4 Trial of the Beastmen

"Get up."

"..."

"Get up!"

"..."

"You have a destiny to fulfill. This cesspool is no place to die."

"Get up Cabur!"

"..."

"GET up!"

A shuffling of movement began as the figure slowly moved its limbs.

"Get up and live! For the last time.."

GET UP!

Draven suddenly shot up from his prone position. His heart racing, his eyes darting around the area, his breathing ragged and labored. He finally managed to calm himself enough to focus on his surroundings in detail. Observing led him to conclude that this place was the bottom of the hole he put himself in with the terentatek. Shifting off the burnt beast, he groaned in pain as his muscles practically screamed for him to take it easy.

Slowly, Draven knelt into seiza so as to concentrate the latent dark side energy surrounding this place into a force heal. His eyes scrunched up in tightness as he noticed something peculiar about the hole.

'This energy..it's ninety percent dark side and the rest is actual pure light side. How? Why?'

Seeing how his questions were going to have to go unanswered, he instead focused into healing again. Draven felt his muscles, tendons, bones, and skin mending and recovering while the foul smelling venom was being excreted through the wounds until nothing was left. Sighing in relief, he looked down at the now faded scars left present by the beast before his eyes focused on top where he knew he had to go.

'Might as well. Can't leave this place empty handed.'

Stretching out his recovered muscles, he felt himself to be in good enough shape to climb out. Glancing at the 'tatek, he sighed before wrapping the thing in his webbing then attaching it on his back to be dragged with him. Letting out a grunt of exertion, he began his long climb back to the top to finish his trial.

As he was climbing, Draven couldn't help but review his fight and the outcome. 'Why didn't I use that lightning trick beforehand? I could have saved myself so much trouble in the long run if I just decided to use the darker abilities of the force. Why am I blocking them out?'

He shifted just enough so his hand was able to generate the lightning again as blue sparks danced around his fingertips ready to be released. Sighing to himself, he began his climb again while stewing in his thoughts.

'I could have fucking died back there! I should have been dead. Why am I not dead?'

'I mean there's force choke, lightning, fear, hell I could have used force grip and launch the damn thing!' Shaking his head yet again he began to counter himself, 'Yes they were all available, but Revan said that these things were force resistant and able to shrug off most abilities. So I shouldn't be so hard in that department, but I still could have just webbed it long enough to cocoon then launch it down there.'

Draven huffed then came to an answer, 'I was arrogant. I thought I could defeat it with only using my dagger when this thing's race has wiped out entire groups of fully armed jedi. I can't mess around anymore, this thing was non-sentient, the next enemy may be human or worse. One of my family.'

Coming a decision, his face shifted into determination as he finally pulled himself up and over to the point B entrance. 'I need to be better, stronger, powerful, if I am going to be a hero. If I am going to stop any villains that hurt people. I need to be a guardian, a warrior. I need to be the best.'

His eyes brightened in an azure hue, if anyone was there at that time they would have seen a small shift in Draven's eyes that held a bloody crimson outer ring mixed into his dark blues' before disappearing back to normal.

xxxx

It took maybe twenty minutes until he reached his destination. A tomb that held the dark blade, the first lightsaber of the first mandalorian that became a jedi then a sith and then back into a Mandalorian, one of the first Mandalors.

The tomb was bared of materials that a modern grave may have such as flowers or offerings. Instead, six stone golems shaped into mandalorian warriors stood guard surrounding the tomb and a large assortment of "iron". The golems gave off a strong source of dark energy as he couldn't help but keep an eye out on the vibro weapons they held.

Slowly making his way towards the tomb removing the dead terentatek, he was about to touch the grave when his senses went off crazily. Leaping over the grave and rolling into a stance, Draven was not prepared to fight the things in front of him.

The stone golems stood protectively over their charge with weapons brandished to kill. Each golem was about six-and-a-half feet tall and intimidating as all hell. Draven began collecting as much force energy as his body could handle while waiting for the guards to engage.

'God this going to hurt like a motherfucker afterwards.'

