Lord Of Beasts

Ethan didn’t stop after conquering Floor Twenty-One.

Not even close.

With two B-Rank beasts now under his command - or rather, one under his command and one that merely tolerated his existence - continuing through the Tower almost felt unfair. Compared to the insanity of the insect Gate, it was almost relaxing.

The following floor welcomed him with another familiar notification.

{Floor Twenty-Two: Crimson Thornwood (C)}

An endless forest of towering blood-red trees stretched beyond the horizon. Their bark resembled dried flesh, while vines covered in razor-sharp crimson thorns hung between branches like living traps.

Predatory plant beasts lurked beneath the undergrowth alongside giant mantises, thorn wolves and camouflaged vine serpents.

Ordinarily, it would’ve been a dangerous floor.

But it barely slowed Ethan, who, with Auto-Hunting, Beast Recovery, and Beast Call, cleared the entire floor in less than half a day.

Then came the next.

{Floor Twenty-Three: Obsidian Highlands (C)}

The swamp and forest gave way to jagged black mountains littered with volcanic rock; the air shimmered with heat. Massive horned beasts roamed the cliffs, rocky lizards hunted in packs, and winged predators circled overhead looking for prey.

Again, it should have been a brutal biome.

Instead, it felt almost like playing a game after accidentally equipping end-game gear. He simply blitzed through everything alongside his beasts.

Wolfy tore apart anything foolish enough to stand its ground, Talon dominated the skies, and Spark happily set half the mountain ablaze. As for Ethan, he became completely addicted to Storm’s abilities.

Every opportunity he got, he used Partial Assimilation, and every battle became another excuse to experiment, teaching him something different about the dragonfly’s powers.

Its dynamic skills never got old.

And by the time he’d cleared both floors, his beasts had feasted on an absurd amount of meat. The Tower’s monsters became little more than walking meals and free Evolutionary Shards.

Storm benefited the most.

With each beast it consumed, Ethan watched as it visibly grew larger until...

{Storm has reached the Juvenile Growth Stage.}

Ethan blinked.

"Already?"

He couldn’t help laughing.

’I guess insects really do grow fast.’

Storm was evolved directly to B Rank while possessing A Rank potential, so it had started far ahead of where his other beasts once had. Still, its growth rate was ridiculous, almost as much as its power.

Unfortunately, its personality remained just as difficult.

Every single time Ethan summoned it, there was trouble, and it simply refused to cooperate. It hunted alone, ignored commands, and acted as though it answered to nobody. So much so that he decided to avoid summoning it alongside his other beasts.

That worked perfectly for him since he would prefer to wield its abilities himself.

And whenever he did allow it to fight, he would dismiss his other summons and let it loose. Something told him that having it fight alongside his existing beasts wasn’t the greatest idea, especially his Fenrir.

They were likely to clash, and he couldn’t have that happen.

Not yet.

And while Wolfy, Talon, and Spark worked together perfectly, Storm was a solitary apex predator that did whatever it pleased. Communicating with it proved equally frustrating, since dragonflies lacked both ears and vocal organs.

That was something that baffled Ethan.

While assimilated with the beast, he did notice the lack of sound, but since it was only a partial transformation, he could still hear and speak. Dragonflies are reliant on their incredible sight, but that made it difficult to understand it or convey intention to it either.

The beast communicated entirely through movement, and Ethan found himself responding the same way. Small gestures, pointing, and hand signals, using the invisible bond between master and beast.

Oddly enough, it was working, though not perfectly.

Their communication felt less like words and more like instinct, a silent understanding that existed somewhere deeper than language.

Even so, Storm remained unbelievably stubborn.

At one point, after Ethan signalled it to return from a hunt it clearly wasn’t finished with, the dragonfly simply attacked him. Lightning burst from its body without warning as it lashed out at its summoner.

Ethan sighed. "Seriously?"

Before the beast could launch another attack, an overwhelming pressure crashed down upon it.

’Beast Suppression.’

After experiencing that skill again, its aggression disappeared just as quickly as it’d appeared.

"That’s better."

Ethan folded his arms.

"I know you’ve got attitude, but you’re still one of mine."

Dragonflies were natural-born hunters that were bold, aggressive, and almost impossibly agile.

They hunted, lived, and survived alone.

It was the same for Talon, who was previously a Skyrend Hawk before evolving into a Griffling, which is also a solitary creature. But unlike Talon, Storm had yet to understand what it meant to belong to a pack, and that would take time.

Surprisingly, Ethan was patient, understanding that the beast didn’t hate him and was just on edge. It was also a sentient creature, and each of his beasts had its own personality, which he liked.

’I never really had a pet, but now I got four.’

And it was only natural that after all this time since receiving his Title, his beast-taming skills had improved.

’They’re like children. Wolfy’s a good kid, Talon’s a smartass, Spark has a constant sugar rush, and Storm’s the asshole.’

It was the perfect analogy.

And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to change Storm entirely, especially not when the beast had only recently been born. But he didn’t need or want to either.

’I just need to channel that wildness in the right direction.’

While hunting alongside his beasts, Ethan consciously focused on strengthening their bond and interacting with them more. It was easy to summon them and get them to do his bidding, but by deepening their connection, they’d become more reliable, trustworthy, and autonomous.

And before he knew it, while recovering on Floor Twenty-Three...

{Congratulations on creating a skill!}

Ethan blinked.

But he didn’t even get a chance to check out what it was and read the description, when...

"Woof! Woof!"

"Kreeeeee!"

"Bzzzzzzzz!"

Three completely different voices suddenly echoed inside his mind.

He physically flinched.

"What the fuck?!"

Wolfy’s excited barking, Talon’s piercing cries, and Spark’s endless buzzing enthusiasm.

All of it arrived at once.

His head instantly started hurting.

"So that’s what you’ve all been saying this whole time..."

It was absolute chaos.

Thankfully, Ethan very quickly intuitively realised he could consciously suppress the connection.

The voices faded, and silence returned in his mind.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

"Much better."

Still, the implications were incredible.

{Beast Communication (D) - Establishes a permanent telepathic link with acquired beasts, allowing the host to exchange thoughts, emotions, instincts, and simple intentions regardless of language or species. The clarity of communication improves as the bond between host and beast deepens.}

{Note: Prolonged use or linking with multiple beasts simultaneously may cause headaches, mental fatigue, and sensory overload.}

The skill allowed him to communicate telepathically with his beasts, even if they weren’t summoned. And it wasn’t through spoken language, but emotions, instincts, intentions, and simple concepts.

How could he complain?

’It’s a free skill, and a useful one at that.’

But it strangely reminded him of how their voices had reached him while he was trapped inside the Golden Flutterer’s spiritual prison. Not that he could dwell on it; his beasts continued yelling directly into his mind to get his attention after feeling the mental connection between them.

’Alright, calm it down, guys.’

Ethan couldn’t help chuckling, now having something new to explore and play around with. Then he pulled up the Skills Tab, and his eyes scanned the growing list of abilities.

He smiled.

"I really got a shit ton of skills."