Leonard innocently said, “Oh, Why I would? But... Hmm, since it seems so attached to you, hasn’t it tried to show you before how it’s done?... It doesn’t happen often, but dinosaur cubs left by their parents will either survive alone or like in your case, find someone that they resonate strongly with. It’s in their blood after all... To bond… But they can be quite picky!... You two must resonate wonderfully together… And yet, you don’t feel anything when you’re near it?”. To this William gave Leonard a puzzled look and inquired, “What should I feel?”.

The old man settled his drawings on a nearby desk before he briskly said, “Ah... I guess you’re not one of those gifted people then… Hmm... It goes like this: Since the age of dawn, only dinosaurs have had the ability to bond. Since this attribute lies solely with them, they are also very keen at sensing energies as these are essential for a bond to occur… But oh, nature is a playful mistress! Sometimes she gifts animals, other than dinosaurs, the ability to sense energies as well. Of course, their sense cannot be compared with a dinosaur’s. It usually only goes out a meter at most... Although I’ve also heard of some whom at their second bonding could feel the pull of resonance. But… Hmm”.

Leonard chewed on that last part, before proudly gliding his hand over his chest, saying, “Well, as you might have guessed, I am one of those lucky few… With my keen sense of spirit energies, I can make a clear picture of an animal’s energy, as well as find energy enhancers way more efficiently than a normal spirit hound!... But oh, here I am going off-topic… Silly me, it’s a bad habit is what it is!... I guess you want to bond first before we go into further depths of what a bond truly is, and how you can benefit from it?”.

William couldn’t believe that he had stumbled upon a guide so randomly. And yet, did he really want to bond with Lucifer? The little incarnation of the devil itself?...

Having such thoughts, he inspected the dinosaur once more. He knew very well that a bond doesn’t have to be permanent, but you should go at it till the end like with any other pet. One definitely shouldn’t abandon their dinosaur willy-nilly...

Lucifer didn’t know what these humans were babbling about, but it did like that it finally got some attention from William. As the human continued to stare at it, it cawed and purred to show how good it was. Heck! If it didn’t have a brain it would have trampled on those papers they found so interesting, only to demand more attention!

Again, William admitted that Lucifer indeed was cute and helpful at times. Furthermore, it also had a decent ability, so… “I really hope I’m making the right choice with you, Lucifer…”, William said to the dinosaur before he turned his gaze on Leonard, “Yes. I want to bond with it now”.

This confirmation made Leonard slightly nod his head, “You’re a brave girl… And don’t worry about what the solvinians say about bonding! By Duru’s blossom! Any animal can bond with dinosaurs, be it male or female doesn’t matter… Hmm…”. Leonard searched the room for a small crude scalpel knife. Then he handed it over to William while muttering, “First you need to exchange flesh. Hoho, it’s not that scary. Just drink some of its blood and give it some of yours”. The scalpel knife was firmly planted in William’s palm. Feeling the cold metal William gulped as he wondered where he should make the cut…

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Lucifer also looked on curiously, not knowing that the human was getting ready for the ritual. But when it smelled the fresh drops of blood and saw them being offered to it, it began to understand what was going on. First, it gave William a few uncertain glances. Not knowing if it was okay to take it. But since the human just waited and egged it on with soothing words, Lucifer finally licked the wound on his leg.

“Uhm… Should I also cut Lucifer?... And what if it gets mad at me for-”. Leonard shook his head and cleared things up: “Nonsense! This dinosaur wouldn’t mind if you bit it hard enough to draw blood... Don’t worry about such trivial matters…”.

William remembered how it had before nibbled itself on the shoulder as a sign. So he slowly and cautiously cut a small slit there…

Seeing that the girl hesitated, Leonard said, “No need to be formal. Just go right in there and suck it up!”. William tried to hide his bashfulness as he went in and tasted the iron-rich liquid. This kind of thing felt very crude and the taste wasn’t exactly pleasant…

Now that the first step had been completed, Leonard clapped his hands together, “Good! Now all you need to do it put your foreheads together, till your energies have finished seeking out each other. If the bonding is a success you’ll feel light-headed and drowsy. If not… You’ll have an awful headache for a month until the bond has fully dissolved itself”.

William didn’t even get to initiate the motion. Since he was already on his knees, Lucifer took the opportunity to press its head against his, like a loving head bump from a lion. As soon as they touched, William had another’s heartbeat thump in his ears. Throughout his body, he could also feel his energy return as his limbs seemed to grow stronger… This lasted for a few seconds until Lucifer removed its forehead.

Once their connection was physically cut, multiple pieces of new information penetrated his skull in waves. With each wave, his mental stamina was beaten down until there was almost nothing left. William now understood why people felt so drowsy after a bonding. There was simply no way one’s brain would be able to handle this much data in one sitting!...

And yet… Many before him had accomplished the feat of staying awake and continuing their day after a bond. Hence he wanted to be the same!

To stay awake, William slapped himself a couple of times on his cheeks to freshen himself up. Alas, it was rather fruitless. The only thing he got out of it, was giving Leonard and Lucifer a shock. The little white dinosaur cocked its head at first. Then it thought it would be a good child and help its parent. Thus it slapped William in the face with its tail-end.

Getting the fluffy whip on his cheek did make William surprised but then again, it wasn’t enough to make him stay awake. Instead, he got drowsier as his nose took in the whiff of air that followed after Lucifer’s tail. Suddenly William got the scent of lingering sap from the floors but also something else… The scent of something musty and old...

William wobbly stood up from the floor and yawned. He forced himself to do so because he didn’t want to inconvenience his host by falling asleep on it. When he was about to ask for a place to sleep, a guiding hand showed William to the door.

Leonard shook his head, with a glint of disappointment in his eyes.

While he showed the young lady out he said, “Now there is no need to hurry, Mirabelle… Here it is safe… As for a bed. Since it’s not rare for me to have guests over, I have a room just for the occasion… This way...”.

William was soon guided to a small guest room. Where he would ‘peacefully’ spend his night.