After killing the Ironclad Beetle, the Bulldozer was drenched in a viscous green liquid. His rhino-like horn was fully developed, and his presence was unstable as he turned to the blue-eyed man.

Ethan met his gaze and smiled faintly.

"You better calm down, buddy," he said casually. "Cuz I ain’t that same E Rank."

His words didn’t seem to register, or maybe they just didn’t matter.

The Bulldozer dragged his foot across the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

Building momentum and intent.

’Seriously?’

Ethan sighed internally.

’He’s literally telling me how he’s going to attack.’

The man charged fast and directly, aiming to strike head-first, just like a rhino his abilities were based on.

And yet Ethan didn’t move, panic, or hesitate.

Just as the horn was about to connect, he dropped low and swept both legs cleanly. He switched to assimilate with Wolfy, his strength enhancing and the Bulldozer’s balance breaking instantly.

His massive body pitched forward and slammed face-first into the ground.

Boom!

The entire island trembled.

For a moment, nothing moved.

Then the grey-skinned man let out a groan, and though he wasn’t unconscious, he was dazed and no longer as enraged. He’d just head-butted the ground at over fifty miles an hour, so that was only natural.

Ethan stepped forward casually and firmly planted his foot on the back of the man’s head.

’He lives up to his Title, Raging Rhino. But I’m Lord Of Beasts, so of course he’ll be beneath me.’

Ethan cringed internally as he thought that to himself.

’I really gotta work on my one-liners.’

Then his attention shifted back to the floating monk-like man who was still meditating.

’Definitely a mana type like Spark...’

Had he been assimilated with Wolfy prior, Ethan might have smelt him coming. And with Talon, if he was actively looking around or at a higher vantage point, he might have seen him.

But with Spark, he was confident he would have sensed the hovering beacon of energy effortlessly. Though, despite it being clear he relied more on mana-like abilities, one thing didn’t make sense to him.

’Why’s he always like that?’

Ethan frowned slightly.

"Hey," he called out to no response.

The man didn’t move, react, or even acknowledge him.

"Right..."

The guy under his foot shifted slightly, as if trying to speak.

Ethan stepped off him without much thought, letting the Bulldozer sit up slowly before rubbing his head.

"I think he does that to conserve energy."

He raised a brow.

"So he just... floats around all day?"

"Something like that," the man replied, still catching his breath. "So when he attacks, it’s all stored up."

Ethan glanced back at the monk.

"Do you know his Title?" he asked.

The Bulldozer shook his head.

"No. No one does. He doesn’t talk. Doesn’t socialise. Doesn’t even have a nickname."

"Weird..."

There was a brief pause.

Then...

"W-What about you?" the Bulldozer asked nervously, looking at him.

"What’s your Title?"

Ethan met his gaze.

For a moment, he considered brushing it off and telling him to piss off.

But instead, he smirked.

"My Title is Attack Dog."

The Bulldozer blinked.

"It lets me boost my physical abilities and gives me enhanced senses for a short time."

That was the same thing he had told the squad before entering his first gate; it felt right to do the same here. But seeing as he was struggling to suppress a laugh, it wasn’t exactly convincing.

Still, the Bulldozer just nodded his head.

When he wasn’t overcome with that overwhelming anger while using his abilities, he was actually quite timid, at least around people who felt strong. Although Ethan didn’t pay him much attention, more focused on the enigmatic monk.

He studied the floating man closely.

’There’s something there.’

Something about him didn’t sit right, not in a dangerous way, but in a way that felt... incomplete. It was like Ethan was looking at a piece of a puzzle he didn’t yet understand.

The monk hadn’t moved since helping kill the beetle.

"What the hell are you?" Ethan muttered under his breath.

The Bulldozer glanced at him and answered while wiping beetle blood off his face, "Don’t ask me."

Ethan shot him a glare, clearly not speaking to him and just thinking out loud.

The grey-skinned man backed off, but watched as the man before him did something that shocked him.

"Partial Assimilation: Spark."

The change was immediate.

Ethan’s eyes ignited into a vibrant orange glow, flames flickering within his pupils like living embers. Heat rolled off his body in subtle waves, and faint sparks danced across his skin, drifting into the air like dying fireflies.

The Bulldozer stiffened.

"Woah! What the hell-?"

Even from a few feet away, he could feel it.

The heat, the energy, the shift - he would be an idiot if he couldn’t, and even the monk’s face twitched, though only slightly.

Ethan didn’t miss it.

’He noticed.’

That meant he was on the right track.

The moment Ethan assimilated with Spark, everything changed. His perception sharpened, but not visually or physically. He could now feel all the surrounding energy in his very soul.

He closed his eyes and focused deeply, slowing his breathing.

The air wasn’t just empty space, but was alive with threads and wisps. Streams of something invisible yet undeniably present flowed through the space around him like an unseen current.

And the monk was at the centre of it.

The man wasn’t just floating there, but was drawing it in with each breath efficiently. It wasn’t aggressive, but natural, like water flowing into a perfectly carved channel. He was effortlessly manipulating the mana with his mind alone.

And more than that, he wasn’t hoarding it.

Be it because he couldn’t or didn’t need to, he was circulating it and letting it flow through him, acting as a conduit rather than a container.

Ethan’s thoughts raced.

’So that’s what he’s doing...’

It was fascinating and, most importantly, eye-opening, as something suddenly clicked for him...