The First Legendary Beast Master

Karl laughed. [Remi, read the book fast. See what the overview on the first pages says, and then tell me what you found.]

They still had a couple seconds, as the lightning storm was continually building, and they hadn't reached that momentary pause that would mark the release of the first lightning strike.

He had been paying attention to Dana's advancement, but what Karl hadn't anticipated was that there would be exalted guests to watch his own.

The other Immortals were present, which was no shock, but Karl could sense the arrival of someone who had Divine Energy in their body, a Demigod Rank or higher being.

Someone who really shouldn't be in this world at all.

[Oh, maybe it's the cat. I owe him a punch in the face.] Cara noted.

[Probably not a good idea while you're still mortal.]

[Not a good idea when you're immortal either, but it's not going to stop her.]

[Have some faith. I will get my vengeance.]

The first strike of lightning ended their banter, and very nearly ended the mountain, as the massive lightning bolt crashed down onto the [Eternal Lightning] barrier.

The tribulation that had hit Dana's barriers was nothing compared to the fury that was being unleashed on Karl's defences, and Cara silently cheered for it.

If it was strong enough, it was definitely going to get through eventually, and then she would get to see what Karl looked like with singed fur. It would be a good reminder for him, the way that the scar on her face reminded her that not everything that looked like it would taste good was good to taste.

The entire mountain shook with the fury of the Tribulation Lightning, and large cracks formed in the stone under Karl as his defences failed to contain the power that he had deflected.

But he had a solution for that.

Hurriedly, he carved runes into a small lightning element stone of the Mythic Rank, to focus and absorb power.

If he was right, that should stop the lightning from dispersing into the area and shattering the mountain around him, as well as granting him a bit more of the energy that would normally be wasted.

It could clearly work without any of these sorts of assistance items, it had worked for Dana, and her body was filling with Immortal Realm energy right now.

But with them, he might have a better base line starting point.

Karl brought out the stone and activated it as the second wave of lightning charged. The immortals in the distance were watching intently, but it was impossible to tell from this distance whether they approved of his technique or not.

The Immortal Realm should have all sorts of information and standard practices for the advancement, as many species were born mortal, even there.

But none of that knowledge was shared.

The next two tribulation lightning bolts struck in rapid succession, and a bit more of the knowledge of the nature of Immortality flooded into Karl's mind with the lightning's power.

Perhaps that was the secret? The faster you learned, the faster that the lightning ended? Perhaps Dana's abbreviated advancement was the correct way?

The moment that the double strike ended, a triple landed, and the Eternal Lightning barrier began to vibrate. Literally vibrate.

The barrier was humming, and Karl could feel the lightning on the fur of his Greater Beast Form transformation. That defensive ability wasn't going to last long, even with the [Bestial Raiment] armour active, but he had options.

[Warbeast] gave him a transformation that had built in armour and it was an Artifact Grade skill. It was still only an Epic Grade constitution, which wasn't an improvement on Karl's base form, but the stats were so much higher that it should be worth it.

There was only one problem with that skill, at least in the mind of Cara. It was a gigantic World Dragon, and thus had no fur. With no fur, there would be no singe.

However, there could be scorched scales, and that wasn't all bad either.

Karl tried to ignore the badger as the lightning hit him again.

Four lighting strikes slammed into the barrier, and the air around Karl began to literally glow as he transformed into Warbeast form.

[Let's GO!] Cara cheered as the fifth round of Tribulation Lightning tested Karl's defences.

From a distance, the Immortals watch in rapt attention as the transformed Avatar of the World Dragon was forced to shift. Four rounds without needing to leave a cat demon transformation was pretty impressive, but only the ones who knew him had any idea why he had even bothered.

Normally, you would prepare your defences and start the process in peak form, not casually with only a single barrier up and in a noncombat transformation.

Wasn't he taking Immortal Tribulation just a bit too unseriously?

The sixth round of Tribulation made the protective stone glow with power as it absorbed and channeled the tribulation into Karl's body, and the power began to flow past him, into the beast spaces, and into Dana.

That seemed like a good sign to Karl.

If he was transferring power to Dana, that meant his level had surpassed hers again, even if his tribulation wasn't over and he wasn't technically Immortal yet, and didn't have the Immortal Blessing that would reduce the damage he took from Mortal enemies.

Mortal enemies, what a way to think of Mythic Rank Dragons and monsters. But that's what they were now, a level below him, and unlikely to be able to cause him enough damage that he would have to do more than casually regenerate.

The ground beneath him began to shake again on the seventh round of Tribulation, and Karl activated [Walk On Air] to move himself away from the mountain, to prevent the damage from spreading.

Standing on air was effortless as an Immortal, the mana of the world held him aloft with a thought, but the amount of power in the storm was not abating, it was continuing to grow, as if he had personally offended it.

[We're totally going to get to see a scorched Dragon.] Cara laughed.

[Do you think that the System watches and ranks Tribulation? We might get a prize or something.] Tian asked.

[I want a prize. How do you get best Tribulation, though? You pass or you die. That's pretty much it unless someone interferes and rescues you.] Rae added.

[If there is a way, Karl will do it. Loot God, smile on us! Grant us the Shiny Tribulation Prize! Lightning, Lightning, Lightning!]

[Cara, behave. No praying to the Laughing God to have me scorched.]