Luna

"Did you just speak, little one?" Orion asked, still shocked from earlier. "papa!" Orion heard it speak in his mind again. On Orion's lap was a small fluffy little owl with feathers as white as snow and beautiful large black eyes.

The owl was so fluffy you could barely see it's little feet. It looked like a round chubby little ball of fluff with large black eyes and a small yellow beak.

When Orion looked into those black eyes, he couldn't even see his own reflection because of how deep and dark they were. "Papa?" The little owl tilted its head and spoke worriedly when it saw Orion staring deeply into its eyes.

The owl was no bigger than a fist, in fact, Orion's fist was much bigger. Orion had a crisis in his mind and hurriedly turned to his system for answers, 'System! What's going on and why can I hear this little bird speak!' He screamed in his mind.

[THE HOST HAS HATCHED AN ABYSSAL OWL THAT HAS BEEN DORMANT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. WHICH IS WHY IT ABSORBED SO MUCH MANA BEFORE IT HATCHED]

[THE BABY OWL HAS ONLY EVER FELT YOUR MANA AND BEING THE FIRST LIVING BEING ITS SEEN MAKES YOU ITS PARENT]

[NOW THAT IT HAS ABSORBED SO MUCH OF YOUR MANA, IT HAS MADE A SOUL PACT WITH THE HOST ALLOWING IT TO SPEAK WITH THE HOST TELEPATHICALLY]

[AS THE OWL GROWS IT WILL BE ABLE TO SPEAK NORMALLY TO ANYONE THANKS TO ITS PACT WITH THE HOST. MOST BEASTS WITH ENOUGH AGE, INTELLIGENCE, OR STRENGTH CAN ALSO SPEAK THE COMMON LANGUAGE]

The little owl sensed something was off and spread it's tiny wings. It jumped onto Orion's chest and attempted to hug his large chest, failing miserably. "Papa! Papa!" It spoke with worry in its voice as it purred like a kitten and flapped it's little wings.

"There, there, little one. I'm fine," Orion said gently as he began to pet the little owl's head with a finger. It closed its eyes and retracted its wings as it purred. Orion could feel the joy and warmth through their bond which made him smile.

"So, little one, are you a boy or a girl?" Orion asked curiously. The little owl opened its eyes and looked at Orion for a few seconds before it tilted its head and said, "dunno."

[IT IS FEMALE]

The system answered Orion. He scratched under the owls tiny beak making it purr loudly and feel happy. "I see, you're a little girl. I'll name you Luna then. Do you like your name?"

This is the first time Orion has ever interacted with an animal that hasn't tried to kill him. Back on Gaia, most wild animals he'd encounter were huge tigers, bears and other carnivorous beasts. This was the first time he's ever dealt with something so... adorable.

"Luna? I am Luna?" The little owl asked with sparkles in its eyes. "Yes, your name will be Luna." Orion spoke with gentleness. Little Luna jumped onto Orion's chest again as it rubbed its head onto him with joy, "Luna! Luna! Papa! Luna!"

Orion could feel how happy the little owl was, which in return made him happy as well. "Okay, alright, let's calm down okay? Are you hungry? What do you eat anyways?" Orion asked.

Luna looked up into his eyes and tilted her little head as she spoke, "dunno." Orion didn't know wether to laugh or cry at her cute answer. 'Of course she doesn't know...' Orion thought.

[SHE IS CARNIVOROUS]

'Oh? That's good, she's just like me,' Orion said in his mind as he smiled. He summoned his chefs knife and a piece of snake meat and began to chop it up into small pieces. Luna looked at what he was doing with curiosity as she kept tilting her head from side to side.

"Here, try this," Orion said as he brought his massive hand filled with meat towards Luna. She continued to tilt her head from side to side as she closely inspected the meat in his hand. "eat?" She looked up and asked meekly.

"Mhmm," Orion nodded his head in approval. She then looked back at the meat and took a small piece into her beak. She tried to chew a couple of times before swallowing the piece whole.

When she swallowed, she spread her wings and stomped her little feet in glee. She was hooting and dancing on Orion's palm for a moment before diving in for more.

"Hahaha, slow down, it's not going anywhere. I'll feed you lots of good things in the future, okay?" Luna didn't even listen to what Orion said as she was fully immersed in eating. Orion smiled and waited patiently for her to finish.

Soon, she finished everything that was on his palm and sat down on Orion's palm bringing her head down, shrinking her neck and closing her little eyes. She turned into a literal tiny white ball as she purred with happiness.

Orion stood up and began walking down the hallway towards the stairs. He held onto Luna gently on his chest with great care as to not crush her. She felt so small and dainty that it made him afraid of hurting her.

