Ethan wiped the sweat from his brow for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
The scorching yellow sky of the Rocky Plains hung overhead like a curse that refused to lift. Heat radiated off the cracked stone ground, distorting the air in shimmering waves. Jagged rocks littered the terrain in every direction, and the constant dryness scratched at his throat.
At this point, Ethan was honestly just sick of the place.
He exhaled slowly, resting his hands on his knees as he stared across the endless grey-brown landscape.
"Alright…" he muttered to himself. "I think I've had enough of this floor."
And surprisingly… he meant it.
Despite only spending 24 hours here, Ethan could feel it clearly - he and his beasts had grown stronger. Strong enough that, as crazy as it sounded, he was beginning to think he might actually be ready to challenge the Boss Beast of Floor One.
His eyes narrowed as he looked around the barren plains.
"I swear if I have to kill one more rock worm…"
The Rocky Plains weren't exactly diverse.
After exploring a good portion of the floor, Ethan confirmed that there were only three types of Common Beasts and three types of Elite Beasts.
And by now, he had fought all of them.
Ethan had grown very familiar with the Common Beasts, especially the Lithoserpent Larvae.
He smirked slightly.
"I've basically become a professional worm exterminator."
Then there were the Gravetail Scalers and the Stoneback Pikas, which had also become easier to kill at this point.
The same couldn't be said for the Elite Beasts, whose abilities were dangerously close to D-Rank strength.
Those monsters that ruled small territories across the plains were never simple to kill. Unlike the Common Beasts that roamed everywhere, these creatures claimed their own hunting grounds.
Shardback Ravagers, the quadrupedal beasts covered in jagged stone plating and crystalline spikes that could fire razor-like shards, always gave Ethan a hard time.
Dunestride Reavers, the sleek, long-limbed predators built for terrifying speed and deadly ambushes, weren't much easier either.
The third Elite Beast was the aerial predator Ethan had managed to claim for himself, the Skyrend Hawk. Interestingly, despite roaming a huge portion of the Rocky Plains since then, Ethan had never encountered another one.
"Guess you're rare, huh?" he muttered, glancing up at the sky as Talon circled.
At this point, Ethan understood the ecosystem of the Rocky Plains fairly well.
But the system had made it clear.
He wasn't going anywhere until he defeated the Boss Beast of Floor One.
Only then would he be allowed to ascend to the next floor of the Tower Of Beasts, which he was sure wouldn't be any more pleasant than here.
Ethan crossed his arms.
"Well… that's annoying."
Still, he wasn't too worried.
Floor One was an E Tier floor, meaning the boss should only be of the rank above. And if the floors followed a consistent format, then Floor Two would likely have different beasts and terrain, but roughly the same difficulty.
And honestly? Ethan just wanted to move on and progress as quickly as possible.
"Let's find this boss."
His eyes lit up slightly.
"And I've got the perfect way to do it."
Beast Link.
The new skill he had unlocked.
As the system had mentioned, the Boss Beast usually resided near the centre of the floor. Unlike Floor Zero, which seemed to stretch endlessly, this place clearly had boundaries.
Ethan hadn't reached them yet, but he had a rough idea of the layout.
In the far distance, he could faintly see massive mountain ranges forming natural barriers.
"Which means the centre is somewhere in that direction," he mumbled to himself as he got his bearings.
Now, if he were inside Talon's body, finding it would be easy.
He imagined it: soaring high through the sky, sharing the hawk's incredible vision, and scanning the entire floor from above.
"With those eyes… you could probably map this entire place in less than an hour."
Compared to wandering around on foot for days, it would be ridiculously efficient.
But there was one problem.
Ethan scratched the back of his head.
"How the hell do I convince Talon to cooperate?"
The hawk was prideful to the core.
And how would he even communicate with it while using Beast Link?
"Hmmmmm."
Ethan gave it some thought before whistling and calling over the Skyrend Hawk he had summoned not long prior.
Talon lingered in the air before eventually swooping down in a blur and perching on a rock before him.
"So, Talon, I need you to find the Boss Beast."
Ethan spoke slowly and used his hands to try to create an image of a large, scary beast.
"You will fly, and I will be watching from inside you."
He couldn't tell if it was understanding, but he was certain it hadn't liked it when he had used Beast Link the first time.
Before he could confirm or explain further, the hawk burst up into the air and was off in the distance.
'I'm not sure if it understood or if Beast Link has a restricted range, but fuck it.'
Without overthinking it, Ethan summoned Wolfy by his side to protect him again, then sat on the ground and activated the skill again.
'Beast Link: Talon.'
In an instant, his consciousness was flung into Talon's body, and everything changed. He could feel everything his beast felt, from the flapping of its wings to the wind on its face.
But most importantly, he could see what it could see.
Ethan was lost in the moment as his Skyrend Hawk blitzed through the air and scoured the Rocky Plains.
'So it did understand.'
He spotted some Common Beasts and even an Elite Beast, but there was nothing that screamed "Boss Beast."
There was no central structure or secret lair to explore, or even a large habitat of some sort.
But it wasn't long before both his summoned suddenly dematerialised.
The link snapped, and Ethan's consciousness was violently yanked back into his own body.
His eyes shot open.
"For fuck's sake.'
The moment he returned, exhaustion slammed into him like a truck.
He went from his drained body to the body of his summoned beast, and back.
His muscles screamed, his throat burned with dehydration, and a brutal headache pulsed behind his eyes.
He collapsed onto a rock, clutching his head.
"Ah… shit…"
A System prompt appeared in front of him, but he didn't even need to read it.
"I ran out of MP… didn't I?"
It was to be expected, even with his improved reserves, that maintaining two summons and using the Beast Link skill took it out of him. Especially in his condition, after spending just over 12 hours in this place.
Even though he hadn't spent long inside Talon's body, the mental strain was brutal.
"I guess Beast Link fries your brain way more than Assimilation…"
Rubbing his temples, Ethan groaned as he got up to his feet.
"Screw it, let's find the boss beast tomorrow."
He had already reached the limit of time he had decided he had spent in the tower each day. Twelve hours was somewhat safe and manageable, and the next time he returned, his condition would be reset.
As such, he pulled up the System Interface.
{Exit the Tower}
Ethan pressed it, and the world instantly shifted.
He was back in his room, and he immediately got up and stretched. His body was a little sore from the intense exercises he had done the previous day, but not nearly as much as it should have been.
He frowned slightly.
"…That's weird."
Then he smirked.
"Guess being the Lord Of Beasts comes with some perks."
Still, there was no time to relax, and he was back to his insane routine.
Training, draining his MP, recovering, then repeating.
Mark had tried talking to him a few times throughout the day, but Ethan had barely interacted with him beyond grabbing food.
"Thanks for the grub, man," Ethan said while shovelling down another meal.
Mark stared at him.
"At this rate, you'll eat this place into bankruptcy."
"I'll pay you back later, promise."
"Uh-huh…"
And then Ethan was gone again, straight back to it.
The moment the Tower Token reset, he was already lying on his bed and ready to return.
{Enter The Tower}
To anyone watching, he looked peacefully asleep, but he was far from it...
Ethan was heading straight for the Boss Beast of Floor One, wherever it was.
"This will be my last time on this floor, one way or another."