The awkward atmosphere between Satoshi and Shiroi continued to grow the longer they sat together. On the other hand, Yun Zhe was kind enough to give them the space they needed so they could talk together. He could tell that the awkwardness came from both parties withholding their feelings for each other, so he decided not to meddle with them.
Currently, the fight between Jana and Link was still ongoing; by now, Satoshi had already realized that they were both Disciples. Not only could they integrate with more than two or three of their tamed beasts, but their overall strength and proficiency in fighting couldn't be underestimated either. They were strong, way stronger than him. In retrospect, he just awakened his superpower a couple of months ago, and it's only been a couple of weeks since he entered the world of beast-taming.
For the second time in Satoshi's life, he felt like a fish stuck in shark-infested waters. Sure, he's got limitless potential, but the way things are right now, he's bound to lose before even reaching the finals. It was only because of sheer luck that he snagged a win in the first round.
Meanwhile, Shiroi fidgeted in her seat. She realized that Satoshi was having a hard time, seeing that he almost died during the first round of the Official Beast Tournament. She wanted to offer some words of encouragement for him, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. Something in her mind stopped her from saying anything. And now that silence was prolonged between them, she couldn't speak.
Knock. Knock.
Everyone in the room flinched when they heard the knock. Satoshi was the first one to snap back to reality and walk towards the door, peeking through the peephole before opening it. He was surprised to see that Hiroshi was there. His uncertain expression made Satoshi believe that he had just knocked in the spur of the moment.
Click!
After swinging the door open, Satoshi looked up and down at Hiroshi before gesturing for him to come in. "Why are you here?" Satoshi asked. Even though it came off as a rude question, Satoshi was just surprised.
"Oh, I'm not the only one. Everyone's here. Our entire class. You didn't know anything about it?" Hiroshi asked. "Your parents were the ones who took us here, though."
"What? Really?!" Satoshi exclaimed. "So the entire class is here?"
"Yup, we're all seated near your parent's seats. In any case, have you heard the news? Apparently, the Queen, the leader of the Kraken Army... it was already caught by someone." Hiroshi brought up out of nowhere. "You heard what that guy, Link, said during the beginning of their fight, right? That the Kraken Army was gone. Some superheroes went there for confirmation that what he said was true. As it turned out, someone, or a group of someone, had already defeated the Kraken Army."
"WHAT? Are you sure about this?!" It wasn't Satoshi who was surprised by the news, but Yun Zhe. Even Shiroi had no idea what Hiroshi was talking about, so she just sat there in silence while keenly listening to the topic. "You mean, one of the most formidable groups of beasts in the Beast Dimension had already been defeated? Even the White Mist and Black Fog Faction couldn't take it down. You're saying that someone did it without announcing it to the world?"
Hiroshi nodded. These past few days, he had been reading quite a lot of material regarding beast taming. It was only fairly recently that he was introduced to the world of beast taming, which interested him a little bit. He realized that he could level up his overall combat ability if he were to master beast taming. After all, beast taming is not exactly a superpower but a skill. Anyone could become a beast tamer, but not everyone could master the art of beast taming.
At the moment, Hiroshi was still catching up with a lot of beast taming materials. Surprisingly though, he has more knowledge when it comes to beast taming than Satoshi. He even knew what the Disciples are, but he brushed it off as mere conspiracy theories.
He thought like that because the entire Black Fog Faction had mastered Dual Beast Integration. If anyone could do it, then it's not extraordinary. Well, he's bound to change his mind the moment Satoshi integrates with all his beasts.
"The reason why the Queen currently rules over the entire Kraken Army was that the Black Fog Faction... or was it the White Mist Faction? In any case, one of these Factions accidentally killed the King of the Kraken Army. They didn't even tame it... what a waste." Hiroshi continued.
"If it's unknown who managed to catch the Queen of the Kraken, there's only one explanation for it." Yun Zhe said, clasping his hand as he leaned closer to everyone. "A Disciple tamed it. And in turn, the entire Kraken Army scattered because of that... or maybe he managed to tame the entire Kraken Army. That might be the case. If it's a strong Disciple then nothing's impossible."
