"Protect." Cole chanted and a protecting bubble enveloped him.

"Summon, Celia!" Cole chanted again. "If the one that is coming is a Core Formation Stage, put a parasite on him. I want to know some information out of him." Cole said to Celia.

"Sure, Big Brother!" Celia agreed.

The expert who was coming to Cole was most the Bandit Leader of the Shadow Walkers. He was doing something really important instructed to him by his boss and while he was busy doing the deed, he felt the lifeforce of his bandit minions were actually gone! Who the one who did it?!

When he arrived at the scene and saw the what was his minions state, he felt exploding. Training those people were actually hard. If they have shadow affinity, they'll be easy to adapt in the Shadow Forest terrain and be an expert of their group. But shadow affinity cultivators were actually rare and hard to find and if they managed to find one, it was another question if they wants to join their group.

Most of the Shadow Walkers were cultivators with different affinity and only the strongest among them except him was the only cultivator with shadow affinity. He had high expectations with the man and treated him as a genius. And seeing drilled with different holes in his body was simply in infuriating.

When he saw Cole and felt his cultivation at Peak of Mana Gathering Stage, he wanted to kill him immediately but stopped it as he wants to torture the boy until he die.

"Who are you and why did you kill them?" The bandit leader asked.

Cole snorted. They killed countless lives before and when his minions were killed, he'll ask why?

"I'm the Carmelo Family Caravan hired protector." He started. "And them wanted to kill my employer was a no. I'm just doing my job."

The bandit leader gritted his teeth. It seems like they encountered a steel wall.

"Good. Good. Good." The bandit leader said sarcastically. "Any last words?" He asked.

Cole only looked at him as if he was crazy and didn't said a thing.

Since you don't want say something then don't even think you can talk later!

He moved fast, and Cole have a trouble seeing his tracks.

The bandit leader appear near Cole immediately and swing his sword to Cole. However, his sword was block by something like barrier around Cole. He gritted his teeth. It seems like the reason the kid was so confident was becuase he had this.

"Worm Mist Parasite." Cole commanded.

Celia stretched her hand and a purple, worm like mist appear.

The bandit leader felt threatened. He was ready to run and create some distance but the worm was already in his front and entered his forehead. Then he felt a pain he never felt before from his soul and when he inspect what was happening, he saw a purple worm in his.

He felt afraid. Soul was very important part of the person existence and seeing his with foreign entity make him afraid.

He look at Cole and the little girl beside him with horror.

"What did you do to me?" He managed to ask at Cole.

He felt a pain from his soul again. "You're not the one who's questioning now, idiot." Celia spoke venomously.

Cole looked at Celia, horrified. He don't expect that from his sweet, little girl.

"Parasite." Cole answered.

The bandit leader look confused but when the world absorbed by him, his face paled like he have seen a ghost.

Parasite was always never good and him being a victim was also never good.

He don't know much about parasites but he know one thing, they can kill him with just a thought. His whole body trembled.

Why did they have to encounter him? Why did he insist to get revenge?

The worm in his soul was actually a parasite?

"Soul Search him." He heard the boy commanded.

The worm in his soul let out a purple mist that encased his soul. Seconds later, he felt bared. All of his memories and experience was actually being scan by the little girl.

He wants to retaliate but stopped. He may die any second now if he do something wasn't nice, specially when he looked at the little girl.

"I've found it!" Celia exclaimed excitedly. Cole look at her expectedly. This was his most wanted information for the moment, the breakthrough process to Core Formation Stage.

"It is said that using the energy of Heaven and Earth and bath and strengthen the body was the Body Tempering Stage. Accumulating energy of Heaven and Earth into the Dantian until it reached a liquid state was the Mana Gathering Stage." Celia started while Cole nod. Although he was already in a Peak of Mana Gathering Stage, he was still clueless in the process of it. He just let the aura and fuse with him and it looks like that there was a process.

When he was at the Body Tempering Stage, the exp passed throughout his body and it looks like it was strengthening his body. When he was at the Mana Gathering Stage, the exp circulated throughout his body before going into his Dantian so the exp was actually accumulated there.

"The Core Formation Stage was a stage where those accumulated liquid energy should be turned into solid like a core. It was actually like a beast when they create their Beast Crystals when they breakthrough to Tier 3 Beast." Celia finished explaining.

Cole nodded. It seems like that the energy was needed to be suppressed until it forms into solid state like a core. That was why it was called Core Formation Stage.

Now that he had the information he needed, he can't wait to just meditate and made a breakthrough. Sadly, he can't. He need to go after the Carmelo Family Caravan and go to Stone Forest Town. He don't know how long will it take to breakthrough to Core Formation Stage so he'll go first to the city and come back here using Gate.

"There was something this guy was hunting before he get here." Celia spoke while looking at the bandit leader.

"What is it?" Cole ask. Since it was hunted by a Core Formation Stage expert, it must be something interesting.

"It was a rare beast called the Hallucination Fox. Hallucination Fox were a kind of rare beast who was well versed in art of illusion. They like to put their preys in illusion and made them vulnerable as if they were hallucinating, thus, the name Hallucinations Fox." Celia explained first. "The Hallucination Fox original strength were Fifth Level of Core Formation Stage. It just given birth and was in weaken state that was why he managed to beat it. If not, this guy with his Second Level of Core Formation Cultivation Stage will probably be in the middle of illusion without his way out." Celia said while she looked at the bandit leader venomously.

