The White Tiger

Fang stared at the mewling white creature in shock.

"White...Tiger... King?" he murmured.

The little sparrow nodded, flying around the tiger. It growled playfully and the two began to romp about the garden.

Fang stared at the two divine beasts of legend. They were literally like children at this point in time. The image of powerful and majestic spirit beasts crumbled in his mind as he stared at the duo play in the garden.

Shaking his head ruefully, he turned around and walked back. Suzume immediately followed him, fluttering and chirping anxiously. The white tiger cub, seeing its companion leaving, quickly ran behind Fang and started to follow him.

Fang turned around to find the tiger following him happily. He sighed.

"Of course," he muttered.

Waving his hands, he summoned a glowing, white contract. The tiger placed its paw on the contract and it dissolved with a sonorous hum.

Fang at the tiger stared at each other for a moment.

"What is your name?" Fang asked.

The white tiger looked confused. Then it began to smile.

"My name is Tora!" it cried in a rough squeal.

Fang sighed again.

"Well then, come along, we've got a lot of work to do,"

The sparrow, the tiger, and the human began to walk back to the simple wooden house, the sparrow fluttering cheerfully in the air and the tiger jumping about amongst the flowers.

Fang reached his home, opened the carefully carved door, and allowed the two creatures in.

"You two will not stay here," he began.

The two stared at him in surprise, which quickly morphed into anger.

"HEY! We established the contract, didn't we? What's your is also ours" Suzume cried.

Fang smiled.

"Relax. I'm not going to keep you two outside but rather build the both of you your own homes to stay in!" he spoke placatingly.

The animals grinned joyfully in acceptance. They ran and flew about, cheerfully chirping and mewling at the unexpected present.

Fang smiled at the duo and walked back outside. Waving his hand, he summoned two large pieces of rock. Fusing them with the ground, he began to smoothen them until they became round domes. Snapping his fingers, he collapsed the front, creating a doorway for entrance and exit. Snapping his fingers again, he created a small marking denoting which one of the domes would go to Suzume and which one would go to Toru.

The southern dome became Suzume's home, while the western dome became Toru's home.

The two began to decorate their domes in earnest.

[Congratulations. Your mountain abode has gained two divine protectors. Use them to complete the Four Heavenly Beast Spell and this mountain will be a near invincible location]

Fang, startled at the sudden notification, began to wonder. How was he even supposed to get the allegiance of ANOTHER divine beast, much less two of them!

[Rely on your luck. Most protagonist's always do]

Fang nearly spit blood at the system's reply. Grumbling, he set to watching the two animals decorate their respective homes in the southern and the western portion of the mountain.

Suzume brought in all kinds of petals that gave off a fiery scent. It began to glow and heat the room until both sides of the earth appeared to crackle with intensity. An intense red flame burned in the center of the room, where Suzume made its nest. Small red flowers grew on the ground and flickering flames hovered in the air. This was truly the abode of a fire master.

Meanwhile, Toru decorated his dome another way. Bringing in petals with a sharp and metallic scent, he spread them out across the floor. Sharp spikes of an unknown metal jutted out from the ground and melded with the earth, creating a fusion of the two materials. Toru then added sheets of floating metal into his dome, off of which he could jump around and sleep on. This was truly the abode of a metal master.

Fang watched the duo with interest. Both seemed to decorate their houses based on their respective elements. How very interesting...

The two animals came out and growled and chirped as if signaling the completion of their tasks.

Fang smiled and raised his hand again. Two orbs of power floating in the air and crystallized. Each one permeated each dome, infusing them with raw spiritual energy.

"What did you do?" asked Suzume.

Fang smiled.

"Absolutely nothing. I just made sure that your homes would be sturdier than they already are. That's all," he spoke.

The two animals beamed at him, unaware of what his true purpose in doing so was. In reality, Fang had made those two homes intensely powerful, giving off enough spiritual energy to obliterate an empire. As long as the two stayed connected to their homes or even in the vicinity of their homes, their cultivation would rapidly increase. Being young, they wouldn't be able to feel the changes but the changes would make themselves apparent later on.

Fang smiled. This was the best way to ensure that nothing else happened on the mountain: if anything stirred, he would always have these two divine beings to check it out and deal with the issue. This cultivation boost was a way to return the favor for their service.

Toru's voice cut through the air as Fang's head whirled around.

"Fang! Over here! Look who we found!" he growled, loud enough so that his voice would echo all the way to Fang's ears.

Fang immediately ran as fast as he could, the wind giving him an extra burst of speed.

Arriving breathlessly, he spoke to the duo.

"What is it?" he cried.

The two looked at him with smiles.

"We found an old friend!" they spoke in unison, grinning from ear to ear.