"A Disciple? Pffft, seriously, you believe that nonsense?" Hiroshi suppressed his laugh as he amusedly looked at Yun Zhe.
"What do you mean?" Yun Zhe could tell what Hiroshi was thinking, but he still decided to give him the benefit of a doubt by confirming.
"I mean... Do you really believe that nonsense? It's a conspiracy theory." Hiroshi brushed it off as a mere theory, which really hit Yun Zhe's nerve.
"It does seem like a bunch of crap... but I tell you, Disciples are real. Managers are real." Yun Zhe's words were straightforward, and Hiroshi could tell that he wasn't joking when he said these. "Didn't you see the fight between Satoshi and the Hero Disciple? Did you see what kind of tamed beast the Hero Disciple had? That's a Sinister-Zither, a Music-Type Representative. I'm guessing you know what a Representative is, right?"
Upon hearing the word 'Representative', Hiroshi's eyes widened in shock. "You mean... Representatives are real?" Hiroshi asked as his gaze landed on Satoshi.
Satoshi nodded. "They're real. I have two of them." Satoshi casually pointed out. It wasn't because he wanted to brag about it, but he just found it a little annoying that Hiroshi wouldn't believe Disciples exist, and yet he'd selectively believe that Representatives do.
"Two of them?! What?!" Hiroshi exclaimed. "Representatives are supposed to be super-powerful tamed beasts that existed for millennia. Some would even call them beast guardians because they're a lot more stronger than legendary beasts. And you're telling me that you have two of them?"
Satoshi nodded for a second time.
"Then, let me see it!"Hiroshi crossed his arms. "If you really have a Representative, then let me see it."
Before Satoshi and Yun Zhe could say anything. Hiroshi rummaged in his bag and pulled out what seemed to be a tattered piece of a book. The book seemed relatively knew, but it was torn here and there, probably because Hiroshi kept on flipping through its pages.
"This right here is the book of Representatives. If your tamed beast is in here, then it's a Representative." Hiroshi said. "Now, let me see your Representative."
"Uhm." Yun Zhe cleared his throat as he pointed at the book. "You do know that that book is written by... it was written by one of the first Disciples, right? And also, that book is extremely, extremely outdated." Yun Zhe asked, to which Hiroshi's face reddened in response.
"In any case, if what you're saying is true... then it should be here." Hiroshi continued.
"Well, I can't really bring my Representative out. It's going to blast through the roof if I were to do that." Satoshi continued. "My Representative is called the Statue of Captivity. The other one is called Dex. I'm pretty sure they're not written there."
"Wait... hmm...." Yun Zhe muttered to himself as he scanned his memories about the book of Representative. A few years ago, he had a copy of the same book, so he was aware of its content. He knew that there were Representatives written there that should be seeable at present.
After a couple of seconds, Yun Zhe's eyes lit up, and he pointed at the large screen that showed the fight between Link and Jana Alexis. A smile swept across his face as he smugly stared at Hiroshi. "Book of Representative, page three. There's an entry there describing the Crimson Dagger. Come on, read it."
Confused, Hiroshi went to page three, and he started reading the entry for Crimson Dagger which was written there. "A Weapons-Type Representative that is said to have descended from a Dimension where weapons are sentient. The Crimson Dagger is one of the most powerful Weapons-Type Representatives to ever exist. It could change its form at will and enlarge and shrink depending on its master's wishes."
"Now, look at the screen. That's the Crimson Dagger right there. We know what Representatives are, and they exist in this world. In that sense, shouldn't it be believable that Disciples exist as well?"
Before Yun Zhe could continue his argument, Satoshi raised his hand. "Excuse me, there are more than twelve Representatives in this book. I thought there were only twelve?" Satoshi asked out of nowhere.
"Twelve?" Yun Zhe's eyes widened in surprise at Satoshi's comment. That was the last thing he was expecting to hear from Satoshi.