Submission

Before Mateus could get too distracted by his sudden good health, yowls and growls echoed around him in the darkness. Fierce eyes glared at him from the shadows - the beasts had recovered from his attack, and were not happy.

Suddenly the collar tattoo flashed, filling the surroundings with a combined green and silver glow. In an instant the beasts surrounding Mateus froze, their eyes shrinking from the light, before suddenly charging right for him!

Mateus gathered his essence once more, bracing himself to continue the fight, but gaped in shock instead.

As the beasts entered the light, it soaked into their flesh without resistance, and the beasts became transparent phantoms even as they kept running at full speed. The first hit Mateus on his chest, leaping through the air and into his body! Before the tattoo lines could even finish forming, the second beast launched into his back!

Again and again, the beasts unhesitatingly entered his flesh, leaving Mateus feeling dazed. His essence was rapidly depleting, but there was nothing he could do to resist these beasts' actions. They were not attacking him, or trying to harm him in any way - they were Submitting.

The Alpha controls the pack; this is how it's worked since long before the world changed. After all the mutations brought by relying on essence, this relationship has become even more extreme. Almost like an insect hive, the pack has a mental link to each other, and absolute obedience to the Alpha. If a human contracts an Alpha beast, their pack will follow and somewhat obey them.

It seems that if a human Dominates an Alpha, their pack will submit to the human completely. In the eyes of these beasts, Mateus and their Alpha are one and the same, with the same mental link to the pack. Without hesitation, they give up their freedom and devote their strength to the Alpha's will.

In less than 5 minutes it's done. No more eyes glow in the dark, and the tattoo lines migrate down Mateus' leg and form a circle of stars around the collar tattoo. There are 8 stars, coloured silver and green, one for each of the beasts that Submitted to him.

Breathing heavily, Mateus gathered his essence, and sensed how much he had left. It was barely more than 2 units in total. Unbelievable. At this moment, Mateus was bound to 11 beasts. With only 20 essence, he bound 11 beasts?!?

This was impossible. Those beasts were strong - Mateus didn't know what they were yet, but it was impossible for them to require less than 5 essence each! Furthermore, there was an Alpha, contracting one needs at least twice the essence of ordinary beasts! Even if Submission didn't need as much essence as an ordinary contract, there was no way he could possibly have bound so many beasts at once!

Mateus shook in fear, and quickly hid the tattoos on his leg from sight. No one can know about this - not humans, not beasts, not even his beloved sister. The good news is - it seems a beast that Submits cannot leave the tattoo without permission, so Mateus didn't have to worry about them revealing themselves by accident. The bad news was that hiding the beasts means he has no way of finding out what abilities they have.

The abilities of Spirit Beasts can only be assessed through a specific device, and all results are recorded against your identity. This is one of the ways the government prevents crime and inadvertent property destruction.

Still, now wasn't the time to be thinking about these things. With a single thought, one of the pack emerged from the tattoo in a flash of silver-green light, and bowed obediently before Mateus. At his unspoken order, the beast crouched down, and held steady as he mounted it.

Once his grip was good, Mateus gave the order for the beast to carry him somewhere safe. It obeyed instantly, carrying him through the darkness, dodging trees and rough ground with familiar ease.

Mateus crouched low, feeling the wind tearing at his skin, but didn't suffer much discomfort. The improvement in his body wasn't limited to his healing apparently.

After what was a seemingly endless run through the dark, the beast brought Mateus to the pack's former den. It was a deep cave that stunk of animals, but there was some soft leaves on the ground, and he shouldn't be endangered again before morning.

Dismounting his new subordinate, Mateus stroked its head and pushed a trace of essence into it as thanks. It purred smoothly back at him, and he could feel how happy it was to have been of help to the Alpha.

As soon as Mateus gave the order, the beast returned to the tattoo, and he entered the cave to rest. All the confusion and surprises of the day caught up with him quickly, and Mateus fell asleep easily despite the uncomfortable conditions.