Chapter 20 - True Power Pt.1

"Seriously? My skill is that strong?"Kai looked back to Shuzen, his curiosity satiated. Promising to reach that infinity, he used the new B-rank trait to accurately watch the battle as he formulated a plan.As his eyes adopted the slitted motif found amongst reptiles, Kai realized a few key things about this trait.One, his vision was greatly increased by multiple exponential factors. He could watch the battle as though they were right next to him, even though they were hundreds of meters away.However, this trait did have a drawback: he had trouble noting stationary objects. For now, it seemed like a boon, as it was impossible for the trees and other foliage surrounding the area to distract him. Kai knew at some point this would be a liability, however.'This is how a Komodo's eyesight works, however.' Kai thought to himself as he realized he would still be confined by the inherent weaknesses of his beasts.'I was right then. Oh well, I can work with such a weakness.' Kai said, already knowing that such confidence held a lie. This sort of setback wouldn't be so easily dealt with.For all he knew, he was staring at an assassin right now.Maybe once he corrupted another beast, he could use that beast's advantages to counteract this one. Until then, Kai would have to rely on himself.'Even a limitless potential can be restrained.' Kai thought as he returned his attention to Shuzen and his opponents.Now, with this greater vision, he could easily tell what beasts the 2 tamers had conquered. Or, at least, the ones they were using at this moment. Once a tamer reaches B-rank, they start to understand true power and are no longer confined to a single beast.If Kai still followed such rankings, he surmised that would make himself a low B-rank. Not too bad, considering just a few days ago he didn't have any rank.The B-rank was probably considerably better than Kai. No beast trailed him, so Kai realized he was probably only an inheritor, like him.All tamers are divided into 2 broad categories, where they can then further be divided. These 2 categories are inheritors and keepers. As the name suggests, an inheritor inherits the soul of a beast they conquered, allowing them to use the traits and abilities of the beast. The beast's physical body is dissolved as its soul is absorbed by the tamer.A beast tamed by a keeper does not share this fate. Instead, they fight alongside the tamer- similar to a dog or cat.A stronger tamer tends to overlap between these 2 categories, but even then they still hold a natural affinity for one of the categories.Fortunately for Kai, this B-rank was solely an inheritor. His body had adopted the traits of an Arikan Baboon, a direct descendant of the Babi species.However, the A-rank was a mixture of these 2 categories, exactly like Shuzen, who inherited the S-rank Ourobic serpent but also was a keeper of 4 A-rank chicos.Also similarly to Shuzen, this tamer was predominately an inheritor. The only beast that battled with him was some kind of primate.Looking closer, Kai knew that it was some evolution of a desert monkey from the deserts of the Jeria continent. However, one thing left Kai confused.The tamers from that continent were notoriously weak, often requiring assistance from the other habitable continents, not just for their own beasts but the few that wandered from the dark continent.From his past life, Kai had only heard of 4 or 5 tamers from that continent that even reached A-rank.'They must have gotten a lot stronger these past 15 years then,' Kai thought.Haven thought through that small obstacle, Kai had also determined the exact species of primate that accompanied him.The Araki, who got their namesake due to their spidery look. Their face consisted of 8 dark, beady eyes filled with malice. Their mandibles dripped with poisonous saliva that was so corrosive it would melt straight through rock.4 arms sprouted from each side, one from each shoulder, 2 from each side of the rib cage, and then one from each side of its waist. Each arm was fitted with a long, stretched claw.Its hair stood straight up as if it was constantly petrified.The Araki was easily a strong A-rank beast.The tamer himself was capable of using 3 beast souls at once.Sprouting from his back was a scorpion's tail. Judging by the sharp crescent hook of its barb as well as the serrated appendages of the tail, Kai knew it was from the A-rank Maliket scorpion, native to Jeria.Further proof of the weak becoming strong.Although Shuzen would be completely unaffected even by this deadly poison, so potent it can kill an adult A-rank beast in milliseconds, the damage from its sting could still be catastrophic. One clean hit could leave a giant fist-sized hole in his chest, for example.The other 2 beasts he was using were clearly operating under that premise- create an opening for the stinger.His left hand adopted the trait of some kind of spider, shooting webs into the fray every second.His right arm adopted the trait of a boa, its elongated size threatening to constrict Shuzen and keep him trapped in place.Meanwhile the B-rank tamer was jumping along the trees with a quick fury, hoping to catch Shuzen off guard and land a clean hit, or at least create an opening for the A-rank's stinger.Unfortunately for them, Shuzen's guard was nothing short of perfect.Even as mutliple attacks were launched at him, he responded with nothing more than perfect efficiency, swapping between beast souls as needed.Kai knew even just that technique required years of practice. For most, just switching between 2 beast's souls would be a daunting task requiring maximum focus. Let alone switching multiple souls while in the midst of battle.This would be akin to asking someone to solve a quadratic equation, and then asking someone else to solve multiple quadratic equations while simultaneously finding the integral of multiple other equations, and to top it off they are bombarded with mutliple projectiles.In short, it seemed near impossible for someone who had yet to experience true power- the pure difficulty of such a task showed the underlying superiority of Shuzen.Yet he made it look effortless. As he swapped between beasts, the grin on his face grew wider and wider.The A-rank tamer knew that their information had been faulty, They should have never attacked these 2...The beasts in this jungle weren't worth it.Shuzen ducked the A-rank tamer's snake-arm flying through the air as he used the strong lungs of a Babi's roar to ward off the webs. Then he reached out with his arm, which now held the traits of a chico, and grabbed the B-rank's head, squashing it.Kai paid no mind to the splatter of grey matter coating the floor. He was far more interested in the corpse that now lay on the ground.True power, Shuzen's power, was growing closer and closer.However, at the same time, the wide gap between them made itself more and more apparent. The undeniable truth was that Shuzen, as well as any S-rank tamer, was truly transcendent to any low rank.As he effortlessly continued playing with the A-rank's onslaught, Kai knew that 100 A-rank's together wouldn't amount to anything. They didn't know true power.