Bonding

Kiona had some trouble wearing her new clothes, but Kael helped her happily. She tried moving around in them and found them quite loose and comfortable.

"I still don't understand why I have to wear this," Kiona said, still a little uncomfortable with something covering her body.

"You want me to die in battle? Because I'm sure I'll only look at your body if you're naked," Kael looked at her up and down, nodding in satisfaction.

She looked even more beautiful with clothes on, if he had to say. Those shorts and tunic highlighted her curves, and also her assets that were previously on full display.

"You're lying," Kiona said, looking into his eyes. "You can fight even while looking at my naked body. Also, do you mean you get in heat when I'm naked?"

"You haven't interacted with humans much, huh," Kael chuckled and said. "Yeah, I'll be in heat, so it's better you have your main assets covered, at least."

"That's not a problem as long as I can move around," Kiona said. "But what is this warm feeling?"

"I've imbued my [Draconic Regeneration] skill, so your regeneration has increased by a large margin," Kael said. "You can try it out later in battle."

"Regeneration..." Kiona's eyes shone upon hearing the word regeneration. "Wait! You said Draconic?"

Kael gave an exaggerated pose by spreading his arms and smirked, "That's right, I am a Dragon."

Kiona blinked before a smile formed on her lips, "I lack proper common sense, but I'm not dumb. I appreciate you trying to comfort me, but it's alright. You don't have to do this."

She took a deep breath and said, "As for you being a dragon, that's really… amazing. It's actually good, since that means I'm a subordinate of a dragon."

'Her reaction is lackluster… She's trying to hide it, but her previous battle badly affected her. She's too prideful to admit that.'

Kael sighed and said, pointing towards a boulder, "Fine! We'll first do the taming part, then. Sit there!"

Kiona nodded silently and went to sit on the boulder. She shifted slightly, feeling the soft leather between her buttocks and the rock-solid boulder.

'Maybe it isn't that bad to wear clothes,' Kiona noted, making herself comfortable.

"The process is pretty simple, and you just need to not resist the changes, alright? I'll ask you for consent, so answer that clearly too," he said, standing before her.

Then, he sliced open his fingertip, as silver blood leaked out of the wound. He used the fresh blood to carve a rune on her forehead and asked, "Do you want to become my tamed beast?"

"Yes... Master," Kiona spoke in a soft voice.

Upon confirmation, the rune began to glow in a silvery hue and surrounded her, making her ears twitch in response.

It only took a second before everything returned to normal, and the two began to feel a connection with each other.

[Beast bonding complete.]

[You have tamed E-Rank Sunborn Warmaiden, Kiona.]

[The connection is mildly strong, resulting in only one skill unlock.]

[Flame Slash (Unusual) is sharable.]

Kael stared at Kiona, who was sitting contentedly on the boulder, and smiled. He had taken the first step toward the making of his Beast Empire.

He instinctively reached for her head and tapped it lightly, suppressing his desire to pat her. He sensed how stiff she became when his hand neared her, but she didn't voice it, probably because he was her master now.

She opened her eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"

"It's called patting," Kael replied, withdrawing his hand.

"I am not your pet," she growled lightly. "I'm your subordinate."

"Yeah, yeah, same same," Kael waved his hand and turned toward the cave. He sensed some tremors from there, and he could guess the reason for them.

Soon, a giant lion head popped out of the cave and Seth walked out first. He had become really hulky after the evolution, making Kael wonder if he would let him ride him.

Jon followed behind and noticed the two of them sitting side by side. He was surprised seeing his sister's transformation and padded over to the boulder.

"Sister, how are you now?" he asked.

"The evolution thankfully fully healed me, so I can't be in better shape," Kiona jumped down from the boulder and began to rub Jon's mane lightly.

Her eyes held pure warmth as she said, "Thank you for staying with me despite all of that."

"You are my sister and also our Alpha—the leader our father chose," Jon lowered his head and muttered. "We will follow you even in death."

Seth came beside him and nudged his head, "Same here."

"We have a lot of time for family bonding, and I know how necessary it is for you three, but we need to act quickly," Kael said. "As of this moment, that guy has probably eaten all of the bodies."

"What do you mean?" Kiona frowned at his words.

"That other Alpha was eating your kind," Kael explained. "The last time I saw him, he looked way too healthy, even though he had used the berserker skill and I have a guess that it's related to him eating other lions."

"How dare he!!"

A violent aura exploded out of Kiona as her eyes turned ablaze. She could accept her loss but not this humiliation of her people.

Eating one's own race was one of the most extreme and vile forms of humiliation among beast races. Nobody could ever justify it. It was a fate worse than genocide for them.

Even the twin lions gritted their teeth in rage, their bodies growing in size as if responding to their fury. Their claws extended, digging deep into the ground.

"I can understand your anger, but don't let it cloud your mind," Kael tried to calm them, but it was clear they were too infuriated to think rationally.

Just when they were about to launch themselves in search of their enemy, a powerful, commanding voice echoed in their minds.

"Calm down!"

Instantly, their minds became clear, and their overwhelming anger was suppressed by just those two words from Kael.

It was especially true for Kiona, who felt all her emotions being subdued as a pressure forced her to follow those words.

But she also noticed one thing. She could actually resist that pressure if she wanted to—and that was only possible because Kael had paid attention while commanding her.

However, she didn't resist and lowered her head, "I am sorry!"

"You should be because you were going to sacrifice yourself and also your brothers."