Kade leaned against the walls of the dojo, ignorant to the stares along with the instructor. Awakened Rock coughed and praised Kade for his skill while also complimenting Nephis. Kade didn't really care about his words, nor the class he was starting to teach.
He just wore his wide grin as he observed the shimmering blue runes of his new boon.
An Aspect Legacy
[Stairway to Heaven]
[1] - Defeat a being of divinity.
[2]-?
[1/7]
Aspect legacy description: [The Asura constructed a path of destruction, from death, glory, victory and revenge. An eternal fire that burnt the mortal planes. With bloodied hands, it climbed the Stairway to Heaven.
[You have taken the first step; heaven awaits your calamity.]
[A soul once bright burns with shared hatred; it has joined you on the path of a Brawler.]
[You have received an Echo!: Byakko the Mighty]
Kade's heart surged with joy upon hearing the name, it felt amazing to have a legacy of his own, and the boons that came with it.
'No wonder the legacies are normally such pompous jackasses; I would be too if I was guaranteed things like this!' Especially it is an echo, having an ally to cover your back was always something desirable; it one of the reasons he treasured his bond with Dawn.
'Let's see my wonderful minion' Of course only the attributes; he would rather not summon it under the sharp gazes of his unapproving clansmen.
Echo: [Byakko the Mighty]
Echo Rank: Awakened
Echo Class: Beast
Echo Attributes: [Ascension], [Divine Outburst], [Spirit Beast]
'An Awakened Beast, pretty good... The attributes sound powerful.' Kade hummed, scrolling further.
Echo Description: [Deep inside a forest, a divine tiger lay, commanding its territory with power, fear, and benevolence. The humans who resided within its territory offered blessings and prayer to the mystical beast, and the beast protected them in kind. The gods despised such reverence and struck the tiger back down to the mortal realm.
Kade read the runes intently, a bit surprised by the description; it had seemed his new companion was once a creature that was of a divine rank yet had been defeated and sapped of its strength. Also, it was a tiger! Kade had watched depictions of the powerful hunting cats in many a bootleg film; to have one at his own disposal filled him with glee.
'Ok, ok... Now let's see what the attributes have to offer.
[Ascension]
Attribute Description: [Byakko having lost its once glorious power seeks revenge against the heavens; to climb the rank and classes of the spell back to its origin, it takes the strength of the Asura strongest defeated champion]
[Current Champion: Warren of the war legion]
'That guy again, huh? Makes sense why it's an awakened beast. Still... if I keep killing stronger enemies, Byakko's just going to keep evolving. He truly was a lucky man; of course, he had to fight the powerful changing star, but such a reward seemed too much of a boon for that.
'Well, it didn't say what level or class of opponent, just for them to have divinity' Kade mused, 'And about divine, let's see the next attribute.'
[Divine Outburst]
Attribute Description: [Byakko channels the strong emotions of itself and the Asura to summon bursts of elemental fury, from eternal ice to all-powerful lightning and purifying divine flame.]
Kade didn't know exactly what [Divine Outburst] entailed, it could vary a lot in how it would manifest, one thing he did know is it sounded sick. He ought to try riding on the beast's back and use [Divine Outburst] the second he had the chance too.
[Spirit Beast]
Attribute Description: [Byakko [1]the Mighty retains fragments of its personality unlike the hollow shells of other echoes, It can learn, feel, and express like any intelligent creature can. Along with deciding when to exit and enter the Asura's Soul Sea,
"..." The last few lines of the description were… deeply, deeply concerning.
For one, he didn't even control whether Byakko appeared. The spirit tiger could just leap out of his soul and into the middle of the dojo any time it felt like it. And He couldn't stop it.
Well... maybe he could beg.
'Hey there, Byakko the Mighty, my name's Kade. Nice to meet you, big fan of your divine work and all that Just wondering if you could, you know, hold off on materialising for like, an hour. It's kind of a bad time my feline companion.'
His soul was silent like it always was...until he heard a low growl and a feeling of another entity stirring in its midst. It shook Kade in surprise, his once joyous expression gone for concern that he would be told off for unconditionally summoning an echo mid-class.
But luckily the low tone of the growl could be considered to be acceptance. That's what Kade thought of it, but he would take the risk.
Hopefully, it would end soon.
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About 30 minutes Later Kade strode down arch backed to his room, slight paranoia hinting on his aggravating expression, whispers of other sleepers following his journey back. They had all heard how he had defeated Changing Star, and from the witness tale from Caster of the Han Li clan, it seems he didn't have the best reputation.
They saw him for a violent and despicable gangster.
'There mostly right in a sense, but there far from figuring me out' Either way he could deal with that later, right now there was a different matter that concerned him.
Byakko had been growling more and more inside his soul; Kade felt the will of his beast wanting to escape, but it held itself back, as if respecting Kades word for now, but he had to arrive in his room before it decided otherwise.
Arriving finally at his door, Kade kicked the entrance to his lovely abode open before quietly shutting the door behind him. He hadn't had time to properly explore the contents of his assigned living space; it was dimmed in darkness with closed blinds and dead lights.
'good'
Suddenly, the presence in his soul faded away, and shimmering blue essence manifested itself into reality, taking form right in front of Kade.
A mystical tiger with bristling orange fur took its place, highlights of faded orange and covered in Deep bleak stripes of black. The patches of fur on Byakko switched from looking burnt to frozen to sharp. Its magnificent presence took up most of the space in the small room.
Kade could barely describe it to a large grown polar bear. Its clear blue eyes stared at him silently.
"Hey byakko, it's nice to see you, and I mean really it is, you look amazing" Kade praised, edging his hand closer and closer towards Byakko's pelt like gold.
Byakko stared at the Asura indifferently, before yawning, its powerful jaws opening to reveal two canines that matched the long-dead sabretooth in size. Kade took in the sight of his wonderful pet cat: the fur, the eyes, the teeth and the power behind those limbs.
It was perfect. The kind of perfect that demanded blood, fire, and maybe a few apologies later.
He barged into the beast, surprising the mystical cat into an embrace, the troubles and pressure of the present faded when he sunk into its fur, it was beyond quality, beyond luxury that he had ever had access too.
He looked up to the tiger with delight.
""You and me buddy, were going to do so much together, I can imagine it already" His tone light to the touch like his fantasies, Riding the beast into glorious battle, to dramatic chases against criminals escaping by ATV, to working in tandem to slay giant nightmare creatures.
Kade was an adult at 18, but the childlike wonder had still yet to fade from his eyes; it was something that he had valued to keep despite the trauma of his early life.
And it was paying off a lot at the moment.
Byakko snorted in annoyance before relaxing on top of him... Kade felt the weight of the two-tonne feline start to crush him.
"Hey, wait, wait!"
His words were smothered as Byakko lay on top of the Asura, his pleas muffled by his dense fur, the mythical tiger's tail waving back and forth as it decided to take its first rest in the waking world.
Kade could only accept his fate, as he could not retract the stubborn kitty back into his soul, so he pondered life as time passed by, the subtle snoring of his new echo coming back and forth like the waves.
Aspect legacies were something else.
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Whereas Kade had a quick interview and proceeded to head to class, Dawn had found herself in the exact opposite situation.
They would not let an Aspect Ability like hers go unnoticed.
[1] Got the name from that one persona 5 tiger persona