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14.21% The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros / Chapter 28: Heart Hunt Challenge • 1

Chapter 28: Heart Hunt Challenge • 1

Heart Hunt was a game. It was a competitive, fast-paced, tactical game in which the Players in the Royal Institution and their Beast Companions form teams of two.

In the game, the aim was to capture the Heart Tokens from all the opponents while avoiding elimination.

Although there were other competitions such as Beast battle where there were one-on-one battles against each other's beast, the majority of the Players preferred Heart Hunt because the game combined agility, strategy and beastly combat as players dodged, outwitted, and overpowered rivals to claim victory.

The last team standing after retrieving all the Tokens, claims victory. Heart Hunt wasn't just a game, but winning it also gave XP and increased bonding levels between the Beast Companion and its owner.

Once it was time, Aeric, alongside Celestia who showed him the way, arrived at the place in the Institution grounds where the game took place.

It was a walled, labyrinthine arena known as the Veiled Maze. From where Aeric was standing, he could barely comprehend anything of the strange place.

The chairs were very raised high for onlookers who would want to watch the contest. But for this day, there were very few. Most of the Daughters had requested to be amongst the teams of five that were going to join in the contest.

They divided themselves as follows; Aryanne and Melina, Rosette and Misty, Nyx and Nyssa, Phoebe and Linnette, and Aeric and...

"Do you want me to be your partner?" Celestia asked him.

He turned to her, feeling a rush of emotion wash over him. Normally, the Players were paired according to their sisters of the same Region, but there was no rule suggesting that they weren't allowed to play with interregional teams.

"Yes!" he replied without haste. "Yes I do want you to be my partner."

Celestia smiled. "All you have to do is just ask," she said as her Beast Companion lowered its back and she climbed on top of it. "Come on, get yours ready."

Celestia's Beast Companion was a Winged Pegasus she named Lumi — from illuminate. Like a pegasus, it was reminiscent of a horse, except with the long and sharp horn attached to its forehead, the magical mane of glistening gold, and the beautiful pair of golden wings.

From a quick inspection of the Beast, Aeric saw that Winged Pegasi were able to shoot beams of light out of its horns, obscure vision with a burst of illumination from its wings, and the horns also acted as weapons.

Once the Winged Pegasus drives the horn into a target, they will be infected by its magic and would experience difficulties in simple bodily functions and even go completely paralyzed.

Not to mention, they were extremely fast as well. Celestia had herself a really powerful Beast Companion. But not one better than his Silverwolf.

"Come on, Sylver. I hope you're ready for this," he petted the Beast on its back.

Sylver let out an agreeing whimper, noting to Aeric that he was indeed ready.

"Now's as good a time as any to check your stats," Aeric said. "With the overflow of Divinity strengthening my brain, I'm sure it would be even easier to understand."

[Do you wish to see your Beast Companion's stats]

Aeric selected [Yes].

The window expanded and an interface of categories appeared before Aeric.

[Alias: Sylver]

[Name: Silverwolf]

[Species: Evolved Wolfkin]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Tier: Four Star (Upgradable)]

[Synergy: 3/10]

'Hmm,' Aeric placed a hand on his thinking chin. 'Synergy must mean our bonding level. 3 over 10 is pretty low. I think we're gonna have to work on that. The Daughters will certainly have higher synergy since they've got more experience with their Companions. Hopefully your Attributes could make up for that.'

[Attributes]

[Strength: 7]

[Agility: 10]

[Endurance: 8]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Divine Power: 8]

[Charisma: 5]

Aeric understood charisma to be the bond-building stat, reflecting Sylver's present loyalty and ability to form stronger bonds with him.

He moved on to another section. This one was for core skills.

[Core Skills]

[Combat: 8]

[Stealth: 9]

[Perception: 8]

[Flight: None]

[Swimming: 2]

[Communication: 7]

'Sylver's a poor swimmer. We're gonna have to work on those stats. His communication is surprisingly high for someone with a low synergy with me.'

Divine Abilities

[Shadow Cloak]

[Silver Runner]

[Howl of Terror]

[Power Claw]

[Silver Blast]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

[------] [Unlock Ability with BT]

'Six more abilities are locked,' Aeric thought. 'What exactly are BT's?'

[Beast Tokens. Beast Tokens can be claimed from beast kills or by using XP to purchase].

'Interesting. So just like Skill Points, I can also turn my XP into Beast Tokens. This makes gaining XP kinda like the most important thing in leveling up in this world.'

There were some other sections as well, which surprised Aeric because it made Beast Companionship so much more specific, significant and meaningful. It was like leveling up another Player at the same time, and needing that Player to do things that he couldn't do.

He found Sylver's Weaknesses.

