In the courtyard of the main headquarters of the beast tamer's guild of the northwest state of Shi, space could be seen twisting before throwing out Nox and the two guild officials.
*Pop*
"Well, that happened!" Nox said, giving of no signs of discomfort after experiencing the collapse of physics for the second time.
"A-!"
"*Cough**Wheeze* What the hell happened! Hey, why did you do that? The doors were opening!" Elder Darsh complained.
"A-!"
"I was just curious if it would work?" Nox replied.
"A-!"
"YOU RISKED OUR LIVES, JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE CURIOUS?!" Darsh screamed, his face turning red with anger.
"A-!"
"Yeah, pretty much! Anyways, what's the verdict baby-face! Did I pass?" Nox said nonchalantly before turning to the guild master.
"A-!"
The guild master was staring wide eyed towards Nox while repeating the same sound with his mout agape as he was too shocked to speak proper words.
"You with us baby-face! Your brain didn't get scrambled on the way out, did it?" Nox said in concern.
The guild master only responded by pointing at Nox's left shoulder.
"Hm? Oh, well that's a surprise? How did you get here?" Nox said, as she noticed the world ending baby serpent relaxing on her shoulder.
"W-W-What is that thing doing here! Illusory beasts can't exist outside an imaginary space!" Darsh stuttered as he backed away in fear of the energy snake waving at him with a life-sized human-shaped energy-hand.
"Who's a good boy! Girl? Thing? Yes! Who is a good thing? You are! Yes, you are! You're my little destroyer of worlds! Here! Have a snack!" Nox said, treating the little slug sized energy worm on her shoulder like a puppy before feeding it dog treats.
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM US YOU MORON!" Darsh screamed at Nox.
"That's rude! What did Bluey ever do to you!" Nox replied, as she had apparently already decided on a name.
"IT NEARLY KILLED US ALL YOU MANIAC!"
"That was like a minute ago! Get over it!"
"HOW ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THIS?! WE COULD HAVE DIED!"
"Nah! I would have survived! Isn't that right, my little destroyer!" Nox said, as she started scratching Bluey under it's jaw, forgetting it was made up of pure energy and ended up burning off the tips of her fingers.
"AARAV! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! SAY SOMETHING!" Darsh screamed, asking for support from his superior. But instead …
"Hehe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He started laughing with a crazy look in his eyes.
"Okay! So, is that a passing grade or?" Nox asked, more concerned with getting her test graded than the mental health of the guild master.
The hysterical laughter of the guild master, accompanied by the shouting of the elder, soon drew the attention of the nearby guild members that started crowding the courtyard. It wasn't until they were completely surrounded that the guild master finally calmed down enough to speak.
"Grand Master Doe! You have passed the elder exam and proven yourself worthy of the title! I look forward to working with you in the future!" Guild master Aarav proclaimed in front of everyone while handing Nox a Jade pendant with the guild's emblem on it.
The crowd began to murmur upon witnessing Nox being handed one of the highest honors of a guild official.
"No way! That's the jade pendant!"
"Who is that guy?!"
"Did he just say the elder's exam?"
"He's so handsome!"
"What is going on?!"
Feeling something was off about the crowd's reaction, Nox held out the pendant and watched their eyes follow the green rock swing back and forth.
"You are all getting very sleepy!" Nox said, trying to hypnotize the audience.
"I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS!"
Unfortunately, she was soon interrupted by a young-looking man sporting long brown hair in a white shirt and pants shouted while a green turkey-like bird rested on his head.
"Hm?"
"Guild master! There must have been some kind of mistake! How can a mortal who hasn't even lived half a century become an executive of the tamer's guild! It is absurd!" The man said, while pointing at Nox.
"Executive?" Nox muttered in confusion.
While Nox stood there confused at what was going on, the crowd murmuring started heating up.
"Wait, he is right! I can't sense any qi from him!"
"No mortal can pass the final trial!"
"How did he even get past the written part!"
"He must have cheated!"
"That bastard!"
As many of the audience were nascent souls, the crowd had expanded into a dome, causing Nox to be assaulted with looks of judgment from every angle. Of course, she seemed not to have noticed as she was still trying to hypnotize them all with the pendant.
"SILENCE!" The guild master shouted, releasing his qi pressure to silence the crowd.
"What is your name?" Aarav asked the man with the bird on his head.
"My name is Ashwin, Sir! I am a senior ranking member of the guild!" He replied.
"Only a senior and you think you have the right to comment on his qualifications! Have you no shame?"
"But guild master! Even if he passed the written exam, there is no way that mortal could succeed in the final trial with his own power! Even his tamed beast looks weak! There is no way he could have passed without someone's help!" He said while looking over at Darsh.
"What are you implying?" Darsh said, in an angry tone as he glared back at Ashwin.
"For safety reasons, high ranking members of the guild are allowed to be present during the final trial, in case something goes wrong! Elder Darsh, you wouldn't happen to be the one behind this?"
"HOW DARE YO-!"
