The mont the robotic eyes locked onto them, Damian could almost feel goosebumps rise across his skin as his senses continued to expand. He quickly turned around, catching sight of the distant red glow.
He shifted his gaze to the blue sli bouncing up and down on top of blue-haired Lyra’s head and whispered calmly.
"You take care of the next one since you drew it over."
He nodded at the incoming drone in the distance. Part of him was curious—to see the true extent of other Interstellar Beasts, and how their Beast Masters utilized them.
The blue-haired girl looked toward the approaching predator drone as she was the perfect subject. She nodded, clenching her fists, and called out to the blue sli on her head.
"Little Bluey, fuck that drone up!"
...!
Words that completely didn’t match her personality ca flying out of her mouth.
She clamped her hands over her lips, a bit stunned at herself as she blad the excitent of the mont. Her shyness seemingly ca rushing back as she scanned the area, praying there weren’t any caras transmitting what she’d just shouted back to a certain Guardian who might be evaluating everything.
When the sky didn’t crack open and judgnt didn’t fall from above, she let out a relieved sigh.
Above her, the blue sli squealed and launched forward like a blazing basketball, streaking toward the drone.
SWOOSH!
Its silver-blue wings fluttered with energy.
It actually used its body as a weapon. And just as the drone opened fire...
RATATATA!
Massive, oversized bullets pelted the blue sli as if they sought to tear it to shreds, but they bounced off harmlessly.
The sli slamd into the drone, its body carrying terrifying buoyancy as the drone was knocked back with brutal force, crashing through multiple artificial trees, electric arcs bursting around it, until one final impact caused it to explode.
Another one down.
Damian gave a small nod, scanning their surroundings before speaking again.
"Let’s go. Silently."
He moved deeper into the artificial forest. The more they traveled, the more the blue-haired girl seed to beco herself.
He told her to dim the glow of her sli if she could. The little creature floated back to her, looking as proud as a puffed-up cloud. It cast a smug glance toward Kitsuul, almost asking for a score.
Kitsuul offered a single nod—as if to say, "It’ll do."
The blue sli visibly drooped.
As they moved forward, Damian stayed alert, his senses stretching outward. A few minutes passed before he asked a question he had planned on as he obtained more information- one he used to justify why he hadn’t pushed this girl away so far.
"How did you beco bound to your Interstellar Beast?"
...!
A critical question regarding Beast Masters as he only had his experience.
Lyra Veyrin blinked, her wide blue eyes growing even larger. She looked around nervously, with her eyes beginning to flash with a piercing sharp light as she covered her mouth and then leaned in and whispered.
"Little Bluey is a super-secret Interstellar Beast produced by my aunt’s Research Division in ZENTHRA."
...!
She dropped the bombshell so casually it took Damian a mont to register.
An Interstellar Beast...produced by ZENTHRA.
ZENTHRA wasn’t just finding these creatures from Entropic Rifts...they were creating them?
Not just discovered in Entropic Rifts, but also made in the lab!
How were they doing this? What power or technology gave them the ability to design, research, and manufacture new and potentially terrifying Interstellar Beasts?
Bluey.
The Rhino-Bat of the Drunken Butcher.
Who else? What else?
Questions piled fast and high in Damian’s mind. And as if Lyra could feel the weight of what she’d just shared, she stepped closer, whispering again, one hand covering her lips so no one else could read them.
"I was honest with my answer because I trust Little Bluey’s instincts about you and your Beast. What I told you isn’t public knowledge. A few... important people know. I don’t expect you to repeat it. But since I was honest, I’d like you to be honest with too."
...!
The shy, flustered girl from before?
Gone.
As if a layer was being peeled regarding Lyra Veyrin.
In her place stood a young woman with focused, intelligent blue eyes. Everything about her—posture, tone, presence—was calculated. Precise.
Damian’s instincts flared.
He studied her with new caution.
She stepped back, smiling, scooping up her blue sli and squeezing it gently as she asked, almost too calmly,
"So... how did you beco bound to your Interstellar Beast?"
She asked him the sa question he’d asked her.
And Damian, who now saw her as soone far more dangerous than she let on, answered in kind.
"She fell from the skies like a cot and hit ."
...!
Not a lie.
When he said it, Lyra Veyrin blinked—then laughed.
"You’re totally serious. You’re not lying to , are you?"
She tilted her head, searching for confirmation.
Damian gave a slight nod.
And her eyes- those bright, sharp blue eyes- lit up even more as she reached out toward Kitsuul.
"She looks so soft and cute..."
She reached out to grab the silver furred work of wonder.
But Kitsuul darted away across Damian’s shoulders and beca a streak of movent she couldn’t catch as she watched her and blue sli carefully.
Lyra didn’t look disappointed. She simply watched with curiosity.
And Damian kept watching her.
This wasn’t soone to be taken lightly.
"Let’s not draw too much attention," he said. "Let’s find soplace to hide until the terrain shifts in a bit less than an hour."
He spoke quietly, calculating his next steps. Thid woman before him seed to have two personalities. And If she was willing to share secrets this early...because of Kitsuul, he wanted to keep her talking.
She nodded, pointing toward a cluster of trees.
"I saw the drone deploynt layout in the forest blueprints Aunty had before we ca down. If we head that way, we’ll reach a zone that isn’t covered by overlapping drone vision. Once we’re there, the only thing we’ll have to worry about is the terrain shift."
...!
She smiled brilliantly.
A Beast Master connected to ZENTHRA- ard with intel, instincts, and terrifying precision.
And from the looks of it, a potential danger or opportunity depending on how Damian played it!
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