CH21:FEELINGS.

Luke quickly dashed at the Caterbit beast at full gear with the sword fully gripped in his hand. He made sure to take large strides as he ran so he'd be able to catch it off guard. However, just as he was about to get closer to him, Nadia quickly rushed in with a tackle and pinned him down with her foot before smacking his head.

Luke nearly got up to hit her back but then, he saw the caterbit grow mandibles on its mouth area. Its entire back grew six-inch-long spikes that glowed slightly. It arched its back and hissed and Luke and Nadia as a way of showing it wasn't afraid with its body having grown a little bit swollen as a way to make it look more intimidating.

"The caterbit is a deceptive creature that's slightly intelligent. Trust me, if you got a little closer to it, you would have six-inch spikes in your legs and they're tipped with a paralyzing venom that'll put you in bed rest for days." Nadia explained while showing Blake and Luke a couple of scars on her left leg. "This happened to me on my very first day."

"How do we take this thing down then?" Blake asked with a smile as he aimed his sword at the beast. "Do we attack it from its blind spots?"

"No silly," Nadia laughed while aiming her sword at the beast. "You do it like this." She jerked her sword two times and the green crystal inside of it started glowing even brighter as the sword's blade became pure energy.

*SLASH* *SLASH*

With two swings of her sword, she sent out two energy slices which disemboweled the creature's boy, killing it on spot. Green blood spewed out of its mouth as its spikes slowly turned to dust.

"That's how you take down a Caterbit."

"Then why the f*ck did the analyzer say the creature doesn't have any skills or tactics?" Luke cursed.

"Some beasts may be of the same species but they each act differently." Nadia calmly replied. "The people who discovered and named that beast found out that they have lots of defense mechanisms that we know nothing about."

"Different beasts of the same species fight differently." Blake ended while squatting over the creature's carcass. He quickly stuck his hand in its guts and dug it deep until he felt something.

"Got it." Out came a blue beast crystal that was no larger than an egg. The crystal had a faint blue glow with rugged, uneven edges all over it. Its crystal structure looked like cheap, fake jewelry and its glow wasn't as bright as the ones in the swords. "Well, this is disappointing."

"I know, right?" Luke glared at Nadia as a way of telling her to let him go. "A beast that could have killed me and yet its crystal's not even that worth it."

"Not really," Nadia replied as she collected another from the creature's body. "These creatures mostly come with two or three crystals and five of these can power a medium-sized house for a week, so they're really useful and worth a few credits."

"I see. Well then," Blake placed his hand on his thigh while pointing his sword forward. "Let's move on to the next ones, shall we comrades?"

-----------------------------

"So, Mr. Kong." Jamal spoke audibly while saluting. "What do those in your inner circle do? What are our duties, sir?"

"Relax, kid," Kong replied calmly. "Those in my inner circle do all the dirty work that I'm too busy to do." He teased. "On a serious note, you three are more like my…disciples."

"Disciples?" Jamal remarked. "Not to be rude, but what exactly are you discipling us for?"

"Well, one day you three will be in charge of different parts of Desper when I'm either killed or retired."

"You mean one of us will become your successor?" Krista beamed with a smile on her bruised face.

"Easy, sunshine. None of you will ever become the next leader of the Gorillas."

Then who will?" Dezhong asked, even though he had no intention of taking the mantle of being a gang leader, not with his dad who could become his potential enemy.

"I will." Dezhong's heart skipped a beat as he heard a familiar from sounding from the back of the room. He, Jamal, and Krista looked back and saw the pink-haired girl from earlier. She walked over to Kong and hugged him while sitting on his lap with a playful smile.

"Everyone, meet my daughter, Kena." Kong announced. "She'll be your future leader when my time comes to an end.

While Kong continued with his 'announcements', Dezhong couldn't help but stare at Kena. She wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the world with the best hair, looks, and body, but he just couldn't help but feel an attraction towards her.

*Ding*

[Potential mate?]

His system asked, acting like it had a character of its own but he didn't even pay attention to it. That was until he had a question.

'What's happening to me?'

[A werewolf's urge to find a mate can drive it to do almost anything. Given the situation you're in, your own body's being driven to make her yours.]

'I can't do that.' He argued. 'There's just no time for me to get too deep into this. I'm on a mission here. Can't let this screw me up.'

[Whether you like it or not, you will have to find a mate someday.]

'Twenty years from now.' He replied sarcastically while finally paying attention to Kong.

"And that concludes our discussion. Krista and Jamal, you can head out now. I'd like to have a little word with Mister Prince." Kong grinned while Kena sat down next to Dezhong.

As they were about to speak with Dezhong, Abdul got a message on his phone which he whispered into Kong's ear. The longer they whispered, the more Dezhong and Kena saw Kong's facial expressions change from gladness to empathy, to bitterness, then lastly to shock. He then whispered back to Abdul a couple of instructions before dismissing him.

"Well, Mr. Prince," Kong glared at the boy, "Looks like you start your duty today. I want you to accompany me and my daughter somewhere. There's something you need to see."