Lord Of Beasts

Ethan was surprisingly cautious.

Normally, the opportunity to throw himself into a dangerous encounter would have been enough to put a grin on his face. The more dangerous, the more interesting he usually found it.

This time, however, he stopped himself.

’I really am becoming more responsible. I guess it’s true your brain does fully develop at twenty-five.’

Something about this Gate had been bothering him ever since he entered.

It wasn’t simply the fact that the System had raised its difficulty to B Rank. Ethan had fought plenty of dangerous opponents before. The real problem was that he was missing something he’d become heavily reliant on inside the Tower and previous gates.

Information.

Inside the Tower, Ethan could inspect almost everything. He could see a beast’s rank, examine its stats, quickly identify its skills, and use that information to judge exactly how dangerous an opponent was before committing himself to a fight.

Or at least he would have a better idea of how to take it on.

Here, none of that would work.

Ethan would have to gauge everything the old-fashioned way, as though he were facing a Titled.

’And I’ve fought quite a few of those now.’

His eyes shifted towards the distant battlefield where Wolfy, Talon, and Storm were still fighting. Flashes of movement appeared between the trees, occasionally followed by bursts of lightning illuminating the field.

Ethan smiled.

’If the monsters don’t have statuses, I can still find out what I’m up against in advance.’

He had almost forgotten about the skill.

’I can’t remember the last time I used Beast Link.’

The skill allowed Ethan to share the senses, emotions, and awareness of a summoned beast. At Stage One, Partial Link allowed him to enter the body of an acquired beast and experience the world as they did.

It wasn’t simply seeing through their eyes.

For a brief period, Ethan’s awareness would become intertwined with theirs. If he wanted to understand these monsters, there was no better way than experiencing the battlefield through his beasts.

Ethan slowly closed his eyes.

’Let’s see what you three are dealing with.’

His consciousness reached outward.

The first connection formed.

’Beast Link: Wolfy.’

The world changed, and Ethan’s human vision disappeared, replaced by an entirely different perception.

The first thing that hit him was the smell.

Blood, dirt, wet grass, and the heavy, foul scent of the trolls surrounding Wolfy.

His sense of smell was vastly more sensitive than Ethan’s, even with Partial Assimilation, and every breeze carried information, while every scent seemed to tell its own story.

Ethan could also feel Wolfy’s body.

The Fenrir’s muscles were tense beneath his fur, every movement packed with explosive strength. Its paws dug into the earth with each step, while its jaws felt unnaturally powerful. Its ears moved independently, tracking every sound around him, while its eyes focused almost entirely on movement.

And beneath it all was excitement.

Wolfy was enjoying itself and seemed to be showing out, sensing that its master was inside its body.

’Of course he is.’

Ethan almost laughed.

’He finally gets something big enough to sink his teeth into.’

Then he noticed something else.

Despite its incredible physical senses, there was a sixth sense even more sensitive that it relied on.

A troll shifted its weight.

Wolfy’s attention immediately followed, its shoulders tightening and muscles tensing.

The creature raised its club.

Ethan felt Wolfy’s body react before the attack even came.

BOOM!

The club smashed into the ground.

Wolfy was already gone.

He darted around the impact zone, bit into the troll’s leg, and tore away before it could retaliate.

Ethan felt everything.

The pressure of Wolfy’s jaws, the resistance of the troll’s hide, the vibration of its roar travelling through his skull.

Then the troll swung.

Wolfy’s body twisted instinctively, and the massive fist passed over his head.

’His instincts are incredible.’

The connection faded.

Ethan opened his eyes and took a slow breath.

Wolfy’s instincts alone gave him a completely different understanding of the battle. It wasn’t simply reacting to attacks. The Fenrir was subconsciously reading the enemy’s body before the attacks happened.

Ethan glanced towards the sky.

’Beast Link: Talon.’

His awareness reached outward again.

The world expanded.

