"Because of that, the project was canceled."
Shang looked at Jerald. "So, you think this was one of these man-made beasts?"
"Most likely," Jerald said with a nod.
"Then, how did it get here, and why was it here?" Shang asked.
Jerald hummed some more as he continued looking at the diagram.
Then, his eyebrows rose as he got an idea.
"Invasive species," he said.
Shang's eyebrows also rose. "So, you don't think it was put here deliberately but simply entered this place on accident?"
Jerald nodded. "Probably. If someone that could design or control such a creature wanted you dead, they wouldn't need to use the creature. They could just snuff you out like a candle."
"Because of that, I don't think that you were deliberately targeted."
"I think this thing simply came to this place on accident and lived inside the deep Caves."
"Maybe, in the outside world, these creatures are common and fulfill a certain purpose?" Jerald mused.
"A purpose?" Shang repeated as he thought back to the fight.
He could think of one purpose.
"To deal with physis?" he asked.
Jerald furrowed his brows. "From what you've told me, it sounds very likely. It traps the warrior in a very small area, taking away their flexibility. Its wall of scythes is nearly impenetrable by anyone fighting in close range. It seems like a perfect counter to a physical fighter."
"However, I don't see a reason to create something like that," Jerald said. "From what you told me, all the other Paths have deteriorated into what they are now. You said the God said that the Mages in the outside world reign supreme."
"I don't see why anyone would want to design a creature to kill physis when physis can't even deal with an Archmage," Jerald said.
Shang scratched his chin in thought.
"What about the past?" he asked.
"The past?" Jerald repeated.
Shang nodded. "What if these beasts had been designed many years ago when the other Paths were still in their prime? That would make sense, right?"
A small light appeared in Jerald's eyes. "You mean they are like wild dogs? Dogs that once fulfilled an essential service but became obsolete due to changes in the world?"
"Yes, I can see that being true," Jerald said. "Maybe the centipedes were once used to kill physis, but after all the physis vanished, there was no use for the centipedes anymore. The Mages at the time might have simply thrown them to the wild, and they became a wild species."
That explanation seemed logically sound.
That would explain how the centipede could use such a complex Magic Circle. That complex Magic Circle had probably been integrated into its DNA if this world had something like DNA.
"Anyway, we went a bit off-topic there," Jerald said. "You said you hunted some True Path Stage beasts and want to sell them?"
Shang nodded. "I want more ore for the True Path Stage to continue with my training, and I also need a new set of armor."
Jerald nodded. "The ore is not a problem, but the armor is quite expensive. I'm sorry, but I can't pay that out of my pocket."
Shang nodded. "I wouldn't want you to. How much do you need?"
Jerald grimaced a bit. "It's quite expensive. If I want to break even, I would need the bodies of four Initial True Path Stage beasts."
Shang didn't immediately answer.
"That's it?" he asked after a couple of seconds.
Jerald raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that's it."
"Oh, then we don't have a problem."
Jerald looked at Shang with surprise.
"How many beasts did you hunt?"
"A few."
