Ethan has been in hunting ground for a month now. Every day he fights with groups of 0 tier beasts and in night he studied about them.

But this morning he didn’t attack by any group of beasts. He was wondering why Anna did not send any beasts today. As he was wandering this he heard a cry of a monkey. He thought it was bronze skin monkey, but when he saw which beast it was his face changed.

An iron skin monkey was coming toward him. The iron skin monkey is evolved from bronze skin monkey and is a tier 1 beast. Its skin is as tough as iron.

On hunting ground Ethan always walks in caution and didn’t wander in area of tier 1 beasts. He occasionally found wandering tier 1 beast, but he avoids them. As for tier 2 beast he never encountered even one of them.

Tier 0 beasts can easily dealt by unawakened alone. But from tier 1-3 a group of elite unawakened needed to kill them. And tier 4-5 unawakened will even not know how they were killed.

Ethan didn’t have confidence in defeating a tier 1 beast alone. But it was too late to run that iron skin monkey spot him and rushing toward him.

Ethan unsheathed his sword and get ready to fight with it. When he unsheathed his sword he becomes calm instantly. In life and death situation, Ethan always forced himself to be calm he knows that staying in panic state will be not good for him.

The Iron skin monkey came fast and try to punch toward Ethan’s chest, Ethan didn’t defend with his sword, but dodge to the side and made the cut on its arm. There was sparks when his sword touched the skin of the monkey. Ethan felt like he has hit an iron just now.

Ethan quickly made distance from the monkey. There was some blood on iron skin monkey arm, but it was not a deep wound.

After several rounds iron skin monkey have some wounds on its body, but they were not fatal enough. The iron skin monkey was annoyed that it cannot able to hit at all. He starts attacking more aggressively.

Ethan didn't careful enough and gets hit with an iron skin monkey fist. That fist was so powerful that it sends Ethan flying. Ethan flies about 2 meters before he buried his sword on the ground and slide for almost 1 meter before he came to stop.

There was a trace of blood on Ethan mouth. He wiped it with his hand there was a smile on Ethan face. He was in pain, but he was able to endure it because of Anna torture that she pours salted water on Ethan’s wounds so he was able to endure pain to some extent.

Ethan also starts attacking aggressively he attack every strike with the same strength as last one. But his every strike was on the same exact spot that was neck of iron skin monkey. The iron skin monkey was becoming more enrage and attack on Ethan. But Ethan was careful every time and dodged them.

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When iron skin monkey saw that he can’t able to kill Ethan he start running away, but Ethan didn’t let it go.

After 12th strike on iron skin monkey’s neck, Ethan was finally able to give a fatal wound and the blood start falling from its neck.

After struggling for a while iron skin monkey didn't able endure Ethan attacks and fall dead on the ground.

Ethan finally able to kill an iron skin monkey that was a tier 1 beast, but he was not happy at all. He got some wounds on him while fighting with it.

Ethan knows that killing a tier 1 beast alone is a feast for unawakened. But it was not impossible after talking with Lucas for some time Ethan came to know that in unawakened society they think that killing a tier 1 beast as unawakened is praise worthy. But in awakens society killing tier 3 beast is nothing and without using their abilities at that.

Of course they have confidence that they can kill them if something wrong happen, they can still use their abilities.

But still Ethan was upset, he wants to become powerful, so he can help his sister and he doesn’t want his life control by others.

Ethan wiped blood from his face and said in a loud voice “Anna If you can hear me, I have a request to make.”

Ethan did get any response, but he continued “I want to fight more powerful beasts.”

On a trunk of a tree near Ethan when Anna heard his request she smile a little “fool, this was only a test to check you and you unexpectedly kill it. But you are still unhappy, alright, I will give you what you want.” Anna says in a low voice that Ethan couldn’t hear.

***

From next day Ethan fight with group of tier 0 beasts and a tier 1 beast separately.

He still have problem with fighting with tier 1 beast, but he didn’t say any thing. After fighting with tier 1 beasts several times, his strength, reflexives and speed came to other level.

First Ethan fight only day time, but Anna started to send beasts at night also. And the timing of the beasts attack has been always random. So Ethan has to pay attention even in his sleep. So, because of this he started to become mentally exhausted but because this he start to pay attention to his surroundings and his senses also became sharp.

First, he was not able to sense Anna at all but now he vaguely able to tell her presence time to time. And he also felt like he was watched by something or someone 24/7. At first Ethan was a little disturbed with it, but when he saw that it only watch and do nothing he also start to ignore it.

After Ethan got to use to deal with tier 1 beast alone Anna start sending them with tier 0 beasts group. And then she started sending 2 tier 1 beasts and number started to increase slowly until no tier 0 beasts were sent.

Ethan got injured while fighting these beasts sometime, but he was still able to retreat from them when he was not able to kill them.

Like this one year has been passed and Ethan becomes 12 years old. He has been staying in hunting ground for 13 months now. He has never once gone back to camp, even once and Anna never shows herself to him.

Sometimes Ethan saw people hunting beasts, but when people saw Ethan fighting with group of beasts or when he retreating from the beasts they were dumbfounded. In their view a kid that was at most 13 year old fighting with a group of beasts ever now and then.

But never once someone came to help him. And people don’t even approach him when he was all alone wandering around. They ran away at first sight of Ethan as if he was a disease. People also start calling him beasts’ attractor.

Ethan was lonely in these months, but he didn’t complain once. When he was feeling sad he starts reading about beasts or about relics and his knowledge also expand.

On one day Ethan was waiting for Anna to send beasts, but unexpectedly Anna showed up. She didn’t talk much “Lucas is waiting for you in his cell come there.” Before Ethan can say something Anna was nowhere to be seen.

Ethan looked at the sky and smile finally his bitter and lonely training at hunting grounds are over.