I am Just an Average Tamer-Chapter 159: Updated ch 144

The body of the saber-tooth gorilla lay still, half-buried under a pile of shattered rocks and dust. Its chest no longer rose. The eerie yellow light in its eyes had dimmed, replaced with dull emptiness.

A thick silence settled over the cave.

Only the distant drip of water and the hiss of Vael’s wings folding broke the stillness.

Corrin sat slumped against a boulder, breathing hard, blade laid across his lap. His shirt was torn across the ribs, purple bruises blooming beneath his skin. Blood oozed from a gash on his brow.

Kai stood nearby, daggers still drawn, his chest rising and falling in shallow rhythms. Vex prowled beside him, shadows clinging to its fur, ever alert. Stromeon curled protectively around Kai’s legs, low growls rumbling from its throat.

"I hate caves," Corrin muttered, dabbing his wound with a strip of cloth torn from his sleeve. "They always feel like the walls are watching you."

Kai didn’t respond. His gaze was fixed on the fallen beast’s core—glowing faintly, even in death.

Peak-Great Core...

He crouched, retrieving a small, rune-inscribed blade from his pouch. With surgical precision, he made a careful incision near the gorilla’s chest, avoiding the hardened muscle plates. The creature’s blood was dark and thick—almost tar-like.

"There it is," he murmured.

Nestled within the ribcage, wrapped in sinew and pulsing faintly with fading energy, was the beast core. Roughly the size of a fist, crystalline in texture with glowing amber veins.

Kai reached in with a glove-covered hand and extracted it.

The core’s warmth pulsed in his palm.

"Worth it," Corrin said from behind him. "That thing alone could fund our gear upgrades for the next month."

Kai held it up, watching the cave’s crystals reflect off its surface. "Or be traded for a potion that restores bones. You’ll need one."

Corrin snorted. "A few cracked ribs never killed me."

"Yet."

Kai carefully stored the core inside a reinforced pouch, one lined with anti-leak runes to prevent energy decay. Then he turned back toward the gorilla’s claws and fangs.

"Saber teeth still intact. Might be valuable."

Corrin raised an eyebrow. "You harvesting the thing?"

"Would be wasteful not to. Natural armor plating. Enchanted bones. You never know what fetches a price at the right stall."

He motioned to Vex. The Phantom Lynx prowled over and curled its claws into the gorilla’s side, helping to rip open the plating.

Kai worked methodically. Fangs. Claw samples. A small chunk of the beast’s armored hide. It took a few minutes, and the air grew thicker with the scent of blood and primal energy.

Eventually, Kai rose, cleaning his hands with a damp cloth.

Corrin was already on his feet again, blade sheathed, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Remind me never to spar with you seriously," he said, half-joking. "You’ve got the instincts of a shadow and the temperament of a dead man."

Kai shrugged. "I leave the smiling to you."

They moved toward the deeper tunnel that branched out from the back of the cave. Faint gusts of air pulsed from it—meaning a possible exit or further chambers.

Kai held up a hand.

"Wait."

He closed his eyes and activated Falcon’s Sight—borrowing Vael’s vision for a brief scan ahead.

Everything sharpened.

He saw distant stone walls, old bloodstains, scattered bones... and something that glimmered faintly in the shadows.

A shrine? A pedestal?

And then—

A flicker of movement. Something large.

Something breathing.

He dropped the skill and exhaled slowly.

"Another beast?"

Kai nodded. "Something’s waiting deeper in. Bigger. Might be guarding something."

Corrin grimaced. "Of course it is. Can’t just have one bloodthirsty gorilla. That would be merciful."

Kai looked toward his beasts. Vex was still energetic. Stromeon was alert but showing signs of drain. Vael had returned to circling silently above them.

"We push forward," Kai said finally. "But slow. You up for another round?"

Corrin rotated his shoulder and winced. "Define ’up.’ I can stand, I can stab, and I can scream if I get grabbed again. That count?"

Kai allowed a faint smirk. "Good enough."

They moved carefully now, Kai in front, Corrin covering the rear.

As they slipped through the narrow corridor, the walls closed in. The glow from the previous crystals faded. Kai lit a small orb from his belt—a dark lantern enchanted to emit low violet light. Just enough to see.

The floor sloped downward. The air changed. It was... heavier.

Kai’s senses screamed "something’s wrong."

"Trap?" Corrin whispered.

"No," Kai replied softly. "This is a territory marker."

He pointed to a nearby wall. Strange symbols, drawn in blood and claw marks, were etched into the stone. They weren’t beast-like—they were structured.

"Someone’s been using this cave," Kai murmured.

