The beast tamers at the training camp took a short break when Satoshi and the others entered. Everyone sitting on the floor or lounging around immediately stood upright and bowed towards White Mist as soon as they noticed his presence. He was none other than the 'sensei' of every beast tamer in the training camp and that's why they held him in such great respect.
"Good morning everyone." White Mist greeted as he crossed his arms while walking towards the center of the vast room. This was the common area of the facility. The training grounds where all the training is done (obviously) were located in the next room after the common area. A little bit to the side was another door that led to the dorms where everyone are staying at the moment. There were two doors on each side. The girl's dorm was on the right while the boys' dorm was on the left.
Before everyone paid attention to White Mist, he clapped his hand so they would all be jolted awake. It was still early in the morning and no one had expected an early training today. That's why most of them were staying by the common area. Some of them were reading manga, some were eating chips, and some were playing video games on their portable game consoles. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that they were surprised when White Mist entered so suddenly.
"I want a demonstration of Beast Integration. We have new people joining us today, and that's why I need at least two of you for the demonstration. I'm sure that some of you have been practicing the next level of beast-taming, right? Those who could show decent control regarding beast taming will get to spend a night over at Grand Hotel." White Mist announced all of a sudden.
The announcement made everyone drop their jaws in shock as they stared at each other. Sure they were working on Beast Integration but compared to White Mist who could control it, they were like newborn babies trying to walk and failing. Those who didn't stand a chance at demonstrating decently didn't even bother raising their hands despite the tempting reward. As for those who thought that they'd be able to pull it off, they raised their hands. Only three or four people raised their hands without hesitation. All four of them were a little bit older than Satoshi, approximately in their early twenties.
"Oh, our new member is Japanese. Naisu tu meet chu. Ay am Shoyo." A guy in his early twenties spoke up as he extended his hands toward Satoshi. He thought that Satoshi was a fluent English speaker since he looked like one. Shoyo was actually Japanese, that's why he had a hard time speaking in English when he greeted Satoshi.
"You don't have to force yourself, I can speak Japanese just fine," Satoshi responded, shaking Shoyo's hand.
"Oh sweet, and here I was thinking that you also speak English. See that black-haired guy over there? He's actually Japanese as well, the name's Kageyama. But he could speak English just fine. I have a hard time talking to him." Shoyo jerked his thumb towards another guy who was frowning so weirdly. He didn't seem bothered by the stares that everyone gave him.
"All right, Shoyo, Kageyama, Tetsuya, Taiga, all of you demonstrate your beast integration. I'll be the judge whether you'll be eligible to spend a night in the Grand Hotel." White Mist said with a commanding tone in his voice. Until now, he still crossed his arms as if that was the only position he knew while instructing everyone.
Satoshi could recall that the person named Taiga was the one who raised his hand confidently back then, that's why he was wondering if he was the number one student in the training camp. White Mist didn't give them any hints though, since he wanted to leave them in suspense.
"All right, whenever you're ready." White Mist gave the signal.
Even though Jean Grey seemed disinterested, he still keenly observed everyone who tried to integrate with their beast. His attention was also focused on the same individual, the one named Taiga.
One by one, the four young men pulled out some form of dimensional storage apparatus from their pockets and summoned their familiar. Taiga summoned a tiger with fiery fur and he immediately set to work with his Beast Integration. He started doing some sort of weird dance or ritual where he jumped from one side to another before performing a twirl. It was a sight to behold, even Jean Grey who doesn't usually laugh chuckled when he noticed Taiga's heartfelt presentation.
Kageyama summoned a tamed beast that looked like a black crow, except it has a dark aura surrounding it. As for Tetsuya, he summoned a tamed beast that looked like a snake made out of metal. He started integrating as well.
"You ready, Hiyoko? You're looking pretty orange as ever, huh, who's a good chick?"
Meanwhile, Shoyo summoned his tamed beast. It was a chick, but it was as big as a ramen bowl and it had a nice orange color to it. Satoshi couldn't help but redirect his eyes toward Shoyo's tamed beast since it was the cutest beast in the room. Moreover, it was fluffy, which is always a plus when it comes to tamed beasts.
A smile formed on Satoshi's face as he watched Shoyo talking to his tamed beast. He could tell that Shoyo is specially bonded with his tamed beast. Even Jean Grey who had been silently observing Taiga averted his gaze from him and instead, he intently monitored the orange-haired boy with his orange-colored chick.
"All right, are you ready, Hiyoko? Just as we practiced, all right? You don't have to force yourself." Shoyo said, petting his tamed beast. (Hiyoko~ is actually the Japanese term for chick, and that's why Shoyo kept on calling his tamed beast Hiyoko.)
Shoyo extended his hand forward with his palms open. He then looked at his tamed beast who assumed the same position as well. "All right, se~ no~ Beast Integration!"
"Kyu~!" Shoyo's tamed beast let out a cute squeal as it started glowing.
Shoyo started glowing as well and the glow got brighter, almost illuminating the entire common area. When the glow had dissipated, Shoyo appeared with a fluff of orange covering his entire body. He looked like a chicken mascot, a fluffy chicken mascot.
"What on earth Shoyo, you look stupid haha~!"
"Are you a mascot? You should go outside and advertise the training camp."
"What kind of Beast Integration is that?"
Some of the trainees who were in the room started mocking Shoyo despite the fact that he was the fastest one to integrate with his tamed beast. A couple of seconds later, Taiga followed. Flaming tiger pelt donned his head with the tiger skin extending all the way up to his arms and legs. His arm was covered with the paw of the tiger and his tail continued to burn brightly. Out of everyone who integrated with his beast, he looked the coolest.
When Taiga successfully integrated with his beast, everyone started cheering. There was a look of smugness on his face as he glanced toward the general direction of Shoyo. He might be faster than him, but he definitely looked way cooler.
Kageyama also turned out to be badass when pitch-black wings appeared on his back. The integration was complete and he turned out to be a man with black wings. Tetsuya's hair turned into metallic snakes when his beast integration was over, and once again, he also looked way cooler than Hiyoko.
"What do you think? Pretty cool, right? Now I'll show you mine." White Mist muttered to himself when he summoned his White Wolf. Once the Beast Integration was complete, White Mist looked like a lycan or a werewolf. His Beast Integration was impressive, even Jean Grey was surprised.
"What do you think? You can tell if someone's pretty good at Beast Integration, right? Who's the best student out of everyone here?" White Mist asked a little too excitedly. He just wanted to show off his training camp so Jean, Ash, and Satoshi would be more than willing to join the training camp.
Without saying another word, Satoshi and Jean Grey pointed at Shoyo who had already lowered his head in a dejected manner. When he noticed that the two newcomers were pointing at him, his eyes sparkled as he bowed toward the two.
"Haah? Clearly, it's Taiga and his Fire Tiger who integrated with his beast better. Just look at it," White Mist argued, pointing at Taiga who proudly stood at the other end of the line.
Jean Grey shook his head in response. "Sure it looked cool... but his beast integration is pretty low-leveled. Even my son can do a better job than him."
"What did you say, old man?!" Taiga growled. He didn't dare approach Jean Grey though since he knew that he had beaten White Mist last night.
Upon saying that, Jean Grey then grabbed Taiga by the shoulders and positioned him right beside Shoyo. "Now I'm going to prove to everyone why Shoyo did a better job than this show-off." Jean Grey began as he summoned his Azure Tiger. "Pheross, use glare."
Glare!
The moment the intense bloodthirst hit both Shoyo and Taiga, they both fell to the floor. The only difference was, Shoyo still had his beast integration activated while Taiga's beast integration had been disabled in a snap of a finger.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel