CHAPTER 23: REUNION

The command hall had no windows. And it didn’t need them.

The black stone walls were polished to perfection, embedded with bronze plates where red runes pulsed in rhythmic intervals — as if the room itself was breathing.

It was a place designed to keep the mind sharp and the body alert. No distractions. No comforting shadows. Only cold walls, clear orders, and discipline.

At the center, on a base of solid obsidian, rested Hagan’s desk: wide, symmetrical, with no loose papers or personal items.

Only one magical artifact sat there — a Visum Sphere, a lower, unstable version of an ancient real-time arcane communication device. He had acquired it recently during one of his expeditions into a dungeon.

It was fragile due to being a cheap replica. The sphere hovered thirty centimeters above the surface, its core vibrating in bluish tones. Fragile. Rare, but easily destroyed.

At that moment, the sphere vibrated with a pulsing blue light — an urgent message notification.

Hagan looked up with disinterest. His armor wasn’t on, but rested nearby on hooks beside the dark stone throne.

He wore only the underclothes of the uniform: dark leather pants, a metal pelvic guard, and a plain black tunic clinging to his broad chest.

His beard was tightly braided, as required by the First Guard’s protocol.

He snapped his fingers.

"Display."

The sphere lit up.

The hologram showed a symbol shaped like a cracked claw — the seal of the Iron Wing Guild.

A face appeared. Ser Modell. Visibly wounded. Hand bandaged. Sweating. Eyes trying to maintain dignity but failing.

"Lord Hagan... there’s been a failure. The tamer escaped. There was unexpected resistance. He used unconventional methods and... and there were losses. I couldn’t contain him in time, but I’m mobilizing extra force and—"

"Silence," Hagan muttered.

The hologram froze with a wave of his hand.

Silence. The sphere flickered for a moment, the central rune dimming.

"Useless."

Without changing tone or posture, Hagan closed his right fist — and simply crushed the Visum Sphere against the table.

The artifact shattered like thin glass, scattering crystal shards and a brief puff of residual mana in the air.

Blue sparks danced for a second and vanished.

He didn’t blink. Didn’t look at the pieces.

As if it had never mattered.

From the corner of the hall, a pinkish light flared and floated to him softly. A sound like bells and gentle snaps came with it, like perfume in the form of sound.

"Oooh, boss... so cold today?"

whispered the fairy.

She was less than a meter tall, a slender body with exaggerated curves, crystal wings leaving trails of lilac shimmer in the air. Her breasts were partially covered by floating golden strips, like teasing veils. Her voice was sweet but laced with sarcasm.

"At least Ser Modell survived."

she continued, flying to his shoulder and sitting like a clingy lover.

"Isn’t that a good thing? The weak usually die..."

"He’s dead. He just hasn’t dropped yet."

Hagan replied without looking at her.

The fairy giggled softly.

"Gonna send more idiots after the so-called [’Cursed Tamer’]? Or are you going to stain those pretty hands?"

Hagan stood up. Tall, massive, his body sculpted by decades of war and rituals. He cracked his neck.

"No one touches the Tamer again. From now on... it’s my business."

The fairy bit her lower lip.

"Mmm... I love when you get possessive."

He walked to the hooks and pulled down the chestplate — black steel with red details and runic engravings that reacted to his touch. As he strapped on each piece — gloves, pauldrons, belt, gauntlets — his expression remained unchanged.

"He’s with untamed monsters."

he said, as if mentally organizing a checklist.

"Escaped a coordinated attack. Crushed a minor guild. Dodged tracking."

"A wolf without a collar..."

the fairy sang, now spinning in the air like a ballerina.

"A wolf? No. An investment. Poorly directed."

He grabbed his sword — a curved blade with an exposed runic core — and slung it across his back.

"Time to reclaim the capital."

The fairy giggled and snapped her fingers.

"Want me to go with you, oh dark and delicious master?"

"You go ahead," he replied. "And observe. Do not interfere. Not yet."

She vanished with a snap.

And Hagan walked out of the hall.

The doors opened as if sensing his presence.

The general had decided to move.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The creaking wheels came to a stop. The muffled sound of slowing hooves was followed by a drier snap — old wood adjusting to the weight of resting barrels.

The cart swayed slightly one last time before stabilizing. Eren waited. Took a deep breath, keeping his eyes narrowed as the stench of rotten fish and mildewed cloth still dominated his senses.

