The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 68: Waking Up. Rewards

Bahamut’s consciousness surfaced slowly, dragged up from a deep, lightless place that felt uncomfortably familiar. His fingers twitched as sensation crept back into his limbs in dull waves, like pins buried under layers of cotton.

"Still alive," a woman’s voice said, amused. "I would’ve been disappointed otherwise."

Bahamut groaned... His eyelids felt as if they weighed a thousand tons, but he forced them open anyway.

Black... Darkness. Well, he was blind after all, but he could vividly feel and see his surroundings.

A face leaned into his vision, smiling gently.

"Well," Henut said cheerfully, hands clasped behind her back as she leaned forward, her dark hair falling over one shoulder. "Welcome back from the dead... again."

Bahamut stared at her with his blind, grey eyes, as his memories kicked in.

"Ah... Miss Henut?" he croaked.

Henut laughed softly. "So you remember me. I’m glad."

"How could I forget you when we just talked yesterday?" Bahamut spoke with a smirk.

"You’re right."

Bahamut then tried to move, to sit up, but nothing happened. His brow furrowed as he tried again, harder this time, and immediately regretted it as a wave of deep, bone-level soreness flooded his body. It wasn’t a sharp pain, but worse. The kind that told him everything hurt... though it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Why can’t I move?" he muttered in confusion.

Henut hummed thoughtfully. "Oh, you can... technically. But... you just really, really shouldn’t."

She then stepped aside, and only then did Bahamut realize he wasn’t alone.

Ren was curled up on a wide cushion nearby, fast asleep, with one of his ears flicking heavily. Exildra lay on another bed not far away, her chest rising evenly, as color finally returned to her face. Her wounds were wrapped in clean bandages now.

Good... That settled something tight in his chest.

Henut followed his gaze and nodded. "They are fine, just exhausted and say... traumatized, and in your pet’s case, annoyingly healthy."

She turned back to him, her expression sharpening just a little. "You, on the other hand, are a walking medical report."

"I won," Bahamut snorted weakly.

"Yes. You did." Her smile returned, wider now. "You also shredded your muscles past safe thresholds, cracked your bones repeatedly, burned your lifeforced like kindling, and forced regeneration to compensate for damages it was never meant to handle in such volume."

She leaned closer, her eyes glinting while her breath washed over him. "In simpler terms? You abused your body as if it owed you money."

’I can reincarnate, though...’ He thought with a strange sense of arrogance.

"Worth it," he rasped.

Henut laughed outright at that. "I expected nothing less."

She waved her hand, and faint golden runes flickered briefly along his arms and chest, sinking into his skin. Warmth spread, deeper this time... soothing but heavy.

"Your body is currently under enforced rejuvenation," she explained. "I’ve locked certain motor pathways and suppressed reflexive strain responses. You’ll heal faster this way, but it comes with a price."

"Which is?" Bahamut frowned.

"You’ll need assistance," she said sweetly. "Walking, eating, possibly bathing. Definitely standing up too fast. And no," she added preemptively, "arguing won’t change it."

He stared at the ceiling again.

"How long?"

Henut tilted her head, considering. "That depends on how obedient you are."

Silence!

Then, reluctantly, "How long... approximately."

She smiled like a predator who’d just been handed a leash. "A few days if you behave. Longer if you don’t."

Bahamut exhaled slowly.

"This is worse than dying."

Henut patted his shoulder. "You say that now... but you survived something no Tier 1 should have. The sect is in an uproar, the elders are reassessing stuff, and you are about to become very inconvenient for a lot of important people."

She then straightened, her smile softening just a touch. "So rest, and heal... for now."

...

Bahamut lay in silence after Henut left, not thinking about anything until something clicked inside his head.

He quickly called out to the system, which showed him his stats and progress.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Bahamut

Age: 17

Race: Half Beast (???)

Class: Tier 1 (Circle of Spirit)/ ???

Rank: Mortal

Titles: Psychopath (Lv. 3), Ruthless Killer (Lv. 3), Unknown, The BEAST (Lv. 5), Fox Bane -> Dog Bane, Nemesis of Arachnids

─

HP: 1 / 200

MP: 00 / 45 +1 -> 46

Level: 10

EXP: 0 / 750

─

Attributes:

Strength: 26 +4 -> 30

Speed: 26 +5 -> 31

Agility: 25 +3 -> 28

Endurance: 22 +5 -> 27

Perception: 45

Willpower: 33 +3 -> 36

Luck: 1.5 +0.5 -> 2

─

Skills:

• Pain Resistance (Lv. 6)

• Super Reflexes (Lv. 6)

• Super Senses (Lv. 5)

• Regeneration (Lv. 5)

• Death Intent (Passive – Locked)

• Beast Trait Manifestation (Lv. 2)

• Spear Mastery (Lv. 1)

─

Special Traits:

• Fragmented Soul (Effect Unknown)

• Past Lives Memory (Partial Dormancy)

• Madness Bloom (Dormant)

─

Followers:

• Ren (Chaos Bunny)

PATH OF THE BEAST

B - Brutality of the BEAST

’Wow! System access Ren’s status!’

