Inside Soren's private room aboard the aircraft, he gently placed the little leopard onto his command table.
She immediately sprawled out.
Papers crinkled.
Documents slid.
A corner of a military report disappeared under her tail.
Ash, dirt, and faint soot marks transferred onto everything she touched.
She looked extremely comfortable.
Soren barely had time to register the chaos before the door opened.
The doctor stepped in—
—and froze.
On the commander's pristine table lay a small white leopard cub, filthy, soot-covered, tail flicking lazily as she occupied approximately sixty percent of the available surface area.
Confidential documents were being crushed beneath her paws. A very important folder had her paw print stamped directly across it.
The doctor stared.
Then stared harder.
"…Sir," he said carefully, adjusting his glasses, "why is there a beast cub on classified military documents?"
The little leopard lifted her head, red eyes meeting his.
She narrowed them.
The doctor felt an inexplicable chill.
Soren replied calmly, as if this were the most normal situation in the world. "She needs to be examined."
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
I looked from Soren to the doctor who was slowly approaching me, stethoscope in hand and expression somewhere between professional curiosity and why is my life like this.
…Alright. Fine.
Getting examined was probably for the best. I wanted to know too—whether this body was actually healthy or if I was one sneeze away from collapsing dramatically.
More importantly, Soren was currently my benefactor, heater, transportation, and possibly my only legal guardian. If I resisted now and made a scene, there was a non-zero chance I'd be kicked off this flying aircraft.
So I behaved.
I let the doctor poke, prod, and scan me. He checked my paws, my ears, my eyes, even pressed lightly against my skull. I endured it all with the patience of someone who had already died once and didn't feel like doing it again.
After a long moment, the doctor straightened and turned to Soren.
"I didn't realize this beast was female," he said, adjusting his glasses. "She's… a bit special. I'll need to run a few more detailed examinations."
I felt my ears twitch.
'Special?' That never sounded good.
Before I could process that statement—or step onto another document to continue my totally harmless reading session—Soren suddenly reached down and lifted me up.
"Are you doing this on purpose?" he asked flatly.
I blinked.
Apparently, my tail had once again swept across an important report.
He held me suspended in the air, one hand supporting my chest, the other steadying my back. I hung there, paws dangling, looking very much like an innocent creature who had absolutely no idea what classified paperwork was.
My ears drooped as I looked up at him, red eyes full of quiet grievance.
'I just wanted to read,' I thought mournfully. 'How else am I supposed to understand this world?'
Soren sighed, but not angry. He lowered me back down, deliberately placing me away from the documents this time.
"Follow us," he said.
I nodded immediately.
The doctor stepped toward the door, and Soren followed. I trotted between them, my small paws tapping lightly against the floor. The three of us walked in a neat little line—two tall men flanking a soot-smudged albino leopard cub in the center.
Some looked confused.
Some looked amused.
One looked like he was reconsidering every life choice that led him here.
I held my head high and walked forward with as much dignity as a tiny leopard could manage.
'Yes,' I thought. 'I am important. I am special. And apparently, I have a medical appointment.'
The examination room doors slid open.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The doctor conducted a far more detailed examination of the little leopard this time.
Cold instruments slid over her fur. Soft lights scanned her eyes. Low humming machines analyzed bone density, neural activity, and the strange nucleus inside her skull. Numbers flickered across transparent screens, lines rising and falling in patterns that made the doctor's expression grow increasingly grave.
By the time the final indicators stabilized, the doctor had completely lost his earlier casual composure.
His brows knitted together tightly, lips pressed into a thin line.
Soren noticed immediately.
His posture straightened, golden eyes sharpening as he turned toward the doctor. "How is she?" he asked.
The doctor hesitated for half a second, choosing his words carefully. "Sir," he began, "this little leopard is not a young cub."
Soren's gaze flicked instinctively to the white leopard lying on the examination table—small body sprawled out, tail lazily flicking as she stared at a dangling medical light with open curiosity.
"…Explain."
"She is a juvenile beastman," the doctor continued, tapping the screen to enlarge several readings. "Based on her skeletal development, energy circulation, and neural maturity, she should already be a young adult."
The room went silent.
Even the machines seemed to hum more quietly.
Soren slowly turned his head, eyes narrowing as he looked at her again. Small. Fluffy. Barely bigger than a pillow. A beast that had clung to his arm earlier and purred over an egg.
"…Hysteria," he said flatly.
"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "She is currently trapped in it."
There were two extremes of Hysteria among beastmen. One resulted in violent, uncontrollable adult transformations—rage, destruction, loss of reason.
