The Earthen Flower was exactly as Hana had left it. Resting inside peacefully, the Astradon had undergone a slight change, it had gotten much larger. It didn't grow proportionally, but its belly was very full and it was quite fat.
'Food Coma?' Hana wondered and then she started to ask Dissait about the Blood Contracts.
"Blood Contracts are essentially just modified slave seals, when details of the Bloodoath Contracts are broken, it subjects the violator to death. Some of these contracts can go both ways and even have extreme benefits. Loyalty is almost guaranteed, the price is too steep to break the Oath." Dissait thought that he did a good job explaining and was about to speak again when Hana interrupted him.
"But how do I get the Creature to form a Bloodoath?" Hana's curiosity was always churning out questions whenever Dissait was around. He shook his head. "What?" She laughed and then pointed at the Astadon. "Do I just bleed it?"
"That's part of the process but the creature has to be awake and also, it has to submit. Otherwise, the contract won't form. A drop of their blood onto the sheet will seal the contract, but it is a conscious effort and can fail. When forming a contract, one must allow the defenses to fall. In that moment, outside forces can cause an upset in the process. It gets messy after that." The expression on Dissait's face turned to grimace while he remembered something vile.
"The point is, you have to be willing to accept and the creature has to as well. You could get a slave collar but that just means your creatures will be just that, slaves. Their progress and achievements will reflect as such." Dissait's expression changed again but this time it looked sad. "Slavery is forbidden among the Clan, but, you know this already." He pulled out several Bloodoath contracts, "There is a chance that this is successful, in the future, you'll need to form a contract with each bird as well. Hana, these beings are just like Caoimhe, they must eat, hunt, live, breathe, shit and think for themselves if they are to be useful. You have to treat them well, others within the Sect would be willing to go to many lengths for such a chance."
As she accepted the contracts Hana somewhat understood his worries. "I think I understand." Hana said, then, she walked over to the Astradon.
Placing her hand on its forehead, Hana spread her spiritual sense into the beast to check its injuries. "Its breathing heavy but I think that's just its regular sleep." Hana flicked its ear and woke the creature up.
Raising her Aura, it began to leak into the surroundings, she made eye contact with the Astradon and shouted, "Submit or die!"
The Astradon had already submitted, it laid prone on the floor. Its head stooped lower and Hana walked drew a line across its forearm, blood trickled lightly. She flicked a bit of it onto the contract and watched a red circle envelope the Astradon.
Its eyes changed a bit, softer.
"You can release its bonds." Dissait told Hana.
Nodding, Hana deactivated the rest of the formations with a snapping gesture.
The walls started to become unstable and the Earthen Flower crumbled. Hana had shield covering the trio, protecting them from the debris. "You'll be carrying my things for now." Hana patted the Astradon and placed a large blanket over its back. As it laid there, she put a small enclosure on its back, big enough for two.
The Astradon was fat, but it wasn't small either. The small coach sat perfectly on its back and didn't seem to bother or burden the beast.
"You really are a strange child. But.. I can't disagree, this is much better than walking. You should know that things like this are usually the target of bandits, so.. when they do come, and I'm not saying they will, but.. when they do come, put the coach away and let the beast fight alongside you. Powerful beasts take time to get to that point. This beast, its already got one thing going for it. Its size. After a while, it will perform better in battle but not without practice and careful guidance. The same could be said for those Three-Step Hummingbirds, they aren't heard to kill but can be a great asset." Dissait jumped into the coach. "I'm not driving and you did say to stay hidden."
Hana laughed and didn't care to respond. She sat behind the Astradon's head and directed him forward, there was another town on the map to the North. "Ebonat is only three days North of us. I want to level up, the Elders seemed rather interested in Disciples that Leveled up, I have to get stronger."
Dissait sat in the Coach and talked through the leaf canopy. "You shouldn't go chasing that. I've seen many of my friends die because they thought that the only way to life was to have the most levels and level up further or faster than others. Let me tell you something, leveling up, requires more than just killing. You can slaughter and never earn a thing. Experience only goes so far, once you've done something, its not so much an experience the next time. Leveling up, at least how I see it, doesn't measure life." He paused for a second, trying not to scold her. It was after all a friendly conversation. "Leveling up takes patience, time, luck and perseverance. Good fortune can turn bad in a heartbeat. Life isn't a game but this world is proof that a system of some sort does exist. Chasing the next level, will eventually get you killed. Let levels come, grow, but you shouldn't throw your life away so needlessly."
Hana was speechless for a moment. "Strong words. I won't deny that you speak some truth in them but the result is the same. I must grow stronger, even If I'm just learning how to hunt." Hana saw some birds in the horizon and was reading herself mentally. When they changed direction, she was disappointed. Tapping the top of the Astradon's head, Hana asked it a question though she knew she wouldn't get a verbal answer. "Hey, you. Where are some enemies we can fight?"
The Bloodoath Contract between beasts and higher species allowed some non-verbal communication to leak through and be understood. Since they had gone through such a thing, naturally there was a connection. The Astradon turned to the East and headed downhill toward the water.
"I don't want to get wet." Hana kicked her heels just a bit and the Astradon shook its head. There were three large serpents, a mated pair and one of their offspring. "Oh," Hana replied and then she jumped off the Astradon and flew into the Air. "Dissait, take care of the coach." She spread her wings flew higher, out of the range of typical venom attacks and circled to the other side.
