New law of Beast Taming

"Now, let’s see how you worked this pendant again. I remember you pressed some kind of key but there is no key on it. Huh, did I remember wrong?"

Darn Amane and her short-term memory. She tended to forget the details of things that were not important. And this small detail had seemed very not-important to her back then. It still seemed to be not important to her if not for the lack of pendent’s opening.

The moon dragon was giving Amane a look that said, ’weren’t you the one who made it in the first place? How can you not open it?’

And Amane could swear that the moon dragon looked entirely justified to see that expression on the dragon’s face.

"Well, excuse me for not remembering how to operate a pendant I made ages ago. It’s not like I purposely forgot, alright?"

Amane did not even realize that she was trying to justify her actions until the dragon chipped in annoyance and knocked the pendant out of Amane’s hands.

"Now look at what you did. What if you somehow managed to make a dent in it? It will end up losing its magic."

Amane chided the dragon but she was not angry at her. She knew her pendant was sturdy and would be able to take any wear and tear she inflicted on it.

But surprisingly enough, the pendant was not only unscratched but also had opened up.

The fall had somehow managed to trigger the hidden mechanism on the pendant to make its inner surface show.

The moon dragon gave Amane an ’I’m superior’ glare before jumping down from her shoulder and snatching the pendant to bring it to Amane.

Something small like a pouch fell out of the pendant’s insides and Amane instantly remembered why she had sealed the pendant away.

"Hurry and spit the pendant out. Don’t you dare swallow anything until I give you the go! I need to find mulberries to defuse the poison I left inside the pendant. I cannot believe I forgot about such an important detail."

Amane was sure she had seen a few mulberry plants in the vicinity. They were a native of this forest and that was why she was looking for them.

Technically, any kind of fruit would have been done in this situation. All Amane wanted was a base to channel her magic into and create an immunization drug.

The dragon held still until Amane forced her to swallow her magic-infused fruit and then it threw up.

The dragon gave Amane a pitiful look which she ignored for the sake of her mental health. She did not want to see the dragon die even before she had fulfilled her purpose of being born.

And it would all be Amane’s fault.

’Darn me for feeling guilty over this. I don’t want to even think why my mind is such a mess right now.’

Of course, Amane knew why she was feeling guilty. But she refused to think anymore about this topic and move on.

She quickly found the berries she had been looking for and grinded them into a paste for the dragon to drink. It was difficult ot get the moon dragon to get the first sip but things were really easy after that.

Once that was done, Amane breathed a sigh of relief as she looked all over the pendant again. Since the poison was out of it now, the metal was shining a bright orange. There was a reason it was doing that but Amane did not remember why again.

"I am sure this opens up some kind of passage but I am not remembering where or how-"

The earth beneath Amae’s feet was split open and she fell. The moon dragon also jumped after her into that crack and she watched as the crack forced itself shut all of a sudden.

Amane’s hands reached out toward the crack to try and get to it but it was no longer possible for her to be able to make it.

This place was sucking her dry of her magic and Amane felt uncomfortable as a result. She did not want to try and force her hand yet.

The wind was knocked out of Amane’s body as the moon dragon landed right on top of her stomach. It was hard for her to even breathe properly.

"Darn you and your body. Ouch, my stomach hurts. And where did we end up now?"

Amane looked around the room, her eyes taking in the darkness and the plain walls of her surroundings.

She tried to push magic into her eyes to be able to see better but it did not work out as well as she had expected it to. Her eyes felt like they were burning as she forced them to stay open.

Somehow, the darkness was preventing Amane from being able to see what was right in front of her and that made Amane frown.

"Should I blast this place open and reach the surface that way? But no! There is a real danger of the ground breaking underneath my feet."

Amane was talking to herself when she felt sharp teeth digging into her arm and pulling her away from the surface she was looking forward to cracking.

"Hey, be gentle with me or I will cook you alive. What do you want from me anyway? Can’t you see that I am busy?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Amane complained as she pulled her legs away. Or she tried to but the small body had enough power to pull her toward the direction the moon dragon wanted to take her in.

In the end, Amane gave up fighting the moon dragon and let herself be dragged away. She was excited to see where the dragon was going to drag her away as well.

Much to her surprise, she was led toward the side cave that this place had. Amane had not even seen it when she looked around.

"Fuck it. I never realized how annoying it is to move around without my magic at my disposal. I need to look for ways to retire now."

