Akata made his way over to where Tabet was located. Tabet was smiling widely but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was obviously nervous about something. Akata knew what so he ignored it as he greeted him.

“Tabet! How are you?” Akata said casually.

“I’m great but more importantly how are you? You were injured after Alabasta went to far right? You must need some more rest. My father told me that you were resting yesterday so I didn’t disturb you yesterday. How are you feeling now?” Tabet asked, clearly he was really worried about Akata.

“I’m good I’m good haha. I just needed some rest that was all. I really didn’t get injured during my fights so some sleep helped me out a lot. I feel much better now.” Akata said.

“Good. It seems as if this gathering was made just for you. All of the beasts wanted to meet you but only the powerful tribes were allowed to. This just shows how important you are.” Tabet said slowly and meaningfully. “Listen you have to be careful during this gathering. There may be some dangerous situations going on.”

“Mn. I know.” Akata simply nodded his head and answered. It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried about the gathering, it was just that he was already as vigilant as he could be at the moment. He wasn’t even really focused on the conversation he was having with Tabet.

As he was standing there, Akata was continuously trying to merge his Shadowfeet ability and the Lunarsun Steps movement skill together. Although it was going at a slow rate since he wasn’t in meditation it was still a decent speed for him.

Tabet and Akata conversed back and forth until a little while later a familiar beast approached them. This was Pina who was one of the Gifted Beasts of this generation. She flew in with an aura of nobility and settled down in front of Tabet. She gave a side glance at Akata and then greeted the both of them.

“Tabet. Akata.” She said calmly before continuing. “It seems that this gathering was made for you, Akata. My Flying Dragon Snake Tribe is really interested in you and it seems like all the other tribes are as well.”

Akata had been hearing this same general line from everyone so he simply answered with a casual nod and smile. “Yeah, you’re right.” This reply somewhat displeased Pina so she paid no more attention to Akata as she focused on Tabet.

“Tabet it looks like you’ve grown in strength by a lot. You definitely deserve the top spot of the Gifted Beasts. You’ll be able to break through to the Beast Rank very soon.” Pina praised.

Tabet looked on and smiled as he said, “Thanks. You strength seems to have improved as well. It won’t be long before you break through as well.” Tabet kept the conversation simple and short. He wanted to make sure that nobody that could harm Akata was around.

Akata could see how Tabet wanted to get away from everyone and was secretly surprised by this. He knew that Tabet was kind but he didn’t know he would go so far as to even distance himself from others just to protect himself.

Pina sighed inwardly and thanked Tabet before leaving. She went to the other members of her tribe and waited for the gathering to begin.

A bit after that the Earthen Beast Tribe arrived at the courtyard, being escorted by members of the Scarlet Rune Tribe. Among this group were other powerful experts that caught Akata’s attention.There were some around the same level of strength as Tabet’s father and one that had the around the level of strength as Tabet’s grandfather.

Akata secretly took note of these figures and their locations. His nature sense was constantly roving around keeping track of the movements of every beast within the courtyard. The powerful expert on the level of strength Tabet’s grandfather went over to him. There, he greeted him and the Dragon Emperor Hymna.

The arrival of the Heaven Beast Monarch Goliath caught the attention of many. But another person that also caught the same amount of attention wasn’t Gorgon, but rather his father, Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo. Surprisingly, he was at the 10th Grade of the Beast Rank! Just a hair away from the Great Circle. It wouldn’t be long before he broke through to the Temporal Rank and at that time the Earthen Beast Tribe would be on a whole new level of power.

Soon after the Gatorapes arrival the Star Wolves appeared. The Star Sovereign walked in like a celestial being with her white astral fur. Her aura immediately catching the attention of the beasts. Next was her son and his wife who were at the 9th and 7th Grades of the Beast Rank respectively. Her son was the Duke Star Alpha. After those two was Young Star Alabasta.

The leaders of the tribes such as Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei, Duke Star Alpha, Earthen Beast Overlord Gingo, and Dragon King Wuna all congregated together discussing various things. Dragon King Wuna came from the Flying Dragon Snake Tribe and he was at the 9th Grade of the Beast Rank. Amongst them, Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei was the weakest with his strength still being at the 8th Grade.

The foundations of the tribes who were also known as the true leaders also gathered together. Golden Runic Lord Taple, Star Sovereign Allica, Heaven Beast Monarch Goliath, and Dragon Emperor Hymna stood on an altar above everyone so that they were in the view of all the beasts.

Akata had paid close attention to all of the beasts that had came in. But paid special attention to the powerful ones. He had come to notice each and every one of them take a look in his direction. All he did was smile in their direction.

When he smiled at Star Sovereign Allica however, his smile froze and cold sweat formed on his forehead. When his nature sense met with her body, he felt the ice cold killing intent come from her. It seeped down into his bones and made his body stiffen up. He didn’t recover until her gaze left him. Nobody else could feel that killing intent but others took notice of the exchange.

The first to notice was naturally Golden Runic Lord Taple who was paying close attention to the other true leaders as well. He quickly sent a mental message over to Star Sovereign Allica and asked her to come over. Because of that she stopped paying attention to Akata and looked away from him. In fact, her gaze only lasted for the time it takes a spark to fly yet to Akata it lasted for a long time.

Akata quickly recovered from his fear and spread his nature sense back out. That gaze had actually shattered apart his nature sense in an instant leaving him completely vulnerable. ‘Why am I even spreading this out? She was able to effortlessly break it apart with a simple quick look at me. Was she even trying to break it? Is this what the difference in strength can do?’ Even as he thought this he kept spreading it out. It was better to have some kind of protection than none at all.

The Gifted Beasts gathered together save for Tabet. Young Star Alabasta, Young Beast Heir Gorgon, and Dragon Princess Pina clustered together to talk about whatever. But as they talked they would occasionally cast a glance towards Akata and Tabet. It was hard to tell which one of the two they were looking at however, since they were so close together.

Tabet sneered and said, “Don’t pay them any attention Akata.”

Akata was silent for a moment before calmly speaking. “Tabet… it’s best if you don’t distance yourself too much from these beasts. They are apart of your tribe and you will have to spend your days with them in the future. I appreciate what you’re doing but also consider the repercussions.”

Tabet looked on with wide eyes and a shocked expression. He couldn’t disagree with what Akata was saying and knew where he was coming from with his words. He inwardly sighed and and said, “I know… I won’t go too far, just enough to make sure that you are alright.”

Akata nodded his head and smiled. Soon five minutes passed by and that was when Golden Runic Lord Taple spoke up with a booming voice that rocked the whole island.

“It is time for the gathering to start. Of course we will do more than just greet each other, we will also have ourselves a little competition that Akata will also participate in. I won’t say what that competition is but for now let us enjoy ourselves.” It was only then that the various beasts started to congregate together to get to know each other.

Although it was only four different beast races, these were the top four beast races of the whole Great Aka Tribe. Once they grew closer it would mean that the tribe as a whole would become much more powerful. This gathering would resolve differences between the top beast races and also solidify their bond.

The leaders of the four tribes even intermingled among the beasts. Only the foundations, aka the true leaders, stayed in their own group undisturbed by the various beasts. Akata even talked Tabet into going around and talk with other beasts. Of course he was only able to persuade him by saying that he would be there with him.