Chapter 49 - Beast Master

Haruto was confused why this gave him better reward than fighting the elder and thought it might not be useful against combat. He understood that the outcome of the fight was going to be and still decided to help the tiger as Haruto jumped down and took deep breath standing beside the tiger who was surprised and became tense seeing him.

"You may not understand me but I hope you can sense my intent." Haruto said looking at the tiger straight into its eyes and understood what he wanted. He got a small insight into what intent is and its application.

"All of you, get lost!" He released his pressure and only made them step back seeing that they were adamant of taking the time out. Haruto frowned since he doesn't want to kill animals, especially animals since they do not have morals like humans and are acting only in their nature.

'....I have no choice do I?' Haruto didn't want to fight but saw that he had no choice and decided to at least knock the wolves since killing them served no purpose.

"Then come!" Haruto growled as the wolves leaf and Haruto karate chopped one of them then went to fist strike the next before doing a roundhouse kick. He tried to minimize the damage done to their body and went for the spot where they could be knocked out.

'I'm not used to fighting a beast.' Haruto thought himself finding it hard to hold back since he was used to sparring against people. He aims to end the fight quickly using his knowledge and experience from [ Raizo(A) ] allows him to pinpoint where to strike.

Combat type and Assassin type are two different kinds of fighter with the former only fighting to win while assassins end the fight as quickly as possible. He used [ Kousaka Style ] , allowing him to fight, which was enough against the wolves.

'Animals might be predictable but their instincts are sharp.' Haruto noticed how they were able to move without much thought following their animalistic instinct. He began to try and copy their nature and in that moment something clicked in his head.

'Nature….essence…intent.' He seemingly realized something and began to empty his thoughts rather than suppressing them by merely letting go and began to use his [ Konton Kizen Shōkō jōtai ] allowing him to move and follow their movement despite inexperience in combating animals.

For a brief moment he grasped Intent and flow but only for a brief moment as the wolf was a lot better at it than he was. Resulting his defense getting bypassed and his not using much strength focusing on his technique.

'It's still far but I know I will manage to reach it…' Haruto still couldn't master it and simply was doing a repetition of his technique but didn't truly understand it. He took deep breaths and took what he felt then replicated it the best he could.

Meanwhile, the Tiger pounced into one of them biting their neck, crushing the wolf's throat and instantly killing it. It roared when one of the wolves bit it and quickly shaped them off before leaping towards them and slammed them on the ground.

Haruto then looked back and saw one of the wolves got close to the cub and without thinking use the body of the Wolf that he was fighting as a foot hold then propel himself forward and before eit could sink its fang into the cub receive a powerful kick from Haruto.

"You alright?" Haruto asked the tiger cub who looked at him with great interest and cutely roared, making him smile since he was like a cat. He turned back to the Wolf pack who had their number gone down to only a handful.

Eventually, Haruto and the mother tiger manage to fend them off leaving the one knock to be finished off by the mother tiger. He didn't stop her because of this simple nature and felt the intent of getting a glimpse of it.

Haruto watched in silence, having understood the tiger wouldn't live even if he brought it to Akisame since she was simply dead.

'I could use my potion that I haven't used but…' Haruto felt like if he did then it wouldn't change anything as the tiger wounds were too deep and far too exhausted. He gained the [ Beast Master(???) ] skills and being able to feel their emotions more clearly.

[ Beast Master(???)

[ Description: The character's beast master, an individual who can tame, train, groom, maintain, handle, breed, raise, understand, communicate with, summon, and ride on any beast that they encounter. The beasts can be anything from animals to monsters to mythical creatures to aliens to cryptids.

Limitation

Must know a way to calm the beast down if it is not tamed.

Must have a weapon of one's own in case the beast attacks the user all of a sudden.

Must not let one's guard down when dealing with (potentially) aggressive beasts.

The beast may turn on the user if not fully tamed.

May need to be careful with certain beasts. ]

Haruto understood how great skill was but put his attention on the mother and child pair as saw the tiger fall into the ground where the cub tried to rub itself.

"I hope you understand my words and promise that I shall take care of your child like my own." Haruto kneels close to the mother tiger who was panting, slowly losing its life.

'Child of man, I do not know how you are able to speak but I thank you for your assistance. Please protect my child. And my child stayed strong and lived.' The tiger communicated to Haruto who nodded and felt emotion shared between them as the mother tiger cub looked at its child one last time before taking its last breath.

The cub seemed to understand and cried in a way that a cat would. Haruto patted its fur having the same size as a small adult cat.

