Having finally killed Varek, Sol deactivated [Overpower], allowing his body to return to its normal state. No longer pushing himself beyond his limits, a wave of exhaustion crashed over him. His breathing grew heavier, but since he had only used a little over half of the skill’s duration, the side effects were still manageable.
"Huh. No experience."
Sol glanced at Varek’s lifeless head on the ground, noting the absence of a system notification. There was no doubt that Varek was dead, yet he hadn’t gained any experience from the kill.
That could mean the system still recognized Varek as human—or at least part human.
It was plausible, but Sol had another hunch.
"It could also be because you're still alive."
His gaze shifted to the Raijin, the beast that had become Varek’s right arm.
The creature lay motionless, seemingly dead. But through [True Sight (Variant)], Sol could see the faint glow of life still flickering within it.
"Oi, you can stop pretending."
The Raijin had been playing dead, but the moment Sol addressed it directly, it flinched. A slight tremor ran through its body, giving it away. Realizing it had been caught, the beast hesitantly opened its eyes and looked at him, fear evident in its gaze.
If it could, it would have fled as far as possible. But it was still fused to Varek’s corpse, completely immobilized.
Seeing its helpless expression, Sol felt a twinge of pity.
The beasts, Thunder Wolf Kings included, weren't fully at fault. They had only been following Varek’s commands. And while leaving the Thunder Wolf King's to their own devised would also cause their own set of problems it was different for this unique beast.
Taking a deep breath, Sol crouched beside the Raijin and asked, "You can understand me, right?"
The Raijin slowly nodded.
When Varek used his law technique, [Beast Domination], he didn’t just enslave the beast—he also imparted specific knowledge, including language comprehension. It was a technique rooted in an old saying among tamers: A good tamer teaches their beast to obey commands. A great tamer teaches them to understand them.
This philosophy led to the rise of intelligent beasts capable of performing complex tasks and developing higher cognitive reasoning.
"Good. Then I’ll be straight with you." Sol continued. "There may be a way to save you. I can separate you from his body. What do you say?"
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"Awoo?!"
The Raijin’s eyes appeared to have gained a glimpse of hope and it immediately nodded with eagerness.
"It won’t be for free, though." Sol added. "Once I separate you, you need to promise me two things. First, you can only hunt to feed yourself or in self defense. Second, you cannot hunt any of the sentient races. Basically those who can talk, like me. Fair?"
Sol kept his terms simple and direct on purpose.
While the Raijin had been granted language and knowledge, if it had a mindset similar to a Thunder Wolf King, then it likely had the mentality of a child. Complicated conditions might confuse it, and Sol didn’t want any misunderstandings.
"Awoo!"
The Raijin nodded again. The conditions didn’t seem difficult to follow.
"Alright, then. It's a deal."
With their agreement in place, Sol placed his hand on the Raijin and activated [Soul Contract], forming an ethereal connection between them. The Raijin immediately sensed a foreign energy entering its body and turned to Sol, confusion in its eyes.
He gave the beast a reassuring smile. "Don’t resist it. You have nothing to fear, unless you break the deal."
Still uncertain about what he meant, the Raijin obeyed and remained still, allowing the skill to take effect.
A small sigil formed on the beast’s soul.
Sol had chosen the weakest punishment, soul mark, since there was no point in imprinting the more severe ones. The harsher punishments wouldn’t truly kill the Raijin if it ever broke their deal. But with the soul mark, if the beast went back on its word, Sol would instantly know its location and be able to track it down before it caused any more damage.
Once the mark was set, Sol withdrew his hand.
"Now, let’s get you free."
He had no skill that could directly separate the Raijin from Varek’s corpse. But since the fusion had been created through a law technique, he had an idea that might work.
Skipping over using [Analysis], Sol focused on the tethers linking the two.
One set of tethers emanated from Varek’s main body, while another extended from the Raijin that had become his arm. Ignoring the ones tied to the beast, he honed in on Varek’s.
‘First, I should grab some new skills.’
After a quick inspection of the tethers, he made his selection.
[Learned [Beast Regeneration] Lv MAX!]
[Learned [Commune with Beasts] Lv MAX!]
[Learned [Pacify] Lv 9!]
[Learned [Shared Senses] Lv 8!]
Sol tried to choose the skills that didn’t need a beast under his command to work since he didn’t have any intention of obtaining one anytime soon, but given Varek’s profession and talents, it was basically all that was available. It would be hard to tame a beast without obtaining the law technique [Beast Domination] and while that law technique would have been useful, freeing the Raijin required a different law technique.
Taking a steady breath, Sol focused.
‘Let’s hope this works.’
He wasn’t entirely confident in his plan, but he had no better alternatives.
[Attempting to siphon [Harmonious Fusion]...]
[9%... 23%... 54%...]
With his [Siphon] skill having leveled up, Sol had become far more efficient at manipulating tethers. He carefully guided the tether toward himself, attaching it with little difficulty.
[Assimilating law technique… (Note: This may hurt)]
Pain flared through him, but Sol gritted his teeth and endured it.
[Comprehended law technique [Harmonious Fusion] Lv 1!]
[[Harmonious Fusion] Lv 1: Law Technique. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Fuse with another willing living being, creating a new entity that shares mind and body. The fused being can access all the skills of both individuals, and the combined attributes range from 50% to 150% of their original values, depending on harmony and alignment. Fusion can last indefinitely but may be canceled by the user at will.]