Alpha

SCREECH! A blood curdling screech ran out through the air. Shing! Ethan pulled out his dagger, morphing it into a kusarigama as he tensed his body. He recognised this sound. He'd heard it just a few minutes ago. It was the same creature that had commanded the pack of rat lords that had attacked him. Whoosh....whoosh....whoosh. He started swinging his kusarigama in a circle as he moved forward slowly. Crunch.....crunch.....crunch. His feet fell softly on the dried grass, minimising the sounds he made as he crouched forward. The pack of rat lords had been a pain to deal with. He could feel his body approaching its limits. That damned rat had stuck its claws deep into his stomach, wounding him thoroughly. He clenched his teeth in pain. Whatever. He could still deal with another monster if he needed to.

SCREECH! The alpha's cries rang out as Ethan moved closer and closer. Moving towards the alpha while he was injured wasn't a good idea. But he couldn't help it. He had to follow Noah's trail into the grassland. A low tier F ranked gate might be a piece of cake for Noah, but it was a dangerous place for him. He couldn't survive on his own. Even if the monsters he was fighting against were the weakest type of monsters. And, there was also a chance that the alpha had met Noah. SCREECH! He stared into the tall grass.

Beast type monsters were one of the weakest types of monsters. They could barely fight against awakeners of their own level, even in the higher ranks, where most awakeners became weaker than monsters of the same rank as them. But, that didn't mean that they were easy to deal with.

Beast type monsters had changed their behaviour to tackle their weaknesses. They developed ways to increase their battle prowess, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the other types of monsters. Each beast type monster was a member of a pack. The monsters coordinated with one another, making up for a lack of strength with numbers.

Ethan parted the grass in front of him as the a few drops of blood started to litter the trail of blood. He gazed at the endless sea of grass ahead as he rest for a moment. Beast type monsters were a lot like primitive humans. Weak, yet ingenious. They banded together, fighting against and taking down threats that they individually could not hope to handle. And the one who led the tribe to victory, guiding each and every member to ensure that they survived was the chief. The leader. Just like beast type monsters were commanded by alphas.

Crunch.....crunch....splat. The noise made by Ethan's feet changed as the amount of blood littering the path grew. He looked down in disgust. It looked like Noah had dragged a monster right through the ground, smashing it against the floor as he left a bloody trail.

Ethan looked up. The alpha was a monster that lead its pack using its superior intellect rather than brute strength. And this developed a system where beast type monsters grew stronger by stepping on the members of their own species. They were a lot like the factions of KGS. But less refined. And more brutal.

Splat! Splat! Crunch! The grass parted, revealing a hunched figure bending down towards a large, bloody mess. "Hey Noah! Why did you....." Noah's face shot upwards, staring at Ethan as his black eyes glinted slightly. Ethan froze as he caught a glimpse of Noah. There were splotches of blood littering his face. He looked like some kind of a mass murderer that had just massacred an entire street full of people.

Splat! Drip...drip...drip. Tiny drops of blood trailed down his fingers, dripping onto the floor as his eyes lay fixed on Ethan. His face was completely still as he analysed Ethan, as if he were yet another monster he needed to slaughter. A shiver ran down Ethan's spine. "Did you take care of the others?" Drip....drip....drip. The sound of the blood dripping unnerved Ethan. Right now, Noah looked like some sort of a psychopathic butcher from a third rate horror film. Which was funny to look at on TV, but in person? Not so much.

"W...What do you mean?" Ethan caught himself stuttering. "Ahem!" He cleared his throat loudly. "The other monsters." Shing! Noah swung his blade in an arc as he sheathed his reddened blade, sending drops of blood flying everywhere. "Yeah! Yes, I did." For some reason, Ethan couldn't bring himself to get mad at Noah for abandoning him yet again.

"Then let's go." Swish! Ethan parted the tall grass, taking large, heavy steps as he walked into the dense leaves. "Hey Noah!" CRUNCH! Noah turned around staring at Ethan intently. "What are we...." Ethan stared at Noah's face as his voice trailed off. "Ahem! I mean, do you...." A shiver ran down his spine. "....do you need a napkin?" Noah stared at Ethan emptily. "Yes."

