"You have great talent, kid, but if you can't harness that talent of yours, then you're no different from a rabid beast." A man wearing a dojo outfit sat beside a young boy, patting him on the head. The man stood almost seven feet tall. As he reached his hand to brush the hair of the young boy, his hand snugly fit on the boy's head.
"But... I can't control it... My power is scary. I don't want to use it anymore. I hurt all my friends." The young boy sniffled, holding up his hands and grabbing the old man's hand on his head.
"That's normal. You're still young. There's no way you can control such a potent superpower. Heck, it's possible that you won't be able to control your superpower when you grow up. That's just how it is when it comes to a superpower like yours." The old man laughed, ruffling the young boy's hair even more.
"But if I can't control it... then I can't use it." The little boy pouted.
"Who said you can't? Before you can learn to control your superpower... you must come to love it. Use it to your heart's content! Fight until you're the strongest! Once you reach the summit... you'd already know how to control your superpower.
Upon saying that, the old man grabbed the boy by the head and pulled him up, causing him to stand. He then gave him a slight nudge on the back. "Now, hop along, young man. I have some visitors stopping by a couple of minutes from now. You should hurry along."
The boy nodded, hopping down the steps that led to the foot of the mountain. As he turned around, he saw his master, waving his hand toward him before looking at the sunset. A smile appeared on his face. He had decided to live by his master's words— that instead of hating his superpower and suppressing it, he would use it to the fullest until he'll be able to control it.
As the old man watched his student go down the steps leading to his dojo, his lips curved upward in a satisfied smile. "My time has come." He muttered to himself.
That was the last time the young boy saw his master.
.....
When Link finally woke up, lingering memories about his childhood and his master were still in his mind. A stray tear flowed down his eyes as he tried to stretch his hand.
To his surprise, he couldn't move his body, not even an inch. And what's more, he was suspended in the air as if some sort of invisible force held him in place. He tried to struggle but to no avail. He even tried activating his superpower or summoning his Representative, the Crimson Dagger. Whatever he did was useless.
"What's going on? Where am I?" He asked himself. He recognized the room since it looked identical to his waiting room... but he had no idea whose waiting room he was currently in.
Because there was nothing he could do about the present, he decided to stop struggling, taking his time to rest while he waited for someone to set him free.
...
Satoshi and Yun Zhe arrived in the Beast Dimension soon after, bringing with them the mysterious Gren that Satoshi found in his pocket. He wasn't the only one who was excited about the tamed beast inside the Gren, Yun Zhe too, expectantly watched as Satoshi balanced it on his hand.
"Don't let your guard down, Satoshi. The tamed beast inside that Gren might be very powerful. You have to be ready to engage it in combat, just in case." Yun Zhe muttered, to which Satoshi nodded.
Without further ado, Satoshi threw the Gren, expecting a small tamed beast to come out. After all, it would be cliche if a gigantic tamed beast came out of the mysterious Gren. As the Gren hit the ground, it opened, and a flash of light illuminated the vicinity
Then a low growling sound was heard, sending chills up and down Satoshi and Yun Zhe's spine as they took a couple of steps backward. They made the right decision since the tamed beast inside the Gren was actually monumental in size.
"What on actual—" Yun Zhe let out an exclamation as the brightness dissipated. A huge tentacled monster appeared in front of them. Its gaze was fixated on Satoshi as it slowly slid towards him.
"Whoa~" Astonishment filled Satoshi as he took another step back. The sheer size of the Kraken made him nervous, but Satoshi was used to seeing gigantic tamed beasts. The Alpha Red Salamander and his Statue of Captivity were some of his gigantic tamed beasts. That's why he was used to it.
Before it could completely approach Satoshi, the leader of the Kraken Army bowed toward him, pledging her allegiance as one of his tamed beasts. Satoshi didn't have to say anything since their minds were already connected. It was a rare case of the tamed beast acknowledging its master before the master could do anything. Hence Satoshi could already communicate with the Kraken Army's leader even without using his superpower on her.
"Why do you have the leader of the Kraken Army with you? So you were the one who caught it?" Yun Zhe almost screamed at the top of his lungs as he did a weird dance while observing the giant tamed beast.
"I uh... I didn't know." Satoshi muttered to himself. It didn't take long before he realized that it was his grandfather who tamed the beast, however. After all, he was the one who gave him the baby Kraken. 'But when did he put it in my...' Satoshi thought to himself.
In the end, he decided to use his superpower on the Kraken Queen, fully aware that it would give her a boost when it comes to her overall stats.
"Wow, if you use that during the fourth round... you're bound to win by a landslide." Yun Zhe commented. Even he wasn't sure whether he could take Satoshi down if he integrated with the Kraken Queen.
After conversing with the Kraken Queen in his head, Satoshi opted to send her inside Orb Oboros's dimension instead of putting her back in the Gren. That way she'd have a comfortable stay while traveling with Satoshi as one of his tamed beasts.
A couple of minutes later, Satoshi opened up a portal so the two of them could go back to the waiting room. There, they saw that Link was already awake. They didn't bother to send him out of his prison though since there's a good chance that he'll go berserk again. After all, Satoshi did heal him enough so he wouldn't die.
"So... what are your plans after this, Satoshi? Oh, wait... Jana did give you a heads-up, right? I guess you can look into it as soon as this Official Beast Tournament is over. Well, what she did was against the rules, but I can't really argue with her point. You're a fitting candidate as a Disciple after all." Yun Zhe muttered, giving Satoshi a bowl of ramen after he was done preparing one. For some reason, it became automatic for him to cook for Satoshi as well every time he wanted to cook for himself.
"Thanks... what is this about Disciples and Managers anyway? Is this some sort of contest? What exactly do you do as a Disciple?" Satoshi asked out of curiosity.
"Sorry, Satoshi, I can't really go to the specifics when it comes to this topic. My standing as a disciple might be revoked if I talked about it with someone who is not a Disciple." Yun Zhe continued. "All I can say is that... you'll know everything in time. Just hang on to the piece of paper that Jana gave you. And then, once the Official Beast Tournament is over, you can start digging up information about Disciples and Managers. Don't hesitate to contact me if you're stuck though. It would be nice if you can join us before the Selection starts."
Satoshi had no idea what Yun Zhe was talking about so he simply nodded along before he started eating the ramen he was given.
"In any case, I'm sure you'll know what to do once you see what's written on that paper. Just don't look at it for now. It'd be best if you focus on the Official Beast Tournament first." Yun Zhe advised.
As soon as he said that, the third match of the third round was finally over. Yun Zhe immediately slurped his ramen since he only had ten minutes left before his match starts. "Fourth match... why am I always last?" Yun Zhe asked himself as he walked closer to the television. He wanted to double-check whether his teammate was really the same person.
He grinned. There was no mistaking it, he was really teammates with that certain someone. "I guess this will be easier than I thought." He muttered to himself, chuckling.