Courage and Wally were already back at the bastion, selling their loot at the mission hall. Their hunt had earned them around 4,000 credits, most of which Courage gave to Wally, as he was in more need of cash than him. The two have had a long conversation about the new developments in their lives while on Thier way back to the bastion . And although they racked their brains trying to find a way out of it, they couldn't conceive any plan that could work—at least none that didn't come with big risks. So the two decided to play along for the time being.
Thanks to this new development and involvement with the Band of Dawn, they both felt a greater urge to grow stronger—especially Wally. So after cashing in their catch, they returned to Courage's place and rested for only three hours before deciding to begin cultivating their beasts.
Courage had his own cultivation session already planned out, with all the catalysts he needed available, so he wasn't doing anything new—just using the same catalysts from before, as they were still effective.
Wally's beast cultivation, on the other hand, was less planned out. Corpus-type cultivation was different than Vigor-type, as it relied mainly on body modification, which has many directions one could go with. Wally hadn't figured out the direction he wanted to cultivate his beast towards yet, so he hadn't chosen any Corpus-type catalyst for it yet.
So for now, Courage simply advised Wally to just use some Vigor-type catalysts and increase his beast's physical strength. Since it fights with its body, having a greater physique certainly wouldn't hurt. It was actually pretty common for some Corpus-type beasts to use Vigor-type catalysts, as these two types were somewhat related in terms of their core aspects, so they could complement each other to some degree.
Inspecting their beasts using their interface before they began, Wally notified Courage of something surprising: Octo's growth level had actually increased. He clearly remembered that it was set at 19% the last time he inspected it, but now the growth level had seemingly increased out of nowhere, now being at 24%.
The two were surprised by this change, but after putting their heads together and discussing what they knew, they came to the conclusion that the cause of this growth was Octo's trait, [Root Perception]. This trait allowed Wally's beast to acquire new transformation options by giving it the ability to greatly and quickly understand the fundamental makeup of any material it studies—be it living or not. And since adding more aspects to its catalogue, in a way, makes it stronger, it's fair to assume that it can indeed count toward increasing its growth level. That was their conclusion.
Wally's beast must have increased its growth level thanks to the many new aspects it had acquired from the beasts they hunted. Courage asked why Wally didn't know about his beast being able to grow like this, and Wally—after a quick thought—said he never noticed his beast experience any increase in its growth when he made it acquire basic aspects from normal materials he found around them. Learning this, Courage concluded that Wally's beast would only experience increases in its growth level when it accumulated new aspects from other beasts—or maybe not from other beasts specifically, but from any other potent enough materials, since mundane materials didn't seem to have this effect on its growth level.
this was a valuable discovery for Wally. Through it, he had the important realization that Octo had a built-in cultivation method within it—a gift that came at the perfect time, as Wally now needed a reliable way to keep increasing his beast's growth level until he figured out a proper growth plan for it. This new feature would make sure its growth wouldn't stagnate or be too slow in the meantime.
This new discovery put Octo's trait, [Root Perception], under a new light for Courage. Previously, he believed that trait's only purpose was to be a utility trait that simply complemented [Polymorph]. But now, after this discovery, he had uncovered a realization about this trait's true nature. He now believes that [Root Perception] wasn't only a utility trait—but also a cultivation trait as well.
The number of traits and abilities currently known by humanity was nothing short of several thousands. And although there were traits and abilities with all sorts of effects and uses, all of them—no matter their effect or the type they correlate to—fall under several categories, which consist of: Attack, Defense, Movement, Sensing, Enhancement, Utility, and Cultivation.
· Attack, Defense, and Movement were self-explanatory. An example of them would be Kabuto's [Flurry Strike] (which falls under Attack), [Jade Bone] (for Defense), and [Burst Charge] (for Movement).
· Sensing included all traits and abilities that worked in or aided in detection and investigation.
· Enhancement encompassed everything related to buffs and even debuffs. A simple example of this would be Kabuto's core ability, [All Out].
· Utility was the most broad and diverse category, as it contained all abilities and traits that functioned as a convenience or a modifier for their users powers. Kabuto's [Flux] falls in this category. It's also worth noting that all traits and abilities related to healing also fall under this category.
· And finally, Cultivation categorized any trait or ability that can help a beast raise its growth level.
Unlike all other categories—which were all fairly common amongst all beasts, with the only difference being their distribution between the myriad species of beasts out there—only Cultivation could be considered rare. Traits and abilities that fall under this category have always been hard to find amongst beasts, and catalysts that can grant this type of trait or ability are even rarer and harder to find.
Between their rarity and their usefulness, it's only natural for traits and abilities of this category to be extremely valuable. After all, beast cultivation has always been both a difficult and demanding process, so who wouldn't want a built-in growth level increasing method for their beast? Any and all cultivation abilities are considered treasures—ones that even the most affluent of people may not be able to acquire.
