The Whispering Gde had become a battlefield disguised as a garden.

  After days of relentless practice, the silver grass was scarred with cw marks and patches of dried blood.

  The ancient trees leaned slightly away from the center, as though even they had begun to feel the pressure.

  Master Veyra stood motionless at the edge of the clearing, white eyes unblinking.

  “Yesterday you commanded one beast to kill its pack,” he said. “Today you will command them to live for you.”

  He gestured.

  The crystal cage opened again.

  Five shadow panthers emerged — rger than before, mana coiling around their limbs like bck smoke.

  Their eyes burned with feral hatred.

  “Use only soul force,” Veyra repeated. “No elements. No weapons.

  Break their will.

  Make them yours.”

  The students watched from the treeline — silent, tense.

  Liora Voss stood with arms crossed, silver-blue gaze fixed on Zef.

  Reian Astria observed calmly, golden aura dim but watchful.

  Elena Valfor leaned against a tree, rapier in hand, smirk gone.

  Zef stepped into the circle.

  The Silver Fox sat at his feet, two tails flicking slowly.

  He did not speak.

  He simply extended his will — like a bde sliding into water.

  The first panther snarled and lunged.

  Zef did not move.

  The Silver Fox stepped forward — a single graceful motion — and the panther stopped mid-air, legs trembling.

  Its glowing eyes flickered, then dulled.

  Zef’s voice was quiet.

  “Submit.”

  The panther dropped to its belly, head lowered.

  The second panther attacked from the side.

  Zef raised one hand — not to strike, but to point.

  The Silver Fox’s eyes fshed violet.

  The second panther froze, body rigid, as though invisible chains wrapped its limbs.

  “Submit.”

  It colpsed, whimpering.

  The remaining three circled — faster, smarter, coordinating.

  Zef closed his eyes.

  He felt the quiet ocean inside himself.

  He pushed — not a wave, but a single, unyielding spike of intent.

  You are mine.

  The three panthers stopped as one.

  Their bodies shuddered.

  Their snarls died in their throats.

  Zef opened his eyes.

  “Attack each other.”

  The three turned on one another with mechanical precision — no rage, no instinct, only obedience.

  Cws met flesh.

  Blood sprayed.

  Within seconds, two y dead.

  The st one stood over the bodies, chest heaving, waiting.

  Zef lowered his hand.

  The panther sat.

  The Silver Fox walked up and brushed against it — a silent acknowledgment.

  Master Veyra stepped forward.

  “You did not command them,” he said. “You erased their will and wrote your own in its pce.”

  Zef looked at the panther.

  “They were obstacles.

  Now they are extensions.”

  Veyra studied him.

  “The Realm of the Soul is close.

  But before you cross it… you must learn to carry more than one.”

  He gestured.

  The cage opened again.

  A rger beast emerged — a midnight bear, twice the size of the panthers, mana crackling along its fur.

  “Command it.

  And make it fight the one you already own.”

  Zef looked at the bear.

  Then at the panther.

  He extended his will again.

  The bear roared — then froze.

  Its massive body trembled.

  Zef’s voice was calm.

  “Fight.”

  The bear and the panther turned on each other.

  The bear’s cws tore through the panther’s fnk.

  The panther darted beneath, raking its belly.

  But the panther fought without fear — without self-preservation.

  It died quickly.

  The bear stood victorious, blood dripping from its jaws.

  Zef walked forward.

  He pced a hand on the bear’s head.

  The beast lowered it.

  Veyra’s voice was almost a whisper.

  “You have bound two.

  The Realm is no longer distant.”

  Zef looked at the bear.

  Then at the Silver Fox.

  The fox tilted its head, violet eyes gleaming.

  Zef spoke — so quietly only the fox could hear:

  “Soon… we will need another.”

  [Skill Progress: Soul Domination – Intermediate → Advanced]

  [Soul Power: 53.8 → 62.4]

  The gde fell silent.

  The real chains had only just begun to form.