The beast realized that this was not the weakling that got shredded by its claws, but a new challenger with power to subdue it.
It still refused to give up and let itself be tamed. Eventually, Lucian made the chains disappear, freeing the beast.
All hunters who tamed their beasts said that defeating the beast would do it, but what about beasts that refused to give in, like Jax's and this one?
No amount of beatings would tame them. As someone who was as stubborn as a mule, Lucian could relate.
Some nature couldn't be changed, not even with violence.
Humans could fake obeyance in the face of authority and power, but the beasts couldn't.
They might react to rewards, which was why Jax frequented the brothels in an attempt to please his beast.
They knew no greed, so after getting their fill of food or other things, they could laze around and sleep without worrying about anything.
What the beasts had in abundance was instinct, including instincts to follow a more dominant beast, and that was the path of least resistance in Lucian's opinion.
The beast widened its eyes when it saw Lucian change his form into a bigger and scarier version of itself, "..."
Its mouth opened, showing rows of sharp teeth in defiance.
Lucian's lion mouth opened as well, except that there were no teeth inside. Only a black hole, ready to devour the beast.
There were no limits to what a mind could conjure, and as a big dreamer, Lucian turned into the beast's nightmare.
If Voice had a nose, it would have rubbed the bridge of its nose in annoyance at Lucian's imagination, as if to say: 'This is what I have to deal with every second. He's a moron. You have no idea what I have to deal with.'
The big lion Lucian chased the smaller beast. He caught it with his claws, and bit into its shoulder.
The beast whimpered and cried in pain, "Rawr! Roaw!" It tried to claw back at him, only to be pinned down under him, "Roaawr!"
The big lion Lucian bit into the beast's neck and threw it around like a rag doll, showing off his superior strength, before letting go.
The beast tail tucked under its belly, trying to run away from the bigger beast, only to be chased and bitten again.
It finally gave in and surrendered, "Roar..."
Lucian changed his form back into human, and the beast followed him obediently as if he was a fellow beast from the same pack.
He made it look easy thanks to plenty of practice with a certain Voice, but he couldn't deny how good it felt to succeed in what others failed to achieve.
'I should have been born a southerner instead. My talent is wasted on the north.'
He cried for the money he could have saved. Maybe he would have been an eighth marked hunter by now.
Lucian was ready to challenge the next beast, wanting to unlock more of the ferals' tattoo abilities and the beasts' powers.
He looked around the empty dessert, realizing something.
"Where's the next beast?" he asked the beast.
The beast looked genuinely clueless as to how Lucian expected him to know. 'You are the bigger beast. You are supposed to lead, not the other way around,' its face seemed to say.
Lucian looked through every nook and cranny of the mind. Taming the first beast should have unsealed a gate to the second.
'Did becoming a feral destroy their progress? I forgot to check his tattoo, maybe he didn't even grow it enough to unlock a second gate.'
Lucian didn't need Roland's underling back in his right mind, just a loyal soldier that could fight for him.
The problem was whether he would be able to make the feral gain experience and grow its tattoo by itself.
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The feral's heartbeat had returned back to its normal pace.
Lucian opened his eyes. He was back in the ruins of the temple.
He sat there for a second, placing his arm over his knee to keep his balance. A small backlash was expected, nothing more than a slight headache.
The feral blinked his eyes open and stared at Lucian blankly, as if waiting for his command.
"Stand up."
The feral obeyed.
"Walk."
He did.
"Stop."
And so he stopped.
"Who am I?"
"...Master."
Jax almost tripped and fell over a rock when he heard the feral's response, "What in the world...?"
His surprise turned into disbelief, even waving his hand in front of the feral's face a couple times to see if he was conscious and aware of his surroundings.
The feral was responsive, clawing in Jax's direction.
Jax jumped back, startled, "What the...He is still a feral! Didn't he just call you Master? Why is he attacking me?"
Lucian told the feral to stop.
The feral didn't attack Jax anymore, but his eyes remained trained on him, following his every move with hostility.
Jax took a step back away from the feral, then another, "You are not a southerner yourself. How is this possible?"
"The Gods must truly favor me, it seems," Lucian replied like he wasn't sure how he accomplished it either, "Who else but them would grant such a gift to me?"
Jax looked at Lucian as if he had descended from the heavens above.
It was much simpler to throw the miraculous deed at the Gods. Being humble was the key, and not taking any credit for himself. If used right, this would be more than enough to get Lucian some followers, or even turn them into fanatics if he was willing to go that far.
Lucian liked to believe that he was not forsaken by fate. Just look at his success and what he has achieved so far. Who would doubt his luck?
'The man who is fighting against his own fate?' A part of his mind asked, making Lucian's mood sour, 'The man whose wish is to be happy with the woman of his dreams, and be able to protect his family he would never have?'
Lucian showed those thoughts off the clifftop of his mind, and they fell into a sea of blackness.
He should be celebrating his first soldier who would be a part of his personal army, not wallowing in misery.
"Take me to the rest of ferals," Lucian picked himself up from the ground.