Lord Of Beasts

Defeating the Golden Flutterer had given Ethan a false sense of strength.

At the time, defeating an A Rank creature had felt like proof that he was finally beginning to stand among the truly powerful Titled. He had walked away from that fight believing that perhaps the gap between himself and the strongest monsters wasn’t as enormous as he had once imagined.

Maybe he was nearly on a par with the likes of Kaela and Elara.

The Leviathan had destroyed that illusion in minutes.

True A Ranks were on another level entirely.

And that was only made worse by the fact that the Leviathan wasn’t fighting on neutral ground.

It had been an aquatic creature fighting in an endless ocean, an environment that seemed practically designed for it. Every drop of water surrounding Ethan could become a weapon. Every wave could hide an attack. Every movement of the enormous beast seemed effortless.

Its durability had been even more absurd.

Ethan had thrown everything he had at it alongside Wolfy, Talon, Storm, and Spark, and barely managed to leave a mark. The closest comparison he could make was to those damned giant beetle-like creatures from the Insect Gate.

Those things had possessed ridiculous natural defences, requiring overwhelming force just to break through their shells.

The Leviathan was that kind of creature.

Except it was stronger.

Far stronger.

And it could seamlessly control the entire battlefield.

’So that’s what a real A Rank beast is like.’

The realisation had left a bad taste in Ethan’s mouth.

But strangely, it hadn’t discouraged him.

It had done the opposite.

It had reignited something inside him.

The obsessive hunger that had been growing ever since he first entered the Tower of Beasts came roaring back.

He wanted more.

More strength, more beasts, more skills, more evolution.

Ethan wanted to reach the point where an A Rank creature couldn’t simply toss him around like he was nothing. He wanted such creatures to be his prey and hated the feeling of weakness.

And he had no intention of leaving the Leviathan alone.

’I’m going to kill you.’

And if he could somehow acquire it?

That would be even better.

The thought alone made Ethan grin.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t strong enough yet.

So, with that bitter realisation fresh in his mind, Ethan exited the Tower, returning to Elara’s side. She noticed his return and could see the lingering pain and frustration on his face, but didn’t comment.

Instead, it was time to continue where they had ended things the night prior...

-

For the next couple of days, things were surprisingly peaceful, at least by their incredibly skewed standards. There were no sudden revelations, insane Gates, or random incidents.

It was almost relaxing.

Almost.

For normal people, however, the world was still dealing with Gates, monsters, rogue Titled, and the growing uncertainty surrounding the mysterious group calling themselves the Blessed.

The difference was that Ethan and his friends had become so accustomed to chaos that a few quiet days almost felt unnatural.

Elara spent most of that time clearing Gates.

She had also made one important decision: she was never taking anyone with her again.

Not after Canada.

The last time she had brought Kaela and Mark along, Mark had transformed into a monster, Kaela had nearly gotten herself killed, and they were nearly stuck in a collapsing Gate.

She had decided that was enough teamwork for the time being.

Besides, her new ability made solo Gate clearing significantly easier.

Spatial Leap had completely changed the way she travelled. Elara only needed to picture a location in her mind and create a connection between the two points.

Maps helped tremendously.

If she knew the general location of a Gate, she could use a map to establish a mental image of the surrounding area and roughly pinpoint where she wanted to go.

Then she could tear open a Spatial Rift.

Of course, she wasn’t perfect.

When travelling somewhere unfamiliar, she could be slightly off from her intended destination.

Sometimes she would appear a few streets away.

Other times, she would end up somewhere she definitely hadn’t intended to be.

But that was simply part of the learning curve.

And Elara was improving rapidly.

She could now cross enormous distances in moments, making it possible for her to clear multiple Gates across the country in a single day.

Kaela, meanwhile, had decided to play detective.

Although, knowing Kaela, executioner was probably a more accurate description.

Greg had given her a lead concerning a group of radical Titled, and Kaela had immediately taken off on her motorcycle. She spent most of her days zooming across the country, following whatever information Greg could provide, stopping off at bars along the way.

Fortunately, but unfortunately for her, the supposedly dangerous group turned out to be little more than a ragtag collection of low-ranked Titled with inflated egos.

Kaela had been expecting some kind of terrifying group that was linked to the Blessed.

Instead, she found a handful of radicals who could barely work together.

”These are the guys?”

Kaela had stared at them in disbelief.

”Seriously?”

The group had looked equally confused.

”Who the hell are you?”

Kaela had sighed.

”Never mind.”

And that was the last that was heard of that group.

The so-called Blessed had also remained strangely quiet, and ever since their announcement, people had been waiting for them to do something.

Anything.

But nothing happened.

No major attack, declaration, or appearance.

Nothing.

That silence made the entire situation feel even stranger and more ominous.

Meanwhile, Ethan appeared to be doing absolutely nothing.

From the outside, he was practically the laziest person in the world and among the Enforcers was the least active.

He slept.

He ate.

He lounged around.

And he occasionally summoned his beasts, played around with them, and healed them. Now that he had a giant facility and larger mana reserves, he had no excuse to let them have some fun.

’I can’t only summon them when it’s time for battle.’

He paused.

’Well, I can, but that’d suck for them, haha.’

Then after that cycle, he would go back to sleep, or at least that’s what it seemed on the outside.

Only three people knew what Ethan was actually doing.

He was grinding constantly.

Every time he slept, he returned to the Tower on that same damned floor, converting every spare moment into progress. In that time, he gathered an impressive sum of Evolutionary Shards, especially since hunting on this floor was so difficult.

He had purchased and used two more Race Crystals on Talon.

Neither had worked.

Again.

Talon had stared at Ethan with what could only be described as extreme frustration.

Ethan had eventually sighed.

”Alright. We’re done for now.”

Talon clicked its beak.

”Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault.”

The Griffling turned its head away, refusing to look at him.

”It’s fine.”

He gave the beast a strained smile, but he had spent enough shards on Talon to have evolved Storm to A Rank or purchased an A Rank Race Crystal for Wolfy or Spark.

It had been a big obstacle for Ethan.

But it was one he planned to somehow overcome.

For the time being, though, he planned on saving his Evolutionary Shards and exploring his other options, which would take longer to save for.

’Even if I don’t become officially B Rank, I can’t stagnate like this.’

The Leviathan had made one thing painfully clear.

He needed to grow.

And he planned on doing so one way or another.

Mark, meanwhile, had gone back to living a relatively normal life.

He had reopened his bar after putting it on hiatus, trying to return to the life he had before going with Ethan to that compound of racists. But the hard part was not using his newfound abilities.

Every time he felt something strange happening inside his body, he ignored it. Every time his muscles tightened unnaturally, or that strange hunger returned, he pushed it down.

He didn’t want another incident, to hurt anyone, or to be a burden.

But eventually...

He snapped.