Divyaaditi pushed the door open to enter the office of the [Ship Captain], her husband. Sagar Manthan@, who sported an impressive moustache, put down his pen to look up at his wife. “How did it go?”

“It agreed, of course.” Divyaaditi gracefully sat down opposite her man. “However, things did not go as I had predicted.”

“Hmm?” Sagar Manthan raised an eyebrow. “Did it resist too much?”

“That is the crux of the matter, though.” The green-clad woman rested her chin in her palms. “It didn't resist. Instead, it seemed to have accepted its death.”

“This is what bothers you?” The [Ship Captain] rolled his eyes. “That creature is already at the end of its lifespan. And since the moment it has been brought here, it has experienced nothing but pain and punishment. Of course, it accepted its death.”

“Perhaps.” The [Monster Tamer] remained lost in her thoughts as her mind raced. “Perhaps it is as you say. However, monsters don’t accept their deaths. They fight till their last breaths. It is their nature.”

“Didn’t you say it is a mere Tier 2 Monster? One that had been in hibernation?” Sagar Manthan brows furrowed. “If you bring such a weak creature face to face with your Tier 4 Sigh Raj, what else can you expect?”

“Hmm?” Her fingers softly tapped her cheeks. “Perhaps.” Sagar eyed his wife's fingers and caught them before they fell once more. The action broke Divaaditi out of her reverie and she eyed the moustached-man from the corner of her eyes.

“Yes, yes.” She sighed. “I will cease meaningless pondering.”

The [Ship Captain] nodded but, after a moment, his brows furrowed. “Hadn’t you decided to not employ [Thought Alignment]? Did you use the Skill because of its behaviour?”

“Yes.” Her voice was clipped. “Its variant behaviour was unpleasant.”

“Then you have even less to worry about. Your Skill would keep it in check.” Sagar Manthan smiled as he let out a relieved sigh. “This relieves my worries too. Your decision against employing the Skill had left me restless. Given that this monster is sapient, it might change Suryaakaruna’s worldview on monsters.”

“For what purpose do you think I take Surya along whenever I punish monsters?” The green-clad woman rolled her eyes. “His superiority over monsters is firmly etched into his mind.”

“Still.” Her husband kept his eyes closed as he massaged the bridge of his nose. “A monster is a monster.”

“Yes, a monster is a monster. A monster will always remain a monster.” The [Monster Tamer] removed her husband’s hand from his face and placed it on her own. The moustached man’s hand was much bigger than hers, however. “Surya should learn this lesson early on.”

“I know.” The man opened his eyes to stare at their hands before he pulled his hand back. “I just worry about Suryaakaruna# though.”

The woman pulled her hand back too. She of course knew it was not her refusal to use [Thought Alignment] that had bothered her husband, it was the fact that their son walked the same path as hers.

This was not something that she could bring up, however.

The fact that their children would have to walk down the same path as hers, was something her husband had known for a long while now. He had known it since before they had been married. Yet, the man had not come to terms with this fact. But she could not begrudge him for it. Her husband had not passed his own name down to their son. Instead, hers had been passed. Their child was named Suryaakaruna Pashupati, not Suryaakaruna Manthan.

And now her husband had to watch his son walk down her path.

‘Such is the fate of those that marry above their station.’ Her mother’s words echoed in her mind. She sighed but remained silent. Her mentioning this matter would only reopen old wounds. Thus, she could only hope that her husband cleared his heart on his own.

“I understand your worries.” The woman finally sighed. “I will have Garuda& keep an eye on the monster.”

The [Ship Captain] opened his eyes and his deep gaze fell on his wife as if searching for answers to the questions only he knew. She met her husband’s eyes for a moment but could not bear the weight of his gaze and closed her eyes to hide the guilt that she carried within her own heart.

“Meanwhile, tell Anubhav to keep on searching for another sapient monster.” She changed the topic. “I do not want to waste resources on creating an Evolution Elixir if I do not have to.”

“I will see it done.” The man nodded and closed his eyes.

0.0

Ting.

[Temporary Skill, [Projection], lost.]

Twitchy as the Malfae was in the [Monster Tamer]'s presence, it was also honoured. She was a woman that was larger than life itself. Though, her presence seemed to be lesser from the day before. But the [Hive Monarch] cared not for the marginal change.

Instead, it gazed at the woman with eyes that were filled with nothing but worship. It waited for a moment to absorb her sight before the [Reincarnated] tried to project its thought at the woman. It failed. ‘Oh, right.’ The Malfae hesitated for a moment before it raised its hand as if it wanted to ask a question. It knew she had done so often to attract attention.

The [Monster Tamer] saw the worship in the wide eyes of the Malfea and her lips twitched. “Yes?”

