Silber's howl had caused the sounds of the forest to still. Whether it was because the insects and animals were enchanted by the howl or afraid of it is unknown. As the howl slowly ebbed away, silence was left over the forest before the insects and animals slowly started to resume their lives and the various sounds of the forest returned. Adam had watched as Silber let loose that howl while still covered in blood from the demonic bear. Silber's howl had been full of vengeance and the feeling of success, as well as sorrow from remembering about the death of his pack. Silber felt that with this, he could finally close off his ties with that dreadful night his mother had been killed.

Someone spoke up: “Let's return to camp now. We will need help to bring the beast back.”

Having killed two demonic beasts, even if one was a squirrel, this squad felt quite proud and fulfilled. Most squads currently were unable to locate any demonic beasts. This was both good and bad, since it meant that were were not very many that had spawned but they still needed to make sure they rounded them all up before they could impact the area and even attack some of the surround villages.

Getting back to camp, Adam and the others reported their success to Clayton. They had brought the squirrel's corpse with them, but would need others to bring back the bears corpse. Clayton gave a triumphant laugh: “Looks like Silber really can sniff 'em out! Why don't you all rest for the rest of the day. It is almost time for supper and the forest will get dark soon.”

After finally being able to release his tension, Adam found that he was far more tired than he had expected. Early in the morning he had helped fight a dragon only to stay by Silber's side afterward, trying his best to help him with the corrupted spirit essence in his body. Directly after that he had gone on a hunt for the rest of the afternoon! It was truly an exhausting day and adrenaline had been fueling him for most of it. Finally able to relax, everything caught up to Adam and he had become exhausted.

The next few days would also pass in a similarly exhausting manner. With Silber's nose to hunt down demonic beasts, it became quite easy to find them. They hunted no less than eight demonic beasts over the course of four days. There were a few dicey moments with more agile opponents like the demonic mountain lion they had found. Besides a couple of injuries that a few Silver Saviors received, no one had even died! When Silber finally announced that he could smell no more demonic beasts, a deep feeling of success spread through the Silver Saviors. In total they had hunted at least ten demonic beasts! Even if they were on the weaker side and had not been able to truly spiritually reinforce their bodies, they were still stronger than a normal wild animal and hard to deal with.

Clayton finally started getting the Silver Saviors to start packing up. There was a small group that was going to stay behind and guard the cave that led to the dragon's corpse. This was to prevent others from plundering it. The military contract the Silver Saviors had taken had stated that any goods retrieved from demonic beasts would be given to them, though they would compensate a small fee for it. It was a ridiculous clause and only the Silver Saviors were willing to take this contract to protect the villages around the area. All the demonic beasts that had been hunted were also thrown into the cave. They did not bother processing them and just left it for when the military would come to retrieve the goods. If anything was left after they decomposed, they could have them.

The day before they were finally going to leave Clayton summoned Adam. Curious as to what Clayton wanted to talk to him about, Adam went to meet with Clayton. Standing before Clayton, Adam had a bad feeling when he saw the grim look on his face. Clayton said: “Sorry Adam, but now that the demonic beasts have been dealt with, it's time to deal with the fact you disobeyed my orders!”

After he said that, Clayton suddenly back handed Adam across the face! It did not truly hurt, but this still came as a big surprise to Adam and jarred him in a stupor before he finally looked at Clayton with a flash of anger. “Why!? What was that for!?”

“Adam, even though you helped me greatly in fighting with the dragon you had still disobeyed my orders to retreat!”

Adam gave an incredulous look. “You're punishing me for that!?”

“For your actions you must bear both the reward and the punishment! Naturally you will receive a bonus for helping me take the dragon down when the military values its corpse but, as I said, disobedience must be punished!”

Adam was at a complete loss for words. This was completely stupid! Who ever heard of being both punished and rewarded? Clayton continued: “Let this be a warning to you in the future so that you think twice before disobeying my orders again. If you do so you will still have to pay the punishment no matter the reward!” After a moment pause, Clayton then suddenly smiled: “That is all, you are good to go now.”

