Not even fifteen minutes later, the Captain's bonded link opened and mischievous energy filled his mind as a seductive voice purred. "I have found something intresting~."

The Captain, who had been talking with his subordinates as they analysed the terrifying image that of Kai, which was almost half built, before them, signalled for silence as he turned in the direction he felt Helen was in. "I don't have time for your games Helen. If it's not the target, then I am not interested. For once in your life, do what I have asked."

After a few moments of silence, which the Captain knew was done on purpose, Helen responded, her amusement filling the bond. "I have found a survivor."

"Impossible," thought the Captain, quickly tallying the dead and finding no one was missing. Everyone was, bar the bonded creature that would have died at the same time as the human, so there couldn't be a survivor.

His eyebrow twitched as Helen chuckled. "Not one of those weak humans or their pet, but a survivor none the less."

"Speak plainly, or the next time I let you out, your beautiful coat will be as white as snow, and you won't be able to escape the kids when they want to play," muttered the Captain, speaking out loud and transmitting the thought at the same time.

The fox chuckled, giving the Captain the feeling she was checking out her fur, before responding. "Beautiful Coat? Flattery will get you everywhere, Mark. As you asked so nicely, I will stop playing games."

"I found a beast that has the same stench on it as the creature that attacked those humans. It has been badly burnt yet its vitality is amazing. If it were in peak condition, I wouldn't want to mess with it, and that's even with it being one of the species I naturally prey on."

Before Mark could ask more questions, Helen continued. "Its a high ranked beast at the eighth core. It is around level eleven, but I can't be sure. The spirit energy emanating from it is extremely thick and pure."

Mark was impressed. Such creatures, while not rare were beings that could compete with even high-level practitioners. Their intelligence was also phenomenal making them extremely formidable foes.

Helen's mischievous voice returned. "Its a rabbit."

Marks mind blanked.

Rabbits weren't even beasts, they were born mear animals, and while they could evolve to beasts, it was almost unheard of without meticulous care and a hideous amount of resources.

Not only that, from what Helen was implying, the creature has survived a confrontation with the monster that had wiped out a successor, a well-ranked hunter and ten clan disciples without suffering a single injury.

"Survived multiple times," said Helen, as if she could read Mark's mind. "At least a decade or so's worth of encounters from the scars that litter its body. It seems we found a dual catalyst."

Dual catalysts were extremely rare and could only be naturally formed. The term was used to describe two seemingly unrelated creatures that, either peacefully or through violence, would enable the other to grow and develop at an outstanding rate.

If the methodology was peaceful, the pair were called a coin, each complimenting the other.

If it was through violence, then the duo was called nemesis. While one of them was the underdog, it would never give up until it had bested its opponent, usually with the intent to kill, while the other would rapidly gain strength, the sense of danger propelling their development forward.

A cycle was when one defeated the other. If the nemesis both survived the encounter, a new cycle would begin stimulating further growth.

While typically, nemesis didn't last long, one quickly falling to the other, the growth rate was phenomenal and normal standards for measuring strength, even for coins, couldn't be used.

That was because unlike coins or those who grew at their own pace or through experience, nemesis had been bathed in a constant struggle for survival so intense and, at least to those that followed reason, pointlessness, that they often defied conventional logic.

Finally, Mark snapped from his daze. "Whats its condition?"

"Crispy but alive and oh so pissed off," chuckled Helen. "I'm glad she can't move very well as even if you order me two, I am not going to restrain her..."

Mark ignored the change in status from it to a gender, something Helen would only do when she encountered a foe worthy of acknowledgement.

Helen went silent for a moment. "One of those back legs just shattered a tree. I shit you not, a four-fucking-foot thick tree like it was a dried up twig... A rabbit. Single kick. Collapsed tree. Nature 0, angry rabbit 1."

"I am so happy they didn't grow them like this back home." Awe and a tinge of fear filled the link between them. "Then again, we probably would have either died out or become monsters before you, and your kind turned up.

Mark ignored the fox's ramblings as he focused on the ash that had been collected up into one of the many, clear containers.

A clear example of how logic-defying a pair of nemesis could be was before Mark and his men.

While a high ranked successor, renowned for their ice element, was turned to ash in mere moments, a rabbit, one of natures weakest animals, had not only survived but from the sound of Helen's report, had been competing with the unknown monster head to head for at least a decade.

"Continue monitoring, I am on my way with a recovery team," said Mark out loud and, as if he had given the command, a group of the black plated soldiers carrying energy rifles quickly formed around him before they promptly started jogging in the direction he had been looking.

Thirty minutes later, a testament to Helen's speed, Mark and his men found the fox, who was currently hiding behind a tree, her head sticking out and facing the other direction.

Without the need for an order, the soldiers split up and started flanking the direction Helen was looking at.

"Report," whispered Mark as he crept up beside her.

"I'm not helping," responded Helen through their link, only to cringe at the disapproval Mark sent back. While he put up with her antics in private and when it wasn't important, the moment it jeopardised the mission, he would come down on her like a tonne of bricks. "The rabbit is severely injured, pissed off and attacking anything that gets too close. I would say there would be little chance of catching her alive but~."

Helen scratched her long snout with a paw as she hesitated. "It looks like she might have realised she has reached the end of her natural ability to compete with a real monster. She should be intelligent enough to understand the world's language and, if offered the right incentives, might even willing to jump into a bond or spirit contract."

"Mark." A look of disdain with a tinge of anxiety passed through the fox's eyes. "I don't like the idea of sharing, let one of the others try."

Mark only smiled back. "Of course you wouldn't. Still, I have to try. Not only is it an outstanding opportunity, but it will also significantly help our investigation."

With that, he stood up and stepped out from behind the tree.