A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Beam's heart sank as he recalled that, praying that today wouldn't be such a day.

He urgently scanned the rest of the camp, eyeing the fire, as though it would give him any clues as to his master's whereabouts. And though the embers smouldered a soft red, indicating that they had been used a good few hours ago, there were no other signs as to where Dominus might have gone.

Beam bit his lip in irritation. The fog sat so thickly now it was as though there was a cloud sitting on his shoulders. He fought to calm himself.

"What's the situation – what options do I have," he murmured quietly to himself, trying to focus all the raging thoughts in his head into a single direction. "Stephanie is missing. She was taken at dawn. With the time that's passed between now and then, if they'd gone merely for distance, they'd be miles away by now…"

His heart sank as he realized that and he had to fight to stop himself from falling into despair. "But if they went over the plains, they'll have been spotted. Even if they went through the forest, the chances are high that they'll have been spotted… Right… Right…"

The pieces began to fall into place little by little as he covered the range of possibilities.

"We have a good amount of manpower, far more than we usually might, the key is making the best use of it. What's the most pressing threat at the moment?" He asked himself. "There's finding her, but then there's also ensuring that she's safe. How might she get hurt, assuming she's still fine?"

"The monsters in the forest, that's one way, assuming the kidnapper brought her here. The second way, someone's brought her into their house… In that case, causing a fuss in the town is the best way to go – limit their movements and keep everyone on the lookout. And then if they took her into the forest… Nila and I will find her.

Until then, I do what I can to hunt every monster in this damnable place," Beam said.

By the time he finished that sentence of his, his body was on fire with determination. Even with no enemy in front of him, his eyes glowed with golden flecks, and the authority in him went wild with glee.

Ever since defeating the hobgoblin, Dominus had said he was in a zone of perfect potential. That things would flow far more easily now, as long as he was there to push it, as long as he had reason to. Beam had felt such a flow – everything was improving just as easily as Dominus said.

But now he craved more. More speed, more awareness, more strength, more power. As such thoughts rose in his head, his soul exerted itself and his aura intensified. Had anyone been present to see it, they would have trembled in fear.

He shot away from the camp, the hunger burning in his eyes, searching for something – anything to slay. He needed to be better, he was desperate for it. If he was no use in situations like this, then what was the point? What good was he?

His legs powered over the muddy trail, he skidded around tight corners without losing his footing once, driven by a purposefulness that he didn't usually have. He followed his normal patrol route, but it was as though he body already knew that they had another destination in mind.

When he first saw the figures arise from the fog, there was no surprise there, only determination.

Yet more monsters that he did not recognize. He did not even have a name for these. At first, they reminded him of turtles, had it not been for the fact that they were walking on their hind legs. Upon closer inspection, he saw too that the green shell that should have been on the back was on the front. Not only that, but the creatures were approaching the size of humans.

Their beaked faces and their stoney grey skin dripped with malice. They were a chilling manifestation of evil, as though someone had taken all the best parts of the old man archetype and turned it into the worst monster that they could fathom.

"Strong," that was the one word that fell from Beam's lips as he saw them. Of the three deformed turtles – Beam would later find out that they were called Konbreakers – it was the middle one that gave off the strongest sense of danger.

There was a cruel look on its face, only amplified by the squealing goblin that it dragged behind it, clenched amongst its finger-like claws. There was a length of cordage around the goblin's neck, of the same type that they use for their bows, and the Konbreaker continuously tugged at it, as though getting pleasure from its loud response.

Beam never thought he'd feel sorry for a goblin – and he didn't. His only thought was that he'd prefer to see it die quickly.

The Konbreaker tugged sharply on the rope, so that the goblin landed beside it. Beam couldn't help but notice the horn that grew out of the goblin's head. With its tiny red eyes locked on Beam's, it gently opened its hand and slid its claws down over the goblin's head, grasping it.

Finally, the creature went quiet. It looked up at the Konbreaker with unmistakable fear, as it began to tremble. But the Konbreaker did not even look at it. It kept its eyes focused on Beam all the while. And then, with what looked to be the tiniest amount of force, it squeezed and the goblin's skull shattered.

Beam raised an eyebrow at the impressive display of grip strength. He later found out that Konbreakers made their homes inside of rocky cliffs and were capable of crushing small stones with their claws.

The Konbreaker flung the corpse of the horned goblin towards Beam in what was clearly meant to be a show of intimidation. Beam watched it as it flopped down in front of him. He gave a dark smile in return. His adrenaline was far too fired up for him to back down after such a minor provocation.