(A/N: I was actually in the middle of writing the chapter in a draft but apparently the site had logged me out and removed a nearly completed chapter.)

Kai was running whilst trying to find a den.

"Still, the outskirts sure are peaceful."

The Inner Circle had two parts, the outskirts and the dead zone. The dead zone was the home of beast kings and their subjects; the outskirts were mostly filled with mob-class and a few fighter-class beasts.

"Still, what is a beast king doing in the outskirts? It shouldn't have much time to separate itself from its territory."

And at that moment, Kai had found a den of Wolfen. But, it only had a couple of Wolfen inside.

"Eh? Why is the den empty? No Wolfen should be hunting for food at this time..."

Kai put his hand to his mouth and began to think of possibilities.

"Perhaps danger had struck this place before me?"

But, that seemed very unlikely. Each Wolfen is peaceful with one another, they followed the rule of the strength of the wolf is the pack.

If majority of the outskirts are inhabited by Wolfen and Scarlet Ant Primates, that would make it very difficult for other beasts to attack the dens unnoticed. Kai had only managed to attack the dens because he could sneak, perhaps a beast similar to the Shadow Panthers can do it but a den consisted of more than twenty Wolfen. Unlike dens of Earth, Wolfen in this world consisted of more members in a pack.

A normal fighter-class beast would get killed the moment it stepped into a den. Quantity over quality is the way that Wolfen fight, that's why Kai could hit them all just once and they'd die. But their attack power and skill wasn't to be underestimated.

If a beast king decided to wage war on another territory; there were sure to be many Wolfen in their force, even though Wolfen are only mob-class beasts; their numbers weren't to be underestimated.

Kai decided to skip the den and head straight; he wanted to find the source. Unexpectedly, it was right there. Kai had only traveled for a few minutes yet already encountered the pack of Wolfen.

"Hm? That is..."

Kai opened his eyes wide when he saw it. It was an Inferno Tiger but...

"Why's it so small?"

It wasn't at all like the Inferno Tiger that he saw.

"Could it be... a cub?"

The Wolfen were surrounding the cub yet made no move to attack. It was as if they were sizing up the enemy.

The cub let out a tiny roar at the surrounding Wolfen.

"They don't seem to have any intent of harming it."

Kai jumped into the surrounding Wolfen and stood next to the Inferno Tiger cub.

The Wolfen didn't seem to want to attack but had nevertheless made defensive positions. When Kai had arrived, the Wolfen suddenly began to snarl; looks like they were quite threatened.

It would be nice to have this tiger as a pet before it grows. I could have a beast king by my side...

Kai had a big grin on his face as he looked at the tiger.

"Alright! I'll get you out of here!"

Kai retrieved Superbia from his pendant and an [Ice Blade] manifested from his left hand.

"Come at me!"

The Wolfen listened to his provocations and charged.

There were five of them who had charged from different directions and the rest of the Wolfen had opened up their mouths.

"Fire types?"

Kai furrowed his brows as he looked at the red patterns on the side of their fur.

"Guess my ice attribute is at a disadvantage."

Kai released the [Ice Blade] as it broke into many fragments and placed both his hands on Superbia.

At that time, the Five Wolfen had already arrived.

They all attacked from above and slashed down at Kai.

"Too easy!"

But with a mere spin, Kai sent all of the Wolfen flying. He was significantly stronger than before but strangely; his body wouldn't grow stronger. He knew that he had not reached his potential but maybe there was a limit to how much a child's body can grow? He had yet to find out.

He had finally learned how to fully use the body of C-class, he just had to remove the belief that he still had the same body as before. He realized this during battle with a few fighter-class beasts.

The rest of the Wolfen fired horizontal pillars of flame from their mouths.

"Thirteen left."

Kai stomped the floor and [Ice Wall] came up, though fire could destroy ice if it was hot enough, ice that's cold enough would be able to stop fire. He didn't choose to use [Ice Blade] as it was a thin blade of ice and would just melt at the heat. But [Ice Wall] was a thick wall, it wasn't that easy to pierce.

A couple of Wolfen leaped out and tried to jump over but...

"[Spiked Wall]."

Spikes of ice suddenly appeared from the wall and stabbed through them.

After the barrage of flames stopped, Kai made the wall smaller to protect the cub and then made a hole for him to go through.

"Haaa!"

Kai charged out with Superbia, he made it lighter so that he could swing it faster.

"There!"

Kai stopped his dash directly in front of a Wolfen and slashed upwards.

The Wolfen let out a single groan of pain before dying.

Kai then faced the left and kicked the next one into the one after.

He then turned around as his index finger faced the Wolfen.

"[Dark Railgun]!"

The Wolfen released another breath of flame but it was easily pierced by [Dark Railgun] and stabbed straight through the Wolfen.

Kai leaped to the side and evaded another breath of flame.

"You guys sure are persistent!"