Just as he finished that thought, they all rushed at him with each brandishing either a sword, pike, or an axe of some kind. Letting out a painful roar, Draven sent out a torrent of dark blue lightning from his arms. Once it made contact, the golems were held in place and began to slowly melt and crumble from where they stood. It only lasted for three minutes, but to Draven it must have felt like an hour as his body twitched in pain with the smell of burnt arm hairs wafting into his nostrils.

Panting in exhaustion, Draven walked over to the tomb, kicked it open, ripped the handle out of the corpse's grip then proceeded to walk back to the entrance after picking every single piece of the iron he could carry then grabbed the terentatek. His body was practically on auto-pilot as he walked the way back. The force had been guiding him so when he felt another signature, his mind became active again to begin searching for the possible threat.

Feeling the Force pulling him towards the signature, he began to tense for an upcoming battle as he got closer and closer. Walking into another path that strayed from the broken bridge, Draven's eyes locked on to a shining crystal that was practically screaming at him while embedded in the wall right next to him.

It was a kyber crystal, one that was solid black with a red outline to it that gave off a faint energy of the dark side. Knowing that this was the signature that threw him off, he pocketed the crystal and began walking down the path the force led him into. His mind was slowly darkening, his body was going slack, but Draven kept marching on as he knew that the moment he drops in here then that will be the end of him.

Ever so slowly, he found the exit to this god forsaken cave, so with the last of his energy. Draven trekked out into the open and took a deep breath of fresh air. Opening his eyes, he couldn't help but smile while Athea and two other girls he knew as Ilane and Zava were staring at him in shock.

"Told you I would make it back."

Then he promptly passed out right after.

xxxx

You know, I am getting sick and tired of waking up with my body feeling like it went through a meat grinder then a hydraulic press. My eyes began to burn slightly from the harsh fluorescent light before they adjusted and I was able to focus on a ceiling that was all too familiar in my time with the Fetts. Groaning while sitting up, I felt a shifting in weight on my left side which took my notice, so turning my head, which earned me a slight dizzy spell, I saw a certain Ordo clan princess clinging onto my arm.

Smirking, I began to pet her hair slowly while she leaned her head into my palm.

"Wake up Athea."

Like a spell, her eyes began to flutter open then began to focus towards the hand stroking her head then traveled all the way up until her silver eyes met my cobalt blues. Suddenly, she shot up from her seat like a rocket and hugged me tight as if I would disappear in that moment if she let go.

"Draven! You di'kut! I thought you promised me you won't get hurt. I had to carry you here from your trial. Di'kut!"

I put on a sad smile as I began to stroke her hair and back slowly and gently to calm her. Her hug tightened itself around me so I answered. "I promised to come back to you alive. I never said anything about being injured, but I'm sorry for worrying you. You know this is the way of the Mandalorians."

Athea nodded her head in my chest, "Promise me. Promise that you will never die before me." I held her by the shoulders and separated the hug to look her directly in the eyes again. "I can only promise that I will not die without your permission."

Her smile seemed to just brighten up the room as I took the time to appreciate it. Our eyes locked on to each other and slowly we began to inch closer to one another until we were nose to nose. Just as our lips were about to touch, Kag walked in quite loudly and ruined the entire atmosphere. Of course, Athea leaped back into her seat with a large blush on her face while I kept my face deadpan.

"Oh Draven. You're awake, perfect. If you feel up to it then get dressed and meet the clan heads at the council room."

He soon after walked out again, but not before giving a teasing smile towards his daughter which earned him a scowl that spoke of future pain. I chuckled just a little before getting out of bed and heading towards a floor locker where I know they usually keep the patient's clothing in the med-bays. Putting on a pair of dark cargo pants, slipping off the hospital gown, then throwing on the long sleeve white t-shirt, I was ready to head out just like that. Athea sighed at my antics as she knew that I held importance in discipline just as a warrior should.

'You just had to ruin the mood father. Next time you wake up, half of your armor will be purple and orange with the words "Rimmy Tim" on the back.'

xxxx

Stepping into the clan council room was a surreal experience. Imagine a forty by fifty foot room with a ceiling reaching ten meters in height, each of the four walls had trophies from past warriors and Mandalors ranging from a bull kath hound to a Tuk'ata. The floor was made of smooth stone and durasteel rebar while the walls were of iron wood planks. The table in which the council discussed their village was set into the middle of the room with it being made of solid steel and I think melted into the ground.

