Beastforged Bond

We were done talking. Daniel was deep in thought, and I—well, I was contemplating whether I had done the right thing.

I had to tell someone, I reminded myself while slipping out of my clothes. Reaching for the combat wear, I pulled it on smoothly, my stomach twisting from everything I had told Daniel earlier.

If he’d listened more thoroughly, he would have realized Volix was with me.

It wouldn’t change all too much if he found out now. Not after telling him about the World Tree sapling. But it wasn’t as if I was in a rush to tell Daniel everything. He didn’t believe my story in the first place.

I could have summoned the acorn to show him, but part of me wanted him to think I was lying or exaggerating. As for why… it was hard to tell. Maybe I wanted to tell someone the truth without the complications the truth carried. Anyway, telling Daniel about how Outsiders actually came from other worlds, that there were beings even stronger than Emperor beasts, and all the things I knew about the Pact, the Devourer, and whatnot could wait a little longer.

In the first place, I was missing too many puzzle pieces to form the bigger picture.

“Are you ready?” Daniel asked absentmindedly, his gaze drifting to the arena in the center of the training room.

My eyes followed his, but flicked toward the elevator as its doors opened and Daniel’s older sister—her name was Lea or something along those lines—stepped out alongside our parents.

Peter and Chloe smiled brightly, whereas my parents looked uncertain, as though they weren’t sure if being here was the right thing. Worried eyes landed on me.

“Are you here to watch our spar? I thought you were busy,” I asked out loud, but Peter waved dismissively.

“We were waiting for Lea to join us and talk about her last mission,” Peter explained, only to stop when his wife stared intently at him. “Anyway, Lea was eager to watch her brother spar when she heard about it. She’s curious whether he’s finally caught up to her.”

Ignoring the bait laid out for Daniel, I was more concerned with Lea’s presence. She was still beautiful, and my cheeks burned hot as she glanced over—but the moment our eyes locked, something changed. She glared daggers at me.

That only confirmed it. She really disliked me. Maybe even hated me. But why?

Lea’s eyes never left mine. She stepped forward, her gaze growing colder and sharper.

“Fight me,” she said—no, declared.

“What?” I blurted out.

Daniel’s head snapped toward his sister. “What? Why do you want to fight Adam? I’m going to spar with him!”

“You can spar with him later. I will go first,” she snapped at her brother.

His eyes widened, and even their parents exchanged looks, eyebrows rising.

“No, you won’t. Adam’s sparring with me,” Daniel growled, muscles bulging as Soulfusion with one of his Soulkins triggered instinctively.

“Then join the fight.” Lea didn’t budge. “That might as well be better. The two of you can fight me together.”

“What is going on here?” I asked, trying to find answers in their parents’ eyes, but they seemed just as confused.

“Mother and Father talk about you two all the time. Ever since you returned, they can’t stop talking about you like you’re already Rulers. I’m so fucking tired of it,” Lea half-shouted. “Even Uncle has been talking about you non-stop since the Grand Camp.”

“Am I really that hard to understand?” She gritted her teeth and hissed at us. “Fight me.”

“No, your intentions are clear,” I said, meeting Daniel’s eyes with a shrug. “Yes, we can fight.”

“Then get your ass over here and show me why everyone thinks so highly of you, wonder boy,” Lea said, stripping off the outer layer of her clothes to reveal more comfortable combat attire underneath.

She blurred in the next instant and appeared in the arena, knuckles cracking. “If you’re even half as strong as Mother and Uncle Merlin say you are, we’ll have some fun. If not… well, then I’ll have learned all I need to know.”

The turn of events was a little strange, but I didn’t hate it. Fighting Lea Zerog might actually be for the better. Sure, Daniel had grown rapidly and mostly caught up to his sister, yet Lea felt stronger. Still, she wasn’t on the same level as the Scions. Maybe she remained at the peak of the Expert Rank.

Either way, the thought of punching her hard in front of our parents was more appealing than kicking Daniel.

“Let me go first,” Daniel hissed quietly, stepping into the ring.

“Shouldn’t we fight her together?” I muttered, reaching out, only to still when he stared at me.

Suppressing a sigh, I motioned for him to enter the arena. “Go for it. Have fun.”

Lea said nothing when her brother entered alone, but her expression hardened, her eyes growing even colder.

Daniel conjured a pair of two-handed axes, one in each hand, as his body expanded. Two pairs of horns grew from his forehead, his hair shimmering purple as arcs of electricity coursed through it.

His height easily surpassed two meters and continued to grow, the axes suddenly looking much smaller in his massive hands.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelFire; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Lea didn’t retrieve a weapon, nor did she use Soulfusion, but her stance shifted slightly as she raised her arms. Semi-transparent circles glowed around her forearms and expanded up to her upper arms, where they materialized fully in the physical realm. Her irises turned silver as power rolled through her body.

No countdown was needed. The siblings tensed simultaneously, and a moment later, they turned into a blur.

Daniel thundered toward Lea, who moved with far greater grace as she closed the distance. A burst of lightning erupted from Daniel, the axe in his right hand cleaving down with the intent to end the fight in an instant.

But his sister had other plans.

She punched straight through the lightning coming her way, scattering it as easily as swatting away a fly, then wove around the descending axe. She accelerated suddenly, her left hand flashing out as her palm struck the flat of the axe blade.

