Lord Of Beasts

Dr Elias Smith seemed disappointed.

The man had clearly wanted to study them, and Mark was the most interesting research subject he’d encountered in years. The fact that all three of them were now refusing further examinations had robbed him of what was probably months’ worth of experiments, and the disappointment was written all over his exhausted face.

Still, Elias had one last thing for them.

A gift.

Before he could explain what it was, however, Mark stirred.

His fingers twitched against the examination table, followed by a slow movement of his head. His breathing changed as he gradually became more conscious, drawing deeper and more deliberate breaths while his eyes slowly opened.

As he had claimed, Elias had stabilised Mark’s condition.

For several seconds, the man simply stared at the ceiling as though he were trying to understand what was happening.

Then he frowned.

"Where am I?"

Elara immediately stepped closer.

"You’re in a facility. You should be all good now."

Mark slowly pushed himself upright.

He looked around the room, taking in the machines, monitors, and strange equipment surrounding him. His expression remained confused, but the moment he realised Elara and Kaela were standing nearby, some of the tension left his body.

"All good?"

"You’re stable," Elias answered. "For now."

That seemed to reassure Mark, although the doctor’s final two words clearly hinted at future troubles. Mark looked down at his body, which had all kinds of things hooked up to it, but seemed to be fine.

"What happened?"

Elara exchanged a glance with Kaela.

Mark’s expression became even more confused.

"I don’t remember much."

He rubbed his forehead, trying to force the missing memories back.

"The last thing I remember was standing outside the Gate in Canada. Then..."

His voice trailed off.

Nothing came.

The memories simply weren’t there.

Elara and Kaela exchanged another troubled look.

They knew what Elias had said about the possible effects of Mark’s condition, and memory loss had been one of the things he’d warned them about.

But they didn’t think it would be this bad.

Neither of them wanted to tell Mark what had happened while he was inside that Gate, especially not with Greg and the creepy researcher present.

As long as he was stable, that was all that mattered.

Now, all they wanted was to get the hell out of this place.

Elara turned back toward Elias.

"You said you had something for us."

The doctor nodded.

"I do."

Kaela crossed her arms.

"What is it?"

Elias smiled.

For the first time since they had entered the facility, he looked genuinely pleased. He walked toward one of the storage areas and opened a reinforced cabinet. From inside, he carefully removed four large boxes, carrying them over before placing them on the table one after another.

"There are four."

Kaela looked at the boxes.

"Four?"

"One for each of you."

Elias opened the first box.

Inside was a neatly folded black garment made from a material that looked almost ordinary at first glance. There was nothing particularly impressive about its appearance, but the fact that Elias had called them a gift suggested there was more to them than met the eye.

"These are reinforced clothes."

Elara immediately recognised the description.

"So they’re like the ones Titan wears?"

"Essentially."

Elias smiled proudly.

"They’re practically indestructible under normal circumstances."

Kaela picked up one of the garments and examined it between her fingers.

"Practically?"

"Nothing is truly indestructible."

Elias paused, apparently considering whether that explanation was sufficient.

"But these are as close as you’re going to get."

Elara looked over the material before turning her attention back to Elias.

"What do they do defensively?"

"Nothing."

Kaela blinked.

"Nothing? How does that work?"

Since they supposedly wouldn’t burn or tear, it made sense to assume they had armour-like capabilities.

"They don’t increase your durability, resist mana attacks, or protect you from physical damage. Their purpose is simply to remain intact."

Elias tapped the garment as he continued explaining.

"Think of them as a layer over your skin that mimics the molecular density of the material beneath it. If they’re damaged, they can reconstruct themselves through a process that’s somewhat similar to memory foam."

He continued talking, clearly enjoying himself now that he had something they were actually interested in.

"It’s a little more complicated than that, but as long as you aren’t dead, you should continue to have clothes. The science behind it is an element found within Gates that uses a combination of-"

"Okay, I think that’s enough."

Elias stopped.

Kaela nodded toward the garments.

"We get it."

They gratefully accepted the boxes.

Neither of them had any reason to turn down something this useful, especially after everything that had happened lately. Elara thought about Ethan and the strange flaming form he could use.

’He’s definitely going to love this.’

Kaela seemed to have the same thought.

After everything they’d seen Ethan do, it was almost inevitable that he would destroy his clothing in every battle. At least this time, he might not have to worry about being naked every time he decided to experiment with his abilities.

Kaela glanced toward Elara, as though Greg and Elias weren’t even there.

"Wonder how his thing went."

Elara sighed.

"Knowing Ethan? Something ridiculous probably happened."

Neither of them knew just how accurate that was.

Still, they figured they’d meet him later.

For now, Mark needed somewhere familiar, somewhere he could rest without being surrounded by strange machines and people who looked at him like a research specimen.

Kaela looked at Elara with a knowing look on her face.

"I’m not some kind of teleportation taxi."

Kaela smiled.

"You know you want to."

Elara sighed,

"Fine."

The crimson aura around her body briefly flared as she reached out and prepared to use her new ability. Seconds later, a Gate-like rift formed and the three of them disappeared from the underground facility.

They reappeared somewhere much more familiar.

Mark’s family home.

The contrast was almost absurd.

They had been standing inside a secret underground laboratory filled with tanks containing monsters, beasts, and mutated humans. Now they were sitting in a warm home surrounded by familiar furniture, ordinary household sounds, and the smell of freshly prepared food.

It was almost peaceful.

Kaela had visited several times before, so nobody made much of her appearance. She was welcomed almost as naturally as Elara was, and whatever reputation Kaela had outside the house didn’t matter here. She might have been one of the most dangerous A Rank Titled in the country, but inside these walls she was simply Kaela.

Someone who happened to be hungry most of the time.

Food was quickly brought out, and before long, they were eating and talking as though they hadn’t just returned from one of the strangest and most dangerous situations any of them had experienced.

For a while, everything felt normal.

Mark, however, remained distant.

He sat quietly, barely participating in the conversation.

Every so often, his eyes drifted toward his hands, lingering on them as though he expected to see something different. Then his gaze would move toward the floor before eventually settling somewhere far beyond the room.

He was there physically, but his mind seemed to be somewhere else.

Elara noticed, and so did Kaela.

But neither pressed him.

They had all been through enough, and whatever Mark was dealing with inside his head wasn’t something they could force him to confront simply by asking questions.

Eventually, Mark seemed to relax slightly. His shoulders lowered, his breathing became steadier, and for the first time since waking up, he looked almost like himself again.

Then there was a knock at the door...