Beast Hack: Customizing Beasts and Capturing Beauties

Within the shadow world, the four of them moved around and Lucius turned toward Luna. "Do you have a place in mind?"

Luna smirked as she nodded. "Of course, master. I have found something... interesting."

Lucius raised his eyebrow. "Interesting?"

Luna's smirk widened. "A place that's well-hidden, rarely visited, and most importantly—dangerous enough to keep unwanted guests away."

Lucius considered her words before nodding. "I see. Then show us."

Without another word, Luna led the way from the shadow toward their soon-to-be base.

After arriving at the destination, they stepped out from the shadows.

They soon found a massive forest in front of them with a lot of towering trees.

They could even sense auras of some strong beast inside this forest.

Not only that, they also saw an old mansion that seemed to be built in the center of the forest.

Lucius was a bit intrigued with the mansion. "An abandoned estate in the middle of a beast-infested forest? It's pretty interesting."

Luna nodded. "Of course. I came across this place while scouting around. It's been here for a long time, untouched by most."

She gestured toward the forest. "The reason was this forest that was crawling with a lot of strong beasts. Most of them are S-Rank or higher."

Lucius chuckled as he was approved of this old mansion. "It's quite a perfect location."

Liora crossed her arms, scanning the area. "It had good defenses. If the beasts here are that strong, it means outsiders won't dare enter carelessly."

Loreia walked around the mansion and smirked. "A hidden sanctuary and a hunting ground for powerful beasts... We can use this to our advantage."

Lucius only nodded as he entered the old mansion. "This mansion is quite old but it will do."

Lucius turned back toward the girls. "We can just renovate and change this place to be our base."

Lucius smirked as he rubbed his chin. "A base to lay low, gather strength, and most importantly, harvest powerful beasts."

Luna smirked. "I thought you'd say that, Master."

Liora rolled her shoulders, already considering defensive measures. "Shall I start clearing out the mansion?"

Lucius waved his hand. "Not yet. First, we assess everything. If there's something inside, I want to know before we claim it."

Luna soon became excited. "Shall we?"

With a simple nod from Lucius, the group advanced, their figures disappearing into the abandoned mansion's entrance.

---

Lucius and the others were now inside the old mansion but when they walked forward...

BANG!

The heavy doors behind them were slammed shut by itself.

Lucius stopped and frowned. "It seems this mansion isn't as empty as we thought."

Liora's reaction was immediate as she stepped in front of Lucius. "Master, take cover behind me."

Lucius raised his eyebrow. "I appreciate the sentiment, Liora, but do you really think I need protection from something like this?"

Liora remained firm."If something dares to threaten you, I will cut it down. Even if it's the mansion itself."

Luna, standing beside Loreia, tilted her head as she ran her fingers along the dusty walls. "Strange. This place is so old and broken. There should be no one here."

She paused before turning to Loreia and smirking. "Which means whatever is inside this mansion isn't human."

Loreia frowned, glancing around. "What do you mean?"

Luna flicked a speck of dust off her fingers before turning toward her. "It's a spirit beast."

Loreia blinked. "Wait—what?"

Luna smirked. "A spirit beast. A ghostly entity formed from the lingering will of a powerful beast that once lived here. You know, the usual haunted nonsense."

Loreia stiffened. "A… a ghost beast?"

Luna smirked as she was amused. "Of course. What else could it be?"

Loreia's entire stance shifted. "Tch."

Without another word, she turned and ran straight to the back of the group, away from the center of the room.

Luna and Liora both blinked, watching as Loreia took at least five extra steps backward before stopping.

Luna raised her eyebrow. "Did you just... run?"

Loreia crossed her arms. "No. I just strategically repositioned."

Lucius sighed, rubbing his temples. "I see. Even though you're a strong warrior, you're still afraid of ghosts."

Loreia huffed, glancing warily at the walls. "Come on, ghosts are a different matter."

Luna's smirk widened. "Oh, I see. So then, big sister, shall I handle it? You can just stay put in the back... like a coward."

Loreia's eye twitched. "I am not a coward."

Luna shrugged, stepping forward. "Then come help."

Loreia stood frozen. "…"

Luna chuckled. "That's what I thought."

Loreia opened her mouth to argue but immediately shut it. She refused to step forward.

Lucius could only sigh. "Fine. Luna, deal with it."

Luna grinned as she led the way inside. "With pleasure, Master."

But just as Luna took another step forward, a whistling sound cut through the air.

SHNK!

From the walls, numerous swords were materialized like phantom swords.

They were hovering as if they were guided by unseen hands.

Luna's eyes narrowed. "Ghost weapons…? Now that's interesting."

Without hesitation, she lifted her hand and tried to weaponize Loxen and she succeeded.

A pair of silver curved daggers appeared in her grasp. "Let's see if I can handle this."

The first wave of ghost swords attacked Luna and she used both her daggers to strike back.

She easily deflected each phantom sword before they pulled back and adjusted their attack pattern.

Liora also acted as she weaponized Leon. A silver, broad sword appeared in her hand.

CLANG!

Liora struck one of the panthom swords before parrying another sword.

The ghostly weapons swirled around them, moving like a storm of blades.

Luna smirked as she dodged and weaved. "This is kind of fun."

Liora, blocking two more incoming swords, side-eyed her. "That's because you're insane."

Another sword came from behind, aiming directly for Loreia but she didn't move.

She stood frozen near the back as she was panicking, seeing the phantom sword.

Luna deflected another sword before calling out, "Big sis, are you seriously just standing there?"

Loreia didn't even glance at her. "I am assessing the situation."

Liora flicked a ghost sword away with a sharp swing. "You're scared."

Loreia huffed. "I am strategically maintaining distance!"

Luna laughed under her breath. "Right. Keep telling yourself that."

She spun, deflecting another attack with a flick of her wrist. "Alright then, since cowards don't fight, Liora and I will take care of this."

Loreia twitched but still didn't move.