"Be proud that you are loved by your mother until her last breath. Stay strong." Haruto let the cub weep for its mother passing as he also felt like he grew from the encounter. He wondered about his parents, his biological doing and if they are still alive.

Haruto once felt hatred and anger abandoned but eventually overcame it and had that feeling turn to gratitude where he was grateful that he got the chance to meet his foster family.

'I promise I'll raise and protect this child like my foster parent had done.' Haruto thought, looking at the lifeless body of the mother tiger as he knelt to comfort the cub.

============

At that moment, Miu began to feel worried since it was already after lunch and Haruto hadn't returned. Despite knowing that there won't be anything that can go against him since he can easily fend off her grandfather doesn't remove her sorry. She decided to go look for him and somewhat sense where he was. Miu leaping through the trees until she caught a glimpse of a person and jumped down to find blood on the ground and corpses of wolves that had been piled up.

"Haruto?" Miu called out to him and walked over seeing him standing over a lump of dirt on the ground then saw a small tiger cub on his arms asleep. She was captivated by the cub but her thoughts quickly shifted to Haruto who had his other hand in a prayer position. Haruto finished praying, turning his attention to Miu with a gaze filled with Melancholy.

"Sorry, Miu-chan. I was busy doing something." Haruto said with a smile but he was clearly sad, hiding the pain. Miu doesn't know what had happened but it was clear that the event was a profound change to him..

"...is it alright if I ask what happened?" Miu hesitated to ask, looking at the cub and the wolves. It was painfully obvious that a fight ensued and the center was the cub.

"This cub might be the last of her kind." Haruto simply said and Miu immediately understood what had happened looking at the lump of dirt then did a prayer for it. She felt something click in her mind and a memory resurfaced for a brief moment.

"Miu-chan? Are you alright?" Haruto asked, seeing the change in Miu's behavior, immediately showed a smile shaking her head.

"It's nothing, I just realized what had happened and what you did." Miu reassured while Haruto nodded as he began to tell the full story as she prayed for the deceased. Even animals have souls and nature that they follow that humans.

"In the end, her mother gave everything for her child's future." Miu muttered remembering her mother and what had happened in the past. Haruto saw her expression and somewhat knew what's going on and took her hands where she was surprised by the gesture.

"Here, hold him for me." He gently gave the cub to Miu who took it with great care seeing how cute and peaceful it was.

"What a cute tiger…have you given it name?" Miu asked, looking at its fur that was vastly different, made from pure white fur instead of the normal kind like its mother.

"I haven't, how about you decide?" Haruto asked her and Miu looked excited looking at the sleeping cub staring at its white fur.

"Byakko, the white tiger of the west." Miu declared and the newly named Byakko yawned, purring and rubbing its body against her. She warmly smiled looking back to Haruto then stared down to see they were holding hands as he tightened their hold.

"It's time to leave. But let me burn this first." Haruto said as he used the sticks to create friction and heat allowing him to burn the corpse of the wolves since he doesn't want the body to rot in the forest. He gave a simple prayer hoping for them to reincarnate in a better life.

They soon arrived where the elder first one to see them and noticed the white tiger then their hands interlocking. Hayato trusted the young man even though he was known to be quite popular with women but most of them were good friends of his granddaughter and saw there wasn't any conflict happening. The couple went inside and Naoki was curious at the tiger cub Miu was holding while Haruto explained what had happened.

"Isn't he adorable, grandpa!" Miu was playing with Byakko who was getting some motherly love from her. Apachai and Naoki joined as they played with the tiger cub while Kenichi was worried that it might grow into something wild.

"Are you sure you'll adopt a tiger? I mean I know you love cats but…this isn't your typical pet." Kenichi voices his reason for watching Haruto join in.

"I know, but you wouldn't have to worry." Haruto could communicate with Byakko using [ Beast Master ] and seems to naturally understand what is going through Byakko.

"So you have discovered what you need to improve?" The elder asked, seeing his gaze had greatly shift and showing signs of maturity.

"Yes ....there are things that cannot be seen by eyes alone." Haruto said to make Kenichi curious but didn't ask.

"Good, for now let us continue your mountain training." Hayato said as everyone had lunch and resumed their training where Haruto would try to understand more about the Intent, Flow and Essence but he couldn't master them in ways that follow his intent that follow the flow and finally it's essence.

He sparred against Apachai and tried to replicate what he felt finding it rather a lot easier to fight against him but still couldn't fully grasp the feeling. In the end, he had spent roughly three days of training nonstop to improve his skills and only reach a minimal level.

Haruto decided to put his training in hold and have some quality time with his family since he was worried that he might be neglecting them. He would still trained but only for short time and focus most of it toward everyone else.