Dissait had stored the coach away and the Astradon charged at the Snakes. A shield formed on its head as it rammed its way through and Hana shot the male while he tried to bite. The female swallowed the young one and slithered toward the fallen male. Noticing the burn on its scales, the female Kentao broke ranks and lurched at the flying attacker. Hana brandished the newly formed hammer and crushed the Kentao to paste. The hammer lodged itself in the mud by the creek side, forcing Hana to store it away or abandon it mid-battle. Hana cast it away and slapped a formation on its side. The Contact Point Conductivity Formation was activated, anything that touched the hammer's edge would be met with a serious jolt.
It buzzed beneath, a sizzling could be heard when it was cooking the female snake like an Iron.
The Male Kentao was bleeding from its back and its head was a mess, the Astradon was about to smash it into mush like it had done with the Raiju. Hana stopped the Astradon and made it take a step back. A few symbols were carved into the air with energy.
'She's using runes?' Dissait had done as asked, he stayed out of the fight and watched from a distance.
The runes lined up and formed a circle, then she brought them down onto a formation and threw blood across the ground. The snake didn't seem like it was willing to give up, it coiled further and looked ready to strike. Hana pulled out another contract and grinned.
Dissait facepalmed. 'She won't listen...'
Waving her fingers around, the blood infused the formation and it came to life. The air began to evacuate from the snake's surroundings and Hana started to raise her aura.
Feeling the life leave its body, the snake began to bow its head in submission. Hana slowly allowed the air to reenter the chamber, she had read about the consequences of rapid depressurization. The formation lessened a bit then faded out. Binding passed over the snake and held it down.
Hana walked closer to check if it was faking or not.
'A bit cruel..' Dissait had his opinion on her actions but wild beasts were just that, wild.
The Large Snake could have chosen to move forward but it would have been somewhat restrained, saving Hana from its bite, instead it seemed like it was dying and unable to continue. Hana flicked some of the blood onto the contract and stared at the snake's eyes in a deadlock. As it blinked, a red light flickered over its body. The contract had completed.
The wound on its back was severe, she pulled out a potion and spread it on the wound. The Kentao hissed as the wound closed.
Hana threw a piece of meat to the Snake and it caught it in its mouth. 'Hehe' She snickered like an evil little girl.
"Hana, you must not capture everything we find. It.. well, it isn't good." He didn't know what to tell her, if she really did form a contract with too many beasts, the Sect could always take care of them or receive ownership.
"I don't understand why I can't just capture them all but I do see how that can slow down my hunting." Hana smiled cheekily and remounted the Astradon.
Dissait put the coach back on top of it and the Kentao followed from behind, a Snake in the grass. Hana could sense Caoimhe from a distance, she had been circling above the storm clouds for the whole afternoon and remained close by.
"Okay, where is the next enemy?" Hana kicked at the Astradon's shoulders a little.
"Hana." Dissait showed disapproval and Hana patted her head.
As the Astradon was moving, Dissait turned to look at the Kentao. Its long body blended with the grasses and forest floor perfectly. "This kid.."
"Did you say something?" Hana questioned from the drivers position.
"No, but I'm taking a nap. Don't get into a battle without waking me." Dissait yawned with a feeling like it was well earned. "You should name your pets and figure out how you're going to tame these birds." The cage had been in Dissait's hands during their battle, the coach was easy enough to store away with the help of a spacial ring but the Birds were alive, putting a living being into a storage ring would break it.
Intelligence marked the threshold of spacial rings, even a creature that moved on instincts has intelligence, no matter how small it may be measured. Plants were somewhat different, virtually all plants would be swallowed by a storage ring, very few exceptions existed, like powerful Treants.
"Names? That sounds like a good way to pass the time. What should I call you?" Hana tapped the top of the Astradon's head.
"Pdddumpph" The Astradon gave off a snort.
Hana thought over names in her head, she didn't want something complicated or long. Even Caoimhe's name was well chosen, she didn't want to fail her own expectations and fell deep in thought.
'This is a male, right?' Hana didn't bother looking or thinking about it much further than asking the question. She pointed to its face and said "Veltin?"
There was no objection from the Astradon. "Veltin it is then." Hana then looked out into the grasses to search for the Kentao. After a few moments, she noticed it far behind, lagging in the distant shrubs as they passed over a rocky area. "Hmm.. this won't do."
Hana flew over and picked up the Kentao. Then, she put it in the Coach with Dissait.
Flying back into the air, she looked for her next target. Veltin had been marching in a single direction for more than three hours. 'I wonder how far it is to the next town after Ebonat..' Swooping back down to Veltin, Hana landed on his neck and sat back down. 'Doesn't look like there's much to do.' Hana leaned back and turned her head.
Sitting among the grasses, was a patch of Firetooth Lilies.
Firetooth Lilies were an excellent source of material for Alchemy, she had seen them in the books and her teachers had even mentioned them during the second day of training. 'Firetooth Lilies help with training, igniting a person's inner desire and ambitions. There is a slight drawback from overuse, the user becomes delusional and long term use can lead to brain damage.' Hana remembered Master Kesra's warnings.
Scooping up the soil around several good specimens, Hana showed some restraint, 'I can't take them all, then there wouldn't be any here in the future.' She thinned the patch by more than sixty percent but there was a lot present. Each plant's roots were wrapped in cloth then stored away. "What else is around here?" Hana searched the surroundings like a bloodhound and found nothing more. The Astradon had kept his trajectory, it lazily paraded to the East.
Catching back up, Hana pulled a book out to read. 'The Heart of all Darkness' She read the cover and opened it. Keeping her spiritual sense up to guard from attacks, she then sank into the contents of the cultivation technique.