Lord Of Beasts

’Complete Link: Talon.’

Unlike with Spark, Ethan immediately felt Talon’s prideful presence retreat, as if the Griffling was taking a figurative step back and letting him take control. There was no resistance, only a silent acknowledgement between master and beast.

The Cinder Wisp had barely seemed to care when Ethan took control of its body, and he doubted Wolfy would put up much of a fight either. Storm, however, might be an entirely different story.

Not that it mattered right now.

Ethan was experiencing something he could hardly put into words, and it only made him look forward to Complete Assimilation even more. If Complete Link already allowed him to experience his beasts like this, he could hardly imagine what it would feel like to merge with them completely.

His perspective shifted.

Once again, Ethan’s human body disappeared from his awareness, replaced by an entirely different form. Wings stretched from his back, powerful talons gripped the air, and his body was lean and muscular beneath a layer of feathers, built for one purpose above all else.

Flight.

The aircraft carrying his actual body was already beginning its takeoff, engines roaring as it accelerated down the runway.

Ethan took off alongside it within Talon’s body.

He expected the wind to slam into him.

Instead, it flowed around him.

The air parted naturally around his form, almost as if it were helping him move rather than resisting him. His body seemed perfectly adapted to the flow, creating a constant slipstream that allowed him to glide through the air with almost no wasted movement.

’This is awesome!”

But even with that advantage, Talon couldn’t keep pace with the aircraft.

Not yet, anyway.

The jet continued pulling ahead, its engines carrying it faster and faster into the sky. Talon had to push himself just to remain within sight of it, even with its speed.

Still, Ethan was impressed.

For a C Rank beast that shouldn’t even remotely be comparable to a modern aircraft in terms of raw speed, Talon had managed to keep up for as long as he had.

And that wasn’t even the most impressive part.

Ethan’s vision was incredibly clear.

He could see through gaps in the clouds and make out the landscape far beneath him with startling precision. Everything appeared vibrant and sharply defined, with details that should have been impossible to notice from such a height standing out as though they were right in front of him.

Information flooded into his mind.

Yet somehow, it wasn’t overwhelming like he had experienced before.

Ethan had expected his human brain to struggle with the sheer amount of sensory information being processed through Talon’s senses, but that never happened. He wasn’t simply forcing Talon’s senses through his own mind, but was borrowing the beast’s mind as well.

The information was being processed naturally, almost instinctively, before reaching his conscious awareness.

Then Ethan noticed something else.

’I’m so attuned to the wind.’

It wasn’t simply that Talon’s body was aerodynamic, but Ethan could feel disturbances in the surrounding air. Subtle shifts, changes in pressure, and even the movement of air particles around his wings and body - he picked up on them all.

This wasn’t hearing, nor was it echolocation.

It was something deeper, an almost instinctive awareness of the air itself.

’Incredible...’

For a short while, Ethan simply flew.

He experimented with Talon’s movements, banking sharply, diving, climbing, and allowing the currents to carry him. Every motion felt natural, almost effortless. But with every passing second, the aircraft carrying his actual body moved farther away.

Eventually, Ethan glanced toward it.

’Ah, fuck it.’

He couldn’t keep up anyway.

’Let’s go on a little adventure and really test out the range of the summoning.’

Supposedly, there wasn’t one.

At least, not according to what Ethan understood about his connection with his beasts.

Still, he remained sceptical.

He was constantly providing his summoned beasts with a stream of mana, after all. How exactly the connection continued to function over vast distances was something even Ethan didn’t fully understand.

’All I gotta know is that it works.’

And what better way to confirm that than by testing it himself?

With a powerful beat of his wings, Talon suddenly dropped.

Swoosh!

Ethan plummeted toward the ground before spreading Talon’s wings and redirecting his momentum. He shot across the landscape, heading toward the only place he knew in this sparsely inhabited part of Arkansas.

Darren’s house.

Unfortunately for Darren, Ethan’s return would be considerably less recognisable than before.

And considerably less welcome.

Darren had only just finished speaking with his mother through sign language about leaving town and moving to the city. Ethan had sprung the idea on him almost completely out of nowhere, but the more Darren thought about it, the more seriously he was considering it.

”It’s a chance to restart and leave all this shit behind,” he pleaded, signing the words carefully.

His mother remained hesitant.

The house and the surrounding town were all she had ever known. Leaving everything familiar behind was a massive decision, and Darren couldn’t blame her for being reluctant.

Besides, while the circumstances surrounding their life there weren’t exactly something he was proud of, they were still the roots they had grown from.

Eventually, Darren left her to think about it.

He wasn’t going anywhere without her, so ultimately the decision was in her hands. Instead of hounding her about it, he climbed onto the roof, hoping the familiar height would help clear his head.

It was a habit that he and Ethan unknowingly shared.

Darren sat down with a beer in hand and stared out over the town, still struggling to process the insanity that had descended upon his doorstep.

He had never expected to see Ethan again.

Hell, he himself wasn’t even supposed to be released this early.

Yet somehow, here he was.

And somehow, the troubled kid Darren remembered had returned as a Titled.

’New York, huh.’

The more Darren thought about it, the better the idea sounded.

Ethan had offered him a chance to leave this place behind and start over somewhere completely different.

’It’s an offer I almost can’t refuse.’

That’s when a gust of wind slammed into him.

Except this wasn’t an ordinary gust; the force hit Darren so suddenly that his eyes widened.

”Wooaaah!”

His body was thrown from the roof.

Swoosh!

A massive shape descended from the sky.

Talon caught him before he could hit the ground, powerful claws wrapping around his body while Ethan tried to be careful.

’I don’t want to shred the poor bastard.’

Darren, however, was too busy screaming to appreciate the consideration. Especially since rather than placing him on the ground gently, Ethan couldn’t resist climbing slightly higher before dropping him.

Thud!

Darren hit the ground with a grunt.

Ethan laughed, which came out as a strange cackle that echoed in the air while in Talon’s body. Meanwhile, Darren scrambled to his feet and stared at the beast circling above him.

’Can this day get any crazier?!’

His expression went from confusion to terror.

He turned and started running.

The weapons inside the house were his first idea, but Darren immediately dismissed the thought.

’Mom’s inside!’

Whatever this thing was, he wasn’t bringing it to her doorstep.

Ethan recognised the reasoning immediately and respected it deeply, though that didn’t stop him from tormenting the man. He circled Darren from above while in Talon’s body, occasionally dipping lower and sending powerful gusts of wind crashing into him.

Darren stumbled as another current caught him.

Ethan watched carefully, using his old friend as a dummy to test out his beast’s capabilities.

That’s when an idea formed.

’If I’ve learnt one thing, it’s that there are infinite possibilities.’

He continued observing the way Talon’s body interacted with the air.

’Does that mean I can create a skill even in my beast’s body?’

Well, there was only one way to find out.