Lord Of Beasts

Ethan was like a child on Christmas as he read through the descriptions of all of his fourth beast’s new skills, and they definitely didn’t disappoint.

Especially not the last skill.

{Kinetic Charge (B): Converts movement into electrical energy, storing it within the body before transforming it into specialised lightning mana that can be used to empower other lightning-based skills.}

"What?!"

He read it again.

Then a slow grin spread across his face.

"That’s actually broken."

Movement generated electricity, which became specialised mana that then strengthened Storm’s other skills. In other words, the longer Storm fought, the stronger it became and the more energy at its disposal.

’No wonder it pushed that freak to her limits.’

It didn’t need to sit still to recover mana. Instead, it recharged while flying, dodging and attacking, doing exactly what a dragonfly was supposed to do.

{Note: Energy generated through Kinetic Charge cannot be stored within the Mana Core and will remain with the user’s body. As such, the longer it isn’t expelled through skills, the more strain it causes.}

’That’s still insane.’

As long as Storm kept moving, which is natural in combat, it could continuously pour that energy straight back into Electric Blast, Thunder Dash, and Chain Lightning. And that note also gave Ethan more insight into how the skill worked and the anatomy of his beasts.

’I guess that means they also have Mana Cores. But I’ve never seen one when I’m eating beast meat, so it isn’t a physical orb-thing like you might think.’

{It is a metaphysical organ.}

Ethan had no clue what that meant, but he added it to the list of things he needed to research. He didn’t dwell on it and instead was more focused on the new skills, envisioning the self-sustaining combat style.

"I can’t wait to see these in action. Or better yet..."

He clenched his fists.

"I can’t wait to use them all myself."

And there wasn’t a better place to test them than the Tower Of Beasts.

His gaze slowly lifted toward the endless acidic swamp stretching before him, a dangerous smile creeping across his face. But before he began his hunt, there was one more thing he needed to do.

And it was admittedly a little weird.

It all stemmed from a random thought he’d had back in the Gate after watching Wolfy shamelessly ferry every attractive female Titled around like some oversized gentleman.

That had led him to a rather important question.

’What genders are my beasts, anyway?’

He’d somehow never checked, well, apart from his Fenrir.

There was absolutely no mystery there.

That left the other three, and they didn’t seem as simple to gauge.

’It should be a quick check,’ he rationalised.

It wasn’t like there was a timer like on Floor Zero or in the Gate, and he also was going to avoid summoning his beasts outside the Tower if he could help it. Both to avoid commotions like Storm’s evolution, and because the Blood Demon’s warning was still stuck in his mind.

As such, letting curiosity get the better of him, Ethan started with Spark.

The tiny Cinder Wisp floated happily around his head after being summoned, leaving little trails of orange flame behind it.

"Alright..."

Ethan squinted.

"What are you, buddy?"

Spark floated innocently in front of him. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a glowing ball of fire, but inside the flames, a tiny firefly-like creature buzzed around. The problem was that it was barely visible.

The flames constantly obscured its practically non-existent body.

Ethan leaned closer.

Spark floated backwards.

He leaned again.

Spark floated higher.

He frowned.

"Can you hold still?"

The little flame spirit-like beast fizzed happily before spinning around in circles. He wasn’t sure if it was doing it intentionally to annoy him, or was just excited to be summoned for once rather than assimilated with.

Either way, it made what felt like an impossible task even harder.

Eventually, Ethan came to a simple conclusion.

"Fuck knows."

He genuinely had no idea.

"I’ll have to come back to that one."

The fiery little beast happily returned to Ethan’s Beast Space.

Next came Talon.

The proud Griffling materialised with a majestic screech before immediately landing on a nearby dead tree. Its sharp, golden eyes narrowed as it looked at Ethan, almost as if reading his intentions.

It took one cautious step backwards.

"Come here."

Talon tilted his head, taking another step backwards.

Ethan sighed.

"I’m just checking something."

Talon puffed up its feathers and spread its wings threateningly.

"Seriously?"

The Griffling wasn’t letting Ethan anywhere near it, and the greenish feathers covering his lower body certainly weren’t helping either.

Ethan circled.

Talon rotated with him.

He then tried from the other side.

Talon rotated again.

"You’re doing this on purpose."

The Griffling gave an offended screech.

Eventually, Ethan gave up on finding out about this beast, too, though he had more of an idea than he did with Spark.

"I’m pretty sure you’re a dude."

Talon immediately let out what sounded suspiciously like a smug chirp.

"I’ll take that as confirmation."

The Griffling disappeared back into thin air, looking immensely satisfied with himself.

"Right... One more left."

Storm, the newest of his beasts. Unlike the others, Ethan knew almost nothing about the Lightning Dragonfly beyond what the System had told him. And he hadn’t even had a chance to admire it after its evolution because of what happened.

With another pulse of mana, the newly evolved B Rank beast appeared.

Its translucent wings vibrated so rapidly they became little more than blue blurs. Electricity crackled softly around its slender body, but unlike the rest of his beasts, Storm didn’t seem particularly happy about being summoned.

This was their first time interacting, but Ethan could tell that much.

Its compound eyes immediately locked onto him, its body tensing as its wings began beating faster.

"Easy..."

Ethan raised both hands.

"I’m just trying to-"

Crackle!

A tiny arc of lightning jumped from Storm’s body, and the air around it suddenly felt charged.

Ethan’s amused smile slowly faded.

What had started as nothing more than a ridiculous attempt to learn a little more about his beasts was suddenly becoming something else entirely...