New law of Beast Taming

Amane walked around the white space inside the chamber. It was peaceful here and there was no essence of human interference.

The peace one felt here could make them mistaken about their desires. It was a honey pot to lure people into this space forever. It was also dangerous since there was a static energy-like feeling in this place.

Had Amane been anyone else, she might not have felt that weird energy trying to get into her head. But since Amane noticed this, she toughened her defenses.

She felt the phantom reaching out for her chance tactics as soon as it noticed Amane's awareness.

Instead of coming right at her once more, it retreated and bid its time. But Amane was sure that the phantom was interested in her now. It would surely try to connect with her consciousness again.

Meanwhile, Amane kept on walking around. There were more astral bodies surrounding her that looked vaguely human.

Amane could only conclude that these were the consciousness of the instincts of other people. These things were being kept in these chambers and then studied.

"I would have found this fascinating had I been my past self. But now I can only see how devalued human life is by this place."

All these people had been deprived of a part of themselves and forced to live without it in their lives. It was pitiful and made Amane quite concerned about what the professor was planning with these consciousnesses.

Amane reached out to touch a consciousness when she felt the phantom stop her with its touch.

[I would not do that if I were you. These consciousnesses have no defense right now. If you touch them with a real body, then they would feel too overwhelmed.]

The phantom spoke but its voice sounded far more melodious than Amane had thought it would be in her mind.

The phantom also led Amane right to the middle of the chamber where the monotonous landscape was broken up by white trees and white grass. There was also a white table in the middle of the clearing which had a white blob-like mosaic sitting on one side.

[What's wrong? Hurry up and sit down. I do not have a habit of making my guests uncomfortable. Not that I have many anyway. You are the first one to visit me in centuries.]

The mosaic moved and Amane had a feeling that the female was gesturing for her to sit down. Amane followed the instructions and watched as the mosaic looked surprised at Amane's actions.

[Hmm, you truly can understand me? How fascinating. Human minds are not capable of hearing my voice without losing themselves in my power as well. It has been a long time since I last have a conversation.]

The mosaic replied and her tone took a nostalgic tone. So far, it had been a little painful to hear that echoing voice inside her head, but Amane was adjusting more and more by the second.

"Hmm, I am a rather 'special' human even if I do say so myself. But that is not what we are here to discuss, right? I can here because I had things to ask you."

Amane looked down and watched as the tea served itself and the cup was passed on to her. She had a feeling that things would get annoying if she drank this tea.

[You are special indeed. You do not give in to me when I pressure you and you also keep an eye out for any dangers that might be heading your way. In these regards, I quite like your determination.]

[However, why did someone like you come in here? Those who come in here are usually thrown in here as a punishment, but that is not the case with you, right? Who are you and what is your objective?]

The entity asked and Amane felt the power rising around her.

This entity might be being lenient with Amane but one wrong move would make her the target of this entity's anger. And this was a fight Amane was not sure she would win.

"My name is Amane. I came here because I was curious about you and your powers. A friend of mine was affected by them and her consciousness was split apart. I just wanted to help her."

[And that is all? You were just curious and asked for help so you came here? Are you sure that it has nothing to do with the guilt you feel for your past and being involved in experiments? Maybe you feel sorry for a 'certain someone and wish to find them-]

Amane slammed her hand on the table in front of her. This was a conversation she refused to have in her life.

"I am quite certain that it is nothing like that. I might have things to be guilty about in the past but a lot of time had passed by now. Even if I had any hopes of finding 'that person' once, it is no longer possible."

Amane refused to have this conversation. Hope was a treacherous thing to have and it exhausted one if they held on to it for too long. Amane had already crossed her seven stages of acceptance.

Now, she did not want to even think about her past and that time if she did not have to.

[Alright, if you say that so, then I will let it slide this time. So, what do you need my help with?]

"You know what I need your help with. Now, I would appreciate it if you freed all these people and allowed them to go home."

Amane's request could be seen as a big deal or a small one depending on how this entity considered her request and what her objective was.

Thankfully, the entity did not seem to be too much of a trouble and she lightly laughed at Amane's request.

[Ah, is that all you want from me? Sure, this is easy enough to do. But I would require a price for what I am about to do. I cannot grant a request otherwise.]

Amane knew this would happen. A price was usually required when you made a deal with any higher being and that included divine beasts as well.

"Name your price. I will fulfill it as soon-"

[Not you. The wish I am about to grant is not considered 'yours' so you do not need to pay me anything. However, as soon as the price is paid, you can get out of here.]

Amane was shocked to hear such a thing. She knew that she was the one who made this wish, so why was she, not the one who had to pay the price?

[I know that you are confused and you have every right to be confused. But this wish is not considered as 'yours' so you cannot be the one to pay the price.]

Amane understood this in theory and she could connect the dots to realize what happened. Someone else must have made the same wish to this entity before Amane did and their wish had been accepted.

And that was why Amane was not the one to pay for this wish.

[Ah, the price is being paid. This place would fall apart soon enough so we all should escape from here. You also have someone you want to avenge, right? I hope that the unborn phoenix inside you comes to this world safely.]

Amane's hand moved over to her stomach in vigilance. She was not sure if this entity would want to harm a divine beast or not.

But the entity seemed unbothered and unwilling to do anything.

The white space collapsed around Amane and she held her hand out toward the disappearing debris. The female goddess in front of Amane also seemed to be disappearing with the space as well.

[Yoko Tsurugi, battle goddess Amane, and whatever other names you go by, remember this - you can run from your past but you cannot escape. The supreme one of this world is always watching you from their banishment.]

Amane looked up at the goddess and paid attention. She wanted to know more about what the entity was saying, but it was not until the entity uttered the other line did Amane's cursory and anger peaked.

[The one from your past, the one you gave up hope for, they are still alive and they would come for you soon. So, make sure you are ready to receive their favor. And hide that child of yours if you want them to live past the supreme one's rage.]

"Wait a second. Tell me more-"

But it was too late. The entity in white dissolved into thin air and left nothing behind. Read new adventures at empire

Amane had hoped to find answers here but she ended up getting more questions inside her mind. The space was almost as good as gone and all the instincts around Amane began to return to their owners as well.

It was clear that something major had taken shape. Someone out there was keeping tabs on Amane and making sure she was being kept in check.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"A god, huh? This entity knew a lot and it made me cautious. I guess I would need to track it down to force more information out of it."

It was a dangerous thing to follow a formless entity like this. They were shrewd and did not care about anything but themselves. Amane could be setting up herself for failure here.

But she could not bring herself to care about it all. Not when she had such an interesting mystery to resolve.