Supreme BeastTamer: I Can Copy and Upgrade Skills 10x!

Nox deactivated Divine Velocity and glanced back. He found himself in a much quieter street, and aside from the sparse number of people walking about, there was no sign of Captain Bofan. "Did I lose him already?" Nox wondered as he began to walk along the street.

Some of the mundanes stared at him with freaked-out expressions, as if he had popped out of thin air. But, remembering the kind of world they lived in, they quickly continued about their day.

They assumed the teen was an Awakened—those superhumans were notorious for possessing a variety of skills.

"I thought it was a ghost," one man commented.

"I thought teleportation skills were rare. H-how did someone so young get their hands on one?" another wondered.

Ignoring the curious looks, Nox was trying to ensure that he wasn't being followed. Knowing that there could be people with Assassin-type abilities stalking him, he spread his perception to the best of his ability, yet he still didn't sense any presence.

'What am I even doing? Of course, there would only be a handful of people who could catch up to me when I used Divine Velocity.' With that thought, Nox started to walk with a bit more confidence.

While Nox headed back to the abandoned ship, Captain Bofan remained rooted in the same spot where Nox had activated Divine Velocity. He had been so close, yet so far at the same time.

As he stood there, his subordinates rushed over.

"Captain, are you alright?"

"Captain!"

"Sir!"

The soldiers stared at their captain with perplexed expressions. They had been shouting his name for the last two minutes, yet he hadn't responded. The only reason they weren't panicking was because his breathing was steady, meaning he was still alive.

Finally, Captain Bofan slowly returned to his senses and voiced in a tone laced with incredulity, "D-did I just get outrun by a level 14 Awakened?"

Hearing himself say the words made them sound even more unbelievable, shocking the soldiers who had overheard him.

"Could it be a movement-type skill?" one soldier suggested.

"Definitely," another chimed in. "There's no way a level 14 can outrun a level 50 naturally. The kid must have used a powerful skill."

Hearing his subordinate's explanation, the captain pondered for a moment before looking up with fierce, serious eyes. "Get the artist to sketch that boy's face and plaster it all over the city... Anyone who brings him in or finds his hideout will be handsomely rewarded."

"Yes, sir!" The subordinate saluted and left to carry out the captain's orders.

"Kid, you could've just handed yourself over peacefully. Now the entire city will be after you." Captain Bofan smirked. "Let's see how much longer you can stay hidden."

___

By the time Nox returned to the ship, it was already night.

"Did you find your cat?" Brenda asked as soon as Nox appeared. She was waiting for him along with the other members of the Mavericks guild.

"Yes, he just wandered off. It's nothing worry about," Nox replied casually, eliciting a collective sigh of relief from everyone, which perplexed him a bit.

Seeing his confused expression, Cormach explained, "Kid, it seems you've forgotten how important that cat is... Only a few people would overlook a cat that could become humanoid and assist in battle, you know."

'Oh, so this was about Fluffington's resourcefulness.'

"I have something important to tell you guys," Nox suddenly stated, and when he had everyone's attention, he explained his encounter with Captain Bofan.

"Sigh, that old man probably won't believe us if we told him we had no part in that storekeeper's death," Reyes sighed. He knew Captain Bofan had a strong sense of justice and would never rest until he got to the bottom of the case.

'I should probably meet up with him and clear all misunderstandings,' Reyes thought, then added as he looked at the symbol of the Lich Court, a skeletal face, 'Luckily, I have something that might help us.'

"Sigh, we have to hurry up our search, but where do we even start?" After hearing about Nox's encounter, Reyes wanted to avoid such scenarios again. Their guild was a legal establishment, and if news spread that they had killed an innocent civilian, it could badly affect their reputation.

Reyes clenched his fist. He needed to get the Elemental Crystal and leave this kingdom as quickly as possible before things got too complicated.

Now that their only lead and edge against the other factions—the storekeeper who had access to the alchemist—was dead, they were back to step one. Reyes had never thought finding one beast would be so difficult. The beast was really an expert in hiding.

'Still, I can't help but think that the alchemist has a lead... If only we could find him.' Reyes thought as he paced back and forth, even contemplating whether the Elemental Crystal was worth all this stress. Maybe they should just abandon it and return to Valerian Kingdom.

Whoooooosh!

Just then, a loud whistling noise reverberated through the air. The sound was very familiar, and everyone inside the abandoned ship snapped their heads toward the windows.

Glancing outside, they saw it—a pillar of blue light shooting into the night sky. Like a beacon, the pillar attracted the attention of specific individuals scattered throughout Coastal City.

These individuals immediately vanished from their posts, heading toward the pillar of blue light that was shining brightly. Unlike previous times, the blue pillar was much wilder, radiating slight heat.

'This... Is there a reason for this? Why is the beacon so strong this time around?' Nox wondered.

After seeing the beam again, even though he was very skeptical, Reyes ordered them all to move. Currently, they were heading to the location.

As they got closer, Nox sensed the presence of a very powerful entity that possessed a vicious aura, one that could devour anything in its path. It seemed he was not the only one who had sensed this aura, as the others also showed hesitant expressions.

Reyes frowned tightly and muttered in a low voice, "T-this aura doesn't belong to a King-Tier Beast... It's much more terrifying. Could it be that the Elemental Beast has really made its appearance this time around?"