Beastlords aren’t formed by simply surviving the consumption of a beast core. Their bloodline results from a Beast King turning into a human and bedding one. These children are born looking human until their beast blood activates.

~Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things

Ahote climbed to his feet and brushed the debris from his chest and back. In truth, since awakening the powers of a Beastlord, he’d stopped wearing shirts and boots. The only piece of clothing on him was his buckskin pants.

His dark brown hair curled if it was wet or humid, so he kept it cut short. Ahote was broad of shoulder and over two meters tall. Muscles on his chest, arms, and stomach were well defined. Brown eyes and tanned skin were so common among his people that any variation was met with ridicule.

Beastlords typically took on animalistic traits of the beast blood that ran through their veins. On the surface, Ahote was an average-looking Beastlord. Other than faint stripes on his tanned flesh, he could have been mistaken for a member of the Tribe. And like the Tribe, he had the blood of shamans in his veins.

Shamans and Beastlords still maintained similar cultivation methods, but through beast cores, Beastlords also strengthened their Minds. It was a necessary compromise to become a Tamer. This is why Beastlords took on animalistic traits and even passed down the bloodline of beasts. Ahote happened to awaken both bloodlines.

Mist-like energy coalesced around his hand and rippled when he curled his fingers into a fist. It was one of the first tricks a Tamer learned to alert their summoned. Nukpana, his Failinis, appeared out of the dark forest and stood by Ahote’s side.

The dog-like beast was the first beast he’d ever tamed and the companion that had been at his side the longest. It was similar to a Siberian husky but had emerald eyes instead of ice-blue. The fur was also different shades of dark brown, which gave it a bark-like appearance. And it was big, standing at nearly two meters tall.

Nuk’s head butted up against Ahote’s chest, its simple way of greeting his master. He wasn’t sure if that was something this particular beast did among their packs, but Ahote was sure it was a form of affection. Nuk would butt his head against Ahote’s hand even as a pup, and it wasn’t something he taught the beast.

“What’s out there?” Ahote asked since it was Nuk that woke him. The first thing a Tamer learns is that beasts can understand humans, and mistreating their beasts is the greatest sin among his people. It wasn’t an issue of morality either, although that should be the greatest deterrent. Rather, creating distrust between Beastlord and beast increases the amount of Spirit needed to maintain the contract. Also, a distrustful beast gains increase their mental resistance to commands. Which requires a Beastlord to use more Mind to control them.

Woof. Nuk lightly huffed, and his body turned toward a specific direction. Man and beast slowly stalked forward, but Ahote hadn’t sensed any real danger yet. Unease, yes, but danger, no. It was times like these that he wished he had taken the time to learn Wild Things Codex because it’d allow him to understand the language of beasts. He had it with him, but it was tough to figure out. It was a technique that only one out of every four Beastlords could master.

The reality was that Beastlords might be the simplest cultivation path in existence. There were only three abilities that they needed to learn. The first was the cultivation method, the second was Wild Things Codex, and the last was Spirit Contracting. Everything else they learned was supplementary.

Ahote looked at the green crystal on Nuk’s forehead and felt his companion was highly suited for this floor. The Failinis was a wood affinity beast, and it was practically a monster in a place like this. Which was the reason Ahote chose the beast. He decided on two other beasts before entering the tower, mainly because that was all his Spirit could handle. After gaining his Shield, he was sure he could tame another one now but wasn’t in a rush to acquire one.

Stoneasel was his second choice, which was supposedly birthed in the heart of a mountain, or so the folklore claims. Ahote only tamed it to anger his grandfather, and it worked. However, he noticed the weasel had a crazy amount of luck, and it’d always find a treasure or escape. Even if it was highly unreliable and always caused mischief, it quickly became a staple of his team.

The last beast he tamed was with the help of his grandfather—after the old man got over his anger. It was a kelpie which was essentially a water horse. It wasn’t anything special on land, but it could be used as a horse, provided Ahote had enough water to keep it hydrated. In the water, other Beastlords claim it is like taking a shortcut through the water floors like a speed demon.

While lost in his thoughts, Nuk stopped. Man and beast crouched down, watching the scene before them. One animalistic trait all Beastlords gained was night vision. Ahote’s eyes flicked, gaining an unnatural glow, like that of a cat prowling at the edge of a campfire.

Based on what he could see, a makeshift camp had been tossed by two men. A woman was tied to a tree while the two men leered at her before ripping off her shirt. Her wrapped breasts were exposed, and even with the clothe tamping them down, Ahote swallowed hard at seeing their large size.

As valiant as she fought, Ahote could see that one of the two men had two stars lit up on his Shield. The girl was like him, new to the tower, but he hesitated to help her. His grandfather explicitly told him not to mess around on the first few floors and not get involved in affairs that had nothing to do with him.

Ahote intended to leave initially until the men became worst than beasts. No matter how cold he tried to be, this wasn’t something he could ignore. He withdrew a staff with metal end caps from his Shield and silently padded forward.

Ahote told Nuk to take the toughest one down with a glance and a gesture. Before the beast could reply or show him an indignant attitude, Ahote rushed forward. Barefoot, he didn’t even make a whisper of sound before his staff came crashing down.

Thunk!

The strength couldn’t have been said to be much, but Ahote saw the man’s skull deform. He hadn’t had fully adjusted to his strength after gaining his Shield. Not to mention how the process purified some of the beast’s blood in his veins, giving his Body a significant boost. The other thug couldn’t even react before Nuk bit him on the side and shook his head back and forth.

As much as he cried out and tried to attack, Nuk wasn’t phased. If the thug had looked closer, he’d have seen that the beast attacking him had gained bark armor. However, before the dog could even kill the man, the half-naked woman had already freed herself. Her body stepped forward with a spear and lunged forward while growling like a feral beast. Ahote, Nuk, and the thug were all stunned at her decisive movement, and their eyes roamed down to the spear stabbed through the thug’s heart.

“Shit,” the thug gasped.

“Who are you calling a bitch?” She spat on his dying corpse before her spear spun again and pointed at Ahote, who had moved no closer.

“Nuk, come.” The beast backed off and stood by his master. “Not your enemy, pretty lady,” Ahote said with a big toothy smile. This girl was pretty good, and he especially loved her freckled face.

“Who are you?”

“I am called Ahote of the Panthera Beastlords.”

“You don’t look like a cat.”

“Beast bloodlines are often suppressed by our ancestors until our bodies can withstand the metamorphosis. But honestly, the beast blood isn’t as powerful as my shaman blood, so it might not manifest all that much anyway. But watch.” Ahote exposed his mouth, which had oversized canines. It was natural to remain skeptical on that alone, so he jumped. His body rose over three meters before lightly settling back to the ground and not even making a single sound.

After some time, the woman withdrew her spear.

Ahote coughed and pointed toward her chest. “That, you might want to change.”

“Ahh!” the girl shouted and ran behind a tree.

“What’s your name?” Ahote called out.

“Aine, daughter of Maddox.”

“A druid?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Then we are allies. My people live with your people now. Uh, do you want to travel together?”

“S-sure,” Aine said after stepping out from behind the tree. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked adorable in Ahote’s eyes. The two of them packed up her camp and left the corpses behind as a meal for the beasts. It took some time to find a natural shelter and finish resting for the night.

“Sleep. Nukpana will warn us if anything approaches,” Ahote explained and settled down to catch a few more hours of sleep before the sun rose.