"Why are there two?" William spoke in surprise. "Maybe I'm just not doing it right"
William calmed himself before trying again. Sitting down in a lotus position he allowed his senses to spread out just like Provus had told him to do. However, instead of sensing one Beast Soul, he could feel two.
'Wait, I think Master Provus told me something about this...' he thought to himself trying to wrack his brain to remember the conversation he had earlier. 'Right! He said that sometimes this happens to some people, where they sense more than one beast soul, but upon capturing one of them you will return without being able to capture the others."
Sitting at the top of the tree trying to figure out his next move, he let his senses flow out once more. After a couple seconds William had made up his mind: one of the two Beast Souls was clearly more powerful than the other.
"Stronger the better right?" William spoke to himself before smiling "This might be what I needed to beat that James in the tournament"
Locking on to it's location William jumped from the tree and began to make his way towards his first Umbra.
----
"Damn, a Red Salamander" William said quietly as he began to backup and gain some distance from the beast
Making his way towards his Beast Soul William was able to avoid most monsters, but whether it be carelessness or just plain bad luck he was now face to face with this big red lizard.
Looking at it again William thought back to the books he had read, the Red Salamander was a two star beast known for his hard scales and resistance to fire. Normally around the size of a wolf, it has a long tail and sharp teeth. While a Red Salamander may not be able to breath fire it's resistance to fire was remarkable.
Pulling out a knife that William had brought with him, he jumped back towards some thick bushes nearby and tried to get out of view from the Salamander.
However, the Salamander wasn't going to give him the chance as it quickly followed tearing apart the bushes.
As the leaves fell back down to the ground the Red Lizard looked around trying to locate where exactly it's prey has gone.
William on the other hand jumped down from nearby tree, stabbing his knife towards the Salamander's back.
*Clink*
The knife scratched at the scales, but wasn't able to penetrate into the Salamander's body. Landing, William switched his grip on the knife and quickly jumped back from the Salamander, swiping the knife at its eyes.
However, before he could reach its face the Salamander swung it's tail and slammed William in the chest sending him flying back a couple meters.
The creature let out a thunderous roar as it bared its fangs, seemingly smiling as it charged to where William had landed
Coughing up some blood, William rolled and stood back up as the Salamander's claws crashed into the ground next to him creating a small hole.
Wiping his mouth William charged once more at the beast, unafraid of the danger it posed. The Salamander responded as it twisted its body and lunged towards William.
William shifted his body to the side, narrowly dodging the Salamanders outstretched claws as he jabbed his knife into the Beast's eyes, causing it to stumble for a while before collapsing on the ground.
William laid his back on a nearby tree in order to catch his breath as he looked at the fallen Salamander. While the fight only took close to a minute, William was drenched as he tried to tend to bruises that the Salamander had dealt him.
"I never imagined a two star beast would be this strong, and a Red Salamander is one of the closest to being a one star as well" William spoke to himself as he began to feel a bit better. "I just hope my beast soul won't be too much stronger or else I'll be in some big trouble"
---
After resting, William had finally made his way over towards his first beast soul. Along the way he had fought a couple more beasts. Each fight he had gotten better and better, and he was now filled with confidence over capturing his Beast Soul.
However, when he finally found his Beast Soul he was shocked. It looked like a Fire Fox, but something was wrong. Instead of it being red, it was white. Furthermore, it seemed to radiate nobility when looked at.
'Is it mutated?' William thought to himself. It was the only possibility. When a monster mutates it gains in strength, but it will also change its appearance drastically. Sometimes they don't even resemble the original they mutated from.
'Either way, it's my Beast Soul so I'm to have to capture it'. William pulled out his worn knife and looked at it quickly before sighing. 'Looks like this might be its last fight'
The weapon had taken quite a beating over the past little while. As William became more adept at fighting the knife slowly chipped and now looking at it it looked like it might break at any second.
Knife in hand, William slowly approached the beast from behind as it collected berries from a nearby bush. He had encountered some Fire Foxes, and while they were mid tier two star beasts, as long as one avoided their foxfire they generally posed no threat.
*Snap!*
However, plans rarely go as well as people hope and whether it was due to the adrenaline pumping through him or because he was tired from the fights earlier he had stepped on a small twig.
"****, I've gotta-" William spoke unconsciously as the sound of the twig seemed to echo through the silent forest. However, before he could finish speaking a fireball quickly entered his vision.
Rolling to the side William was able to dodge, however the heat that the fireball gave off was nothing like he had seen up until now. Compared to the other Fire Foxes, this white Fox seemed to have unparalleled magic strength.
*BoOoOm*
The sound of the fireball exploding shook the surrounding trees as a scorched trunk fell to the ground.
Realizing the strength of this mutated fox William quickly rushed forward wanting to close the distance and bring the fight to his advantage. However, just as he was about to reach the Fox a wall of fire appeared before him followed by a wave of fire arrows that came from beyond the wall.
William rolled to the side, dodging most of the arrows, however one of them had struck him in the left shoulder.
'This fox is smarter than the others, no wonder it radiates such an aura.' William tried to move his arm but to no avail. He quickly switched grips and rushed towards the fox once more.
The fox glared at William as he rushed towards, fire beginning to flow around it. However, before it could cast its magic it was struck in the face with a small rock, disrupting its magic.
On the other hand, William was smiling seeing how his plan was working. As he reached the Fox he swung his knife towards its head. However, the fox swung its claws in response clashing with the knife.
