Lyrus arrived and hovered near it. The Creatops was hopping on the ground, seemingly unbothered. Its eyes remained closed. The gold armor on its body appeared to be absorbing the daylight. It stood ten meters long and around five meters high. Lyrus descended in front of it.
Lyrus: Hey, big guy.
(Then a river of white gushed out from Lyrus. It woke up as the air and the field around it were covered with white, preventing it from absorbing sunlight.)
Creatops: Groooou! Roar!
(Then it fired a solar cannon. Lyrus easily dodged. But even if he hadn't, it wouldn't have been effective against him.)
Boom!
(The forest behind Lyrus was destroyed.)
Lyrus: (Floating in the air, still releasing white)
Whoa. Such firepower.
Vromm. Vromm.
(Vibrations coursed through the creature's body. Then five light cannons converged and fired into the sky, targeting Lyrus. But he easily dodged them—or rather, they were ineffective altogether. After all, he possessed resistance to everything.)
Vromm. Vromm.
(The creature turned into a ball and started spinning. Now, it was transforming into a yellow orb.)
Lyrus: Whoa. Cover it.
(Then all the white around began to converge onto the body of Creatops. But the orb shot into the sky.)
What the hell? Is it trying to shoot me down or something?
Norton: This is dangerous! Moria, go there and save him!
Moria: Roar!
Mother Swarm Lanfer 2: Scree!
(Then a massive Golden Aegis covered them all. Moria was trapped inside the shield and couldn't escape.)
Moria: Argh!
(He smashed against a golden wall.)
What are you doing, worm!?
Mother Swarm Lanfer 2: Scree!
Norton: What is it saying?
Moria: Its master said: don't interfere.
Norton: Your master is in danger! Get this aegis down this instant!
Mother Swarm Lanfer 2: Scree!
(Then a thorny aegis materialized and caged Moria.)
Moria: Fuck! It said, "Don't interfere or I'll kill this beast."
(Even though Moria was stronger than Lanfer, her light-based abilities were lethal to shadow beasts like him.)
Norton: This... You're a Legend Rank, get out of there!
Moria: I can't!
(Bogs!)
(It didn't budge.)
Argh!
(His arm began to melt.)
This thing is too strong...!
A crashing meteor of light came hurtling down toward Lyrus in the distance.
Boom!
A huge explosion erupted, flattening everything in sight and forming a massive mushroom cloud in the sky. Meanwhile, all those within Lanfer's aegis remained unaffected.
Norton: Fuck...
Then, suddenly, the smoke dispersed instantly, replaced by white clouds and rivers of white energy materializing in the sky. Lyrus was still hovering mid-air.
Mike: This is impossible... He's still alive!
Miguel: Whoa...
The attack left a thousand-meter-wide crater.
Creatops: Grooooou!
(It roared up at Lyrus.)
Lyrus: You're strong... but all attacks—whether physical, magical, or whatever—are ineffective against me.
Vromm. Vromm.
(The creature began spinning again.)
Lyrus: It's useless. Now, converge and integrate.
(All the white energy began converging into the body of Creatops. It was now becoming a light orb surrounded by a whirling storm of white in the sky.)
Norton: What kind of power is this...?
I can't even feel spiritual energy or magical energy. Is it psychic...? No... this isn't that either. What kind of power is this...?
(Norton was bewildered. He had been monitoring Lyrus and his mother since before Lyrus was born, and this was the first time he had witnessed such a reality-defying display of power.)
Lyrus: Are you trying to flee?
(He noticed the beast trying to escape.)
Not a chance.
(He melted into white energy as well.)
Converge!
Vromm. Vromm.
(Both Lyrus and the white whirlpool shot into the sky and vanished toward the distant forest. Then, suddenly, the light orb crashed like a meteor, but this time, it seemed the white whirlpool had forced it down.)
Boom!
(The forest was devastated again, and another crater formed—but this time, it was filled with a white river that surrounded Creatops. Lyrus reanimated his body from head to waist.)
Lyrus: Oh... this feeling. Haha.
(Despite the magnitude of the crash, both he and the Creatops were still perfectly fine.)
Wanna go again?
(He also noticed they had gotten quite far from the grasslands and were now deep in the forest.)
Vromm. Vromm.
(The beast started spinning again inside the crater.)
