Chapter 5: Two Years
Two weeks after I woke up in the medical room, I was walking through the massive IGO HQ with Ichiryu, who was taking me to meet my new instructors.
During the last two weeks, I tore into the books on this world and confirmed a lot of my knowledge on the planet while my body was absorbing nutrients through an IV like a sponge.
I also finished getting enough vaccines to make the Doc happy. I almost thought the woman had a thing for smiling evilly while sticking me with sharp needles.
Thankfully for my brain (and the readers), everything I said before about this world was correct, (Chapter 2), and I didn't have to relearn these things.
Of course, specific details were helpfully supplied. I learned the names of all the regions, continents, and seas in the Human World.
I have a pretty good memory, but I made sure to add it all to my Notes tab. I decided to categorize and file any information I put into the tab for easy future access.
-Beasts
-Geography
-Plants
-Important Notes
-Projects
-Idea
-Etc.
I had many different categories and organized everything nicely and orderly and even alphabetically set it.
I wasn't a huge history or geography fan back on earth, but that's probably because it wasn't interesting to learn about a boring planet like earth.
This world was way more exciting, and I knew I needed the information, which motivated me.
Speaking of the system, I learned a few new facts.
I can only see the level of those within 10 level difference for humans. For beasts, their capture level will always be shown as long as I have it written in my notes. If not, they follow the same rule as humans. I can only see the stamina bar of another being if we enter some form of combat. I only discovered this because I accidentally bumped into someone a few days before, and their stamina bar showed. All capture levels are based on multiple factors, and this applies to humans as well. Humans have many skills that make them dangerous. A Capture Level is a numerical rating applied by the IGO, which indicates the difficulty of successfully capturing a particular Ingredient. Considerations used in assigning capture levels can include a beast's fighting strength, but also their dangerous habitats, the other powerful beasts living alongside them, and the difficulty of successfully preparing or eating them. Capture Levels can also cover Cell Demons and even human individuals.
The capture level scale used by the IGO goes from Level 1 to Level 100. It is 'calibrated' against the strongest beast in the Human World, the sole creature at capture level 100. The more powerful beasts of the inhospitable Gourmet World usually are too remote and powerful for the IGO to determine their levels, so they are referred to as having 'unmeasurable' capture levels. Likewise, there are also ingredients within the Human World that are considered "below capture level 1" that usually comprise extremely easy to get foods that pose little or no danger.
A capture level does not always refer solely to fighting strength, also taking into account the environment, rarity, and any other guardians or obstacles. Still, when it does, a level 1 beast is described as harrowing enough to require at least a group of ten professional hunters, all armed with shotguns. Beyond Level 3, most conventional arms cease being useful at all. The capture level of an individual beast can change with its growth.
Other than that, not much happened aside from spending time with Yoru, Ichiryu coming by a few times and telling me I'm officially his son legally now, and Doc checking on me.
For the most part, they left me to myself, and I appreciated the space. They are all really nice, but it's best to take this slow.
The only one I can see with me 24/7 is Yoru, and she's fucking adorable. She showed an interest in the books I was reading, and I tried to teach her the language.
I honestly don't know if it worked or not, but she stares at pages a lot.
The sound of a mechanical door sliding open brought me out of my thoughts.
We entered a massive and empty room with a few people standing in it. Despite looking emotionless and calm on the outside, I was marveling at the size of the room.
Ichiryu brought me out of my room the first time to take me on a tour of the HQ.
Just like I thought, the island was man-made and square-shaped. However, it looked smaller in the anime and manga. It was quite large in real life, but the whole place only had a few essential facilities and warehouses, living areas for on-site staff, and the central tower where the staff connects to and runs a worldwide organization.
The IGO has eight biotopes spread around the human world that all have their own jobs, and every city has branches and members doing their jobs.
They are way more advanced than earth from my old life, but they also have weird directions of advancement.
Construction, transportation, food science, biology, and so much more were all developed to crazy levels thanks to the sole focus of humanity on improving themselves and the phantasy like resources and species.
Thanks to the IGO, thousands of obstacles that my old world faced in human development were removed. However, even still, politics exists and thrives, and humans without gourmet cells are below a capture level 1 beast.
