Shawn’s POV:

I swung my ax and a tree fell down. Three months ago I would have never dared to think I could do this. The tree I just chopped in one single swing was at least two meters thick, and trees around here were tough as stone, so the strength needed to do so was amazing.

When Lyon first accepted to train me, he only helped me with my fighting; while fighting, I could now take decisions in a split second, avoiding situations where I was at a disadvantage because of a mistake. My instincts had developed to the point I detected the minimum amount of intent of something trying to hit me. Normally it meant I could avoid the hit, but that changed when it was Lyon I detected.

After the first month of training, seeing I was assimilating what he had taught me, and grateful for all the information I had given him about the city, he showed me the origin of his strength. It was a technique that enhanced his strength while weakening his bones and mental state.

Lyon, though, seemed to have discovered a way to not only resist the weakening states, but to enhance the body even when not using the skill. It consisted in soaking the body constantly in the energy generated and letting the body absorb it. It took me one entire month to get the hang of it, during which I suffered countless injuries and fractures, which thanks to my great toughness I was able to recover fast, allowing me to shorten my training period by months.

After chopping the tree, I picked it up and dragged it back to the cave Lyon knew as home. Thanks to my new strength, not only was I able to defend from any beasts that came at me, but also most of them avoided me. Different from Lyon, I wasn’t able to disguise neither strength nor intent, making all beasts around to identify me for what I was, a threat.

I arrived at the entrance of the cave, where Bob was dragging two more trees, each probably the same size that mine. I wasn’t envious, though, I had heard from Lyon that he had picked this technique especially for Bob, and thus he was much more heavily rewarded than me.

I smiled at Bob and dropped the tree right at the entrance, where Lyon had asked me to drop it. I entered the cave and went straight to the kitchen, where I found Lyon with his hands full of food.

After three months living with him, I had come to the conclusion that instead of a stomach he had some kind of dimensional bag inside, because the amount of food he ate made no sense. All the food he ate was fresh for two reasons, the first being he was able to somehow teleport, an ability rarely seen and almost never on a human, and thus cover enough ground to hunt food for all of us. The second and most important, he ate all I would consider leftovers before they were such.

“Lyon, I’m back, what do we have to eat?” – I entered the kitchen and sat in a chair, waiting for the food.

“Today is the last day we stay here, so I’m cooking a Kraal Lion for all of us to share.” – Yes you didn’t mishear, he hunts Kraal Lions. I discovered this one day when I asked him how had he made the javelins he used, and he described the beast to me, which rendered me speechless.

Kraal Lions were rarely hunted, not because of their toughness, but because it was nigh impossible to hunt it without someone taking serious injuries. They were fast for their size, and had a great perception, and so avoided most of the distant attacks, meaning you had to get close to a huge beast full of spikes ready to kill you.

He had explained to me that he used its own spikes to hunt them or directly teleported besides them, which was just as effective. The first way was what amazed me. It seemed they were perceptive about projectiles, but apparently they didn’t perceive their own spikes.

“Cool, I love the taste of it.” – I sat down and waited for the food. – “I’m wondering why we need so much wood, Lyon?”

“Well, I have to carry everything with me, don’t I? We’ll need a carriage.” – He absentmindedly answered, as if it was the most logic thing to build a carriage for yourself because you needed to carry things while inside of a forest.

“…”

“I’m joking Shawn, we can’t carry everything, but at least we’ll fortify the cave so nothing can enter while we’re gone, this way if I ever need safe refuge I will just teleport here.” – He relieved me of my doubts and threw me a Lion’s rib. – “Come on, Shawn, you have to stop taking me so seriously.”

[As if… you’re a monster…] – I munched on the rib without responding.

“I’m not a monster.” – I coughed the meat in my mouth and found him smirking at me. – “And no, I can’t read your mind, but your face is easy enough to read.”

“Mmm” – He yawned and stretched its limbs, revealing a pair of wings of dark red colored feathers. Oh yeah, he has wings... During more than a week we were eating Gryphon for each meal, and after the first three days, he sprouted wings. Out of nowhere, he sprouted damn wings.

He hadn’t explained much about his powers, and I didn’t ask. It was seen as a very rude thing to ask a person so I didn’t, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious. He was strong, fast, could teleport, had claws and now had wings. I didn’t even start comprehending the extent of his powers, and that scared me.

Most people had simpler powers, like most Willforce users, that simply exerted their wills on an element and controlled it. When two Willforce users of the same element fought, the one with the stronger will persevered. Other people had simple things like bursts of energy, either outside or inside, resulting on either energy blasts or power bursts.

That didn’t include the advantage of a race, meaning my power had nothing to do with how strong or tough I was. To be truthful, though, I hadn’t awakened my power yet. Half of the population awakened at the age of twelve, a tenth before that age and a third after. There was a small portion of the population who never awakened any power, though I hoped I wouldn’t be a part of those.

