Return

The newcomer wore a white apothecary's robe embroidered with gold.

The eagle he rode stood three or four meters tall, its back easily large enough to carry a person.

The giant eagle's plumage was golden brown, its gaze sharp and its bearing imposing.

"I'm Ginger, an officer of the Medicine Pavilion Guild."

After landing, he recalled his eagle-type pet beast outside the maid café.

By then, Xiao Ling, Lu Ran, and the others had heard the commotion and come outside.

Seeing Lu Ran and the others, the Medicine Pavilion Guild officer introduced himself.

"That's badass." Although the golden eagle had already been recalled, Little White Dragon and the others had all seen it.

Little White Dragon couldn't help marveling at how damn cool birds of prey were.

"Definitely." Lu Ran nodded too.

Although Lu Ran couldn't tell the golden eagle's level, he felt certain it was above level 10. It might even have been above level 20.

He wondered which would be stronger, it or a fighter jet.

This man probably wasn't a fourth-generation Beast Tamer like Little White Dragon, Xiao Ling, and himself, but a third-generation Beast Tamer who had started a year ago.

After all, it would probably be difficult for Common people in Xia Country to get access to eagles. This eagle most likely wasn't his starting pet beast, but one he had contracted later.

Hmm... for my second one, I'll get a pet beast ordinary people can't get their hands on too!

"Hello. I'm Wind and Rain Drifting Feather from the Cat-Eared Maid Café," Xiao Ling said, stepping forward.

Both Xiao Ling and this fellow Ginger looked about college age. It made Lu Ran realize that he hadn't seen a single older Beast Tamer since coming to Infinite City. Nearly all of them were young or middle-aged adults between eighteen and forty.

"We were the ones who contacted you earlier. This is the new friend I mentioned, John Doe," Wind and Rain Drifting Feather said, introducing Lu Ran. She didn't introduce Little White Dragon; this had nothing to do with him anyway.

"Hello, buddy. Pretty lucky, aren't you? You actually got a Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit to drop. Interested in joining the Medicine Pavilion Guild? Once you pass the membership assessment period, we'll assign you a mixed-use residence near our base in the real world. Very convenient." After arriving, Ginger didn't start with business. Instead, he enthusiastically tried to recruit Lu Ran.

Getting an advanced resource like a Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit meant Lu Ran's novice rating had to be at least D-Rank. In fact, D-Rank already marked a fairly promising newcomer. Both the authorities and the major guilds knew that ninety percent of newcomers only managed an E or F.

Only newcomers who had known about Infinite City before receiving a Black Card, with someone guiding them throughout and planning their trial, had much hope of earning a high rating.

Then there were those with exceptional beast-taming talent, or whose real-world professions involved frequent contact with fierce animals. Apart from those groups, a C or D was already an extremely high rating.

"Uh..." Lu Ran froze.

Xiao Ling wasn't surprised. Talent had always been a scarce resource among Infinite City's various factions.

Little White Dragon, however, widened his eyes, afraid someone would snatch his Lu Ran away.

This Ginger guy is playing dirty!

Fortunately, Lu Ran didn't abandon him. His reply let Little White Dragon breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm still a high school student. This all happened so suddenly that I might need to discuss it with my parents first." Lu Ran put on a conflicted expression and declined.

That was pure nonsense on his part.

"A student, huh." Ginger shook his head. Lu Ran did look like a minor. Forget it-recruiting someone like that would bring a whole pile of complications.

"Anyway, if you're interested, come find me anytime. For now, shall we make the trade we agreed on?"

"Give me your Beast Tamer number and ID. I'll transfer the crystal coins to you first."

"Sure. ID: John Doe. Number: 9528."

"That's a great name," Ginger remarked. A genuine John Doe wouldn't get a Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit right off the bat. In his eyes, if Lu Ran were in a TV drama, he'd at least be a supporting character who survived a dozen episodes.

He certainly regretted naming himself Ginger. Why had he been such an idiot back then?

Changing an ID now cost ten thousand crystal coins. Who could afford that? Infinite City was shameless, charging for even that. Ginger cursed inwardly.

Soon, Lu Ran received Ginger's transfer.

What Lu Ran wanted most right now was still the Wind Fruit. He had already taken the Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit out of his backpack, ready to exchange it.

The Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit looked like a green pear.

The Wind Attribute Awakening Fruit Ginger took out looked like a white pineapple.

They exchanged fruits. After receiving the Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit, Ginger smiled with satisfaction. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Thank you." With the Wind Fruit in hand, Lu Ran was already impatient to awaken General Ha's attribute.

"Don't mention it."

Ginger laughed. "I have things to take care of, so I won't stay. Xiao Ling, feel free to contact us for more deals like this. We'll buy as many Grass Attribute Awakening Fruits as you have. Oh, and..."

"Brother John Doe, if you have any rare resources to sell in the future, you can ask me directly whether we're buying. That's my job at the Medicine Pavilion Guild. You can also ask me about any medicines you need to purchase."

"Sure," Lu Ran and the others replied.

With that, Ginger nodded goodbye, summoned his eagle-type pet beast again, and hurried away... apparently, he really had no intention of digging any deeper into Lu Ran.

"The Medicine Pavilion Guild is more of a trade association than a guild. As one of their officers, he's probably very busy." Xiao Ling smiled. "But, Lu Ran, you kept staring at his bird-no, his eagle. Did it catch your fancy?"

"Ahem." Holding the white, pineapple-like fruit, Lu Ran put it into his backpack before replying, "It does look a little cooler than my pet beast. And it seems pretty useful for getting around."

"Does Infinite City allow people to fly around like that?"

