The next day.
After waking up, Lu Ran checked the time.
Well... the sun was already shining on his backside.
He had slept for twelve hours straight.
At last, his exhausted body had gotten some rest.
He hadn't had a proper rest since entering the Newbie Trial Secret Realm.
And this time, for once, he hadn't had that strange dream, so Lu Ran had slept soundly.
"That felt good!"
Lu Ran stretched on the soft, spacious bed.
After coming fully awake, he still felt a little detached from reality.
Everything he had experienced before felt like a dream, too.
But when he summoned his Black Card, he knew it had all been real.
After freshening up, Lu Ran found the living room empty and knew Fang Lan must still be asleep.
He didn't go wake her.
Could all girls stay up this late?
Fang Lan had also gone through the Novice Secret Realm, yet she seemed to have stayed up late chatting in the group last night.
She would probably sleep until the afternoon, or even the evening.
Lu Ran left Fang Lan a message and quietly headed out.
Then he took a taxi and arrived home half an hour later.
First, he sent Little White Dragon the information he needed, then prepared a simple meal.
"Awooo!!!"
Once the food was ready, Lu Ran summoned General Ha. Spending half a day inside the Black Card had left the dog thoroughly restless.
If Lu Ran hadn't warned him beforehand, the dog might have treated the Black Card like their home and torn it apart.
The next day's local news would have featured a story titled "Supernatural Silly Husky destroys card and devours owner."
Now, the moment General Ha emerged and saw food waiting, his eyes lit up. He reined in his restlessness and plunged his head straight into the food bowl.
"Eat up, eat up."
"We're heading to Infinite City in a bit."
Lu Ran planned to return to Infinite City.
It wasn't because he wanted to enter another secret realm so soon.
Instead, he wanted to see whether that Forge was open today.
His meteoric iron ore was still waiting to be forged into a sword.
General Ha was already so strong with a branch in his mouth that beating a tiger was like beating a cat. With a divine sword forged from meteoric iron ore in his mouth, wouldn't he be able to slaughter anything in his way?
Even against a tiger of the same level that had awakened an attribute, he should be able to put up a fight, right?
"Woof." General Ha nodded and ate faster.
"By the way, which of those advanced energy techniques do you want to practice first-Energy Shaping, Energy Flow, Energy Compression, or Energy Release?"
Lu Ran watched General Ha eat and gave it some thought.
General Ha's species rank was still low, but he learned quickly.
If they wanted to fight opponents from stronger species, they had to make use of that advantage and get to work developing skills.
"Wooo~" General Ha cheerfully indicated that he wanted them all.
He believed in his own talent!
"Fair enough. Then we'll practice them all at once! Let's set a small goal first: develop one skill for each of the four categories."
"Woo, woo!" General Ha grinned and nodded furiously, indicating that it was no problem.
"But I don't think practicing just those four will bring out all your talent. I've decided-we'll add some academic lessons to your training from now on." After a moment's thought, Lu Ran clapped his hands and made the decision.
At those words, the smile that had just appeared on General Ha's face slowly vanished.
Academic lessons? Did that mean the boring stuff Lu Ran did every day, scribbling away under his desk lamp?
Food fell from General Ha's mouth. He backed away in horror, his eyes wide.
He could handle any amount of training that let him burn off energy and grow stronger, but academic lessons...
Lu Ran sat down.
"I really think it's necessary."
In truth, what worried him most wasn't General Ha's fighting strength.
It was his intelligence.
Not his intelligence in combat, but his intelligence in everyday life.
After all, during the year they had spent together, this dog really hadn't been very bright.
Everyday intelligence mattered, too.
Take what had happened in the Demon Cat Forest, for example.
This idiot had actually drooled over a poisonous mushroom.
Was that reasonable? Was it?
Lu Ran was willing to bet that, without him around, the dog wouldn't survive three chapters.
Any college student with a little sense could fool this dog until he didn't know which way was up.
As his Beast Tamer, Lu Ran was clearly very concerned about the dog's mental state.
