In the middle of the night, when almost everyone was fast asleep, Keith opened his eyes as he sensed two of his daughters sneak out of the cabin and rush into the forest.
He had observed their peculiar behaviour a few days ago, and though he had not paid much attention to it before, he was quite curious now.
Keith looked at Nana, who was soundly asleep by his side, tired after a long night of passion that they had shared. To not disturb her rest, he carefully got out of bed and quickly changed into a new set of clothes to follow Minami and Kashish.
It did not take long for him to find them, and they had sensed him too because when he arrived inside a hidden clearing, they were waiting for him and smiled.
"What's inside the tree?" He curiously asked, sensing the presence of two powerful Beasts from the tree cave.
"Mika and Haru." Minami smilingly said. "They are both Noverian Nine Spring Deer."
"Oh..." Keith surprisedly looked inside the cave. "They taste great." He teased and was quite amused as their eyes narrowed on him.
"Mika is pregnant," Kashish informed him. "We are not eating them."
"Fine." He chuckled at her antics and slowly walked over to them.
A moment later, a creature of immense beauty slowly walked out of the tree cave, and its colourful crown of horns shimmered in lights that could easily enchant anybody.
It stood nearly seven feet tall, with a coat that was white as snow with bluish-black highlights on its face and some spots on its chest. Its tail was bluish-black as well, and its hooves were darker than night.
A pair of dark starry eyes stared at Keith, and coupled with the beautiful and fluffy mane on its neck, the Magical Beast appeared quite majestic.
He smiled at the stag and then drew his hand forward, gently caressing its head, and Minami and Kashish happily ran their fingers through its mane as well.
They heard a series of soft grunts and bleats, and Minami gently consoled the Beast, who was quite worried after seeing its mate in pain.
"Mika going to give birth tonight. Do you want to stay?" Minami asked, and Keith smiled at her before nodding his head.
She was quite happy to see that he would be staying with them, and then she started talking to the Noverian Deer, who bowed to her before returning inside the cave.
"How did you find them?" He curiously asked her as they all sat down against the trunk of the tree, and it was Kashish who answered him.
"Minami has been collecting Magical Beasts inside the Grimgrove, and the Unicorns informed her about this pair of Noverian Nine Spring Deer."
"Collecting?" He raised his brow and subconsciously looked at the pendant that his daughter was wearing on her neck.
It was in the shape of a miniature book, silver and black, with vines covering it, and there was a growling red gem in the middle.
"I can keep them in my Grimoire," she informed him as she pulled off the pendant from her neck, and the miniature book grew in size until it was as big as her hand.
When she opened it, Keith narrowed his eyes at the seals that protected it, even making it impossible for him to glance at what was written on the pages.
Minami flipped a few pages and then swiped her hand over a blank page, which soon showed a living image of a group of Unicorns.
"You took all of them?" He immediately recognised the Magical Beasts, and his daughter happily nodded her head.
"Mother said that I could take them all, so, I took them all," she revealed to him. "If the Beasts belong to the same species, and they number less than 36, they cover only one page. And every page represents the perfect abode for them where they can live. The catch is that for every species that I keep in the Grimgrove, I need to be contracted to a pair of them, at least. Right now, I have access to 20 Pages, and when I pass my Second Desolation, I will unlock 40 more Pages."
"Small worlds?" His heart thumped hard against his chest, and the surprise was visible on his face, which made the two girls giggle.
"We can't enter it, so we don't know." Kashish shook her head. "But the Beasts say that their homes are very big and that the environment is even better than Amaya. They love living inside the Grimoire."
Minami nodded her head to her words and then showed Keith another page, where she swiped her hand and a living image of a pair of Silver Zaverian Horses appeared.
Keith knew that Mare belonged to Minami, and the Stallion belonged to Kashish, but considering what she had said earlier, he curiously raised his brow at the image.
"I gave Cino to her, so both of them are now Contracted with her. This allows us to keep more of Zaverian Horses inside the Grimoire."
And sure enough, it was as he had expected.
"Why do you need to be contracted to a pair?" He frowned.
