This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

“There’s no way her gift is something so simple.”

Serena spoke quietly, her back straight against the plush café seat as she studied the glowing display on her tablet. The footage of Kyria’s previous battles looped silently, grainy in some spots but still detailed enough to catch the odd shimmer across her skin—like glass swallowing light.

Kain nodded, arms crossed. “That’s what I thought too. At first, I assumed she was just physically tough—well-trained. Then I remembered our encounter with her in the relic.”

“You mean the part where her skin turned the same colour as the ground?”

“Exactly.” Kain tapped the screen to rewind the footage. There, clear as day, Kyria ducked under a swipe from a berserker boar in a re-ranking match, and her arm—momentarily—adopted the same earthen hue as the surrounding stone.

Serena sat forward, brows furrowed. “You think that’s her gift’s only ability? To harden to the texture of whatever material she touches?”

“Not necessarily. If it is, it’s not very impressive considering she managed to go from Rank 4 to 1 in her year. And that massive leap was achieved in only a few months. But I do think her Gift is somehow related to some kind of material mimicry or property assimilation. Perhaps she touches something and temporarily gains some of its qualities.”

“Like absorption?”

“Possibly. I am guessing it’s tactile—like needing direct contact with the material. That might explain why she always wears those odd gloves and will even occasionally fight barefoot. Minimal interference.”

Serena’s gaze drifted. “If that’s her Gift, then depending on what she has on her right now…”

“Exactly,” Kain finished. “We won’t know what she’s got ‘loaded,’ but if she brought a sliver of high-quality metal like Adamantium or Arcanite—or something even more precious and strong—she could temporarily boost her physical resistance or strength. For all we know she can even take on some elemental or magical properties of the material.”

Serena leaned back, thinking. “Then there’s the other thing…”

Kain didn’t respond. He didn’t need to.

They both saw it. Not to mention, although it felt like an eternity had passed, it was only around a month since everyone had entered the College’s relic. Yes, they were both thinking about the time they were brought to the final trial of the College’s relic and were made to fight against their own clones. At that time, her clone had merged four of her contracts into one grotesque, synchronized monstrosity.

Afterward, Kyria had muttered something that Kain filed into the back of his mind, ever since.

“That’s not even possible for me yet.”

Meaning it wasn’t just a fluke or weird anomaly exclusive to the clone. She knew what that fusion was. And she believed she’d eventually be able to do it herself.

“Was that a spiritual skill?” Serena asked softly.

Kain shook his head. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s related to her Gift. A higher stage. Either way, if she is now able to do that in the middle of a battle, things will become much tougher.” Especially since the fusion seemed stable. Most haphazard fusions failed spectacularly within minutes. Her clones looked refined—not much inferior to the prided royal family fusion skill that Soren used during his match with Kain.

They both fell silent.

After a beat, Serena glanced sideways. “So… who’s going first?”

Kain didn’t answer immediately.

It was an awkward question—strategically necessary but emotionally irritating. Whoever went in first would be at a disadvantage. Kyria hadn’t been challenged by anyone yet, and whoever she battled first would be her warm-up. And the one that went afterwards would have a much better understanding of any trump cards she had.

But someone had to go. Fortunately, both of them felt confident.

Serena finally spoke again. “I’ve got more experience dealing with flexible physical Gifts. Not to mention Balens can better handle any unanticipated tricks she has up her sleeve.”

Kain nodded slowly. “True. But I’ve had more exposure to fusions. Remember my match against Soren? Balens is no longer a secret now, if she has a way to prevent him from working, you’ll be pretty helpless. So, I might be better suited to adapt mid-match.”

The air thickened between them. A slow silence.

“I’ll go,” Kain said finally, voice steady. “It’ll throw off her rhythm. I doubt she’s expecting me first since you’ve been the one launching challenges first most of the time.”

Serena hesitated, then gave a small nod. “Okay. But I’ll be watching closely. If she beats you…”

“I’ll cheer from the sidelines as you punish her for it,” Kain said, half-grinning.

—————-

“Any remaining challenges?” the instructor’s voice called out across the arena. The time had finally come for him to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he belonged in the Overall Top 5.

Kain stepped forward.

“I challenge Kyria.”

Gasps rippled through the seated students. A few muttered predictions under their breath.

Kain ignored them.

Across the field, Kyria raised her head. Her expression didn’t change—calm, neutral—but something in her posture shifted. She stood and walked toward the arena center with deliberate ease, almost like her body was rolling with each step instead of moving in strict rhythm.

Kain stepped onto the other side.

They stood across from each other in silence for a moment before Kyria tilted her head.

“I was wondering when you’d challenge me 1-on-1,” she said mildly.

“Glad I didn’t disappoint.”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

At the same time as him, Kyria shifted slightly and then her skin shimmered—just for an instant—as the air around her legs thickened. A strange jewel-like glimmer pulsed beneath her barefoot feet. Something she’d been standing on.

Kain narrowed his eyes.

Had she buried a mineral under the arena surface beforehand in anticipation of a challenge? At least while under her feet, it was harder for Kain to identify what it was.

Clever.

Bea pulsed in his mind.

“Ready?” he asked her mentally

Her thoughts buzzed in reply, sharp and focused.