My sister had awakened when she was six. By the time I was two years old and I was playing with sis on the yard when I fell down from a tree. Sis had awakened that instant and saved me, though according to her I never stopped laughing, even when I started floating in the air.

Sis’s powers, according to the Elders, were related to gravity, which is a force that ties us to the ground. It seems she’s able to either lower or increase its effect in either an object/person or an area, while still remaining unfettered by it.

This power gave her a strong advantage in any battle, because she could set an area around her with increased gravity that didn’t affect her while it affected her opponents. She had developed a lot of uses for her powers, yet I remained unawakened. *Sigh*

“Lyon, will you really not accompany me this last hunt?” – He had prepared some kind of last battle for me, something that would challenge me, so I could prove myself to him, and then he said he would consider teaching me more. – “A Kraal Lion is tough enough even when fought by groups of veteran hunters, and you want me to hunt it alone?”

“Shawn, we’ve been through this; you’re capable of hunting the Lion yourself, but you’re tied up by your ‘common sense’. Stop thinking less of yourself, trust my judgment and go fight the beast.”

*Sigh*

“See you later…” – Once I finished my ribs I grabbed my ax and took off, straight towards where Lyon had brought me a week ago.

***

After around an hour I arrived where the Lion’s lair was, my back stiff as an iron board; my fears were understandable, of course, a Kraal Lion was much more than I expected to hunt on this trip, and certainly I felt overwhelmed.

I exhaled and released the stress of my shoulders, shook the fear off of me, and stepped forwards.

*ROAAAAAR!*

“…”

[Oh come on!] – I got ready and started producing the red mist. After barely a second, the red mist invaded my lungs, and I felt the power of the rage insufflate my every fibber. The Lion appeared just after I filled my body to the brim with the red mist, jumping off the nest on the tree.

Kraal Lions nested anywhere, from forest to plains, from caves to near ponds, they used their spikes as simple barricades, which deterred most beasts by simply notifying them there was a Kraal Lion in there, and those not deterred by the idea were stopped by the simple spikes. That meant that as long as there were beasts a Lion could hunt, there was a possibility of a Lion to be there, no matter the zone. Of course, they preferred warm climates, so you probably wouldn’t see one on the tundra, but if they wanted they could perfectly nest in them.

As the Lion jumped out of his lair, I dashed forwards to meet him in the middle of the jump, not giving him the chance to dodge. I threw the ax besides him, so when I finished dashing I would have a chance to recover it. Once I was right below the Lion, I jumped and clashed with him, placing myself where his spikes couldn’t reach. Thanks to the power I received from the red mist, instead of me being crashed under his weight, I lifted him even more, and he fell on his back while I stood on top of him.

I didn’t let him recover before I used my fists to hit him to submission. I punched him again and again, yet even with all the power my fists carried, I was not even near to kill him. I got to punch him for a minute while resisting his attempts to throw me off before he roared at my face in an attempt to distract me. Instead, I just roared back at him, stronger and louder than his roar.

Something incredible happened right then, instead of what you would expect, which would be him continuing to thrash around, he stopped resisting. I don’t mean it like he fell unconscious or dead, which he didn’t, but more like he surrendered. I had never heard of a Kraal surrendering besides when they were a thread away from dying, and even then they seemed reluctant, yet this one, which was far from dying, surrendered.

I stood up, more cautious than ever, wondering if it was a trick, and when I was a meter away from him, he rolled on his back and stood up. I took a defensive stance as a reflex, but instead of attacking the Lion laid on the ground.

[The fuck’s going on?] – I approached it, and did what I had been taught to do with our Hell hounds at home, place my hand on its forehead, and wait. He tilted his head in a nod, and I felt it. It felt similar to the red mist, but different, it was warmer, and it didn’t damage me at all. I stood there a few minutes, accepting whatever that was, and by the time it was over, I felt a connection to the Lion.

“Ha! I have awakened!” – I shouted happily before realizing something. “…Why the hell are my powers for fucking taming?!”

“They’re not.” – A familiar voice sounded behind me and I turned around. Lyon was standing there, a smirk on his face and fully armed. – “You should look at yourself before arriving to conclusions.”

“So you followed me…” – I didn’t know if I should feel happy he worried, or disappointed that he didn’t trust me enough.

“I did, but you should know that I would have only intervened in the most severe of the cases.”

“What do you mean by ‘look at yourself’? I feel perfectly fine.” – He suddenly disappeared into smoke only to return an instant later with my ax on his hand.

“Here, use the edge as a mirror.” – I took the ax and did as he said, only to find mid-grab that my arms were bulkier than before, and I had some simile of claws instead of nails. I still grabbed the ax and looked at myself, and discovered that my hair had taken a change. Spikes stood where my hair did before and I could see that I had fangs far sharper than what they used to be.

“Your power is not ‘only’ about taming. You seem to absorb traits from your tamed beasts.” – He smiled at me, and I could see a smile appear on my face. This was amazing, I didn’t know the extent of the improvement, or if I could tame more than one beast, but even if I could only tame the spiked Lion, it was already an amazing beast, and if I could tame more, that would be incredible.