[DING

TASK: EXPLORE THE CASTLE COMPLETED]

[REWARDS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE STORE]

[PLEASE OPEN THE STORE WHEN ALL CORES HAVE BEEN ABSORBED]

Orion had constantly been eating the cores one by one and has absorbed about 9,000 so far. "Let's go and explore, Luna." Orion said, "Mmm!" She responded cutely.

Orion reached the front of the castle after some time, and looked around to see where the city would be located. Unfortunately, he couldn't see any buildings or houses nearby. He looked down and noticed a stone road that led down the hill and into the forest away from the castle.

"I guess I'll follow this road for now," Orion said. He began walking away from the castle and about fifteen minutes later, he arrived at a crumbling stone wall.

The walls were barely standing, the large wooden doors were no where to be seen, and the roads were overgrown with grass, weeds and roots. "Damn, this will need a lot of work," Orion said, "Damn!" Luna copied.

Something about hearing such a cute voice say that made Orion burst out into laughter, "Hahahahaha! Little Luna, it's too early to repeat my words," Orion said calmly, "Mmm!" Luna replied with a nod of understanding.

The duo walked into the city and began to look around. The houses at the beginning were all built really close together and cramped. All the walls and doors seemed destroyed in one way or another. There wasn't a single usable home in this area.

Orion slowly walked deeper into the city and was amazed at how large it was. The houses and buildings began to be more and more spaced out and larger in size. Orion assumed he was arriving into the wealthier area of the city.

The houses were larger but they were also made with better materials. Some were still standing perfectly fine even if some wooden parts had already rotted away.

Orion finished exploring the whole city and noticed that it also had plumbing and a drainage system just like the castle. "Good, this will allow the people to live cleaner and happier lives," Orion said, "people?" Luna asked as she stared at everything with curiosity.

"Yes, we will have a city full of people in the future. We'll be very busy ensuring their safety and livelihoods," Orion said as he became serious. "Luna will help!" She said enthusiastically as she stretched her tiny neck upwards.

"Hahaha, I'll be counting on you, Luna." Orion said as his smile returned to his face. Suddenly Orion sensed something was off and he immediately jumped into the air.

As he was airborne, a twin tailed wolf suddenly rushed past his earlier spot. Orion frowned when he felt his surroundings using mana sense and realized they had been surrounded.

"Luna, are you able to fly yet?" Orion asked seriously. "n...no papa.." she said with a scared tone. "I see, I'm going to put you down for a second, okay? Whatever you do, you absolutely cannot come out of here, understand?"

Orion spoke in a calm tone as his eyes scanned his surroundings. He took out his helmet from storage and put little Luna on the floor as he covered her with his helmet.

"But!" She tried to argue but Orion spoke up, "Don't worry little one, I won't take too long. I'll feed you some yummy dinner when I finish okay?" "Mmm!" Luna couldn't say anything else except for nodding her little head in acceptance.

Orion stepped over the helmet and summoned his Nodachi and his Tachi right away. To protect Luna, Orion will have to stand his ground and fight without taking a step away from his helmet.

The wolves began to show themselves one by one, surrounding Orion from every angle. After the last wolf showed up, Orion could count about 60 wolves. Suddenly, on top of a building that was still standing, a massive black wolf appeared as it looked directly at Orion.

"Human, I smell the blood of my kin on you. How many have you slain? You won't escape from here even if you-" the wolf was speaking arrogantly when it suddenly felt the terrifying aura coming from Orion and stopped speaking.

"Don't worry little pup, I'll have you for dinner just like I did the others..." Orion targeted the large wolf with his killing intent so he wouldn't affect Luna bellow him. When the wolf felt the full aura of Orion, it felt fear for the first time in its life.

The wolf was the alpha of the twin tailed wolves and it's pride and ego was huge. Anyone that threatened his pack was killed and fed to his pack. The man in front of him, however, showed no fear or remorse for killing his pack.

This angered the wolf more than the fear he felt, allowing him to still think somewhat clearly. "KILL HIM." The wolf roared with fury.

Orion closed his eyes and began to cycle his mana. He exhaled steam and his senses sharpened. A wolf charged at Orion from his back side and lunged at Orion's head.

Orion showed great flexibility as he twisted his body at the hips and sliced at the wolf horizontally. The wolf was cleanly sliced in half and got thrown to the side by the wind following Orion's slash.

[DING

TWIN TAILED WOLF X1 SLAIN: 10 LFX GAINED]

Another wolf charged at Orion from his blind spot but Orion simply raised his foot and landed a push kick on the wolf's skull, crushing it and sending the wolf flying.

