Lord Of Beasts

Storm materialised in a flash of crackling blue-white light. Unlike its larval form from the real world, this was no helpless aquatic nymph. Its evolution into a B Rank beast had transformed it into its true form as a predator.

Its body stretched to nearly the size of a large dog, with a long, slender abdomen covered in overlapping sapphire plates that shimmered like polished steel.

Four translucent wings extended from its thorax, each vibrating so rapidly that it became little more than a blur that distorted the surrounding air. Veins of glowing electricity pulsed through those wings with every beat.

Its compound eyes dominated its head, each one made up of thousands of tiny lenses that reflected the swamp from every conceivable angle. Meanwhile, blue arcs of electricity danced constantly across its body, crackling from wing to wing before dissipating into the humid air.

Compared to an ordinary dragonfly, it was enormous, but compared to the monstrous A Rank Lightning Dragonfly Kaela had nearly died fighting, it looked almost cute.

Almost.

Despite its size, Ethan could immediately tell one thing.

It was ridiculously fast and powerful.

Its body practically hovered without moving, supported by wings beating so quickly that they produced nothing more than a constant electric hum. The two simply stared at one another, and it was strangely tense.

This was different.

Wolfy had grown alongside him since the beginning, and there had always been trust between them. Talon had been proud and stubborn, but he’d accepted Ethan as his master over time.

As for Spark... well, it was simply a little ball of fire that seemed happy just existing.

Storm wasn’t like any of them.

It didn’t seem playful, curious, or loyal.

The Lightning Dragonfly was a solitary apex predator, one that had only just been born and clearly hadn’t accepted Ethan yet.

Crackle!

Electricity gathered around its mouthparts.

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"So that’s how we’re doing this."

Without warning...

Zap!

A concentrated bolt of lightning shot towards him.

Ethan twisted instinctively.

The Electric Blast grazed his shoulder instead of striking him head-on. His trusty rags exploded apart where it passed, leaving a thin scorch mark across his skin as numbness spread briefly through his arm.

"..."

Storm didn’t stop there.

Its wings accelerated, and it was already charging another attack. But instead of becoming angry, Ethan smiled calmly. He didn’t summon any of his other beasts, nor did he partially assimilate with them to fight back.

He stood there exactly as he was.

’Seems like this one needs some disciplining.’

His mana surged as he activated the skill he had yet to use.

’Beast Suppression.’

An invisible pressure exploded outward, but unlike Absolute Suppression, this authority existed solely for beasts. And what Ethan was about to find out was that it was incredibly effective, especially on his own beasts.

The effect was immediate.

Storm fell onto a small plot of land within the swamp as though it had been swatted from the sky by a giant invisible hand. Its wings faltered, and its legs buckled, almost as though the surrounding gravity had increased a hundredfold.

’Luckily, it didn’t fall into the acid,’ he thought to himself, as he honed in on the beast.

Electricity burst wildly from its body as it desperately struggled against the spiritual pressure pinning it down. Its wings beat furiously, but nothing happened. Every attempt to stand ended with it collapsing, as though its body suddenly weighed a tonne.

’This skill is neat.’

Ethan calmly walked over until he was standing directly in front of the struggling dragonfly. He then crouched down and brought his face closer to it, smiling as it fought against his domination.

"Boy, you’d better calm it down."

Storm almost seemed to glare back through its enormous compound eyes, not that he could tell exactly.

"I think you’re forgetting who’s the master here."

Ethan increased the pressure further, and the dragonfly’s body sank another inch into the muddy ground.

"You might think you’re hot shit with your lightning, but you’re my beast, you got that?"

He knocked on its hard head to assert dominance over the beast, which only seemed to enrage it further. Sparks of lightning flickered around its body, but it was unable to do anything while Ethan was using Beast Suppression.

It was also instinctively unable to harm him, at least not seriously.

’Fuckers like these don’t listen to words. They need to get their asses handed to them, then they start behaving themselves.’

He put his foot on its head and pressed down, confident even while in this base form. If this weren’t his beast, he would be screwed. But it was, and that made it so that he could bend it to his will with ease.

’I didn’t think it would be this effective, but I ain’t complaining.’

It reminded Ethan of something very important.

"I’m the literal Lord Of Beasts!"

He laughed as he stared down at the beast.

Storm had stopped struggling simply because it realised it was futile, though it still glared with electricity dancing in its eyes. But Ethan had seen enough, and ironically had found out what he needed to without looking.

’This thing is definitely a male,’ he confirmed.

From what he remembered reading about dragonflies, the males were usually brighter coloured, and from its sapphire exterior and feistiness, he had enough to go off of.

’I think all of them are probably dudes.’

That made sense since he was one after all, and ultimately, the only reason it mattered was in case they were female and reproduced. But he doubted that would even be an issue since they were either hunting or resting in what he called the Beast Space.

Ethan nodded in satisfaction.

He actually liked the beast’s spirit, and its aggression and resistance weren’t necessarily bad things.

’It’ll grow out of it.’

And even if it didn’t, he honestly wouldn’t mind.

As long as Storm never turned that aggression toward him or the people around him, Ethan had no intention of crushing its personality.

’It is a beast, so it makes sense.’

It was also an infant, so he cut it some slack, though next time he couldn’t see himself being so forgiving if it lashed out at him. And so, with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the summon.

"You can sit this one out."

His tone was almost teasing as he smiled to himself.

"I’ll just use your power myself."

Ethan couldn’t help but be excited to wield a whole new power and set of skills for the first time. He also had a crazy idea that he was about to try to make clearing this floor a whole lot faster...