The weapon’s trajectory changed drastically, creating an opening for Lea. Yet instead of punching Daniel in the stomach, hitting his face, or subduing him otherwise, two white-glowing fingers shot forward, striking a spot between Daniel’s triceps and biceps.

The impact left behind a faintly glowing white spot that seemed to seep into his skin. A heartbeat later, his muscles twitched and he lost control of his arm. The axe clattered to the ground as his arm jerked uncontrollably.

Almost instantly, a lightning bolt erupted from Daniel’s horns, quickly followed by a second. Lea punched the first, her fist erupting with what could only be a trait, and she sidestepped the second, her eyes flashing. What she hadn’t expected were the smaller elemental projectiles branching out from the lightning bolt. Bullets made of highly compressed lightning ether shot outward.

Lea responded faster than expected and blocked more than half, but the rest hit their mark and struck her.

“We’re playing dirty now?” she asked, her feet shifting ever so slightly.

It wasn’t much, but Predator triggered instinctively, revealing details I hadn’t quite caught earlier. Her ears were no longer round, now pointed instead. Her silver eyes were marked by vertical slits. Lea’s hair fluttered, and her presence took on a distinctly predatory nature.

Daniel roared defiantly and charged at his sister, who remained completely still. Lightning bolts whistled through the air in quick succession. Lea didn’t even look at the incoming projectiles. She moved with her eyes locked onto Daniel, the lightning bolts bending out of her way.

Then Daniel was upon her, slashing with his unscathed arm. But instead of hitting her, the two-handed axe phased straight through her body. A split second later, a deep gash tore open across his chest. Soulfusion failed him and deactivated shortly after, which only worsened Daniel’s condition. His eyes widened in disbelief as his mind scrambled to make sense of what had just happened.

“What in the—” he muttered as his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

“I guess I won.” Lea stepped up to her brother, blood dripping from her fingers.

What did I just watch? I shuddered, trying to connect the dots.

Even with Predator active, I had barely seen anything. How was I supposed to fight someone like her? Yet instead of anxiety, curiosity rose in my chest. I wanted to know more about Lea’s strength—her fighting style and the traits she had used to deal with Daniel so easily.

She was clearly still an Expert, but her prowess far surpassed what I’d seen from most cadets. Lea had real experience. A lot of it.

Daniel’s curses and groans pulled me out of my thoughts, and I watched Lea force several serums down his throat.

“Rest up a bit, little brother.” She snickered, looking far more relaxed after beating Daniel.

Brutal, yet it didn’t look like Peter and Chloe Zerog expected anything else from her. They stood outside the arena with calm expressions. Their eyes, however, glowed with excitement, and that excitement wasn’t directed at just one of them.

“Impressive. To think my children would grow into such formidable fighters,” Peter praised the siblings.

Chloe chided Lea for injuring Daniel, but she whispered something quietly to her daughter—something that made Lea smile. A beautiful smile, one that almost made me forget how brutal Daniel’s sister had been just moments ago.

Daniel scrambled to his feet with his father’s help. He cursed out loud, complaining that if he were a little older, he would have caught up with Lea a long time ago. There was still some struggle on my friend’s side, but it didn’t look like his ego had been hurt by the defeat. If anything, Daniel seemed somewhat satisfied with the result.

Just how badly had she beaten him in the past for him to be this happy about landing a few successful hits? It wasn’t as if the lightning bullets had inflicted much damage either. They had barely left marks on her clothes.

Lea spun around, her smile hardening into coldness once more.

“Your turn.” She motioned for me to step inside.

“H-How about we stop here?” my mother called out from the side, concern evident in her voice.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” I called back as I stepped into the arena. “I’ll be fine.”

“You will?” Lea asked, her cold smile confusing me far more than the thought of fighting her.

You could mate her. She is decently powerful.

Volix commented lightly.

But her personality is bad. She screams trouble.

Aureus added, which didn’t help much.

Trying to rid my mind of their voices, I focused on the battle ahead.

“I don’t know why you hate me so much,” I said. “Did I do something to you?”

She stopped cold.

Slowly, deliberately, she turned to face me, her stare heavy enough to pin me in place.

“Everyone’s been fawning over your progress,” she said flatly. “Praising you. Admiring you. And for what?”

Her lip curled. “Luck. That’s all it ever was. Your World, your physique, your backing. First my family, then the Rulers—everyone fawning over your rapid growth. ‘The boy who awakened not even two years ago.’” Her voice tightened. “Even Uncle Merlin has been all over me, telling me to work harder, to become a Master or ‘Adam will surpass you in no time.’ I can’t hear it anymore. All that nonsense, when all you rely on is luck.”

“That’s all?” I asked, anger tightening in my chest.

That was it?

She hated me because people talked about me. Because I survived with my ether-deprived constitution for fifteen years, only to awaken at last. Even that had been far from simple. To help me awaken, my father had nearly died.

After that… after everything I did to grow stronger. To show everyone that I could do it. That I had what it took to become a Pillar. Clawing my way forward. Enduring pain and suffering. Waking every morning with the sole intent to train for hours.

Yet to Lea, it was all luck.

Undeserved. Plain and simple. To her, I was nothing more than that—lucky.

Fuck that shit, I cursed.

Who did she think she was to take away my achievements? To call it all luck when she had no idea what I went through to make it this far?

Nox’s killing intent and dislike for Daniel’s sister seeped out of the bond, and I didn’t stop it this time. I reached for the bond—all the bonds—and grabbed them tightly.

This was no longer a mere spar. It was a fight to make a statement.