This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

As Kain stepped onto the battlefield, a tangible shift rippled through the watching crowd. The instructors watched carefully, making quick, whispered notes to one another. Kain’s victory wasn’t guaranteed, but it was no longer the impossibility many assumed. After Serena’s impressive display, he now felt countless eyes boring into his back—curious, expectant, and wary.

And wary eyes were the worst. Kain would have much preferred for the upperclassmen to still not take him seriously.

On the opposite side of the arena, Dmitri Sanguine stepped forward silently, expressionless and composed. His black hair glistened faintly under the artificial lights, matching the dark, heavy aura he carried with him. Everything about Dmitri suggested meticulous calculation and suppressed danger. While his younger brother Alexei was impulsive and brash, Dmitri was the quiet observer. The tactician.

They stood facing each other, neither moving nor blinking.

“Prepare your contracts,” the instructor’s voice called evenly.

Kain breathed out slowly. He had carefully considered how he would approach this fight. Dmitri was a difficult opponent, someone whose affinity made him deadly against living, blood-bearing targets. That automatically eliminated some of Kain’s key allies— Vauleth, Queen, and her Vespid guards would be directly vulnerable. Thus, he settled on his selection.

First was Aegis, towering and stone-faced, completely immune to Dmitri’s blood manipulation. He appeared immediately at Kain’s side, planting his massive body firmly into the arena floor like a massive boulder

Next came Bea. Although invisible, her presence hummed faintly in the air. She was fully in tune with Kain’s thoughts, ready to intercept any plans Dmitri may have.

Then, finally—secretly—he summoned Chewy. The tiny, inconspicuous spore appeared concealed under Kain’s sleeve, hidden from view. “Stay quiet and hidden,” he whispered mentally. Chewy replied with a faint pulse of agreement, keeping itself compressed and tucked against Kain’s wrist.

Across from him, Dmitri’s red eyes narrowed slightly, tracking Kain’s movements with analytical precision.

Dmitri’s first summon emerged—a Bloodvine Basilisk. Its serpentine form slid onto the field gracefully, its dark-red scales glinting ominously, eyes sharp with restrained hunger. Thorn-covered vines curled slowly out from its body, seeping ominously onto the field.

Next appeared the Crimson Vein Bat, flapping quietly into position above Dmitri. Its translucent wings glowed faintly crimson under the stadium lights, casting an eerie shadow over the area around it.

Lastly, the Scarletfever Arachnid materialized. Its spindly legs moved in careful, deliberate patterns as it settled defensively in front of Dmitri. Its razor-like mandibles twitched impatiently, eager for action.

And yet, notably absent were Dmitri’s weaker contracts. Kain noticed it immediately. Dmitri had likely realized the danger Bea posed; weaker contracts would be mere sacrifices, giving Bea an opportunity to use his own contracts against him. He, like Kain, had decided to field only his strongest and least vulnerable creatures.

From the sidelines, whispers arose.

“Just two contracts?” a student muttered, glancing skeptically at Kain’s side. They could see only Aegis, and while Bea was invisible, they knew well enough she was likely present. “He’s fighting Dmitri Sanguine, and he’s not even summoning his full squad?”

Kyria crossed her arms, clearly interested. Beside her, Jin’s brows lifted. “He’s either extremely confident or dangerously reckless.”

The instructor’s voice rang sharply again, cutting through the whispers. “Begin!”

Dmitri wasted no time. Immediately, the Bloodvine Basilisk lunged forward, thorny deep red vines burst from the ground in a web-like pattern to trap and isolate Kain’s only visible defender, Aegis.

Aegis didn’t move. He planted himself deeper, shield raised firmly, absorbing the blow head-on as vines crashed around him, scrabbling to find gaps in his armour.

At the same instant, the Crimson Vein Bat released a wide pulse of blood-colored mist across the arena, saturating the battlefield with an oppressive sensation of weakness. To Kain’s surprise, even his breathing briefly grew heavy—Dmitri was aiming to weaken him directly, recognizing the resilience of Kain’s contracts but betting that his physical body could be manipulated directly

Fortunately, Bea responded instantly. Her Pale Thought Field surged forward in an invisible wave, subtle and precise, weaving into the bat’s mind. Its mental defences were strong enough that Bea couldn’t instantly implant a split, but not so strong that it wasn’t influenced by her sending negative mental signals and distractions its way:

A-Mind Chorus: Bombards the target’s mind with a chaotic symphony of phantom voices, disrupting their concentration and decision-making. The mental assault causes confusion and paranoia, rendering the target’s thoughts fragmented and actions clumsy for a short duration.

S-Neural Seepage (Active/Passive Hybrid): Send contaminated thought particles into a target’s mental field. These particles degrade mental defences over time.

These two skills in combination ensured that Bea was no longer useless against creatures with extremely strong mental defences.

Within seconds, the blood-colored mist flickered, then weakened dramatically. Dmitri’s subtle manipulation sputtered as the creature became distracted by Bea’s mental interference.

Dmitri’s expression barely changed, but Kain saw the faintest twitch of his jaw.

The Scarletfever Arachnid moved next.

Its movements were eerily quiet—legs clicking softly as it darted along the outer edge of the battlefield. Instead of engaging Aegis, it curved its approach… toward Kain directly.

Kain’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re aiming at me now?” he muttered under his breath.

The arachnid’s fangs dripped with something oily and dark, each twitch of its limbs echoing with intent.

He understood immediately.

Its advance was smooth, deliberate, without hesitation. This was a pressure tactic—intended to shake Kain’s focus, not just draw blood.

Not that Kain was upset, dealing with attacks targeted his way suddenly was a crucial skill he needed to develop since during the College Re-rankings he was free from any attacks as long as he didn’t involve himself directly.

However, at the National Tournament, the usual rules of decorum—like not targeting the beast-tamer unless they interfered directly—meant nothing. Those matches were real. Ruthless. One misstep and the beast-tamer could be incapacitated, bleeding, or worse. Kain still remembered last year’s regional match, where Nikolai Sanguine, who was in Kain’s year at Supernova College, had ignored the typical rules of sportsmanship multiple times to directly attack the beast-tamer to turn the tide.

A controversial move—one that earned the win.

Now, his cousin was teaching Kain the same lesson.

Dmitri spoke for the first time, voice low but calm. “You’ll need to get used to this. Consider it… educational. My contracts would do far less harm to you than my cousin’s.”

Kain didn’t answer. His mind was already racing.

His breathing had grown faintly uneven after the Crimson Vein Bat’s blood mist. Even if Bea had reduced the intensity of the mist, some remained, and even that small amount felt like an energy-draining poison to Kain. His legs were far heavier than they should be.

And now those heavy legs were helpless to dodge as a massive pair of the arachnid’s mandibles moved in toward his head.

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