While Luciette’s Life Vine entangled almost every beast, the small black turtle chewed apart the steel-like green creepers that had filled the arena without effort and displayed terrifying immunity to the vitality draining attack.
Besides it, only the Death Thorn that cohabits with the Life Vine, and the crystalline Zhu Que that soared high above the arena appears unaffected.
The baby phoenix easily flew among the slow creepers that had suddenly filled the arena without fear. It is confident that even should it be entangled, it could quickly burn down all of the Life Vine’s limbs. Yet, its owner obstinately refused to let it engage.
It questioned Jim with a soft cry that escaped from its beak, knowing that the message will be carried across, not by sound but by their bond.
Jim answered using the same link, soothing it to stay patient a little longer.
Among those trapped like prey, a few sturdy beasts like the Dew Spider managed to remain conscious and struggled to free themselves. Surprisingly, Edward’s Wyvern and Tommy’s kitten are included in their ranks. For pups that has less energy within them, these two portrayed a great deal of endurance.
Alucard instructed the Life Vine to redouble its efforts, and in quick succession, the plant monster neutralised the bulk of the participants that were scattered around the arena.
Jim grinned deviously. The perfect opportunity has come, and with a wave of his hand, he unleashed his eager phoenix.
The fearsome bird of prey screeched majestically and swooped downwards.
Its body glowed iridescent at first, but quickly flames burst out from its feathers in bright orange. The fire heated up in the span of a heartbeat until it turns ironically white as pure snow.
With a beat of its wings, the Zhu Que crashed into the ground. But, unlike a being of flesh and blood, it had turned into pure flames. A flash of light and a boom of rippling dust ended with a small crater in the middle of the arena. And, from that pit, flames burned with unbelievable heat.
The gleaming flames spread rapidly, turning the vines to ash, while the Phoenix in the middle became smaller in size. The use of its powers was evidently draining it fast.
The creatures in the arena desperately tried to escape, and even the Life Vines retracted itself in the face of the unbearable heat, but the fire travelled faster than a warhorse. When its flames came closer, the tamers swiftly rescued their beasts by returning them to their bodies.
A short moment later, almost covering the greater part of the arena in flames, the luminous Zhu Que could no longer continue, and its fires quickly returned to its body.
Now, only a few are left in the arena, and they are definitely the toughest amongst all, or otherwise, is equipped with a counter that could protect them.
The Dew Spider wove a web of steel, covered in dew, sheltering it from the attacks from the vitality draining vine and resisting the phoenix’s fire.
The dew drops, although only thinly covering the surface of its net, was enough to prevent its strands from melting. When the fires scorched it, the odd web only self-lubricated with more water droplets. Its two elements of Metal and Water effectively protected each other from their counter-elements; Fire and Wood.
Of course, this weakness works in both ways; if the Phoenix is older or has Divine Energy in the area to restore its strength, its fires will easily evaporate all the dew drops before they could recover.
Likewise, if the Life Vine had been stronger, it would crush the steel webs despite the latter being razor sharp and given more time it would definitely be the case.
Unfortunately, to sustain its defence through the fire, the spider had used up all its strength until it could no longer move a limb.
The small hedgehog, Death Thorn, had an aura of death that caused the Life Vine to avoid it, but the Phoenix fire almost roasted the little Erinaceidae and Luciette drew it back into herself.
The Frost Kirin shielded itself with a bubble of frost. A Natural Element that protected it from both the Wood element of the Life Vine and the fire that nearly burned the place to dust.
Near them, Lux’s Snow Mountain Leopard barely survived by using a similar method. It lies exhausted on its side, and by its condition, it looks no longer fit for battle. His cousin’s beast, the Winged Unicorn, had immense resistance to physical force and all elements except Darkness and Death, yet it whined tiredly on the ground at the far end of the arena. It had tried to escape to the air at the first moment but were caught by the creeps that sprung out.
While, its partner-in-crime, the Abyssal Tiger, had long been retrieved by its tamer. As the fight was done in battle-royale style, there is meaning to be in the arena, even if the creature had lost its fighting ability. At least, their tamers could acquire a better score.
Edward’s Royal Wind Wyvern and Tommy’s white kitten barely endured the flames with their superior constitution. They had faced too many attacks in one go, and even divine beasts tire.
The Life Vine that once held everyone hostage has returned to its sprouting form and taken back into Alucard’s body. A plant, in the end, is more fearful of fire than most.