[DING

TWIN TAILED WOLF X-

"Shut that off for now system!" Orion said annoyed and continued to fend off the wolves that began to charge in higher numbers. Orion only took steps in a circle to get a better angle when swinging his swords and never went forwards or backwards.

He was standing directly above Luna and he decided this was his best way of protecting her. Wolves came from opposite directions at the same time in an attempt to catch Orion off guard.

Sometimes, Orion would dodge by ducking or bending his body sideways. The cuts on his body began to accumulate, but not once did he wince in pain.

A wolf charged from behind and Orion sliced through its body smoothly as he turned. As he was resetting his stance he swung his arm behind him and back handed a wolf, crushing its skull. A wolf was targeting his legs but Orion thrusted his Tachi behind him without looking.

His sword wedged into its head and Orion swung his sword overhead towards his front side while the blade was still inside the wolf. He sent the wolf on his blade flying into another that was charging at him.

Orion bent his knees slightly and spun twice on the spot with his Nodachi. He sliced through three wolves that were targeting his back on the first spin. Then four more that were in the air above him on the second spin.

The dead wolves around him began to pile up and create a pool of blood by Orion's feet. When Luna saw this she became worried, "papa?" Orion could sense her feelings of worry and spoke up to reassure her.

"It's fine, Luna. Your father is strong." He said confidently. "Mmm!" Luna nodded and chose to believe in Orion instead of worrying. Soon, the wolves began to dwindle and there were only about ten left.

*SWOOSH*

Orion felt something fast approaching him but it was too late to dodge completely. "Ugh!" Orion grunted as three huge claw marks appeared on his chest. Blood began to flow down, staining his body red.

Orion quickly pressed some acupoints on his chest to stop the bleeding. He was starting to get angry at the fact he wasn't able to dodge that attack.

The alpha wolf began to run circles around Orion displaying its masterful agility. Orion closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to relax his mind. He stored away his Tachi and summoned one of his double edged axes.

The wolf got cocky from his attack landing on Orion and thought this was his last attempt at survival. The wolf charged at Orion's blind spot but Orion could see everything clear as day.

Now that Orion was focusing on the alpha, he could easily keep track and predict it's movements. Orion twisted his body as he launched the axe straight at the wolf. The alpha noticed and was barely able to dodge the axe by jumping to the right.

The force behind that axe stunned him for a second but it was long enough for Orion to counter. When the wolf looked back at Orion and was about to start circling him again, Orion's Nodachi pierced through the wolf's chest, pinning him into the wall.

Orion exhaled steam and opened his eyes slowly. When he saw the alpha wolf struggling to escape his predicament, Orion calmed down. He reached below him and lifted his helmet along with the shivering Luna.

He brought Luna up to his face to reassure her that it was okay now but before he could speak the little owl jumped at his face with her wings spread wide as she tried to hug his head.

"Papa! Papa! Luna was scared!" She was rubbing his forehead with her tiny head as she cried and hugged him. "There, there, little Luna. I'm alright. Everything is alright now." Orion spoke with a muffled voice as his face was being hugged by Luna.

He was able to calm her down enough to separate her from his face but when she saw the huge cuts on his chest and the rest of his body covered in smaller cuts, she panicked and started to cry again, "WAAHH! Papa! You're hurt!"

"Hahahahah! Don't worry, this will heal after a couple of good meals," Orion said with a smile as he rubbed her head with his finger. He felt happy that she worried about him so much. He then placed his eyes on the alpha wolf that was struggling to escape.

Orion walked towards the wolf but the remaining wolves suddenly stepped in his way. Orion looked at them and the wolves shivered when they felt his aura. The alpha wolf spoke up when he saw this scene, "Wait! Please spare them! I'll do anything, please!"

"Oh? You think you can negotiate?" Orion said in a cold tone as he released some killing intent towards the alpha. The wolves became terrified but they stayed rooted on the spot. Not because they were loyal and protective of their leader, but because they were so scared they couldn't take a single step.

"Please! We will become your subordinates. We will do anything you ask of us. Please!" The alpha wolf begged for forgiveness for the next couple of minutes. Orion didn't say a word and just listened to the wolf beg.

[DING

I RECOMMEND THE HOST BUYS A BEAST CONTRACT AND TAMES THE ALPHA WOLF. THE OTHER WOLVES WILL FOLLOW SUIT IF THE ALPHA ACCEPTS THE HOST AS HIS MASTER]

"Hmm? That doesn't sound too bad. I'll buy it." Orion said softly. When the wolves saw the sinister smile on Orion's face, they trembled and almost wet themselves.