[Light-based attacks]

[Attacks to the chest and heart]

[Excessive exposure to hot sunlight]

[Water]

'By water, I'm going to guess that means you can't swim, not that drinking water is going kill you.' He looked at Sylver. "Right, boy?"

"Wmmh" Sylver whimpered a yes.

[Bond Compatibility: Silverwolves have high compatibility with a Players having shadow, night or dark abilities]

This made Aeric frown. The window explained that Silverwolves were initially found in the Moonlight and Twilight Regions first, which was the reason they were more compatible with Players from those Regions.

It made sense. Especially because Sylver's powers were really similar to that of Moonlight and Twilight Regioners. Maybe this was why their synergy was so low.

After thinking about it for a short while, his brain quickly came up with a solution. [Claiming] the Main Skill of a Player from any of those Regions would give him their powers, right? Which meant the more of those powers he [Claimed], the more compatible he would become with Sylver.

In fact, he was sure they had that amount of compatibility because he had [Claimed] Erimyra's Main Skill.

Glad to have understood that, Aeric went on to Growth and Leveling Potential.

[Upgrade Paths: Path 1/10]

[Potential: Dire Silverwolf.]

[Your Beast Companion will evolve to its maximal form, the Dire Silverwolf upon reaching Upgrade Path 10 and completing synergy]

[Upgrades can be done with Beast Tokens, but the price for upgrades increases with each Upgrade Path].

[Battle Performance History]

[Win Rate: Zero battles fought]

[Teamwork Efficiency: —]

Aeric took a deep breath, and removed the interface. 'Studying the stats with this faster brain really helped me with understanding. Most people would feel so overwhelmed after reading all that.'

"Hey, Late Bloomer!"

He turned his head to his left and saw Aryanne and the rest approaching him on top of their Beasts.

Aeric's eyes widened.

Aryanne's beast was a giant dog. A pitbull as they were called back in his former world. But this was something more. It had glowing dark skin that emitted a silvery smoke, dark fire was burning out of its eyes and its legs were armored with spines and sinewy muscles.

'What kind of Beast Companion is that?' he thought with fear.

The system made an assessment, then quickly replied.

[Name: Dreadhound]

[Five Star Legendary Beast]

Aryanne grinned devilishly. "Are you ready to have your bastard ass beaten?"


Chapter 29: Heart Hunt Challenge • 2

Aeric tightened his grip on Sylver's reins, sharpening his gaze as he watched Aryanne and the others approach him with a satisfied sneer.

He couldn't stop looking at her Dreadhound, with its hulking body, rippling muscle and eerie glowing eyes. It continued to growl under her, massive claws digging into the earth as though it was too eager to begin the game. Too eager for battle.

'A Five Star Legendary Beast,' Aeric thought. 'It's more powerful than Sylver. And uglier.'

"You are prepared to lose spectacularly, aren't you?" Aryanne snipped, mockery dripping in her tone.

Aeric forced himself to stay calm, eyeing all of them that were looking at him. Even as Aryanu trotted closer with her beast, her mouth curled in that familiar, taunting smirk. He remained calm.

"You don't think I can beat you, Aryanne?"

"What!" the Daughter's face contorted in amusement, and she started laughing, holding her stomach as her shoulders and breasts bounced. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh that is hilarious. You actually think you can beat me?"

One of the Twilight sisters, Nyx, sitting on her Beast Companion, tilted her head thoughtfully. "Well, he does have a very powerful Beast Companion," she mused. "Silverwolves are very rare. We barely find them in our Region now."

Aryanne scoffed. "Please. No beast is more powerful than my Dreadhound." She gave the creature a proud stroke down its massive neck. "Five Star Legendary with a 100% win rate. Zion has never lost a match," she said with arrogance and pride.

She grinned, flashing Aeric a daring look. "You've barely had your Companion for a full day. Zion and I have had months to bond. Good luck, bastard. You're going to need it."

Aeric's eyes narrowed. 'That's true. The element of experience and synergy levels is at play here. Everyone here has had their Beast Companions longer than I have.'

He glanced from Aryanne to the others, each mounted on their respective beasts, a motley lineup of strength, agility, and cunning.

It was then that he was just noticing that the two Twilight sisters were actually twins; Nyx and Nyssa. Both were sat poised atop two completely different types of Beasts.

Aeric scanned Nyx's.

[Name: Viperbird]

[One Star Legendary Beast]

His eyes moved to Nyssa's.

[Name: Thunderstag]

[Five Star Epic Beast]

Both beasts were wild-eyed and powerful, their hides gleaming with battle-readiness.

Aeric then looked at his own sisters, Rosette and Misty, who were both watching quietly from the back of their beasts. Rosette's Owlbear [Five Star Epic Beast], and Misty's Horsesparrow [Three Star Epic Beast].