Just as Darsh looked about ready to kill Ashwin, the guild master stepped in.
"Hahaha! If you don't believe he could pass the test on his own ability, then why not see for yourself?"
"Huh?"
While Ashwin looked a bit puzzled, Darsh seemed to have realized where this was going and gave a nervous smile.
"You have your own tamed beast have you not? Why not test his against yours?"
It seemed as though the guild master wanted to pit Nox's new pet snake against the dissatisfied man's tamed beast, in an attempt to silence any suspicions of foul-play. However, that was only the pretext to the guild master's real intentions. What he was really after was to ascertain the capabilities of this new and unknown type of magical beast, now that it was no longer inside an imaginary space.
There has never been a recorded case of an illusionary beast created from an imaginary space ever stepping foot into the real world, much less one as powerful as Bluey. This is because the creatures known as illusionary beasts are created and sustained by the lawless void where the impossible becomes possible. Even if a being created from imaginary space were to somehow separate itself from the void, the moment it enters a world governed by natural law, it would likely drop dead instantly due to its organs or lack there of being incompatible with the laws of physics, that is if its flesh can even exist in the first place.
From its origin to its biology, there are just so many questions left unanswered regarding this creature Nox brought back. To a beast obsessed man like Aarav, the chance to discover its capabilities is an opportunity he just can't resist.
"Very well then! Take care of that worm!" Ashwin said, pointing towards Nox who had sidestepped this whole conversation in favor of her attempts to hypnotize the crowd.
"You want to give me all your mon-! Whoa! What's with the turkey!"
*Swoosh*
Sensing the attack coming from behind, Nox dodged the tackle of the green bird that came rocketing towards her, resulting in some poor guy in the crowd getting knocked through a wall by the speeding pile of feathers.
"Tsk! You should thank your lucky stars that it missed, or that would have been the end!"
"Hm? Is that turkey your pet? If you can't control it then you should really put it on a leash when going for walks!" Nox said before dodging another attack.
*Swoosh*
And another.
*Swoosh*
And another
*Swoosh*
This continued for a bit until Ashwin seemed to get frustrated, as Nox dodged the sonic birds attack with ease. It also didn't help that Nox thought this was the perfect time to give a lecture on the responsibility of pet ownership.
"You should also bring a bag if it poops outside, that way you ca-!"
"SHUT UP YOU COWARD! STOP RUNNING AWAY AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!" Ashwin screamed while red in the face with anger.
"Fight what?" Nox asked, while dodging the bird flying past her head.
"JUST THROW OUT THAT WORM ALREADY!" Ashwin screamed with bloodshot eyes as he pointed at the little glowing blue slug taking a nap on Nox's shoulder.
"Oh! You want to arrange for a play date with Bluey and that green pet turkey of yours! Sure, why not, but it will have to wait until it wakes up! Have to have that beauty sleep you know! So, how about…!"
The crowd which had pulled back to avoid getting hit in the crossfire started laughing as Nox tried to schedule a play date for her new pet, all while dodging the high-speed attacks of a unique-grade magical beast.
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!"
*BANG*
As Ashwin lost his temper while listening to the mocking laughter, he rushed in himself to strike at Nox, only to get hit by his own tamed beast as it came flying past Nox and crashed right into his face, knocking out his front teeth.
"Ugh!"
"You're getting very sleepy!"
Seeing an opening, Nox closed the distance as her opponent was getting up from the ground and tried to hypnotize Ashwin with her pendant, but it didn't work.
"DAMN YOU!" He shouted, before throwing a jab at Nox.
*Swoosh*
However, his magical beast which came flying towards Nox, ended up hitting the back of its owner's head as Ashwin had unintentionally blocked its path when he stood up to punch Nox. That second blow to the head was enough to knock him out, making Nox the winner by default.
"Hm? If you can't handle a pet with so much energy, then maybe you should consider giving it away? Hello! You awake? Poke! Poke!"
As Nox started poking the unconscious Ashwin with a stick, the turkey came flying at her from behind, only for her to grab it by its neck midflight.
"Shush! The baby's sleeping!" She said to the bird flailing in her grip.
"I think that is enough of that! Is there anyone else who would like to test this man's ability?" The guild master spoke, addressing the crowd.
"I'll do!"
*Swoosh*
*Bang*
Just as a man in the crowd was about to throw his hat in the ring, he was suddenly launched through a wall by the green bird thrown by Nox, knocking both him and the poor animal unconscious in the process.
"Shhh!" She said, putting a finger to her mouth as she gestured for the crowd to stay quiet.
"Hehe! Well then, Sir Doe! Why don't we discuss your new position in my office?" The guild master said as he approached Nox.
"Damn it! You woke the baby!" She said, as the little energy snake opened its single eye.
*Burp*
*BOOM*
It then burped out an energy blast that destroyed the entire guild headquarters.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" A tattered Darsh screamed in the wasteland that used to be the tamer's guild's headquarters, while shaking Nox by the shoulders.
"I said not to wake the baby!"