THIS BEAST-TAMER IS A LITTLE STRANGE

Kain woke to the sound of crackling flames and the faint hum of energy. His body ached, an almost bone deep pain screaming in protest as he tried to move. The cold was still there, biting at his skin, but the warmth of Vauleth’s flames nearby provided some relief.

He groaned, his vision blurry as he pushed himself up onto his elbows, his head pounding with every movement.

A quick inspection of his body revealed that Queen likely healed all of his physical injuries, but there was definitely still some sequelae from the battle. But given the stronger body of beast-tamers, he should be able to fully recover within a day.

‘Having a healing contract was definitely a wise decision…’ Kain thought while looking at Queen whose wings were still shivering from the cold despite the flames and had all of the remaining guards, a few having died in the battle, huddled against her.

Recalling that the Vespids seemed to be much more sensitive to the cold than his other contracts he recalled them into his star space after thanking them for their hard work.

“You’re awake. Figured you’d be fine,” a deep, rumbling voice said—Vauleth. Kain wasn’t sure if it was due to the increased growth tamers provided to their contracts, but whereas Vauleth’s voice when they had first met was more juvenile, it seemed as though he’d sped through the rest of his puberty in a few months. Both his size, voice, and appearance were more mature and the shadow of the Red Dragon King Vulcan and other adult red dragons can be more clearly seen.

Kain turned his head to see Vauleth’s massive form looming over him, the dragon’s golden eyes glowing in the dim light of the ruins.

Kain managed a weak smile, his voice hoarse as he replied, “Thanks for the concern, Vauleth. I didn’t know you cared.”

The dragon snorted, a puff of smoke escaping its nostrils. “Don’t get used to it. I just didn’t want to lose my tamer to some overgrown experiment.”

Kain chuckled, though the motion sent a sharp pain through his still pounding head.

“Where are the others?” Kain asked, his voice still weak but growing stronger.

“Aegis is… well, he’s in pieces. He’s been gradually reabsorbing the stones he can, but it’s difficult when you were unconscious and couldn’t feed him any high-quality ore. Bea is fine, though she’s still shaken from trying to invade that thing’s mind.”

Kain nodded, his expression grim. The battle had taken a toll on all of them. He looked over at the charred remains of the creature, its body now a smoldering heap of flesh and machinery.

Kain stood slowly, his body still aching but his condition wasn’t so bad that he could delay his mission at hand.

He first went to the abomination, wanting to see if anything of value or information could be obtained from its body. Unfortunately, its core seemed to have self-destructed upon its death, and Kain couldn’t gain much else from its body, but Kain still put away the body into the System’s Laboratory, wanting to use the equipment he had there to more closely examine it in his free time.

Examination finished, Kain took a deep breath, the cold air sharp in his lungs, and turned his attention to the ruins around them.

The chamber they were in was vast but rundown and clearly showed the damage caused by time, its intact walls still possessed some vague intricate carvings and, impressively, a few of the runes were even glowing despite all the time that had passed.

But Kain couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this place—more secrets hidden beneath the surface.

“We need to keep moving,” Kain said, his voice steady despite the lingering pain. “There’s more to this relic than just that creature. We need to find out what happened here.”

Vauleth snorted, a puff of smoke escaping his nostrils. “And how do you plan to do that? These ruins are crumbling. There’s nothing here but ice and broken stone.”

Kain shook his head, his eyes scanning the chamber. “Not all of it. Look.” He pointed to a section of the wall where the carvings were more intact. The runes glowed faintly, their patterns shifting and rearranging themselves as if they were alive. “There’s something beneath us. I can feel it.”

Sense learning the spiritual skill Threads of Destiny, Kain began to rely on his instincts more and more. And those instincts were telling him to head down.

Vauleth’s eyes narrowed, his gaze following Kain’s finger. “You’re not suggesting we dig, are you? Because I’m not a mole.”

Kain smirked, despite the tension. “No, but I think there’s a way down. These ruins are ancient, and they were built by a civilization far more advanced than anything we’ve seen. If they wanted to hide something, they wouldn’t make it easy to find.”

Kain moved closer to the wall, his fingers tracing the intricate carvings. The runes pulsed faintly under his touch, the glowing purple light flickering as if responding to his presence. He pressed his hand against the stone, feeling the faint hum of energy beneath his palm.

“Benji mentioned opening a hidden chamber one time. What was the method he used again…” Kain mumbled while feeling around and using his remaining spiritual power to feed and test the flow of energy in these sigils.

Kain felt along the wall and used various strategies for over an hour and then, with a sudden click, a section of the wall shifted, revealing a hidden passageway.

“Found it,” Kain said, his voice filled with a mix of relief and excitement. He glanced back at Vauleth, who was staring at the newly revealed passage with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

Since Vauleth and Bea seemed to be in the best condition, Kain also recalled the still recovering Aegis, making sure to provide him with an abundance of ores to heal faster.

The passageway was narrow for Vauleth and any careless shifting of his weight would cause sections of the walls to collapse.

At one point, the dusty aged air caused Vauleth to sneeze and Kain almost thought he was going to be buried alive. Thankfully, ‘only’ a small part of the tunnel collapsed and it was easily cleared by Kain and Vauleth.

“Ahem…perhaps you should take a rest too.” Kain said before recalling Vauleth before he could respond and leaving him only with Bea for protection. To compensate, he chose to release 4 Vespid guards to travel in front and behind him for protection. Although they were clearly weakened by the environment, they could serve as warnings for any traps. Not to mention Bea had long laid out threads throughout the environment to sense, and infect, any living things that may approach them.

After Vauleth left, the air grew even colder as Kain descended. Kain’s breath came out in visible puffs, the cold biting at his skin despite the thick coat he wore.

As they ventured deeper, the passageway opened up into a vast, underground chamber. The room was massive, its walls covered in more of the intricate carvings and glowing runes. But unlike the ruins above, this chamber was almost perfectly preserved. The air was thick with the hum of energy, and the walls seemed to pulse with a faint, purple light.

Kain’s eyes widened as he took in the sight before him. The chamber was filled with strange, mechanical devices, their surfaces covered in glowing sigils and symbols. In the center of the room was a massive, circular platform, its surface etched with intricate patterns that glowed with the same purple light. Kain could feel the power radiating from it, a raw, untamed energy that seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat.

“This… this is incredible,” Kain whispered, his voice filled with awe. He moved closer to the platform, his eyes scanning the carvings on the walls. The images were vivid, their details preserved despite the passage of time. They depicted scenes of the ancient civilization—their people, their technology, their experiments.

One set of images caught Kain’s eye. It first it showed a massive purple orb that hundreds of people worked together and used various machinery to cut a single sliver off of. Then a group of figures were standing around a massive glowing crystal, likely the sliver cut off previously, their hands raised as if channeling its power. The crystal was surrounded by strange, mechanical devices, their surfaces covered in glowing sigils.

Kain examined the set of images over and over again, but then Kain’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what he was looking at.

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