Veronik looked at the little fox cubs for a long while before squatting down in front of the injured fox and extending her hand towards it slowly, so that the fox could smell it.
The situations the foxes were in reminded her of when she was younger and her mother was sick, so she wanted to help them, but she knew that even if she healed the injured fox, as it would still be weakened for a while, it would most likely fall prey to other predators and die, and the small fox cubs would either starve or become predators' snacks, which made Veronik wander about what to do.
Finally, she remembered one fact that she acquired from the immense knowledge she absorbed from the huge library in her mind that was given to her by the strange man. In the section about beasts, she learned nearly everything there is to know about beasts and animals, including the fact that all animals in the world she was in at the moment had a universal bestial language all could communicate with.
This language could be learned from a skill book included in the beast section called "Beastuary and Bestiality", but Veronik didn't learn it, because when she was absorbing the knowledge in the library, she, on purpose, didn't absorb any skills.
What she did learn about the skill were the requirements needed to learn the skill. The skill was very hard to learn, because to comprehend it, one needed to understand much about animals and beasts, like their habits, habitats, living cycle, reproduction process, and so on, and all this information were hard to gain, so most people, even if they found the skill book, wouldn't learn the skill, although the skill to communicate with beasts was highly convenient and useful, making the skill on of the top three unused skills, which was slowly getting forgotten, and was only spoken about in legends.
But to Veronik, this wasn't a problem, as in the library she learned all that she needed to know about beasts and animals and even more, so comprehending the skill was easy for her.
Squatting in front of the injured fox, which was warily sniffing her hand when it felt that she held no malice towards it, Veronik closed her eyes, and her consciousness slipped into the library in her mind, which was now nearly emptied, filled with only skill books, which was still an astonishing amount that could fill a whole big house. Veronik took the skill book "Beastuary and Bestiality" and it shone slightly. She quickly learned the skill and opened her eyes slowly, looking at the injured fox.
"You are dying." Veronik stated matter-of-factly.
The injured fox was surprised that Veronik could speak the bestial language, but it didn't have the time to think about that, as what Veronik said was more important. "How can I believe you?" it asked warily.
Veronik shrugged. "You don't need to believe me, as you already know it by yourself, without me needing to tell you."
Hearing Veronik's words, the injured fox frowned. "What do you want?" It growled as it used its fluffy tail to cover the fox cubs behind it.
With that, Veronik smiled. "I want to make a deal with you!" She looked intently at the injured fox, her eyes deep and profound.
The fox scoffed. "Why should I make a deal with a shady human?"
Veronik frowned slightly, and her aura instantly turned cold and biting. "You know that in your state, I could kill you whenever I want to. Making a deal with you is non-beneficial for me, but I want to propose it because your situation is quite similar to something I've seen once." She spoke calmly, but it was clear that she wasn't patient.
The injured fox was well aware that what Veronik said was the truth. With the state it was in, if Veronik wanted to kill it and its children, it wouldn't stand a chance to protect them. She lowered her head in thought for a moment. "What do you want, then?" it finally asked after a while.
Hearing that, Veronik smiled a bit. "You aren't an ordinary fox, right?" she asked with her eyes narrowed into smiling crescents.
The fox felt a bit puzzled but nodded. "What about it?"
Veronik's smile widened. "Your bloodline isn't fully awakened, which makes the aura of your bloodline attract the other beasts, because you seem like an easy target to them. I will awaken you and your children's bloodline and in exchange, you will form a bond with me." Veronik spoke slowly and calmly, her eyes never leaving the fox's eyes.*
Listening to Veronik, the fix frowned a bit. "What kind of bond?" it asked warily. "I don't mind a subordinate bond, but I refuse to let my children be someone's subordinates!"
At that moment, Veronik's light smile deepened into a stunning beaming smile. "Don't worry! I didn't mean a subordinate bond!" With that, she took a twig and used it to carve a few runes into the dirt. "Can you recognize those?" she asked with a smile.
The fox looked at the runes and froze in shock. "You want to make a bond of equals?" Her eyes widened in shock.
The bond of equals was something most people didn't even know existed, and even if they knew about it, they wouldn't use it to form a bond with a beast, because it wouldn't let them control the beast as they like.
The bond of equals makes the two parties gain the ability to communicate with each other through their souls, and their cultivation would connect together, so if one broke through to another level, the other one would break through too.
Additionally, if, when they made the bond, one had slightly lower cultivation, his cultivation would go up to the level of the other one. But if the difference between their cultivation was too big, they wouldn't even be able to make the bond.
What made this deal most beneficial to both parties was that if one of them died, the other one wouldn't be affected in any way except feeling extreme pain for a while.
In the subordinate bond, if the master died, the subordinate would die too, but if the subordinate died, the master would be unaffected, and that made all beasts despise the bond.