Sunny moved through the sewers with careful steps. The rusty knife was still in his hand, covered in black blood from the Void Leech.
He needed a second Beast. Fast.
The mark on his arm pulsed. He could feel the Leech inside it. Not physically. More like a presence in the back of his mind. Hungry. Aggressive. Waiting.
"Come out."
The mark glowed. Black mist poured from his arm and materialized into the Void Leech. It landed on the ground with a wet plop, six red eyes staring up at him.
Sunny focused his will on the creature.
Move forward.
The Leech didn't budge.
I said move!
Pain exploded in his head. It felt like someone was driving nails through his skull. The connection between him and the Beast was there, but it was like trying to grip water.
The Leech hissed and started moving—in the wrong direction.
"Stop!"
More pain. His nose started bleeding. Drops of blood hit the sewer water.
Sunny gritted his teeth. This was harder than he thought. In the novels, Beast Tamers controlled their monsters easily. But reality was different. The Void Leech was level twelve. He was level one. The gap was too large.
The creature was fighting his control.
He pushed harder with his will. The Leech stopped. It turned toward him, body trembling.
Blood dripped from Sunny's nose. His vision blurred. The pain in his head intensified.
Obey.
The mental command felt like ripping his own mind apart. The Leech finally moved forward. Slowly.
Each step required focus. Each movement drained him.
This was useless.
In a real fight, he couldn't command the Leech like this. The pain would distract him. The mental strain would leave him vulnerable.
He needed the Beast to obey instantly.
But that would take time. Training. Bonding. Time he didn't have.
"Return."
The Leech dissolved back into black mist and retreated into the mark on his arm. The pain in his head faded, but the exhaustion remained.
Sunny wiped the blood from his nose. His hand came away red.
This body was weak. His mana was low. His mental strength was pathetic.
He needed to get stronger. Fast. But how?
He continued through the sewers, thinking. The Void Leech was powerful, but he couldn't control it properly. Even if he found a second Beast, the same problem would exist.
Unless...
Sunny stopped walking.
The Fusion System.
What if he fused two weak Beasts instead? Creatures at his own level. Ones he could actually control.
The system said it would create a stronger Beast. Maybe a fused Beast would be easier to command than a wild one twelve levels above him.
It was worth trying. Sunny changed direction. He needed something common. Something easy to find and tame.
Slimes. The sewers were full of them.
Twenty minutes later, Sunny found what he was looking for.
A small green blob sat in a puddle of stagnant water. It jiggled slightly, completely unaware of his presence.
[TOXIC SLIME DETECTED]
[LEVEL: 2]
[DANGER: LOW]
Perfect.
Sunny approached slowly. The Slime sensed him and tried to hop away. Too slow. He grabbed it with both hands.
The creature was cold and slimy. It squirmed in his grip, trying to escape. Its toxic exterior burned his skin slightly, but nothing serious.
He forced his mana into it.
The Slime had no will. No intelligence. Just basic instincts. The taming process was almost instant.
[DING!]
[TOXIC SLIME TAMED]
[BEAST ADDED TO SYSTEM]
[SLOTS AVAILABLE: 2/2]
The Slime dissolved into green mist and formed a mark on his other forearm. A simple circle. Sunny exhaled. No pain this time. No resistance. The Slime was weak enough that controlling it required almost no effort.
He summoned it.
The green blob appeared in front of him.
Jump.
It jumped.
Move left.
It moved left.
Perfect. Complete obedience. But completely useless in a real fight.
Sunny looked at the marks on both his arms. The black spiral of the Void Leech. The green circle of the Toxic Slime. Two Beasts. Both in his control. But only one was actually strong.
And then it hit him.
Why was he even trying to control the Leech? Why waste energy? Why push through the pain?
Just fuse them.
The system said it would create a stronger Beast. A level two Slime plus a level twelve Leech. What would that make?
His heart raced. This was the whole point of his cheat. The Fusion System. He didn't need to be a traditional Beast Tamer. He didn't need to train multiple creatures...
He just needed to keep fusing.
"System. How do I fuse?"
[DING!]
[FUSION PROCESS]
[SELECT TWO BEASTS FROM YOUR SLOTS]
[CONFIRM FUSION]
[WARNING: FUSION IS PERMANENT. BOTH BEASTS WILL BE CONSUMED]
[NEW BEAST WILL INHERIT TRAITS FROM BOTH PARENTS]
Sunny didn't hesitate.
"Fuse the Void Leech and Toxic Slime."
[DING!]
[FUSION INITIATED]
[VOID LEECH + TOXIC SLIME]
[CALCULATING...]
Both marks on his arms began to glow. Black and green light poured from them. The two Beasts materialized in front of him.
They floated into the air. Then they began to merge.
The process was grotesque. The Slime's body stretched and wrapped around the Leech. The Leech's form dissolved into black liquid that mixed with the green. The two creatures screamed.
Light flashed. Sunny shielded his eyes.
When the light faded, something new floated in front of him. It looked like a larger Slime, but black instead of green. Inside its translucent body, he could see swirling toxic green mist. Six red eyes floated in its center, moving independently.
[DING!]
[FUSION COMPLETE!]
[NEW BEAST CREATED: VOID SLIME]
[LEVEL: 8]
[RARITY: UNCOMMON]
[ABILITIES INHERITED:]
[- MANA DRAIN (FROM VOID LEECH)]
[- TOXIC BODY (FROM TOXIC SLIME)]
[- ACID SHOT (NEW FUSION ABILITY)]
[SLOTS AVAILABLE: 1/2]
Level eight. Not as high as the Leech's twelve, but still strong. And more importantly—
Sunny focused his will.
Move.
The Void Slime moved instantly. No pain. No resistance. The connection was smooth. Because it was born from his fusion. It was truly his.
"Yes!"
He tested more commands. The Slime obeyed perfectly. He could feel its abilities. The Mana Drain was still there. The Toxic Body made it poisonous to touch. And Acid Shot was a ranged attack.
This was exactly what he needed.
[DING!]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FIRST FUSION]
[REWARD: FUSION SYSTEM LEVEL 2]
[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: BEAST STORAGE INCREASED TO 3 SLOTS]
[REWARD: +3 ALL STATS]
Sunny felt power flow through him. His body grew slightly stronger. His mana reserves increased. His mind sharpened.
[STATUS UPDATE]
NAME: Sunny Vale
AGE: 16
LEVEL: 2
STRENGTH: 6 (+3)
AGILITY: 7 (+3)
INTELLIGENCE: 15 (+5 FROM PREVIOUS, +3 FROM REWARD)
VITALITY: 6 (+3)
MANA: 23 (+10 FROM PREVIOUS, +3 FROM REWARD)
BEASTS TAMED: 1
"Return."
The Void Slime dissolved back into a mark on his arm. This time, the mark was different. A black circle with green mist swirling inside it. Beautiful in a dark way.
Sunny looked around the sewers. He had one more slot. One more Beast he could tame before fusing again. He needed something that would complement the Void Slime. Something that would create an even stronger fusion.
The sewers had rats. Bats. Maybe some serpents in the deeper sections.
Or...
He could leave the sewers entirely. Go to the Wilderness outside the city walls. Find something stronger. But Sunny had never played it safe.
Safe got you killed. Safe got you betrayed.
He started walking toward the exit.