Dungeon of Niflheim

312 Chapter 312: Contracting with Kiba (2)

“Alright let’s begin.” Druakai announced before removing a metal funnel (picture a chak-pur that’s used in making salt mandalas) and a bag of mana infused sand. He then delicately started to draw a large circular magic crest on the ground, an array. Though the image was large and intricate Druakai moved fast and seamlessly, he’d prepared dozens of such crests over the years and could easily do it with his eyes closed.

Once the crest was complete the blue sand sparkled as though coming to life. “Frost, Kiba please step into the crest facing one another.” Druakai instructed while removing other items from the bag Sam handed him and placing them around the large crest. These were supplementary materials to increase the success rate and quality of the bond, usually only used when contracting high quality monsters such as Kiba.

Frost and Kiba did as instructed, stepping into the circle. The crest shone brighter as they did. Druakai joined them inside once he finished placing the additional materials.

“Empty your minds and relax, accept the ritual, do not fight it.” Druakai gave one last piece of advice before dousing his fingers in what appeared to be high grade monster blood. He then proceeded to use his blood soaked fingers to draw a mysterious rune on Kiba’s forehead that once completed seeped into his skull. A master rune was then drawn on Frost’s hand that reacted in the same way. These runes would form the base of the bond, connecting points.

Finally, Druakai stepped out of the magic crest and shattered a monster crystal, scattering the remains upon the crest, causing it to brightly illuminate. Since Druakai wasn’t a magician or tamer this was the only way he could activate the array.

With the monster crystal as fuel, the intricate magic crest hummed to life, encapsulating Frost and Kiba within a ring of blue. The mana within the crest seemed to amplify to high levels as the additional materials were burned up as catalysts.

The blood runes drawn on their bodies came alive, sucking in the ambient mana to create a chain. Frost stared in wonder as he watched this happen, feeling his body reacting to the array. He could sense that the blood rune devoured the nearby mana as it tried to find its corresponding pair on Kiba. A similar thing was happening with Kiba, a blood red chain grew from the rune on his forehead, desperately seeking out its partner.

After 20 seconds the chains had grown enough links to reach one another and the moment they did a bright light erupted from the point of contact. This was the moment wherein the willingness of Kiba came into play. If he refused the connection, the chains would shatter and the master i.e. Frost would be struck with a painful backlash.

Thankfully however Kiba held no resistance, gladly willing to be bonded with Frost. The light at the point of contact continued to grow as the chain ends appeared to be magically welding themselves into one solid chain. Frost could feel Kiba, his thoughts and feelings and Kiba could do the same, a connection that continued to ring louder sparked between them as the chains came together. It was a strange feeling for Frost but somewhat familiar. It reminded him of the time he named Findlay, the connection that was born between them that day was quite similar. Though it was of a much higher degree the resemblance piqued Frost’s curiosity.

.....

After another 15 seconds the two chains had completely bonded into one, revealing a strong and sturdy connection between Frost and Kiba. The ceremony was a success, they were now bonded. The magic crest then gradually dimmed as it funnelled the last of its power into the still visible chain, strengthening it. Once all the gathered mana had been absorbed and the magic crest had grown dull once more, the blood red chain become ethereal before vanishing completely. The blood rune on Frost’s hand vanished back beneath his skin as though it never existed. Kiba’s however left a red diamond on his forehead, symbolising that he was bonded with a master.

Druakai smiled with joy and wiped a solitary tear from his cheek as the ceremony came to a close. Ruby rubbed against his side with affection, a similar red diamond present on her forehead. Now she and Kiba were one of the same.

Clap clap clap, Sam began a round of applause, congratulating Frost on his success, to which Druakai joined in. Frost and Kiba both showed bashful expressions, before looking at one another and laughing.

“Druakai we’re all going to have lunch together to send Frost off. You and Ruby are both invited to come if you’d like, it’s at Ramsey’s star restaurant.” Sam walked over and patted his friend’s shoulder in a consoling manner, knowing that he was feeling down as well as happy.

Ruby practically answered in his stead, her mouth opening wide as saliva dripped onto the ground and her eyes showing a begging expression as she looked up at her master. Druakai looked down at his companion with wide eyes, shocked by her actions, she wasn’t a kitten anymore. But his shock quickly turned into a smile, and then laughter.

“Sure, sounds good, we’d love to come hahahahah.” He patted Ruby’s head with affection, receiving happy purring in response.

Meanwhile Frost felt the urge to test the mount aspect of a monster mount. His feelings were transferred through the soul bond to Kiba who smiled in response before lowering his back. He too wanted to show off his skills in front of his new master.

Seeing Kiba’s actions Frost smiled wildly before leaping onto the massive tiger’s back, sitting ahead of his still developing wings. Kiba’s beautiful fur was soft to the touch and very comfy as a seat, he likely wouldn’t even need a saddle.

Frost leaned over and whispered into Kiba’s ear “Show me how fast you can run.” Which got him an arrogant chuff in response basically translating as “hold on tight then.”

Kiba tensed his four legs and crouched down before launching himself across the field with immense speed. Druakai had chosen to do the ceremony in his largest and most open field just for such an occasion.

“Yahoooooooo!” Frost roared out loud as the strong wind pressure buffeted against his body, enjoying the feeling of moving at such speeds willingly -he’d reached such speeds before but that was from getting knocked across the room by a certain Fenrir. Kiba was energised by Frost’s loud roar and picked up speed, moving across the ground at over 100 miles an hour, leaping and changing direction all in attempt to both bring enjoyment to Frost and trying to test his limits.

Frost however despite never riding a monster or animal before seemed to have a natural talent for it. He dug his feet in tight against Kiba’s upper ribs and wrapped his hands around his shoulders or neck, keeping his upper body flat whenever they changed directions. A natural rider, of course it helped that he had a soul bond with Kiba, allowing him to know when he was about to turn but even, so it was mighty impressive.

Druakai and Sam stood at the side with smiles on their faces, nodding as they watched the two have fun. Ruby even felt a bit jealous, her gaze drifting towards her partner. Druakai was easily 4 metres tall and chock full of muscle, far heavier than the athletically build Frost. Worst of all Druakai had very poor coordination and motor skills making their rides anything but a breeze. Her tail swiped Druakai’s bum in protest, causing Sam to laugh out loud.

After 15 minutes of fast paced riding Frost and Kiba called it quits, there was the allure of food waiting after all. Kiba sauntered over to Sam, Druakai and Ruby with Frost on his back looking very much refreshed. He’d not been able to engage in such strenuous activity in a long time, it felt good to stretch his muscles.

“Can Kiba and Ruby really join us in the restaurant?” Frost knew that Yarrow invited both Kiba and Ruby but struggled to picture the two of them being able to walk around the top floor without causing panic let alone entering a restaurant.

“No, they can’t join us at the table but given that Kranor raises many monster mounts, many of our restaurants have areas at the side where they can eat. The red diamond symbol on Kiba’s forehead reveals that he’s a contracted monster thus you can pretty much take him anywhere without causing a panic. I’ve taken Ruby up to wander the top floor many times.” Druakai cleared away Frost’s confusion. Being a contracted monster took away the majority of the danger as it meant a monster wouldn’t succumb to its baser instincts and that it would not attack unless their master gives permission. The treatment was the same for tamers and their monsters, but they had an added benefit which would allow them to store their monsters within their bodies through unique magic. Something that artificers have tried to reflect in their storage devices but have ultimately failed.