As a matter of fact, he had the same gift as Leo, but never in his wildest imagination could he think it could be used like that, as the matter was linked to how the two perceive the beasts and this whole forest.
For Leo, the Eternal Forest is a completely shut dimension with some unique links to other dimensions. But for the clan, according to the records, it exists like a reflection of the primordial part of nature, and every beast or creature here represents another in the main dimension.
This was where Leo proved them wrong: the clan may have a way and be very close to it, and their power may have something to do with it, but it is completely unrelated to these creatures, or else taming them is virtually impossible.
"Leo, how about you have them go back to the forest?" Banri said, breaking the silence.
"Oh, sure." Whistling, all the beasts started to disperse, but some did not, confusing the others.
"What are you waiting for?" Leo asked, looking at Banri, who was confused for a second.
Soon, Banri realized what he meant. "That's what you meant by the killing intent." He had his hypothesis before, but now it came true.
"Yup. I don't know how you used to think about the beasts here, but they are strength-worshipers on a primal level. With the biggest fist rules, and most of them are territorial ones, so..." Leo said, pointing at Banri.
"So, beat them into submission, and you have tamed them?" Banri confirmed, now looking at the group of over sixty, which were almost all in the medium-high level.
"Most of the time. As long as no killing intent was shown, they take it as a challenge, or else you start to play hunter and prey," Leo nodded with a shrug.
Soon, Banri noticed some kind of connection. Noticing this, he looked at Leo.
"Has this taming process had any effect on us?" he asked Leo, causing him to be surprised.
"Wait, you have the... Beast Lord ability?!" Leo asked excitedly, as he honestly thought it was unique to him.
"The what? You mean King's Presence?" Banri said as he looked at him. "So I was right, you have it too?"
"Yup. Now, try to ask them something," Leo said mischievously, pointing at the beast.
With an eyebrow raised, Banri looked at Leo, giving him a 'go on' face.
"You, come here," Banri asked the Cheetah in front. It came closer, wagging its tail like an excited cat. "Why are you guys here? Was it a reaction to his aura?" Banri asked, in a humorous attempt.
*Growl**
"Eh, that... did I just perceive its intention?" Looking at Leo for a second and going back to the Cheetah, "So, you said running, right? From who?" he asked.
*Growl** (Strong ones?) And this time, he perceived it crystal clear.
"You mean you ran in this direction because something was after you?" Banri asked, looking at Leo, who was nodding at him with a funny look, while the guards gave him weird faces.
"What?" he asked, causing Leo to explode in laughter. "No, sorry. It's just I know what's going on, as I perceive them, but from here, you look like an old wacko."
Sighing at him with a shake of the head, Banri got back to the Cheetah, but before he could ask anymore, a sharp eagle cry followed soon after by a wolf howl came up.
"I guess that's what you were running from?" Banri asked, not waiting for an answer.
*Growl** (Duh!) And surprisingly, the answer came.
"So, I guess we have a boss in the house," Leo asked, looking up at the sky before looking at his grandfather. "They're probably around Level 20 somthing? I'll take the bird, you take the puppy."
"You think you can manage? You may be a higher level, but you're not that used to aerial fights."
"Yup, that's true, but I can manage," Leo answered, summoning his wings and taking flight, flaring his aura to gain the attention above.
"The youngsters these days..." With a sigh, he looked at the spear leader. "Look after him."
Nodding, the leader stab his spear on the ground. his arms changed to wings, and his legs took on an eagle's claw form before he took to the sky.
Back to Leo..............
Floating in mid-air, he could hear the breaking wind not far. Soon, a Hawk came into his view. The surprising part was that it wasn't giant, as Leo expected. No, it was just a little over two meters from beak to the end of its tail, but its wings were another thing completely. The wingspan was six to seven meters, far more than the natural ratio.
And more so, it started to float in front of Leo for seconds before letting out a cry that sounded like a challenge. Rising up in seconds, taking the higher altitude advantage, Leo was right behind it. After getting closer to the clouds, it flipped back, coming down right at Leo in almost supersonic speed.
Thanks to his high reflexes, he guarded against the attack, but on contact, the Hawk broke the sound barrier, sending him flying.
The moment he recovered, he heard a breaking voice. On instinct, he used the Flash Step to shift a couple of meters away, even though his right arm got a gash on his forearm.
"Hehe. Supersonic attack. Seeing it in a video and being against it are two different stories," After a small chuckle, Leo looked at his arm before his blood froze as the wound started to disappear.
"Now this is something to try," With an excited smirk, he gave a strong beat to his wings and started to ascend neck to neck along the eagle for the altitude advantage.
They engaged in close combat, with the Hawk trying to claw at Leo and him deflecting or slipping away.