Observing the room gave me a clear head before I was to talk in front of the council as I already counted that everyone was present for this including the Mandalor, Drark.

Ignoring his spiteful glare, I stood before the council in salute, one fist clenched over my heart ramrod straight with my eyes set straight ahead. "You wish to speak to me."

Xarr took the floor by clearing his throat, "Ahem, yes we would like a detailed verbal report on what went on in that cave before we decide your status." I nodded my head and began with my battles with kinraths, then gave out as much detail as I could about the terentatek before having to pause as Tai reacted to how I defeated the beast.

"You willingly destroyed the bridge then made sure to finish the job by using this "force lightning" before crashing into the ground from a drop of over one hundred meters?"

With my nod Tai smiled mischievously as I continued my report with the Mandalor's frown growing deeper as I continued the report of retrieving the iron and the blade while also omitting the crystal I received. It was a long silence until someone spoke, with it being Akdag to speak up. "That was beskar you got from the tomb. From what we measured, it is enough for about five beskar'gam."

I blinked owlishly before smiling deviously, "Then I know just what to use it for. Save about three suits worth for me and keep the rest."

Kag nodded his head and wrote it down before looking up to the other heads, "I believe this concludes the meeting." A round of agreements sounded out until the Mandalor spoke out, "Not yet. We still need to speak of this Verd's missions." Luckily, before any person can make a comment Akdag spoke up again.

"His first mission will be with Krapos. I will give them the details later on today. They leave in two days time."

Drark nodded again before getting up out of seat and left without another word while Xarr stared at his back in open suspicion.

xxxx

This mission I was given was one to really test my resolve. It was an assassination mission given to us by an opposing politician that wanted his rival out of the picture before the upcoming reelection. Krapos had set up a sniper point on one cliff side while he was the main distraction. He was going to set a fake charge for the politician's guards to be wary of and once the main ones leave to check the dud, I was the one to take the shot.

My face was one of pure calmness, cool and collected, however my mind was an utter mess. I have trained for years in combat and saber techniques, all of them with the instruction of Revan and Mace. Yet, I have never killed someone before, maimed, wounded, possibly crippled, but never murdered a man in cold blood. All my life I was told that I was meant to be a hero, to save this world from my family. I lived in isolation with ghosts of my family's pasts generations in a fucking cave system for god's sake!

I was never one to be social and really the only ones I got along with were Mei and Nejire because they were as crazy or crazier than me. In the village, I felt like I belonged there with them as if I meant to be there. Now, now I'm meant to shoot this man I have never met in my life, one who has done me no wrong or hurt me in any way. Wearing a helmet that had no eye holes or any facial features to distinguish me, leather clothing the Ordo clan made and dyed black from the terentatek's hide, and laying prone with a Barret .50 cal sniper waiting for the opening to end this man's life. Here I was questioning myself, my morals, my humanity, and my resolve until the moment came.

Seeing the man's head pop up, he looked like any other fifty something year old politician. His wife and kid were there as well, the teen was maybe eighteen but his face didn't get rid of its baby fat so it was hard to tell. My training kicked in, all of these years of hardships and endless practice being put into a moment where my life was going to change. Looking back, I had other paths I could have taken, living as a hermit was one, becoming a vigilante, a serial killer, a bounty hunter, a hero that has a no killing rule, a villain that was really an anti-hero. All possibilities, yet I chose this one, the path of a warrior. Neither a jedi or sith, but a gray, someone who lives in the middle whose morals needed to be askew to do the right thing even if it meant hurting oneself in the process.

My mind sharpened, features schooled, breath steady, I took aim. Not a second later, I watched in slow motion as the bullet entered through his eye and out the back where his spine and skull connected. This was my first kill, no one was there to comfort me, no one was going to tell me I did the right thing, no one justifying my action. I made the decisions up to now and now I need keep walking forward or die.