Then, Melina — who was the cause of all this — smirked down at him from her beast, it had a shadowy form that contrasted with the bright afternoon light.

[Name: Nightpanther]

[Two Star Legendary Beast]

Aeric remembered seeing the Nightpanther in the royal stable and almost choosing it. But seeing that it was only a Two Star Legendary and the Silverwolf was Four Star, he was certain that he had made the right choice.

But then he felt a wave of suspicion, and he looked at all the girls staying together like a group. He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you all a bit too friendly for opponents in a game like this?"

Aryanne's eyes darkened and her smirk grew wider. "You're the only opponent here, Bastard." She gave him a hateful glare, and spun her Dreadhound around. "Better watch yourself in there, or else you might get hurt. Really badly." And with a swift signal, the others turned to follow her down the path.

Aeric frowned. 'What the hell is wrong with her?'

He lingered for a moment, watching them all turn to leave and he caught a glimpse of Rosette's gaze fixed on him. Her look was mainly unreadable but he could see that it bordered on the same hatred that she had always had for him. However, she said nothing.

With a faint frown, she turned away and guided her Owlbear to follow the others.

"Don't pay any attention to them, Aeric." Celestia rode up on her elegant Winged Pegasus, her voice calm and encouraging. "Come on. Let's get going. The game's about to start."

'Sister of the year,' Aeric thought, watching as Rosette just rode away. Nonetheless, Celestia was right. The best way to win was not to pay any attention to them, or to let their words get to him.

He shook off the tension and nodded, climbing up onto Sylver's back, now feeling a bit more resolved and determined. He glanced at Celestia, and she looked at him, smiles on their faces.

Together, they rode their Beast Companions toward the arena entrance, where the Veiled Maze waited.

This game field was made of walls, some stronger and some weaker. There were grasses as well, separating each corridor. This was to create more difficulty in finding where opponents are, and to give opponents more hiding places.

The Veiled Maze was high, taller than all of them even as they sat on their separate Beast Companions. Only the onlookers from the high chairs in the stands could clearly see what was happening inside the Maze.

As the group arrived, Erebelle of Twilight, Nyx and Nyssa's older sister, stood at the entryway. She didn't seem very into it, but for today she was the game announcer. She held up her hand, her voice ringing out loud and clear.

"Alright, everyone!" she began, while some interested Players and other Daughters sat on the stands to watch. "You all know the rules. This is the Heart Hunt. Each team will enter with one Heart Token, and your objective is simple: keep yours and take others'!"

There was some clapping amongst the growing crowd. Aeric lifted his head to see, and he was surprised. 'How did so many people get here so fast?'

It seemed that they had heard that the Only Son would be challenging in the Heart Hunt and they wanted to witness it.

Erebelle continued. "Each of you is in a team of two—the Seeker and the Protector." She nodded to the Players and their Beasts in turn. "The Seeker, you're the one going after Heart Tokens. Protectors, you're here to defend your Seeker"

"Only Seekers can take a Heart Token from opponents," she went on. "Once you've lost your Token, you're allowed to attempt to take it back or to hunt for others. But once a team leaves the Maze with all five Tokens, they're declared the winner."

She folded her arms indifferently. "There, those are the rules, I'm sure you understand now."

Aeric glanced at Celestia and nodded his head, letting her know he was ready. She nodded back.

"Come on here, mister." Erebelle raised her hand, beckoning to a worker who came forward. The man handed each team a Heart Token, which was just literally a small red flag. Aeric took his, fastening it securely to his arm.

Erebelle glanced over the teams, her expression fierce with no expression at all. "Now… Are you ready?"

The Moonlight Daughters of course flashed with confidence. They gave this predatory look in Aeric's direction as the Beasts prepared themselves too, muscles tensed, wisps of vapor pushing out of their nose.

"Alright then." Erebelle counted down, her unimpressed voice managing to somehow draw them all to the edge of their seats. "Three… two… one… go."

The moment she said it, the arena exploded with movement, and each team surging forward into the twisting labyrinth.

Aeric and Sylver bolted into one of the maze's openings, he already had a set plan for how to do this. He was the Seeker and Celestia was the protector, mainly because of the abilities of their Beasts.

Aeric sped faster, faster, urging Sylver to run quickly, focusing on his path forward. They had barely taken more than a few turns when a sudden prickle at the back of his neck made him look over his shoulder.

His eyes widened.

'This girl is mad!'

Aryanne was right there, right behind him, chasing him. She had stopped her Beast from going through another entrance, just to curve and go after him.

Riding her Dreadhound, she got closer and closer to him, smiling devilishly. "Where do you think you're going, Bastard? You can't outrun me!"


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