He heard the driver mumble something about the heat, climb down with a clumsy thump, and then walk off with heavy steps toward distant voices.

Probably a village tavern. A stopover for small caravans. Weak trade. No one paying attention.

Silence.

He slid his body out with the caution of a wounded animal avoiding a dry branch.

His muscles still complained, the cuts on his back burned. But his focus was elsewhere. He had only a few minutes, maybe less, before the driver or some curious soul decided to inspect the cargo.

He slipped behind the barrels. The area was a kind of service yard: an open shed, a few crates, a well with a manual winch, and a makeshift pen with stacked hay. No one nearby.

First, the essentials.

He saw a leather backpack hanging from a beam, partially open. Inside, he found four strips of dried meat wrapped in thick cloth. Enough for the entire day.

Beside it, in a straw-lined wooden box, a weak healing potion, probably forgotten by some merchant or lazy guard. The liquid was a murky amber color, but didn’t smell off.

He kept searching. On a support bench under a canvas awning, there was a bundle of folded clothes. Rough, but clean.

He grabbed a thick gray linen tunic and a dark hooded cloak, longer, smelling of clove — perhaps washed just a few days ago. Beside them, a bottle of cheap wine, loosely corked and foggy glass. It wasn’t medicine. But it calmed.

With everything in hand, Eren walked to the well.

He pulled up a bucket with some effort — the rope creaked loudly, but no one seemed to hear. He dumped the water into an empty barrel, then plunged his arms into it.

He started with his face. Then the back of his neck. Then the cuts. The dried blood ran like diluted ink, and the smell of his body slowly began to shift into something tolerable.

The reflection in the water was the same as always — sunken eyes, blank expression, teeth clenched in focused silence. But there was something else now.

Something behind the eyes. An urgency that didn’t come from pain, but from internal math: the risk of losing the monsters worth more than he could admit out loud.

He finished the "bath" in silence. Put on the gray tunic, threw the cloak over it, and tied it with a piece of rope he found on the ground.

Then, he vanished into the forest without a word.

Like a ghost fueled by hatred and calculation.

The forest grew denser with every step, as if the trees were closing in to swallow the intruder. Sunlight struggled to pierce the tangle of high branches, casting diffuse stripes of light on the uneven ground. Eren walked without haste, but with precision. Eyes half-closed, breath measured, ears tuned to the slightest sound. His body still ached. Burns, bruises, lingering hunger. But none of it dulled his focus.

When he judged he was far enough from the road, he stopped and whispered:

"System. Track active bond."

[Passive Skill: Essence Tracking]

[Target 1: Nyssa – Viscous Essence / Partial Bond / Direction: Northeast]

[Target 2: Kaela – Bestial Essence / Partial Bond / Direction: East-Northeast]

A slight warmth rose to Eren’s temples. It wasn’t regular magic. It was bond — something more animal than arcane. Something he still didn’t fully understand, but had learned to use. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt it: organic fat soaked into the vegetation ahead. Nyssa’s signature. Thick, slightly sweet, clinging to the air like cheap oil.

He followed the trail.

The underbrush was pressed down. Weird footprints, shapeless, flattened the leaves. Low branches bent, covered in slime. There were splashes on stones — marks a human would ignore, but to Eren, they were beacons.

Roughly two hundred meters later, the signs changed. Drier, deeper. Claw marks. Curved, symmetrical, aggressive. Kaela. She always left firm tracks when she felt threatened. Her paw weight increased. Her stride widened. She wasn’t hunting — she was fleeing. Or worse: defending.

Eren knelt beside a severed root. Ran his fingers through the disturbed dirt, then brought them to his nose.

"Tension. Dried blood. Recent combat."

Farther ahead, the vegetation looked like it had been swept by a storm. Torn pieces of fabric hung from thorns. Beyond that, black stains on a tree trunk. Residual energy. Not magical — but vital. As if something had fought to exhaustion there.

He continued until he heard the sound.

Low. Intermittent. A muffled growl mixed with a wet hiss. Not voices. Instincts clashing.

Eren carefully pushed aside the bushes in front of him.

There they were.

Kaela, hunched, claws dug into the ground, fur bristled, eyes fully golden, void of reason. Her back rose and fell with heavy breath. She circled a point, like a lioness guarding her cub.