Dismantling the gun into pieces with practiced ease, I left my position with none the wiser. I walked among the populace in some nondescript city in some random part of the world, my mind coming to terms with what I had done.

It was my first but it definitely wasn't my last.

Nearly half a year I was put on constant missions. Whether they were interrogation, kidnapping, espionage, assassinations, massacres, demolitions, bounty hunting, mercenary work, or just as a simple body guard. It didn't matter, if I was assigned then I did it. Each one was at a hundred percent success rating and no one knew it was me unless you were a Mandalorian yourself.

I kept up with my training as well, practicing my quirk led to new discoveries of what I could do, the force was flowing through me easier, my saber work improved immensely as I practiced forms six and seven extensively.

All these months of missions completed and I was finally able to go back to the village and rest. Yet, there is no rest for the wicked because arriving there I was met with warriors being treated for injuries, civies putting out fires, and someone cleaning up the mess of a shredded body. My face went stone cold marching towards the council room with no one to stop me. I heard Athea call out my name but I kept going until I barged into the room with confidence.

"Verd! Who gave you permission to come here?! This is a council meeting and you shall leave before someone makes you leave." The Mandalor barked out while the others looked on in shock at my arrival. I didn't acknowledge his barking as I turned to Drax for info.

*sigh "Beastmen. One of our hunters accidentally killed one of their kinsmen on their territory. They came in, slaughtered the man, then left. Now the Mandalor is deciding whether to go to war or not."

Beastmen. A race of animals that mutated, evolved, and became sentient intelligent people. They were very similar to the Mandalorians in terms of how they live their lives and ways they have survived up to now. These people can be both bipedal and quadrupedal as well, enhanced senses, different versions of night vision depending on the species, enhanced strengths, speeds, endurance, healing factors, etc. They were just humanoid versions of their bestial counterparts that gained the perks. If we were to go to war with them then it would be a blood bath as they had the physical prowess while we had the technology and skills.

I nodded my head and began to immediately think of solutions. My brain was computing faster than before as I knew that war would only lead to more death and suffering than right now. So far, we were at a standstill with them as it has always been yet the situation has gotten more intense.

"What if we send a negotiator? Someone who we all agree to come before their king and make a sort of deal or treaty so as to avoid war."

Xarr grabbed his chin in thought as his brothers were doing the same while discussing among each other. Drark looked annoyed at my outburst and looked like nothing would please him more to just shoot me in the head and be done with it. I have no idea why he hates me, just that the feeling became mutual once his comments about my heritage came to light.

"It is possible. The king has not attacked us in years. Keeping to themselves mostly, it was only because of our hunter's mistake they retaliated. If we can do this then maybe our two villages can finally get along."

Drark sneered at the Bralor head, "You want us to associate with those filthy animals all because a boy suggested it? I thought clan Bralor was supposed to filled with intelligent people."

Xarr seemed nonplussed by the insult, "It is better than have our people wasting resources and unnecessary blood in a war that will lead to nowhere but our mutual destruction."

The others seemed to agree which made the Mandalor ground his teeth in anger, "Fine! If you want to negotiate then the verd will be the one to go. I'm giving you one week. One week to broker a treaty, if it doesn't work, then its war."

I nod and excused myself to leave immediately. I had one week because of the bastard and I can't afford to waste a second. Going straight towards the gates, I was stopped by Athea, who yanked my collar and launched a right uppercut into my solar plexus.

"Damn it Draven! Stop and talk to me! I haven't seen you in months and the first thing you do is walk into the council room." Athea pouted at me and sent a small glare that I knew meant she was serious. I sighed and slumped my shoulders before hugging her. She melted into the hug and sighed as I pet her head. It wasn't until she said she forgave me when I began to explain what the situation was.

Athea looked ready to explode and murder the Mandalor, which I believed she could do as I observed one of her missions and I would hate to be the one under her interrogation techniques.

"I need to go now. It is important that I succeed."

She nodded seriously and let me go, but not before warning me to be careful and not to do anything reckless. I chuckled, "Seriously Athea, its me were talking about. I'll be lucky if they didn't want to kill where I stood."

xxxx

'I had to jinx it.'