Corrin crouched and picked up a fragment of cloth. It was tattered, dark blue... and had the faint remnants of a sigil stitched onto it.

A broken bird with a slash through its wings.

"I’ve seen that emblem before," he muttered. "That’s... House Varis’s scout corps."

Kai’s expression darkened. "Then we’re not just in beast territory."

Corrin looked up sharply. "You think this is—?"

Before he could finish, a shrill cry echoed down the tunnel.

Not a beast’s cry.

A whistle.

Then—

Crack.

The wall beside them exploded inward.

Dust and rock surged. Kai tackled Corrin sideways as a figure blurred through the debris—a humanoid in dark armor, sickle-blades attached to both forearms, eyes glowing red beneath a helmet.

"Ambush," Kai hissed, rolling to his feet.

Another figure stepped from the shadows, cloak flickering as it activated invisibility runes, only to be revealed mid-charge.

"Assassins."

Corrin deflected a slash with his crescent blade and pivoted, slashing open the side of the first attacker.

Blood sprayed.

But more were coming.

Kai activated Warding Veil, shielding both him and Corrin briefly as two more enemy figures emerged—clearly human, but enhanced. Fast. Silent.

"Corrin!" Kai shouted. "We’re not alone in here."

"No shit!" he growled, taking a step back and slashing wildly. "We’ve got company—who the hell are these bastards?!"

Kai locked eyes with one of the attackers just before he threw a dagger laced with poison. The figure caught it mid-air and laughed.

Then vanished.

Not just stealth—Shadow Slip.

A technique few used.

His mind raced. "Trained. Enhanced. Not wild scavengers."

Corrin met his gaze. "We’re not just dealing with monsters anymore."

Kai narrowed his eyes as the next wave of footsteps echoed from deeper in the cave.

No—boots.

Soldiers.

Vael flared his wings, pinpointed the saber-tooth gorilla’s weakened skull—

—and dove.

The impact boomed across the cavern. Vael’s beak tore across the creature’s head like a drill, dazing it just long enough—

For Kai to merge.

Beast Merging: Vex.

A swirl of black and violet mist coiled around Kai as he vanished into shadow—

And reappeared as a half-shrouded figure, his eyes glowing violet, claws extended, movement faster than anything human.

Kai–Vex dashed forward—blurring around the gorilla, tearing deep lines across its knees, its neck, its belly.

Poison. Shadow. Speed.

The gorilla staggered, one knee buckling.

Then Kai leaped—

Phantom Slash x2. Twin Daggers. Venom Surge.

He struck downward, embedding both blades into the base of the beast’s skull—right between where armor had cracked.

A pulse of dark energy erupted.

The saber-tooth gorilla roared one last time—

Then collapsed.

The cave stilled. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Dust settled.

Kai landed, breathing hard. The shadow around him peeled away as the merge ended. Vex appeared beside him, also panting.

Corrin slumped down next to the beast’s head. "Holy hell... we just killed a walking mountain."

Kai just nodded, staring at the creature’s cracked core as it slowly faded.

"Peak-Great Core."

Corrin laughed weakly. "Next time... let’s fight something with fewer teeth."

Kai allowed himself a faint smirk. "Only if you stop flying into walls."

The lynx vanished.

Then reappeared midair above the gorilla—launching a dark orb of compressed shadow into the back of its head.

The gorilla staggered.

Kai followed, appearing from the side in perfect sync, daggers flashing in a deadly blur, carving across its exposed flank. One dagger went deep—just under the rib. Poison pulsed in.

The beast roared, grabbing at Kai—but the assassin vanished just before impact. Stealth again.

Vex slashed across the gorilla’s back with Phantom Slash, and Kai emerged again, landing three quick hits to the creature’s hamstrings.

They were bleeding it out—slowly.

"Stromeon, now!"

From his beast mark, Stromeon burst forth—lightning crackling across the cave.

"Thunder Clap!"

The little thunder drake slammed into the floor, sending a shockwave of electric force that stunned the gorilla mid-swing. The beast twitched, muscles locking up for a heartbeat.

Kai didn’t waste it.

"Corrin—your move!"

Corrin, limping but grinning, dashed in. He activated his core—a bright teal aura flaring from his back as his crescent blade glowed.

"Echo Fang!"

He spun like a cyclone, carving three arcing slashes across the gorilla’s chest. The last strike dug in deep—bone-deep—and sparks flew.

The beast stumbled, then howled and slammed both fists into the ground.

Stalactites above shattered.

Rock fell.

The ceiling trembled.

"Kai!" Corrin called. "Cave’s falling apart!"

Kai’s eyes glowed with focused calm. "Then we end it now."

He pressed two fingers to his temple. "Vael."