“What?”

“Well I had to give you some form of punishment for this or your mother would never let me hear the end of it.” Clayton said with an exasperated sigh.

“Is this really all out of fear from my mother's reprisal!? Ugh, I am going to be a grown man soon and I should be living my own life!” Adam could only leave with a tinge of frustration and speechlessness. When others asked what Clayton wanted he couldn't answer them since he didn't know how to put it into adequate words.

Shortly after, the Silver Saviors departed back to Hessler. Along the way, Silber ran around a lot to try and find his limits. Even with fighting the demonic beasts, Silber had not really tested the limits of his strength and he was eager to see just what he could do. There was not a lot to test him self on though, so he could only try to run his fastest and bite down on various rocks and trees to test his bite strength. Other than that, it was an uneventful two weeks before Adam and the others found themselves back home. Walking through the gates, the large group naturally attracted attention. Silber, however, attracted everyone's gaze as they stared in wonder at this almost glowing wolf seemingly made of brilliant flowing silver and white. Arriving at the Silver Savior headquarters, everyone started to split up and carry out various duties such as disassembling their travel supplies and storing it away. Clayton also directly headed off to give a full report to the military. Adam left with Silber to go and show him off at Madame's.

Along the way Silber was constantly fussing: “Do you think Alpha will like my new colors?”

Adam could only laugh at Silber's nervousness. “I am sure she will love it!”

Stares followed them all they way as they looked at the new and vibrant Silber. Even at Madame's, as people raised a hand to joyously greet Adam, their voices fell silent as they stared wide eyed at Silber. Silber looked worriedly at Adam: “Do they hate my new color?”

Adam couldn't help laughing at this either. It seemed that Silber had become rather sensitive on this issue. “They are just surprised, that is all. Come on, let's go find mom and Helen.”

When they finally found Helen resting on a bench, she jumped up to excitedly greet Adam. When she saw Silber she similarly turned wide eyed as the others had. But that was only for a small moment as she suddenly lunged to give Silber a hug while shouting: “Silber, how did you become so beautiful!? It's so soft too!”

As she was examining his new fur, Silber happily wagged his tail with a smile. He could only say a simple phrase: “Alpha knows best!”

Adam felt extremely calm as he watched Helen play with Silber's fur. She was a rock of normalcy that he could always return to after a hard contract, especially with how close death was this time. Jimmy had even turned into a ghoul and was unable to return with the Silver Saviors. As she was distracted by Silber's fur, Adam leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. Helen's face suddenly turned red as she said: “What are you doing Adam!?”

Adam simply said with a smile: “It's good to be home.”

They next went to show off to Vivienne, who gave the same reaction as everyone else. After Silber had flaunted himself off, it was time to get him back to the Silver Saviors. Even if he was a guardian beast now, Madame's still did not allow for pets and Janette would start telling Adam off if Silber stayed any longer. Before anyone had the chance to get the full story of what happened from Adam, he had already left with Silber to walk him back. The whole way back, Silber was all smiles from how Helen had become enamored by his new fur.

When they finally arrived at the Silver Saviors, the mood was completely different than from when Adam left! Instead of being relaxed or happy for a completed job, everyone looked frustrated and close to anger! Alfred quickly ran up to Adam and said: “The military thinks we are lying about the dragon! What's more, they are suspending us from accepting any contracts until they investigate!”

“What!?”

“They said something about ensuring our truthfulness and making sure we are actually getting our contracts done instead of just saying they are and receiving payment. As if we are a new mercenary band or a group of sleaze balls that would do such a thing! This is a hit against our pride as a Silver Savior!”

“Is Clayton doing anything about it?”

“The only thing he can do, he is directly taking the investigators to the dragon's corpse. It is easier than trying to fight our way through bureaucrats to get them to lift our suspension. He has already left, nearly dragging the investigators out after him!”

