The moment Leo placed the fragment upon his brow, reality buckled.
The cavern, the Vault, the beasts — everything around him shattered like glass hit by a hammer. No warning. No transition. Just nothingness.
Not dark. Not light.
Just… void.
Then, with the screech of metal grinding on stone, the world stitched itself back together.
But it wasn't the Vault anymore.
Leo stood in a desolate field of black ash and twisted trees, their branches coiled like claws. The sky above was cracked, like someone had tried to hammer the heavens apart. Blood-red stars shimmered through the fractures.
He turned.
Fang was there — but different again. His flame had gone silver, flickering with unnatural calm. His eyes now mirrored Leo's own: golden irises shaped like hourglasses.
The Crown Fragment on Leo's brow pulsed.
And then the whispers began.
"He has touched the Crown."
"One of Seven."
"Will he gather us?"
"Or will he fall like the others?"
Leo clutched his head. The voices weren't heard — they were felt, like knives made of sound. Each whisper carried weight, like thunder trapped in a heartbeat.
"Stop," he growled.
They didn't.
Instead, the whispers converged into one:
"Then prove yourself."
A pillar of light erupted ahead.
And from it, a figure emerged — draped in robes of flowing wind, its face hidden beneath a hood of stars. Around its neck, a jagged collar of obsidian teeth.
Leo's breath caught.
This wasn't memory. This wasn't illusion.
This was a Warden.
The Warden's voice shook the air like a drumbeat.
"You wear the fragment. You open the path. You tempt the Deep with your heartbeat. Why?"
Leo held his ground. "To tame what others fear."
The Warden tilted its head.
"Even the world?"
Leo didn't answer.
The Warden raised its hand, and the black ash beneath them twisted, forming shapes — seven pillars, each with a burning crown atop it. Each crown was different — flame, bone, crystal, wind, shadow, storm, and void.
Only one was lit.
"This is what you seek."
"The Crown of Claws is not a relic. It is a network. A system. Seven thrones for seven souls — bound by blood, rage, and choice."
"You wear the first."
A pause.
"Do you seek the others?"
Leo answered without hesitation. "Yes."
The Warden's robes shifted, revealing an outstretched hand.
In its palm sat a single fang — obsidian, etched with runes, humming like a heart.
"Then begin the hunt."
It threw the fang into the air.
The world exploded.
When Leo awoke, he was lying outside the mountain.
The Vault was sealed shut behind him. No sign of its gate. No sign of the statues, the glowing pools, or the Trial.
Fang stirred beside him, groaning like he'd been hit by a mountain.
Leo sat up, heart pounding.
The Crown Fragment was still there.
Only now, it had grown.
Another fang had appeared — floating just above it, orbiting like a satellite.
His interface flickered to life.
[New Title Unlocked: Bearer of the First Claw][Crown Progress: 1/7 Fragments Assembled][New Passive Ability: Dominion Pulse – Nearby Lesser Beasts are pacified unless provoked.]
He blinked.
New interface notifications flooded in.
[Beast Bond Level: 3][Tamer Class Bonus Activated: Hybrid Commands Unlocked][Warning: You have entered the Outer Circle. You are now visible to Hunter Signals.]
Wait — Hunter?
The ground rumbled.
Fang stiffened.
From behind a tree, something emerged — not a beast.
A man.
Clad in armor of stitched leather and beast hide, tattoos writhing on his arms like snakes. His left eye glowed violet. In one hand, a curved blade made from a chimera's fang; in the other, a staff lined with petrified feathers.
He wasn't alone.
Two more followed, cloaked in invisibility before Leo's Crown Fragment revealed them.
Hunters.
But not mercenaries.
They were something else.
One of them bowed mockingly.
"The new pup emerges."
Leo didn't move.
The first Hunter — the one with the glowing eye — stepped forward.
"You reek of the Crown. I thought the Vault would kill you."
Leo narrowed his eyes. "You know what's inside?"
The Hunter grinned.
"Boy. I was born in there."
He threw something at Leo.
A coin. Black metal. Marked with a wolf's skull and a number:
"VI"
"We are the Six. The Crown is ours."
"And we don't share."
The fight began before Leo could blink.
The Hunter moved like lightning — blinking through space with short-range warps. Fang intercepted him mid-strike, claws clashing with the fang-blade.
The other two Hunters attacked from the flanks.
Leo raised the Obsidian Heart and screamed, "Pulse!"
Dominion Pulse activated.
The trees groaned. Every nearby beast — birds, worms, wolves — froze. Their eyes turned gold for a moment, then scattered.
The Hunters staggered. Their cloaks shorted out. Leo lunged forward, grabbing the coin midair and smashing it into the ground.
[Coin of the VI – Bond Rejected][Tracking Signal Disabled]
The lead Hunter laughed. "Smart. Doesn't matter."
He raised his blade and whistled.
A wyrm erupted from the earth.
Black as oil. Eyes burning white. Fangs the length of pikes.
Leo gritted his teeth.
"Then let's tame a goddamn dragon."
[New Beast Encountered: Subterranean Wyrm – Level ???][Bond Attempt: Forbidden – Beast Already Claimed by Hunter VI][Alternate Strategy Suggested: Disrupt Bond Chain]
Leo took a deep breath.
Then he smiled.
"Fang. Let's break a leash."
What followed was not a battle — it was war.
Fang baited the wyrm, dragging it through the forest while Leo chased the Hunter through traps, magic wards, and mirrored illusions. The Crown Fragment granted him glimpses — half-seconds of foresight — and he used them like a scalpel.
At the peak of the fight, Leo activated his new command:
Hybrid Merge: Ember Pulse + Obsidian Shell
Fang ignited, turning into a comet of flame and stone. He tackled the wyrm headfirst, burrowing into its side like a living drill.
The Hunter screamed.
His bond flickered.
Leo tackled him — drove the Obsidian Heart into the Hunter's chest.
[Bond Link Severed.]
The wyrm collapsed — not dead, but free.
It looked at Leo.
And it bowed.
[New Bond Opportunity: Wyrm of the Ash Spine][Taming Attempt: Y/N?]
Leo stared.
His heart thundered.
Then he said, "Yes."
The Hunter vanished in a burst of shadow, retreating with curses on his breath.
Leo collapsed.
Fang limped beside him.
The wyrm coiled protectively around them.
In the sky, a second fang appeared — orbiting his Crown.
[Crown Progress: 2/7 Fragments Assembled]
He stared into the sky, where the stars still bled light through the cracks.
And he whispered to no one:
"Six more. Then we end this."