So right now, with this new discovery Wally had about his beast's trait, it could be said that he is extremely lucky—a description Courage never thought he'd ever give to Wally.
"Fate can have some comically ironic moments sometimes, doesn't it?" Courage muttered to himself.
When it comes to developing one's beast, the traits and abilities that you give it should be ones that fit its innate type and nature of course, and they should also complement each other. But it is also adviceble to grant your beast at least one ability or trait from each category, as it has been proven that the more categories your beast's skill set covers, the more adaptable and competent it will be in different situations.
Finally finished discussing this new discovery and its implications, the two got on to cultivating their beasts. Courage used his usual catalysts once more, while Wally used some crimson ginger on Courage's recommendation. He advised him to use only a small dose, of course.
After two hours, they were done. Kabuto's growth level reached 85%—only a 3% increase, a bit less than last time, but that's to be expected. Increasing growth level gets harder the closer you get to the top. Still, it was an acceptable result.
Octo, on the other hand, rose from 24% to 26%—only a 2% increase, seemingly even worse than Kabuto's. But it also wasn't unexpected. Even if beasts can use and benefit from catalysts of other types, the benefit won't be as great as when using ones of a matching type, so this result wasn't surprising.
However, if we add the increase brought in thanks to [Root Perception], the total of Octo's growth increase for this single session would be 7%, which can be considered very good. Courage remembered that Kabuto could only achieve a 5% increase at best every session when he was at the same stage as Wally was. So if Wally could keep up this pace, he could possibly develop even faster than Courage did—clearly showing why cultivation abilities were considered treasures.
Elsewhere
Jack Fangwood and his party were hunting in the wilds , their opponent—a massive bear-like beast.
Jack's totem beast, the Skeletal Armoured Hound, was at the forefront of the assault. The massive bear roared loudly as it swung its large paws, trying to strike the hound, but the hound proved too agile for it.
The Skeletal Armoured Hound spun circles around the bear, avoiding its attacks and making it dizzy, until Jack—perched on his wolf mount some distance away—began barking orders:
"[Bone Growth]! Use your fangs and claws!"
The hound responded by enlarging its claws and fangs, then lunging at the bear. It fought with a rabid ferocity, slashing with its claws at the bear's legs and open sides, inflicting deep wound that blood leak out profusely from them. And whenever the bear tried to retaliate, the hound would dodge and bite down on any limbs the bear used to attack with, each time ripping patches from the bear's tough hide and even digging into its skin and flesh. Every bite left a nasty wound behind.
The bear lifted its paws high and slammed them down, causing a shockwave that sent the hound several paces away. The bear tried to use the distance between them to catch its breath, but Jack wouldn't let it.
Just as the Skeletal Armoured Hound got back on its feet, an order from Jack came for it to resume its attack—this time using [Bone Growth] again. The hound created several bone spikes inside its mouth using its fangs, then, launching a loud bark, the bone spikes were shot out of its mouth like arrows.
The bone spikes struck the bear, embedding themselves in its flesh. The bear roared in pain, but that only caused Jack to become even more aggressive.
"Even if you scream to God himself, no one is saving you now!" Jack grunted.
The skeletal hound ran at the bear while it was screaming in pain. Then leapt at the bear to attack it, but suddenly the bear shifted its stance and stepped forward just at the right moment to catch the hound in a bear hug.
"Oh no!" several of Jack's companions shouted, as the bear gave an angry roar and began tightening its embrace around the hound, intending to use its strength to crush it.
The bear growled as it squeezed with all its might, but instead of the sound of bones being crushed, there was nothing. The skeletal armour of the hound—modified by Jade Bone—was too strong. It didn't even seem to creak under the pressure from the bear.
"Is that all you got?" Jack remarked, his tone filled with disdain. "Lowly beast, thinking you can crush mine? Hmph. Know your place."
With a mental command from Jack, the hound sprouted bone spikes all over its armour, inflicting multiple stabs to the bear's body. The bear roared in agony, yet it refused to relent.
"Meaningless struggle," Jack sneered.
The bear, with blood streaming from its mouth by its injuries, bared its teeth and bit down on the hound's face. But thanks to the hound's skull-like helmet protecting its entire face, it remained unharmed.
Jack, seeing this, didn't panic. Instead, he ordered in a cold, murderous tone: "Finish this."
The bear biting down hard on the hound's snout armour felt a chill run down its spine as it lifted its eyes—only to be met with the hound staring back at it with murderous fury now burning deep within its blood-red eyes.
The hound growled as it used its ability once more, creating a set of large jaws protruding from the side of its neck. The jaws were filled with sharp, jagged teeth. The bone jaws kept expanding, and in a matter of seconds, they were big enough to surround the bear's entire head, looming over it like a guillotine.
Right as the bear realized the danger, it was already too late. Just as it was about to let go of the hound to save itself, that was when the large jaws unhinged and bit down on the bear's entire head.
