Damian stayed in his dilapidated apartment, spending the rest of the night thinking.
The furry little Interstellar Beast that had bonded with him seemed exhausted- whether from the process of bonding or something else, he wasn't sure. It continued to purr and sleep through the night, undisturbed.
Damian sifted through every scrap of knowledge he had about Beast Masters- their power, and how some grew stronger than others.
Behind every powerful Beast Master, it was known, stood a Beast Corporation.
Many up-and-coming Beast Masters, those lucky enough to have the talent to be bonded with an Interstellar Beast, joined these corporations. Most were raised within them, trained, and molded until they eventually became genuine Guardians.
They were taught how to fight and how to utilize their Beasts, and the Beast Corporations always had firsthand knowledge of the Entropic Rifts that could bloom without warning across Vael'nir.
Each Entropic Rift held an unknown number of Entropic Interstellar Beasts—mindless, bloodthirsty creatures always seeking to eat anything they came across.
Every Entropic Beast had the potential to be bound to a human. A mutual rise in power, if one survived the process.
And as far as Damian knew, that path to power was a bloody one.
The Bound Interstellar Beast had to devour others.
The Beast would grow stronger. And so would its Master.
If Damian wanted to grow, he needed to find an Entropic Rift. He needed to see if this small fox-like creature beside him could actually devour other Interstellar Beasts.
Beast Corporations had perfected the nurturing and advancement of Beast Masters. Every known powerful Guardian had come from one of the three most elite Corporations.
The most powerful of them all in Ebonreach Metropolis was the ZENTHRA Beast Corporation- the same one Vex Talon belonged to.
Vex Talon was simply one of many Guardians they controlled!
ZENTHRA orchestrated the cover-ups, protecting the public image of their Beast Masters. They did everything they could to portray them as heroes- Champions and Guardians of Vael'nir regardless of what they did.
"All of it needs to come crumbling down…"
…!
His eyes burned with fury at the thought of how he, a mere nothing, could ever hope to stand against a corporation like ZENTHRA.
And then, his eyes lit up.
He remembered something important.
There was someone who worked as a Systems Analyst for ZENTHRA. Someone who had been affected by that massacre as much, if not more, than he had.
Damian thought about them as a plan began to form in his mind, the rest of the night spent piecing it together. He didn't even realize when his body finally gave out and collapsed onto the small twin bed beside the little fox.
A silent night.
In the distance, arguments from neighboring floors echoed now and then.
A sudden scream would pierce the air every hour or so.
Outside, the hum of Aether Skimrunners- the personal flying cars of the wealthy and of Beast Masters, whined past the stacked complexes of the Hollow Stacks.
Ebonreach Metropolis never truly slept.
---
HOOONG!
The bed trembled slightly beneath him. The blaring rumble of the Maglev Trains crossing nearby woke him, as it always did- his involuntary alarm clock for years now.
"Ah…"
A splitting headache throbbed at his temples- too many hours spent planning and thinking. As he rose...
"Kitsuul!"
The silver-white fox, who'd peacefully slept all night, was now leaping up and down on his belly, its shimmering eyes bright with excitement and energy.
Damian blinked at it with a conflicted expression, then slowly sat up, studying the soft creature before him.
"Can you understand me?"
He asked softly. The fox immediately began bouncing up and down, nodding- a very clear yes.
A breath of relief escaped Damian's lips as he stared into Kitsuul's glowing eyes.
"Can you use Veilshift? Can you turn invisible?"
He remembered the information that had risen before his eyes when he first looked at Kitsuul, and as he asked, the creature's ears perked with pride as it nodded. And in the next moment...
WAP!
The small beast vanished.
One second, he was holding it in his hands.
The next, it was gone. His hands were empty, though he could feel it still there.
The realization sent a jolt of excitement through him. A moment later, Kitsuul reappeared, bouncing happily as if begging for praise.
Damian gave a single approving nod before asking again, "Can you make me invisible? Veiled?"
Kitsuul's eyes glowed brighter, and with a single leap, it landed on his shoulders.
A soft wave of energy pulsed over his skin.
WAP!
Suddenly, silver-violet rays of light shimmered across his vision, coating him in their glow. He could still see Kitsuul perched on his shoulder, but when he rose and stepped into the bathroom—
He froze.
"…Haha."
Laughter escaped him, low and disbelieving.
His reflection was gone. No sign of himself or Kitsuul remained.
And seeing its Beast Master laugh, Kitsuul bounced on his shoulder with joy, not even knowing why they were celebrating.
It didn't understand why this ability- this power, meant so much to Damian.
It didn't understand that he was already building a hitlist in his mind. For those responsible. For those who had buried the truth beneath blood and lies.
It didn't understand just how much blood its master planned to spill through its soft, silver fur.
"How long can you keep this up?" Damian asked again, eyes narrowing.
"Kitsuul!" the creature chirped.
And somehow, he understood.
As long as I want.
It could stay invisible. It could make him invisible. Indefinitely.
"…"
A crazy capability. And this was only the first Unlocked Unique Trait of Kitsuul.
There would be more. More traits. More powers.
Damian stood, his expression hardening as he prepared himself for what came next.
"All right," he said. "Then we should get down to business. We have a lot to do!"
They said it was an accident.
But as of today. For him…It was unfinished business!