Beggar Cultivation System

Translucent Thunder Rat, a monster that even Mathias is not confident of defeating. He won't even think about winning, as the possibility of him dying is higher than him limping away from the monster.

This beast has the strength equivalent to Core Creation Stage, but not just any Core Creation Stage—middle to high when it comes to power.

And Mathias is only just at the beginning stage, making the matter more serious than it looks.

"But he is fighting that monster, right? This shouldn't be a problem for him," Bel said with confidence in her voice.

"It shouldn't be a problem for him, that's right," Mathias said, but his face remained serious. "But if that monster is running, so are the other beasts with the same strength."

"That's… bad," Bel said as she finally realized the grave situation. "Wait, what do you mean running?"

"That's worse," June from the side couldn't help but comment.

"June is right," Mathias nodded at Bel's personal bodyguard. "If they wanted to raze this city to the ground, we might still have a chance of defeating them. Belthias is not like the city from before—we are stronger, and we have the Headmasters to help us, especially with that beggar with us. This shouldn't be a problem for our city to defeat this stampede. But according to Yoma, this stampede is no ordinary one. They are running away from something. And we are just going to be their collateral damage."

Bel's face turned grave. She's a smart woman, and she immediately understood the implication her father is talking about.

"If they are running away… they are afraid of something—something that even a Translucent Thunder Rat can't handle," Bel muttered. "W-what do we have to do?"

"Everything has already been handled," Mathias said. "With Mr. Beggar's news, I've already set up a barrier to our city, and I've already notified the Headmasters. We will fight these monsters, while Yoma will handle the reason why this is happening."

As he said that, an explosion occurred from the south gate of the city.

Mathias turned to the sound and saw fire and smoke rising outside the gate. He narrowed his eyes and saw a person wearing red—the intense wind billowing his clothes everywhere and causing something inappropriate to show.

"Stay here, Bel. I will go to Master Popo," Mathias said, and before Bel could say a word, his body became a blur, disappearing out of thin air.

…

Meanwhile, a few kilometers away from Belthias City, past the forest that separated the city from the desert terrain, Apollo is fighting against the Translucent Thunder Rat.

Three Apollo surrounded the lightning-covered rat.

The rat let out a squeak—it was so high-pitched that the air around them started rippling, as if it were going to rip apart. The lightning from the rat also became chaotic, shooting from everywhere.

Apollo, the real one, smirked, seeing the rat screaming in pain.

With his current strength, fighting against the rat is quite easy. Apollo doesn't even need to use his full strength, let alone use the Great Serpent Ascendant Transformation Technique.

He can kill the beast in front of him whenever he wanted, but Apollo doesn't want that.

"Hey, tell me, why are you running?" Apollo asked while lowering his body.

The rat grinded its teeth while its eyes glared at the small human.

They have been fighting for a few minutes now, and the Translucent Thunder Rat is at a great disadvantage. The rat suffered grievous injuries, and blood kept pouring out from its body—though the lightning around the beast instantly vaporized its blood.

And the reason why the Translucent Thunder Rat is screaming in pain and couldn't hold its lightning was because its tail has been cut off by Apollo.

One of Apollo's clones is holding a translucent tail which is still 'alive' as it's still moving around, trying to get back on the rat. But the clone's hand is firm and even absorbing the lightning coming from the tail to fuel the Lightning Attribute on the real Apollo.

It's like an unlimited source of energy, and although it doesn't directly raise Apollo's strength, he can use his Lightning Attribute without worrying that he will deplete his lightning.

"You are not going to talk? Then fine," Apollo smiled coldly, raising a hand before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, miniature Fire Blasts materialized around the Translucent Thunder Rat. They numbered in dozens, and they stayed close to the rat.

When the beast saw this, its body became stiff, and although the pain coming from its severed tail was painful, the rat endured it, shutting its mouth and lowering the intensity of its lightning.

"Good boy," Apollo chuckled, seeing the rat scared at the balls of flames surrounding it.

Their fight is one-sided, with Apollo basically torturing the rat. The miniature Fire Blasts surrounding the Translucent Thunder Rat are not at their full strength, but to the beast covered in lightning, they dealt significant damage—more than the other attack Apollo used before.

The Translucent Thunder Rat's speed is quite fast, and ever since it evolved into this state, it never met an opponent that could land a hit on its body. And this is the first time that the monster fought a human that not only could land a dangerous attack but also has the ability to make an explosion.

Small explosions that can cause chain reactions on the rat's body, and they came from the Fire Blasts surrounding it. Not only did these small balls of flames deal significant damage on its translucent body, the pain from the attack was also through the roof, as the chain reaction from its lightning coming into contact with the explosions also damaged its internals.

They only fought for at least five minutes, and the rat realized that it would never defeat the small and annoying human.

"Now you know how to behave, you can tell me why are you running and what are you running from?" Apollo asked, his fingers in a snapping motion raised to the eyes of the monster.

"F*ck you… human…" The rat's high-pitched voice echoed—it's like metal against metal coming out from the monster's throat. "I'm not… the only one…"

A beast with this size and strength can speak, as they lived for at least a hundred years, evolving from weak monsters all the way to their current form. They faced nature and tribulation; they bested their kind, giving them the ability to alter their vocal cords into that of a human.

Kael doesn't need to buy an advanced version of the animal communication technique he bought for the monkey and his bird.

"Oh?" Kael raised an eyebrow as his fingers were about to touch each other. "Are you cursing me because you are not going to tell the reason, or you are cursing me because you are about to tell the reason?"

The Translucent Thunder Rat was speechless, but feeling the heat coming from the balls of flames surrounding it and remembering the unbearable pain when the explosions occurred, the rat could only grit its teeth and tell the truth.

"Sinister… presence… very…" the rat said, and when it thought about it, the impulse to run came back. Though when it tried to move, the balls of flames' heat intensified, as if they were going to explode when the beast tried to take a step.

"Just because of a presence, you guys run away? Aren't you guys a bunch of cowards?" Apollo mocked.

"Humans… will never… understand… that presence… it eats away life…" the Translucent Thunder Rat said.

"Just like the one from the Gorge?" Apollo frowned.

"Yes," the rat nodded.

"Where?"

"North… East… further… the Wadis…" the rat answered, its eyes moving to the direction where they ran away from.