16

I whacked him on the back of the head with the tip of my tail.

"Ow," Jax yelped as he suddenly found himself looking at the ground, and rubbing his head.

Savannah smirked while she held back a laugh. Ethan found it amusing as well but he hid it bettered. Honestly he kind of deserved it for calling me an air head. Calen just raised his eyebrows. The healer really just didn't look like he wanted to be there.

Clifton just didn't look sure how this whole thing was going to go down. He even seemed to be nervous. I didn't blame him. Right now they were outnumbered. I didn't think they could handle me for long let alone my bonded, and that was with me taking my injured state into account.

"What would you like to discuss Calen?" I broke the uncomfortable silence that had followed my retaliation for Jax calling me an air head.

"I understand the deception," Calen began, "I understand that you knew that we would have a hard time tolerating you as in intelligent Archaic. Now I'd like to know why you came all the way out here?"

"The military has already decided that I'm guilty," I sighed, "Just because I'm an Archaic. I am a creature of earth, and I would like to return there sooner rather then later. I need to return to earth. There's a reason that we call these other worlds the poisoned worlds." I paused, "I have to be careful not to absorb any of this world's mana. If I'm not careful then I could poison myself. Living somewhere you could literally be poisoned at any time if you make even the slightest mistake is stressful, but until the military decides that I'm more valuable alive or at least that I'm not a direct danger to human lives they will not allow me to return to my home."

"How does all of that bring you here?" Calen probed for more information.

"What do you think will happen when word gets out that a small guild leader was saved by an intelligent Archaic?" I snorted, "People will want to know more. What will they do when they find out that this Archaic consistently provides aid to humans that need it?"

"You want the credit," Calen stared at me with a dead serious expression.

"I want to go home," I leaned down so my eyes were level with his, "Problem is life isn't fair, and something that should be a given has been taken from me." my lip curled up a twitch, "I'm trying to get it back with minimal death. No human death would be the best end result in my opinion, but nothing ever goes exactly to plan."

The sound of a vehicle distracted me from the conversation. I raised my head up to observe the Humvee as it approached us. I could see multiple small beast corpses piled, and tied haphazardly on the roof. I stood up without thinking about it as I tried to reign in my appetite until they got here instead of pouncing the vehicle. Ethan noticed my excitement, and Savannah had to step away when she realized I was moving.

At that moment I didn't care about the muscle pains. I just wanted the food. I stepped forward as soon as the vehicle stopped. Barely restraining myself from leaping right on top of that vehicle for the meal it offered me. Ethan's telekinesis severed the ropes, and threw all the beast carcasses into the warehouse in a single swift motion.

Seeing my food escaping had me chasing it inside. No longer thinking logically, and completely focused on my meal. My teeth dug into the flesh of the first creature before it could even hit the ground. I heard the door closing a few seconds later, but I didn't care. I was completely immersed in the subpar taste of the meat.

I ate every scrap of meat, and bone with hesitation. I was still savoring the feeling of being full when a notification popped up before my eyes.

Ethan Burk is ready to advance bond to the advanced level. Ritual is required to advance bond further. Ingredients are needed to complete ritual.

I froze as I stared at the notification. What ingredients?

10 low level beast cores.

1 high level beast core.

Vial of Ethan Burk's blood.

Vial of Wyatt Nix's blood.

5000 mana.

That shouldn't be too hard. How do I know when I have a low level or high level beast core?

User lacks skill to identify correct core quality. System recognizes users need. System is attempting to give user ability to recognize core quality.

I didn't know what the system was doing, but I was curious what would happen when it was done.

Processing....

Processing....

Processing....

System successful. New skill Inspect level 1.

Inspect? I cocked my head slightly. The details popped up.

Inspect level 1 - The ability to visually identify people, objects, and artifacts. Skill level low. Some items will not offer the user information until the skill is upgraded.

I tried using my skill while staring at the wall.

Warehouse wall - synthetic metal designed to withstand the elements. Defense +1.

I looked down at my talons. Just to see if it would work on me.

Dragon prince talons - unable to inspect.

Right. I forgot about that whole prince thing. I looked at Ethan.

Ethan Burk - Telekinetic - Rider level 10 bonded - ready for advancement - family information hidden - current mood - uneasy.

Flicked my eyes over to Calen. Tried the skill again.

Calen - Acceleration control - skill level too low - current mood - mixed

So this inspect skill can only tell me what I already know. Super useful. What about the time element? I could feel time marching forward. I attempted to tap into that flow, but a sharp pain shot through my chest the moment I tried to draw any mana from my core.

Warning - User core sustained severe damage from taking in foreign mana.

Time needed to repair core - 3 days 11 hours.

Any attempts to use mana will most likely result in failure, and extreme pain. Chances of successfully casting a spell 3%. Spell casting ability will improve as core health improves. Casting spells before core has fully recovered could damage core further.

System recommends that user does not use mana until core is fully repaired.