Unfortunately, despite its overwhelming victory, Jim’s Zhu Que, is also spent after its attack. Its colour turns dimmer than before as it fell asleep where it nested.
It had lost tremendous energy when its body turned into pure flames, but in return, it no doubts received an impressive grade.
Now, in the arena, only the Kirin with its superior frost-wielding ability, remains ready for combat.
Calculus looked pleased with this outcome, though he did nothing that contributed to the result. He thought to himself, “Surely, this happened because of my destiny to be Emperor! The legends of the Five-clawed Golden Dragon to pick the next ruler is true. Even my luck has changed.”
But before he could raise his hands in victory, the Kirin jumped to the side, as though it is wary of a fearsome predator that stalked it.
Its tail fell, and it slightly whimpered.
Then from the ashes, something poked out and looked around.
A small round head without fangs nor beak.
Alan’s tiny turtle wriggled itself out and looked curiously around, disappointed that the beast magicks that flooded the place had disappeared.
The final battle in the arena is far beyond anyone’s imagination; a Kirin pup that fled from every enemy now stood against a tiny turtle which displayed no firepower.
The majority of the onlookers looked down upon the latter’s chance of victory. Though it held a great ability that could devour energy, a beast with a top-tiered bloodline like the Kirin can easily play with it until death.
After all, even if the turtle stretches its neck out, it could not bite its target.
However, what happened next surprised the entire class, including the instructor himself.
Though the turtle’s tiny size is the exact opposite of the image of a powerful predator, the Kirin did not doubt its instinct and backed away respectfully.
With the universal gesture of the beastkin, it laid on its belly and rested its chin on the floor in reverence.
One of the tamers could not help but let out an exclamation, “The Frost Kirin surrendered!”
The brawl had come to an unexpected end as the tamers looked about aghast at the aftermath. In the end, almost all Contract Beasts appear incapable of continuing combat, and the only exception refused to fight.
The winner of the match is an unidentified beast that simply out-survived everyone.
Seeing this result, Lalhal had an unnatural smile twitching on his face. He cleared his throat for attention, and gathered his composure like the many times he had done this day, “W..ell well… WELL DONE tamers!”
He coughed again to recompose himself, as though rediscovering how his voice worked, then, in a calmer tone that made him wished to praise himself, he said, “This battle is an excellent experience for all of you. Many of you suffered a defeat because you allowed your emotions to overrun your Contract Beast’s better instincts.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
If at any point in a battle, your bond with your beast makes it weaker than it is, then, you are unworthy as its tamer.”
He did not mention any praise for the winner. Instead, as if escaping from reality with top-speed, he began ushering the students to the next part of the class.
Granted, later on, he still needs to assign proper grades to every creature based on today’s performance.
For the next part, the tamers and the academy’s staffs put together a healing and recovery station to help the beasts that just participated in the strenuous battle.
Expectedly, there were none that died from the battle.
This is all thanks to the very first Beast Contract that was created by a genius tamer from the Sun and Moon clan. The bond between man and beast allowed even a creature of great magnitude in power and size to reside within the smaller body of a human.
Not only will this allow ease of bringing one’s beast around, but it also creates a point of refuge for one’s creature to escape when needed and opened up to new methods of combat.
The true nature of such a thing was, in fact, making use of an adjusted seal to hide a beast in separate space, while a tamer’s body is used as the gate.
Before the contract’s invention, the ancient tamers formed a servitude bond with their beasts, which was far too inconvenient and did not possess a soul-link that creates a bond of loyalty. Although this allowed a tamer to have more than one beast, at the same time, it required the practitioners to be strong enough to subdue their creatures.
The tamers quickly discovered that instead of creating a band of fodders, it would be better to have the strongest one they could control. Of course, at that time when soul-links were yet to exist, they do not have the option of raising a beast that would one day become more powerful than their masters. Monsters respect power. They are highly intelligent beings that the moment it felt you are taking advantage of it, yet without the strength to do so, they will turn on you in the blink of an eye.
Therefore, until now, only a very minor few would use the old methods to have more than one beast.
Incidentally, such a method suits Kairos, though the boy remains blissfully unaware.
Lalhal retrieved an odd formation plate from his time-space ring and set it on the ground. Placing a few spirit stones, he activated a healing circle that can invigorate and stimulate one’s natural recovery, and then he asked everyone to re-summon their beasts.
