Chapter 67

Taming (2)

The creature named Soul Reaver—also, a certain eccentric human called it by the familiar nickname Reaver—had recently found its satisfaction with life dropping exponentially.

Life inside the Void Zone was, at its core, nothing but moments of extreme obedience to instinct.

Everyone tried to eat each other, the weak died at the hands of the strong, and all of it was accepted as natural.

They were pastoral, harmonious days of predation.

Completely different from the place it was now.

This place, unlike the Void Zone, was filled with posturing humans—civilization, brimming with an energy of a different sort.

It couldn’t clearly remember how it had been dragged out of such a good place, but one thing was certain: someone had fastened a leash around its neck.

Reaver snorted and looked down at the human who was leaning against its front paw and sleeping soundly.

It was the first human it had come into contact with after regaining consciousness outside the Void Zone.

Whether he lacked a sense of distance, whether his fear response was broken, or both, it couldn’t be sure.

Even beasts inside the Void Zone, left with nothing but instinct, would panic and flee at the sight of it as a default reaction. Yet this human behaved with the same easy familiarity as if he were about to curl up with a beloved pet at bedtime.

From what it could gather of the circumstances, this human must have helped it somehow. Otherwise, it would have succumbed to a berserk frenzy, lost its reason entirely, and eventually died somewhere.

Still, well.

-…….

Reaver snorted again and pulled away the front paw the human was leaning on. The man’s head flopped onto the ground with a thud, but he remained fast asleep, utterly unfazed.

Even if he had helped, there was no reason to feel gratitude. From a beast’s standpoint, every other living thing besides itself was prey.

Normally, the human being so close would have already been nothing more than minced meat sliding down its throat.

But it couldn’t do it.

Reaver let out a dissatisfied snort.

In its head, it knew it wanted to, and it had the ability and the method to do it, but the action simply wouldn’t follow through.

It felt as though someone had forcibly bound its mind to prevent such behavior.

Follow this human’s commands. Do not act violently. That was the sense of compulsion injected into it.

Worse, just a little while ago, it had even allowed this human to climb onto its back as if it were some kind of mount. It had been a truly dreadful experience…

[…]

At last, Reaver yawned and lowered its head heavily, its eyes half-lidded. In any case, it had been a long day. Even a beast boasting such a terrifying set of abilities could still feel fatigue.

Someday, there would be a chance to be free. Until then, whatever this human did, all it had to do was hear with one ear and let it pass out the other.

After all, the only one it was bound not to harm was this human. As for the rest, it could just kill and eat them whenever it got hungry enough.

That was the plan. Certainly.

[…]

Reaver blinked and looked around.

For a face that was closest in appearance to a wolf’s—though far more savage and imposing—the expression it wore now made it instantly clear it was confused.

Pitch-black space. Its body floated there, drifting.

It didn’t know where this was, but the moment it saw it, it could tell on its skin: this was no real world, but an alien space.

“This is your first time seeing something like this, right?”

At the voice coming from the side, Reaver turned its head.

Also drifting in the air was the man who had just been leaning on its paw, fast asleep. His name was Aiden, if it recalled correctly.

“This is called the Mental World.”

[……Let me out. Before I mince you into pieces.]

Sensing at once that this human had dragged it in here, Reaver growled.

But the man seemed surprised about something else entirely.

“You could talk?”

[I didn’t because I had no need. Talking with something as low as a human is nothing but a waste of time.]

“The way you act is strangely dignified sometimes. What are you, some kind of noble beast?”

[I have no sense of entitlement.]

Reaver snorted and continued.

[But you wouldn’t understand, being such a low creature.]

“……”

Ah, I see how it is.

“Well then, I don’t think I’ll feel too guilty about this.”

[…What did you say?]

“Nothing much.”

Aiden yawned and ran a hand through his hair.

“I did risk my life saving you, but you don’t show a shred of gratitude.”

[…]

“So I figured you need at least a little lesson in manners.”

[…]

“The rules are simple. Promise me you’ll listen to most of what I say and drop that nasty attitude. Then I’ll treat you with courtesy and respect too.”

[And if I refuse?]

“Then we’ll take it to the end, you and me.”

Reaver’s mouth twisted into a hideous grin.

[……So what. You’ll torture me?]

“No. Training.”

[…]

It looked at him like he was spouting nonsense, but Aiden’s expression was dead serious.

Training was training. That was all.

Even if sometimes, it was hard to tell the difference from torture.

“What the—why are you late again—wait, what is this?”

With those words, both Reaver’s and Aiden’s bodies began to descend from midair.

It was as though gravity had suddenly appeared where there hadn’t been any before.

[…What the hell is this—]

Reaver had been about to say that.

But the moment it saw the human who had just appeared before it, looking it up and down, its mouth snapped shut.

Beasts lived lives steeped in violence and death. That meant gauging the difference in level between itself and its opponent was almost instinctual.

“A beast? You’re raising something like this now?”