This situation was making Amane’s desire to give everything up even more. Had she known how troublesome things would be getting, Amane would have done her best to avoid this vacation at all costs.

"How did I not see this coming? Even you are not cute enough to force me to sit here and waste my powers."

The moon dragon turned her head as if she could not hear Amane. But her eyes were laughing at Amane’s misery. Amane could see her trying to keep her laugh in check.

But the moon dragon somehow managed to get them out of the dark caves and they were finally free. The cave opened up into the familiar-looking ruins where the Sun dragon had been stationed a long time ago.

"Did you lead me here on purpose? Just what is it that you want from me?"

Amane asked the question but she received no answer from the moon dragon. In the end, Amane had a feeling that she would only get her answers if she followed along with the moon dragon.

__________________________

The warrior brought both Sakura and Eclipse back to her camp. Sakura could see the muscles in those dark-skinned arms flexing and she gulped unconsciously at the threatening image that made her.

Some of her teachers had been powerful-looking but it had never made Sakura nervous like this.

"How long will it take for you to be able to free us? Are you having any success with that thing we talked about?" Sakura tried to whisper to Eclipse but the silence surrounding them made her voice echo in the forest.

The soldier lady who was escorting them gave her a weird look but she did not common on it. She was still convinced that they will not be able to escape.

"Of course, I am trying to free myself but it is not as easy as it looks, alright? There is a lack of viability compatibility between me and these wild animals. I am also not Yoko who can do it whenever I want to."

Sakura’s words were annoying Eclipse and he even lashed back rather crudely. Sakura flinched at the angry voice but she did take it all rather calmly.

’Fuck, I am too used to Yoko’s ease of doing ways that it is difficult to survive without her around. I should not take my anger out on Eclipse.’

Sakura took in some deep breaths to calm herself down and it worked. She was able to feel herself thinking more accurately once she deployed that tactic.

"Stop walking. We are here already. Now, remember to not make any silly mistakes and you will live until tomorrow."

Sakura gulped before she stepped inside the clearing. From the outside, it looked like a part of the forest but as soon as she stepped inside, she could not help but think that she had stepped into a rural village.

"Fuck. That is some strong concealing magic that had been cast over the village. I did not even sense anything in here."

The case was the same with Sakura. Her senses had ignored anything and everything that had to do with this place.

Even now, her magic was like a foregin entity, floating on top of this dense magic surrounding them.

"We’re at the village leader’s home now. I will leave her to deal with you now."

"Now, wait-"

Sakura called back but the warrior was gone. Now that she looked around, most people here were dark-skinned and muscular. It seemed to be the most dominant phenotype in this village.

The door of the village leader opened all on its own and the pair felt someone pushing them to move ahead toward the opening.

Sakura gulped her nervous down before she entered the room. She was afraid to see what kind of crazy person headed this place.

"You both don’t seem like the usual poachers that irritate us. Who are you people?"

The melodious voice that asked them sounded far from threatening. It was pleasant and even gave a hint of fragility.

"A-Ah, yes. We were sent by Lady Suzuki of the Divine Guild. I hope it is not a problem for you…."

The lady that came out to greet them was old and fragile looking. But there was a feeling of magic around her that demanded respect from everyone around her. Sakura found herself unwillingly looking back at the female.

Her eyes met those flaming orbs and Sakura flinched at the sudden pain in her head. Eclipse even growled at her side, his expression going slack.

"Don’t poke around in my head. It makes me angry."

That sudden pain in Sakura’s head faded out at Eclispe’s yell but the old lady still looked as if she had done nothing wrong.

"Sit still for now. I need to confirm your intentions before I can allow you people a free passage of this place. My young one might have taken pity on you but I am not as nice as her."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Sakura spoke softly but she still got whacked with the stick before her face was grabbed by strong hands and the elder looked her right in the eye.

There was a sensation as if someone was rubbing her head and then Sakura was let go.

"I see that Lady Suzuki really did send you both. My apologies for the rough treatment but I needed to make sure of your claim. You are free to roam around our settlement now but don’t leave it."

Sakura wanted to run away but Eclipse’s grip on her arm stopped her from moving. His face was tense but his eyes asked for Sakura to trust him.

And she did trust Eclipse far more than she trusted anyone in this community.

"Alright, we will wait around for now. But please hurry up and help us this time."

Sakura bowed low. It hurt her pride but she did it anyway and she could tell that the old lady was satisfied at Sakura’s submission.