"C'mon little fox, just make this easy for you and me" William muttered to the fox, before retracting his knife and swinging again, only for it to be parried again. A slash, a parry. A jab, a dodge. The fight seemed to continue like this for another five minutes before…
*Crack*
William's knife shattered causing shards to fly into William as well as the fox. Unfazed, William stabbed down with what little remained of the blade. The fox, whose eyes had been injured from the fractured blade was unable to react in time and let out a small groan before finally collapsing to the ground.
William, on the other hand, dropped the knife as he fell to his knees. He reached towards the dead fox with shaking hands, pulling it towards him. Suddenly, as his blood mixed with that of the fox a runic formation appeared below him.
'This isn't right, I haven't even begun to absorb the beast soul yet!' William thought as he tried to leave the formation. However, before he could a wave of pain entered into his body causing him to collapse to the ground.
As William laid on the ground, it felt as if his veins were burning. Every second caused the pain to intensify. William could feel his bones breaking and repairing themselves, his tendons snapping and his joints popping. He choked down his screams, knowing that any loud noise could attract more beasts to the area.
---
After what seemed like an eternity of pain William was finally able to regain a sense of self.
Getting back on his feet William scanned himself to find what had changed.
"What in the why did I not return back to the chamber…" William muttered unconsciously, however he quickly realized something was much more startling. He quickly ran over to nearby stream in order to look at his own reflection. "This is bad, this is really not good"
Staring back at him was someone so familiar, yet so foreign. Instead of his Fireheart Red hair William now had snow white hair, but that wasn't the end of it. On top of his head he could see two animal ears, presumably fox ears.
'They're pretty soft though' William couldn't help from touching his new ears after seeing his reflection. Looking into the reflection once more, his eyes were still red but his pupils were now in the form of a vertical slit, similar to a cat's.
But this largest change was the shape of his face, he had become more… feminine. He wouldn't be surprised if some people mistook him a girl, but for some reason he could still be described as handsome.
Standing back up he realized that the clothes he was wearing had torn during the transformation, and that he seemed to had grown a couple inches. His muscles seemed to be more toned and defined than before, and while they weren't much bigger he could tell he was significantly stronger than before.
"And these new abilities of mine…" William spoke as he thought of his newfound abilities. He had immediately understood his abilities were when he had woken up. He first decided to try out his inherent abilities that were granted from the beast he had absorbed. (A/N: When one absorbs a beast they gain two types of abilities: the first is 'inherent' where anyone who absorbs the same beast is guaranteed to obtain it. The other is considered the 'special' ability, where it has to do with the beast absorbed, but it will be different for every person who absorbs the beast).
He looked down at his hands only to see black claws coming out from where his nails used to be. He then swung his hand at a nearby tree, creating a series of claw marks.
'A couple inches deep, impressive considering I'm still in the mortal realm' William thought to himself as he examined the damage he had done to the tree. 'But what about the fire magic?'
Suddenly, a small white flame appeared in his hand. The flame seemed to bend to his will, when he willed it to move it followed his exact thoughts. He willed it to grow and it expanded to the size of a watermelon. He pointed his finger at rock about twenty meters away and the fire flew in a straight line before colliding with the boulder, causing it to explode.
'Impressive… but the amount of mana it takes to perform such a magic is too large for practical use' William analyzed after using some basic fire manipulation. 'And now the special ability: the Fox Spirit Eyes!'
Immediately his eyes began to emit a subtle, but intimidating red glow. Timed seemed to slow down as he looked around, but the most important aspect was the information. Whenever he looked at an object his mind was filled with information on its aspects. Wanting to test the ability of his eyes he deactivated his ability and quickly went in search of a nearby beast.
Due to his increased physical prowess he was able to find a Red Salamander in no time. William reactivated his Fox Spirit Eyes, causing the same red glow and aura to be emitted. The Red Salamander, realizing that something was wrong quickly began to look around in fear.
[Red Salamander |2* beast|, contains trace amounts of dragon blood. Weak to blunt attacks…] a series of info on its strength and weaknesses quickly flooded his mind, but one piece of information truly surprised him:
[Evolution requirements:
- Greater Salamander: hunt 20 beasts of the same level or higher
- Lesser Fire Dragon: Hunt and absorb the blood essence of 5 dragon beasts of the same level or higher.]
Not only did it he receive info on the possible evolutions of a beast it also showed the requirements he also now new what to do in order to help the beast evolve. However, a problem quickly arose: the energy cost of this skill was absolutely terrifying. At most William would be able to use it for 5 minutes without collapsing from mana deprivation.
'Regardless, this skill is invaluable. If I use this correctly and keep it hidden, I'll be able to become one of the strongest in this world' William deactivated his Fox Spirit Eyes as his fingers slowly transformed into black claws. 'Let's see just how strong I have become'
William dashed out of the bushes, alerting the Salamander and causing it to bite out at William. William easily dodged the gaping maw of the Salamander as he clawed at the beast's neck.
Blood began to drip from the Salamander's neck. It slowly turned to face William before letting out an ear piercing screech and charging to battle once more. William grinned as he charged in to face the beast.
Sliding as it lunged towards him William dragged his claws across the under belly of the beast, causing it's innards to pour out onto the ground. 'Huh, it looks like the information was right the underbelly scales are weaker than the rest.'
William watched as the Salamander struggled for a couple more seconds, before collapsing. 'Strength wise, I'm about average for a Greater Mortal Stage cultivator. Agility wise I should be around peak Greater Mortal. As for the others I really have no idea…'
William continued to think as he cleaned himself of the blood of the Salamander. From what he had seen back in the clan manor, he seems to have entered the Greater Mortal stage, signifying the end of the Awakening Ceremony, yet he was unable to return. Turning his gaze north he came up with a plan.
"Don't know if this will work, but looks like I've got one more beast to hunt"