"How did it go again? Something like this?" Kaido, still laying on the surface of the water and drifting about, constantly moved his hands in the air to manipulate the surrounding mana to his will. He twisted and crafted them into multiple and small, light blue circles.
Soft and pleasant music could be heard from them as they floated in mid-air, the sound's quality increasing every passing minute. What he was trying to do was mimic the oyster's rhythmic melody by using magic. He had a hunch this song was the reason for the snake's deep slumber. Otherwise, with it's vast power, it should have noticed him immediately.
It was only ten minutes later when he finally got the hang of it. Since this was his first time ever trying something like this, it took longer than he originally wanted. However, the problem with his new Magic Circle Melody was that it would only last for 40 seconds before disappearing.
"Oh well, I'll be long gone by then." Content, he happily swam to the location his wolves were at. They were casually laying around, relaxing and trying to ignore the decomposing body of their former pack leader.
But when Kaido arrived, they all stood up with fear across their faces. He chuckled seeing this, their terror amusing him.
"I want you all to go hide over there and wait for my orders, understand? Go deep into the woods and make sure none can find you." They all nodded and happily left to get away from him, heading towards the tree line quite a distance away.
"Hold up. You two there." The ones he picked out were nervous and came closer to him, tails tucked between their legs. Kaido smiled warmly and patted them on the head, making them shiver a bit.
"Don't worry so much, I just want you to do something for me." After whispering the plan into their ears, they looked at each other confused. Why would their new Master have them do such an odd task?
However, they were in no position to reject or even question his orders. As they quickly went off, Kaido smiled meaningfully at them and walked back into the lake.
Within no time at all, he dived back down into the water before arriving a few feet away from the oyster. As he placed one hand on it, his other was already re-creating the melody. Once ready, he simultaneously sent the oyster into his Storage Room and played the melody.
For the split moment when the music was broken, the snake stirred as if about to awaken. Luckily, it went right back to snoring as if nothing happened. Kaido thanked his good luck and quickly teleported away. Even when he got to the shoreline, he didn't pause for a second and blurred past the trees like a ghost.
Inside the lake, the giant Jagged Snake was having a beautiful dream. He was soaring through the sky, his wings flapping powerfully as he breathed out a stream of powerful fire and burned countless humans alive. His form had changed massively, becoming a true dragon like his mother always wanted him to be!
Just as he was about to terrorize a human city and steal a couple of princesses, the dream shattered into nothingness. With confusion, the Jagged Snake opened his eyes groggily. He found it strange as to why the beautiful song had ceased. Unconsciously looking towards his treasure, his eyes widened in disbelief! It was gone!
Enraged, he immediately swam up and broke through the surface of the water, roaring out with extreme fury. Every nearby monster or animal fled in absolute fear. The pressure and aura being released from the Jagged Snake had even crushed the weaker ones into the ground, making them immobile as their organs became liquefied.
"Dare to steal from the Great World Serpent?! I'll rip your heart out and eat it!"
Going to land, his head frantically moved around the area to catch even a hint of his precious treasure. Suddenly, he found something! A clear trail of an object being dragged through the dirt. Based on it's size, it was almost a perfect match for his special oyster!
With a cruel grin that could frighten grown men until they wet themselves, he charged through the forest with little care, knocking down every tree in his path. After a minute, he had finally caught up to the insolent thieves. However, something was wrong.
Instead of finding his treasure, he only found two weak Silver Wolves scared out of their minds while dragging a rock, which just so happened to be the same size as his oyster. The Jagged Snake was no fool and knew what happened.
Clearly, the real thief had stolen the oyster from under his nose through some Divine Method used by a God. Then, they used these two fools to lure him away. By now, the rat thief was most certainly far away from this location. With a growl, he swept his tail towards the two shivering wolves.