Coming up to the small group, Ichiryu introduced all of us.
"Everyone, thanks for coming. This here is my son Ryo, Ryo, these are your instructors for the foreseeable future.
You have Marilyn, your wilderness survival instructor.
Thor, your hand to hand combat and basic weapon handling instructor.
Morton, your tutor for all the knowledge you will need, including ingredients, their habitats, weakness, and much more. These topics include knowing everything from countries' movements, their leaders and influential figures, proper etiquette, and everything you will need to know.
Carl, your physical conditioning instructor. He will be spending the most time with you during the coming days; you have a long road ahead of you.
And finally, Takami, your medical instructor, you should be familiar with her by now. You need to understand the human body and how everything affects you. Your tutors will be focusing on many topics, so I wanted you to have someone else to help you focus on the medical science side. This will be incredibly important when it comes time for your Gourmet Cells.
Once you can pass at least the basic requirements of each of them, you can let me know if you have any other topics you want to be taught.
Remember this Ryo, with my resources; I can get you a teacher for almost anything; it's up to you to decide how much and what exactly you want to learn.
Now, all of you. Give this kid hell! I want him to be appropriately challenged, if he can't handle it, he will say so himself. Ryo, push yourself as far as you like but know your limits. It's essential to know them so you can break them without breaking yourself.
I'll leave you all to it then." (Ichiryu)
And with that, he left to go do his work while I became the sole focus of five instructors with sadistic smiles on their faces.
I didn't so much as twitch on the outside, but I was sweating hard on the inside while Yoru on my shoulder was hissing at them.
'Fuck, this is going to hurt.'
~Two Year Timeskip~
And hurt it did.
These last two years were hell, and I loved the result of every day.
No, I am not a masochist; I am someone who loves to feel the results of my own hard work and effort.
And I have come a long way.
Standing at 58" and weighing in at around 88lbs, I looked like a twelve-year-old despite being only ten.
I didn't hit puberty yet, so I wasn't muscled up, but I was defined and cut nicely with a healthy light tan. My hair grew out, and I decided to keep it long. I never tried it in my past life, but I've always wanted to see what long hair felt like.
Carl, my physical conditioning instructor, put me through a boot camp that would make any Marine drill instructor from my last world nod with a smile.
And for them, boot camp was only three months. Mine has been two years, and while I may not have enjoyed the beginning, once I got going and got into shape, I started enjoying the challenges much more while Carl tried to push me physically in all kinds of ways.
He wasn't introduced in the manga or anime, so I assume he either died or was a low-level employee. The guy was still a fantastic drill sergeant.
Marilyn, my wilderness survival instructor, took me on Heli-jet (AN: A combo of a helicopter and a jet) rides to forests and taught me how to survive with nothing but my own body.
I prefer a knife on hand, but it's not necessary, the guy has survival down to an art form, and he taught me in steps so I could absorb everything. It only took him a year to teach me everything I'll ever need, and he only said I need experience to finish the training. This freed up more time for my other teachers.
Marilyn is a middle-aged man of average height with black semi-short hair. He has a very small thin mustache and a large oval-shaped nose. His attire consists of a dark green uniform and a pair of sunglasses that obscure his eyes.
Marilyn was a character from both the anime and manga. He runs the security at the coliseum over at the 1st biotope. He was a very professional guy, and I built a nice friendship with him.
Thor, my combat instructor, really put me through the wringer. He often went off on rants about how these superhuman gourmet hunters with superhuman bodies never learned proper martial arts and always tried to use brute force.
Thor was a character in the manga but was never shown in the anime. He is a gourmet police chief who strongly believes in justice, but Starjun killed him in the puffer whale arc.
He taught me everything from Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Karate, MMA, and much more. Of course, he was only showing me the basics since there were so many forms. The point was to get me comfortable with combat and find the art form that connects most to me.
I can't say I'm a huge fan of close combat, but I at least learned a solid defense and how to attack correctly. The thing I focused most on was footwork and agility since I knew the importance of it in this world. I would leave my offense for whatever ability I would get from my gourmet cells.
