Lord Of Beasts

{Floor Eight: Emberfall Isle (E)}

It was one of the worst biomes he had encountered, a volcanic island so hot it made the Rocky Plains feel cool in comparison. To begin with, it seemed like a tropical island, but the closer he got to the centre, the more scorching it became.

The giant active volcano in the centre was the obvious cause.

’It’s a little much for an E Tier Floor, no?’

If there was a volcano now, what could he expect on an S Rank floor or the 9 that remained even after that?

Thankfully, he wasn’t expecting to dive into the Volcano, but the lava that flowed out of it alone caused him a lot of trouble. Ash filled the air and clogged his nose the deeper he ventured.

It felt like inhaling fire, like he was in literal hell.

And yet it was on this island that he found the next beast he decided to acquire, after being very picky and waiting for so long.

It wasn’t a Boss Beast or even an Elite Beast, but a mere Common Beast, one that was very weak at that.

The creature that hardly resembled any beast he had encountered floated weakly above a patch of scorched rock, flickering and fading. It seemed to be a floating flame, sparkling red, orange, and yellow.

”What even is that?”

Ethan frowned at the time in confusion.

He had already passed up four Boss Beasts since his beast capacity increased, which were all stronger, more imposing, and obvious choices.

But this one was different.

Its stats were strange, unbalanced, and even more skewed than his own, entirely focused on one thing...

MP!

That was what immediately caught his attention and was exactly what he had been looking for.

”That’s just ridiculous...”

Every beast he acquired reset back to an Infant E Rank, so essentially, the current abilities of the beast didn’t matter. What mattered was how its stats were distributed.

Its Beast Potential was the other major indicator which seemed related to the Beast Race, but annoyingly, he had no way of gauging that prior.

”And I like it.”

So, he killed it.

In the process, he sustained some burns as he neared it and experienced its ability first-hand, but it didn’t take much to defeat it. All he did was summon Talon, and the beast cut it down in an instant with a single Gale Rend.

How easily it had been killed made him reluctant, but he followed through nonetheless.

{Would you like to acquire this beast as your own?}

Ethan finally responded yes to that question he had heard more times than he could count, after every single beast kill since his capacity had increased.

{Beast Acquired!}

{Beast Capacity: 3/3}

Its stats were nothing special, and as expected, they were all reset. But after spending 100 Evolutionary Shards on it and raising it alongside his other beasts, it became a force to be reckoned with.

And Ethan by no means regretted his decision...

-

Back in the present, he raised his hand slightly and pulled up the Beast Tab of the System Interface.

”Let’s take a look at where you are now.”

{Name: Spark

Race: Cinder Wisp

Growth Stage: Juvenile

Beast Rank: D

Beast Potential: C

Strength: 10

Speed: 20

Stamina: 10

MP: 75/75

Skills: Ember Pulse (D) - Ignites volatile sparks that latch onto targets and burn continuously, scaling with MP output.}

”It still throws me off every time I look at it.”

75 MP!

Ethan had poured all the stat points he received and constantly relied on his MP, which was why it had improved so much, yet he only had 52.

But his other stats were more even.

For Spark, MP dwarfed everything else, and compared to the stats of the Cinder Wisps he killed on the Emberfall Isle, it was unbelievable.

”Come out.”

With a mere thought, Ethan summoned Spark.

It appeared in an instant, floating gently in the air like the weightless, flame-like entity that it was. Light flickered in the narrow bathroom as the small creature whizzed around Ethan like a fairy straight out of a kids’ movie.

”Calm it down, buddy.”

Ethan could feel warmth from it instantly, as he watched it in awe.

Now that he had had the beast for a week, he understood it much better than when he had initially acquired it. Though it didn’t seem like it, the creature had a small physical body amidst its constant flickers.

It was a tiny insect-like beast, a firefly of sorts, just a lot more literal.

When it had been an infant, it had a weaker flame and was much smaller, but it had now grown slightly in size. Though it was still small enough that he could cup it with both hands if he wanted to, and the insect within was even smaller.

As long as it had MP, the creature could buzz around and always had these sparks flickering off it, hence the name. But as fragile as it might appear, Ethan had forged it into something dangerous.

He fed it constantly.

It didn’t exactly eat like the others: there was no chewing or tearing into flesh. Instead, it seemed to disintegrate matter and break it down into an energy-like form that it siphoned.

’Honestly, calling it a beast feels wrong.’

It felt closer to a spirit of condensed energy, but it had to be one since he was the Lord Of Beasts after all.

”You’ve come a long way, haven’t you?”

Spark flickered slightly as if responding.

Ethan would hate to fast Spark now that it had grown and evolved. If he assimilated with it or used it alongside his other beasts, it was incredible. The MP boost alone he received through Beast Assimilation was invaluable.

But it had one glaring weakness: its lack of defence.

”I could just swat you out of the air, and that’d be it,” he joked.

Spark flickered again, almost indignantly.

Ethan chuckled.

Even if it couldn’t express emotions clearly or communicate through sounds and facial expressions like his other beasts, it could still understand it somehow.

There were changes in its brightness and temperature to display the extent of its feelings, but it was deeper than that. It was on a spiritual level that he could understand it.

And the personality profile he had of it was that it was a crazy, immature fireball - a perfect addition to his expanding arsenal of beasts.

Ethan nodded to himself

He was satisfied with his beasts thus far, and with a thought, he dismissed the summoning of Spark. It dissolved into faint particles of light, leaving him standing there in silence.

Everything was going smoothly, and Ethan couldn’t help but be content.

Despite all the pain, lost limbs, and countless near-death experiences, it had all somehow worked out and just made the results feel even more deserved.

’I’ve never felt this good and at this rate...’

His eyes gleamed.

’In a year...’

He didn’t finish the thought, nor did he need to.

His potential was obvious, and his growth rate a testament to his efforts.

But then his expression shifted slightly.

”Mark...”

Maybe not everything was going smoothly.

While he had been obsessively progressing, his closest friend wasn’t having it nearly as easy. And aside from that, Ethan couldn’t help but feel like his good luck, if it could even be called that, was about to run out...