Adam started feeling the frustrations of the others. Jimmy even died and the military said they are lying? Adam could only give an exasperated sigh. There was nothing to be done until Clayton gets back. “Well, I suppose I can just treat this as a vacation...”

Darren, who had come up as they were talking, suddenly said: “Don't you feel frustrated about all of this!? Why are you talking about a vacation at a time like this!?”

Adam gave Darren a slight frown. “No matter how much we sigh in frustration, nothing will get done! Might as well relax and refresh myself for when Clayton finally gets back.”

Those who heard Adam's words seemed to see the logic in them. Others had already started having the same thoughts and most everyone had calmed some what. There were those who would not be placated by this, though. After the Silver Saviors resumed some normalcy, Adam decided to head back to Madame's. Before he left, he told Silber: “In a day or two I should take you with me to see Cathryn. She can take a look at you and we can ask if there is anything you will need as a guardian beast.”

Silber was more than happy to go. He had heard the name Cathryn before but he had never met this person. Still, he was eager to continue flaunting himself in front of others.

When Adam arrived back at Madame's there was a group of people waiting to hear his story on just what had happened during the month he was gone. Adam had only said that Silber had become a guardian beast before he left and they were all curious as to what exactly that meant and how it happened. Adam resigned himself to telling the story, perhaps even having to tell it multiple times too. Adam described to them the dragon and the battle they had, though he did exclude the part where he charged in to save Clayton. His mother was shocked enough to hear how he fought the dragon as it was without him throwing himself into even more danger by confronting it directly. Then he described the spirit essence that exploded out of the dragon and how it changed Silber and the demonic beast hunts that followed. It all sounded like a tale out of legends now that Adam thought about it, many others shared this thought too.

Adam relaxed for the next few days before he decided to take Silber and go see Cathryn. There was more that he wanted to talk about than just Silber, but that was certainly a big part. Adam took a carriage that would depart from the Silver Saviors that day. The driver was reluctant at first to let an animal into his carriage but could only stare at Silber's vibrant colors as he jubilantly jumped into the carriage. Not sure what else there was to say, the driver decided to let it pass for Silber. Silber had always wondered what it was like to be in a carriage, but quickly got bored. He decided to stick his head out the window to watch everything pass by and to smell it all. Needless to say, he still attracted a fair bit of attention from those who saw his head stuck out the window.

Finally at the institution, Silber excitedly got out to explore this place that Adam would occasionally go to but had never taken him to. The staff members of the institution were quite surprised to see Silber but were not nearly as gobsmacked as everyone else was. Many of those who worked here had seen some sort of demonic or guardian beast during their lives. Silber said to Adam: “These sure are nice people. They don't stare at you with their mouths open!”

Adam smiled at Silber. He had long ago noticed that Silber really like to joke around. Perhaps he had never really noticed before since he couldn't talk to Silber like this until recently. Adam went directly to Cathryn's office with Silber. Adam politely knocked on her door. An “Enter” was issued from inside. Adam opened up the door and Silber entered first, eager to see who Cathryn was. When he entered, Cathryn became surprised: “O my, who is this Adam?”

“Do you remember that puppy I saved from the demonic bear way back when. This is Silber and he recently became a guardian beast.”

“This is that puppy? Please, tell me what happened.”

Adam once again regaled his tail of fighting the dragon and what happened afterward. Cathryn's mind was whirling by the end of the story. Not so much because it was hard to believe, but because she was trying to figure out what had happened behind the scenes. What had happened to the dragon before? How does it connect with Adam's usage of his sword song? What about that time that Adam suddenly sped up? So many questions. The thing she was least worried about, though, was Silber. However, that was actually the first thing Adam asked about: “Will Silber be in anyway harmed from how he became a guardian beast? Does he need any type of special attention for his care?”

“Hmm? No, Silber should be perfectly fine and you don't need to worry about any special upkeep. Unless you try to force him to ingest a large amount of spirit essence to try and reinforce his body further. As long as you don't do that, he should be perfectly fine.”

