Lord Of Beasts

’Searching for the Boss Beast in this place is going to be a headache.’

Ethan slowly surveyed the endless acidic swampland.

Pools of bubbling acid stretched in every direction, broken only by clusters of twisted trees whose roots had somehow adapted to survive in the corrosive environment. Thick green mist drifted across the ground, limiting visibility and all senses for that matter.

Somewhere beneath those murky waters, there were beasts.

He could feel it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t narrow things down much.

Now that he possessed Flame Flight, traversing the swamp wasn’t nearly as troublesome as before. He could simply soar over the terrain without worrying about the acid below. Alternatively, Talon could quite easily carry him through the skies.

Both methods worked, but neither was ideal.

Flying continuously consumed mana, and spending hours combing through the swamp from above sounded painfully inefficient.

’There’s a much easier way...’

A mischievous grin slowly spread across Ethan’s face.

If finding the beasts was difficult, why not just make the beasts come to him?

He honestly wasn’t sure whether it’d work, or more importantly, just how many beasts would answer.

But there was only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Ethan planted his feet firmly against the swampy ground. Mana flooded through his body, gathering at his abdomen. It was far more than he’d ever poured into the skill before, then...

He opened his mouth as the energy rushed upwards.

"ROOOOOAAARRRRRR!!"

The Beast Call exploded across Floor Twenty-One.

It wasn’t merely a scream, but it was an overwhelming challenge and declaration. A predator was announcing its presence, and it couldn’t be ignored.

The swamp trembled.

Toxic mist rippled outward, trees shook violently, and the bubbling pools erupted as beasts hidden beneath the acid stirred awake. The roar echoed for miles, drawing in every creature that heard it.

Ethan exhaled slowly.

"Let’s see."

Originally, he’d planned to add Beast Call to his auto-hunting routine, but there was one simple reason he hadn’t done so the last time he was in the Tower. He hadn’t been strong enough. Calling every nearby beast to his location would have been suicide.

Ethan and his three C Rank Beasts could barely take on four C Rank Beasts, so a swarm of beasts in this landscape was beyond them. Whereas now he had two B Rank beasts, which definitely made a massive difference.

His own abilities had also increased in that single gate.

He no longer had anything to fear on C Tier Floors, and every beast that remained was no longer a threat, but just prey waiting to be hunted.

The swamp suddenly burst to life.

Splash!

Something burst from one of the acidic pools.

Then another.

And another.

Croaking beasts the size of horses, acid-coated reptiles, lizard-like creatures that skittered across the swamp’s surface, and massive toads dragged themselves from beneath the mud.

The entire floor seemed to awaken at once, as dozens of beasts swarmed Ethan from all directions. He wasn’t even recognised as a B Rank yet by the system, but even actual B Ranks wouldn’t be anywhere near as relaxed as he was.

Ethan stood calmly with a confident smile as the beasts rushed towards him.

"Perfect."

He had used so much MP through Beast Call that he had practically drawn in all the beasts on the floor, and that included the...

BOOOOOOM!!

The swamp exploded as a massive body erupted, sending corrosive water flying hundreds of feet into the air. Three enormous serpentine heads rose at once, each maw large enough to swallow Ethan whole.

Dark green scales reflected the sickly light filtering through the mist, while acid dripped constantly from rows of jagged fangs. The creature towered above every other beast present.

Hell, it was a colossal three-headed serpent.

Each head hissed independently, their slitted eyes locking onto Ethan simultaneously.

{Boss Beast Status}

{Race: Hydrochloric Hydra

Growth Stage: Prime

Beast Rank: B

Strength: 61

Speed: 47

Stamina: 52

MP: 52/52}

Ethan’s eyebrows rose.

He remembered thinking earlier that there would only be a single Boss Beast, so he had nothing to worry about. But as if the system had taken that and twisted it to humble him, he was now faced with a creature with three heads.

Not to mention the dozens of other beasts now surrounding him from every direction.

Most B Ranks would have panicked and made a break for it.

Ethan simply smiled.

"Go have fun, my beasts."

Blue light flashed.

