This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The next day, Kain strolled nonchalantly into the arena. His calm and composed demeanor showed none of the turmoil and exhaustion he'd been dealing with recently.

His steps were steady, his expression neutral, but the moment he entered, a wave of whispers rippled through the crowd.

"Look who finally decided to show up!"

"Guess yesterday's match against Kairos put him in his place. Must've realized he's not as untouchable as he thinks."

"Arrogance only gets you so far. Looks like Newman learned that the hard way."

Kain heard every word, although it didn't seem as though they had any real intention of not allowing him to hear. They were meant to sting, to provoke.

But Kain didn't care. He didn't flinch, didn't so much as glance at the murmuring crowd as he made his way through the seating area.

Instead, he let their words wash over him like rain on stone.

Perhaps he was a little arrogant—but so what? He had the capital to be.

He felt that his time the previous few days could be better spent in research and he wasn't wrong, he did finally start to see some progress and figured he'd see some new additions to the Silkworm evolutionary pathway.

As he approached his usual group, his friends greeted him with warmth and familiarity, which was a welcome sight after the scathing comments of the crowd.

Bridge's eyes lit up with a mixture of excitement and relief. His broad, football-player-like frame towered over most of the other students around him, especially after he stood up.

"KAIN!" he bellowed, his deep voice booming across the seating area.

Before Kain could react, Bridge closed the distance between them in just a few strides and scooped him up into a crushing bear hug.

"Where the hell have you been, man?!" Bridge exclaimed, lifting Kain off the ground like he weighed nothing.

Kain wheezed, squirming slightly as he tried to speak. "Bridge—can't—breathe!"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Bridge laughed as he set Kain down gently but clapped him on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward.

Kain shot him an exasperated look and slightly confused look while straightening his rumpled clothes.

Bridge had always been physically strong, but since becoming a beast-tamer Kain had thought the gap in strength between them had closed. However, it seems like the Bridge's physical strength was growing at a terrifying rate, even despite the fact that the feedback from both of his contracts wouldn't prioritize physical strength.

However, he does have a third contract now that Kain had never seen, perhaps that third contract favoured physical strength? Unfortunately, Bridge had filled his third contract spot before Kain's research on accelerating the River Wolf evolution had been completed, otherwise he'd have given Bridge one of the most talented pups he had in his possession.

"I've been busy with a new project," he said, his voice a little strained. Discover hidden stories at empire

Addison rolled her eyes, flicking her long blue over her shoulder. "I told you he's probably been holed up in some lab or doing who-knows-what weird experiments. That's why he looks like he hasn't slept in a week."

Aiden chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "She's not wrong. You look like you've been fighting with your research instead, not your opponents."

Kain smirked faintly as he settled into his seat. "Let's just say I've been busy." And he had been. He found a way to allow affinity-less individuals to form contracts; he will have a new product, the FMT pills, revealed to the public soon; and he was close to finally figuring out several new evolutionary forms for the Silkworm pathway.

The first achievement could likely never be publicly revealed, but either one of the latter two would bring in a ton of fame and money.

"Next time, maybe warn us before you disappear into whatever lab or cave you've been hiding in," Bridge added, his tone softer now. "We were starting to think something happened to you."

Leonara also nodded in support of Bridge's statement, "It's not like you to miss matches, though, Kain. You sure everything's okay?"

Before Kain could respond, Finn interjected, his cheerful tone breaking the slight tension. "Don't mind them, Kain. We're just glad to see you here. We all knew the rumours about you being arrogant were total nonsense."

'Well, it wasn't COMPLETELY untrue…' Kain thought guiltily.

As the group settled back into their seats, the arena buzzed with anticipation for the next match. Kain leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on the field as he mentally prepared for the day's match against Dwayne.

Kain didn't underestimate Dwayne despite him not being in the top 5. Dwayne was the only one with an S-rated affinity to not be in the top 5, and that fact had continuously stung at his pride since he entered the college.

Kain was sure that Dwayne had probably done some intensive training in the past few months in order to stage an upset and boot out one of the members of the top 5.

However, contrary to Dwayne's plans, the first major upset of the top 5 was not staged by him…

Ranya, a member of the current top 5 known for her powerful illusion-based contracts, was kneeling on the ground. Her posture was heavy with exhaustion, her head bowed, and her breaths ragged. Surrounding her were her contracts—all of them unconscious, their battered bodies sprawled across the arena floor.

Standing opposite her was a young woman with brown hair and eyes that wouldn't stand out in a crowd, and Kain didn't really recognize her. She stood tall in the center of the arena, her expression calm, betraying none of the strain of battle.

Kain squinted at her, a faint sense of familiarity nagging at the back of his mind. "Who is that?" he muttered, leaning toward Aiden.

"I think her name is Mira," Aiden replied, his voice laced with disbelief. "She wasn't even ranked in the top 20 last year. Now she's taken down Ranya?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kain frowned. Mira? The name rang a faint bell, but he hadn't paid much attention to anyone outside the top 20 unless absolutely necessary.

For her to not only finish first in her group but to now defeat one of the top 5? That was incredibly shocking.

The arena was dead silent, the audience too stunned to even murmur. Then, like a dam breaking, the noise erupted.

"Unbelievable!"

"Ranya's out? Who is this Mira?"

"Did she really just beat one of the top 5?"

Kain's eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the aftermath. Mira's calm demeanour and the shocked faces in the crowd told him one thing: Mira's sudden increase in strength was hidden from practically everyone.

"Looks like there may be some changes in the top 5…" Kain muttered.

This re-ranking had just gotten a lot more interesting.