“Really?”

“Yea, you don't even have to worry about sustaining him with the proper type of spirit essence like a normal guardian beast. I would say that around eighty percent of guardian beasts are formed by a union between an animal and a spirit. That spirit would require an environment suitable for it to sustain itself. Silber, on the other hand, is part of that twenty percent that is formed from ingesting a large amount of spirit essence and properly reinforcing themselves with it without their soul being damaged. This naturally means he will be weaker and shorter lived compared to those who are formed with a spirit, but he will require far less upkeep to stay healthy.”

Adam felt enthusiastic at this response. He had feared that maybe Silber would have some unforeseen complications but that appeared not to be so. Silber looked proud as he said: “Of course I will be fine. Beta helped me after all.”

Adam felted touched by the loyalty Silber was showing. Watching Adam give Silber such a glance, Cathryn nodded her head. “It seems that you have also formed a good contract with Silber.”

“Contract?”

“Yes, I don't know if you remember, but spiritualists can form a kind of contract with guardian beasts, it is part of taming them. It is called a contract but it is nothing physical or mental that forces either of you into anything. Instead it is a connection of your souls. You might have felt your soul resonate to something right before you could start understanding Silber. Nobody quite knows why humans cant form the same type of connection between each other. This connection simply allows you to understand each other better. You have said that you can hear Silber talk, but he is not actually talking in human tongue to you. He is simply transmitting his thoughts to you and you translate them into a voice that speaks human words. With his connection to you, he also has an easier time understanding human language. The increased intelligence from being a guardian beast doesn't hurt either.”

During the whole conversation, Silber sat straight and proudly as he felt he was being complemented. Cathryn continued: “The harder to understand matter is that sudden increase of speed you said you had when charging at the dragon. Can you really not remember what was happening at that time?”

Adam shook his head. “I was too concentrated on moving forward. Even by the time I noticed how fast I was moving, it was all I could do to keep up and not fall over! Then I was directly in front of the dragon and had no time to contemplate on what had happened.”

“Hmm... Adam I want you to try something. It's a little unorthodox but what isn't when it comes to your path?” Cathryn said with a smile. “Close your elemental sight and concentrate on your mind. Try to remember, remember seeing Clayton on the ground before the dragon. Can you clearly see it?”

Adam stopped paying attention to his elemental sight and was remembering what had happened. He nodded his head in response to Cathryn. She then said: “Now keep that image in your head as you try to recall the emotions you felt when you first saw this. Don't try to control the emotions, try to feel them like it was your first time seeing this memory. Make those emotions even more dramatic if you like!”

Adam tried to recall that helplessness and fear he felt at that time. Making it even more dramatic, images of Clayton lying dead before the dragon appeared before his mind. It was truly what he had feared what was going to happen at that time. Unbeknownst to Adam, there was a slight shift in the spirit essence of the room as he recollected these things. Cathryn got very hopeful when she noticed this change, but didn't say anything about it. “Now, keeping all that in mind, try to recall how you pushed yourself forward. To run as fast as you could to stop that dragon!”

Adam started to imagine it all. The dragon moving to enclose Clayton with its mouth as he started moving, ready to start sprinting with a burst of speed, to go as fast as possible and push himself forward! Cathryn quietly moved away from her desk as she examined what Adam was doing. She then said: “Now take that all and push it forward like you were going as fast or faster than when you charged the dragon! Sweep your hand out and push all of that out!”

Adam was deeply immersed in his memories, but could still hear Cathryn. He felt an odd sensation in his soul like that time he sped up as he charged at the dragon. Instead of pushing himself forward like he had when fighting the dragon, Adam put all his efforts into a swing of his arm as if to blow the image of the dragon he held before him to pieces. As he gave a savage swipe of his arm, Adam looked with his elemental sight as he did so and suddenly heard a rush of wind as a bunch of wind spirit essence whipped out at the desk and threw the lighter items completely off it! Cathryn exuberantly shouted: “You did it!”