Beast Authority System

Staring at his stepmother, Luke had noticed a couple of differences straight away, the most obvious changes being her eyes and hair. Her pale blue eyes were now slitted like a cat's and had a very deep emerald color to them.

Her luxurious short blond hair was now dark, rich, and silky at a glance, reaching all the way to her waist. She had grown taller, but by how much Luke couldn't tell considering she had yet to stand up.

She had this feline grace about her despite doing nothing but stare at him. Her breasts were still as large as they were, but now her stomach no longer had excess fat like it used to.

She didn't suddenly become prettier, but she gained charm that could entice any man. With no excess fat, her thighs seemed thicker and her butt larger.

Her changes weren't exaggerated the same way they usually are in the webnovels he read, but even so, they were beyond what Luke could comprehend in his current state.

He had been noting her differences, but he had failed to notice she was naked. When he did, he finally took action, lust and desire taking the lead over his rational thoughts.

Luke quickly rose to his feet and walked to his stepmother. He helped her rise up, and before she could say anything, he pressed his lips against hers.

Sarah was shocked by the development, but she didn't resist or question it, because just like Luke, she also felt the heat and heard the persistent thought to mate with her stepson.

Even though she knew it was wrong, she always had these feelings, and it's just that now they were amplified to the maximum. She wrapped her dainty arms around Luke's thick neck and opened her mouth, letting Luke slip in his tongue.

'This is wrong,' Luke, at the back of his mind, questioned himself.

'I shouldn't be doing this.'

'What am I doing?'

'Maybe I'm hallucinating...'

'No, this feels a little too real, a dream perhaps?'

'Actually, that's beside the point. Even if this is real, I can't be led by my desires, especially ones artificially forced on me by the system. I won't let myself be a slave to either the system or my desires or lust or whatever.'

With a willpower that required a thousand men, Luke managed to pull himself from his stepmother's lips and body. He felt as if he had gained some energy from the kiss just now, but he didn't question it—not yet.

He looked at his stepmother, who gave him a disappointed look that had a glimmer of a predatory flash to it. Fearing for himself, he took a step back, but Sarah matched his retreat with a graceful step forward.

She was like a cat slowly walking up to her prey, and he was the prey.

[Warning, Host, I would recommend you mate with your tamed, as the lack of energy will cause the system to shut down.]

'Don't care. You figure another way to receive your precious energy while you stop using your weird aphrodisiac on both me and Sarah, or you're useless to me.'

[Ding~ Message received. Calculating other ways to outsource aether energy now.]

[Ding~ Found possible ways: A.) Kill beasts and collect their aether core. B.) Use your powerful Primordial Soul for aether. C.) Steal human life force, as it contains abundant aether even from the weakest non-tamer, but at the cost of slowly losing your humanity. Or better yet, choose option D, which means to accept your fate and just mate with your chosen.]

Luke read the message while he outstretched his hand towards Sarah, immediately restraining her in place using the tattoo chains on her supple skin.

'What are the costs for option A and B?'

[For option A, it means you'll have to fight a terrifying beast as weak as you are, with how very inexperienced you are, and might get yourself killed even with the help of your beast, considering she doesn't exactly know how to use her powers—not yet, at least. But who knows? You might be able to pull it off. For option B, well, I wouldn't choose that option as it's a very important catalyst to achieve Godhood unless you don't care.]

'I choose option A. Now remove this sickly horny feeling so I can get your aether energy for you.'

[Ding~ Confirmation. The lust buildup caused by the Beast Authority will be temporarily halted.]

Luke suddenly felt a cool-down from the heat that had been coursing through his body. He also saw Sarah visibly calm down, at least enough to blush about what she was about to do moments ago.

She couldn't even face him, especially after kissing her stepson. As for Luke, he wasn't even thinking about that. As his rational thoughts resurfaced, he started thinking about the events that led up to this point.

When he thought about his father and best friend, his mood soured. He didn't have anything against Sarah, but if he were to choose again, knowing what he knows now, he would have chosen them instead of her.

'But on one hand, I think choosing Sarah was the best option. What if the system really wanted to make me its slave? Then the likelihood that right now I would be having sex with my father would be at least 90%.'

Luke shivered at the disgusting thought. He made a promise to first make certain that the beast he will contract will be female before he does that; otherwise...

"Honey, um, where are we?"

Sarah asked as she went to pick up her bikini, which thankfully hadn't been shredded. Luke watched her out of the corner of his eye before he answered.

"Another world."

Sarah chuckled as she approached him. "Honey, I think you've been reading your weird books way too much."

Luke sighed. As an avid reader and someone with common sense, he knew women his stepmother's age, no matter the kind of fantasy books they read, don't understand reincarnation or transmigration tropes of webnovels that young men of his age consume.

So explaining would get them nowhere. After all, they need proof. But luckily, he didn't have to explain too much because even though her mind hasn't yet accepted it, she was already different, and she could feel it.

That's why her chuckle right now was awkward, and her jab at him was her hoping that it was all just a dream or something that could be explained scientifically.

'My assessment of her should be right on point. Then why do I feel she's a lot calmer than she's showing me? I don't know why, but I can accurately read her body, and the expression she's showing me doesn't match the alertness of her surroundings with her calm gaze both assessing me and maintaining vigilance.'

Luke came to the conclusion she was hiding something from him, a huge secret, which he would easily uncover when he asks her. But for now, he needs to understand his current situation, understand his power, hunt down beasts for aether, and then understand this world—or realm—he didn't know the difference, and he would like to.

"I have too much on my plate," Luke muttered with a sigh.