First Beast

The beast's soul was completely and utterly corrupted.

The purple fire that had completely engulfed the beast incinerated any concept of free will from the beast. As its last few defiant screams of pain rang through the air, Devon relished in the power he was going to inherit. All the time he had spent living as a weakling... was over.

He stared in awe at his fingers and the endless power dancing across his palm.

In a world defined by your ability to tame beasts... he knew his skill was one of the greatest. At that moment, he felt as though he could even dominate the beasts of the dark continent Sahkia.

To someone like him, this brief influx of power felt like omnipotence.

He could only smile as he continued absorbing the soul of the fallen. He knew his powerups would keep coming.

However, that wasn't the only cause for his wonder. For the first time in his life, Kai would witness firsthand the soul absorption process he had heard numerous tales of. According to the stories, whenever you tame a beast, multiple things happen at once.

First, you would learn its aspect, or sub-rank. If C rank was the most general classification one could make for a beast like the Juma, then the aspect was the next one. For example, in a group of 5 S-rank hunters, they each might have a different power level. Their aspect classifies this difference in power.

Essentially, in a group of masters, there are some even more divine than others.

There are 5 different aspects for F-rank to SS-rank beasts. An SSS-rank beast is simply too powerful to categorize their power.

The first and weakest aspect is known as a lesser aspect. A beast's soul with this aspect might as well not even be their rank. Their power level would be just slightly above the strongest of the rank before them.

For example, an A-rank beast with a lesser aspect is barely better than a B-rank beast with a dominant, or strongest, aspect.

Then, in sequential order from weakest to strongest, the aspects are: lesser, common, rare, mythical, and dominant. The most common aspect was actually 'rare', but it sounds cooler this way.

The rarest aspect was obviously a dominant one. Considering the immense strength of the Juma's soul, Kai felt certain that he had gotten such an aspect.

Confusion filled Kai's face as he didn't feel any of the tells he was told about. He had heard multiple stories detailing how to identify the aspect of a beast that's tamed, none of which applied to him.

Some say it's just a gut feeling, some say it's a learned feeling. Like how you may play a note on the piano once and not really know its sound, but after the 1,000th listen, it's ingrained into your head. Similarly, you may not know the aura associated with an aspect at first, but after repeated experiences you do. Others say that a voice in your head almost tells you its power.

All Kai felt was the soul entering his own- and its unending desire to serve Kai.

'Seriously? My first beast and I don't even know how strong you are? You're probably a weakling who's too ashamed to admit it. Don't worry, I was weak once. Well, what ability of yours did I inherit?'

Another thing that differentiated each beast was its ability. Like the humanoid races can develop latent abilities that another can inherit by eating them, beasts have abilities one inherits by taming them. Kai's brother from his past life, Kisho, had inherited the dragon's ability to create fire, as an example.

<No ability inherited.>

Kai blinked twice at this message. Once out of frustration, and once out of curiosity. He had never heard any hunter talk about words flashing in front of their eyes. To him, it looked completely foreign. He'd never seen words arranged in a format similar to a website or game.

'Does everyone get this kind of message? I highly doubt it. If they did, why haven't I ever heard about it then?'

Kai's wonder quickly gave way back to rage. Ignoring the little hand grabbing his elbow, he glared at the message even though it had disappeared.

'Who cares?! This stupid message just said I didn't get any ability. What the hell kind of weak beast did I just tame then?'

Kai calmed himself with a promise. The last part of a beast, its trait, would grant him a huge power-up. It had to.

He was already theorizing all the ways he could use the unusual feet of a Juma to his advantage. Not to mention its mighty claws and powerful jaws! With the traits of a Juma, he would have-

<No traits gained.>

'What! This... this can't be! What the hell is this power! These gods... they really hate me this much, huh?'

Even in the face of this great success, Kai only felt disappointment. And hatred. He dug his fingers into his palm as he cursed the gods, ignoring the little hand behind him begging for sympathy.

'I got nothing. I didn't get an aspect, an ability, or a trait. All I got was his stupid worthless soul.'

<Beast: 0 Juma collected. Level: 20.>

'Level?' Yet another foreign concept to Kai appeared in front of him.

'What could a level be? Another joke, you bastards?!'

Despite his callous mind, Kai truly no longer harbored ill intent. Instead, he was already thinking through all the possibilities this new ability brought to light. Maybe he didn't get any of those normal specifications because they were too limiting...

The levels could be a way for him to surpass the capabilities of all other similar beasts.

So if he could corrupt a dragon...

Saliva drooled out of Devon's mouth as his power-hungry gaze fixed on the dissolving Juma. The last of its soul, its essence, was absorbed.

Its absence forced Kai to notice the blood that painted the forest in vibrant hues of red.

He finally looked down at the little hand that brushed against his. Ernest was looking at him with a mixture of fear and grief. A part of her was leaning as far away from Kai as she could, as if trying to optimize an escape.

The other part featured quivering lips and tear-filled eyes. Her hand was shaking horribly even as it used Kai's for support.

Kai had to almost dive to catch her as her knees buckled under the weight of loss. Holding her in his arms, he whispered over and over, "I'm sorry. You're alright. I'm sorry. You're alright."

Ernest shoved her face into his robe, paying no mind to the still-fresh blood rubbing into her skin and hair. Her sobs drenching his clothes in seconds, she screamed, "Why! Why did brother die! I- I don't want Kha-Khazi to die! Da- Daddy can put him back together, right?"

"No."

Kai used all of his willpower to force himself to stay still as Ernest contorted her body with grief. He would be an impenetrable, reliable wall for her. He would take all of her pain for her.

As a single tear fell down his cheek and betrayed that conviction, Kai cursed himself.