The ground suddenly seemed impossibly far below him as wind rushed across his body. Ethan felt every movement of Talon’s wings and every subtle adjustment of its feathers as the Griffling soared through the sky.

Its body was lighter than Ethan expected. Its bones felt almost weightless, yet every wingbeat generated tremendous force.

And its vision...

Ethan’s eyes widened.

It was incredible.

The field stretched for kilometres beneath it. Ethan could see Wolfy fighting the trolls, Storm flashing between them, and the woodland spreading across the horizon.

But Talon could see far more.

Birds fleeing through the trees, small creatures hiding beneath bushes, and branches moving where there was no wind. And farther away, something large moving beneath the forest canopy.

Ethan’s attention sharpened.

Talon had already noticed it, yet the Griffling didn’t rush towards it.

It simply watched, waited, and calculated.

That was Talon.

Unlike Wolfy and Storm, it had no reckless desire to prove itself. It understood the danger of this Gate and knew that, as a C Rank beast, one mistake could be fatal. Ethan could feel that cautious intelligence through their connection.

’Smart bird.’

Below them, Storm flashed past Wolfy.

Talon watched the two beasts compete, and Ethan could feel a hint of irritation from the Griffling. But as intelligent as it was, it also didn’t seem to appreciate someone literally looking through its eyes.

As such, Ethan took the hint.

’I’ll be off now, buddy.’

The connection faded, and his mind focused on his last remaining beast.

’Beast Link: Storm.’

Ethan’s awareness shifted, and his perception changed again.

There was no overwhelming smell like Wolfy’s and no massive field of vision like Talon’s.

Instead, there was electricity.

Everywhere.

Ethan could feel tiny electrical signals moving through the bodies around Storm. The faint bioelectric pulses of living creatures. The electrical activity within its own body. Even subtle disturbances in the surrounding environment.

Storm’s Volt Sense was constantly feeding information into its awareness, and was much sharper than his own while assimilated with it. Both because it was only a partial sync and because the beast almost seemed resistant to sharing its abilities with him.

’But it’ll all be mine over time.’

Ethan ignored the beast’s complaints about him being within its body and immediately understood why the Lightning Dragonfly was so difficult to surprise.

Storm didn’t need to see something.

It could feel it.

And it still had incredible compound eyes that would catch the movement regardless.

Three enormous electrical signatures moved nearby.

The trolls.

Wolfy was another.

Talon’s signal was farther away.

Even creatures across the Gate registered as tiny electrical disturbances.

It was overwhelming.

Yet Storm processed it naturally.

’That’s ridiculous.’

Then Ethan felt something else.

Storm’s tiny body was constantly moving even when not needed, and through Kinetic Charge, that movement was being converted into specialised lightning mana.

The more Storm moved, the more energy it stored.

’So that’s how I should use Kinetic Charge.’

There was rarely a moment that the beast was still, and rather than using attacks to generate energy, it was every moment.

But the skill came with a cost.

Ethan could already feel muscular numbness creeping through Storm’s body.

’It can’t keep doing that forever.’

If it could, that would be overpowered.

A troll swung.

Storm detected the electrical signals in its muscles before the attack even began.

It moved.

The fist passed through empty air.

Storm fired.

Electric Blast.

A compressed burst of lightning exploded against the troll’s chest. Ethan felt the electrical current surge through Storm before the monster’s body convulsed.

Then he felt something else.

Excitement.

Storm’s ferocity wasn’t quite the same as Wolfy’s.

Wolfy enjoyed overpowering its opponents, while Storm enjoyed breaking them down with its speed and attacks. And as they competed, both displayed incredible abilities, allowing their predatory egos to clash.

’I think I’ve seen enough.’

The connection ended, and Ethan opened his eyes.

For several seconds, he remained still.

Not only had he been able to scout what he was up against, but he now understood his beasts far better. As different as they were, together they were extremely dangerous, each with their own unique skill set.

And experiencing their bodies firsthand had given Ethan something else to think about...