Lord Of Beasts

Ethan stood among the bodies of the six fallen trolls, the last traces of electricity still crawling weakly across his arms as he leaned on his giant beast.

For several seconds, neither he nor Wolfy moved.

The clearing was silent.

Then Ethan’s stomach growled.

He glanced down at the nearest corpse.

The troll’s enormous body sprawled across the grass, its grey-green flesh exposed where Wolfy’s claws and Ethan’s lightning had torn through it. He stared at the corpse for a moment before looking at his own trembling hands.

His entire body still felt numb.

The strain from pushing Kinetic Charge beyond its limit had left his muscles sluggish and unresponsive, while the lingering effects of Beast Assimilation made the exhaustion even worse. Even standing upright was beginning to feel like an unnecessary effort.

He needed to recover before they went any deeper.

Ethan slowly lowered himself against Wolfy’s side, using the Fenrir’s massive body for support.

”Give me a minute.”

Wolfy looked back at him.

He glanced around the surrounding woodland.

Something could still be watching them.

The vampire woman was somewhere inside this Gate, and after everything they’d encountered so far, Ethan wasn’t foolish enough to assume the trolls had been the greatest threat.

But he trusted Wolfy.

The Fenrir’s senses were sharper than his own, and after their battle, Wolfy was still more than capable of tearing apart anything foolish enough to approach.

”You keep watch.”

Wolfy gave a low growl.

Ethan nodded.

”Good.”

He closed his eyes and used Beast Recovery, a gentle warmth quickly spreading through his body. His muscles slowly began to loosen, and the numbness in his limbs gradually receded. The process wasn’t instant, but Ethan could feel his strength returning little by little.

While Ethan recovered, Wolfy’s attention shifted toward the nearest troll corpse.

The Fenrir sniffed it.

Once.

Then twice.

His ears perked up.

Ethan cracked one eye open just in time to see Wolfy bite into the corpse.

Crunch!

He stared in a mix of fascination and disgust as Wolfy tore away a massive chunk of green-grey flesh and began chewing.

His tail started wagging.

Ethan slowly closed his eyes again.

”Of course.”

Wolfy swallowed and immediately went back for another bite.

Unlike Ethan, the Fenrir had absolutely no problem with the trolls being humanoid. He tore through the corpse with frightening enthusiasm, ripping apart muscle and tendon as though he’d been starving for days.

Ethan hadn’t even considered tasting monster meat, or at least not these trolls.

The creature’s not-so-appealing appearance was one thing, but he couldn’t look past the fact that they looked like giant distorted people.

’I also probably wouldn’t benefit anything from eating it.’

That’s if he didn’t get poisoned by it.

The fenrir, on the other hand, continued devouring the troll meat while keeping one eye on the surrounding woodland. It seemed to be loving it, and Ethan had no intention of stopping it.

’He deserves it.’

Wolfy, while not suffering any major injuries, had tired himself during the battle, just like he had. And while Beast Recovery was slowly repairing Ethan’s body, Wolfy was recovering in his own way.

’Good.’

Ethan closed his eyes again.

...

By the time he finished recovering, the numbness had mostly disappeared.

He rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers.

’Much better.’

Though it wasn’t perfect either.

The effects of Beast Assimilation still lingered, and the strain from Kinetic Charge hadn’t completely vanished, but he could move properly again.

Wolfy was still eating.

Ethan looked at the half-devoured troll corpse.

”How the hell are you still hungry?”

Wolfy ignored him and carried on eating.

Ethan laughed, standing up and looking deeper into the woodland.

”Ready?”

Wolfy finally lifted his head.

The Fenrir swallowed the last piece of meat and rose to his feet.

’Talon, Spark, and Storm get more than enough good in the Tower,’ he thought to himself as the two moved deeper into the Gate.

The woodland changed quickly.

The trees grew thicker, their roots twisting across the ground and forcing Ethan and Wolfy to weave between them. Dark moss covered the earth, and the air carried a strange pressure that hadn’t been present in the clearing.