Not even giving them a chance to react, the tail disintegrated their bodies and produced two blood mists. The surrounding trees in a fifty meters were completely flattened due to the Jagged Snake's overwhelming power. Snarling, he moved back to the lake to discover any clues. If he found nothing, then he would scour the entire Outer Layer until he found his prize.
"Only a filthy human would do such a despicable act. When I find you, I'll tear your tendons out and suck up your soul!" A dark gleam passed through his eyes, his actions about to bring a massive storm to the Academy.
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Happy whistling could be heard as a pack of Silver Wolves followed after a joyful man. They had no idea what had happened to the two who were picked by him, but didn't worry about it too much.
Currently, Kaido was already a few miles away from the lake, moving towards the direction of the Silver Wolf Den. He wasn't worried of the snake somehow catching up to him as he had cleaned up any clues of him being at the lake. As for the two wolves?
"Thank you for your sacrifice." He clapped his hands together in a mocking prayer, their deaths meaning nothing to him.
Forgetting about their existence from this point on, he turned his eyes to inside his Storage Room. The blue oyster was still humming away, the song pleasing to his ears. It even made him want to lay down and fall asleep. However, it was more of a suggestion than actually forcing him into slumber. He had the idea to crack it open and peer inside, but held himself back. Until he researched this treasure, he would leave it alone for now. There was no doubt however, that it was extremely valuable.
After a walking for a bit and killing a few more monsters for their Cores, Kaido and the rest eventually reached the Den. He was hidden inside some bushes as he watched the puppies play in a field with each other. The females layed around, waiting for the males to return. Up against the side of a small mountain was a cave, presumably used by the wolves.
Only the female Silver Lightning Horned Wolf was on the lookout. Although she seemed as relaxed as the others, her eyes constantly watched the surroundings like a hawk. In terms of numbers, there were close to forty seven of them, excluding the many children.
Kaido thought about his plan of action deeply. The best result would be taming the Horned Wolf, which would give him control over the others. Especially when considering the males were already his. The true problem came in the form of how much they loved their children.
If the female Horned Wolf was the mate of the one he killed, there was a high chance she would disregard her kin and charge straight for him. If that's the case, there's no chance in taming them and he'd be forced to slaughter them all. Preferably, he would like to keep the females around so they could reproduce and build their numbers.
'And if I delve into Life and forcibly age them, then force the experience of older wolves into their souls, they would become much more useful to me.' Suddenly, he thought of a devious plan and smiled darkly.
In the grassy area outside of the cave, two wolf cubs were playing together. However, one was a bit too rough and such an action made it mad, biting back with double the force. Within a few moments, they went from friendly playing to dangerous fighting, pulling the attention of the nearby females.
Meanwhile, a smaller and younger cub wandered off for an adventure. He looked around curiously, excited to finally go off on his own like the males. However, a smell suddenly hit his nose. He knew what this was! Meat!
With joy and happiness, the little cub carelessly followed his nose's directions to go past the trees, going out of range of the female's sight. After a few more moments, he finally found his prize! It was waiting there right next to a bush, soaked with blood and looking as juicy as a slab of meat could be.
Salvia dripped down the cub's mouth, no caution or wariness inside him as he skipped forward. Just before his tiny jaws could take even a lick, a pair of human hands wrapped themselves around his neck. He yelped in pain as he was roughly taken away.
Before he could cry for help, one of the hands went over his mouth and clamped it shut. Looking up at his attacker, he immediately saw two black swirling eyes, full of… emptiness.
"Shh. It's okay little one." The comforting tone made the cub calm down a bit. But the next words out of the human's mouth, made his heart sink.
"But if you make even a peep, I'll snap your tiny neck." The cub felt true fear travel through his spine as the other hand wrapped itself around his throat.
Suddenly, the hand on his neck gripped tighter, choking him and depriving him of any air. His legs kicked in the air, tears in his eyes as he tried to cry out. He wanted his mommy!
