Lord Of Beasts

{Evolutionary Shards: 29546}

Ethan’s eyebrows shot up.

"Holy shit!"

The amount was absurd.

’But I’m sure the system didn’t give me any freebies, so I earned every single one of those goddamn shards.’

He had technically killed two A Rank Beasts, with each one rewarding him with a staggering ten thousand Evolutionary Shards. Then there were all the countless lesser beasts incinerated by his flames throughout the Gate.

Everything had added up.

And now, he was rich in something more valuable than money.

The prospect of evolution!

He immediately began doing the math.

Ten thousand shards for a B Rank Race Crystal, then another ten thousand to actually evolve the beast. That was if the Race Crystal succeeded the first time. And after that, he’d still have thousands of shards left over to invest in his newest beast, Storm.

’In hindsight, I probably could’ve evolved Storm inside the Gate and used him.’

The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head.

"Nah."

The mana cost would’ve been ridiculous to maintain two B Rank Beasts for extended periods, and he also didn’t want everyone knowing that he could acquire beasts. Not to mention Storm was still an Infant that he hadn’t summoned before.

There was no guarantee that it would even listen to him.

So even if he’d forced the evolution, Storm probably would’ve been more of a liability than an asset. So he didn’t regret that decision, nor did he regret not evolving his other beasts simply because that hadn’t been possible.

Before killing the Golden Flutterer, he hadn’t possessed enough Evolutionary Shards to buy both a Race Crystal and complete an evolution.

There’d never been a choice to make.

Still, there was one thing that definitely stung, looking back.

’I really should’ve asked them to leave the finishing blows on the stronger beasts to me.’

He leaned back.

"If I’d landed the killing blows on every A Rank Boss Beast..."

He didn’t even want to imagine the number.

It was too painful.

Then again, he quickly laughed at himself.

’It’s easy to think that now.’

Back then, simply surviving had been difficult enough. Trying to weaken A Ranks without killing them while everyone else was desperately fighting for their lives would’ve been ridiculous.

Besides, he already had much more Evolutionary Shards than he was expecting, and came out of the gate on a whole different level than when he had entered.

’And once I go back into the Tower...’

He smiled.

’I’m going to tear through those fucking floors.’

He almost felt bad for whatever beasts were waiting for him.

Almost.

All that was left now was to summon his fourth beast, which he couldn’t help but be curious to see. But let’s just say it wasn’t what he was expecting...

-

Ethan suddenly looked over at Elara, who came out of the shower wearing yet another oversized shirt he’d left lying around. The loose fabric hung from her slender frame while her damp blonde hair rested against her shoulders. Fresh from the shower, with flawless features and those striking crimson eyes, she looked almost ethereal.

’She could be a model, a smoking hot celebrity even, if she wasn’t so... you know.’

He laughed to himself before asking, "You guys wanna see my new beast?"

She looked up immediately.

Her eyes brightened with curiosity before she gave a small nod.

Mark, who had come downstairs to check on them, leaving the new bartender he had hired upstairs with the customers, leaned against the wall with folded arms.

"Go on then."

Ethan rubbed his hands together dramatically before clearing his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you..."

He spread his arms wide.

"Storm!"

The crackling lightning tattoo on his left forearm suddenly ignited with blue-white arcs before jumping to life. Unlike his other beasts, barely any mana was required to summon the E Rank beast.

There was a flash of light, and Ethan nodded confidently as he pointed towards it.

He was expecting some sort of small dragonfly that was cute and buzzing around the room while zapping them. Instead, a fat, greyish-brown slug-like creature flopped onto the floor with a wet splat.

"..."

"..."

Nobody spoke.

That was when Mark burst out into laughter.

"That’s your new beast?!"

Ethan couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his friend laugh that hard. But he wasn’t offended. What he felt most was confusion as he watched the thing wriggle helplessly, its tiny legs kicking uselessly beneath its body.

Then it began squirming, its body convulsing violently.

It almost looked like it was...

"It’s choking!" Ethan was watching his newly summoned beast die in real time. The tiny creature desperately opened and closed its mouth, seemingly unable to breathe properly.

"Oh, shit."

Without another thought, he immediately unsummoned it.

The little creature vanished back into the Beast Space before anything bad could happen, the tattoo reappearing on his forearm.

Silence filled the basement.

Then Elara burst into laughter this time. Not a silent giggle, but an actual full-blown cackle. Her shoulders shook as she covered her mouth, trying and failing to stop herself.

Ethan glared at her.

"Hey!"

She looked away, still laughing.

"It won’t be funny once I raise it to an A Rank."

That only made her laugh harder.

He sighed.

’There has to be an explanation.’

Immediately, Ethan pulled out his phone and began researching infant dragonflies. This beast was clearly based on the animal, so it made sense that its anatomy was at least similar.

His expression slowly changed as he read.

"Baby dragonflies spend their entire childhood living underwater in ponds, lakes, and streams. They lack wings, hunt aquatic insects, and move using a unique form of underwater jet propulsion by expelling water from their rear."

Ethan blinked.

He read that sentence again.

"So..."

He slowly looked toward where Storm had been summoned.

"This thing farts to move?"

He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or feel disturbed.

Then, he continued reading.

"Dragonflies spend the vast majority of their lives as wingless aquatic larvae before eventually emerging as adults."

"..."

"What the fuck!"

An aquatic beast wasn’t necessarily bad. Actually, it could be incredibly useful. But that wasn’t why he’d chosen the Lightning Dragonfly. He’d wanted the terrifying aerial predator that had dominated the skies and almost defeated Kaela inside the Gate.

Not whatever that thing had been.

’If I assimilate with it and go in the water, would I electrocute myself? Would I even be able to breath under water? It’s not like the thing has gills either; it’s just an ugly little critter.’

He wasn’t keen to experiment with it.

But he wasn’t bummed out either, and it gave him an idea instead.

’This is a beast, not a normal dragonfly. So if I evolve it, it’ll probably transform. It has to. There’s no way it can be a B Rank larva.’

He smiled.

’It’ll probably reach the Juvenile Growth Stage even quicker than my other beasts.’

Ethan wasn’t entirely sure, but there was only one way to find out.

"Fuck it."

Both Mark and Elara stopped laughing and looked at him.

"I’ll evolve it right now."

Unlike Talon or Spark, who required Race Crystals, Storm already possessed A Rank potential. There was no need to purchase anything, and there was no risk that the evolution would fail either.

All it needed was Evolutionary Shards, and Ethan had plenty of those.

’Sorry, guys, but Storm is skipping the queue.’

Without another moment’s hesitation, he summoned it again.

Then, before it could choke to death, he pulled up the Beast Tab of the System Interface and tapped the evolution option multiple times...