I am Just an Average Tamer-Chapter 161: I’ll start updating Tommorow

The saber-tooth gorilla’s roar echoed like thunder through the cave, shaking the very stone beneath Kai’s boots. Moss fell from above in little flurries. In the dim flicker of ambient mana, the beast stood monstrous — black fur rippling, its tusks stained with old blood, and its eyes locked onto a point that wasn’t quite Kai, but close.

> It didn’t see him. But it felt him.

Then—

BOOM!

The gorilla slammed the ground, sending a ripple of raw force. One of Kai’s poison threads snapped—sparked—and ignited a shallow blast. Not enough to hurt the beast, but it triggered the Thunder Clap node Stromeon had charged—

CRACK!

A bolt of electricity arced up from the ground into the gorilla’s left leg. It staggered, snarling.

"Now," Kai whispered.

He activated Ghost Steps and Phantom Slash in the same motion, blinking from the shadows like a blur, and slashed across the beast’s flank with both daggers—poison-laced edges carving lines of violet across gray flesh.

> But he barely pierced the hide.

Thick. Dense. This wasn’t just muscle. It was like slashing stone.

Still, the toxins embedded.

Kai ghosted back before the gorilla’s fist smashed into the stone where he’d been.

It roared again—this time furious.

---

❖ Scene: Corrin Joins the Fray

From the far edge of the clearing, a crescent of silver light arced through the dark.

Corrin.

He dashed in with his crescent blade glowing faint orange. His approach was bold, almost reckless — but precise.

> "About time!" Kai called out through the bond.

Corrin grinned as he leapt midair and spun. "Miss me?"

The blade slammed down, targeting the beast’s shoulder.

The saber-tooth roared, intercepting the blade with its tusk — steel met bone with a clang that echoed like a bell in a tomb.

Corrin hit the ground and slid, flipping backward. "Yup. That’s a Peak-Great Core alright."

"Hit its leg next," Kai ordered, already shifting back into stealth with Vex’s shadow cloak overlaying him. "The poison’s working. We need to wear it down."

---

❖ Scene: Vael Dive and Beast Coordination

Above, Vael gave a shrill cry, signal number two.

The gorilla looked up—just as Vael went into Sonic Dive.

The Windsight Falcon crashed into the side of its face with a blinding speed. The impact alone staggered the beast sideways — not damage-heavy, but disorienting.

The moment the beast was off-balance, Kai surged in again — this time, throwing five senbon in rapid succession, targeting pressure points on the beast’s right arm and chest.

> Three embedded.

The beast swiped wildly, turning the ground into a cratered mess.

Corrin took the opening and slid in low, his crescent blade now glowing with imbued mana.

He slashed across the beast’s knee, leaving a deep gouge that actually bled.

> "That’s it," Kai muttered. "We’re cracking it."

---

❖ Scene: Rage Unleashed

Then came the shift.

The saber-tooth bellowed, and the mana in the room twisted. A flare of Core Pressure burst outward—violent, hot, primal.

> Everyone staggered.

Even Vael had to veer off and flap higher.

Kai’s vision blurred — the pressure alone almost dropped him to his knees. The beast was furious now. Its wounds glowed faint red, and steam began to pour from its mouth.

> "Enrage phase," Kai whispered.

It rushed Corrin with startling speed.

Corrin barely raised his blade in time. The gorilla smashed into him, and though he deflected the worst of it, he was sent flying, crashing into a pillar hard enough to crack it.

"Kai—" Corrin groaned. "He’s going berserk!"

Kai’s gaze sharpened.

> Time to go all in.

---

❖ Scene: Beast Merge — Dual Sync

"Vex. Let’s fuse."

He activated Beast Merging, but this time — partially synced with both Vex and Stromeon.

Shadow flooded his legs. Lightning danced along his spine. His senses sharpened.

He was faster. Stronger. The cave itself felt slowed.

The gorilla turned to him.

And Kai vanished.

Ghost Steps + Lightning Blink. A hybrid movement technique, only possible under this dual-sync merge.

He reappeared right beneath the gorilla and drove both daggers into its inner thigh — one of the softest joints on large beasts.

Poison. Paralysis. Disruption. All triggered.

The beast roared, stumbling forward—its leg faltering.

"Corrin! Go for the spine!"

Corrin, despite blood on his forehead, forced himself up and charged.

With a yell, he vaulted off a broken slab, flipped midair, and brought the crescent blade straight down into the base of the beast’s neck.

THUNK.

The blade lodged deep.

The gorilla bellowed one last time — a broken, guttural sound — and collapsed onto one knee.

