亚瑟影院

"Look here, Satoshi, a System Type is one of the most powerful Representatives out there. My Representative is a Defensive Type which gives me the additional attack and defense. There are many more types of Representatives out there, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I have."

The two continued conversing about Representatives and Tamed Beasts. Yuuta was actually surprised that there were a lot of things he didn't know about tamed beasts and representatives in general. During their conversation, Satoshi also realized the innate nature of tamed beasts— that they're constantly seeking ways to become stronger. He could finally explain the strange phenomenon of them leveling up out of nowhere and becoming formidable. As it turned out, they were training inside the dimension created by Orb Oboros.

While they were getting too into the topics of training and their own ways of bonding with their tamed beasts, the television screen propped on the wall suddenly turned on, and an announcement flashed on the screen. Satoshi and Yun Zhe immediately stopped what they were talking about. They knew that the announcement involved the Official Beast Tournament, so they decided to pay attention no matter what.

[The Official Beast Tournament is finally commencing! Please look forward to your brackets. It will be posted soon.] The letters on the television read.

"Here we go. Are we going to be in the same division... or not? Fifty-fifty." Yun Zhe muttered, crossing his fingers since he didn't want to fight Satoshi before the finals. He could more or less guess that Satoshi is capable of reaching the finals. And to himself, as biased as he was, he knew that he could go head-to-head with Satoshi as long as he didn't underestimate him.

"I hope not. That way, we can have a rematch in the finals." Satoshi responded, to which Yun Zhe smiled. They were thinking the same thing; that much was obvious.

When five minutes had already passed, Satoshi and Yun Zhe both held their breaths since the brackets were about to be posted. The two of them felt as if they were entering their first match. That was how nervous they were while they waited for the announcement.

Gulp.

Three...

Two...

One...

The pairings were finally posted, and Satoshi immediately scanned the name of more than a hundred participants. Yun Zhe did the same thing, still crossing his fingers in hopes that he won't be in the same division as Satoshi.

"There! Right there!" After a few seconds, Yun Zhe exclaimed as if he had just seen something memorable. His eyes then lit up as he looked at the other side of the list. His eyes then darted from the list and then to Satoshi, then back to the list again. Before Satoshi could ask him what was going on, Yun Zhe grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently.

Satoshi felt as if his head was about to fly from his neck. "Wha- what... why?" Satoshi almost bit his tongue as he spoke.

"Your name! It's on the other side! We're not in the same bracket! We have a chance of seeing each other in the finals." Yun Zhe said, finally letting go of Satoshi as he clenched both his fists. He seemed more fired up than usual as he extended his hand towards Satoshi, his fist still clenched. "No, I'm sure of it. I'll be able to get to the finals. I'll see you there, Satoshi, my rival."

Satoshi nodded as he fist-bumped Yun Zhe's fists. He had no idea why Yun Zhe was acting like that. It's not like he was going anywhere for him to be saying such words.

"You better get going. You have someone to defeat!" Yun Zhe continued, patting Satoshi on the shoulder.

Up until now, Satoshi still hasn't seen his name on the list. That's why he had no idea that he was actually the first match happening that day.

"What are you talking about?" Satoshi asked, confused.

"You're up! You're the first on the list. You'll be fighting someone named Hero Disciple. I'm pretty sure that's his superhero name. Why's he using his superhero name on the Official Beast Tournament?" Yun Zhe said to himself. "Well, in any case, you'd better get going, Satoshi. You have the fight to win!"

After checking the list and confirming that he was actually the first fight of the day, Satoshi nodded toward Yun Zhe and headed outside. Orb Oboros and Dex were right beside him as he exited the room. And even though he felt a tinge of nervousness deep within, he felt assured that Dex and every one of his familiars was on his side. This time, he didn't intend to lose.

On his way to the grand stage in the middle of the American Stadium, Satoshi was wondering why he was in the first match. There were more than a hundred participants, so that means he had less than two percent in being part of the first match. "But then again, this is my debut fight. I'm going to show everything I've learned up until now. This should be an easy win." Satoshi muttered to himself, pumping himself up before the fight.

Meanwhile, the Hero Disciple was already standing opposite the stage. He was wearing tights, and a cap fluttered on his back. A mask was pulled on his face with a stark bright red and bright blue color. The letter 'Z' was written on his chest as if it meant something (quite frankly, it looked like a poor attempt at dressing like a certain powerful superhero whose weakness is a particular rock.)

"Satoshi, eh? Can't say I don't know the kid... but this should be an easy win for me." Hero Disciple said to himself, puffing his chest and crossing his arms in front of him. For someone who knows of Satoshi's identity as a beast tamer, he sure seemed confident.

As soon as Satoshi appeared on the screen and appeared on the field, quite a huge portion of the audience started screaming and cheering for him. Satoshi didn't expect such a reaction at all, so much so that he flinched the moment the cheers erupted.

His ears reddening, Satoshi made his way towards the grand stage. He was prepared to fight, but somehow he felt oddly weirded out by the strange costume the Hero Disciple wore.

"Ah! Satoshi! Finally, our battle will be legendary!" Hero Disciple said, raising his fist in the air as he let out a growled roar. "I know who you are... and I also know that I can defeat you. I don't even have to do anything to defeat you." Hero Disciple smirked as he pulled out a Gren from his pockets. He then threw it and a weird creature came out.

The creature didn't look like a creature at all. It was a floating zither and a dark energy emanated from it. Satoshi could tell from one look alone that the floating zither was not an ordinary tamed beast. The power he sensed from the zither was close to the energy level of a Representative.

[Satoshi...] Dex suddenly spoke out in his mind.

"Yes? What is it?" Satoshi asked back, almost flinching a second time after hearing Dex's voice in his head out of nowhere.

[Don't be fooled. That's a Music-Type Representative called the Sinister Zither. You might think it's weak, but it's hiding its true nature. Its ten times more powerful than it seems. Also, don't be surprised, but that tamed beast is actually a Representative. That guy wants you to underestimate him, but it won't work.]

"How would we be able to defeat it?"

While Satoshi was talking to Dex in his head, the acting referee of the match was put in a rather awkward situation. Hero Disciple was still blabbering about his tamed beast and how he'd be able to win, but no one was actually listening to him. Even the commentator's patience was running thin since Hero Disciple kept on interrupting him.

[You have to... blah blah blah~] Dex explained as the countdown began. Dex was fairly certain that the Sinister Zither was much stronger than him, that's why he didn't hesitate to control the situation so it would tip on his master's favor.

"Now, who are you going ot start with, huh? Huh?!" Hero Disciple taunted.

"..."

"..."

"START!" The referee screamed just so the Hero Disciple would pay attention to the signal.

SLASH!

Before Satoshi could even integrate with any of his tamed beast, he saw himself falling on the ground. His body was cut int two, and he watched in horror as his upper body fell while his legs remained upright.