Its face fell for a moment before it pointed its throat and frowned. The woman frowned for a moment before her expression cleared and she nudged her son forward. “Go on. Your practice begins now. It has lost the Skill.”

The mortal child almost jumped out of his seat and ran up to the Malfae. The act scared the creature that had been drinking in the majesty of the woman. As a result, it stumbled and fell. However, it soon refocused its gaze on the mortal child and it became mesmerised by the beauty of the boy. Though, at the moment, it also remembered that the boy had a personality that was less than stellar.

“Concentrate.” The woman ordered as she saw the creature staring at her son with wide, dopey eyes.

The [Reincarnated] shivered at the majestic woman’s disapproval and shook its head to focus on the task at hand.

The mortal child, on the other hand, smiled and gingerly brought his finger down on the Malfae’s head before gently patting the white hair on its head and back. The Malfae shivered at the touch of the most beautiful child that would one day rule the world.

“You are ugly. But soft!” The boy announced and it frowned as if remembering something. However, whatever it was that had tried to resurface, it failed and the Malfae shivered again at the touch.

“Stop playing with it.” The green-clad woman admonished lightly. “Activate your Skill.”

“Yes, mother.” The child sulked as he removed his finger from the Malfae’s body and exclaimed. “[Projection]!”

At that moment, the [Survivor] felt a sudden sense of giddiness that was simple, joyful. The feeling appeared out of nowhere; there was no reason for its existence. The Malfae stumbled at the sudden feelings before it caught itself and frowned. It focused on the emotions and studied them carefully.

The more the [Hive Monarch] focused on the sudden sense of giddiness, the more confused it felt. It could feel that the emotion was different, that it did not belong there. It was almost as if it was not the Malfae's own. Its eyes shot up to stare at the mortal child and the boy smiled brightly. “Do you feel it? Do you feel it!? Tell me, do you feel it? Tell me!”

The [Survivor] frowned as it remembered the bratty attitude of the child but it didn’t react much. This was the most beautiful boy that would rule the world after all. Instead, it turned to look at the [Monster Tamer], however, she did not respond. Its gaze returned to the child, then moved to the green-clad woman. It shook its head in confusion.

“Tell me! Do you feel it?” The mortal child jumped on his feet as he insisted on an answer.

“Quiet.” The woman ordered her son and the boy stopped jumping. Though, his lips quivered and his hands were clenched into fists. “But I activated the Skill! It works!” The woman gave her son a look and the child did not speak. Instead, he puffed his cheeks and crossed his hands in protest. The [Monster Tamer] then turned to the Malfae to address his confusion.

“At a low Level, the Skill works quite differently from the one that I granted you. With Surya, you would only be able to receive emotions and vague intentions until his Skill reaches its second Tier.”

Its face fell but after a moment it sighed in understanding.

“The other thing of note is that this Skill provides only one-way communication unless its Level is high. Thus, you have to learn this Skill on your own if you wish to properly communicate.”

The [Reincarnated] nodded with wide eyes staring at the majestic woman that should rule the world.

“It is likely for Surya to gain a Skill Level when you gain your Skill.” Malfae's massive ears perked up at the news and its wide eyes focused on the most beautiful but bratty boy that would rule the world. “If you manage to increase Surya’s Level within the next three days, I shall arrange for a monster for you to kill and raise your Level.” The woman offered as she looked down her nose. “How about it? Can you do it?”

The [Survivor]'s head swirled around to stare at the woman so fast that its neck strained. But in the next moment, it swirled its head in the opposite direction to stare at the sulking but beautiful boy with narrowed eyes. It turned back to the woman and nodded. It thought for a moment and then frowned.

“How will you gain the Skill?” The woman guessed the source of the creature’s confusion and the [Hive Monarch] nodded. “From what I have been told,” the woman furrowed her brows as she remembered, “you should try to steal the link through which Surya sends you his emotions. This will cancel his Skill of course, but it will be helpful to you.”

The [Hive Monach] contemplated for a moment before it nodded and focused back on the pouting boy.

0.0

Malfae practised the Skill with the exquisitely beautiful mortal child for the rest of the day. Or at least it tried to. The beautiful mortal child had become increasingly fidgety as the time had passed and his anger at his mother had been replaced by annoyance. The boy had thus wanted to run and play and be anywhere but with the Malfae.

The [Survivor] had run around after the most beautiful but bratty boy but had been unable to make the mortal child practice diligently. Even when what it had been doing had been for the mortal child’s own sake.

Thus, the Malfae had not been surprised when it accomplished nothing at the end of the day.

0.0

Malfae was once again brought before the [Monster Tamer] and her son to practice the Skill [Projection].

