High Beast (3)

The second time the high beasts appeared, their expressions showed great anger. After all, even if they were unharmed, the fact that they got thrown around like powerless cubs was not only disgraceful, it was also disheartening. Although their main objective was Cin, they decided to focus on Shui first.

All three of them were much bigger than he was, but Shui only felt excitement for he could finally test out his fighting skills in this form. The area for their fight was already cleared out so the high beasts stomped their way over to him with the waning moon bear taking the lead. It should have known that it couldn't beat him in strength but it seemed it was still raring to go.

In response to the charging bear, Shui used his enlarged hands and slammed one down on the three of them. The waning moon bear tried to resist the force of his palm by itself but the palm quickly pressed it down to the same height as the stonehide lion. While the two of them were busy holding up his palm, the flail lizard opened its mouth and several white spikes shot out. Shui quickly used his other giant hand to block it, just like the lizard wanted. It thought the poison that was inside its spikes would enter him through a wound, but the palm blocking the spikes didn't take a single injury.

"?!"

The three high beasts were shocked by this since they knew how strong the flail lizard's spikes were, and Shui didn't seem to use any spell to protect his hand. However, even if he didn't have full control of it, how could half-step divine body be wounded by the attacks of a mere high beast?

With the spikes blocked, the waning moon bear didn't think there was any room for holding back. The silver line of fur above its eyes lit up and stretched to the back of its head. It was a minor change, but the power it gave him was the opposite. The burst of strength allowed the bear to finally push Shui's palm off of it.

"Kill!"

Without a second of waiting, once his palm was off their heads, the three high beasts charged at Shui while launching their strongest spells. The flail lizard spat out a large black spike, the waning moon bear swung down its faintly glowing claws and released three sharp arcs of energy as big as it was tall, and the stonehide lion stomped down and summoned spears from the ground that entrapped Shui.

In the face of these attacks, Shui shrunk his arms and instead made his tails as thick as tree trunks and four cales long. With these two tails wrapped around him and Cin, Shui defended against their spells.

BOOM!

As expected of the strongest spells of these high beasts, the collision not only created a crater, it also damaged those who were nearest to the battlefield. It would be best if their attack also interrupted Cin's breakthrough, but they were certain that the golden monkey would have at least received some serious wounds. After all, their combined attack had enough power to severely wound a high beast on the verge of becoming a great beast.

However, when the dust cleared, besides the dirty spots on his tails, Shui had taken no damage.

"Impossible!"

The high beasts couldn't believe that there could be a monster capable of remaining unharmed after their attacks among beast spirits or high beasts. They started wondering if this was a great beast in front of them, but they didn't feel the same oppressive aura as they were familiar with. Regardless, they couldn't think of any way to beat the beast in front of them.

"Retreat!"

The flail lizard was the first to order its followers to fall back, followed by the stonehide lion, and then the waning moon bear. They wanted to be the first ones to leave, but they weren't sure what the golden monkey would do once they tried. Luckily, the golden monkey dispelled his mental spell and didn't glance at the retreating beast spirits so they started backing away.

Shui considered going after them, but he knew that Cin would want to kill them himself so he stayed put. Since Shui was letting them go, the three high beasts managed to make it deep into the forest, but before they could turn their backs and run, they heard a spirited howl.

"Awoooo!!!"

This howl received responses from not just the wolves here, but also all other wolves that were nearby. They knew what that spirited howl meant. A new high beast had been born.

"Damn! He's broken through."

Even though they weren't close to reaching him, the high beasts felt frustrated at their failure. Furthermore, with that golden monkey by his side, they were afraid that their lives would be in serious danger. They should have fled even faster once they realized that they had completely failed, but their frustration and anger paused their movements for too long. So when they tried to flee again, there was a voice that commanded them to stop.

"Since you're already here, why are you leaving?"

Cin broke out of the orb, encased in scarlet red light. Shui was likely the only one who saw the shiny scales on its back be replaced by spikes that poked out from its spine. Cin swaggered out in the form of a spiky direwolf while keeping its dark blue fur. Although it could change its size freely, it chose a size that was only three times a normal wolf, making it a dwarf compared to the three high beasts. Even so, it was the one looking down on them.

While exuding arrogance and disdain, Cin gazed at the three who kept on running. Even if he became a high beast, they weren't afraid of him, but with the golden monkey there, they would definitely lose.

"Oh, looks like you guys are in quite the rush. Fine then, but at least take this gift!"

Cin inhaled deeply before spitting out a flash of light that scorched the top of the flail lizard's body as well as the right side of the waning moon bear, and the left side of the stonehide lion.

"Hahaha! See you guys at the selection!"

Cin laughed boisterously at their fleeing figures and Shui also chuckled as well.

"I could bring them back if you want," said Shui.

"Nah, I'll let them crawl around a little more and gather the rest of my enemies so we can deal with them all at once."

Although there were many stories of wise evolved beasts, it was rare for one as young as Cin to have such a sharp mind. However, both his bloodline and his inheritance made him a step above other evolved beasts.

Since he became a high beast earlier than expected, Cin took his time resting and getting used to its new powers. Compared to other new high beasts, it could awaken more things from its bloodline. Though it couldn't use all of its awakened abilities since some of them would give away its true identity, there was still a lot to digest.

While Cin was getting more used to his powers, Shui was also studying the Four Elements Technique and comparing his heart flame to the flame he created. A heart flame was formed based on the attributes of the person it came from, so it wasn't necessarily strong. Even though his heart flame was more powerful than others at the same level since it grew with his divine energy, it wasn't a flame completely focused on offensive ability. Therefore, he believed there should be some way to create a flame that was stronger than it.