This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

“Alright, break!”

The instructor’s voice boomed across the cracked floor of the state-of-the-art training arena for the top 5.

Dozens of spiritual creatures groaned, hissed, and rumbled their discontent as they reluctantly backed off from their combat zones. Students staggered to water jugs, sweat-soaked and panting.

Kain and Serena walked off the training field last, shoulder to shoulder, still flushed and glistening with sweat.

Kain slumped against the nearest wall, legs stretched out and eyes half-lidded. Aegis dropped beside him with a muted metallic thud, practically steaming.

Serena, ever the picture of composed nobility, took a seat more gracefully. A slight flush on her cheeks was the only indicator she’d even moved that morning.

Her Elemental Guardian curled behind her in its water form, was curled behind her like a living throne, its coiled body emitting a constant cooling mist that made sitting beside her feel like being in an oasis with air conditioning.

They sat in silence for a moment.

Then Kain muttered, “Okay. Let’s debrief each other on the information we both found.”

Serena tilted her head. “You mean Operation Overthrow?”

Kain cracked a grin. “What else would I be talking about?”

Seeing that no one was within earshot, the two relaxed and began reviewing their opponents.

“Let’s start with the fourth-years,” Kain said, wiping his face with a damp cloth and then gesturing discreetly to a girl with green hair who was chattering the ears off of everyone around her.

“Jade, while annoying, is rightfully the Rank 1. Six-stars. Her Gift’s regenerative—she and her contracts heal ridiculously fast. Four blue-grade contracts: Thunderfang Tiger, Earthshatter Lion, Windstrike Cheetah, and Viperfang Lioness. The other two are green-grade.”

“She’s strong in head-on battles but even more dangerous in protracted ones,” Serena added. “Her biggest strength is battles of attrition. Her contracts can attack crazily without fear of retaliation since they recover so quickly.”

“Theo is over there,” Kain said while gesturing to the second-ranked fourth-year with dark brown skin and shoulder-length grey hair. His expression was neutral, almost sleepy, but the glint in his violet eyes said otherwise.

“Also six-stars. Three blue-grade, three green contracts. The six-tailed fox Kitsu’s his strongest contract, and the most public one. The other blue-grades are a Dreamweaver Owl and a Phantasmal Doe—both mental-type illusionists. The green-grades haven’t been used during training yet.”

His Gift’s definitely mental-based—in our first year I saw him use it to detect lies during a game of Truth or Dare. But I think it runs deeper. I suspect he can subtly alter perception or implant false logic if he chooses. At least based on what was shown during training—his opponents keep making too many mistakes.”

“He’s a Mindshade. It could also be a high-level spiritual skill. Either way, he can’t be underestimated. The Mindshades have a reputation for using dirty tricks,” Serena said calmly.

Kain grunted in agreement.

“Dmitri’s ranked fourth.” Kain said while pointing to the extremely pale and tall figure next to Theo—a stark visual contrast. Dmitri looked like he belonged in a vampire movie. Black, silky hair fell just past his chin, his skin pale to the point of translucence, with red eyes that glowed faintly under low lighting.

“Five-star, borderline six. He has an affinity for the rare Blood-attribute like his brother Alexei. But he’s less hot-headed than his brother and more analytical—his Gift probably lets him manipulate blood flow or pressure. But I’m unsure about the details.”

“His main contracts all complement each other,” Serena added. “Bloodvine Basilisk for entrapment. Crimson Vein Bat for wide-range status effects. Third is a venomous Scarletfever Arachnid, which is strong in a head-on battle. His remaining two are rumoured to be green-grade but rarely summoned—probably scouting or multi-target support.”

“Oliver,” Kain sighed while pointing to the red-headed boy as annoying as Jade in personality. Like Jade, he talks too much. He has bright copper curls, a freckled nose, and was always wearing some gaudy jewelry he ‘accidentally’ created while experimenting with his Gift.

“Still a mystery. But not entirely anymore. I found out his affinity is either related to magnetism or metal-type contracts. His Gift seems to let him change the composition of metals—like a real-life alchemist able to turn iron into gold. He can also manipulate metallic projectiles or enhance the movement of metal-based contracts. At least based on what was revealed in training”

Serena added on “He was the last in his year to get a Gift, remember? It took him ages to get the hang of it. It’s possible he’s still holding something back. Doesn’t use it much in public matches, so its limits are unclear.”

Kain nodded in agreement, making a mental note of that, “He’s got a Magneton Wolf—blue-grade. Also a Steelspike Hawk. Not all of his contracts have been revealed in training yet though, he may have one more blue-grade. I know he has at least two green-grade contracts and one is for scouting and field control.”

“And, finally,” Serena said with a slight tilt of her head, “we have Reed Venn. He’s ranked third, surprisingly. But we keep forgetting about him despite his high ranking.”

They both looked around for his figure… and couldn’t find him.

Unbeknownst to them, the unassuming, quiet figure with tan skin and brown hair was sitting not far away. He was even within earshot of them and listening to them plot the takedown of his colleagues, thinking, ‘underclassmen are scary nowadays…’

But he truly wasn’t intending on eavesdropping. He’d been seated in this spot first when Kain and Serena came over…they just didn’t notice him.

They’d even looked directly at him…but immediately forgot.

Reed wore muted colours, loose-fitting clothes, and kept his eyes down. He had a lean build and a stooped posture, like he never quite wanted to occupy space. His voice was quiet, his steps silent.

Not finding the remaining fourth-year, they shrugged and went back to discussing. “Six-star. Gravity affinity. His gift is Veil of Relevance—it makes everyone subconsciously forget he exists. Honestly, if I didn’t repeatedly count that I only had 4 names written down in my notes for the fourth-years, I would have overlooked that we forgot someone.”

“Makes sense since I have zero memory of him in the past two years…” Kain said, while trying to think back to all of his interactions with the upper-year male students in the top 5 dorms or during the beast-tide in his first-year—yeah, Kain had zero memory of this guy.

Serena continued, “He has 3 or 4 blue-grade contracts too…a Sinkmaw Tortoise, Veltrake Serpent, and Gravity Wyrmling have been revealed during training. All blue-grade. Three more contracts assumed, probably tankier or utility-based. His battle strategy usually consists of slowly wearing down his opponent until they concede.

Kain sighed. “He’s the only person I’ve ever heard of winning a re-ranking battle that no one remembers watching.”

At Kain’s words, an unassuming figure flinched at the sensitive reminder of how his presence was easily overlooked… even when on a stage.

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