Chapter 452: Beast Inventory Part 1

The parasite was gone.

Ethan had spent several moments making absolutely certain of that fact. He had searched through every corner of his soul he could reach, probing for the slightest trace of the suffocating darkness that had nearly consumed him.

Nothing.

Whatever Aisha had planted inside him, he had managed to get rid of it together with his beasts.

That alone was a reason to celebrate.

However, as the initial relief faded, Ethan found himself paying attention to something else.

The space the parasite had occupied remained.

It wasn’t a physical space, nor was it one of the domains belonging to his beasts. It was something deeper, embedded within his soul. A hollow region that felt distinctly different from the rest of his spiritual existence.

Ethan reached towards it cautiously.

‘What’s this?’

The parasite had been rooted there, consuming his spiritual essence and gradually attempting to replace him. Now that it was gone, the area felt strangely empty.

It wasn’t damaged.

Just… vacant.

Ethan examined the space, his brows gradually drawing together.

‘Is this some kind of scar left behind by that thing? Or was it always there, and the parasite simply took advantage of it?’

He couldn’t be certain.

The system didn’t provide any explanation, and he wasn’t about to pretend he understood the inner workings of his own soul. Still, the longer he examined it, the more he became convinced that the space wasn’t entirely useless.

An idea suddenly occurred to him.

‘Wait a second.’

His eyes widened slightly.

‘If there’s space inside my soul… could I use it to store something?’

More specifically, could he store a beast inside it?

He already possessed a Beast Space within his soul, where his five beasts resided when they weren’t summoned. However, this felt different. His Beast Space was a spiritual realm containing separate domains, each connected to one of his beasts.

This hollow region was much smaller and seemed to exist for an entirely different purpose.

But Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that he could bring another beast into it.

He focused on the empty space, imagining a beast entering it and remaining there until he called upon it.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, this time reaching towards the space and also pulling on his connection to the system with intentionality, like he had done previously.

A faint sensation stirred in his right hand.

Ethan glanced down.

‘Oh?’

A surge of mana rushed through his body, gathering around his right palm. It wasn’t the familiar sensation of summoning one of his beasts. The mana felt denser, more concentrated, as though something new had awakened inside him.

Then a notification appeared.

{Skill Unlocked!}

Ethan froze.

‘No way. That actually worked!’

Another skill?

‘But it is unlocked rather than created…’

He couldn’t help but wonder whether the system had been waiting for this moment, or whether his actions had truly triggered something that had never been available to him before.

Either way, he wasn’t complaining.

The mana around his right palm intensified.

He could feel it gathering beneath his skin, following unfamiliar pathways before settling into a distinct pattern.

Then the skill notification appeared.

{Beast Inventory (S) – allows the user to store beasts in an inventory that can then be used in different ways depending on the stage.}

Ethan stared at the notification.

It was weird interacting with the system within his own soul, but that inception was nothing compared to the shock of what he was reading.

He slowly raised his eyebrows.

‘An S Rank skill?’

He’d obtained a fair number of powerful abilities since receiving his Title, but an S Rank skill was something else entirely.

And the name…

‘Beast Inventory?’

It sounded almost absurdly straightforward.

He could already summon beasts, communicate with them, assimilate their traits, and even summon them independently by allowing them to pay the mana cost themselves.

Now he had an inventory?

‘What exactly have you given me this time?’

Ethan selected the skill, and another series of notifications appeared.

{Beast Inventory (S)}

{Stage 1: Allows the user to summon stored beasts at the same mana cost as Beast Summoning, depending on the rank of the beast – UNLOCKED}

{Stage 2: Allows the user to assimilate with stored beasts at the same mana cost as Beast Summoning, depending on the rank of the beast – LOCKED}

Ethan read through the descriptions several times.

Then he let out a low whistle.

‘Now that’s interesting.’

Stage One was already useful.

It allowed him to summon beasts stored in the inventory, and the mana cost was determined by the beast’s rank, just like his existing Beast Summoning skill.

Stage Two was even more intriguing.

Assimilation.

He already possessed Beast Assimilation, but that skill required him to use his own beasts. If Beast Inventory allowed him to assimilate with any beast he stored, it could open up possibilities he’d never considered.

Imagine acquiring a beast with exceptional defensive abilities and assimilating with it when facing an opponent whose attacks were difficult to withstand. Or finding a beast with an ability perfectly suited to a particular enemy and using that ability against them.

He’d spent countless battles compensating for the limitations of his own abilities.

A defensive opponent could force him into a war of attrition, while extreme environments could turn otherwise straightforward encounters into a nightmare. Having access to different beasts could make those situations considerably easier.

‘And that’s only Stage Two.’

His gaze returned to the third stage.

{Stage 3: Allows the user to consume stored beasts – LOCKED}

Ethan’s expression changed.

‘Consume them…’

He read those two words again, his mind immediately drifting towards Mark.

‘Kinda like Mark can with monsters?’

Mark seemed able to consume monsters and acquire their power, and also needed to feed off of them to stabilise his body. Ethan didn’t know all the details of how it worked, but he’d witnessed enough to understand that it wasn’t an ordinary ability.

‘I literally had to fight the monster he had eaten in that Gate in his mind.’

Was Beast Consumption something similar?

If so, how did it work?

Would he absorb the beast’s abilities? Its attributes? Its potential?

How would consuming a beast through Beast Inventory be different from eating its flesh?

Ethan’s thoughts began racing.

He had already seen how much a beast could change through evolution.

And even at the lower ranks, many possessed extraordinary abilities and characteristics that made them invaluable. If he could consume beasts and gain something from them, the possibilities were limitless.

‘Could I consume a beast and obtain its skills? Would it heal or even permanently transform my body?’

There were so many questions, but one that he kept coming back to.

‘And what happens to the beast itself?’

That was an important question.

Ethan definitely had no plans to consume any of his current beasts, which weren’t disposable resources. But the thought of consuming other beasts through the inventory was a different matter.

He could already imagine situations where such an ability would be incredibly useful.

Unfortunately, the system offered no further explanation.

‘Typical.’

Ethan stared at the System Interface, hoping another message might appear.

But there was nothing.

He laughed.

‘Of course. Give me an S Rank Skill with three mysterious stages and expect me to figure everything out myself.’

He sighed, shaking his head.

‘I’ll figure it out.’

A small smile spread across his face.

He then focused on the detail he’d nearly overlooked.

His right palm…