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Crunch....crunch....crunch. Ethan stepped through the grass, walking behind Noah as he followed him deeper into the grasslands. The entire gate was eerily quiet. Any other gate, and he wouldn't have thought much of it. But this gate, it was the lair of beast type monsters. A pack of rat lords had already laid a trap in an attempt to kill him. These monsters weren't dumb.

Crunch! Ethan followed Noah, moving ahead as the grass started growing taller and taller. He felt an eerie sensation as the grass started to become taller than him, blocking his vision rven further. The natural light of the gate dimmed as they moved further into the endless sea. Every single thing seemed to scream that he was heading into danger, that he should turn back.

Shing! Suddenly, Noah pulled out his emerald green sword. Crunch! His footsteps slowed down as he moved slowly, parting the grass in front of him.

Rustle...rustle...tap! Ethan's hand shot towards his dagger. Something had changed in the environment. Tap.....tap.....tap. Ethan's feet landed on hard rock as he walked into a large clearing. He looked around as he clenched his weapon tightly. Dark black rocks covered the entire region. They weren't as black as his own weapon. But they were dark enough to melt together in the little light that illuminated this region.

"Growl!!" Suddenly, a low, deep-throated sound rang out. Clat! Clat! Ethan whipped out his kusarigama, grasping it with both of his arms as he looked around wildly. Where had that sound come from? He glanced at Noah. He was staring intently into the darkness, his dark eyes fixated on something as he ignored Ethan completely. "Hey Noah! What is it?" Ethan whispered urgently as he tapped his shoulder. "Noah?"

"Growl!" Suddenly, he saw a pair of shining yellow eyes staring at Noah through the darkness. Clank...clank. His arm jerked slightly, shifting the metal chain as his heart pounded loudly. Thump...thump...thump. A large 3 metre tall creature stepped out, its yellow eyes shining brightly as it stared down at them. Its entured body was covered in sharp black fur with white streaks.

Thump! The monster stamped its large paw onto the ground, its sharp black claws melting into the claws at it stared at them menacingly. Ethan could make its features as it moved closer to them. Its face was round, with small, pointed ears that seemed to disappear into the rest of its fur. Sharp fang protruded from its mouth, making it look like a cross between a sabre toothed tiger and an seal. But it still looked dangerous.

"That's the alpha." Noah suddenly spoke. Strangely, he wasn't unnerved. "Of which pack?" If that was the alpha, then it shouldn't have been alone. But Ethan couldn't see any other monsters. Rustle.....rustle.....rustle. Suddenly, the grass started shaking violently.

Screech! Shriek! Roar! Monsters piled out of the thicket, gathering around as they surrounded them. "Fuck! Of all these monsters?" He looked around wildly. There were all kinds of monsters surrounding them. Rat lords, spiked eagles, red squirrels. There were even striped minks- the same species as that of the alpha.

"No." Noah shook his head. "The entire gate is a part of its pack." Ethan's eyes widened. All this time, all the monsters that had attacked him were all from the same pack. Even the group of F-2 ranked rat lords that had trapped him. All of them were under the command of this striped mink.

Of course! It made sense! The 'alpha' of the F-2 ranked rat lords was an F-3 ranked monster. Beast type monsters never led packs where they were the highest ranked creatures. Of course the rat lord Noah killed wasn't the alpha! Ethan looked around at the monsters as he clutched his kusarigama tightly.

He could sense F-4 and F-3 ranked monsters amongst the pack. The lowest ranked monsters were F-2 ranked. He grasped his kusarigama tightly. Why couldn't he detect such a large group of monsters before? Why hadn't his Mana Sense picked up their presence?

Bzzzzzt! Suddenly, mage type mana began to flow through the air. Fwoosh! Large clouds of white fog started to descend from the grass, enveloping the monsters' feet as it snaked forward. Ethan stared at Noah. That was why he wasn't able to detect any monster! The graveyard fog had blocked his Mana Sense!

Shing! Noah waved his sword through the air as he pointed it at the Striped Mink! ROAR! The monster roared loudly, commanding all members of the pack. It was time to hunt.