"Halt! Who are you and give us one good reason to keep you breathing Mando."

Two jaguar guards had their spears aimed at my carotid artery while I kept my hands up so they don't react and cut my neck open like a pez dispenser.

"I am an emissary with the Mandalorian clans. I have come here to negotiate with your king."

The jaguars narrowed their slit eyes at me before lowering their spears until they were at torso level. "Okay then, follow us and don't make any sudden movements if you want to live."

"I'll check you for weapons first."

Nodding my consent, guard 1 searched me for any weapons and when he found none, we began the slow walk towards a large wooden home up in the trees along with others strung about near it. A walkway at the base of a significantly large redwood led straight to the King's home, though I couldn't help but notice how diverse their village was. Each direction, North, East, South, and West, had a biome for certain clans to prosper in. Bears, wolves, felines, and reptiles were on the ground, avians and primates were up in the trees, and some reptiles and aquatics were in the fresh/salt water lakes.

"Keep moving emissary." Being poked in the back thankfully felt like a finger poke due to the leather clothing I wore made from the terentatek.

Arriving to the home of the King of Beasts, I couldn't help but be impressed by how well made the place was. All of it was either carved, shaped, or built out of some variation of wood while still having that regal feeling that a king should have. I was led to the throne carefully while other species stared and whispered about the human meeting the king. The throne was not gaudy, but instead to be like one a viking may have as it was carved out of bones of multiple animals, some that I noticed were of human remains as well.

And standing in front of his throne, was the king himself. Standing at a clear seven and-a-half feet tall, he was far larger than Kag or even Okka for that matter while his reptillian eyes narrowed on me. I, at first, thought he was just a tiger due to his stripes, tail, and ears, but that quickly went away when I saw his eyes and the forked tongue that seemed to shoot every few seconds.

'A hybrid? Is that how he came to be king?'

Despite his large size and frame, his footsteps were soft and confident, a well trained predator by the looks of it. His eyes and aura barreled down on me as if he was expecting me to shrink or back down from his silent challenge. However, I stared straight into his eyes and followed through as I let out a small bit of the dark side to help complete the look of a dominating warrior.

The air was stifling as no beastmen moved in fear of disrespecting their king. It wasn't until the king had spoken that the silence cleared.

"You smell of being an arachnid. The first of your kind perhaps." His green eyes seemed to shine a bit in respect as I kept my spine straight and stance ready for anything. His voice rumbled in a quiet baritone that is unlike one would expect from one that looked like they relished in combat.

"I have been told one of my family had the blood of the spider a long time ago. I somehow inherited it." I wasn't going to mention quirks as he probably knew about them and I did know from Luke that one of our ancestors did have a spider quirk as well.

The king nodded and began circling me like a shark would with its prey. His eyes scanning my features and frame from any angle he could get. A hum here and there came from his mouth before growing silent. I was nothing to scoff at, due to my harsh training with Revan, the Mandalorians training me in their ways and my natural enhancements from my quirk, my body was built solid with a height of five foot eleven to match.

"One of the perimeter guards said that you are here as an emissary. The mandalorians want to end this cold war then." It wasn't a question, he knew why I was here. A king through and through.

"Yes. I have come here to strike up a treaty between our two villages and broker a peace between us." The beastmen were silent, none scoffed or snickered at the idea of peace. No, all of them looked at their king for a reaction as what he thought made or broke the peace.

"Hmmm. I will consider this.." I gave no visible reaction though I was a little relieved internally. "..but, you must first prove you are worthy of this peace."

I nodded and looked straight into his eyes. "What must I do to earn this?" His lips stretched into a predatory smile that sent some shivers down his subjects' spines. "You will fight The Beast tomorrow. If you win or survive ten minutes with it, then I will broker peace. If you die then we will go to war."

My fists clenched tightly at the proclamation, but I knew that I couldn't get anything better from him so I nodded again. He snapped his fingers which two human females with cat ears and tails came out dressed in servant clothing.

"Take him to one of the guest rooms and accommodate him for the challenge tomorrow. The arachnid needs his rest for The Beast."

