Forgotten One

"CLANG CLANG CLANG"

Lei Shu finally awoke and began to move. "I can feel myself getting stronger and closer to the second stage of body tempering. The only thing is that every time I breakthrough there are only more chains to break. They not only increase in number, but they become extremely hard to break. Every time I advance, I'll need to devour more beasts, hopefully, I don't run out."

Billa stretched out his hind legs and walked up to Lei Shu. He received a few head pats and sat down and waited for Lei Shu to move. Lei Shu looked at the mountain in awe, he really was incomparably tiny. On Earth, he always knew he was a tiny speck in the universe. A meaningless speck, anything he did wouldn't have an impact on a universal level. He was stuck in a society always remained the same. He hated that feeling of never changing, living every day the same as the last. He focused on the jagged and rocky mountain and determination filled his entire being.

The poison chamber was now gone so Billa had to climb his way to the top. Lei Shu's eyes widened to the brink. He knew that Bill was fast, but he didn't know that he was nimble and agile. Billa was scaling the mountain, one jump at a time. He landed gracefully, the rocks never pricked his paws, there was no bloodshed. Billa made it about halfway up the mountain when it stopped and looked down. Lei Shu finally realized that Billa was waiting for him to come up the mountain as well.

Lei Shu walked around the mountain and looked for the best method of entry. He found a small man-made trail and the left side of the mountain; it was hidden behind a giant boulder. He began following the pathway, it was quite crooked and dangerous.

The act of falling wasn't too dangerous but obviously he didn't want to fall. He wouldn't die but he would break a few bones.

When Lei Shu made it up halfway, the trail immediately stopped. He was now standing near Billa but the trail was now broken. Only sharp protrusions were in front of him now. He looked up and the peak wasn't too far. He took his dagger out and stabbed it into the side of the mountain, Billa was a bit higher and he dropped the bone in its mouth for Lei Shu to catch.

With one hand clenching the hilt of the dagger and his other hand grasping nothing but air, hr was dangling off the side of the mountain.

"NOW"

Lei Shu took his free hand and made a grasping motion. He caught onto the bone Billa dropped. He took the bone and jammed it into the side of the mountain. He remembered watching mountain climbers use picks to climb mountains. They would slowly, one by one take their picks and thrust them into the mountain. Every thrust was higher than the last and they kept climbing until they scaled the mountain and reached the top.

Lei Shu didn't have any picks, only a bone, and a dagger. He didn't care, he must make do with what he has, no point in stressing. Lei Shu focused on each movement, he thrust each piece into the mountain and slowly moved up. This was incredibly difficult because the bone was not shaped. His hands kept slipping from the sweat coming from his palms.

He could now see the top, he could jump with all his might and reach the top, but he didn't have anything to jump from. He smashed the bone into the mountain once more but this time he actually hit an incredibly dense material. His bone wasn't able to pierce it and the backlash blew his hand back.

He was now, once again, dangling off the side of the mountain. He could smell the feast above him, a feast for him. He took bone that was dangling in the air and reached downwards and stabbed it into the mountain as a last-ditch effort. The bone cut through the mountain like butter and slid right in. Lei Shu swung himself while holding onto his dagger, he finally gained a bit of momentum and landed directly on the bone with one foot.

One leg in the air. One hand in the air. One hand holding the dagger in the mountain. The other leg standing on top of a beast bone. If someone saw Lei Shu right now, they would burst out into laughter. He looked like he belonged in the circus the way he was contorting his body.

He placed both his feet on the bone and in the same instant he removed the dagger from the side of the mountain. He ripped it out of the mountain, bent down and launched it into the mountain.

He had placed it beside the bone in the mountain. He could now stand freely, and he could now jump.

Lei Shu bent down a bit and the muscles on his legs began to bulge slightly. He could see the cliff in sight, and he could practically reach it with a small jump. He didn't want to take any chances. Once he stopped lowering his body, he looked upwards. With a gust of wind, he launched himself up into the air.

When Billa saw this his heart calmed. He looked forward and gracefully jumped onto the top of the cliff. If he wanted to, he could have reached the top much faster. Billa chose to remain with Lei Shu until the end, although he was confident in his comrade, he was slightly worried as well.

Lei Shu was finally at the top of the mountain. His face had beads of sweat sitting on it.

"Took you long enough, what held you up for so long. Don't tell me a mere mountain is capable of defeating my disciple, hahaha." Mo Fen walked towards Lei Shu and helped him to his feet.

Lei Shu laughed right back, "This mountain is so large, I am but an ant compared to it."

