Kapitel 16: The Marshlands

Kai woke up the next morning to an extremely pungent smell.

Walking out of his room, he held his hand to his nose as he tried to keep from gagging.

"What the hell is that smell?" Kai said aloud, even though he was only trying to think it. The smell was that shocking for him.

He found Shuzen at the door of the carriage laughing at Kai's complaint. Keeping his eyes peeled at the surroundings, he said, "The air surrounding us is going to become very musky, elf. We're entering the Bès Rap's land now. The further we go, the worse it's going to be. Even with my affinity for poisons, the stench might overwhelm me."

Kai blinked as his vision was already doubling and his mind grew woozy.

'And it's going to get worse? I'm going to be incapacitated before the battle even begins?'

Unwilling to accept that, Kai thought about everything he knew about the Bès Rap. Namely, what created its smell and how to survive it.

'Its smell alone has killed many hunters. Uh, it uses the smell to paralyze its prey before killing them. The smell doesn't come from the beast itself, but it's... shit. Yeah, I remember now.'

Now that he remembered where the smell came from, he realized that information didn't help him much at all. He was still woozy and it was just going to get worse.

Its source didn't matter as much as a way to actually nullify it. Who cares if you know where shit is if you still smell it.

'Well, a Juma has a similar stench just on a much more minor scale. Maybe it would act as a sort of buffer. However, there is a big problem.'

As he reached out for the voice from before, and the strange screen it had created, he pursed his lips slightly. Shuzen was busy staring for attackers, but Kai still made a conscious effort not to make his disappointment too visible.

It would be best if the restraints and gifts of his new spell remained a secret. As much as possible, anyway.

The voice called out from what felt like an abyss, startling Kai. Even though he had just made a promise to himself not to show any outward tale, he already failed.

Scolding himself internally, he responded 'Yeah. How can I unlock the Juma's traits and abilities?'

<Oh, that's easy. You just have to corrupt it even further.>

'Corrupt it even further? What does that mean?'

<Well, it is fighting against your control even now. You can't use your SSS skill anymore as you've already surpassed the baseline of corruption, that is: binding its mind, body, and even soul to your rule. But that's just the start. You also have to use the beast, and consistently show your dominance over it by winning battles and killing enemies. I've streamlined this process in the form of levels to make it easier for you to understand.>

'I think I understand. I have to use the Juma to win battles, and if I do that I'll get stronger. And this general rule should apply to other beasts I dominate.'

<Precisely!>

The voice sounded almost beyond excited at Kai's easy understanding.

'But then that implies that I have some capability to use the Juma's soul, even though I haven't unlocked any of its abilities or traits.'

'Yes, that would be helpful. Though what did you say? System? Hmm. Would that be similar to a tamer's card?'

If a tamer wanted, they could get a local appraising house to not only rank their abilities and beasts, but also their physical traits, intelligence, and beast limit. Or, if they attended an academy, after graduating they would obtain such a card as well.

Kai stared in awe as a screen flashed in front of him, similar to the one before with the Juma. Even though the design was foreign to him, he easily understood the information it conveyed.

<Strength: 15 (+10 with Juma)= 25>

<Dexterity: 30>

<Intelligence: 45>

<Health: 60/60>

<Energy: infinite (thanks to Jideva)>

'Infinite? Thanks to Jideva?' Kai thought, already putting together the implications.

He was no longer scorned by the divines. In fact, it appeared to be the exact opposite.

Also, in terms of potential, he was now stronger than the entire history of beast tamers throughout all of history.

Even his dad and his brother, who were near the pinnacle, could only tame around 100,000 beast souls in total. Afterwards, their control would be far too weak and the beasts would claim their souls.

But if this voice was to be believed... if this 'system' it showed was accurate, then...

'I could rule everything.'

<Yes.>

With the voice's approval, Kai began thinking through all the possibilities, his eyes betraying his inner excitement.

'I could free all the slaves, I could save everyone who would suffer the same fate as me. Those who would be betrayed by their own family, I'd save them. Then I'd kill the ones who betray. The ones who enslave. The ones who think they can decide another's fate. I'll be the source of all freedom in existence...'

Smiling, Kai thought, 'Thanks. By the way, I still don't know your name. Don't make me call you after your designs, 'system.' Bleh. Already you're much more than that for me.'

<I- I honestly don't know, Kai. I'm sorry, but the divines have never thought to give me a name.>

'Then how does Anhita sound?'

<A- a name!? How sublime! I- I mean it sounds wonderful, extraordinaire! THANKS!>

Even though the voice, Anhita, did its best to hide its excitement, it very clearly failed. Kai didn't mind, though. He was not as snobbish as the divines.

Instead, he smiled as he said "You're welcome."

"What are you talking about, boy? Were you even listening?" Shuzen said accusingly, though judging by his more casual tone Kai thought he only noticed the tail end of the conversation.

He probably wasn't suspicious of something like Anhita existing.

Walking up to Shuzen, mysteriously no longer as crippled by the pungent smell of the Bès Rap dung, he smiled as he said, "Yeah, I heard. People are approaching and you asked if I could sense them. I said you're welcome because I could. There's 2 coming from the west and 2 from the east."

Shuzen nodded at Kai, knowing that what he said was true. After all, Shuzen sensed the 4 hunters attempting to steal their kill as well.

However, he couldn't tell their direction.

'So how did you do that, boy?'

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