He also taught me the art of weapons and beat a basic understanding of most weapons into me. The vast majority of guns are barely useful against a tough-skinned level 1 beast, so once I got the basics of them down, I was moved on to other categories.
It seemed that in this world, gourmet hunters rely more on weapons that can be used with their enhanced bodies so funnily enough, while science evolved, many hunters went with more primitive weapons.
Many even created their own unique weapons.
I focused on the sword. Thor was a swordsman, and while I could learn other types of combat from him, the most accessible and most efficient style he could teach was the way of the sword.
Plus, after careful consideration, I realized that no matter what my Gourmet Cell's mutation is, a blade will be incredibly useful in this world.
I also decided to try and save Thor's life, he was a cool guy, and it was a shame he had to die the way he did.
My medical instructor, Takami or Doc, taught me in an efficient way how human biology works and how gourmet cells change the body. She might be strict, but she was a great teacher who calmly answered all my questions and helped me understand complex parts. She was a no-nonsense teacher and cut out 99% of the bullshit most teachers have you focus on.
The more I studied with her, the more excited I got about the mutation I will get from my cells.
Finally, Morton, my tutor. Holy shit, does this guy know how to teach. I swear he was a guru in a past life or something because I rarely didn't understand the lesson he taught me. He taught me everything from countries, important figures, geography, capture level zones where specific types live, the beasts themselves, etiquette, and an essential skill set in ingredient preparation.
And to top it all off, he was incredibly polite! I remember him as the small personal secretary for Ichiryu when he took a vacation in the anime, but meeting him in real life is way different.
Was my training finished? Hell fucking no!
But I can confidently say that in these two years, I have gotten a firm basic level in all of my subjects with wilderness survival being the only one I had no more practical knowledge to learn from.
And right along with me, Yoru, who never truly left my side, absorbed much from the same things I learned.
I still don't know just how much she understands, but her intelligence has only increased along with her size.
She reached the size of an adult cat a year ago and hasn't stopped growing since then. I've even learned to differentiate between yes and no with her meows. I had to learn through trial and error with many, many, cuts/slashes/stabs, from sharp nails along the way.
I love my adorable partner, but she's a deadly one when upset.
And finally, just a few days ago, I got cleared by all my instructors for reaching the basics level, and Ichiryu agreed to the Gourmet Cell injection. The earlier in life you go through with it, the higher the potential to grow and higher the success rate for living through it.
It was happening tomorrow morning.
Speaking of Ichiryu, I honestly have no problems with considering him as my father. He's been one incredible guy to spend time with these last two years.
He would make time from work to spend time with me. Take me on trips on his fucking massive Janus Unicorn. And teach me things here and there while still making the time together fun.
He's also really insistent on eating meals together every day. In the manga, he was always very fond of the idea of family eating at the same table.
Unfortunately, as insanely awesome as most of this food was, I didn't have gourmet cells yet. Therefore, I could not eat more than a single plate at a meal or gain anything from these meals.
But the real let down was that without gourmet cells, I couldn't even correctly taste all the food. Only those with cells get the boosts to their taste buds to really understand a flavor.
Ichiryu's a cool dad, but it can be a bit embarrassing the way he tries to be funny in public. He gives zero shits about how we might look and just does what he wants without causing problems for anyone. With my personality, I'm often the mature one between us.
Deciding to get an early night's rest, I showered from my nightly work out and got into bed inside my house.
The island is not that big, and Ichiryu thought it best that I learn to take care of myself by giving me a house right next to the HQ tower.
Yes, I'm only a kid, but 1. I'm very mature for my age, considering that I'm mentally an adult. 2. Ichiryu knows I have seen some dark shit in my early years. 3. It's once again, a small island, and I'm legit next door to the tower.
On the other hand, I appreciate the extra space. As kind as everyone is, I'm just not a big social person if I can help it. Only Yoru lives with me, and we are not at home for most of our day anyway.
Closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep with Yoru sleeping on my chest, I couldn't help but feel excited for tomorrow.
I was going to be a pokemon mast...*Cough* wrong world. I was going to become a real Gourmet Hunter and have my main power for this world set.