The creatures settled down peacefully, nursing whatever wounds they have with licks and magic, while their tamers started pouring healing salve on them or prepared beast feed.
Those that do not have the supply could buy some from the academy’s staffs, who holds ample wild beast’s meat and assorted spirit fruits.
Using the beast that needs the longest time to recover as a benchmark, the instructor estimates only an hour of rest is necessary.
But just as everyone started to relax, they once again heard that familiar chewing sound.
*Munch munch*
Immediately, Alan screamed, “T… turtle!!! Stopppp!”
And, everyone turned and saw the black turtle chewing on the spirit stones that their instructor had placed.
Lalhal almost fainted when he saw a chunk disappear down the beast’s throat.
These spirit stones that he used for the healing circle is at Beast Grade, and each is as expensive as a house! It is only because the energy drained from his recovery array is minimal, and a higher-grade stone provides a purer source of energy that he did not mind using it to speed up his class.
Lalhal lamented deep in his heart, “This turtle is definitely my arch-nemesis!”
EXTRA: Beasts, Items, and others
Edward
Class: Archer, Combat Engineer
Equipment:
- Star Rune Bow (Fire and Ice)
- Inscribed Wrist Blades
- Basic Talisman bundle (Most amounts of Death Spike Talisman in his storage ring)
- Wind Barrier (Purchased from Fritzgen)
Spirit Contract: Greater Ice Spirit Boreas
Contract Beast: (Magic Beast) Royal Wind Wyvern (False)
Tommy
Class: Rearguard, Assault
Equipment:
- Modified Star Rune Spiked Knuckles (Base form created by Snow and Leaf, upgraded with beast claw purchased during Trade Fair, further enhanced by Greater Metal Spirit Aetnaeus) (Fire and Ice)
- Frost Wolf Fang (Fused with weapon)
- Wind Hawk Talon (Fused with weapon)
- Lightning Wyrm’s tooth (Fused with weapon)
- Basic Talisman bundle (Most amounts of Ki Burst Talisman)
- Shield of Lightning Snakes (Purchased from Fritzgen)
Spirit Contract: Greater Metal Spirit Aetnaeus
Contract Beast: (Demon Beast) white cat
Alan
Class: Recon, Squad Sub-Leader, Defender
Equipment:
- Star Rune Tonfas (Fire and Ice)
- Basic Talisman bundle (Has stored the most Multiple Barrier talismans and Homing Ki Daggers talismans in equal amounts, exchanged with Jim)
- Shield of Flames (Purchased from Fritzgen)
Spirit Contract: Greater Fire Spirit Ifrit
Contract Beast: (Magic Beast) small turtle (Cosmos wanderer, variant)
Jim
Class: Saboteur, Merchant
Equipment:
- Star Rune Daggers (Fire and Ice sets)
- Basic Throwing Knives
- Wind Elemental dagger-shaped artefact (taken from Silent Lambs Imperial Troops)
- 12 Relic daggers (Hope family’s Heirloom, capable of sailing through air without facing wind resistance and can return to owner’s hands using a time-loop effect)
- Basic Talisman bundle (Has stored the most Multiple Barrier talismans and Homing Ki Daggers talismans in equal amounts, exchanged with Alan)
- Shield of Darkness
Spirit Contract: Greater Wind Spirit Zephyr
Contract Beast: (Spirit Beast) Zhu Que (variant)
Jones
Class: Swordsman
Equipment:
- Star Rune Sword (Fire and Ice)
- Old Ye’s pouch
- Bundle given to him by Kairos (Includes several gifts from Aisa)
Spirit Contract:
Contract Beast: (Spirit Beast) Million-Years Snow Stoat
Kairos
Class: Tactician, Spear General
Equipment:
- Star Rune Swallow (Fire and Ice)
- Basic Talisman bundle
- Floating water orb (Can cut down attacks with high-pressure water blades)
- Anti-Poison Chopsticks (Replica)
- Entropy Adjustment Jar (Replica)
- Mining Pick (Replica)
- Crystal Valve training field (Kept in his room)
- The silverthorn weed, goldbristle grass, and platinum flowers (For slightly improved regeneration/stamina, recovery/life force, and cultivation/Ki replenishment)
- Yi De rings (Includes Solitary Sword token)
- Formless style swords manual
- Fruits of Yggdrasil (around 50)
- Seeds of Yggdrasil
- Old Ye’s ring
- Magical Artefact: Beast tamer glove (Right hand)
- Lighting core fruit (Purchased from Fritzgen)
