Beast Ranking

After Lander read the whole book, it was the afternoon of the third day. Then he went inside the cave and saw Yan Yan and Grey sleeping. He simply tapped them, "Guys, wake up. We're moving out."

The two woke up and saw Lander packing his things. They got confused, "Inuy-a, where are we going?"

"Just pack your things first. After that, you should exercise so your body won't get hurt from the accumulated running you guys had the past days," Lander answered seriously.

Then Yan Yan did some stretching taught by Lander and packed her things afterward. Then three figures moved out of the cave, two humans and a wolf.

Lander led them to the village of the outcasts where he was led by the elderly man who owned the book. While they were on their way, Yan Yan asked him a question, "Excuse me inuy-a, but why would you always tell us to run every morning?"

"Training," Lander answered simply.

"Master, Is running a kind of training?" Grey asked.

Yan Yan didn't hear the question and she was hesitating to ask the same question Grey asked. Knowing that, Lander explained, "Running is the most essential training as it solidifies your stamina and at the same time enhances it. Haven't you noticed that your running time upgraded on the third day?"

Hearing that, Yan Yan and Grey also realized that their body became lighter during the third day and their running was smoother and longer than when they started.

Lander added, "That's why every morning, the three of us would always go running and I hope you can catch up to my stamina. And that's just the beginning of our training."

The two nodded and kept on walking following Lander when Yan Yan suddenly saw the book that Lander was holding that made him immersed in it for three days, "Inuy-a, what is that book?"

"The truth about us," Lander answered unemotional.

"Us? What do you mean?" Yan Yan asked with knitted brows.

"The truth about the two of us. That I am yours and you are mine. And we shall conquer the world with our love naked," Lander joked as he laughed.

Yan Yan blushed and her face was as red as a tomato. She never expected such an answer which made her harumph.

"Awesome Master!" Grey praised via the telepathy communication.

"Hey, you're an animal but how come you know what my words meant?" Lander asked curiously via the telepathy communication.

"Master, I am not an animal. I am a beast. An animal is a beast that can't fight. And of course, I know your words because we are bound by our souls. And I am still digesting your knowledge," Grey explained.

"So you mean everything I know, you knew?" Lander was quite intrigued.

"Not all, but only the things you want me to know," Grey answered.

"But how come I can't learn about your knowledge?" Lander continued asking.

"According to my father, we were only a Rank E beast and after I drank your blood, I was upgraded to Rank D beast. And Rank E beast doesn't have much knowledge to share. Also, I am still a cub so I don't know a lot." Grey sighed as if it was a human.

"I see," Lander said as they continued walking. But he was suddenly intrigued that Grey wasn't affected by the curse or the tattoo. And he thought, "Was it only amongst humans?"

After a full thirty minutes of walking, they arrived at the outcast village. Then Lander led them towards the house of the elderly man. But while they were on the way, Lander noticed that the outcasts were moving aside when they were passing by like they were afraid of them.

The elderly man who saw Lander's familiar face smiled but when he saw Grey, he stopped and stepped back trembling.

"Elder? Are you ok? Why are you afraid of us?" Lander asked curiously while Grey was standing in front of him.

"I... I.. am..... am... not... af... afraid.. of.. of.. you, but that beast," The Elderly man replied trembling before he regained his composure.

"Why would you be afraid of Grey? He's my friend," Lander asked with an explanation.

"That beast... NO! Your friend... I mean Grey, your friend is a Rank D beast, and we are afraid because a single strike would cause us outcast a serious injury," The elderly man replied after changing his address towards Grey afraid that he would disatisfy the beast.

"How come you know that Grey is a Rank D beast? And how would a cub seriously injure you?" Lander asked with knitted brows.

Despite being scared, the Elderly man maintained a calm composure as he answered, "Simply because of its fur but for others beasts, the skin. Rank E beast has no vibrant color, as for Rank D beast, the color will be enhanced slightly making it more captivating. The rank C beast has glowing skin or fur. As for the Rank A and B beast, I don't know how they are judged."

Then Lander remembered the dragon beast of the Great Baron Bobby. Its skin was quite glowing which made it captivating to look at. "So Elder Bobby's dragon was a Rank C beast."

"Although he is still a cub. Their ranking is what makes them superior. Grey would be able to beat Rank E beasts even if he was surrounded by a dozen," The Elderly man continued explaining.

"Then why are the beasts not affected when touched by us? Outcasts?" Finally, Lander asked the question that puzzled him the most.

"It was because they are not humans," The elderly man replied which made Lander choke. He never expected the answer to be the same when he thought about it. "Damn!"