Wolfy landed with a heavy thud, immediately letting out an excited howl. Spark floated happily into the air, flames dancing around its tiny body. Talon descended from above, his razor-sharp gaze already picking out targets.

Ethan pointed toward the countless beasts gathering around them.

"Kill them all, but the Boss is mine."

Wolfy barked enthusiastically before charging straight into the nearest group. Spark zipped after him like a flaming comet. Talon disappeared into the skies, already diving toward his first victim.

Ethan thought about using Beast Suppression, sure he could frighten away most of the weaker beasts without lifting another finger.

Then he shook his head.

’Why miss out on the Evolutionary Shards?’

His gaze returned to the towering three-headed serpent that was gearing to strike.

’Partial Assimilation: Storm.’

The tattoo of the Lightning Dragonfly on his forearm ignited. Blue-white electricity erupted across his body as his newest beast’s power flowed into him for the very first time.

A grin spread across Ethan’s face.

What better opponent was there to test his newest abilities than a Boss Beast?

-

The moment Ethan activated the second of his core abilities, the one he relied on besides Beast Summoning, it felt...

Wrong.

Not wrong in the sense that it failed, but in the sense that something was resisting. Every previous Partial Assimilation had felt natural. Wolfy, Talon, and Spark had all accepted the fusion, their powers flowing into him as though they were extensions of his own body.

Storm wasn’t like that.

He felt resistance, like the dragonfly was instinctively rejecting him.

It was subtle.

A tug-of-war taking place somewhere deep within his soul.

Yet despite the resistance, Ethan remained firmly in control, and he held absolute authority over their Beast Bond. As such, Storm’s power poured into him regardless of how it felt about it.

Crackle!

Blue-white electricity erupted across his body.

His muscles tensed, his skin prickled, and he felt something crawling across his face before his vision suddenly...

Expanded.

His eyes transformed.

Thousands upon thousands of tiny lenses layered over his vision, giving his eyes an insect-like appearance, almost as though he were wearing a pair of strange crystalline goggles. Simultaneously, a metallic sheen spread across his skin as patches of dark blue exoskeleton formed along his forearms, shoulders, and neck, hardening into natural armour.

His body itself didn’t change nearly as dramatically as when he assimilated with Wolfy.

There were no fangs, claws, or thick fur.

His black hair remained the same, though it stood on end just like every other hair on his body as electricity constantly coursed across his skin. Blue arcs crackled between his fingertips, and every subtle movement left tiny sparks dancing through the humid air.

Compared to Wolfy’s transformation, it looked almost elegant.

Then, his vision fully settled.

’What the fuck.’

The world exploded.

It was almost impossible to describe.

Instead of looking through two eyes, it felt like he was looking through tens of thousands. His surroundings fractured into countless overlapping perspectives before his brain somehow stitched them together into one coherent image.

Compound eyes.

He had previously somewhat understood the concept.

The giant wasps he’d fought possessed them, but experiencing them personally was something else entirely. Dragonflies possessed some of the most sophisticated eyes in the entire animal kingdom.

Nearly thirty thousand individual lenses and almost complete three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision, as well as the ability to perceive ultraviolet light. And perhaps most importantly, a brain capable of processing roughly two hundred images every second.

To Ethan, the world slowed.

Not literally.

His mind was simply processing visual information so quickly that everything appeared to move through syrup.

Droplets of acidic rain drifted lazily through the air, leaves disturbed by distant movements trembled long before they actually bent, and even the flickering sparks dancing around his own body became individually distinguishable.

It was unbelievable.

His peripheral vision had practically disappeared because everything was his peripheral vision. Nothing escaped his sight, as Ethan compared it to his other winged beast. Where Talon’s vision excelled in range and detail, Storm’s was in movement, both having their own roles to play.

That’s when another new sensation joined it.

Living creatures weren’t simply visible anymore. But they glowed with every heartbeat, firing nerve, and twitching muscle produced faint electrical disturbances that spread invisibly through the air.

Thanks to Volt Sense, his beast’s passive skill, he could perceive them all, like a strange sixth sense. Every living creature announced its presence through the electricity flowing naturally within its body.

And that included the Boss Beast that was about to make its move...