More importantly, the monsters changed.

The first group they encountered consisted of smaller troll-like monsters that were barely three metres tall, their bodies covered in layers of hardened bark.

One charged the moment it spotted them.

”Left.”

Wolfy moved.

A club made from an entire tree trunk crashed down where his head had been.

Ethan raised his hand.

’Electric Blast.’

Zap!

Lightning struck the troll’s bark-covered chest, cracking its natural armour.

Wolfy was already inside its guard.

Cross Slash!

The troll staggered, then Wolfy’s jaws opened.

Crescent Fang!

The crescent-shaped shockwave tore through its throat, eliminating the monster.

Another emerged from behind a tree.

Ethan grinned.

Both he and his beasts had gotten much better at defeating the monsters, and it definitely helped that their vitals were unnervingly similar to those of humans.

The second fight lasted even less time.

The trolls were strong, but they lacked the coordination of the six they’d fought earlier.

Ethan and Wolfy didn’t.

They continued forward after decimating them with ease, occasionally stopping to rest and recover.

The next group was different.

These trolls had jagged stone formations covering their bodies like natural armour.

One possessed four arms, each gripping a crude weapon.

Another had a single enormous eye in the centre of its forehead.

The four-armed troll charged.

Wolfy met it head-on.

Four weapons swung almost simultaneously.

Wolfy ducked beneath one, twisted around another, then dropped low as the remaining weapons swept overhead.

Thunder Dash.

Lightning erupted as Ethan flashed past Wolfy and drove his fist into the troll’s jaw.

Boom!

The monster’s head snapped sideways.

Wolfy immediately lunged.

Crescent Fang!

The shockwave ripped through its chest, taking down the troll.

Suddenly, the one-eyed monster roared.

Its enormous eye glowed.

Ethan suddenly felt pressure enter his mind.

He paused.

”Interesting.”

The troll was attempting to interfere with his thoughts.

Ethan’s grin widened.

”Wrong guy.”

It hardly affected Ethan, which surprised the creature and even made it freeze. Wolfy tore its legs out from beneath it, and moments later, it was dead.

Ethan glanced at the corpse.

”Some of these things have pretty interesting abilities.”

That only made the Gate more intriguing.

They continued deeper, like adventurers on a mission.

The trolls became increasingly varied.

Some were enormous, nearly twenty metres tall. Others were unnaturally fast, moving between the trees quickly enough to force Ethan to rely on Thunder Dash to evade their attacks.

One possessed elongated arms capable of striking from absurd distances.

Another hardened its skin until it resembled black metal.

A different troll breathed fire.

None of them were pushovers, but neither were Ethan and Wolfy.

When brute strength wasn’t enough, Wolfy attacked their legs while Ethan exploited openings. When speed became a problem, Ethan used electrical disturbances to track movement.

Against groups, Chain Lightning was reserved for situations where its cost was justified. And when Wolfy’s stamina began dropping, Ethan stopped pushing him and gave the Fenrir time to recover.

They didn’t need to rush, though Ethan had considered setting the entire forest-like environment on fire with Ember Pulse.

’Nah, what’s the fun in that?’

They were getting stronger with every fight, and Ethan was enjoying being a duo with his first beast.

Yet the deeper they went, the more Ethan felt something else.

A pull.

It wasn’t physical, nor was it mana or electricity-related either, but the air itself was becoming denser, like there was some sort of invisible pressure.

Even Wolfy noticed.

The Fenrir’s ears remained pointed forward, its nose constantly working as he followed some scent Ethan couldn’t detect.

Ethan slowed.

He looked deeper into the forest.

”Feel that?”

Wolfy gave a low growl.

Ethan’s expression sharpened.

Whatever waited ahead was different from the trolls they’d already encountered, and it seemed much stronger too. Despite that, they confidently continued forward, ready to take it on.

’It’s not like we have any other choice...’