"It is just the rule of the Grimoire," Minami said. "Also, once the page is full, and I still want to store more Beasts of the same species inside the Grimoire, then I will have to form a contract with one more pair to open up a new page."
"Forming too many contracts can be risky." He smiled at her but watched her shake her head.
"Mother said that there are no risks for me. I can form as many Contracts as I want as long as I stick to the limits of the Grimoire."
"Seriously?"
"Yes," she happily nodded her head, and he sighed at her words.
"I am envious." He truthfully said, and both of them giggled at his words. "So, can you keep the Contracted Beasts of other people inside the Grimoire as well?"
"Yes. As long as we are related," she answered with a smile.
"And what are you going to do once you have filled up all the pages?"
"I will start collecting them for Aerzar." She grinned at him, and he could not help but laugh at her antics.
She had no plans of stopping, and she was likely going to collect every Beast that she took a liking to.
Keith thought for a while and then took out an Egg from the Beast Storage Ring.
Both the girls curiously looked at the large, white egg, which was nearly three feet tall, and had a few silver lines on it.
They sensed the presence of two living creatures inside it, and both of them curiously touched the shell with their hands.
Before Keith could inform them what Beasts were inside it, he watched Minami perform a spell, and her Grimoire shined in red light before the page flipped and she looked at the information that only she could see.
"It's a pair of Sky Elephants." She happily smiled. "Thank you!"
He felt her soft lips against his cheek and chuckled.
"Why do you think they are for you?"
"They are for me." She rolled her eyes and then laughed when he started tickling her tummy.
Kashish, on the other hand, took out the Magical Beast Encyclopedia and quietly checked the information about the Sky Elephants.
"They are cute!" She honestly said as she stared at the images of snow white Elephants, with four tusks, massive ears, and long tails.
"And they can walk in the air," her sister added before she quickly made an incision on her finger and then used a drop of her Blood to form a contract with the baby Elephants who were growing inside the Egg.
Her Grimoire brightly shined again, and then the Egg turned into light before disappearing inside it.
The pages on it ruffled before a living image of two baby Elephants appeared on a page, along with their detailed information.
"The Egg will hatch in a week." Minami smiled and was quite happy with her present.
"What other Beasts do you have?" Keith curiously asked, and she excitedly showed him the ones she had collected in the last few days.
There was a pair of Yellow Lightning Tigers, the same as Baal, a pair of Golden Pheasants, which were extremely rare Beasts in Lower Heaven, and then there was a pack of Grey Direwolves, known for their ferocity and Wind powers.
"So, the Noverian Nine Spring Deer are next."
"Yes," Kashish nodded her head before meeting her sister's eyes and smiling.
"Father."
"Yes?" He looked at Minami.
"Do you know what is inside the lake we are staying near?"
"You want those Water Dragons?" Keith smiled at her.
"Yes," she nodded her head but then shook her head. "But that's not what I am talking about."
Her words made him curiously raise his brow at her, and he only had to wait for a few seconds before she revealed what she knew.
"The Water Dragons told me that a Water Spirit is hiding at the bottom of the lake. Which is why they don't come out and stay in the water as it helps them grow stronger. They are also helping it hide from the prying eyes."
"Which Water Spirit is it?" He immediately asked the System in his mind.
{It's the fourth-ranked Heavenly Water Spirit, Normephis Aguanatia. The Life Devouring Water Spirit.}
Keith was stunned at the revelation and kept looking into Minami's eyes.
He could see that she wanted it, and he sighed in his heart.
"You can have it." He told her, and she broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you." She gave him another kiss. "Mother said that you would agree and that you don't really need it. She also guided me on the method of refining it."
"Of course, she did." He chuckled at her words and then patted her head. "Keep it a secret and don't try to refine it in front of the Blood Guards and the Zurks. Do it on the day we will leave."
"I know," she understandingly nodded her head and then smiled at the entrance of the cave, where the doe was crying in pain.
It would give birth any moment now, and she could not wait to see the two fawns whom it was bringing to life.