"Look, wolfman, and stop looking so lost and confused," he said. "Do what you did in the dungeon, and I might consider sparing your life."
His voice snapped Aries' attention back to him. Aries smiled as he looked at him, then at the system. 'Seems like I can still save my life.'
He brought forth his hand and the Beastlord just stared at him before allowing Aries to place it on his. As the contact was made, the system's robotic voice sounded and started counting down:
[1…2…3…4…5…6…6…]
And a smile stretched on Aries' face. But not on the Beastlord's, his patience was running thin.
[15…16…17…18…19…]
"What is wrong with you!" the Beastlord growled and flung Aries' hand away. The smile faded instantly and Aries tugged at his hair.
'Fuck… just when it was almost reaching 30… System, why 30 seconds!?'
He steadied himself by breathing in and out. Then he raised his head to face the angered Beastlord, but the storm in his eyes was too much. Aries looked down again and sighed heavily.
But, 'No… I can do this.'
He forced himself to raise his head again and stared into the Beastlord's eyes.
[1…2…3…4…]
This attempt was even worse. The Beastlord yanked Aries' face away and immediately grabbed his neck, choking him. Aries' breath struggled to settle; his fair face flushed red. He tapped desperately at the Beastlord's hand, but the man was too lost in his anger to care.
'Will this man kill me?'
'I need to think….'
His hands thrashed around, reaching for anything, and they met the Beastlord's chest. Instinctively, Aries rubbed his palms across the firm chest and felt the fingers on his neck loosen slightly.
'Don't tell me he reacts to this…'
Aries cautiously looked at the Beastlord as he continued rubbing his chest gently.
When he saw that the Beastlord was calm enough, he placed his other hand on the Beastlord's free hand and continued rubbing with the other.
The countdown resumed:
[1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… … …30]
[Congratulations, Host! Task 1 chosen and completed! +30 CE]
[Hidden Task triggered and completed: Calm the Tiger Beastlord with just a hand.
+30 CE!]
[Host can now unlock the Speech Barrier.]
[Speech Barrier automatically lifted. -10 CE]
"Fucking hell! Thank God!" Aries blurted out, and the Beastlord, who still had a loose hold on his neck, finally released him.
He stared with squinting eyes.
"You can speak?"
"Yes, I'm not dumb. It's just this stupid system that decided to make me mute, and thus I have been inflicted with various injuries," Aries blabbered.
"Look," he continued, "I understand that your role is meant to be an easily angered Tiger king, but do you have to choke me every time you get angry?"
"My neck is practically red, and if I die, how can I possibly heal you?"
The Beastlord just watched as Aries poured out his heart—ranting about the torture, the brutality, and the unfairness.
"Look, I practically saved you with my powers, and rather than ask politely to use it again, you dare try to kill me. That's basically unfair and wrong."
The Beastlord suddenly burst into laughter.
Aries froze. "…Wait, did I say something funny?" He looked around but the Beastlord continued laughing.
When he stopped, his face turned grim again, so grim Aries felt chills crawl up his spine. A duvet would have been appreciated.
The Beastlord's eyes locked on him.
"Wolf captive, show that you can heal me, and you can start to talk about 'torturing you'."
"Wolf captive?" Aries' brain spun.
'That's what he thinks I am…'
But the Beastlord didn't wait for an explanation. His claws rested threateningly by his sides. Aries swallowed hard, still feeling phantom pain on his neck, and hurriedly placed his hand on the Beastlord.
But nothing happened.
'System! How does this thing work!?'
[Host, you are currently panicking. Skills cannot be performed with a troubled mind.
If you are troubled, you must request healing for it to activate.]
'Cool. /Activate healing/, please,' Aries muttered.
Suddenly, he felt a cooling sensation flow from his palm to the Beastlord. The man's expression shifted; his lips almost curled.
Aries withdrew his hand, and the Beastlord's voice sounded, laced with an emotion Aries hadn't heard from him since entering this place.
"Who are you—no. What are you?"
'Is that disbelief… or amazement?'
'An interview, I guess?' Aries muttered inwardly.
"Tell me!" He was suddenly shaken hard by the Beastlord, enough to knock sense into him.
When the Beastlord let go, Aries stuttered, "W–w–what do you want to know?"
"What is your name?"
Aries answered reluctantly, "Aries…"
"Why were you with the wolfman?"
"Are you spying?"
"Tell me about the wolf territory, their movements, their army, anything."
"I…" Aries started, "I don't know why you're asking me about wolf territory. I'm just a filler actor who was meant to run around the field. How that turned real is still a mystery to me. I'm a human among beasts—"
The Tiger King froze.
He heard the word human clearly, but needed confirmation.
"What did you just call yourself?" he asked sharply. "Did you say… human?"
Aries nodded—reluctantly. He was honestly unsure of everything, but he knew he couldn't risk another torture session.
"Who's there?" the Tiger King called out, eyes fixed on the door.
"Guards, call me the Royal Archivist. Check the Records of Extinct Races… under H."