The servants nodded and gestured me to follow which I did, taking notice how the others seemed to give me looks of pity and sympathy. A few minutes later, I walked into a fairly large room that one would have in an apartment complex. It included a bathroom, kitchen, sleeping quarters and a small table for meals.

Looking back at the two servants, they stayed there with me in what was supposed to be the living/dining room. "Umm. Shouldn't you go out and do your duties?"

The two women looked at each other then shook their heads. "We are here to serve you tonight so to make your possible last night comfortable." The one who spoke was a brunette that seemed to radiate a motherly aura around her despite looking no older than thirty. Her honey brown eyes looked at me with concern while her counterpart smirked a bit.

"You are pretty ballsy havin' a starin' contest with the king like nothin'." This woman was on the wild side, her strawberry blonde hair, though clean, was untamed and seemed to match her nature. Her turquoise blue eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked up at the teen that was going to challenge The Beast.

The blonde knocked the side of her head and swung her tail side-to-side, "Oh silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tsuchikawa Miu. Nice to meetcha'!"

"And I am Sosaki Misaka. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

I bowed to the two as well, "My name is Draven Verd. I felt as if I have heard those names before."

I guess I made a weird face as both ladies giggled before answering, "Yes well, our daughters are pro-heroes so that might be why. You should know them as Mandalay and Pixie-bob."

"Mandalay and Pixie-bob? The seniors of U.A who made their debuts a couple months ago. They're half-breeds?"

Sosaki shook her head, "No. A half-breed is when a beastman and human have a child. When a half-breed and a human have a child they're normal humans and only show small amounts of their animal traits in the form of enhanced senses and instincts."

I nodded and apologized for my ignorance. After that we seemed to get along well then I asked them about their lives here and how they ended up here instead of being in the outside world.

"Well~. We sorta ran away when we were young and stayed there until we were found out by other beastmen. Because our children were only quarter beastmen, they could stay in the outside world with our husbands while we had to come back and face punishment for leavin' without permission. Half-breeds are treated the same as regular beastmen, though are more seen as logistics and support than warriors."

I apologized once again for opening that can of worms though they honestly didn't mind as they wanted to talk and relax. They acted like sisters, but both said they came from two different families with Sosaki coming from lynxes and pumas while Tsuchikawa came from cougars and cheetahs. Just as I about to go to sleep, Sosaki grabbed at my leather sleeve.

"The Beast. Don't underestimate it. It's a rite of passage for our elites to survive two minutes with it. You need to be extremely careful when fighting it. Okay."

I gave her a reassuring grin before going back into the sleeping quarters and resting my body for what is to come tomorrow.

xxxx

The Pit.

That was where this beast lived. The area was three hundred meters in diameter and was eighty meters tall. I was guessing by the size of the place that this beast must be ginormous and that they were afraid of it. To enter the pit, I was sent down with a pulley system then had to wait for the king to make his speech.

I couldn't help but notice the thirty meter tall metal gate opposite of me on the other side of this place that seemed obviously ominous. However, my attention needed to be taken away by the roaring of the beastmen as the king arrived.

He seemed to be in deep thought as it took some time for him to commence his speech. "My fellow subjects. Today, we are to witness another go through the trials and if he succeeds.." The king stared straight at me as he finished his sentence, "..then he becomes one of us. The deal goes through him." Many beastmen cheered and roared, stomping their feet and making the ground shake until the King rose his hand up for silence.

"Release The Beast."

The sound of grinding metal and gears took my attention back to the gate as I prepared myself for whatever is to come out of it. Once the grinding stopped, silence took over, then, the ground shook.

The beastmen stomped in rhythm with the damn thing arriving as it stomped out. My eyes had to trail up from its torso to meet its face and once I did, I knew what I was dealing with.

"Oh you got to be fucking kidding me."

A bull Rancor.

Twenty meters in height, dark gray leathery skin, claws and teeth that looked sharper than a vibroblade, and bluish markings that seemed to form naturally on itself. This was an alpha of the pack that mutated to be stronger and bigger than others.

Roooooaaaaarrr

Carnivorous and if it was bad enough, it was hungry.