Looking up at his kidnapper, he saw a little smile on his face which sent chills down his spine. This monster was enjoying his struggle, his pain. But then, out of nowhere, it stopped. The evil human released his mouth and neck, making the cub cough harshly.
"You understand what happens now? That's just a taste, a little snack for you." Kaido gently pet the shivering cub, sighing to himself. In truth, he had lost control of himself for a moment. Not being able to truly act on his desires, which he was able to do at home, was driving him mad.
"Pathetic and childish." He whispered under his breath, frustrated at his complete lack of self control. The only other time this had happened was when he was younger and killed one of his Tamed Beasts, a Flurry Squirrel. It's head was still inside the secret compartment in his room, floating in a jar.
He desperately needed toys to play with, or he might truly lose it and cause his reputation to do down the drain permanently. As for the cub, he had two choices. Either kill it, or find a way to erase the memories of this encounter. The reason he thought this way was because of the off chance this little bastard might harbor any resentment towards him and grow up to defy him. Instead of taking such a risk, he would rather rip out the weeds right here and now.
But for now, he was a useful pawn for him to manipulate the wolves. He was banking on their love and care for their own. While cradling the terrified cub in his arms, he met back up with the male wolves. Together, they left their hiding place and entered the grassy field.
Immediately, the first one to notice them was the Horned Wolf. She jumped off the rock she laid on and landed on the ground, howling loudly to get the attention of the others. However her eyes, along with the females who arrived, went wide when seeing the scene.
Their male hunters who had gone out for food, were submissively walking behind a human youth. When they noticed the cub cradled in his arms, one of the females yelped in surprise and wanted to go forwards. But a stern glare from the Horned Wolf stopped her.
Kaido came within thirty meters of the opposite group before halting in place, the males doing the same. He stared directly at the Horned Wolf, who met his eyes with an intelligent gleam.
"I'm sure you understand the situation just fine, so I won't bore you with the redundant details. Instead, I'll make my intentions clear from the start. Bond with me." His words surprised the Horned Wolf at the audacity.
She wasn't a fool who couldn't see what he really wanted. Slaves. They would be no more than slaves for him to order around. She could tell as much, from the stances of the males behind him. They were clearly extremely afraid of him, their postures submissive. Based on the lack of the male Horned Wolf, she guessed he must be dead.
And from the way his hands would sometimes wrap around the little one's neck, made her realize the sort of devil she was facing. A single wrong move here, would spell death for them all. She wasn't afraid to die, to give her life for her Den. But risking the children? That, she could not do.
With her head down, the Horned Wolf swallowed her pride and walked towards this monster. When in front of him, she laid on her stomach and presented herself to him with gritted teeth. It was… humiliating. However, there was no other alternative. Either she could do this and save the pack, or they would all die for nothing.
Kaido, who saw this, raised an eyebrow in interest. He never expected this one to be different from the male Horned Wolf. She understood everything all by herself, calmly going through the pros and cons before deciding her course of action. With a smile, he placed a hand on top of her head.
"Good girl." Instantly, she Bonded with him and became another Tamed beast underneath his command.
As she stood up and howled out to make the others truly understand the new power dynamic, he dropped the cub on the floor. Without hesitation, the little thing ran for his mother while crying out. Kaido didn't care about the mother and son's heartfelt reunion. To him, the cub was already dead. A delayed version of Space Rend was hidden inside it's body. Within a few hours, it would activate and shred the cub's organs to pieces.
He waved his hand to let the males return to their mates and began thinking of a name. Of course, he wouldn't bless the inferior wolves with his genius naming sense. This was for the female Silver Lightning Horned Wolf who was looking at him without any emotion.
Kaido chuckled when feeling how much she hated him. To put it simply, her favorability towards him was in the negatives. Far into the negatives. Such a thing didn't bother him though. As long as the Bond was intact, she was forced to be his slave. Besides, he doubted they would be together very long.
While stroking her silver fur against her will and making her disgusted, he suddenly thought of a name.
"Silva. Your new name, is Silva."