Lord Of Beasts

Ethan’s gaze drifted to the number floating before him.

{Evolutionary Shards: 22,711}

Seeing it, he already knew which beast was next.

A grin spread across his face.

"Come out, my lovely Griffling."

The tattoo on his back shimmered.

A streak of wind burst into existence overhead before Talon emerged, gliding effortlessly through the freezing air. The proud Griffling circled once before landing gracefully atop the snow, folding its emerald-tinted wings against its sides.

Despite the biting winds sweeping across the frozen wasteland, Talon looked completely unbothered. It was almost as though the icy air refused to touch its feathers, the currents naturally flowing around its sleek body.

"You ready, Talon?"

The Griffling let out a confident chirp.

Through Beast Communication, he didn’t need words to understand.

It had been born ready.

Ethan chuckled.

"So was I."

{The host has exchanged Evolutionary Shards for a B Rank Race Crystal.}

{11,000 Evolutionary Shards have been expended, including the mandatory 10% exchange fee.}

"I forgot about that bullshit fee."

He clicked his tongue but didn’t dwell on it.

There was no point.

Without hesitation, Ethan used the crystal on his beast.

He instinctively shielded his eyes.

After watching Wolfy and Storm evolve, he’d come to expect blinding light, violent surges of mana and earth-shaking transformations.

Instead...

Nothing happened.

Seconds later, a notification appeared.

{Race Crystal Unsuccessful}

{Race Crystal Usage Reminder: Outcomes are not guaranteed. The target beast’s race and/or potential may change, remain the same, or both. In certain cases, a successful activation may also trigger a Beast Metamorphosis.}

"Huh."

Ethan blinked.

That was anticlimactic and very underwhelming.

Still, he wasn’t overly disappointed, since failure had always been a possibility. If anything, he was just grateful it hadn’t happened during the moments that truly mattered, like both times he’d evolved Wolfy while trapped inside deadly Gates.

Back then, failure might have meant death.

Here, all it meant was that he would need to hunt more beasts to regather shards.

{Evolutionary Shards: 11,711}

"I’ve still got enough to try again."

His eyes narrowed.

"If I can just raise your potential to B Rank, I can evolve you later once I save enough shards again, which shouldn’t take too long."

There wasn’t much to think about.

He bought another crystal.

{The host has exchanged Evolutionary Shards for a B Rank Race Crystal.}

{11,000 Evolutionary Shards have been expended, including the mandatory 10% exchange fee.}

Then he used it again on Talon.

Once again...

Nothing.

There was no explosion, flash of light, or powerful winds as he had expected.

Ethan waited as seconds passed.

Whatever was happening was taking longer this time, a hopeful grin slowly spreading across his face.

"Maybe it’s charging some ridiculous evolution and it skips straight to S Rank. Imagine if you become an actual Griffin..."

He refused to give up hope until...

{Race Crystal Unsuccessful}

"..."

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!"

His voice echoed across the frozen wasteland.

Even Talon tilted its head in confusion.

The proud Griffling looked down at itself before spreading its wings slightly, almost wondering where its evolution had gone. Then its posture slowly drooped. The disappointment coming through Beast Communication was obvious.

Ethan looked at the remaining number.

{Evolutionary Shards: 711}

"That hurts."

He let out a long sigh.

"No point crying over spilt milk."

Walking over, he gently scratched beneath Talon’s beak.

"I’m sure when it finally works you’ll turn into one hell of a Griffin, so don’t let it get to you."

Talon looked at him for a long moment.

Then its wings spread proudly once more. It launched into the sky with a powerful flap, soaring high above the frozen landscape as though Ethan’s confidence had reignited its own.

Seeing that, Ethan smiled.

’I’ve had so much luck; I was bound to be unlucky eventually.’

And with his current abilities and rate of progress, he knew it was only a matter of time before both Talon and Spark were also B Ranks. But just before ending the night and leaving the Tower, he had one last thing he wanted to do...

-

Ethan sat down cross-legged in the snow and closed his eyes.

’Beast Recovery.’

Warm mana immediately began circulating through his body before flowing into the invisible links connecting him to each of his contracted beasts.

The familiar sensation was almost addictive.

His depleted mana core slowly filled once more, the emptiness inside him gradually disappearing as the skill continuously replenished his reserves. It wasn’t instant, but after relying so heavily on Beast Recovery throughout the night, he had become frighteningly efficient at using it.

Ethan’s mana recovered faster than it ever had before.

In between recovering himself, he also turned his attention to the beasts.

’Beast Mend.’

Soft blue light spread across Wolfy’s massive body.

Most of the Fenrir’s wounds had already begun healing naturally, thanks to its incredible physique, but Beast Mend accelerated the process dramatically. Cuts closed, burns faded, and torn muscle knitted itself back together.

The same healing energy flowed into Talon, whom he had called over, mending the smaller injuries they’d accumulated during their battles. Once their condition stabilised and he depleted his reserves again, Ethan returned to restoring his mana.

As he did, he noticed something interesting.

While Beast Recovery replenished his own mana, it also helped recover that of his beasts that weren’t actively summoned. It was slightly slower as he was sharing the results with his beasts, but it was far more efficient overall.

’Interesting...’

If they were summoned, his recovery was faster, but if they weren’t summoned and had complete reserves, he recovered even faster. It just depended on his priorities and opened up other possibilities.

And regardless, his beasts naturally recovered their mana over time, some of them much quicker than others, like Spark. After a while, all of them were in much better condition, including himself.

"Why am I doing this instead of just leaving the Tower and resetting my condition for next time?"

Ethan spoke aloud as if presenting to an audience.

"Well, that’s because we’re going to answer a simple question right here and now..."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"Who’s strongest?"