Jack yelled maniacally: "DIE!"
The bear's body shuddered as the large jaw clamped down on its head, blood streaming from between its jagged fangs. In this cage of bloody teeth, the bear gave one last weak whimper of agony before collapsing to the ground.
The bear was dead.
The bone jaws that were clamped on the bear's head broke off, revealing the chilling sight of the hound with its entire head soaked in blood—none of it being its own, of course.
The hound yawned as if satisfied, then licked its lips and snout as if savoring the blood of its victim. Jack approached his beast and patted it while staring at the bear's corpse, a dark grin dawning on his face.
"Well done, Jack!" "That bear stood no chance against you!" "Your beast is truly powerful—who would dare stand against it?" "Woof...If it was me, I would've died long ago, hahaha!"
Jack's posse, as usual, were never low on cheap praises and compliments—and never too slow to give them.
Jack, however, instead of puffing up with ego as people kissed his ass, only scoffed and said, "Pfft, whatever. This beast was a weakling anyway—nothing worth bragging about," before turning around and walking away.
Approaching Goto, who had been observing from a distance this whole time, Jack asked, "Senior, how did I do?"
"Good. Very good. You were vicious and cutthroat—just like a member of the Black Hyde Gang should be. Keep following my instructions like this, and there will be no one who can be your match," Goto answered with a satisfied smile on his face.
Jack, despite receiving earnest praise this time, still didn't get cocky and only gave a nod, then said, "Are there more targets to be hunted?"
"Yes," Goto replied.
"Then no point wasting time here doing nothing... Let's go," Jack said as he then ordered his posse to collect his kill and prepare their mounts to move to the next target.
The smile on Goto's face widened even more seeing this. It was only a couple of days ago when Goto discovered Jack and his party's near-colossal fuck-up. He wasn't mad about what they did to Wally, but more about the fact that they not only sneaked into enemy territory without telling him, but also got caught red-handed by the Band of Dawn. If things had turned out any other way, it could have spelled disaster for Goto. After all, the team that he was in charge of mentoring causing a conflict with the Band of Dawn was sure to get his head put on a plate by the gang leadership.
So the moment he learned of this, he did everything in his power to cover up the matter—which cost him a great deal of effort and cash. But by the end of it, Goto's anger with Jack and his team has reached the highest it had ever been. Goto had actually beaten up several of Jack's mates 'til they turned bloody, and even though he couldn't touch Jack himself, he gave him the hardest and cruelest scolding he had ever given in his life—one that would make even Jack hesitate to disobey him.
Goto, of course, didn't expect that scolding to do anything, as he knew Jack wasn't the type to learn anything and just act on his whims and wants all of the time . But much to his surprise, Jack's behavior had changed these last couple of days.
"This brat has actually been more bearable and hardworking these last couple of days," Goto thought. "He's even following orders better and even choosing to perform hunting tasks for the gang on his own. I usually had to strong-arm him into doing those, but now he's not only doing them and working rigorously—he's even determined to do more." Goto liked this new Jack. He was easier to work with and more hardworking, which allowed Goto to make a great deal of progress as of late.
"Hehe, maybe I should have given him such a scolding a long time ago," Goto thought, happy with how Jack was acting.
However, the real reason behind Jack's change in behavior wasn't because he was afraid of Goto's wrath or anything. He actually didn't care how much Goto scolded—it was all just background noise to him. No, the real reason why Jack was acting right now was the desire for strength.
See, in his last encounter the other day, he was played by Wally, humiliated in front of his posse by Courage, and finally belittled and forced to show weakness by the members of the Band of Dawn. Facing all of this was like a slap in the face to Jack—multiple slaps, even.
He had always had a false sense of power over everyone and everything because of his status—which he absolutely loved—and last time's ordeal had shattered this beautiful sensation for him completely, leaving him with unreasonable and unquenchable hatred and rage burning in his heart. And right now, he wanted nothing more than to punish the people who had humiliated him. He wanted to tear Wally to pieces for daring to disobey him and trying to cross him. He wanted to break every bone in Courage's body to pay back for his broken nose. And he wanted to have those members of the Band of Dawn sprawled on the ground in front of him, begging for their lives, for daring to look down on him and forcing him to retreat.
That was the real reason Jack was more obedient to Goto—not out of discipline, but because he knew that was the quickest way to get stronger. And he wanted power so he could take back his revenge, inflicting the greatest pain possible, and being strong enough so no one could ever resist him.
As Jack and his party rode towards their next target, Jack thought to himself: By the end of the month… just by the end of this month, when it's time to collect that little bastard's dues, I will be there and… hehe, and I will make him regret ever being born. After that, I will find that bastard who helped him and beat him to death too. And after, I will slit the throats of any members of the Band of Dawn that dares come in my way.
Jack rode off fast, a new murderous intent burning in his eyes.