While waiting for the voices of the hunters to completely fade into the distance, Beauty scanned the tiny squirrel shivering in Zyra’s arms. She turned her virtual gaze to Zyra.
[Host, do you want to form a bond with the beast in your arms?] Beauty asked, her tone casual.
Zyra looked around, expecting to see a giant ape or something. "What beast?"
[The squirrel, host]
Zyra let out a loud sigh and looked down at the fluffy creature that had latched on to her as if she was its mother. It looked like it would struggle to crack a tough nut, let alone survive a fight. "Only if it evolves to have massive teeth that can bite through metal," Zyra said, deadpan.
Beauty let out a sarcastic laugh that echoed in Zyra’s mind. [Keep dreaming. Not this particular squirrel.] The virtual snake rolled her eyes. [This is a Storm Tail Squirrel. If you train it right, it can evolve to shoot literal lightning out of its tail. It can run so fast that it’s basically a blur, and it can create static fields that fry electronics. Are you sure you don’t want to bond with it?]
Zyra’s eyes widened. Okay, that actually sounds awesome, such skills would come in handy_ who knows what awaits me in this life? Besides, there were many platforms that hosted fighting competitions between beasts for prizes. She could see this squirrel making a killing in some fights relying on speed alone.
She reached down, patted the squirrel’s tiny head, and smiled. "System, let’s do it. Form the bond."
[Do you Zyra Scorpion accept this squirrel to be your second half-life beast?]
Zyra rolled her eyes because it sounded like wedding vows and the system was the priest officiating the unconventional wedding. "Just get to the final part, no need for the drama and weirdness."
[Alright then. Initiating bonding process...] Beauty’s voice rang out, suddenly sounding official.
A thin, glowing red thread materialized out of thin air, wrapping once around Zyra’s wrist before stretching out to loop around the squirrel’s tiny paw. The thread pulsed with a warm light for a second, then sank into their skin and vanished.
[Soul bond formed. Process complete, Host may now transfer the beast into the Beast Dominion.]
Zyra didn’t need to be told twice. "Get right to it already," she muttered, quickly approving the transfer.
With a soft pop, they both vanished, and Zyra let out a massive sigh of relief. With free hands, she could navigate the terrain much better. She vanished into the beast domain, just to make sure that her snake did not eat the squirrel.
[Ding! Friendly reminder to my host, you can only stay in the Beast Dominion for twenty minutes only. The Storm tail squirrel can stay forever.]
The system prompt instantly ruined her mood. Zyra’s smile dropped. "You really know how to kill a vibe, Beauty. And to remind me that your privileges are for beasts, not me."
She looked into the dominion space. The little squirrel was already having the time of its life, happily sprinting around a cluster of newly grown nut trees. It seemed like the dominion had also expanded a little.
So, the space grew to provide whatever food her beast needed! That saved her time to look for food for the beasts.
But as Zyra watched the squirrel, something caught her eye. She glanced down at the back of her hand. A strange black drawing had appeared on her skin!
She blinked rapidly, rubbing her eyes. "Wait. This is a perfectly drawn tattoo? I don’t have tattoos. Beauty, is this your doing?" It looked like a tiny, detailed sketch of trees and stones and a small triangle in the middle. "What is this?" she muttered, trying to aggressively scrub the black ink off with her thumb.
That only made it worse.
As she rubbed it, a small, bright triangle began to glow on the tattoo. Beneath it, a faint, glowing line unfurled like a tiny road map with a trail, twisting right toward the triangle.
"What the hell?" Zyra gasped, jumping a little. "Beauty, come out and explain? Did you give me a magic tattoo?"
[Don’t look at me, If I was to mark my host then it would be images of your beasts. Host that looks like a map and the little red dot must be you, or where you are standing.]
With a quick beep, the system scanned the drawing and projected it onto the floating virtual screen. The digital map overlayed perfectly onto the jungle layout where Zyra had been hiding just moments ago.
[I am right.]
"A map?" Zyra stared at her hand in disbelief. "Why on earth is there a map of the jungle tattooed on my skin?"
[More importantly,] Beauty said, her virtual snake icon leaning closer to the screen, [where does that little trail actually lead?]
Before Zyra could answer, a strange sound cut through the silence. Like the humming of a bee. Her mother’s knife, strapped to her side, was vibrating. The green crystal embedded in the hilt were blinking rapidly, pulsing in perfect synchronization with the glowing triangle on her hand.
Zyra swallowed hard. She could feel it....a strange, invisible tug. "The knife and the map... they’re connected."
[Well, what are you waiting for?] Beauty said, her voice dripping with excitement. [You should go find out where it leads.]
Zyra immediately shook her head, taking a step back. "Are you crazy? Look at me! I am not strong enough for a secret quest. If I go out there chasing a glowing tattoo, I’m just going to walk straight into trouble with my eyes wide open. This spear is Somnivore, the glove was Somnivore so the tattoo is probably something Somnivore related too. At this rate, I am going to turn into a Somnivore." But even as she resisted the urge to follow the map, her heart thundered loudly, her blood boiled with excitement.
If the tattoo was related to the glove and the glove was left by her mother, then her mother had known about it. Maybe this map was something she left to lead her somewhere.
[Time’s almost up! Your twenty minutes in the Beast Dominion have almost expired, two minutes remain.]
"What! Beauty hold on for a minute." Zyra grumbled.
She lifted her eyes to look at the screen. Beauty the virtual snake was practically vibrating with energy, her digital eyes sparkling. The map was blown up, and parts of the jungle were being added automatically. It seemed to be updating itself by the second.
Zyra sighed heavily. Her system seemed way more enthusiastic about the unknown jungle exploration than the person who actually had to survive it.
But surviving meant taking risks, and she didn’t have much of a choice. If she wanted to grow powerful, she had to grit her teeth and accept the risks.