Li Yu now sat cross-legged on the flat armored expanse of the beast’s forehead. The metal was cold beneath him, textured like rough hewn stone but clearly metallic in composition. It felt more like sitting on a fortress wall than a living creature.

  He tapped his finger rhythmically against a ridge of the bio-armor, the sound resonating through the area. Besides the sound from his tapping, the area was dead silent. Li Yu was still getting used to how quiet this layer of the void actually was when he wasn’t actively trying to listen to what was happening in the ‘real’ world.

  ‘So,’ Li Yu projected his thoughts. ‘We need to sort out the basics and get to know one another. We will be working together from now on. I can’t keep calling you “The Dreadnought” or “Beast.” It’s too impersonal and I would rather call you what you actually want. Not the name that you were given by the people here. Do you have a name?’

  The massive creature shifted slightly. Its body of segmented iron and muscle was now pressed flat against the floor. It was trying to make itself look as small as possible, which was a comical effort given its size.

  ‘This must have been some of its behavior that it has kept from when it was smaller or something like that.’ Li Yu thought to himself while observing.

  ‘I have a name,’ the beast replied timidly. Its mental voice was deep but the tone was that of a nervous servant who had been caught stealing scraps. ‘In the tongue of the beastlands to the East, where I spent my youth and most of my life, I chose the name Tekton.’

  ‘Tekton?’ Li Yu repeated.

  ‘Yes. Because when I move or take action, the earth shakes. It seemed appropriate,’ the beast replied. ‘Is it… acceptable?’

  ‘It’s a good name,’ Li Yu nodded. ‘Strong. Has ties to Metal and Earth. It fits you quite well. Alright, Tekton, let’s get one thing straight. Since I now know your name you can decide what to call me from what I mentioned earlier. So what will it be?’

  Tekton hesitated, a low rumble vibrating through his chest. ‘Li Yu… Calling you by your real name feels disrespectful. You hold my soul.’

  ‘It’s fine, if that’s the one you decided on then I’m telling you to use my name. That’s an order,’ Li Yu said with a casual shrug. ‘We are a team now. Well, you will be working for me now but we are on the same side. I prefer clarity over ceremony. I also treat everyone on my side with respect and care.’

  ‘Just like anyone else on my team, as long as our goals don’t conflict, you are free to pursue your goals or dreams. Of course, if I need help I will ask you to help me and if you aren’t too busy you should. I might have to throw the command around now and again as well. I do have my own goals as well and need help to achieve them.’ Li Yu finished his normal lines after recruiting someone.

  ‘As you wish… Li Yu,’ Tekton agreed, though the name and what Li Yu had just said felt strange in his mind. He didn’t think that the person that he now had to serve would be so easy going, or at least seemed easy going.

  ‘Now, Tekton,’ Li Yu leaned back and was now laying down with his hands behind his head. ‘Let’s talk business. What exactly are you doing here? A Divine Transformation beast doesn’t just wake up and decide to attack a specific human settlement for no reason. Who sent you? Was it a summon? A mission?’

  Tekton let out a long mental sigh that felt like a gust of weary wind. ‘Sent me? No one sends Tekton anywhere. Tekton goes where he wants to go and it's usually because that's where the food is. And where the danger isn’t.’

  ‘Explain,’ Li Yu said softly.

  ‘I am from what the humans of this land called the Beast Zone,’ Tekton began, his story unfolding in Li Yu’s mind accompanied by vague, sensory images of deep underground caverns. ‘The Beast Zone is a terrible place that is ruled firmly by the strong take from the weak. The beast kings there thrive while everyone else below suffers.’

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  ‘The Red-Mane Lions, the Thunder-Roc Kings… they fight every day. Just about everyone fights everyday. You beat someone, you eat them and you grow stronger. The logic is simple but savage. They roar, they bleed and they die for pride and territory. I was small back then in my youth. I was just a simple iron centipede.’

  ‘I assume you didn’t stay small for long,’ Li Yu noted while gesturing to its size now.

  ‘I grew because I was careful,’ Tekton corrected. ‘I didn’t fight the Lion King for the mountain peak. I waited. I hid in the deep earth. When the Lion King fought the Serpent King and they tore each other to pieces… that is when I appeared.’

  Li Yu grinned. ‘You waited for the winner to be weak?’

