“I’ll tell you a story, Protector. Those of my kind rarely fear death. What we do fear more, is to be forgotten by the world,” the beast spoke, “Mine’s the story of a little cub born into a dark world. A cub filled with so much anger that he cursed the Fates and challenged the heavens, only to fall short. From the moment I could flick my tail and cut the essence of a soul, I strove to become the strongest of my kind. Three-Cut Bone Tigers are feared by humans, so naturally, I assumed I would grow strong enough to topple fiends much more dangerous than the Tainted Ones,” the tiger chuckled as he told his story.

  ‘Tainted Ones,’ Aric wanted to ask.

  He wasn’t about to interrupt the beast as he spoke. One slip-up and this opportunity would be gone… so he stayed silent. This situation was quite unique though. The two of them had just fought and the truth was that the Bone Tiger had nearly killed Aric. In this moment though, the tall walls of their enmity had crumbled completely, leaving behind a man, a tiger… and a vast sea of regrets.

  “My bde grew strong and lethal. I even managed to learn the Battle Arts passed down through our cn. The Battle Arts form the part of that Ancient Dance you might know as the Dance of the Sword. Our variation was the Dance of the Tiger, lethal from beginning to end. There is no mercy in the Dance of the Tiger… only rage and the desire to see our enemies vanquished by our cws.

  It was perfect. I could pour all my hate into our way of fighting and strike down the monsters that angered the Fates and threw our world into this unfathomable darkness. The Higher Ones of our race shunned me for my decision, ciming only one thing.

  The Protector will return… and only then will the world be brought to bance.

  I didn’t believe in the Protector. Humans are evil… so why would I allow a human to save our race from the very chaos they plunged us into? I hated your race with everything that I was and killed any that I found. I especially loved to kill practitioners of the Dark Arts.

  I even started competing with myself to see if I could kill an enemy before my tail had sliced them thrice and shattered their souls. Powerful enemies often died at the edge of my Tail’s sword while weaker ones died to my cws.

  With each soul I ended, I grew stronger. So much so that I even gained the ability to seal my targets within my reach. No prey of mine could escape me unless I allowed it. Ah, such glory days. Even without the support of the Higher Ones, I was determined to grow strong enough to evolve and perhaps one day become one myself,” the Bone Tiger reminisced.

  “That was… until I met a weird human. His power was clearly below mine and yet, he moved at the speed of the Higher Ones and fought with the Dance of the Mantis to thwart my vicious style. Never once did he cower in fear of my power. I should have seen the signs… I did see the signs, but some were missing.

  The world didn’t love him and his eyes didn’t bring warmth to my being. He was just another being… another human lucky enough to learn the secrets of the world. He was even lucky enough to have learnt the Old Tongue.

  That’s what I thought as I hunted him down. Only in my final moments did I find it strange. And now that I’m dead, I see the world differently. I see the mask you wear. It suppresses that part of you that makes you instantly recognizable. Why do you hide your face, Protector?”

  “Because I’m weak. My enemies want me dead and I do not have the power to fight them,” Aric answered. The Bone Tiger’s story was a captivating one. Only in death had he seen the error of his ways… and that, was truly sad.

  “I see. Then grow stronger, Protector. Grow strong enough to end the darkness that taints our world. Thank you for listening to my story. As a parting gift from me, I shall tell you the answers to the questions I thought were most valuable. That’s not to say the one you asked was useless. I just don’t believe in such a thing as a Tamer,” the beast spat the word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  “Right! When facing one of my kind, it’s best to fight them with the Dance of the Tiger. I’m not sure how you learnt the Dance of the Sword but when fighting someone with the same variation, the stronger one wins… always,” Aric wasn’t sure how this was supposed to work.

  “But the variations were invented to combat the strengths of others by attacking their weaknesses,” Aric replied, making sure to avoid phrasing a question.

  “If that were true, then the variations would all be useless. Weaknesses indeed exist but within each variation of the Dance of the Sword exist ways to cover up those weaknesses. Master the Dance of the Sword and you close any weaknesses that you might think exist. If I wasn’t dead, I’d show you,” the Bone Tiger chuckled.

  “If you weren’t dead, you’d be trying to kill me,” the boy ughed in response.

  “Bah! Don’t sweat the details, Little Prince,” the beast ughed heartily, “Let’s see. What else haven’t I told you? You could have asked me everything I know on the human city you’re going back to. There are some powerful people there but in the end, that City has no domain which means it is not protected by anyone powerful enough.

  If the type of enemies you’re hiding from is that powerful, then you’d need to hide in a city with a domain to be safer. A city like that can be destroyed at the whim of the powerful. I’m surprised it’s been able to survive this long.”

  Aric wasn’t sure what most of the tiger’s words were supposed to mean. He’d already been to four towns with holy barriers and not once had he heard of something like a domain. How was a domain so important? Of course, he couldn’t ask the dying Tiger any of these questions. Time was of the essence, so he listened instead.

  “The st thing I’ll answer before your question is the reason the forest is devoid of any animals and aether beasts,” the Bone Tiger continued.

  Aric felt shivers run down his spine. The wind blew his hair, giving him an eerie awareness of the fact that he was currently speaking to the corpse of a powerful creature. A creature he’d been unable to sy.

  Aric was aware that his survival in the battle against the great beast had been nothing but luck. He would have to thank Scarlett for saving him indeed.

  Tuning back into the conversation, he listened to the Tiger’s words. The wind went still and the world went quiet. Why would every beast in the Purified Zone be dead?, “The reason I was the only beast you found is because the rest had either run away or died. Each dead Aether beast fell at the hands of the Tainted Ones.”

  Aric didn’t have to ask his guardian what that meant as she spoke in the next second, tension in her voice.

  [ The Tainted Ones are commonly referred to as… Demons ]