After finishing the food, Ethan stood up.
"It was nice talking to you again, Tiana."
He left enough coins on the table to cover both their orders and headed for the door. The beast tide information changed everything.
Three days wasn't much time.
Tiana's eyes followed him, sadness washing over her face. Her fingers fidgeted with her spoon, turning it over and over.
"Ethan... I miss you..." she whispered, too softly for him to hear.
Lin appeared to clear the table, glancing between Tiana and the door Ethan had just walked through.
"Friend of yours?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
Tiana managed a small smile. "Something like that. Once."
Outside, Ethan was feeling conflicted.
He could tell that the body he resided in wanted Tiana, he could tell there was lingering feelings. But still, Ethan did not act in a hurry.
'I need to understand this more deeply, I need to think about it more...'
Ethan sighed, smoke coming out of his mouth in the cold weather.
...
Outside, Ethan felt the original owner's emotions stirring. a pull toward Tiana that wasn't entirely his own. The body remembered her, wanted her.
'Complicated,' he thought, exhaling a cloud of vapor into the cold air. 'Need to think this through...'
He slapped his cheeks lightly.
'Focus.'
The beast tide wouldn't wait for him to sort out his predecessor's love life.
Hours later, Ethan stood on the city wall, Jack beside him as usual. The night sky stretched endlessly above them, stars glittering like distant cores.
"You look dead on your feet," Ethan commented, glancing at Jack's slightly drooping eyelids.
"Didn't sleep well. Too much thinking about those Silver-ranks."
"Want some coffee?" Ethan offered casually.
Jack's eyes brightened. "Oh, yes. You're a lifesaver."
...
Ethan handed him a steaming cup. "Careful, it's hot."
Jack gulped it down eagerly, unaware of the sleeping agent Ethan had mixed in. The drug was subtle but effective, fast-acting and metabolized before dawn.
"Good stuff," Jack murmured, already blinking heavily.
'Three... two... one...' Ethan counted silently.
Jack's chin dropped to his chest. Out cold.
Ethan waited two more minutes to confirm, then vaulted over the wall. Another night, another hunt. With the beast tide approaching, every core counted.
This time, he had specific targets in mind. If Silver-ranks were coming, he needed every edge he could get.
The forest welcomed him like an old friend as he activated his Enhanced Speed talent.
"Time to level up!"
...
Surprisingly, Ethan didn't have to search long before encountering his first beast, a Low-Iron beetle ambling through the underbrush.
The sight was unusual, he hadn't seen Low-Iron-ranked creatures before.
He dispatched it with a single strike, extracted its core, and moved on.
Within the hour, his kill count rose rapidly, four Mid-Iron beasts and five Low-Iron creatures, all seemingly wandering without purpose. Each fell to his Bronze-rank strength with minimal effort.
Ethan frowned as he extracted a core from his latest kill, a Mid-Iron boar that had barely put up a fight.
'Something's wrong,' Ethan thought, scanning the unusually active forest. 'Low-ranks shouldn't be this far out, and the increased number of beasts is concerning.'
He hesitated, weighing his options. The smart move would be heading back to the city walls.
'But these beasts are basically free cores walking around.' His practical side won out. 'They're not threatening yet. Might as well capitalize.'
Decision made, Ethan pushed deeper into the forest, each step taking him further from safety but closer to potential power.
Somewhere in the forest, hidden in a massive clearing, a large group of beasts gathered.
Hundreds of beasts stood in unnatural stillness, grouped by species and rank
And commanding them all—three Silver-rank beasts that shouldn't exist in the same territory, let alone cooperate.
The largest, a Silver serpent fifty feet long, raised its massive head. Its scales gleamed like liquid metal in the moonlight.
<Ferocius Beast: Silver Serpent>
<Rank: Mid-Silver>
<Poison Talent: D+ Grade>
Beside it, a massive gorilla with crystalline growths covering its body flexed enormous arms.
<Ferocius Beast: Crystal Ape>
<Rank: Mid-Silver>
<Crystal Hardening Talent: D+ Grade>
The third was a six-legged panther.
<Ferocius Beast: Panther>
<Rank: Mid-Silver>
<Speed Talent: D+ Grade>
The lesser beasts stirred, sensing the orders being passed among their leaders. Hunger. Anticipation. The promise of a feast unlike anything they'd experienced in generations.
The city walls might as well have been paper.
Oblivious to the gathering apocalypse, Ethan kept heading deeper into the forest.