Nyssa was slumped against a rock, her form unstable, the contours of her body more liquid than solid. Her eyes blinked in incoherent rhythms, as if she was trying to remember how to look.

There was still something that said female, but almost everything else was raw instinct. She looked... forgotten.

Eren didn’t move.The system did it for him.

[Active Bond Status]

[Kaela – Affinity: 50%]

[Nyssa – Affinity: 20%]

[Risk of Rupture: High]

[Command Level: Null]

He looked at them like a mathematician staring at a broken equation. There was no pain in his eyes. No frustration. Only calculation.

"Proportional drop based on time without contact," he murmured, more to himself. "And on type of contact."

He paused. Studied Nyssa longer.

She had been the most receptive. The most yielding. Had more sessions with him. More pleasure. More intensity.

"The more intense the fusion... the greater the dependence. And the greater the fall without maintenance."

It was clear now. Affinity wasn’t just emotional bond. It was hormonal, sensory, physical. Sex kept the contract alive. Or at least, balanced.

And he was in debt.

Nyssa didn’t move. Kaela stared at him. Pupils now slightly narrower. A trace of recognition. But no obedience.

Neither attacked.Neither obeyed.

It was a deadlock. A management failure.

Eren frowned.

[Suggestion: Paid Bond Available – Contract Renewal

]

[Cost: 10 coins per creature / Affinity restored to 100%]

[Contract reinforced: Superior Category / Benefit: Unique Skill Unlocked]

He didn’t respond.

Not yet.

But his eyes had already made the decision.

Eren remained still. One foot planted in the soft soil, the other slightly turned back — ready to advance or retreat if needed. But it wouldn’t be. The two figures in front of him didn’t approach, nor did they withdraw. They simply... existed. Breathed. Watched. Waited.

His mind spun fast. Faster than his body could ever move. He thought of everything: the forest around him, trees that could hide hunters, the time lost if he tried to "re-educate" them emotionally, the amount of magical energy it would take to win back two bonds the traditional way.

"I could try to win them back with affection..."

He looked at Nyssa. She was still trembling. Her form unstable, her glow dim, her gaze cloudy.

"...or pay."

The system responded as if it had heard him.

[Recommendation: Direct Contract via Resource]

[Cost: 10 coins per bonded creature]

[Affinity will be restored to 100%]

[Bond reinforced – Superior Class Contract]

[Additional benefits unlockable]

[Future rupture risk: Reduced]

The window hovered in the corner of his vision, transparent, discreet, but impossible to ignore. He analyzed it like he would any written contract. Without emotion. Without haste.

Twenty coins. A small fortune for a common man. But he wasn’t common. And those two monsters weren’t dead weight. They were part of the equation. Part of the strategy. Weapons. Shields. Resources.

Eren pulled a dark leather pouch from his inventory with a mental gesture. The dry jingle of coins echoed in his ears like temple bells in the distance. That was more than gold. It was insurance.

He sighed.Long. Without anger. Without urgency.

"Necessary investment."

[Do you wish to spend 20 gold coins to restore bonds with Kaela and Nyssa?]

[Yes]

He accepted.

The coins vanished in a faint glow.A golden rune appeared on Kaela’s chest. Another, more liquid and flowing, shimmered on Nyssa’s translucent surface.

Both of them shivered.

Eren crossed his arms.

Now, they would remember.

Night fell with a heavy silence. The sky was cloaked in thick clouds, hiding any trace of the moon.

The forest was a dark sanctuary, isolated, where the only constant sound was the rustle of the breeze through old leaves and the distant hum of night insects.

A clearing opened in the middle of nowhere, ringed by gnarled roots and twisted trunks. It became the stage for something that couldn’t be described as mere desire — it was a rite.

Eren stepped forward slowly.

The heat of the restored affinity still buzzed in the air like an electric field.

Kaela stood tall, feline and tense, watching him with eyes flickering between suspicion and hunger. Nyssa lay on the ground like a living puddle shaped like a woman, trembling slightly — but no longer hesitant.

There was something in her that oozed beyond form — an awakened instinct.

He raised a hand silently and touched Kaela’s flank first.

Her fur bristled beneath his fingers. She didn’t pull back. The heat between them intensified like a coal fanned by breath.

Her breathing quickened. Her golden eyes followed him as he turned to Nyssa.

