Obtaining A New Beast Companion

 Shock by the turn of events, Ryker could only remain underneath the beast as the Giant Tiger licked at him like a dog to their owner.

 The Giant Tiger then gets off him, allowing him to stand. This allows the beast to nuzzle him like a cat. He pondered the reason for it when the beast pushed its forehead. 

 Deciding to take this chance, Ryker pats the creature's head, his Soul intertwined with it. This all owes him to see the beast's memories and tell him the reason why it acts like Ryker is its owner.

 Soon, after browsing through several hundred year's worth of memories, he quickly found the reason.

 "So that's why," he said out loud. Who would have thought putting bait for the Blood Vulture resulted in him earning the good grace of a powerful beast?

 Mewling, the beast pushed him, likely toward its den. Ryker let it, after all, the den was not too far and he did not want to fight peak Tier 9 Genesis Beast if he could help it.

-x-

 Arriving at the den, Ryker spots a large pill of skeletons, some disturbing belonging to humans. Once again, he was glad he would not join them.

 From the corner of the den, a cub, the size of a house cat appeared, before it nuzzled the Giant Tiger. Ryker had read of the species before.

 A Giant Tiger would give birth to a single cub in one litter. This results in the mother being extremely protective over its sole offspring.

 The Giant Tiger cub will remain with its mother until it reaches maturity, around 3 to 5 years. Usually, at that time, the young tiger's strength would be at Tier 5.

 As the cub began to suckle, Ryker thought of something that would make him sleep on the couch for eternity.

-x-

 A portal opened as Ryker came out of it. "What's the matter?" Ina asked.

 "I am going to take Ariana for a while," he told her before grabbing the little girl, who squealed happily at the sudden lift.

-x-

 As the Giant Tiger observed the human entered the portal, she wanted to enter but the human, using his Soul Sense told him he would be quick about it.

 The human soon came out, as he promised, but with another smaller human. The Giant Tiger pushed its nose against the smaller human, making it laugh as the smaller human touched its nose before laughing.

By now, its children are finished with their nursing and have begun to walk toward the humans with curiosity. He goes to the smaller human, before getting on its lap.

 The smaller human giggled as it stroked its child's, the boy purring at the attention. As for the bigger human, he stroked the smaller human's head and her child.

 Letting out a quiet growl, the Giant Tiger got behind the bigger human and sat behind him, the bigger human leaning on her.

 Soon, she began to drift to sleep, the two smallest being in the den already in deep slumber.

-x-

 Currently, Ryker is in a deep dilemma. On one hand, the Giant Tiger is friendly, at least to him. On another hand, it did not want to let him leave, every attempt to do so would make the Giant Tiger block his path and push him back inside.

 He sighed, he wondered about ways to allow him to leave but he felt reluctant, as Ariana seemed to have some attachment to the cub, from how much the little girl was playing with him.

 So, he was stuck in a really hard place, unless...

-x-

 The Giant Tiger looked at the human. She could tell the human wanted to leave but she did not want him to leave. After all, he is her benefactor. She had been starving as she had been injured prior and unable to hunt well.

 Only because of the carcasses did she survive and manage to feed her cub. So, she wants to repay him despite being a beast.

 The human walked towards him before pushing his palm forward. Realizing what he was about to do, the Giant Tiger let him, allowing him to send a message through their soul.

-x-

 "I want to leave. No, I need to leave,"

 "You can't, I have not repaid you yet,"

 "There are ways for me to leave and you being able to repay me,"

 "How?"

 "Follow me on my journey,"

 "But you are a human, and you must go to where there are many humans. I will be hunted by them,"

 "Not if you don't kill any human,"

 "But what if I am hungry?"

 "I will make sure you and your child are well fed,"

 "And how will this allow me to repay you? It seems you always treated me,"

 "By following me, you can protect me and my loved ones,"

 "Your loved ones?"

 "I explained later, but I will leave soon, and I prefer to do this peacefully,"

 "... Fine, I will follow you on my journey, but how about my child?"

 "He will follow us and put us inside a safe place,"

 "Are you sure he will be safe?"

 "As long as he remains there, not even a Spirit Beast could harm him,"

 "If that is the case, I agree to it,"

-x-

 While the two 'talk' using their Soul, the babies looked at their guardians with a tilted heads, confused by what they were doing.

 Shrugging, Ariana poked the cub, who returned the favor. At that moment, the beings opened their eyes, their shared glance telling them of the agreement they came up with.

 "Let me show you your new home," Ryker told the Giant Tiger before he opened a portal to the Hidden Ancient Mansion.

-x-

 As Ina was busy dusting the place, even though there was no dust the place seemed to clean itself. However, she did not do it for cleaning but instead to calm himself.

 Yesterday, Ryker did not come inside the spatial artifact, which made her worried about him. That worry was alleviated when he took Ariana out for some reason.

 After all, he will not do such a thing if he is worried about his safety. However, their absence made him worried again. He hoped they would be fine and nothing would harm him.

 As she was in deep thought, she could hear a portal opening. Not skipping a beat, she headed to the front of the house, where the portal was usually opened.

 It is the same today, which makes her let out a relieved sigh. After all, only one person could open the portal to this place.

 Ina then saw Ryker walking out of the portal, Ariana in his arms. However, in her arm is a large cat that is almost as big as the little girl.

 However, it was what was behind him that made her freeze. A large tiger exited the portal, looking at the place warily.

 Her mouth wide open, she turned to the culprit before raising her voice,

 "Hubby, you have some explaining to do!"