And this human…

…was a monster who could grind Reaver into dust a hundred times over with his eyes closed. That much difference in level was clear.

Reaver’s eyes darted around, overwhelmed by an oppressive force unlike anything it had ever felt, even when facing the strongest beasts in the Void Zone. Meanwhile, Aiden spoke casually.

“He’s a test subject, senior.”

“A test subject?”

[…]

Reaver didn’t know what that meant, but it certainly wasn’t anything good.

Cold sweat began to soak the fur along its neck.

“After all, haven’t you been complaining this whole time? That you had all these techniques and combinations you wanted to test, but I was too fragile to withstand them?”

At those words, Meyer looked Reaver up and down with intrigued eyes.

“Is it sturdy?”

“Very sturdy. Even when one of the more notorious attackers of our generation hit it, not a single scratch appeared.”

Reaver’s neck fur grew wetter by the second. Meyer, on the other hand, was grinning ear to ear, rubbing his hands together like he’d just stumbled upon a treasure trove.

“There’s a mountain of things we can research with this.”

And indeed, that was the situation.

[……Stop, stop!]

The cry of surrender came far earlier than even Aiden had expected.

Specifically, it was while Meyer was testing his thirteenth technique—the one he hadn’t dared to use on Aiden himself.

It was so extreme that Aiden’s eyes had gone wide while scribbling notes on possible improvements and applications from the sidelines.

“Huh? What? Already?”

[…]

Already?

Already?

Reaver had been torn apart by this human-shaped natural disaster called Meyer dozens of times now.

And since it seemed the concept of death didn’t even exist inside this Mental World, every time it died, it just revived immediately, only to be struck down again, and again, and again…

Still, for Aiden, it was honestly disappointing.

-System Message

▶ The effect of ‘Skill: Analysis’ has been activated.

▶ The target’s combat technique level is extremely high.

▶ The techniques are immensely valuable. Direct copying is impossible, but mastery of already acquired Combat Form skills has increased!

Until now, because Meyer had never been able to properly unleash his techniques against Aiden, there had been few chances to actually improve real combat skills, the Combat Forms.

But in truth, Reaver had been holding out far better than expected, which was why this progress had been stacking up at such a terrifying pace.

For it to suddenly say it couldn’t endure anymore—what a disappointment.

[…I surrender. I’ll do as you wish. Just… just stop…]

Still, demanding that Reaver, who was already on the verge of losing its mind, continue fighting would be too cruel.

The sense of death was not something even a beast could easily endure. Just watching Meyer move now made Reaver’s entire body flinch. It was strange enough that anyone could maintain a will to fight after being killed dozens of times by a human who did so casually.

“Beasts these days really have no grit. It’s not like it’s even died that many times.”

“Right? It’s only been, what, fifty deaths? Don’t I usually die at least in the triple digits daily?”

“…Huh, really? It’s already died that much? I didn’t even bother to count.”

“…If you suddenly downplay it like that, you’re making me look like the crazy one.”

“No, you are the crazy one. Sparring with you every day has messed me up too. Now it just feels normal that no matter who dies, they just stand back up and come at me again…”

“……”

While Aiden glared at Meyer with a frown, Reaver groaned in disbelief.

[…You. You’ve been fighting this monster every night?]

“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”

[How do you keep your sanity? To do this, hundreds of times a day, every single day…?]

Hearing that, Aiden tilted his head instead.

Well, what of it.

If he didn’t find a way to grow stronger, he would die for sure during the main storyline anyway. In that sense, this way of thinking was almost refreshing.

If he didn’t do it, the world would perish, and with it, all the people he wanted to protect would die too.

In the end, to Aiden, no matter how many times he died, this was simply something he had to do. Which meant—

“Since it has to be done, then I just do it. Simple as that.”

[…]

“Doesn’t it even feel kind of healthy? The more I do it, the stronger I get, and each passing day I make progress. People should live with ambition, shouldn’t they?”

[…]

Looking at Aiden speaking so matter-of-factly, only one thought came to Reaver’s mind.

‘A lunatic.’

A human, insane in the clearest of ways.

There was no way to reach such a conclusion unless his mind had long since gone astray…

“Well, no helping it then. Just rest there. From now, it’ll be me and senior sparring.”

[…]

At those words, Reaver collapsed to the ground, panting.

The tension that had filled its whole body released all at once.

Of course, the words that followed sent a chill racing down its spine.

“Rest well, since tomorrow’s coming too.”

[…What did you say?]

“There’ll be plenty of times when you and I have to fight in sync. We can’t afford accidents then. So it’ll be better if we start training together now, don’t you think?”

Reaver’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

It clearly wanted to speak, but no words would come out.

This madness… it would be doing this every single day too?

“Of course, the intensity of the training depends on how well you listen.”

[…]

“Understand?”

[…]

…This devilish bastard.

That was the meaning carried in the glare Reaver shot at Aiden.