Was I worried about failing? Nah, I don't have time for that. If I die, I die. But as long as I can fight for it, I will never stop trying to live.
I will be free, freer than anyone, and I now have a family I don't want to leave behind.
*Line Break*
IGO HQ: Medical Sector:
9 AM
Walking into a large waiting room with Yoru trailing beside me, I couldn't help but yawn and stretch a bit.
*Yaaawwn* (Ryo)
*Yaaawwn* (Yoru)
"Haha! You two are perfectly in sync." (Ichiryu)
Turning to the voice in surprise, I saw Ichiryu standing there along with two others. One was a short, hunched over old man, and the other was a kid my age with green clothes and green hair.
I waved casually and walked up to them.
"Hey old man, I haven't seen you in a few days." (Ryo)
"I went out to pick up a very old friend of mine, Ryo. I want you to meet Jiro, Jiro, this is my kid I was telling you about earlier." (Ichiryu)
'Jiro? Wait! This is THE fucking Jiro? Knocking master Jiro.'
Jiro must have noticed my eyes widening in surprise because he lightly laughed but didn't press on it.
"Haha, its good to meet you young one, Ichi here has had nothing but praise for you." (Jiro)
I bowed my head respectfully.
"Thank you Jiro; I am a huge fan of your legend."
Ichiryu laughed at that.
"See Jiro! I told you he would know your history. Ryo here has done nothing but train and study for two straight years." (Ichiryu)
"Yes, yes, I owe you a drink next time." (Jiro)
They started bickering a bit while the young boy finally spoke up.
"Wait, two years? You are here for the Gourmet Cell injection, and you have only had two years of training?? I've been working hard since I was six."
Ichiryu and Jiro heard him but didn't pay attention while I turned to face him.
"You are?" (Ryo)
The boy puffed his chest out a little and spoke.
"I'm Teppei, and I'm grandpa Jiro's grandson. My favorite color is green, and I love nature! Did you know.....
...
….." (Teppei)
He just went on and on for a while.
'The anime didn't do him justice; this guy just never shuts up. Maybe he got better when he was older; please tell me he gets better.'
"And that's why green spotted snakes are so rare to see. Wait, am I rambling again?" (Teppei)
I looked him right in the eye and spoke my honest feelings.
"Hm..? Did you say something?" (Ryo)
Everyone froze.
Somewhere in the multiverse, a gravity-defying silver-haired ninja felt a surge of pride for some inexplicable reason.
Everyone unfroze.
"Wha..?" (Teppei)
"*PFT* Hahahaha." (Ichiryu + Jiro)
'I have always wanted to use that line before; I just found my own Might Guy.'
I ignored everything and continued.
"It's nice to meet you Teppei, my name is Ryo, and this is my partner, Yoru." (Ryo)
Teppei took a second to process what I said before he nodded.
"Yeah, same here. And your partner is a beautiful one, what species is she?" (Teppei)
"I would love to know the answer to that. She's a new species that the IGO couldn't identify, but I like to call her an Empress Cat." (Ryo)
"Why do you call her that?" (Teppei)
I pointed to the side, and Teppei followed my line of sight to Yoru, who was lying down on a couch and looking at Teppei with a look that screamed, 'You are beneath me.'
Teppei seemed to get the message because his eyebrow twitched and decided to ignore the line of questioning.
"So, if you're here, I doubt you're not qualified, but how have you only trained for two years?" (Teppei)
Before I could respond, Jiro spoke up.
"Teppei!" (Jiro)
Teppei looked over and noticed Jiro wasn't happy with the question asked.
I smiled at the sight.
'Jiro is a nice guy.'
"Its ok uncle. Teppei, I only trained for two years because the old man found and adopted me two years ago." (Ryo)
Not the whole truth but enough for now.
Jiro smiled at the sound of me calling him uncle, but I saw a flash of pity in his eyes.
'It seems like Ichiryu shared my past with him. The three disciples of the gourmet god, Acacia, all experienced something similar to the memories of my first eight years in this world.'