Quickly, I dodged a flying boulder that went straight towards me and rolled into a defensive stance as the thing came charging towards me wanting to munch on me for a snack. I grabbed the nearby boulder using the Force and swung it towards the monster's head. Much to my relief, it connected and the damn thing only flinched for a second before setting its sights back on me.

So that was how I began my long battle with the Rancor. Throwing boulders at its head and hoping to get in some quick shot off before having to dodge its claws swinging at me. I did not want that thing hitting me as I saw deep trenches being made into the stone flooring and walls from the Rancor's claws.

I threw another boulder, this time at its left knee, before running up to launch another punch into the same spot in its skull. This time however, the bull was smart and only pretended to be hurt as it stood up like it was nothing and swung its claws at me. I tried to dodge as soon as my spider sense went off, but I was a second too late as I felt the stinging pain of one claw tearing through my flesh from right shoulder to left lateral.

I couldn't heal fully while the bull was on the offensive so doing what I knew was stupid. I shot out two webs that directly hit its beady reptile eyes. Latching onto the webs, I coursed sith lightning through the webs and hoped that these webs managed to hold on long enough to deal damage.

Watching the Bull Rancor writhing in pain as lightning burned its eyes was oddly satisfying. As if I was the master, the one that held its life in my hands. Quickly I shook off the feeling and went back to focusing on the battle. The webs lasted for thirty seconds before disintegrating into dust while the Rancor's eyes were practically nonexistent.

Roaring out in pure anger, the Rancor lashed out at anything that it felt was in the vicinity of its claws' range. I healed myself while it was throwing its tantrum and tried coming up with an endgame plan.

'Come on. There has got to be something in here I can use to kill it.'

Then, as if the Force heard my pleas, a stalagmite seemed to just break off from where the Bull Rancor swung and landed in front of me. It looked to be maybe five meters in length and maybe a few feet thick from end to end. Carrying the stalagmite on my shoulders, I began to calculate where to place the improvised spear and how I was going to get the Rancor to kill itself.

'Let's see. An average five meter Rancor is about 1.65 metric tons so times that by four and this thing is around 6.6 tons. The stalagmite weighs about ten tons due to the solid stone it was made from and with the floor being stone too, an equal amount of force will be placed on the ground. Having to account for air resistance, gravity, and the amount of force I unleash on the thing...'

While I was doing mental calculations, I shot webs at the Rancor's palms and held my ground. Pulling back just enough that the webs were tense so when the beast pulled, I catapulted straight towards its head. Planting both feet into its jaw, I shot another web at a wall and zipped to the side, launched off said wall and kicked the side of the Rancor's jaw again. Rinse and repeat was the goal until I noticed the bull was beginning to tilt side to side. Then I just landed on the ground, ran up towards the front of the Bull Rancor and uppercutted it.

Trying to control my breathing, I watched as it began to fall towards the stalagmite, but somehow it managed to get one last shot off and backhanded me into a nearby wall while I was trying to recover.

Despite the aching in my back, I couldn't help but grin as the beast's head was impaled by the spike and died there and then. Pulling myself out of the human sized hole, I zipped up and out of the pit and landed in front of the king.

The roars and cheers were silenced as they eyed either me or the dead Rancor in the pit before going back to their king. The king stayed silent and just stared at me as if he was debating something that may or may not work.

"You slayed The Beast."

Those four words were all he said for that long moment before he continued.

"I will perform my end of the bargain. Set a meeting between your Mandalor and me so we may discuss the terms of our peace treaty."

I nodded and bowed my head in thanks. The beastmen roared out in cheers until their king spoke again.

"As for your reward for slaying The Beast.."

The beastmen were waiting in anticipation of what he will say while I was having a bad feeling about this.

"You shall become a hybrid just like myself."

"…."

"…."

All hell broke loose from there as multiple Beastmen head clans yelled out in indignation and saying the human should receive another reward instead.

Silence again became known as the King let out his frustrations. "Silence! I am king! Do not go against me again. If I say he will become a hybrid, then he will become a hybrid. I have spoken!"

A chorus of agreements ended that while I just looked on in shock at what being a hybrid may mean.

'Well fuck. I think I just became his adopted son.'