The bandit leader bow down his head. It was all... True.

Cole nodded in understanding. If the beast was really weaken as it just had given birth, then that said beast was very vulnerable on this moment. It strength right now must be equivalent only to First Level of Core Formation Stage, if not lower.

So Cole decided to go and look for them.

"What is your name?" Cole ask the bandit leader.

"Master, my name is Fernand." Fernand introduced himself.

Fernand? Seriously? Cole just shake his head. He just remember the scarface bandit leader who was guarding the Forest Edge Village and saw some similarities with their name. But it may be just a coincidence, Fernan and Fernand.

"What is your business with the Hallucination Fox?" Cole ask Fernand.

Although he can ask Celia and be done with it, he just want to test if the guy know his predicament and be honest with him. If not, there was no point of keeping him.

"The city lord of Stone Forest City wanted to have the offspring of the Hallucination Fox as his tamed beast and give us the order to acquire it. That's all I know." Fernand answer.

Cole looked at Celia for confirmation and she just nod. It seems like what Fernand said was true.

"Is the city lord of Stone Forest City a beast tamer?" Cole can't help but ask as he heard that the said lord wanted the Hallucination Fox offspring as his tamed beast.

Fernand shakes his head. "No." He answered. "But one of the most common way to tame a beast was to raised it from being a baby. This way, the beast will have a sense of belonging to his master and less likely to betray him." He added.

Cole nodded his head. What Fernand said was true and most likely effective.

Cole was ready to travel when an idea struck him.

"Celia, send the mental image of the location of the beast from his memories." Cole request from Celia. Celia just nodded and look at the memories of Fernand and send it to Cole through their mind link.

An image of front of the cave appear to mind of Cole. It was the location of the home of the beast.

Cole summon the Gate and a portal appear and he felt that the other side of the portal was really near at the cave.

His idea work! Now, he can go to the places Fernand was before!

And that includes the Stone Forest City!

Since the Shadow Walkers have a connection to the city lord, he must have go there atleast once. He'll just look at Fernand's memory and go there.

Afterall, his new discovery only needs mental images of the place and he can connect their through his gate.

Cole step through the portal and arrive to the front of the cave. And he closed the gate.

Fernand was shocked when he saw Cole vanish and he knew that Cole wasn't there as he felt no other presence near him, which means he wasn't go invisible. Cole was mostly go to other place already. Is he a space type cultivator?

Space-type cultivator was rare, much rarer than shadow-type cultivator like himself and they were known to appear and reappear places to places but not through their speed, it was through teleportation!

And it seems like that guy was a space-type cultivator. Fernand conclude to his own.

Cole enter the cave and saw a miserable big fox and a small, curled baby fox.

Cole saw a big wound on the mother fox and a blood was gushing out. It was critical and even him felt that the mother was on her last line.

"Summon, Bell!"

Ting!

Bell appear within the magic circle.

"Use Heal Pulse to her." Cole said as he pointed the weak mother fox.

The mother was so vigilant towards the new intruders. The last intruder who come here after she gave birth attacked her out of nowhere and nearly cost her life. She even wanted to attacked the moment she saw the two coming in, sadly, she wasn't have a strength to do so. Even that little strength was also slipping away from her. She know she doesn't last long now. She can't even witness his son open his eyes.

Suddenly, she felt a warm current pass through her body and gave her strength. She knows that the creature the human summoned was trying to heal her, unfortunately, she felt that it wasn't enough. The creature was too weak for her to heal her.

Fortunately, it still give her strength. She put her son to her mouth and bring it on the front of the human. She felt that the human can be trusted. She was so vulnerable and weak now that even a human with his strength can kill her, but he doesn't. So she entrust her son to the human. This will make her a little comfortable as she know that her son was in good hands.

Cole felt his heart ached when he saw what the mother fox did. Bell was giving her all but because of her current stage, healing a Tier 3 Wild Beast was out of her scope, still, she tried. Sadly, it was a failure.

Cole really wanted to help her but he can't. There was one thing in his mind that can help her and that was to tame her and let the Messiah Tree treat her. Unfortunately, the Messiah Tree now was currently damaged and he doesn't have any other solution.

The mother fox brought out a stone from her mouth and put it beside his son.

"Wooo~~~" the mother fox let out a cry and lie down.

Cole guessed what the mother fox wanted him to do. She was entrusting her son to Cole and so he scooped the infant to his embraced, put the stone near beside him and look at the mother fox sincerely.

"I'll take care of him with all of my life, I promise." Cole said to the mother fox.

The mother fox closed her eyes comfortably.

Congratulations for the user for completing a Hidden Mission!

Hidden Mission 1 Eliminate the treath of Shadow Forest

Hidden Mission 2 Fulfill the wish of the dying mother

Rewards : Hidden Mission 1 +200 System Points [Extra Reward : Bring the heads of the bandits at Stone Forest City and exchange for extra rewards]

Hidden Mission 2 +500 Points Skill Stone Rune : Time Heal