Night settled heavily over the palace, but sleep did not come easily to Malina.
Hidden beneath layered wards and illusion seals, the underground archive pulsed with forbidden mana. Malina and Amara moved through the shadows, their presence erased by high-tier concealment magic reserved only for special-class mages. Ancient runes on the walls flickered as Malina traced the lingering residue of dark essence with her fingers.
Vampiric mana.
Fresh.
Not centuries old. Not dormant.
Active.
Amara's pupils narrowed as she extended her perception web. The echoes of movement were clear now. Secret gatherings. Multiple entries. Someone inside the palace was opening sealed corridors only accessible by royal blood or high administrative authority.
A betrayal rooted deep within the capital.
The vampire was not alone.
Malina committed every trace to memory. The pattern. The frequency. The direction of retreat. Whoever the vampire was meeting had authority, resources, and patience. This was not a raid. This was preparation for control.
By the time they withdrew, Malina already knew one thing with certainty.
War was no longer a future possibility.
It was approaching.
Inside her chamber, Malina activated every defensive formation available to her. Spatial anchors locked. Anti-divination barriers rose. Reality itself folded inward as her contract sigils ignited across her skin.
She exhaled once and extended her will.
Tamer Domain.
The world shattered.
Her body dissolved into streams of light and consciousness plunged downward through an infinite corridor of runes, contracts, and summoning seals.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Unique Skill Activated
Tamer Domain
Rank: SSS (Locked Progression)
Description: A personal dominion linked to all bonded phantoms and beasts. Time dilation enabled. Death within domain prohibited. Growth accelerated.
Malina materialized upon obsidian ground stretching endlessly in all directions. Above her, a sky filled with shifting constellations made of contract symbols rotated slowly. Around her stood every bonded existence she had ever tamed.
Four hundred and fifty-seven.
From palm-sized flutterbeasts to continent-class leviathans bound by ancient pacts.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Some beasts lowered their heads. Others stared with piercing awareness. The higher-ranked ones radiated intelligence indistinguishable from humans. A few legendary phantoms folded their arms, observing her with judgment rather than loyalty.
Malina clenched her fists.
Control was no longer optional.
SYSTEM QUEST SEQUENCE INITIALIZED
Total Linked Quests: 457
Completion Order Enforced
Rank Progression: F → E → D → C → B → A → S → SS → SSS
Failure Penalty: Skill regression and contract instability
QUEST 001
Rank: F
Target: Emberfang Cub
Objective: Establish Dominance Without Force
Reward: +2 Taming Control, +5 Agility
Loot: Beast Core Fragment (Low)
Malina stepped forward. The small beast snarled, wings flaring. Instead of mana, she released intent. Her will pressed down, not violently, but absolutely. The cub froze, instincts screaming submission.
SYSTEM
Quest Completed
QUEST 002
Rank: F
Target: Mistwing Sparrow Swarm
Objective: Synchronize Movement
Reward: +3 Perception
Loot: Wind Essence x1
Time blurred.
Quest after quest fell.
By the twentieth completion, sweat soaked her back.
By the fiftieth, her mana circulation adapted.
By the hundredth, the domain responded to her thoughts.
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Malina
Class: Special-Class Beast Tamer
Rank: S Rank
Strength: 214
Agility: 289
Intelligence: 341
Vitality: 198
Mana: 5,470 / 5,470
Taming Control: 63%
Domain Authority: 12%
Skills: 79 / 29 Active
When she crossed into C-Rank quests, resistance began.
Phantoms questioned her through pressure and intent. Ancient beasts tested her resolve with killing auras restrained only by contract law. Each success forced her to refine not power, but command.
At B-Rank, frustration set in.
A serpent phantom deliberately delayed compliance. A shadow drake ignored indirect orders. They were not defying her. They were evaluating her worth.
Malina adjusted.
She stopped issuing commands.
She imposed law.
SYSTEM
Tamer Domain Authority Increased
Law of Hierarchy Unlocked
Effect: Rank-based obedience enforcement
QUEST 219
Rank: A
Target: Frostbound Warden
Objective: Suppress Hostile Will
Reward: +15 Domain Authority
Loot: Ice Sovereign Scale
The battle lasted hours within the domain.
Malina emerged changed.
STATUS WINDOW UPDATE
Taming Control: 81%
Domain Authority: 41%
New Passive Acquired: Sovereign Tamer
Effect: High-rank beasts instinctively recognize dominance
At S-Rank, the beasts no longer tested her.
They acknowledged her.
SS-Rank quests were trials of judgment. Decisions that affected entire phantom factions. Sacrifice versus preservation. Command versus trust.
By the final quest, the sky itself trembled.
QUEST 457
Rank: SSS
Target: All Bonded Entities
Objective: Absolute Synchronization
Reward: Domain Completion
Loot: Unknown
Malina stood at the center of the dominion.
She released everything.
Fear. Resolve. Authority. Protection.
Every contract burned.
The domain responded.
SYSTEM
Tamer Domain Completed
All Linked Quests Cleared
Time Dilation Ended
She returned to her chamber in a single breath.
No time had passed.
But Malina had become something else.
A tamer no longer bound by beasts.
A sovereign commanding an army with minds of their own.
Outside the palace, unseen shadows moved.
And somewhere within its walls, the vampire smiled—unaware that the balance had just shifted.