Chapter 247 The Search

"There are four main types of elements." Kim Jin Seok then began, pacing back and forth in front of everyone in the group. He always envisioned himself as a good teacher and he figured that he ought to act like one in order to give off a better impression.

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked... what? Does no one know the joke? Okay then ehrmm~!" After clearing his throat, Kim Jin Seok continued with the explanation. "These four main elements are subdivided into other elements but basically, these are the four types you need to learn first. There are also the Light, Dark, and Mystic types, as well as Lightning, Metal, Grass, and Poison— but well these are all subdivisions of the four main elements— except for the Light, Dark, and Mystic Types. These three types are one of the most powerful elements out there. As such, it is very hard to see a Beast with these three elements. They're basically country-level threats so if you encounter one, please report it to me right away and the experts will deal with subjugating such a beast."

"Back to the topic, it is possible for a beast to have two or more types. And well... that everything you need to learn about the beasts." Kim Jin Seok then paused for a few seconds before he continue speaking. "Next, we're going to talk about the most important topic— how do you exactly go about taming a beast?"

"The first method is the easiest one and that is defeating the beast and forcing it to submit to your own rule. This is the most straightforward way of taming a beast. This is the bellicist approach."

"The second method is more complicated. This involves convincing a certain beast to submit to you without harming the beast. This is called the pacifist approach. In any case, these are the two well-known approaches when it comes to taming a beast. There are a couple more approaches but they aren't really that useful to beginners. That's why I'm only telling you these two. If you want to know about the other approach, then just simply look it up on the net or something."

Satoshi and his group glanced at each other before staring at Satoshi. They don't really know what Satoshi's superpower was but it's a lot closer to the beast tamer superpower or something along those lines. If anyone knew about beast taming, it should be Satoshi— or so that's what all of them thought.

"All right then. Now, for your first task, I want you to roam around the place and look for a beast. You'll then be tasked to tame that beast by using one of the two approaches I gave you. I don't want any of you to group up, and I want all of you to be back here by lunchtime." Kim Jin Seok continued. "One of my acquaintances already set up a perimeter with a ten-kilometer radius so you don't have to worry about getting lost."

"Yes, sir!" All the superheroes in the group responded before turning around and heading their separate ways.

"All right, now it's time for us to go our separate ways," Midori said, glancing toward Shiroi.

"You don't have to worry about us, Shiroi. We can handle ourselves even without your snow superpower." Hiroshi said as everyone including Satoshi nodded.

"Yeah, thanks for that though, we were able to adjust without getting exhausted" Taniguchi Kyou commented. Even though he wasn't part of Class 3-1, Shiroi still aided him and Aljier from the heat.

"A-all right then," Shiroi responded before she undid the snow shields that covered the entire group.

"Satoshi! Let's make this a challenge! Let's see who tames the strongest beast and then let's have a one-on-one!" Hiroshi then called out before separating from the group.

"Great idea!" Midori and the others simultaneously said as they too detached themselves from the group.

The others also went their own ways except for Shiroi, Emma, and Fuuka. They belonged to the few who didn't know where to go so they kind of just 'existed' right there, trying to decide which way to go. From time to time, they would look at Satoshi who seemed to be absent-mindedly staring off into the distance.

"You know what, why don't we stick together? At least we can help each other out." Fuuka suggested. "Are you in, Emma?"

"Um, yes, sure," Emma answered. While she wanted to go with Satoshi, she didn't want to hold him back so she decided to go with Shiroi and the others. That way Satoshi won't worry too much since they'll be together.

...

...

"I see..." Satoshi finally spoke under his breath. Apparently, he had been conversing with Dex in his mind. To others, it seemed like he was staring off into the distance when in fact, Dex was giving him plenty of useful information. "So, I'll really find that beast underground?"

[Yes, Satoshi, based on my readings he's really down there in his peaceful slumber.]

"All right then, I'll try to capture that beast... but just to make sure, it won't go berserk if we wake him up, right?" Satoshi asked despite already knowing the answer to the question.

[There's always the possibility, Satoshi.]

Satoshi scratched his head, wondering whether it was a good choice to wake the slumbering giant of a beast or not. He was kind of leaning toward the latter since it would be dangerous if he can't handle the beast.

[Since the beast is sleeping, we can always go back here in this place so you don't have to worry about anything, Satoshi. We can always go back.]

"You're right." Satoshi heaved a sigh. For now, he'd have to leave the supposed underground beast alone and stick to taming another beast instead. That way, he won't cause unnecessary trouble and bring problems to everyone who was there in the area.

When Satoshi finally finished talking to Dex, he realized that he was the only one left in the starting area. He quickly returned to his senses and walked away. Meanwhile, Kim Jin Seok was watching him and his suspicious actions, wondering why he didn't react as enthusiastically as the others even though this was his first time here.

"He probably thought about the entire situation first before searching for a beast to tame... what an interesting kid." Kim Jin Seok said to himself as he watched Satoshi trudge in the opposite direction. "I wonder if he'll be able to pull through on the second part of this expedition."

.....

'How many days has it been... it's been so long... I can't do this anymore...'

"No, I can do this. I just have to stick to the plan. That's right! Stick to the plan! Don't give up, Star Spangled! You're the one and only number one superhero of America. There's no way you'd give up before you reaped the fruits of success. Don't give up! Aargh~ aargh~ don't give up!" Star Spangled started screaming— a poor attempt to psyche himself out as he continued looking for an Altered Type White Lion.

It had been almost a week and he was yet to find a single Altered Type White Lion, let alone an Altered Type of any of the beasts that existed in the Beast Dimension. He was on the verge of giving up but he had gotten this far into the challenge. There's no way he'd give up right now. Never... it will be a great blow to his pride if he did so!

"You all right over there, Jack?" Jean Grey concernedly called out to Star Spangled. He could see Star Spangled slowly losing himself as his screams became louder and his actions became even more desperate. He had defeated hundreds of beasts and he still hadn't tamed one. He just couldn't find any Altered Type at all.

"Yeah, I'm good," Jack said after defeating a couple of White Lions and Lionesses in the area. He didn't injure any of them gravely, nor did he tame any of them. To him, they were al worthless since the only White Lion he wanted in his life was a shiny one— an Altered Type one.

"You've been looking for more than a few days now... Are you sure you can go on?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can do this." He repeated for the umpteenth time before looking at his map. He still needed to go to a couple of areas where White Lions and White Lionesses abound.

"Come on, you need a break." Jean Grey sighed. "Why don't we head over to our world? Let's go to our place and grab some food, and refill our supplies. You're tired, right? For now, let's reset and start from prepping once again. After all, you need to be in prime condition if you finally encountered that Altered Type you've been searching for, right?"

"Right... sigh~" Before Jack could continue what he was about to say, his face suddenly drained in color as he saw a huge figure flying from afar. It started coming down, screeching, aiming its beak at Jean Grey.

"Jean, watch out!"