Lyrus: Haha.
(Then he integrated his white energy into the ground, lifting eight large chunks of land and crushing them down onto the Creatops.)
Boom. Boom.
(The Creatops stopped spinning due to the impact.)
Creatops: Grooo!
(It roared and fired another solar cannon, destroying Lyrus's reanimated body.)
Lyrus: (Reanimating again)
Ohh, I let my guard down. Haha.
But it doesn't have any effect on me at all.
As long as there's white in the surroundings, I'm immortal.
(Lyrus raised his right hand, and the ground shook, then transmuted into a white spear cage, trapping the Creatops. The beast destroyed the cage, but it reformed again and again.)
Then Lyrus started the process of bounding with the power of white. It swirled again. By the way, his power of bounding was different. The white swirled and integrated into the Creatops' body to an atomic level—even into its consciousness, spirit, and soul. He called this bounding Existential Domination. All beasts that were bound by his white could not go against him. His power of white would also eat the very existence of the beast, and a new entity inside would be born.
This was why all his beasts were intelligent and capable of humanoid evolution—because his very power altered their origin and existence.
The beast stopped resisting and fell unconscious.
Lyrus: I guess it's a success.
(Then a syringe materialized and he took some blood samples.)
Meanwhile, Teo had stopped hunting because of the two large explosions that shook the forest. Norton also sent a distress signal to the second explosion site. But when they arrived, they only saw destruction of trees everywhere and a huge crater. The Creatops was lying unconscious inside a cage at the center of the crater, and Lyrus was waiting nearby, examining the beast.
Teo: What happened here?
(He arrived with Vasha, along with Horus, Vigil, Sedestro, Lanfer, Titus, and Ishvel. Norton had already briefed him via the distress message that Lyrus had engaged the Creatops, trying to tame it, and was currently fighting it—causing such a large ruckus across the grasslands and forest.)
This kid… How did he do it?
Lyrus: (Noticing the others arrive, including Teo and Vasha)
Hello, Uncle.
(He greeted them, smiling.)
Horus: Master.
(He landed with Vigil on his shoulder.)
Sedestro: What do we have here?
(He examined the beast.)
Titus: Are you okay, Master?
Lyrus: Better than ever.
Teo: Did you just tame it?
Lyrus: Yeah, I did. I just formed a bound with it a while ago. This guy was quite hard to catch, and it had such destructive firepower. If I hadn't forcefully used my power on its body, I'd still be fighting it right now.
Teo knew this beast was cunning—once it was done attacking, if it thought it couldn't win, it would flee. That was why no one had ever caught or bound this beast. But Lyrus just did. This place was already far from the grasslands, and Lyrus had chased it here and even crashed it unconscious.
Teo: Seems like you no longer need a babysitter. You're already strong enough to roam the Wildlands on your own...
(He also noticed that ever since they left the city, Lyrus had not changed—still composed and confident, though occasionally surprised. He had been worried, but it seemed that worry was unnecessary.)
Lyrus: Haha. I'm still a beginner. I just got lucky.
Teo: (Lucky? This is not something luck could do. If it were luck, you'd be injured right now and the beast would have fled. But it's the other way around—you're unscathed and the beast is unconscious... and you tamed it. Which is impossible.)
I'm glad you're okay. Let's go back to the camp.
(It was already almost sundown.)
Lyrus: Vigil.
Vigil: Yes, Master.
(A black void opened from Vigil, and a wide Void Gate appeared.)
Crack.
(The Creatops in a cage was lifted by Horus. Flap. Flap. Then he passed through the void gate.)
Vigil: We're not going back. We'll be staying to train more, Master.
Lyrus: Sure. Be careful out there.
(Then he passed through the gate. Teo also passed through with his Tarfollio and left Vasha with Lyrus' beast companions.)
Vigil: Hi-hi-hi. Let's go, sister snake.
(Vasha also wanted to go back, but she couldn't.)
Hi-hi. Lead us to more worthy opponents—not mobs, okay?
Teo: You're full of surprises, kid.
(He was also surprised that Vigil had a spatial ability—able to distort space and create gates—but he didn't show it.)
Lyrus: (Smiles.)
Crash.
Horus put the cage on the ground near the tents.
Horus: Master, this is all the beast carcasses we hunted so far.
