21 Relationship Between a Tera and a Tera Master (2/2)

He was someone who always trusted his heart and went with it, just like in the cases where it had wanted him to help those lost Teras in finding their families.

Even now, he decided that if Edmond tried to use that kind of relationship to make the Fox fight for him, he would definitely act to let the thing go even though he and Woof had a vendetta against it, in the same way that its father had one against them.

Actually, there was another reason why he had agreed to them catching a Bewitching Fox – it was that the custom of Bewitching Foxes usually dictated that the strongest of the litter would get the most food, while the weaker ones would have to fight for scraps and even starve. This was meant to be a mechanism for the weaker Foxes to get motivated to grow stronger in order to stay alive, and although it worked for the most part, Woof told him that in its life, it had seen a few little Foxes who died simply because they were born with strength that wasn't as great as their brothers and sisters.

Life in the jungle was harsh, and usually unforgiving. When seeing such children, the adult Bewitching Foxes might feel a little bit sad, but they would just move on thinking that this would have happened anyway in the future when they weren't around.

This was something that was common in other Tera families, too, but Aaron had noticed that it mostly occurred in predator families.

Usually, those Teras which depended on plant life to live were different.

Shaking his head to get rid of all these thoughts, Aaron watched with sharp eyes as Edmond took the Fox into his hands from the Chief.

It wasn't really that harmful at its age – at least, an adult human could easily handle it if they were careful.

In fact, it only had the ability to use its sharp claws to scratch enemies, as it wasn't strong enough yet to use the signature ability of these foxes of releasing pheromones in order to make their opponents drowsy by ”Bewitching” them.

Usually, at this age, Teras were meant to be protected, as they couldn't fend for themselves.

”As you're from the city, I guess you've already been through a course about how to handle Teras and build a bond with them, right?”, asked the Chief, handing a bowl containing some sort of raw meat to Edmond along with the Fox.

The Fox kept shooting glances at this bowl, but it did not move to ask for anything. Instead, it still had that aloof expression, as if everyone near it were not worthy of its attention.

”Yes. I know the steps. The Tera should slowly be fed, cared for and trained by the Tera Master for a bond to form, which is the best method in most cases. And let me give you an answer to your question too, Aaron. The World Government has set down rules that state that a relationship which is forced must not be pursued unless that is no other option, as researchers found that such relationships often lead to the premature deaths of either the Tera of the Tera Master. A bond just isn't considered to be real unless there is also trust between the Tera and the Tera Master. The greater the trust, the greater the power a Tera Master can put on display. I know how you must feel about Teras because you've grown up among them and because you probably consider that dog as your family. Don't worry, I would never force one to fight for me. The Binding process, on the other hand – I had no option there, as I don't have a Tera in the first place to fight one fairly and entice it into becoming my Tera. Watch.”

While Aaron felt pleasant surprise at Edmond's words who almost seemed like he had read his mind, he watched as Edmond slowly took out a piece of the meat and brought it near the Fox's mouth. He showed no resentment because it had peed on him – after all, he had snatched it away from its parent, so he shouldn't expect anything less. In fact, he had to be thankful that it wasn't being overtly violent.

The Fox kept turning away, at first, but after a few attempts, it finally acquiesced and ate the piece of meat as it was starving.

This made a smile of pure pleasure appear on Redmond's face, which got etched into Aaron's mind because of the innocent joy that it contained.

The rest of the pieces of meat disappeared soon enough, after which the Fox burped and promptly fell asleep on Edmund's lap.

”Baby Teras usually have short spans of attention – just like human babies. One can entice them using the simplest things. It's really lucky that I got such a young Tera- I have a much higher chance of building a great bond with it. I-”

Saying so, Edmond was about to expound regarding how he topped the class in this course, but he stopped and wrinkled his nose when a foul smell floated up.

Obviously, this Tera was much smarter as it looked.

That was because it had decided to do the other 'Nature's Call' on Edmond's bed, as if to say that it wouldn't be that easy, and as if the first option to show this wasn't viable as it had just done it already.

This time, even Aaron started laughing along with the Chief and Woof, while Edmond blushed a bright red and looked out the window while trying to block out the embarrassment.