Soon, they found themselves close enough to the clouds, but Leo surprisingly chose to fold his wings and start to dive. Not understanding the situation, the Hawk dove right after him with claws ready.
The moment the Hawk was about to land a hit, Leo smirked and stepped in the air right in time to dodge. But this time, he stabbed at the eye of the Hawk.
the latter didn't flinch. Instead, it tilted its wing, and its position changed in a blink-like movement, and at the same time, its wing dug into Leo's shoulder.
Thankfully, he dodged in the right time, but not without a price: a great gash now marked his right shoulder.
Keeping his eye on the Hawk with a frown, he still sensed the foreign Mana in the wound. Not wanting to risk it, he activated his flame side of Zanpakuto.
"...Burn, Amaterasu," As he murmure the chant, his left claw changed and started to let out a golden flame, invading the wound.
Soon, the wound disappeared, but it left a scar behind.
The Hawk showed its intelligence at this time. As it sensed the spike of Leo's aura and the shift in the mood of the strong man below, it was about to flee.
sadlly Leo was right on him, delivering a cutting kick using his right leg claw with Haki coating. The Hawk dodged in the same way as before, and Leo used the timing, flaming the whole area where the Hawk was supposed to dodge to.
Although it didn't work, it gave Leo a glimpse of what the Hawk was doing. Unnoticed to him, the creature in front of him was manipulating the air current, making its flight more optimal, but not a big enough change to be noticed by the others.
Seeing this, he flew closer, and the Hawk about to rise its altitude he was in striking position right at Leo,
but, it changed direction, taking a horizontal position, and without any acceleration, breaking the sound barrier and vanishing in the distance, fleeing.
"Hey, feathery, come back here! We didn't settle this yet!" Leo said, but the Hawk only let out a mocking cry before it disappeared.
"You son of..." The cry struck a nerve, even for Leo.
With a tick mark on his forehead for a while, he let a deep sigh before landing beside Banri.
"So, how is the taste?" Banri said with a smirk.
"Of what?" Leo said in confusion, but deeply he knew the answer.
"Of the crushing defeat?" Banri smirked, as he knew for sure that the win and fly-away the Hawk did just now pissed Leo off to no end, despite Leo getting out of it by a few scratches and wasn't really trying to submit the beast, but just learning how to fight from it.
"HA HA, very funny," Leo rolled his eyes. "And if it wasn't for a certain someone leaking his killing intent, he wouldn't flee like that."
"Now it's my fault? Sorry for caring?" Banri answered with a snort, knowing Leo didn't mean anything and was just poking fun at him.
But Banri was also serious in his apology, as he knew for a fact that Leo was alright with their level of regeneration, but seeing him get hurt really turned that switch on.
The Eagle decided to retreat at first, as he found Leo intriguing. Leo noticed that, so he decided to use the fight as training. His higher level and energy count were something honestly given to him, and he had hardly trained them. Let alone anything else, he barely could use his body to its peak ability. And he was too fresh to fight an extended fight in the air. All that became more and more clear for him in this battle.
Sadly, his grandfather already wrapped the Wolf in seconds and was using it as a seat, watching him fight. The moment Leo got wounded, Banri lost his bloodlust, and despite his control, his emotions got the best of him, and the years of using it made it a natural answer.
As the pressure grew heavy, the Hawk decided it wasn't worth it and flew away.
After a small chat, they got inside the fortress. Surprisingly, the old Han was still alive and was tending to his wounds.
"Well, this is surprising." Elsabell came inside, welcoming them, looking at Leo. For a few seconds, with his tattered clothes and the wild, man-like hair, his father's image flashed in front of her.
"Gosh, you're so like your father," wrapping Leo in a tight hug, as her eyes started to water up.
Leo froze for a second before patting her back slowly. Soon, she ruffled his head after letting him go.
"So, what's your next action?" Banri said in a warm tone, yet sad, remembering his older son.
"I'm going home, I guess. I have class tomorrow," Leo said pensively.
"Oh, right. You're in high school now?" Elsabell asked with a smile.
"No, I'm a teacher, you know? You think with a body like mine, someone will believe I'm still not even 18?" Leo said with death eyes. As a matter of fact, remembering the spell Emma cast, he still couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Well, I guess," Elsabell let out a chuckle, not pressing the matter, but found his expression funny.
"So, you need a ride?" Banri asked. "You should clean up first. I will have them ready a chopper for you."
Looking at his grandfather, he smiled and shook his head. "No need."
Soon, a warp gate appeared in front of him. This let Banri remember how he came here in the first place.
"Oh right, I forgot you can jump freely," patting his head, he nodded before slapping his back. "Go ahead, and don't forget to jump by when you have time."
"Oh, see you guys later," Leaving those words, he jumped through the warp, closing behind him.