“Waste? While Yano clings to its traditions, limiting itself to archaic beasts, Yino advances. Each year we produce more gold rank tamers, each month more double bearers join our ranks. And soon…”
He paused dramatically, savoring the moment.
“Soon our first triple bearers will be ready.”
The Director maintained his neutral expression, but his golden feathers bristled slightly at the revelation. Triple tamers were theoretically possible, of course, but the cost, the risk of uncontrolled mutation…
“Triples?” He recovered quickly, his voice laden with disdain. “It doesn’t matter if they can bear three beasts or five, if they’re all those abyssal corruptions you so love to create. A true tamer with a pure beast will always be superior.”
The mercenary’s laughter echoed through the clearing, a sound that made several guards shudder.
“A true tamer? Like your precious king? I suppose it has merit that he’s a double tamer too but… It must be… lonely, Director. Being so limited, so tied to the old traditions. But times change, old man… “
“…A single platinum rank warrior holding up an entire kingdom? Yino no longer depends on exceptional individuals. We have something better, numbers.”
“And you think numbers compensate for quality?” Ignatius allowed more power to flow into his flames. “If you were facing our King right now, you’d already be dead. It doesn’t matter if you bear five beasts or ten, they’re all corruptions of simple silver rank, nothing compared to a single one of his pure beasts of true power.”
The mercenary’s smile widened, showing teeth altered by mutations. “Oh, but the King isn’t here, is he? In fact,” his eyes gleamed with malice, “we know perfectly well that he’s not even in the kingdom.”
Ignatius maintained his neutral expression, but his mind worked rapidly. If Yino knew that…
“It must be… lonely, Director, being so limited to a single beast… Not like your ‘great’ absent King.”
“It must be LONELY,” continued the mercenary theatrically, “to depend so much on ONE, SINGLE warrior. What will happen when our triple bearers are ready? When we have three gold tamers for every one of yours?”
“I thought you would understand it better as the tamer of that griffon, but I see now that you don’t… Let me show you,” Ignatius let his power manifest fully, his majestic phoenix enveloping the area in golden flames, “the difference between your imitations and a true bond with a pure beast.”
The supervisor extended his hand as his penguin fully materialized, covering the ground with a thick layer of ice that gleamed under the sunlight.
“No more tricks underground,” murmured the supervisor, his eyes fixed on the mutated agent.
The director released a powerful flow of fire toward the mercenary.
The mercenary evaluated the situation in an instant.
“Defend me!” ordered to his hippogriff while he himself leaped to the side.
The golden flames of Ignatius’s phoenix met the hippogriff’s wind flow. The resulting explosion shook nearby trees, creating a shockwave that made the guards stagger.
The mercenary took advantage of the distraction to bury his legs in the ice. His mutations allowed him to break it enough to use the hole as a foothold and launch himself at dizzying speed toward the supervisor.
The supervisor reacted on instinct. His penguin created a barrier of ice stalactites that emerged from the ground like spears. The mercenary twisted between them with unnatural grace, his body contorting in ways no normal human could imitate.
“Too slow!” The mercenary appeared before the supervisor, his scorpion tail emerging from his back like lightning.
The supervisor barely had time to create an ice shield. The stinger pierced through it like paper, stopping millimeters from his throat.
He began to overpower him and push forward, the ice cracking. It seemed the mercenary’s power boosts were far superior to the supervisor’s.
“Pathetic,” the mercenary smiled with his mutated teeth while advancing his pincers. “A silver rank 2 and yet your strength is…”
A column of golden fire fell from the sky, forcing the mercenary to jump back. The ice beneath his feet evaporated instantly, creating a vapor curtain that momentarily obscured the battlefield.
“Did you forget who you’re fighting?” Ignatius’s voice resonated as his phoenix descended, its wings extended creating a wall of golden flames.
The mercenary landed beside his hippogriff, which alone, had been forced to retreat.
“I wanted to regain ground control, Director,” the mercenary flexed his pincers as more plates sprouted from his skin. “A valid tactic against your fire powers, don’t you think?”
Ignatius’s golden flames intensified until the air itself seemed to distort with heat. “Show me then, Yino experiment, if your tactics have a future while you ignore me.”
“Of course I will… My future and Yino’s are bright after all.”
“The future,” murmured Ignatius while his phoenix manifested its complete form, “belongs to those who respect the true bond between tamer and beast. Not to those who debase themselves into monsters.”
♢♢♢♢
Luna was concentrated on exchanging discrete signals with her cousins when she felt a light touch on her shoulder. The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed softly as she turned, startled at not having sensed him approach due to her distraction.
“Do you know what’s happening?” asked Ren with a casual smile, as if he hadn’t just penetrated her entire surveillance system undetected.
Luna quickly composed herself, her shadow twisting uncomfortably. “No, I don’t know anything,” she responded curtly. “Now leave.”
“Lie,” Ren smiled more widely with what appeared to be amusement. “Also, what are you doing?”
Luna’s face tinged slightly red, remembering the last time Ren had discovered her ability to detect lies. The proximity in his room, the misunderstanding with his companions…
“What I do or don’t do is none of your business, fungus,” she responded brusquely, crossing her arms. “And ‘also’, this has nothing to do with you.”
“Also a lie,” Ren laughed, imitating the casual posture she usually used when interrogating him.
“You’re exchanging information with them,” he discreetly pointed to the other nobles, “using rather elaborate mana signals… What do they mean?”
Luna clenched her fists, irritated at having her own tactics used against her. “I don’t care what you think you see. Leave, I don’t want to see you and I’m not interested in you.”
The mushrooms pulsed more intensely while Ren raised an eyebrow. “Wait, that’s a lie… Triple lie. That must be some kind of record… And you’re… interested in me?”
“Enough!” Luna turned to her handmaidens, who had been watching the exchange with carefully neutral expressions. “Deal with him.”
The “noble students” moved with a grace that revealed training beyond mere noble posture. In seconds, they formed a perfect barrier between Luna and Ren.
“We suggest you withdraw,” one of them said in a soft but firm voice.
“Oh,” Ren studied them with genuine interest.
“Out!” Luna interrupted before he could talk again, her face now definitely flushed.
“As you wish,” Ren stepped away from the wall with a small mocking bow. “Though you know I’ll eventually discover what’s happening. I’m quite good at finding secrets and lies lately.”
Luna watched his back as he walked away, her handmaidens maintaining their protective formation. Only when he was far enough away did she allow herself to release a sigh of frustration.
“My lady,” one of her handmaidens approached discreetly. “Do you want us to keep him under surveillance?”
“No,” Luna massaged her temples. “Watched he is… Just… keep him away. He’s too…” she stopped, searching for the right word.
“Observant?” suggested a handmaiden.
“Cute? Your type?” suggested another handmaiden with what seemed to be a hint of amusement.
“Irritating,” corrected Luna, sending a murderous glare to her maid, though the blush on her cheeks contradicted her words.
Her handmaidens exchanged knowing looks but maintained their professional posture. After all, part of their training included knowing when their lady was lying.
And at that moment, all indicators suggested that “irritating” wasn’t precisely the word Luna had wanted to use.