Nyssa whimpered softly at his touch. Her body molded around his hand, sliding like liquid silk.

She rose up his wrist, then his forearm, as if she wanted to envelop him completely. The contact made her vibrate.

Eren didn’t smile. He didn’t need to.

He simply let the cloak fall, then the tunic, revealing a body covered in scratches, bruises, and scars — and yet, solid. Controlled. Cold.

Kaela moved first.

She knelt like a feline tamed only by memory, pushing her face between his legs without asking. Her rough tongue slid with precision. He exhaled softly.

She wanted to redeem herself — with her mouth, her throat, her instincts. Every motion mixed her ferocity with her renewed submission.

Nyssa climbed up next, wrapping around his waist like a warm band. Her form shaped itself around his erection with animalistic precision.

Her internal pressure shifted — sucking, massaging, engulfing him to the limit.

Kaela climbed onto his back, claws gripping his shoulders like she was claiming her place.

He pulled her by the nape. Her mouth crashed into his. Tongue. Teeth. Force.

[Contract Reinforced – Ritual Recognized]

[Affinity Stability: 100%]

[Physical Integration: Complete Stage]

Nyssa moaned louder, her body splitting into two smooth tendrils that caressed his back and Kaela’s thighs. The two of them were connected through him. Competing — who could serve better, who could make him moan louder.

Eren didn’t get lost in pleasure. Every thrust, every moan, every shiver was a step in the ritual. His eyes stayed open, locked on the system interface beside him.

Kaela dropped down onto him with a single firm motion, taking him in completely. The sensation was heat and pressure, like she was crushing him from the inside, marking him. She began moving up and down hard, her abs trembling.

Nyssa wrapped around them both. Part of her body slid into Kaela from below, creating a triple contact — she could feel the heat and friction of both.

Eren’s body began to tremble. He grabbed Kaela by the waist, thrusting with brutal speed.

[Sensorial Load: 87%]

[Bond Synchronizing]

[Skill Unlocked: Command]

[Light mental control over active bonds]

[Duration: short]

[Resistance: depends on affinity]

He finally moaned — a hoarse, muffled, primal sound.

Nyssa vibrated.

Kaela bit into his shoulder, pleasure tightly reined.

Everything melted into a muffled heat of skin, sweat, and active magic.

When calm returned, he lay between them.

Kaela curled on his right side, purring softly, eyes closed.

Nyssa melted over his chest, wrapping him like a warm blanket.

The forest was silent.

And he smiled for the first time in a long while.

Safe investment.

The silence after the ritual felt sacred.

No human voices.

No rustling hinting at danger.

Just breathing — his and theirs — a shared breath between three bodies linked by more than flesh.

Eren lay still for a few minutes, eyes open, watching the canopy dance in pale shadows.

The forest seemed to accept his presence now. As if the freshly sealed magic had bonded something invisible to the land.

Beside him, Kaela purred softly.

The sound was low, smooth, broken only by light sighs. Her body pressed against his, warmth pulsing in slow waves.

Her head rested on his shoulder, hair disheveled, skin marked with claw trails and sweat.

Nyssa wrapped around his chest with the lightness of a warm quilt. Her form was more stable now, eyes half-lidded from lingering pleasure. But now she had a mouth, an expression, and a voice.

"M-Master... That was... intense."

Kaela nuzzled her feline nose against Eren’s neck and added, with a satisfied smirk:

"You took too long... I almost ripped your head off."

She bit his shoulder lightly, just for teasing.

"Now what?"

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he sat up slowly. His body ached, but not enough to dull his mind. He reached for the makeshift pack beside him and pulled out the thick cloak he’d stolen from the village. Shook off the dust, then draped it over both of them, covering their naked bodies with almost mechanical care.

"Now we walk."

"It’s gonna be tough... There are more people after us, aren’t there?" Nyssa murmured.

Eren gave a slight nod.

"Yes."

Kaela stretched under the cloak, pulling Nyssa closer.

"Then let them come."

Eren looked at her indifferently.

"They won’t play. They’ll torture. Burn. Dismantle you to study. And turn me into a corpse."

Nyssa went silent.

Kaela, on the other hand, licked her lips.

"And what will you do?"

Eren stood up. His silhouette was framed by moonlight between the leaves. The cloak fell over his shoulders. Wet hair, skin streaked with battle marks, gaze unshaken.

"They’ll see."