"I came to return the book to you Elder," Lander said as he passed to him the book.

The elderly man was dazed after receiving the book, " I apologize if I won't be able to return the silver coin you gave me."

"It doesn't matter. I already paid it for borrowing your book so you won't owe me anything." Lander spoke calmly shrugging his shoulders.

"Thank you!" The elderly man said with a gratified expression.

Suddenly, a young man was rushing towards them shouting, "Village Chief! Village Chief..."

Then this young man stopped in front of them, "Village Chief, Young Master Brokko told me that the payment for your daughter was long overdue so he raised the price to 1 gold."

"What?" Both Lander and the elderly man were shocked.

The elderly man, the young man, and the other outcasts were both shocked when Lander reacted to the report of the young man.

"That damned Brokko," Then Lander forked out 1 gold from his pocket and he gave it to the young man with an angering expression, "Tell him that if the daughter of this Elder hasn't arrived in an hour, I will personally deal with him! Tell him that it was I, Lander who said so."

The Village Chief, the young man, and the other outcasts were aghast. Then the Village Chief spoke, "NO! Please, they will only kill you if you make your move against the Young Master."

"Then let them come!" Lander said while clenching his fist. He was never afraid of anyone back when he was still on the streets on Earth. "Now you GO!"

Lander shouted at the young man which made the young man scurrying away afraid of Lander.

"Why are you doing this? You will only be implicated because of my daughter," The Elderly man said who was the Village Chief afraid that they would kill Lander for his behaviour.

Lander changed the topic as he asked another question to the Village Chief, "Elder... No, Village Chief, who was the owner of that book?"

The Village Chief sighed when Lander changed the topic and acted unconcerned but he was grateful because he paid for the release of her daughter. "The owner of the book was my great-grandfather."

"Then when did outcasts begin to roam the Earth, I mean our world?" Lander asked again as he was bewildered why the author of the book never mentioned the year it all started and he was more startled when he learned that it was the Village Chief's great-grandfather who owned the book. So maybe it was 200 years ago or maybe less.

"It all started 700 years ago," The Village Chief was baffled why Lander was asking this when in fact it was a piece of common knowledge.

"What?" Lander was astounded. 'How come it was 700 years? Does it mean that the survival rate in this world is different on Earth?' Lander thought to himself.

"So how old are you now Village Chief?" Lander asked with great interest.

This time, the Village Chief was becoming more and more perplexed but he still satisfied Lander's curiosity, "Two hundred and two and I only have a couple of years left."

'Fucking serious?' Lander cursed inwardly with his eyes wide open. He never imagined that the difference between Earth and this world was not just because of magic but because of life expectancy. He was becoming more interested in this world, 'I wonder how many more things I can learn here besides magic, telepathy communication, things related to soul and survival rate.'

When he recovered from shock to amazement, the Village Chief ushered them to his home. He then treated them nicely, serving them tea and food in which he borrowed money from the other outcasts to buy these things. Although he was the Village Chief, he was the poorest outcast in this village as he was earning the money he got to buy his beloved daughter back. That was the reason Lander saw him weak the first time he saw him. He was even starving himself just for his daughter.

Although the Village Chief never mentioned this, he only learned it from the other outcasts gossiping while they were on their way to the Village Chief's home. He was amazed by this kind of love which he never experienced himself. At the same time, he cursed at the norms of this world, 'How the hell could a father buy his daughter!'

After an hour, the young man returned with a young woman following him. The young woman was pale and beads of tears running down her cheeks. She was a caucasian beauty if only she wasn't pale. This young woman was also the maid of Young Master Brokko whom he had beaten and forced to sexually assault.

Seeing the father and daughter duo, Lander and the two bade goodbye as the young man arranged the place in which they were going to stay.

When morning came, Grey and Yan Yan continued their routine led by Lander. They were running all around the town and the village folks were bewildered by their actions and nobody stopped them as they were afraid of Grey. It was only when the Village Chief stopped them, "Why are you running all around the village?"

"Training," Yan Yan casually answered as she dashed catching up to Lander and Grey who were on the lead.

The Village Chief was perplexed, "What kind of training is that they have to run around?"

The young woman who was the Village Chief's daughter was bewildered upon watching the three.

After a full two hours, Yan Yan stopped in front of the house of the Village Chief to rest. Then after an hour, Grey also surrendered. Only after four hours when Lander decide to rest.

Upon having their rest, "Let's go guys. We'll finish our routine training before we set to the Wyvern Capital."