Snow Tiger Titan

"What in the world? Is that a primordial beast?" Raphael exclaimed.

A primordial beast. One of the creatures that gained a very strong influence after the world was invaded by Atherius. They obtained imprints and, for many years, managed to stay alive, increasing their power and command.

"That's a cute tiger. Do you think he wants to be friends?" Elena said.

"I-I don't know."

Raphael thought of what to do. He was not sure where they had been transported to. He was about to create a compass when suddenly a loud sound was heard, and then, in the distance, the mouth of the tiger started glowing a bright blue.

"What is he trying to do at this distance?"

Raphael used his Magic Eye and immediately saw that the creature was harnessing his Atherius to use his imprint of blizzard to cast Blizzard Beam.

The beam launched from his mouth at great speed. It took two seconds to reach them. Raphael immediately used Void Absorption to start absorbing the powerful magic spell.

Despite the massive amount of Atherius needed for the Blizzard Beam, Raphael surprised himself, being able to keep up and absorb it all. His Atherius mana capacity had increased to an unprecedented amount, being able to match toe-to-toe with the mana pool of a primal beast.

Elena might have just been able to last a few seconds, especially now that she did not have the advantage of being inside the Abyss.

When the Blizzard Beam ended, Raphael created a spear made out of wood, with the tree imprint, and then used the battle imprint to use the spell Enhance. But this time he didn't skimp on the mana he gave to the spell. His strength increased more than a thousandfold, and then he threw the spear, which traveled with great velocity towards the tiger.

When it was about to reach it, Raphael used Swap, a law spell of the space imprint, which made him swap places with the spear. He was now in the air, on top of the head of the tiger. He created a giant Light Spear and then prepared to use Light Step to pierce through its skull.

But at the last second, Raphael unsummoned the spear, and instead, when he reached the head of the tiger, he activated the imprint of taming, activated Calming Presence, and then Animal Communication and Animal Bond.

As many times as he had seen one of the farmers back at his village do. The one called the beast whisperer.

Memories assaulted him like images. Images of countless years of being attacked by humans out of fear, glory, or searching to take the unique magical resources that the biome on his back carried. Centuries of conflict. And then a memory of being a little tiger cub surrounded by family. And then the destiny of wandering alone in the snowy wasteland.

"You are tired of this, don't you? Tired of not being able to know who to trust, tired of being on your guard all the time. Tired of being alone? I understand that," he said with tears in his eyes.

"What would a human know about that?" The voice of the tiger resounded in his mind. It was low and husky.

"I might not have lived for millennia like you. But I know what it's like to feel like the world is a terrible place. To not be able to trust anyone. To feel fear at every step of the way. To long to be connected to others. I know you also saw my memories; you should know. You should know my mission is to end all this senseless conflict."

The tiger let steam escape from its nose and mouth. Raphael stood on the snowy ground just below the tiger's head.

The tiger glared at him. Raphael stood firm, looking him in the eyes. But for a second, he couldn't bear staring someone in the eyes. Even after everything, he couldn't look someone in the eyes long enough yet.

The tiger chuckled.

"Maybe you do understand." The tiger lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I'm Aslan, and I'll lend you my hand. I want to see with my own eyes if the world is truly able to be saved by someone like you."

Raphael opened his eyes in shock. He had given in to his fear, to his distrust. But maybe that's what the tiger saw as evidence that they were similar. Raphael touched the tiger and cast Animal Bond.

The spell demanded of him a colossal amount of mana, reaching almost to the limit of his seemingly titanic acquired mana pool. He felt a warm feeling on his chest that connected his core to the core of the tiger.

"It is done. We are now bonded. Our souls are linked." Aslan said, his voice resounding through the valley.

"Thank you, Aslan," Raphael said.

The tiger lay on the ground, as if inviting Raphael to go on top of him. After going to get Elena, whose eyes sparkled in wonder at the sight of the tiger, they climbed onto his back. When they were climbing, she even gave him a little pat.

When they reached the top, what welcomed them was a biome different from the outside. There was green grass, and the temperature was at the perfect spot, not too cold nor too warm. Butterflies and other animals lived inside it. It mainly consisted of a grassy field, some hills and mountains, and a lake that could be seen a short distance away.

Even at a distance, he could spot a forest. As they walked, exploring the biome, Raphael found a perfect place to set up camp, just close to the lake.

"This is quite unexpected, I must say. This should prove to be the perfect refuge and headquarters."

"Yes! It's very comfy. I could stay here forever. And, talking about that, I have a small favor or petition I'd like to make, Raphael…"

Raphael raised an eyebrow, but put a smile on his face. “Alright? Tell me."

"Can we make our home a mansion, specifically a maid mansion?" she said, having trouble looking Raphael in the eyes and playing with her hair. "As you know, I love maids. Ever since Katelin spent time in the Abyss, I just became fascinated by them. And my dream is to save the world with beautiful women in maid outfits!" Elena's eyes lit up, and she looked intensely at Raphael, holding her hands close to her chest.

"But wouldn't that be a bit weird? Trying to force people to wear maid outfits?" Raphael said, laughing awkwardly.

Elena kept staring at him, with even more intensity.

Raphael sighed. "Fine, we'll do it that way. We're gonna have a mansion with maids."

"Yay!"

Elena jumped and raised her arms in joy, and even hugged Raphael, which made him blush.

To be completely honest with himself, having a mansion didn't sound like a bad idea. Especially if he was gonna have to gather people to help him manage to defeat the War God.

Raphael stood up and glanced at the empty grass field.

"Let's see if this works."

Raphael immediately knelt on one leg and touched the grass with his right hand. He closed his eyes and activated the imprint of construction. An imprint he had acquired after watching the carpenters and constructors create houses in the village back home. He activated the Blueprint skill, a skill people with the imprint of construction used on the daily to visualize and create the blueprints of houses they're gonna make.

Raphael tried to think of a mansion. In his time in the capital, near the Guild, he had seen quite a few and visited some. He opened his eyes to the holographic image of the mansion in place of the terrain.

With this, it was easier for constructors to receive direction and follow the plans, sometimes even using the imprint of minerals to create the necessary materials. But only in chunks.

But Raphael had the advantage that he had everything in one place. And his now deep mana pool would allow him to directly use his mana.

Raphael focused and started spending his mana. The mansion started forming and creating itself, following the blueprints, using the materials he generated at the same time, with the mineral imprint and wood imprint, to create everything.

Until finally a white and imposing mansion stood on the field. It had taken him around two hours. His mana had been used to its fullest, mainly because of his fight with Aslan.

"Let's have a tour, shall we?"