Chapter 46 - Taming the Beast

"Hurry up before I leave without you!" yelled Ambrosia. Hero and I glanced at each other, shrugged, and climbed into the ball of light. Despite our assumptions, it was actually a physical instance, able to be interacted with regularly.

It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but we made it work. When we were in, Ambrosia closed it, securing the 3 of us inside. Vivid lights and colors flashed from all around us, and I could feel the inertia as we began to move.

"Alright, hold on tight so you don't go flying out!"

"What the hell am I supposed to hold on to?" I yelled.

"Here we go!"

Then, we took off. Ambrosia sped up quickly, and in no time, we were on pace with the Emperor Unagi. I had no idea how she was doing it, but we were moving. Somehow, Ambrosia could see the outside, but we couldn't. We had to rely on her maneuvering.

With nothing to hold onto, I simply tried my best to maintain stability, and so did Hero. Though, we'd be lying if we said we didn't tumble and roll around while inside.

Cynthia was watching us through her binoculars, stunned at what she was seeing. She hadn't encountered Ambrosia before, so her abilities were a brand new sight for her.

"Whoa, now that's pretty handy, isn't it? I wish I had a sphere of light to travel with, that would be so cool!"

"Anyway, I'm glad she can do that...it means Yukio will be able to catch up to the Unagi, and perhaps finally, I can see his authority in action...."

The monsters at sea truly were terrifying. Unlike the land monsters, the sea monsters were much larger, and quicker. Plus, it was much more challenging to maneuver across the water than it was land, making it harder to apprehend these beasts.

What's more, is that some sea monsters, for example, the trout monster, actually had legs as well as fins, meaning these monsters have evolved to the point of walking on land... I wondered if any of these monsters existed in smaller lakes or rivers.

"Hey, watch out for a sec!" said Ambrosia.

She opened up a small rift in the ball of light, just large enough to peek through. This would allow Hero and I to know where we were at.

"Don't stick any body parts out of the hole, please. But if you can, try to see where the Eel is at, when we get close enough, I'm going to eject Yukio out to try and tame it!"

"Wait, you're gonna WHAT?" I yelled in rebuttal.

"You heard me right! I'm gonna eject you when we're close enough. I want you to hop out, and try to tame the Eel. It doesn't matter if you can hold it or not, just slowing it down will suffice."

"Basically, you're going to pose as bait and lure it in, then try to tame it!"

Ambrosia had the craziest of ideas. Posing as bait? It was ridiculous. I wondered if she had made anybody else do this before...

"Okay, I guess. Just make sure I don't get eaten!"

Ambrosia chuckled, turned back around, and picked up speed.

"If he manages to stop it, I'll go in for the final blow, okay?" said Hero. Immediately, both I and Ambrosia nodded in agreement. At this point, Hero was the only one qualified enough to handle it.

"Alright, please do."

"Hey, we're coming up on it. Yukio, remember the plan, okay?"

"Yeah, I got it! Just, try to let me know before you toss me out of this thing, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, sure, I got it! Hang on, we're almost there!"

We reached the head of the Eel and were now traveling parallel to it. It seemed to be regenerating its wounds that it sustained during its battle with the higher leveled heroes. Although minor, it appeared to have suffered light gashes and blows.

"Alright, we're here, good luck Yukio!"

"Wait, WAI-AHHH!", Ambrosia wasted no time warning me, and instead tossed me out of the ball of light. I landed on the sand with a thud, as I watched the sphere make its way further down the beach.

"So much for warning me, damn loli!" I said, brushing myself off.

I had to act fast, or else the Eel would swim away. I quickly came to my feet and took a few deep breaths. Luckily for me, the Eel was getting tired, and slowing down its swimming, nearly halving its speed.

"Alright, you can do this. Just do what you've done twice before. You can handle it... if you can't, that's fine too...alright Yukio, here we go!"

I was calming myself down, and controlling my breathing. I knew that if I had an unstable mind, or showed any sense of panic, at all, that I would lose control of this beast. I had to tap into myself, before I could tap into the monster before me.

I held my hands into the air and grabbed the attention of the Emperor Unagi. It stopped swimming and turned to look towards me. It seemed interested in what I was doing. Either that, or it was hungry, and I looked very tasty.

"Whoa, it locked right onto me. Okay, focus now...and...STOP!"

I hadn't fully realized it before, but it seemed like the word "stop", as simple as it was, activated my authority. I could probably use other words like "halt" or "cease", but "stop" worked fine. The Eel began to move more jaggedly, as I began to tame it.

"Ah, you're a heavy one... sheesh, is every monster going to be like this?"

