Do you have nuts?

When Hermann had thrown the stick for a third time instead of bringing it back Orion simply ran off into the woods. Confused Hermann sat down under the lone tree he had been standing underneath and decided to wait. Perhaps the dog found something interesting? He was convinced that Orion would soon come back.

Indeed his time spent waiting was not wasted as Orion emerged out of the small forest soon after. He seemed to be carrying something in his mouth that didn't resemble a stick but due to the still large distance between them he was still uncertain. When Orion closed the distance between them he could ascertain that his earlier hunch turned out to be correct. A orange-red-brown color was visible, contrasting with Orion's black fur. When the dog arrived at his feet and carefully pushed the captured being into his hands Hermann saw that it was a squirrel that tried to free itself from his grasp. He was stunned for a moment as he observed the resistance of the squirrel asking himself about what he would do with it. When he carefully observed it, it seemed that Orion had not harmed it at all. Suddenly he heard the system that had just observed previously call out to him.

<Have you forgotten about your new abilities? You could either form a Soulbond with a willing being, in this case Orion or you could simply use your Beast tongue ability to communicate with them.>

H: [Why didn't you inform me about gaining any of these abilities?]

<Because these are abilities that directly influence your body and soul and need to be integrated. As these abilities are not originally your own ones they need to alter your body all at once contrary to abilities that you have gained by yourself that grow with your body and are in perfect harmony.>

H: [Integrate all. There is no use talking about it for long now!]

<Are you sure about that? Fine, I'll do it just don't complain to me afterwards.>

Suddenly Hermann's body erupted in pain, especially his throat and his brain. Clenching his hands and gritting his teeth the squirrel cried out for being squeezed so roughly. Worriedly Orion yelped and licked Hermann's fingers. After a long while the pain stopped and Hermann relaxed his hands and breathed deeply. Caressing Orion's head Hermann tried to communicate with them.

H: "Hey you two! What happened?"

Surprised that the pale creature could finally speak in an understandable language Orion replied:

Orion: "I brought food! It was difficult to understand the meanings of your tree-piece-throwing but I succeeded!"

The squirrel replied:

Squirrel: "Finally an intelligent creature! I tried to tell that brute to let me go as I have to get more nuts and berries! The winter is coming!"

Looking around the trees were still green and autumn had just begun.

H: "Well I still have food at home and I don't need to eat the squirrel."

Squirrel: "Do you have nuts?"

H: "I should have? Probably? If not I can easily get them."

Squirrel: "Then I'm coming with you."

H: "Fine. I don't care."

Meanwhile Orion was curiously observing the interaction between the other two creatures they seemed to talk about something he could not understand. It seemed to be the language of the fluffy-tail-creature.

After Hermann had heard everything necessary about what had happened he gave Orion the last piece of meat he still had and told both creatures:

H: "I will do something now that will help us communicate faster and allows us to move faster without other people noticing. Will you accept that?"

Both agreed although Orion showed more enthusiasm compared to the squirrel that was busy thinking about the nuts Hermann supposedly had. Once both had accepted Hermann used his ability Soulbond on both of them. He felt something inside him stretching, reaching for both creatures in front of him, mingling with something that was inside them but could not be seen by the naked eye. Suddenly he could sense thoughts that were not his own. The free-spirited squirrel and the haughty but hungry thoughts that could only belong to Orion. Confused he tried to separate everything, his own thoughts, the thoughts of the squirrel and Orion's. Although he succeeded he still felt himself being influenced slightly by the foreign thoughts.

<Soul connections established. Currently two beings bound. Please register them in the soul storage.>

H: [Why?]

<Otherwise once you leave this world parts of your soul will be ripped off.>

H: [Register immediately!]

<Skill Exchange in progress...Finished. You have gained the skills Bite and Scratch. Your running and climbing skills have been improved. Please select one ability for each creature to gain in return.>

H: [What? How did this happen?]

<Your Souls are connected. With that you can share one skill with each creature automatically. You can also buy them additional skills in the shop as they are now to a certain extent a part of you.>

H: [Give both Adapt&Improve. I think this will work best.]

Stopping the discussion with the system he looked at his new companions that seemed to be cramping in pain.

H: [What is happening?]

<They are currently being improved. Parts of their latent genetic information is being activated while some parts are being deactivated to achieve the absolute best outcome.>

Once his companions stopped convulsing and looked up to him he took them into his soul storage he heard the notice:

<Souls sealed in storage...Bodies deposited in Inventory>

H: [Did you kill them?!]

<Negative. Once you release them the souls will automatically inhabit their body. And your ability is called soul storage. Why would it do anything besides storing souls?>

H: [Alright...What improved in them?]

<Mostly their maximum size. Due to evolutionary mutations not much more was possible. If you wanted that simply gather every possible genetic material you can find, commit it to memory and insert it into their and your blood stream. This will give you a lot of things to work with. If you want genetic material that is no longer present on earth why not look for it in the shop?>

H: [We will see about that. Let's go back home first]