Kai lifted Superbia and slashed the breath of flame apart.

"Take this!"

Kai spun and threw Superbia to the Wolfen who had just let out a breath. He had lightened it to spin it around and made the weight so heavy that it would crush the Wolfen when it hits.

Before Kai could confirm the hit, he turned around with his palm facing a Wolfen.

"[Icicles]!"

This move wasn't effective but it was certainly one of Kai's fastest spells, he had used this to move to stop the Wolfen from releasing a breath.

The other Wolfen realized that using a breath was futile and charged forward.

Though a person who experienced a slaughter like this would undoubtedly run; it showed that untamed beasts were still beasts.

Kai easily defeat the rest of the Wolfen and went back to the cub. It was a baby Inferno Tiger, if a full-grown Inferno Tiger was A-class, a baby Inferno Tiger would be at least C-class. That would mean that a disaster-class beast would often have an offspring only a couple levels lower than them.

If this cub had fought back, it definitely would have killed the Wolfen. But, it was only a cub and had no real battle experience.

"I guess it got lost and the Inferno Tiger was here looking for it?"

Kai put his hand to his chin but was knocked out of his thoughts when he saw the cub's eyes shining.

"Hm?"

Kai followed the cub's line of sight and immediately froze.

Behind him was the Inferno Tiger. It was taller than him and looked like it could tear Kai apart any second.

"..."

Kai stared at the tiger and forgot to even breathe.

"Human, speak. What were you doing with my child?!"

It sounded like a rough female's voice.

Of course, that put Kai's soul back into his body.

"Wait! I can explain, I saved your child from Wolfen!"

The Inferno Tiger's eyes were still cold but it traveled towards the cub.

"It doesn't appear that you're telling a lie. Very well, I'll give you a chance to decide how you die. By getting killed instantly by my claws or get torn apart limb from limb."

Kai's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. The Inferno Tiger was scary enough yet it had also made a threat.

But unexpectedly, the cub stood up for him. It had jumped between Kai and the Inferno Tiger and let out a small roar.

"Human, I don't know what sorcery you've used but you've managed to ensnare my child! I'll tear you apart limb from limb!"

"Wait!"

Kai instantly wielded Superbia, [Ice Blade], [Compact Ice Shield], [Armor of the Frost Giants], and summoned an [Ice Wall].

The Inferno Tiger's paw smashed down and broke through everything as if it was glass and sent Kai flying. He hit a nearby tree and spat out blood.

"Hoooh, you managed to live."

The hit had struck his chest, the armor that he wore was broken from the impact, his arm was dislocated, and the helmet was already half broken.

Blood was flowing out of his mouth and his eyes were staring blankly forward.

The Inferno Tiger walked towards Kai to deliver the final blow.

Am... I going to die like this? What use is my talent if I'm going to die early? This world is so unfair, giving me hope just to shatter it all.

Kai let out a bitter smile and closed his eyes as he resigned himself to death.

But, something inside him refused to give up. It was his blood; it was in turmoil as if it was trying to burst out of Kai's body.

"Guh...!"

Kai let out a groan and gripped his chest. The Inferno Tiger stopped moving and looked at Kai.

"Hmm? What is this..."

The Inferno Tiger was dumbstruck but was woken up when there was a bite that latched onto its leg.

The cub was trying to protect Kai.

"Alright, fine kid. I'll spare you today in account for you saving my son. Also, that bloodline that your body holds is special. You better make sure it won't fall into the wrong hands."

The Inferno Tiger turned around and was about to leave.

"Ah, and I don't want you to destroy my territory so I'll heal you just to make sure you don't die and run rampant. Being the ruler of the outskirts is quite the heavy role even among beast kings."

The Inferno Tiger breathed out some air and a red wind flowed from its mouth into the holes on Kai's face.

"Also, if you encounter any other beast king, give them my name; tell them you're under my protection. I'm quite interested in this bloodline of yours after all. And if they refuse to believe you, tell them my name, Avel."

Avel lifted the cub into its jaws and walked away; leaving Kai half-dead. But, Kai was conscious and heard everything that Avel had said.

Slowly after Avel left, Kai's consciousness faded.

==========

Kuroshi Clan, Yoko's Home.

Yoko was in her backyard training, it was already late at night and she would definitely have to stop soon if she wanted to fight in top shape tomorrow.

There was a wooden dummy for training; Yoko's palm faced the dummy.

"[Shadow Ball]."

The dummy was blown apart and Yoko clenched her fist.

"I hope this is enough."

With that, her training finished and she retired for the night.

Kuroshi Clan, Akane's Home.

Akane was in her bed instead of training, resting would benefit her more than training as she was still fatigued from her earlier fights.

"Kai, please be safe. We'll definitely win against that man in the finals; we'll tell you all about our victory once you return."

Akane clenched her fists and continued to stare at the ceiling, and with that; the nights of the three of them were finished.