“Ah, so this is my bonding mate huh? What’s she, A rank? I assuming a metallic draconic, right guys? You sure picked a cutie.” Faelan’s gaze wandered towards the window, where he knew behind that one sided glass was a bunch of snobbish higher ups, who had little concern for his safety. He knew that they only cared about getting rid of demons, and how to make the people that did that better. Which is how he’d come across this particular experiment. Being an A ranked hunter himself, he was allowed to fight beasts, not unlike the one before him, without needing to get permission from the top. He’d heard stories about the guys who’d tried to bond with demons. The ones that had bonded to the E class demons. Demonic rats and common filth. The kick they’d gotten from being mentally linked to a demon was supposedly a great feeling, and it’d been something that’d immediately caught his attention. What was the worst that could happen right?<br/><br/>“Agent Bystrom, you’ve no need to rank this demon, we are simply trying to bond you to it. Please focus on the task at hand. You aren’t the first to stand in the circle, in fact, if you are feeling a little cheeky, you are actually the sixth to attempt to bond to this particular demon.”<br/><br/>He listened, not really caring up until they mentioned he wasn’t the first attempt. Unsure of how to feel, he called back mockingly, “Come on fellas, you could’ve picked me first. I’ve always had a way with words.”<br/><br/>Turning to actually face the demon, he gave it… No, her a quick rundown. She was quite obviously draconic, the horns, the scaled limbs, the tail. Her color suggested she was indeed a metallic draconic, but it might have been the light, she may have simply been an earthy color. Her skin was a nice, dark shade, and she’d actually be quite attractive, had she not been baring her fangs, and half dragon. Her short hair was a reflective golden color, and the two horns on her head were a darker bronze color, and the ridges looked painful. It was apparent she’d been worn down quite a bit in her stay here, probably from being contained in a realm not meant for demons by people who really didn’t like demons.<br/><br/>“Agent Bystrom, do you remember how to perform the bonding ritual?” came the voice again, and he realized it was one of his peers, Sam.<br/><br/>“Oh! Sammy boy, is that you? Of course they got some book worm like you to watch this. What do you think of the view from up there? Is my birthday suit slimming?”<br/><br/>“You are literally in front of a fire breathing demon that is about to be fighting for control of your mind. Maybe you could cut your shit for 10 minutes so we can see if you’ll die or not.”<br/><br/>Guess I can’t argue with that logic, he said to himself, returning his eyes back to the demon. He walked into the room a bit more, and the floor seemed to acknowledge his presence, the large rune encompassing the bonding circle lighting up. Her containment rune was smack dab in the middle, making sure she’d be in full power of the rune when he activated it. Walking over, he grabbed one of her horns and pulled up, even as she tried to pull away, her aggression obvious. Pushing her head back, he pushed his left hand up against her chest, and felt the power of the rune on the floor starting to course through both of them. The lines etched on the floor grew brighter and brighter, and the runes on his arm started to burn, he could feel his palm burning. The unique rune of his etched into his palm was being burnt into her chest. All of the time that had been spent developing this very symbol had become the identifying mark of his, and by burning it onto her, he was directly combining all the magic he’d had into her. It felt like he’d stuck his entire arm into a socket, the combat runes of his forearm burning a brilliant blue, and he could feel the mark he was leaving on her slowly forming itself onto his chest as well, the sign of a bonded pair. She was clawing at his arm, but with the containment rune, her movements were slow, her scratches barely leaving a mark. She was shrieking, and even he was starting to shake. Pain shivered its way into his very bones, his magic fighting to overwhelm hers, his mind furiously trying to make its way to her. One of his knees buckled, and he had to grab his left arm with his free hand to support it, fighting to keep the link active, and after a moment of searing pain, he felt the slightest amount of give, and pushed his way into her mind.