  ‘I waited for the loser to be dead and the winner to be dying. That is my way of life, safely scavenging and growing stronger.’ Tekton admitted without shame. ‘Then I ate them both. I ate their cores. I ate their flesh. I feasted on their cultivation. I did this countless times for three thousand years. I only fought beasts that were much weaker than me. If I saw a beast that could hurt me, I dug a hole and I hid.’

  ‘A true survivalist,’ Li Yu commented. ‘So you reached the Divine Transformation realm by being an opportunistic scavenger?’

  ‘And by eating the earth,’ Tekton added. ‘I found veins of rare metals. Deep underground rivers of mercury. Once, I found a vein of Stellar Ore that had fallen from the sky who knows how long ago. It was hot and heavy. I ate that too. It hurt but it made my armor strong. That was one of my biggest gains during my lifetime. I built this body one cowardly meal at a time.’

  Li Yu laughed, patting the cold metal snout. ‘I like you, Tekton. You’re honest. In the cultivation world, people call that “cowardice,” but I call it “winning.” Dead heroes don’t get to reach the peak. Survivors do.’

  ‘I thought so too,’ Tekton grumbled. ‘Until today.’

  ‘So why leave the Beast Zone and attack so openly. Exposing yourself to danger?’ Li Yu asked. ‘Why come all the way to the Whispering Weald?’

  ‘I felt the chaos of the times here on this continent and thought it was a great opportunity. I also just recently got stronger, reaching Divine Transformation, ten years ago. I felt confident in my power,’ Tekton explained. ‘The war between the humans and the beasts. The energy was erratic. I thought, “Perfect. If everyone is fighting, no one will look down.” I could burrow under their cities and eat the metal foundations and resources. It was supposed to be a free meal. I didn’t want to rule the humans. I didn’t want to fight the Alliance. I just wanted to snack on their architecture while they were distracted.’

  ‘So you became an overconfident scavenger in the end,’ Li Yu murmured, thinking about himself as well. He too was a bit overconfident in his plan to fight against Tekton. ‘If you said earlier that you work for yourself and no one is commanding you. I take it you aren’t working for the Seven Sins?’

  ‘The Seven Sins?’ Tekton repeated the name with genuine confusion. ‘Is that a pack of wolves? Or perhaps a hydra? I have never heard of them.’

  Li Yu probed the beast’s emotions through the soul link. There was no deception there and he felt like Tekton couldn’t lie to him even if he wanted to. Those seals and bindings that the Fisherman did were truly mysterious.

  Tekton was truly ignorant to the Seven Sins. It made sense, Li Yu hadn’t heard of them either until now. It seems like they were a part of history that was buried on purpose. Tekton was a hermit who had just emerged from his cave, completely unaware of the geopolitical conspiracies of the continent.

  ‘They are a shadow organization of great power. Led by seven mutated beings.’ Li Yu explained briefly. ‘I believe they are manipulating events here. I thought perhaps they had lured you here or were controlling you. Using you as a weapon to cause chaos or whatever it is their actual goals were. I don’t really know that.’

  ‘I listen to no one,’ Tekton said firmly. ‘I have always been alone. I do not take orders. Well… until today, of course, Li Yu.’

  ‘If you act alone,’ Li Yu asked, his eyes narrowing as he pieced the puzzle together, ‘then explain the army. The Beast Tide. Millions of beasts followed you here. Including mutated beasts who I believe to be working for the Seven Sins. They were clearly under your command.’

  ‘Ah. Them.’ Tekton sounded almost dismissive. ‘They are… clingy.’

  ‘Clingy?’

  ‘Yes. As I moved towards this region, leaving the Beast Zone, they simply began to gather with me. I did not call them. I did not fight them. They just… appeared. They followed my trail. When I stopped, they stopped. When I moved, they moved.’

  Tekton shifted his massive claws, scratching the invisible floor of the void. ‘I thought it was strange, yes. They are quiet. Too quiet. A normal beast would act a bit differently. These things? They just stare. But the important thing is that they will obeyed my will. If I thought “Clear the trees,” they cleared the trees. If I thought “Guard me while I sleep,” they formed a circle and stood there for days without moving.’

  They were a great tool to have. I was going to use them as distractions while I claimed the real prize.