Lei Shu went back to the edge of the mountain and looked over the edge. He was looking for his trusty dagger and also Billa's bone. At the base of the mountain, Lei Shu could see broken pieces of bones riddle the ground. He looked embarrassedly back at Billa. Billa gave her bone up to help Lei Shu and he shattered it under his power, the same with his dagger. Both became unusable.

Billa looked a bit sad but he came over and comforted Lei Shu, it wasn't too big of a deal.

And if Lei Shu kept growing, that only meant bigger and better bones for Billa to play with. Mo Fen looked weirdly at Lei Shu. "How long have you known this wolf for? He seems awfully close to you and you guys seem to be able to understand each other without any techniques."

Lei Shu spoke, "I found him back during the trial. However, when our eyes met, we were immediately drawn to each other. I could see a bit of myself in him and I hope he saw the same in me. Umm, what techniques were you talking about? I think me and Billa just have a natural connection."

A gentle old voice came out, "There are various techniques that encompass the Dao. The one between beasts and man are called beast taming techniques. Beast Tamers are the ones who are proficient in these techniques. You can see Beast Practitioners, Beast Tamers, Beast Kings, and Beast Masters."

"How do any of these titles differ, if you list them, I will only know of their name and not their capabilities."

"Oh, you seem quite interested" Mo Fen asked.

Lei Shu reminisced about Earth and thought of a saying. "Master, knowledge is power. The more I know the better, I can better prepare myself and nothing will stifle me in my travels."

"Mhmmm" Mo Fen was quite pleased with his disciple's answer. "If you really want to know the ranks, I can give you a bit of information. A beast practitioner is one who has just begun his path in beast techniques. He has to learn the basics before he even implements techniques. Beast practitioners must condition their heart, they must be able to feel the feelings of other beasts. They have to learn how to feel and how to see. They must feel the heart of a beast and also maintain their own. They must brush their fears away. They must also study up on how to judge certain reactions of certain beasts and what they mean. They need to know at least the beasts in their town and the surrounding areas."

"Next we move onto Beast Tamers. They are one level above practitioners. After steadying their hearts and learning about the beasts in the area, they will move onto techniques. At this point they will be permitted to learn the basic techniques. They can lure beasts within their realm of power. They can also place a master-servant imprint on the soul of the beast. This is often done when they are young, not too powerful and easily subdued due to their naivety. This imprint is used when a house pet is needed or when a personal steed is given to someone. If a beast has gone into a state of anger, the Beast Tamer could potentially lull it back to sleep. The Beast Tamer could also bring it back to a state of calm. Depending on the beast, its convictions, its power, and a few other things, the Beast Tamer may succeed or end up devoured."

"Master can you speed up a bit, my ears are going to rot and fall off before you finish" Lei Shu joked.

Mo Fen just gave him a sideways glance and continued on with his description.

"Now we're on to the Beast Kings. There are few who can call themselves Beast Kings and back it up. A beast King can successfully lull a beast to sleep or remove its anger every single time. If the beast was at the peak of its realm and the Beast King was at the bottom of the same realm, he would still succeed. If the beast was weaker than his realm he would succeed and if the beast was an entire greater realm ahead of him in power, he only had a 30% chance to succeed. If the beast was stronger than that, his chances would lower exponentially. Beast Kings have gained mastery over at least 3 techniques in the way of Beast Taming. Most masters have trained in 1 or 2 basic techniques and 1 grand technique. For basic techniques, they could master the master-slave imprint and the beast luring/lulling technique. For their grand technique, their individual power greatly explodes and soars to an unprecedented level. The most powerful Beast Kings will use a technique to link 1 beast of their choosing to their own body. If the beast dies, the Beast King will also die. The only issue is that you can only link with 1 beast as long as you live. If they choose a beast early on, they may regret it as they could have found a stronger beast later on. The Beast King will merge with its beast, inheriting its abilities and a bit of its appearance. His strength will crazily increase as a result. Due to this, Beast Kings are highly valued in an empire. The empire would try their best to curry favor with the Beast King."

"Lastly, the Beast Masters. Beast Masters are beings that you can find written in old scrolls. They are legendary existences; they stand at the pinnacle of Beast Taming and they are overwhelmingly powerful. They have the abilities of Beast Kings and even more. Beast Masters have mastery over at least 5 techniques. Also, at least 2 have to be grand techniques. Beast Masters are very lofty and imperial in position. Not many know of them but the ones who do would fall to their knees and pray for one to grace their kingdom. They have the ability to physically and mentally communicate with beasts. They can stand side by side with beasts, there is no need to place a master-servant imprint. It is said that if their trust and heart align with their soul linked beast when they merge, the Beast Masters entire body will undergo a transformation. Their appearance completely changing, with this the man and beast become one, and an unstoppable power is born."