As usual, I felt an incredible weight apply itself to my shoulders. I was beginning to learn more about my power. Whenever I took control of a monster, it seemed to be trying to resist my authority by applying its own power to me in the form of weight.

By doing this, if I was "unworthy" of taming it, I would be forced out of control by the sheer weight of the situation at hand, which explains why I was barely strong enough to control the Scatterwolf and the humanoid creatures in the fields of Alpha.

I just hoped I had the strength to take control of this Eel... I had awoken more of my power, according to Ambrosia, so I was stronger than before, and I could definitely notice a change in ability while fighting the Trout.

Speaking of Ambrosia, she and Hero made their way to where I was. The ball of light dissipated, dropping Hero onto the sand, while it gracefully set Ambrosia on her two feet.

"Ah! Dang Ambie, a little more careful next time?"

"Sorry about that, the light doesn't quite understand you yet. It serves as a vessel for my transportation, and doesn't appreciate foreign visitors often, especially not Yukio, considering how forcefully it ejected him."

"But anyway, Yukio, how are you- oh shit, he's going for it!"

Ambrosia noticed my intense concentration, as well as the Eel being frozen in place. She couldn't muster out her entire sentence, and instead opted to remain silent as I attempted to appease this monster. She spoke quietly to Hero.

"Hero, when the timing is right, you grapple onto it and go for the kill, mkay?"

"Ambrosia, I don't have any-ah!" Hero was cut off by Ambrosia tossing him her grappling gear. It was a bit small, but it clipped to his waist just fine.

"Use this then, have you ever used grappling gear? I can't remember if you ever needed it or not."

"Not really, I just kinda run around and jump to get places, and maybe fly if I have to, but that takes quite a bit of energy."

"I see... well, get used to how grappling gear works quickly, now shh, Yukio's concentrating..."

Hero put the gear on and faced the Eel, but he didn't make eye contact, as that would provoke it, and possibly lead to a sudden attack. He remained stationary as I continued my process of taming the beast.

The Eel, frozen in place, continuing to resist my authority, simply stared at me with its brave eyes. It was testing me...

"Please, allow me to guide you, beast of the ocean," I said, in an effort to appease it.

The Eel turned its head to the right, indicating that it still had control of its body, despite my best efforts to tame it. However, if this was true, then that meant that it was remaining still on its own accord, allowing itself to be manipulated slightly.

Cynthia took notice of the entire ordeal and was shocked. She was frantically jotting down notes on a clipboard while simultaneously spectating my encounter through her binoculars.

"Goodness, he's better at this than I thought! He's taking control of an Emperor Unagi, seemingly effortlessly! Well done, Yukio!"

"The Shade will be pleased with your work. Continuing to build adeptness to your authority will make you stronger, and more useful to our agenda!"

Back on the shore, I was starting to feel faint. In terms of the strength battle, the Eel was easily winning by a landslide, although to the spectators, it seemed as if we were equal. I decided to give a signal to Ambrosia to indicate that I was unwell.

I tilted my head to the left and gritted my teeth. Ambrosia caught the signal, and waved to Hero, letting him know it was time to grapple to the Eel and eliminate it.

"Oh, is it time? Alright, let's see now, it's this button ri-IGHAAAAA!" yelled Hero, accidentally grappling to the Eel, and being pulled towards it at an incredible speed.

"Dumbass... you hit the highest setting, good luck hitting it now, if you don't splat right into it that is..." said Ambrosia, facepalming.

"Yukio, you can let go now, just let Hero do his thing. You did well!"

I loosened my control on the Eel, and felt the weight release itself from my body. Immediately, I fell to the ground, exhausted. I came to my feet, in hopes of seeing Hero annihilate the Eel. He was in close proximity to it now, and prepped his fist.

"Alright, here goes nothing!" he yelled, driving his fist forward towards the head of the Eel. It turned its head to the right, and caught notice of Hero, flying towards it. It had no time to react though... it was over...

*B A N G*

"...you know, sometimes I forget just how powerful Hero really is...he's a fucking menace..." said Ambrosia, shuddering in place. I too, was stunned...

The entire head of the Eel exploded on impact... and not just that, the explosion travelled through the entire body of the Eel, ripping it into shreds as it reached the tail, far beneath the ocean. In one punch, he vaporized the Emperor Unagi.

Shortly after, we could see the skin and guts of the monster float to the surface of the ocean, where they drifted out to sea, immediately being feasted on by smaller fish and non-mutant sea creatures.

Cynthia also saw what Hero had just done.

"...well that was a hell of a punch, it's a good thing I'm a great guesser, otherwise you would have evaporated me by now probably..."

"But...Yukio, you did well to tame that Emperor Unagi like that...hehe, you're such a charmer, I can't wait to talk to you..."