"Now then! We are all acquainted, but we have a schedule to keep. Ryo, Teppei, you have already had this question asked multiple times, but I will ask again for safety's sake. Are you two sure you want to undergo the injection? There is a high chance of death, but this is the ideal time to get it if you want to maximize the benefits while lowering the risk as much as possible." (Ichiryu)
My eyes flashed with my will and determination, and I spoke without hesitation.
"Yes sir." (Ryo)
Teppei saw my lack of hesitation and quickly followed suit. It's normal to be nervous, but I didn't care, I would succeed or die trying because my freedom was on the line.
Ichiryu and Jiro judged us, to them, we might as well be an open book because they are planetary level beings of power.
They seemed to see what they were looking for because they both nodded with pride.
"Good, you need determination and a strong will to survive. You both will enter separate rooms with Jiro and me watching over you closely. Once you get the injection, you will be dragged into your inner world and lose consciousness.
Once there, you will have to face your gourmet demon.
These demons are born from gourmet cells themselves, and sometimes they are created by the individual while other times, they come from ancient beasts and creatures from the long-forgotten past. Some have high levels of intelligence as well, so you must be prepared.
They share your body so they will simply test your resolve and desire. The more you connect with your demon, the higher your cell compatibility rate will become, so try to find what works for you.
It's the battle of wills and the compatibility that is the lethal aspect of this mutation process. If you fall below 40% compatibility, your body will fail to adapt and shut down.
I wish you two the best, remember your training, remember your dreams, remember WHY you're doing this, and push forward.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" (Ichiryu)
We responded to his charismatic speech with our own determination.
""YES!""
He nodded and smiled.
"Good, Jiro, take Teppei to the second room, Ryo, you follow me." (Ichiryu)
I turned to Teppei and smiled.
"Good luck man, I'll see you when we are done." (Ryo)
Teppei returned my smile with a confident one of his own.
"You as well Ryo, let's spar together once we pass through this." (Teppei)
We bumped fists and followed our respective parents with Yoru following my side.
I rubbed her head and scratched her fluffy ears while she purred and pressed into my side.
Ichiryu led us into an enclosed concrete room with a large circular mat set up in the center. It looked like one of those old cultivation style meditation rooms.
"Sit down in the center Ryo, Yoru can stay by the side; you won't be able to move during the process, so don't worry about hurting her." (Ichiryu)
I sighed in relief at that; I wasn't sure if this would be some cliché 'I lost control of my demon and hurt my loved ones' scenario.
I sat down while Ichiryu approached me with a large needle filled with a glowing serum.
Ichiryu noticed my curious look.
"This is the Gourmet Cell injection. As you know, my master discovered gourmet cells many years ago inside a deep ocean jellyfish. The IGO is the only group in the world who knows where and how to harvest the cells correctly. We also have the only serum recipe that was made after many years of research. Well, my third brother might have a bastardized version of it. Still, the IGO heavily monitors them as well as any information on gourmet cells. It's only here at the HQ that we even keep these resources available when necessary for use like now." (Ichiryu)
'That answers a few questions I had about how gourmet cells were not known to the public or spread around more.'
Ichiryu knelt in front of me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Ryo, no, son, I want you to know how proud I am of how far you came these last two years. From that starving and dying boy who struggled to live while killing a carnivorous Red Haired Pig, to the strong and well-trained boy in front of me. You got here with your own effort. I want you to remember that same determination you spoke with back during our first conversation. Never falter, my son.
Are you ready?" (Ichiryu)
I felt warm inside at his words. He is a great dad.
"Ha, I was born ready old man, don't get all sentimental on me; you're raising a death flag, and I have no intention of dying today." (Ryo)
He laughed and nodded.
"Haha, that's my boy, let's have a meal together when you wake up." (Ichiryu)
And with that, he stabbed the injection into my arm, at his level, he doesn't even need to look to know exactly where the needle has to go.
I felt the serum flow into me and turned to look at Yoru.
"I'll see you soon girl." (Ryo)
She reached over and licked my face before backing off.
I wanted to say more, but the serum kicked in, and it felt like I was suddenly struck by lightning before my body seized up, and my consciousness faded.