> Not dead.

But its body trembled. It was paralyzed. Weakened. Breathing ragged.

Kai walked forward, merging slowly retracting. He looked at the beast — eyes hollow now, anger gone. Just survival instinct flickering behind a dying glow.

He crouched.

"Sorry, big guy."

Then he drove a final senbon into its eye socket, piercing the brain.

> The beast slumped.

Dead.

---

❖ Scene: Aftermath

Silence returned to the Hollow Grounds.

Corrin leaned on his sword, panting. "That... was insane."

Kai wiped blood off his dagger and nodded. "And we’re not even at Apex level yet."

He looked at the core pulsing faintly in the beast’s chest.

The gorilla’s hulking body finally settled with a deathly stillness, its massive chest rising no more. The blood oozed in thick pools around the corpse, but the mana within still pulsed—a rhythmic beat like a fading drum.

Kai stepped forward, careful, silent. He crouched over the chest and slid two fingers into the fur, drawing his dagger. With expert precision, he carved downward until he saw the faint amber glow beneath the bone.

"Hold it steady," he murmured. Corrin nodded and pressed a boot to the beast’s ribcage, stabilizing it.

Kai’s fingers plunged into the steaming mess, and a few seconds later, he gripped something solid.

SCHLK.

He pulled it free.

The Core.

Roughly the size of a large apple, it shimmered with wild energy. The color was a swirling mix of orange and dark red, threads of primal force dancing through it.

Corrin whistled. "Damn. That’s worth more than a noble heir."

Kai held it up and let the mana spiral through his fingertips.

> "This... could push Vex or Stromeon to the next level," he thought.

"But it’ll need to be refined."

Still crouching, he pulled out a cloth-wrapped case from his storage ring, gently set the core inside, and sealed it tight.

"Let’s move. We can’t stay long."

"Agreed," Corrin said. "That fight was loud. Someone definitely heard."

They sat against a boulder for a few moments just beyond the clearing, catching their breath under the low-hanging rocks of a tunnel carved by time.

Kai unwrapped some dried meat and passed half to Corrin.

"You good?" he asked.

Corrin winced as he stretched his arm. "Bruised ribs, maybe a cracked wrist. Nothing I can’t manage."

Kai gave a small grin. "At least you didn’t get flattened."

"Almost did. That beast was relentless." Corrin looked over, expression softening slightly. "You’ve changed, you know."

Kai blinked. "What?"

Corrin gestured vaguely. "Your timing. Your control. Back when we first trained, you were always holding back. This fight... you were leading."

Kai leaned his head back against the wall. "I can’t afford to hesitate anymore."

Corrin looked at him for a moment longer, then nodded. "Yeah... I know."

---

❖ Scene: Evolution Sparks

Inside Kai’s storage ring, the beast core throbbed faintly—its mana reacting to a presence nearby.

> Stromeon.

The Thunder Drakelet twitched inside its beast ring, eyes flickering open.

A shock of lightning burst inside its mind space, faint at first... then steady.

It wasn’t absorbing the core yet.

But something had begun.

> A trigger.

A seed.

Stromeon gave a low rumble and curled back into sleep, its body beginning the slow process of adapting.

If this continued—

> It would evolve.

Far across the Hollow Grounds, another figure pressed a hand to a mossy stone wall and frowned.

A girl with raven-black hair and amber eyes, her frame cloaked in dark leathers. Her right ear twitched faintly, not human.

Aria.

She crouched, touching the faint tremble in the ground left behind by the earlier thunderous roars.

"That wasn’t natural."

Her Ironfang Panther prowled beside her, low and alert.

> "Too much power. Too sudden."

She scanned the distance.

Her lips thinned. "Either someone triggered a trap... or someone took down something massive."

She stood slowly.

> "Either way, I’m heading there."

With a whistle, she vanished into the shadows, her beast tailing behind her.

Back at the observation platform in Azurean Academy, the array rippled.

A professor gasped.

Myrren leaned forward, her crimson gaze fixed on the image flickering inside the divining stone.

The corpse of the saber-tooth gorilla was splayed across the mossy ground, and the two boys—Kai and Corrin—were resting nearby.

"He took it down," a woman muttered. "A Peak-Great Core... with just two of them."

One of the nobles, Professor Drelm, narrowed his eyes. "That’s... absurd. The coordination, the pressure handling, the fusion technique—he merged with two beasts."

Myrren didn’t speak.

She simply smiled faintly.

> "You’re moving fast, Kai."

But her smile vanished just as quickly.

> "Don’t get overconfident."

Sorry this