Chapter 3: Soul
"I need to get stronger… yes, that's the only way I can live my life the way I want."
Leo clenched his fists, his gaze hardening. "It was true in my previous life too… and it's even more true in this world."
He made a silent vow: to become the strongest, at least enough that no one would ever be able to boss him around.
"And I was also killed just because—!"
His thoughts came to a sudden stop as Leo suddenly realised something.
"…Wait."
Leo froze.
"I have a family member? No… wait, more like a cousin… or not quite really?" He frowned, trying to piece together the memories. "Damn it. I was an orphan in my previous life… and I still am in this one too. But… unlike before, someone took me in."
Memories surfaced more clearly now.
"A friend of my father adopted me… my uncle and aunt…"
His chest suddenly tightened.
"I can feel it… the previous owner of this body deeply cared about them."
Then his breath grew heavier.
"And they were fucking killed…!"
A surge of rage erupted within him, raw, intense, and personal. It was as if these intense emotions were his own and not the body's previous owner's.
Leo took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and think carefully.
"Think. Calm down. Understand everything first."
Piece by piece, the truth started adding up.
Leo's uncle and aunt were killed just because the lord of this town, Baron Zerek Milti, wanted to take his aunt as his concubine. When his aunt vehemently refused, he sent his men to drag her away.
But Leo's uncle had been there when this happened.
He fought back.
And he got himself killed for it.
His aunt… she resisted too, trying to fight.
And she died as well.
Now, only one person remained whom he could call his family.
His so-called cousin.
"Lily…"
Thinking about her, Leo's expression darkened.
"That darn Baron's son… Zolton Milti… now he wants her!
His fists tightened.
But as he recalled, Lily had always slipped past him since she worked in a restaurant owned by a retired intermediate 2 Star Beast Master.
A rare good man.
Someone who actually protected the people working under him.
And since he was a 2 Star, he was almost on the same power level as the Baron, who was an advanced 2 Star Beast Master.
The reason why such a powerful person retired and ran a restaurant was because the majority of his beasts died and only one remained alive.
There was also the fact that his wife cooks well.
But despite having just one beast, he was a strong enough threat for the Baron.
Knowing that well, the baron wouldn't risk having a direct conflict, especially not over something as trivial as his unawakened son's obsession over a commoner girl.
So, Zolton played his cards to make Lily helpless by removing the only support that remained for her… by killing Leo.
"Fuck you… Baron and your entire bloodline… Shit. In both worlds, I died just because of freaking dicks!"
Leo gritted his teeth in anger but didn't let it consume him. Instead, his resolve to get stronger only increased.
By now, night had already fallen.
Without realizing it, Leo had already started walking his way back home, his mind racing as he planned his next move.
"So… tomorrow is my awakening trial." His hand instinctively moved to his pocket.
"Those fuckers even took my money."
Then, a sigh escaped his lips, followed by a small, grim smile.
"Thank god I left the trial hall pass at home. That freaking pass alone had cost 50 Bronze Coins!"
"And then they say they need Beast Masters? Which commoner could ever be able to save that much and afford it?" His expression turned mocking.
"Damn, if not for Lily, I would have never managed to get the pass…"
"I need to awaken," he whispered, his fists clenched. "No matter what… that's the only way forward."
In truth, Leo's thoughts weren't wrong.
The high cost of the pass wasn't accidental… it was all the nobles' ploy.
Since they were already in a good position, they had no desire for more competition among them.
Why would they allow new Beast Masters to rise and threaten their status and authority?
And with the discovery of mana extending lifespans, their ambitions to rule would remain unhindered for a long time.
It was said that the Emperor himself had lived for more than 200 years and still appeared young!
Of course, there was one reasonable justification.
If the trial were to be free, the entire town would want to try their luck every year, even those who had already failed.
Nonetheless, the price was still ridiculously high.
The currency system was simple:
100 Copper Coins equalled 1 Bronze Coin.
100 Bronze Coins equalled 1 Silver Coin.
100 Silver Coins equalled 1 Gold Coin.
100 Gold Coins equalled 1 Platinum Coin.
At first glance, 50 Bronze coins may not seem like much.
But in reality…
That amount of money could feed a family of five for nearly a month!
Lily earned only 20 Bronze Coins a month while working at the restaurant, and while Leo did some odd jobs here and there, he could only make around 5 Bronze Coins a month.
And that was before expenses like clothes, daily necessities and everything else.
They had barely managed to scrape together those 50 Bronze over the course of a whole year so that Leo could participate in the awakening ceremony.
"All that for one chance."
"Lily…"
Lily was two years older than Leo, 24 while he was 22, which naturally made her take on the role of an elder sister, something she naturally assumed was her responsibility.
After her parents died five years ago, she had forced herself to appear strong, just so Leo wouldn't have to worry.
She too had tried to awaken as well, but even though her soul rank had been assessed as Rare, she failed to awaken the Taming Talent.
Soul rank: this was the measure of a person's soul strength. It determined how many beasts a Beast Master could contract and how many of their abilities he could share.
There were ten soul ranks, from weakest to strongest:
Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Transcendent, Divine and Eternal.
The maximum number of beasts one could tame was decided by a simple formula:
(2X + 5), with X representing the rank value. For example, Common had a value of X=1.
1. Common - 7
2. Uncommon - 9
3. Rare - 11
4. Super Rare - 13
5. Epic - 15
6. Legendary - 17
7. Mythical - 19
8. Transcendent - 21
9. Divine - 23
10. Eternal - 25
But there is another perk to Soul Rank.
It didn't just affect the number of beasts they could contract; instead, it also determined how many abilities one could use from each contracted beast.
A Common rank could use only one shared ability, while each higher rank added one more.
Common [1], Uncommon [2], Rare [3]… Legendary [6], Mythical [7]… Eternal [10].
In other words, your Soul Rank directly reflected your potential.
The higher your Soul Rank, the easier it was to grow stronger.
So basically, even without summoning their beasts, those with high soul ranks could be stronger by themselves since they could rely on those shared abilities.
In contrast, Common rank souls often relied entirely on their beasts to fight for them.
For instance, if a Rare Soul Rank Beast Master had reached the maximum limit of beasts he is allowed to tame, which is eleven contracts, he can theoretically have an arsenal of 33 abilities!
Of course, reality was way harsher.
Taming the potentially maximum number of beasts was rarely seen, and it became even more difficult at higher ranks.
Most Common and Uncommon rank souls only managed to tame just one or two beasts.
Even the Emperor, rumored to possess a Legendary Rank soul, had only contracted ten beasts.
And it was the same with abilities. Some Common rank souls couldn't even handle a single shared ability before their souls collapsed.
_____
"Shit… I am pathetic in this life."
Leo cursed himself under his breath.
"A man's greatest ability is to make money… and I even failed to do that here."
For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was in the wrong here.