(He gave a spatial ring. Lyrus would later distribute these back at the mansion.)
I'll be going back, Master.
Lyrus: Sure. If you find a peculiar beast or something with talent, capture it and bring it to me.
Horus: Yes.
(Then he passed through the void gate, and it closed.)
Mike: What the hell? Did you just catch it? Wow. You're so overpowered, bro.
Everyone was surprised. He really pulled off the impossible. They were also bewildered by his peculiar ability when he was fighting the Creatops.
Teo: By the way, Lyrus. Why don't you recall your beast companions? It's more dangerous at night in the Wildlands. Beasts hunt at night. Nocturnals are very dangerous.
Lyrus: I'm confident I'll be okay. I still have Lanfer 2 with me.
(It would be better if they come to me, he thought.)
Teo: (This kid is giving me a headache.)
But still, be careful.
(He said to Lyrus.)
EVERYONE LISTEN UP—especially the interns. In the Wildlands, day is the safest because you can see what's coming, and prevent the inevitable. But nightfall is different. Nocturnal beasts are even more dangerous—especially shadow-type and dark-type. These beasts can blend with the surroundings and hunt at night. Some of them can also metamorphose and copy appearances—those are the most dangerous. They move in silence, so be careful and don't wander at night.
Teo: Miyo, come out.
(Then the shadow behind Teo enlarged into a silver shadow, and a silvery, beautiful moth-like woman came out. She had red antennae, two pairs of moth wings, was white from head to toe, elegant-looking but also ferocious—with crimson-black eyes and sharp obsidian-black claws. A Veredis—a Humanoid Nocturnal Silvermoon Moth and another Legendary Beast.)
Teo: This is my Veredis. She'll be responsible for our safety tonight. Don't wander outside a 500-meter radius, or I can't guarantee your safety if you encounter something.
(It was still sundown—the light of day still out.)
Everyone dispersed and started preparing food. There were eight campfires, and everyone was grilling and cooking. Lyrus also started feeding Lanfer 2 with the meat caught by the other hunters. Lanfer 2 was a Mother Swarm, so it ate anything. It grew stronger by eating.
Most of the beasts were serpent-type—mainly Saneon (Black Serpent), around 8 of them. Some were Tyraskar (Megalodon Green T-Rex) and one Cobollia (Giant Black-Green Cobra). All of these were Overlords, and the Tyraskar and Cobollia were Legendary Beasts.
Teo had said the Wildlands near Bulgaria were full of serpent beasts, so it was expected that most of the stronger beasts in this region were snakes.
Lyrus: (Observing the catch of his beast companions. He was not disappointed—because they had taken down a Legendary Beast on their own.)
Not bad.
Teo also said some of the beasts they hunted couldn't be recovered because most were destroyed beyond use. If he hadn't advised them to catch their prey without damaging them, they wouldn't have done so. Fortunately, they were brilliant and understood Teo's intentions.
A while after, it was already nighttime, and everyone was enjoying their food. Then, the Creatops awakened.
Creatops: Groooo...
But this time, it was already tamed. Though its wary nature toward humans remained. In the beast's eyes, there was now a hint of intelligence—one of the mysteries of taming, especially bounding. The memories of the bounder flowed into the beast's consciousness—along with all other beasts bound to the tamer. Their knowledge would flow to each other, creating a network of intelligence that helped develop wisdom.
Of course, a part of the tamer's soul played a major role. And for Lyrus, soul was no issue—because the white itself was him. So when the white integrated with a beast, it would be instantly tamed and bound.
That was what made his bounding special compared to other tamers. His white not only tamed but evolved the beast's intelligence to that of a 12-year-old human. His power of white developed the beast's brain, nervous system, mind, intelligence, wisdom, soul, spirit, and consciousness—all at once. No need for intelligence serums anymore.
This was one of the reasons why he had come to the Wildlands—to test the true capabilities of his white.
Lyrus: You're awake.
(Then, with a wave of his hand, the white cage made from alchemically transformed earth dissolved into dust as the white dispersed into the surroundings. He then patted its head.)
Good boy. From now on, your name will be Zakhar.
(Then he gave it meat from the other hunted beasts. He was surprised to see it eating meat—he thought it was a herbivore. The two big guys ate side by side, devouring the giant beasts the others had hunted.)