[Loading...]

[Opening Follower Status...]

Follower: Ren – Chaos Bunny

Condition: Fine. Healthy!

Vital Signs: Stable

Soul Integrity: 98% (Strong Enough)

Projection: 100% Capacity Remaining

Physical State: Locked

Awakening Path: [???]

[Congratulations!]

Soul decay rate is successfully null. The follower now needs to start their own journey to achieve their own power.

Since the follower is already a Tier 2, he will remain as such.

Recommendations:

- Learn a Beast Art Technique (Normal)

- Form an Elemental Core (Extremely Difficult)

...

’Seems we were successful. Now, Ren can survive on his own and wouldn’t risk backlashes. But...

System! Why is the Elemental Core Formation extremely difficult? Is it in relation to his skipping of levels?’ Bahamut asked the system.

[Correct! Getting a technique for him would be very easy, thanks to your current reputation. But that will be only good for the short term, and Ren is technically not a beast. He will achieve his human form sooner or later.

Forming the elemental core, on the other hand, would help in the long term, but it will be difficult and might take years. Because he will be forming a core that would encompass all the circles he would have had to form till he reached that level. And it is the first time something like this is happening... for a mortal, so it will be extremely difficult. But if he’s able to achieve it, he will be very strong.]

’What if he takes both paths?’

[Are you trying to create a monster?]

’I figured my path, or rather concept, was to become the ultimate monster. So, one more monster wouldn’t hurt, right?’

[...]

’Two of them it is, hehe!’

’Any other thing for me?’

[Mission Update!]

Congratulations! You Defeated the Dark Phantom Scorpio, a Tier 2 Beast at Tier 1.

Rewards:

- A Gold Gift Box

- A New Blindfold

- A Fragment of #####

...

[Gold Gift Box]

- As the name implies. It is a gift box with a golden color.

There are different kinds of gift boxes, each with items depending on the kind of box.

You are really lucky!

...

Bahamut stared at the system screen with a flat face as he read through the content about the gold gift box. It was like the system was calling him stupid.

Of course, he knew that an item in a gold gift box would be high. Of course, he knew that a gold gift box was golden in color!

’Next...’

[A New Blindfold]

- A new and improved blindfold, gifted by the system to protect your eyes. It is very durable, doesn’t tear easily like that rug you use, and also enhances your senses by 5%.

And of course... It is better than the rug you use.

...

Bahamut stared at the system screen... he blinked once, then again, slowly as if the words might rearrange themselves out of shame.

They didn’t!

"A rug?" he muttered.

The system screen helpfully remained floating in front of his face, glowing smugly, if smugness could be rendered in sterile golden text.

And of course... It is better than the rug you use.

Bahamut’s lips twitched in annoyance.

"That rug has character."

The system did not respond... it rather added salt to his wounds.

[System Note:

The rug smells. Do not argue]

Bahamut’s right eyebrow shifted upwards. "You can smell?"

No response.

His eye twitched instead.

He scrolled down with a thought as new text appeared.

[Enhancement Details:

- Sensory Amplification: +5%

- Comfort: Significantly Improved

- Does not itch

- Will not Unravel Mid-combat

- Will not absorb sweat, blood, or monster fluids]

"Wow," Bahamut said flatly. "You really had that locked and loaded."

Another line appeared, almost cheerfully.

[Bonus Feature:This blindfold will not be mistaken for trash.]

Silence filled the space inside his mind.

"...I was never mistaken for trash."

[Correction: You were.]

Bahamut leaned back against the bed, exhaling slowly through his nose.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. I get it. You don’t like my aesthetic."

[System Clarification: You do not have an aesthetic.]

’Next item please...’

[Fragment of #####]

- It’s a fragment of #####

...

"..."

[...]

"..."

[...]

’Is that all?’

[Yes]

Bahamut laughed. A short, incredulous sound.

"So let me get this straight," he said, counting on his fingers. "I kill a Tier 2 monster at Tier 1, die once, come back wrong, traumatize elders, scare my participants, and in return I get..."

He gestured vaguely at the floating text.

"...a mystery shard of redacted."

[...]

The system blinked once.

[System Addendum: You are welcome.]

"...I didn’t say thank you."

[You are thinking it.]

Bahamut’s smile slowly widened, sharp and crooked.

"Fine," he said. "I’ll keep it. But when this turns out to be something world-ending, I’m blaming you."

[...]

The fragment pulsed faintly in his inventory, as if amused.

Somewhere deep in the code of reality, something very old probably smiled.

...

Thank you for the support!

Ten Golden Tickets, and on my first MGS month is cool. Hope to get more!