Lord Of Beasts

While engaged with the three-headed Boss Beast, Ethan couldn’t help but notice that his body was charging itself. He was doing it subconsciously with every dodge and burst of speed. Each movement generated more electrical energy within him.

Blue sparks danced across his skin, growing brighter with every passing second.

’Kinetic Charge...’

Unlike Volt Sense, it wasn’t a passive skill, which he didn’t understand at first, but now made sense. He still had to guide and retain the energy building inside his body, and without focus, it simply dissipated. But once controlled, it became a reserve of specialised electrical mana that merged with his own.

The longer he fought, the stronger the charge became.

’This is fucking awesome!’

The lightning surrounding him intensified until arcs of electricity constantly leapt between his limbs. His entire body glowed with crackling blue light, and he could use that charged energy as he pleased.

The hydra attacked again.

Three attacks at once, all from different angles: acid, mist, and corrosive projectiles.

’Thunder Dash!’

Lightning exploded beneath Ethan’s body as he shot sideways in an instant, an echoing boom following moments later.

The acid struck empty swamp, the poisonous mist swept past where he’d stood only a fraction of a second earlier, and the projectile narrowly missed his shoulder before crashing into the ground behind him.

His body never stopped moving.

Every step built more charge and every dodge reduced the mana burden on his skills.

’Electric Blast!’

He thrust out his palm.

Zap!

A concentrated bolt of lightning erupted forward, striking one of the hydra’s necks.

The creature convulsed violently.

Unlike Spark’s Ember Pulse, this didn’t burn; it invaded.

The hydra roared and writhed slightly as it continued to feel the lingering aftereffects of his attack.

”You don’t like that?”

Ethan laughed as their back-and-forth intensified.

It would attack, and he would dodge, then counterattack with his new skill where he could literally shoot electricity from his palms like a comic book superhero.

’I feel like Zeus.’

He repeated the combination relentlessly of Thunder Dash and Electric Blast over and over again. Each time, he fed the energy that was built up from Kinetic Charge into his skills, which reduced the mana cost noticeably

Instead of relying entirely on his MP, his own movement was helping sustain his abilities.

It was brilliant.

’Almost like a hybrid car. Use fuel to drive and generate electricity, then use that electricity to replace the fuel and drive further.’

The more he fought, the more efficient he became.

’This is like the perfect skill set to counteract Kaela, almost like Storm was made to give her a run for her money.’

Not that he was complaining now that he had acquired it and was using that very skill set to overpower the Hydrochloric Hydra. Even as a B Rank Beast, there was only so much electricity it could endure, and it was only natural that it was beginning to falter.

Its scales were blackened in places, and its muscles spasmed uncontrollably from repeated shocks. One head struggled to lift itself properly, while another hissed erratically, unable to coordinate its attacks.

Ethan’s compound eyes locked onto all three heads simultaneously.

He watched every muscle contract and every electrical impulse travelling through the beast’s nervous system.

Then he smiled.

’I see it.’

Like a dragonfly hunting prey, he didn’t chase.

He intercepted.

Dragonflies never merely followed their targets, but instead calculated where the prey would be and flew there instead.

Ethan did exactly the same.

The instant the hydra committed to its next attack, and the moment it did, he moved.

But rather than retreating, he accelerated directly toward the hydra.

The grey head snapped its jaws shut, trying to bite down on Ethan and compensate for its weakened heads. But it was too late, and the insect-like man had already altered direction in an instant.

Then he altered it again.

And again.

His movements became impossibly erratic, yet every change was perfectly controlled. Ninety-degree turns with sudden adjustments and tiny corrections that let him weave between the hydra’s attacks as though he already knew where they were going.

’I should probably end this already.’

The mana cost was becoming extreme, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he couldn’t maintain this form. And before that happened, he had to make sure he was standing atop a giant fried serpentine corpse.

With that thought, he closed his eyes and allowed his beastly instincts to take over.

’Thunder Dash!’

’Thunder Dash!’

’Thunder Dash!’

In a heartbeat, he was standing on the beast’s nape where its three necks were attached to the main body. He moved in such accurate zigzag movements that the Hydrochloric Hydra was helpless to resist.

And what he did next sealed its fate.

’Beast Impact!’

Blue lightning engulfed his entire body as his palms slammed into the hydra’s scales.

ZAAAAAP!!

A devastating surge of electricity erupted point-blank into its body, and unlike Electric Blast, there was nowhere for the current to escape. Every volt poured directly into the beast, including most of what was gathered through Kinetic Charge.

Its enormous body arched violently as all three heads let out distorted screams.

The accumulated electrical damage finally reached its limit, and its nervous system completely collapsed. Its colossal body convulsed one final time before crashing into the acidic swamp with an earth-shaking splash.

Silence followed.

Then...

{Congratulations on defeating the Boss Beast!}

Ethan exhaled slowly, lowering his hand.

”Now, that was satisfying.”

The new assimilation had exceeded every expectation, and as he looked down at the faint lightning still dancing across his fingertips, he couldn’t help but smile.

{The host has now met the requirements to ascend to Floor Twenty-Two.}

{Would you like to move to the next floor of the Tower of Beasts?}

{Yes / No}

Ethan glanced at it before shaking his head.

’Not right now.’

’There’s still one last thing I gotta try.’

He stepped off the enormous corpse of the Hydrochloric Hydra and admired the results of his actions. Storm’s abilities had felt almost too natural to wield, as though his body had always been meant to move that way.

The Lightning Dragonfly’s resistance had been futile, and its instincts still guided him perfectly.

Still, there was one skill he hadn’t tested.

A B Rank Skill at that.

”A shame,” Ethan muttered. ”No point wasting that on one dead boss.”

His gaze drifted across the swamp.

Most of the remaining monsters had already been slaughtered by his summoned beasts.

Wolfy was still tearing through anything that moved, Talon had several corpses pinned beneath its claws, and Spark happily zipped between burning carcasses. Though the Cinder Wisp seemed a little too cheerful for something committing mass arson.

Ethan watched them go before calling out to them.

”Back off, you guys. It’s my turn to deal with the pests...”