Ichiryu POV:
Seeing my son's eyes shoot open in pain and shock, I knew it started.
His body locked up in a sitting position, and he lost consciousness.
'The real battle starts now, good luck son, I believe in you.'
Ryo POV:
After blacking out, I felt an intense shaking that quickly brought me back to consciousness, except what I saw when my eyes opened was….confusing.
I knew I was just sitting in the IGO HQ, but now I was in what felt like a different world that was split in half.
To one side, I saw rolling high peak mountains while the other side had a thick jungle with pockets of open grasslands.
'I guess this is my inner world?'
{RROOAARR!}
{RRAAWWWRR!}
Two roars shook the very air, and I followed the sound to the center of my inner world, where the two halves of the environment met. What I found was...two beasts fighting for supremacy.
The first was a massive dragon-type beast with a few pairs of eyes and a single dominant fang.
The second was a golden glowing Lion with a wild and royal looking mane of hair.
The two were smashing into each other and backing off to roar again and again.
'What the hell is going on?'
Somehow, it seems my thoughts were broadcasted in my mind because both beasts turned their heads toward me and changed from roaring to shouting in a language I could understand.
"BOY! COME KNEEL BEFORE ME!" (Dragon)
"CHILD! DO NOT DISGRACE YOUR HONOR! STAND FIRM!" (Lion)
Then the two went back to attacking each other while I tried to make sense of whatever the hell is going on.
'The Gourmet Cell injection is supposed to summon or create a cell demon that I am supposed to meet and create some kind of bond with, the stronger the bond, the better the compatibility between us.
Now, I am in my inner world, and I found two demons.
From what I have read before, there have been cases where more than one demon showed up, but that was in people who had massive personality changes or had mental conditions. And those people never lasted long in life because the two demons never got along and eventually ate the lifeforce of the host.
So why do I have two beasts? Could it be one for each life I lived?'
I studied the two demons who went back to roaring in their way and thought hard.
'From the memories I received from this body, I can imagine the dragon is a demon summoned by that part of me, and the lion must be my original personality. It seems each demon has their own personality and I know I can't live with both of them so one has to go and this is the only time I can do that.
If they both take root, I won't have a choice about it later on.'
Focusing on the demons, I shouted.
"Hey! Who are you, and what is it that both of you want!" (Ryo)
The dragon shouted first.
"I AM RYUO! THE FIRST DRAGON KING DEROS FROM THE ANCIENT PAST! YOU WILL EAT BOY, AND SERVE ME SO I MAY RISE ONCE MORE INTO THE WORLD! I WILL RECLAIM MY THRONE!" (Dragon)
The lion roared and tackled the dragon.
"I AM LEO! THE FIRST LION KING! STAND TALL CHILD AND DO NOT LET THIS ARROGANT FOOL MISGUIDE YOU. YOU ARE A LION! YOU ARE ONE OF MY PACK, AND I SHALL GUIDE YOU!"
'Well, that settles my dilemma, I knew it's a good idea to ask first. Look's like I'm taking the Lion route here, the guy seems pretty cool.'
Understanding the situation, I decided to take action without hesitating and immediately focused my mind on suppressing the dragon.
The ground rose and tried to wrap around him while the air solidified, and the gravity increased on him. This was my mind, and I refuse to let someone else dominate me here! This is a battle of wills between a fragment of an ancient king and everything I have backed up by another fragment of an ancient king.
My suppression wasn't much even to just a fragment, but it was enough to tip the scales in the lion's favor.
"YOU DARE CHOOSE THAT FILTH OVER ME! I WILL DEVOUR YOU WHOLE!" (Dragon)
"YOU WILL NOT HARM MY PACK YOU ARROGANT WORM! ROAR!" (Lion)
The battle was not a short one, and the dragon refused to go down quietly, but eventually, the lion tore into the dragon's throat, and with a final shout, the dragon was devoured by the lion.
Its body turned into a mist that was sucked into the lion's mouth.
I collapsed onto my knees and took deep breaths.
I might not need to breath in my mind, but that was a long and difficult battle, I'm mentally exhausted.