“Hahahaha! This is awesome! I need to tell my sis!” – I had been worried that my awakening was taking too long, but now I had a power that was amazing. If I could tame something more powerful, like a Dragon, or even something that flied, like a Gryphon, maybe I would absorb their traits too. I needed to test this, but well, I would have time after going back to the city.

“How are you going to call it?” – Suddenly Lyon reminded me of something important, it wasn’t only absorbing its traits, I had tamed a Kraal Lion, and I got to keep it!

“Mmm… Spikey?”

“GOD NO! I forbid you from mistreating the poor beast!

“What? I thought it was a good name…” – I couldn’t help but sulk, what could I name it? – “Maybe Sheen? His fur is lustrous and the name resembles mine.”

“Mmm… yes, it definitely fits it. By the way, it’s acting funny.” – I turned around to find that its spikes were taking a darker tone, together with his fur, and it took me little to realize it was taking on my skin color for its fur.

“Damn, so not only I absorb traits, they do too?” – This was awesome.

“Hooh, interesting, I would love to know if taming a second beast would mean both of them would acquire traits from one another besides acquiring them from you.” – What? That was a possibility? That could result in amazing things! Imagine a Kraal Lion that could fly? It would be the ultimate archer, because it already had a good perception that allowed it to dodge ranged attacks, if the attackers couldn’t get close, it would be able to attack without putting himself in danger. – “Well, let’s go home, Bob should have it all ready to leave, we’ll get some sleep and leave first thing in the morning.”

***

Lyon’s POV:

This was interesting to say the least, a power that let him bond with beasts and share traits can be powerful not only now but later on. The stronger he gets, the stronger his beasts will be, and the stronger the beasts he captures are, the stronger he will be.

Well, I can’t say my powers are any worse. I got to acquire ‘traits’ from the Gryphon just by eating a lot of them. Finally, I had bought a new power, although I hadn’t showed it to any of them.

Status X-System Status Name: Lyon Ironblood Soul Points: 11.094 Mutations: 6 Powers: 5 Mutations Acquired: Wolverine Locked Deadpool Locked Gambit Unlocked Angel Unlocked Nightcrawler Unlocked Quicksilver Unlocked Powers: Power origin: Fenrir, the Immortal Wolf D mid tier Wolverine + Deadpool Kinetic Powers E mid tier Gambit Shadow Dimension D mid tier Nightcrawler Angel Wings S low tier Angel High Speed Complexion F mid tier Quicksilver

I had realized I wasn’t strong enough to defeat the Swamp Dragon, which I didn’t know the name of yet, and so I didn’t even try. I would further on, when I was stronger, but right now I just needed to keep going, and this forest couldn’t help me anymore. The SP I got from killing any beast here was now negligible, as every time I bought a new power – thankfully acquiring Angel’s powers by other means didn’t count – the price for the others increased a lot, I still hadn’t discovered the ratio of the increase, although I hoped I would soon, so I could plan ahead an order of buying.

Right now, though, the only thing that mattered was that I was ready to leave this forest, and I planned to do so.

We had had a week to discuss it, and Bob was staying. He had to take control over his old tribe, and then over all tribes. It was a mission he imposed himself, and he had the intent of achieving it. I had never expected him to come with me, not because I didn’t want him with me, but because I knew he had to stay here and take care of his tribe.

Maybe later on, once the tribes were united, and if he found a worthy successor, he would contact me again, and I would pick him up, just maybe.

I woke up Shawn, took the little baggage I was planning on carrying (all weapons, of course), and took off, out of this forest, and onto new adventures.

Werewolf Fury G mid tier Progress: 99.9 %

Preys devoured (Naming acording to knowledge):

- Iron Elk [II] ( x200 ) : Hugely improves agility and bone durability.

- Scorpion Panther [II] ( x200 ) : Improves poison and acid resistance, stealth and agility.

º Poison tail: Your own tail acquires posion producing glands.

- Spiked Lion ( x200 ) : Improves strength and bone durability.

- Draconic Wolf ( x200 ) : Improves speed and agility, and also skin durability.

- Fiery Ape (x200) : Improves balance and coordination, small improvement in strength.

- Gryphon (x200) : Improves eyesight, hearing, balance, speed and strength. (+54% at Angel's powers)

- Shadow Fox ( x200 ): Highly improves speed and stealth.

Angel Wings S low tier Progress: 6 %

You have grown a pair of feathered wings on your back, placed where your shoulder blades were before, that allow you to fly. Flying requires practice.

High Speed Complexion F mid tier Progress: 13 %

H.Speed Body: Your body is built to suport high speeds, making it tough and friction resistant.

Superspeed: You can move up to a hundred times faster than you normally could.

H.Speed Reflexes: Your mind has to be as fast as your body to allow you to control its movement. Your mind thinks up to a hundred times faster than it normally did. (Time perception may change depending on your thought speed.)