- Divine Gorilla soul (Purchased from Fritzgen, consumed)
- Rod from the southern countries (burned into dust)
- Undying silk armor (out grown)
- 5 bottles of 80 cultivation pills, beast and titan ranked (Triple S to C rank) – Given away/used
- Storm palm skill manual (Modified)
- Mysterious wrist beads
- Ancient looking jade slip (Seemed empty but rejects any energy infusion as though it was filled)
- Beast rank herb (Unidentified, purchased during trade fair along with the beast parts used to upgrade Tommy’s weapon)
- Crystal Ram Horn (Stolen from the Silent Lambs Empire National Treasure, Immortal Artefact, absorbed by several Star Rune weapons after using it on the victim country's Guardian Of the Realm, Syriong)
Spirit Contract: Greater Lightning Spirit Tempest
Contract Beast:
- (divine magical beast) Divine Mystic Fox gem (yellow)
- (divine demonic beast) Nine Realms Hellhound gem (red)
- (divine beast) Heavenly Lightning Kirin gem (blue)
- (divine magical beast) True-life Hydra gem (green)
- (divine beast) Alastor gem (silver)
- (Unknown) Colourless Gem (Purchased together at the pet shop)
- (Unknown) Golden Gem (Won in a bet from Calculus, during Trade Fair, Book 1 Chapter 78)
Description of the Heavenly lightning Kirin: a divine beast that secludes itself from others. Its mane holds a thunder storm that those that come too close can only be destroyed. While gentle by nature, the encyclopaedia also records that it had driven several divine races to extinction after being provoked.
Description of the Nine Realms Hellhound: Found at the final pages of the creatures book. Instead of a full page, only scribbles of description of it are written down. The existence of this divine beast itself was merely speculation. It’s rumoured to have the ability to travel between planes and hide in the shadows, but other than this ability, all other features of it is a complete blank. All who had met the hellhound have all perished in the annuals of history.
Description of the True-life Hydra: a divine beast of the legendary class. Legend says that a great god once took an entire millennia trying to slay it, but in the end after grinding this divine beast into dust, it once again regrew itself driving the god into madness.
Lux Cixton
Contract Beast: (Spirit Beast) Snow Mountain Leopard
Von Cixton
Contract Beast: (Magic Beast) Star Winged Unicorn
Luciette
Contract Beast: (Demon Beast) Death Thorn
George Kitty
Contract Beast: (Magic Beast) Dew Spider
Alucard Angelheart
Contract Beast: (Demon Plant) Life Vine
Calculus Devilheart
Contract Beast: (Magic Beast) Five-clawed Golden Dragon
Lalhal Restrio
Contract Beast: (Demon Beast) Platinum Lord Mitsuhide
Additional:
Energy Types
Heavenly Energies
Basic energy, a mixture of all forms. Coarse, and unwieldable.
Mana
Natural Life force
Ki
Body’s energy, a concentrated, mouldable form of Stamina
Soul Force
Source of all energies, wieldable life force
Soul Strength
Strength of one Soul, Not a form of energy. Could become a dominative aura
Skill Mastery
The arts are all categorised into their levels of mastery. Separated from the lowest to the highest, there are 5 levels of understanding martial arts and it starts off with initial mastery, followed by basic, core, superior and finally, perfected mastery.
Kairos' Skill List
Dao Type: Heavenly Path
Cultivation Technique: Origin
Core Martial Foundation: Formless Style
Offensive arts:
- Immolation Finger (Ki)
- Epithet of the War Gods (Soul)
- Holy Dragon’s Breath (Magic)
- Astral Cataclysm (Physical) – V2: It was a variation of his Astral Cataclysm that could coat his body with a layer of destructive force for a short moment. Although, he could not keep it up for more than a moment because of his lack of control using this ability and the unreasonable physical strength needed.
Defensive arts:
- True Heavenly Armor: Initial Mastery
- Eternal Empyrean: Basic Mastery
Movement techniques:
- Lightning Flicker Body
- Ice Walk
- Mirage Steps
- Eternal Empyrean: Burst
Secret Art: True Annihilation Severing (破天灭世斩): Core Mastery