However, as its eyes fell on the mother and son pair, it found the real versions of the two pale in comparison to the ones that resided in its memory. The woman was still majestic and larger than life but the presence that made her seem akin to the ruler of the entire world had dimmed.

The mortal child, on the other hand, still seemed quite beautiful. Indeed, the child seemed beautiful enough to qualify as a beautiful child. But that beauty of the boy was nowhere near enough that it could be called the most beautiful boy in the existence.

However, the [Survivor] did not dare mention the discrepancies. No matter the majesty of the woman or the beauty of the child, it had not yet forgotten the cruelty of the green-clad woman that was larger than life.

Thus, the session of the day followed as it normally would. For this reason, the Malfae was a bit surprised when the green-clad woman’s voice echoed from across the room. “Come here, both of you.” The child followed the order without hesitation and the Malfae did not linger either.

“[Spirit Summon].” The woman’s voice resounded and her body glowed faintly with a milky azure light. The light was quite similar to the azure moon but not quite the same.

However, the more it studied the glow, the more familiar it seemed to the Malfae. ‘Ah! It’s the colour of the mana.’

The glow covered the woman’s entire body, from head to toe and from her left fingertips to the right. A moment passed and in the next, the glow stepped forward. The glow that had stepped forward retained the shape of the woman’s body. It retained her features. It retained every single strand of her hair and it retained every single pore on her skin. It was as if the glow was the woman herself.

The glow retained its shape for a moment more before it began to condense. Its head shrank and its arms widened. Its chest caved in on itself while its legs practically disappeared as they shrank faster than the rest of its body. At the same time, a tailbone seemed to pierce out of its glowing body.

The entire malformed thing continued to shrink until it reached the height of about a mortal’s knee. At that moment, the shrinking stopped and the malformed thing began to fill out. Its skin sprouted feather and the arms became wings. Its toes became talons and the thumbs dissolved themselves. The being’s mouth elongated before curving down and the tailbone sprouted elegant feathers.

[Spirit Summon] [Allows the user to summon a spirit depending upon the user’s experiences and personality.] [Tier 1: Spirit possess 1 ability per its nature.] [Grants Flight [Skill].] [Tier 2: Share Senses with the Spirit. Spirit possess 2 abilities per its nature.] [Grants undetectable tracking markers.]

The process had lasted not longer than a few moments. In a moment the glow had taken form, in the next, it had condensed, in another, it had filled out and then it became real. The milky azure glow pulsed and then dissipated leaving behind a living and breathing eagle. “Garudaaaaaa!” The mortal child squealed as he rushed towards the eagle before grabbing the bird in a hug.

The Malfae, on the hand, stumbled with its mouth wide open and fell on the desk. “This is Garuda, my [Spirit Summon].” The green-clad woman addressed the [Hive Monarch]. “She will be monitoring your session from now on. For all intents and purposes, she is me and I am her. Do be careful.”

The [Survivor] stood up as it studied the bird that had manifested into the room. At a glance, it seemed no different from any eagle that it had either seen itself or in her memories. This eagle seemed no different from an animal. It seemed like an animal. Not a monster. But an animal.

The [Reincarnated] stared at it with eyes wide. As it gawked, the [Hive Monarch] saw the gaze of the eagle soften as it fell on the mortal child and the being trilled, as if in joy.

The child giggled in response as it released the bird and started hopping as it chatted too fast for the Malfae to understand. The eagle then raised both of its wings and gently placed them on the child’s shoulders, essentially stopping the child from hopping, and trilled once again.

Clearly, it was not a being with an intelligence of a mere animal. Meanwhile, the mortal child continued to speak while the eagle continued to listen with a soft gaze. It even trilled and chirped at appropriate intervals, as it responded to the mortal child.

The Malfae shook its head and blinked. Its action drew the attention of the eagle and the Spirit turned its head to stare at the [Hive Monarch]. Though, the gaze that had been soft and caring just a moment ago, was now cold and calculating. The gaze of the eagle was akin to that of the majestic woman in green. It was as if the eagle was looking down at the Malfae. It was as if the eagle considered the Malfae useless trash, a worthless waste.

The more the Malfae focused on the eagle, the more this eagle seemed just different to it. Almost unnatural, yet not quite the same. It was as if the eagle was not really there, despite its physical manifestation and interaction with the physical world. It was almost as if the eagle was unreal.

The Malfae shivered and turned its gaze away from the eagle and towards the woman in green. The woman smiled, though the smile was condescending yet magnificent. The [Monster Tamer] turned her gaze away and addressed the eagle. “Keep an eye on them, will you?”

The eagle nodded and the Malfae blinked. ‘Just what is this thing?’

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-