Beastforged Bond Chapter 7b

My heart skipped a beat when the door to the flat swung open. I patted my chest, steeled my heart, and closed the tablet to step out of my room as footsteps resounded.

I walked out of the room, greeting my parents with a bright smile. “Mom! Dad! What took you so long?”

Dad looked much better than before. He was no longer pale and had mostly healed up. Even the blood poisoning no longer bothered him. Two days ago, Mom shared the news, informing that the blood poisoning was fully extracted and that he shouldn’t have any lasting issues.

“We returned as fast as we could,” Mathias said, while struggling a little as he removed his boots. He groaned, slipped into his slippers, and sat down on the couch with a deep sigh. Mom disappeared into my parents’ bedroom with Dad’s bags, and I slumped down on the couch near him.

“These money grubbers wanted to keep there. Can you imagine that? Spouting nonsense about trauma and that I’d need therapy. How much longer did they want to keep there? Weren’t 30 days more than enough?!” He shook his head in exasperation and smiled at , his eyes widening slightly as they landed on my arms.

Dad sat upright and inspected for a good minute. “You look phenonal.”

A scoff escaped my lips and I raised an eyebrow at him.

“You are taller, aren’t you? And are those muscles I’m seeing?” he exclaid, rubbing his eyes as if he was trying to dispel the illusion.

But it was not an illusion. I had grown so muscles, and I might have grown a centiter or two as well.

The pride in my father’s eyes was overwhelming and I smiled awkwardly in response, heat rising to my cheeks.

Mom walked out of the bedroom after a few minutes and my father didn’t waste a second to share his finds with her.

“He sits straighter as well,” Mom noticed, flashing a vibrant smile. “He’s such a confident young boy!”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she walked over to give a tight hug. “I’m glad binding the egg fixed everything.”

I reciprocated the hug firmly, but it was impossible to suppress the guilt boiling inside . Still, Mom looked happy and Dad was proud. They were happy for .

Everything was going to be fine.

Now… I only needed to grow a little bit stronger. Strengthen the soulshare, expand my World, and temper my body, all while feeding the Soilback to ensure it would grow fast enough to go hunt with Daniel soon.

“I need to show you sothing,” I said finally, escaping my mother’s firm embrace.

A pull on our bond was enough to stir the Soilback. It woke up and erged in my palm. Space twisted and a portion of my soul energy was consud to manifest the little glutton.

It yawned and rubbed its weary eyes as it got up, opening its eyes as I held out my palm, bombarding the Soulkin with emotions and images.

Images of my parents and what they had done for , and emotions like love, gratitude, and happiness.

The Soilback looked up at my parents and chirped excitedly.

“Oh, sweetheart! Is that what I think it is?” Mom exclaid, sitting down beside when her legs caved in. “It is so cute!”

But while Mom was overly excited, Father looked sternly at my Soulkin.

“So… this is your Soulkin?” he asked hesitantly, uncertainty marking his face.

I just smiled back at him, “Yes. A Soilback, to be precise. Probably a mutant. I had no idea what it was, but Daniel explained it to . He even said that it has the potential to grow into a 3-Star Wild as long as the mutation is not malignant, which he doubts.”

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I noticed a shift from my right at that and glanced at Mom. She cocked her eyebrows and gave that look. There was no need for any words because I figured that I’d ssed up. Still, Mom took it upon herself to tell all about it.

“Daniel? So you’ve been eting up with him?”

Oh well…

I rubbed the back of my head, a forced smile on my lips. “Did I forget to ntion that? You see… I was not sure what to do with the egg, and—”

No matter what I said, it would be the wrong thing. Resigning my fate to Mom and Dad, I cursed my stupidity in silence. I avoided eye contact and continued, “I considered selling the egg, but I knew you wouldn’t want that. So… I wanted to know how valuable the beast egg is. If it was sothing special, I could have exchanged it with a weaker beast egg and the money we need to pay for the debts and hospital bills.”

Father grunted sothing incomprehensible, his pride replaced with… was that guilt? I couldn’t quite tell. Mom glared daggers at , and I turned my head further, all while the Soilback’s confusion reached through our bond. It had no idea what was going on.

How nice it must be to have no idea what is going on, I thought, while sending waves of reassurance to the Soilback. It released a series of chirping and hissing noises, then coiled up again.

“I called Daniel the day we rushed to the hospital, and he helped analyze it. He… well, he basically forced to bind it because my World responded to the egg. Apparently, that is special and all. Either way, I’ve been eting with him, learning from him.”

A shudder ran through my entire body as Daniel’s shouts and snippets of his devious workout routine resurfaced.

“Did you accept anything from him?” Mother asked, pinching the bridge of her nose like she always did when her patience was drawing to an end.

She looked up, and I looked away, my lips tightly pressed together.

“I don’t understand you, Adam. What… just what are you thinking?” Words of anger and frustration reached , and I couldn’t even hold it against her.

“He’s been helping and the Soilback, and…” I was sure I would regret this, but I couldn’t lie to her. Hiding the truth from my parents had already been bad enough. Lying to them was non-optional. “We will check the nearby zones soon. A Wild zone with a low danger level.”

“What?!” Mom shrieked, the color in her face fading. “There is no way I’m going to let you out of the Bastion, Adam!!”

The Soilback stirred and jumped up, bewildered. It looked around and hissed in all directions. Confusion reached through the bond, and I hurriedly stored the Soulkin in my World. In the anti, Mom started to shout at , and I was certain she would scream at for the next hour—probably longer—if not for Father’s arm landing on her shoulder.

I didn’t et his gaze, but I caught him shaking his head from the corner of my eye. He pulled Mom closer to him and said sothing. However, all I could tell was that his lips were moving. My ears were already ringing from Mom’s shouting, which ceased suddenly. Looking up after a mont of silence, I saw my mother glaring at my father. But while her stare was sharp, her shoulders drooped.

She looked… defeated?

“Daniel is coming with you, right?” Her head flicked back to , her eyes sharp and doubtful, while the edge in her voice dulled. “I know I cannot force you to stay in the Bastion. Since you are almost sixteen and a Blessed, you are considered an adult… but–... Just make sure you’re not getting hurt. Even if you don’t like it, ask Daniel to protect you if you cannot handle the danger. Pride is worthless if you’re dead. It won’t keep you alive…”

That was more than a little confusing. What did Dad say to change my mother’s stance?

“And make sure you stay true to yourself. I think you know better, but you shouldn’t exploit your friends. Help them in their ti of need, and never forget how they supported you when you were lost and in need of help.” She added, and it did not look like she would stop anyti soon.

If anything, Mom looked like she had a lot more prepared, especially to lecture about my actions, but she just smiled at as I t her eyes.

“What is its na?”

“Hmm?”

Mom sighed deeply. “Your Soulkin. What’s its na?”

The Soilback materialized in my palm again, drawing a trace of soul energy, but my lips parted and closed repetitively.

“Don’t tell you’re going to call it ‘Soilback’. Spare with that look, Adam, and give that little cutie a proper na!”

So that’s the biggest problem now? Are we just ignoring how easily you accepted leaving the protection of the do to hunt a bunch of ferocious beasts before they can tear apart?

I nearly laughed at that but looked at the Soilback instead. My Soulkin looked back up at my face, greeting with a pair of intelligent eyes that glittered like pure gold for a mont.

A na flashed through my head, and I knew instinctively that it fit perfectly.

“What do you think about Aureus, buddy?”

The Soilback chirped excitedly and pressed its head firmly against my thumb, sending waves of excitent through the bond that seed a little bit firr than it had been a mont ago.

Aureus, it is.