The other was far more insidious.
Mental overload. Emotional frustration. Long-term suppression.
In those cases, the beastman regressed—forced into a juvenile form. Fragile. Vulnerable. Often terrified of the world.
Soren's fingers curled slightly at his side.
Yet something didn't fit.
Beastmen in this state were usually withdrawn. Panicked. Skittish to the point of collapse. Their eyes were dull, clouded with fear, their movements hesitant and desperate.
This leopard?
She was currently trying to bite the corner of the medical sheet.
Her eyes were bright. Clear. Almost… lively.
When the sheet resisted, she frowned, huffed, and switched tactics—using her paws to pin it down instead.
Soren stared.
"…She doesn't look afraid," he said slowly.
The doctor nodded. "That's the strange part. Her mental indicators don't align with typical Hysteria cases. Her consciousness is extremely clear. Her emotional responses are stable. She shows curiosity, problem-solving ability, and even… independence."
As if on cue, the little leopard glanced at them, ears twitching.
She made eye contact with Soren.
Then deliberately pushed the sheet off the table.
It slid down with a soft plop.
The doctor coughed lightly. "…You see?"
Soren rubbed his temple.
"The cause?" he asked.
"Unclear at present," the doctor replied honestly. "It could be a congenital issue, trauma, prolonged suppression, or interference with the energy nucleus. I'll need more in-depth tests to determine the exact reason."
Soren exhaled slowly.
Then he spoke without hesitation. "Bring energy stones."
The doctor straightened immediately. "Yes, sir."
If she was in Hysteria, energy stones had to have an effect. The first step was always stabilization—finding a stone compatible with the beastman's form and energy flow. Only then could they consider carving or refinement.
Soren commanded more personnel to enter the examination room.
At his signal, several attendants carefully arranged a new set of energy stones in front of him. These were connected to a specialized testing instrument—thin metallic arcs extending from the device, designed to detect resonance between a beastman's core energy and the stone's internal frequency. Once activated, the instrument emitted faint pulses of light, scanning for even the slightest sign of compatibility.
The little leopard sat obediently on the table this time, tail wrapped around her paws. She tilted her head, watching the stones with mild curiosity, as if they were nothing more than oddly shaped toys.
One by one, the stones were tested but the instrument's display remained stubbornly dark.
The doctor's brows creased deeper with every failed reading. By the time the last stone was tested, a thin layer of cold sweat had formed on his temple.
"…None of them are suitable," he said quietly.
The room fell silent.
Soren's fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the table. His eyes shifted from the inactive instrument to the little leopard, who was now yawning—completely unconcerned by the tension around her.
"Bring the high-grade energy stones," Soren ordered without hesitation.
"Yes, sir."
The doctor moved swiftly. High-grade stones were rare, expensive, and normally reserved for elites or emergency military use. He unlocked a reinforced case and carefully removed several solid-color stones, each one radiating a far denser, more refined energy than the previous batch.
They were placed in a semicircle in front of the little leopard.
The instrument was recalibrated.
The scan began again.
For a brief moment, the doctor allowed himself a sliver of hope.
Then the readings stabilized.
Zero resonance.
The lights dimmed.
The doctor let out a slow breath, unable to hide the frustration on his face. "Sir," he said with a strained sigh, "none of them are suitable."
Soren stared at the little leopard, eyes slightly narrowed. She met his gaze calmly. There was no fear in them—no confusion either. Just quiet awareness.
For a long second, neither moved.
Then Soren suddenly reached out.
Before anyone could react, he picked the little leopard up with one arm. She was startled briefly, ears flicking back, then relaxed against his chest as if she had already accepted this outcome.
Soren turned and strode out of the examination room.
The guards outside snapped to attention instantly.
Spade, who had been waiting by the entrance, straightened when he saw Soren approaching with the leopard in his arms.
"Change course," Soren said evenly. "We're heading to Zeloria RT-01."
Spade froze for half a heartbeat.
"…Understood," he replied, though his eyes flicked briefly to the small white leopard before he turned to relay the command.
Inside the examination room, the doctor stood rooted in place.
It took him a moment to process what he had just heard.
Zeloria RT-01.
It was their commander's private territory—an isolated zone under personal jurisdiction, housing a massive energy stone mine that was never opened to outsiders. Even high-ranking officers needed special permission to enter.
The doctor's mouth twitched uncontrollably. 'He's really taking her there…'
To personally search an entire mine.
For a single little leopard.
He glanced at the now-dark instrument, then at the empty space where the leopard had been moments ago. For the first time in his long medical career, he found himself at a complete loss for words.