"As long as you pass the flight license test. Infinite City has a dedicated licensing area. If you fly without a license, the patrol beasts might come after you..." Little White Dragon said. "Your Silly Husky has the wind attribute. Once it can form wings out of energy, it should be able to fly too... then you could also..."

"A husky knight?" Lu Ran shook his head. Forget it. He'd work toward contracting a proper flying pet beast instead.

Being a Silly Husky knight would be way too ridiculous.

"By the way, if I want to leave Infinite City, I can just use the 'Teleport' function on my character card to return to Blue Star, right?" Lu Ran asked.

"That's right. But we're still newcomers, so we don't have many permissions unlocked in Infinite City. We have to return to our own rooms before we can teleport out," Xiao Ling explained.

"Are you planning to leave?" Little White Dragon asked.

"Even after drinking some Mind-Clearing Tea, I still feel a little tired. I want to go back and get some sleep. Besides, I've been gone a whole day. People in the real world might be worried about me."

"True. After a whole day away, you should head back and check things out. You don't live alone, do you? Suddenly disappearing can easily worry your family. I'll send you my real-world phone number. If you run into any trouble there, with your parents or school, for example, you can contact me. I should be able to sort it out," Little White Dragon said. "Also, whether or not you decide to join the authorities, please contact me in the real world as soon as possible to register your identity."

"Okay." Lu Ran nodded. If he wanted to take on the identity of a Beast Tamer and enter Infinite City regularly, failing to sort things out in the real world would indeed cause plenty of trouble.

"See you, then," said Xiao Ling, the cat-eared maid.

"Wait. I'd better buy a copy of the basic training information first." After a moment's thought, Lu Ran made his decision. Since he wasn't planning to join any organization, he could only buy the basic information here.

Before long, Lu Ran said goodbye to the two of them and went to the roadside. Copying what Little White Dragon had done earlier, he scanned a shared motorcycle and rented it. It cost one crystal coin per hour, which Lu Ran thought was expensive, considering one crystal coin bought an entire day at the training ground. Still, he'd already drunk such expensive tea, so he wasn't going to fuss over this... he really didn't want to walk anymore.

He figured he could build himself a tricycle later and have General Ha pull him around. After all, his breed was a sled dog, specifically bred to pull people. That would save some crystal coins too.

Weren't wind-attribute pet beasts known for their speed...? He could count it as conditioning.

After leaving the maid café, Lu Ran didn't go straight to the residential district. Instead, he took a detour to the Forge Xiao Ling had told him about.

He had received three rewards from the Novice Secret Realm. He could use the beast-taming skill himself, and he had exchanged the Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit for a Wind Fruit General Ha could use. Only the meteoric iron ore remained, its value not yet fully put to use.

Lu Ran wanted to have it forged into a weapon.

That would put every reward he had earned in the Newbie Trial Secret Realm to use. A perfect start!

"Infinite City, Beast Tamers... pretty interesting." Lu Ran licked his lips, savoring the memory of the tea he had drunk earlier. It had been delicious. Next time, he'd try something more expensive.

Riding his beloved little motorcycle, Lu Ran soon reached his destination.

But once he arrived, he regretted it. Looking at the Forge, already closed because its business hours were over, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch a few times. Then he rode back toward the residential district with a blank expression.

"I'll deal with it next time." Lu Ran gritted his teeth.

In fact, less than an hour had passed before Lu Ran returned to the neighborhood he had left and parked the shared motorcycle at its designated return point.

Then he headed straight to his Exclusive Room, impatient to return.

As he had said, he'd been missing for twenty-four hours. Hopefully, it hadn't caused any trouble.

Logically, he was an orphan, he had already taken an extended leave from school, and Fang Lan had only just seen him. It shouldn't have caused too much of a stir...

By coming to Infinite City early, he had achieved his goal, but not entirely.

He had learned plenty of useful information that would help him grow stronger later. Unfortunately, he hadn't found any information about that strange dream. Perhaps the dream itself was false, or perhaps Little White Dragon and the others simply weren't high-level enough.

But Lu Ran did have a theory. If it was a prophetic dream, was it possible that Infinite City was training Beast Tamers to withstand certain disasters?

After returning to the white room, Lu Ran once again marveled at Infinite City's stinginess. Every teleport between Infinite City and the real world cost five crystal coins. A round trip meant ten.

Seriously, everything cost crystal coins.

Fortunately, his Novice Trial rating had been high, so he had more crystal coins than most newcomers.

In his Exclusive Room, Lu Ran held his identity card. With a thought, a familiar voice sounded in his ears.

[Spend 5 crystal coins to return?]

Yes.

Lu Ran answered inwardly.

[Teleportation countdown: 10... 9...]

Ten seconds later, a white light flashed inside Lu Ran's Exclusive Room, and his figure instantly vanished.

There was that same overwhelming sense of weightlessness. A moment later, Lu Ran opened his eyes again.

Back in his familiar room, he took a deep breath and immediately looked toward the messy living room. Everything he had prepared before going to Infinite City was still lying on the floor.

Then Lu Ran picked up his phone.

The moment he turned on the screen, his heart sank.

There were more than a dozen missed calls displayed on it.

"Oh, crap."

Lu Ran quickly unlocked it and checked who had called.

Soon, Lu Ran was bewildered. Every one of those dozen-plus missed calls had come from Fang Lan.

And they had started shortly after he entered the secret realm!

Besides the missed calls, Fang Lan seemed to have sent plenty of messages too!

Fang Lan: [Lu Ran, why aren't you answering your phone again (angry face)!!!]

Fang Lan: [Something huge happened. Remember that post I shared with you while we were eating?]

Fang Lan: [Aaaah, you might not believe this... but it might be real, because I just suddenly got a Black Card too! (frightened face)]