Suspicion

As the powerful forces of the world gathered on the outskirts of the beast city of Region No.03, Anon was at a loss. He vaguely remembered how he was forcibly separated from Susu, and the black energy consumed him. When he woke up, he realized that he couldn't move. Although his eyes were open, he could see nothing but pitch darkness.

This caused panic in Anon's soul.

He had never encountered a situation like this before. When he lived in a safe city, where nothing could possibly happen to him, the unknown only intrigued him. However, now that he was on the run and in an unfamiliar city, it caused fear.

After a while, he realized that panicking wouldn't help, and he closed his eyes, trying to control his breathing to calm down.

By sensing his surroundings, he realized that he was moving. It dawned on him that he had been abducted and was being taken away somewhere. He couldn't guess who had done it, as he didn't know anyone in the city except Susu and Raikishi. Only the inn's visitors could have noticed and recognized him.

Besides, the "curse" was still in effect, and as Raikishi said, no one below the seventh level and rank could resist its influence. This suggested that the kidnapper was related to a level-seven beast tamer or a rank-seven beast lord, which seemed almost unbelievable.

Raikishi, the eighth rank beast lord, was nearby. Besides her, there couldn't be another beast lord of the seventh rank or higher in this city. He knew that the city of beasts was only ruled by a sixth-rank beast lord.

After a moment's thought, Anon suggested that there might be another Rank 7 beast lord in the city that no one knows about. Combining all the details he had learned, he realized that, most likely, each city was ruled by at least one seventh-rank beast lord.

Only after reaching the seventh rank does a beast lord gain full control over his descendants and the ability to form contracts with other creatures, including not only humans, but also other beast lords below the sixth rank. This makes him an ideal candidate for the role of Lord of the city, surrounded by loyal subordinates and descendants.

Thus, the true Lord of this city is most likely behind his abduction.

"But if that's the case, then where is Raikishi?" Anon asked mentally. He couldn't understand how a powerful being like her could allow his abduction, even if it happened under her supervision. It was beyond his comprehension.

"Unless she's..." Anon thought, refusing to acknowledge the thought.

"Unless she's involved in it herself."

Despite everything she had told him and done for him, he could not completely trust her. Even after he recognized her as his Master, his trust was based mainly on the fact that she was the ancestor of Susu.

If it wasn't for Susu, he would still be suspicious of her. But it was at the moment when he began to weaken in his suspicions and accept her that this happened.

"No, no, no, no! There's something wrong here!" he kept repeating, unable to accept the idea that Raikishi could be involved in this.

His trust in Susu was unshakeable, and Raikishi was her ancestor, an ancestor who had only one descendant left. Watching how Raikishi talked and treated Susu, he could tell how much she loved her. Knowing how attached Susu was to him, he was sure that Raikishi couldn't do anything to hurt him.

"It makes me think that there's some kind of meaning behind her action," Anon's thoughts were spinning in his head as he moved in an unknown direction.

While he was sorting through the options, his attention was attracted by one phrase said by Raikishi when he asked about her future plans:

"Then we'll think about how to help you awaken.

"Is all this really being done to him awaken?" — a strange guess flashed through Anon.

"Is it possible? Or not?" he asked himself, unable to get more information. However, he couldn't rule out even the most improbable assumptions.

Even suspecting that Raikishi was behind all this, Anon wasn't going to just follow her plans. He didn't know what she expected of him, and he didn't want to give up without a fight. Perhaps she just gave him an opportunity and created these circumstances so that he would find a way to awaken himself.

Anon began to realize what Raikishi was thinking. He had also read online about the rumors about the natural awakening of beast tamers. It was said that there were cases when people became tamers without the help of the black stone.

All these awakenings occurred when people found themselves in a critical situation, on the verge of life and death. Under the pressure of danger, they could awaken and become tamers. And not just tamers, but those who were able to unleash their talent to the fullest.

While his mind was full of guesses, Anon felt a strange connection and attraction that he had never experienced before. Beyond this dark place, something beckoned and called to him. He couldn't figure out what exactly it was, but he could feel the connection getting stronger.

Forgetting about everything, Anon completely focused on this connection. It grew stronger, and finally he could tell that he clearly felt something slowly but inexorably approaching him.

"What is it?" Anon asked himself a question.

Of course, no one answered him.

Suddenly, he felt the connection between him and something unknown begin to weaken. He seems to be moving away, and what was close now seems far away.

"No, no, no!" panicked Anon, not wanting to lose this strange feeling. This was his first experience of experiencing such a feeling, and he was sure that it was exactly what he needed right now. The moment he felt this connection, something inside him changed. Without realizing it, he began to reach for this unknown.

The connection became weaker and weaker, and Anon began to panic more and more. In desperation, he focused all his attention and efforts to maintain this connection. He felt like she was about to disappear, throbbing. At one moment, it weakened, as if it was about to be interrupted, and at another, it intensified so much that Anon felt someone's presence behind this connection.

He felt as if he was losing something very important to himself. However, he couldn't figure out what it was. As he thought about his values, the figure of a white fox flashed through his mind. And immediately his feeling changed: it seemed to him that he was losing his dearest partner.

"Is this strange connection really my connection to Susu?" he asked himself. He didn't know how it came about, but he was clearly aware that this mysterious connection really existed between them.

"No, no way! I can't lose her!" exclaimed Anon. He devoted all his attention and efforts to maintaining this connection.

While Anon was busy trying to keep this connection, he did not notice that in the depths of his soul, in the space where he found himself during the attempt to awaken on the day of the awakening ceremony, changes began to occur.

The small particles of the soul began to gather into one small figure. They throbbed, striving to take shape, but they could not complete the process. It seemed that something or someone was preventing them from achieving their goal.

While the soul particles were trying to condense, an unknown force descended on them, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. A thin thread stretched from this force, which pulsed and went into the void.

It was this connection, established by this thread, that Anon felt. And he's not the only one. Susu, thanks to this thread, felt the same way about Anon. They both didn't know where this bond that connected them both came from. Only one being knew about it, but it no longer existed in this world.

At the moment when the feelings of the beast and man united and rushed to each other through this thread, the force accepted them as a desire and began to carry out the last task of its past self.

This power was a gift left behind by an unknown being who sacrificed himself to fulfill the young man's wish.

She began to merge with the process of Anon's natural awakening, transforming his existence and greatly enhancing his innate strength.

At that moment, an ancient being who had awakened from a long sleep noticed Anon. It was puzzled by what had woken it up, and having found the source, it began to study it. The source turned out to be a young man who was in the process of awakening. Realizing the cause and source of this excitement, the creature was surprised.

It could not imagine that one of "them" would sacrifice his existence for the sake of one person. Slightly surprised, it, like its predecessor, began to explore Anon's memories. Seeing the moment when the creature gave its gift, and hearing his words, it understood and accepted the creature's decision.

"Ah, I'm not surprised that it was you two who decided to sacrifice your existence for 'them'. It's partly my fault that you made that decision. I can only accept your decision and witness what happens. Don't disappoint me, boy," the creature said, looking at Anon with some excitement.