19 Possessed Beast

The three youths said nothing to the question asked as shock penetrated their bodies. Did he just finish a five-star beast in a single attack? Just how strong had he gotten in a short span of two days?

Snapping out of the surprise state their minds had gone too, it was Black who gained his ability to speak first. "Key! You're already a five-star Adapter?" Key looked at his best friend before shaking his head in the negative.

"I'm still quite a distance from that level, but I did notice a nice opportunity from the tree over there." He stated while nodding his head in the direction of the tree fruit giving out a strong ambition aura.

"I don't know what fruit it is but I tested a fruit on a few beasts in the forest, and it doesn't seem to be poisonous. Instead, it should help us promote to a three-star Adapter, but you will have to be careful and have complete confidence in yourself of erasing the will inside or you will regret it." He finished, wanting to make clear the fruit's dangers.

Confused by the way Key was indicating he was still a two-star Adapter, Black decided to voice his suspicions when the beast made movements of twitching. Then there was a burst of ambition force that traveled and aimed toward Key.

Noticing the strange movements and having a sense of danger, Key quickly jumped off the giant polar bear to land on the ground. He then turned to look at it and get a better understanding of why he sensed danger.

What he ended up seeing was the beast pulling its head from the ground and letting out a loud roar. It then locked gazes with him to glare menacingly. This action wasn't shocking as he had been the one to injure it a moment ago.

However, the look he caught in the beast's eyes as if they were clouded over, proved his earlier thoughts. When he had come rushing over to help the others, the first thought was that the beast was a five-star beast, given how strong the ambition aura it was releasing.

Later, its average speed and berserk like actions left him realizing that wasn't the case. In truth, the beast had probably failed to erase the will in the fruit like a few of the animals he tested before.

The only difference between them and what he saw now was that he never let the beasts completely be possessed or promote their capabilities fully since he wasn't sure his strength was enough to subdue them.

"Black help secure Ford! There is no point wasting time on this beast since the fruit can help us instead. Donn! Grab enough fruits for all of us while I stall the possessed beast." Key quickly gave out orders.

"Possessed beast?" Black asked confused. "No time to explain in detail. It failed to erase the ambition will." Key explained as short as possible. Nodding and seeing the situation was more dangerous than they thought earlier since it could take such a hard hit, Black moved to follow Key's advice.

"Only this time Stroke. Don't get used to it." Donn gave his own say as he could also see that the situation might get out of hand rapidly. Ignoring Donn's attempt to act defiant, Key put his attention on the possessed beast at hand.

He could only guess that the beast got some upgrade besides the intense ambition aura. Deciding since it was out to get him and it would focus his way, he made movements to draw it away from the others.

After all, there was still a chance its main focus was to guard the fruits on the tree, given how the will possessing it came from one of the fruits.

He got a few steps back before the giant polar bear made a dash his way. Foregoing all the caution, he thought he would need, Key sprinted backward creating some space between them before he turned and ran toward a clustered group of trees in the forest.

Within moments of having to evade the trees as the beast followed in pursuit, Key easily adapted to the narrow openings some of the trees had as he widened the distance between them while keeping close enough, so it didn't give up altogether.

Roaring at the obstacles in its way, Key glanced back to see the giant polar bear uproot the trees in disregard. Ford actually survived a hit from that? He had a small amount of disbelief as he continued to run.

Checking around, he determined that the distance was good enough. Halting suddenly, he shot back toward the beast in the middle of launching another tree flying. His actions to run wasn't because he didn't possess confidence in fighting the beast, it was because he would be taking unnecessary risks.

If the giant polar bear stay near the tree fruit, there was a chance it might destroy the fruits in a fit of rage or kill Ford in his injured state like it tried before, causing their battle potential to decrease because they would have to protect someone.

"Alright. I also want to see how strong I've become since promoting. You are indeed strong and have the power to spare, but that is only attacking power. The ambition's will didn't seem to enhance your durability to the same degree." Key stated to the beast as he charged it.

He had made sure to have the timing right. And with the beast wide open because it was finishing its motion of knocking the tree away, Key was left with a free shot to its body. Unlike his first strike to the beast which he was aiming for speed over power, this strike was power over speed.

...

Black sat in the area not too far from the tree fruit fuming at Key's actions. "What was he thinking running off alone like that?! I never thought he would do something this stupid!" Black angrily spoke. Since Skyla was also Key's friend, what was he suppose to say if something did happen?

"You're clueless as ever. He clearly experienced more than what he was letting onto and took this chance to test it out." Donn said not even bothering to go out looking for Key. "And why are you still here? You won't watch over Ford so you should at least help Key out." Black stated mad.

Before Donn could give a retort to the angry response, Key walked into view. "There's no need too. Right now I think it's best we head back to the tribe. We are already almost a day's walk from the Evolver Door. We can't improve more than what we have in a short time anyway." Key told them while surprising Black at his sudden appears.