{Boom}
To my side, the lion approached me and lay down while giving me enough personal space.
"Well done child, you acted without hesitation, with pride and courage. I am proud to call you one of my own." (Lion)
I caught my breath and looked up at him.
He was majestic. Unlike the Derous dragon king who looked like an eldritch horror, the lion looks like a normal one, except it is incredibly massive and majestic.
"Thank you for protecting me. I didn't think a cell demon would do that." (Ryo)
"Most would indeed not work to protect their host. Do you know the difference between a born demon and a summoned one?" (Lion)
I shook my head in denial.
"A born demon will match the host strongly but will be incredibly weak and rely on the host for potential and growth. When the host dies, the demon will move on to the spirit world and no longer be able to progress, becoming one of the endless weak demons.
A summoned demon is different. Countless demons died at high stages of power, but they require a compatible host.
When one of you humans injects themselves with gourmet cells, it releases a sonar wave that summons the demon that matches your wavelength.
If no demon is summoned, a new one will be born."
"Huh, so that's how this all works." (Ryo)
The lion nodded.
"Yes, when your sonar went out, both myself and that worm were summoned. We have not had a host in our long existence, and here we were, both summoned to a single child.
I saw your soul, and it screams out as a lion should. You had qualities that attracted the dragon, but he would never submit to a host and demand you serve him."
I felt a sudden sense of anger hearing that. How dare someone try to force me to serve.
"I will never serve anyone! I will be free! I will get stronger and be the free-est person in the world!" (Ryo)
"HAHA! GOOD! Roar young one! Challenge the world and rise as a lion should!" (Lion)
I felt my emotions that I usually suppressed get ripped open, and my life flashed before me. I let all those feelings build and roared with everything I had.
{ROAR!}
"ROAR!"
Our roars rang out and spread to all the corners of my mind.
Once we died down, the lion spoke again.
"Good, I chose well. Now, we do not have that much time, so I will share your new mutations with you. Next time you come back, I will share with you my story." (Lion)
I nodded at that.
"Thank you Leo." (Ryo)
"No need for thanks child, we are one for the foreseeable future." (Leo)
Little did I know, Leo meant something much more than that, but I genuinely felt that he was on my side.
3rd person POV:
Ryo had been unconscious for a good while now, and while his body was paralyzed, he showed signs of struggling and exerting himself.
They were signs that he was fighting in his mental world.
Ichiryu sat a little away from Ryo and never looked away from him. Watching over him like a mother bear would its cub.
Yoru was pacing around Ryo, worry evident on her face as she desperately wanted to help him but didn't know how.
Soon enough, Ryo's struggling stopped, but he remained paralyzed.
Ichiryu thought he passed the main hurdle and was slightly relieved, but in that lapse of concertation, he missed the strange look on Yoru's face.
Yoru felt something…. primal call out from Ryo's body and pounced over.
She quickly and somehow gently stuck her fangs in Ryo's shoulder and started drinking some of his blood.
Ichiryu noticed too late, but when he did, he rushed over within less than a second and wanted to pull her off.
'What the hell is she doing!?!? She would never hurt Ryo so what the hell is going on!?!?' (Ichiryu)
Yoru already drank the blood when she was pulled off. Her body stiffened up in a paralyzed manner before she fell over onto Ryo's lap.
Ichiryu saw this scene and didn't know what to do. He checked over Ryo and made sure he was fine; it was just a little blood taken out, and sat back down.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?"
The room was sealed to avoid disturbing the one getting an injection, and Ichiryu refused to leave Ryo alone.
Inside Ryo's mind:
Leo was about to begin explaining the abilities of Ryo's mutation when he raised his head and looked off.
Ryo noticed and asked if anything was wrong, and Leo just shook his head and laughed while saying Ryo would find out soon enough.
'A kitten actually drank the child's blood mixed with my gourmet cells? It seems like she wishes to grow with her partner and also to mark her mate.
Ah, young love. A true lion needs a lioness who can walk side by side with him.
I will help guide her along.'
For the first time in history, due to a significant factor of incredibly rare and almost impossible circumstances, two beings shared a single gourmet cell demon.
Chapter End.