He himself was a model student who excelled in both academics and physical pursuits. So, to make General Ha equally well-rounded and keep him from getting duped in the future, Lu Ran decided to assign him some logic exercises and academic lessons during his rest periods.
"As long as you learn fast enough, there'll always be more to learn," Lu Ran said.
"Wooo~" Looking miserable, General Ha lowered his head toward his bowl. Suddenly, even the food had lost its appeal.
Making a dog practice swordsmanship was one thing. He had accepted that. But now the dog had to study, too?
He would remember this grudge.
[When you wake up, remember to tell Mom and Dad that we've both become Beast Tamers. I'm heading to Infinite City in a bit, and I don't know when I'll be back. If anything urgent comes up, you can find me there. You remember my ID, right? John Doe, 9528. Just add me as a friend.]
After General Ha finished his meal in low spirits, Lu Ran recalled him into the card to ponder his canine existence.
Lu Ran checked his message to Fang Lan once more. Satisfied that everything was in order, he took out his Identity Card and activated its teleportation function.
[Spend 5 Crystal Coins to teleport to Infinite City?]
Yes.
As soon as Lu Ran made the decision:
Crystal Coins -5.
Ten seconds later, after a day away, he returned to Infinite City and arrived in his Exclusive Room.
Lu Ran didn't intend to stay here long. Although he planned to have General Ha learn skills, that wasn't for right now.
Before heading out, Lu Ran checked his Crystal Coins balance. Good, he still had plenty.
He wondered how much it would cost to forge a decent weapon.
Lu Ran pushed open the door and headed straight out of the residential district. This time, he didn't see Little White Dragon waiting outside.
Apart from registering his Beast Tamer status, he actually had another favor to ask of Little White Dragon: sorting out his high school attendance.
Still, he had already taken leave from the holiday catch-up classes, and the new term was a long way off, so there was no great hurry.
"Let's go."
Since he had plenty of energy this time, Lu Ran didn't take any transport and instead walked toward his destination.
He could use the journey to take a closer look at Infinite City's scenery.
Along the way, Lu Ran saw quite a few people. Most were just like him, looking like country bumpkins visiting the city, stopping and starting as though touring a scenic attraction.
Lu Ran guessed they were newcomers who had only entered Infinite City a few days ago and were still intensely curious about everything.
"It's only been a day, but it's already much livelier than yesterday."
And Lu Ran was also gradually figuring out how to distinguish the veterans from the newcomers.
Most newcomers wore ordinary clothes. Among the veterans, those affiliated with the authorities wore fairly formal uniforms that looked custom-made to a common design, while the unaffiliated ones wore all sorts of things.
Armor, mage robes, animal-hide clothing, Taoist robes... the clashing styles left Lu Ran a little bewildered.
"Most of the ordinary clothes were probably brought over from the real world. These more distinctive outfits are likely custom-made equipment with stats and special functions, like the Divine Deer Pendant."
After walking for a while, Lu Ran soon reached his destination. He looked up at the Forge named The Forge Home and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was open today.
Creak.
Before Lu Ran could enter, the door opened from inside. A young man dressed as a hunter walked out, with a Six-Pointed Star emblem pinned to his chest that was probably a guild badge. Behind him followed a potbellied, middle-aged man wearing only a sleeveless white undershirt and brown shorts.
The man said to the young hunter, "Good luck. Remember to bring me a bottle of good liquor after you clear it."
"Of course. I'll leave you to your work, Lin. Looks like you've got another customer, so I'll be off." The young hunter glanced at Lu Ran outside, then bid the man farewell.
"Mm." Lin turned his attention to Lu Ran at the entrance. "A newcomer? Here to have something forged? Who sent you?"
"The Cat-Eared Maid. Are you Master Lin?" Lu Ran asked.
"Those information brokers, huh? All right, come in." Master Lin added, "But let me make this clear first: my forging fees aren't cheap. A newcomer might not be able to afford them."
"I brought my own materials." Lu Ran followed him inside the Forge. The furnishings were simple: a counter, a few small round tables, and some stools.
The walls, however, were quite a sight, hung with all kinds of equipment: shields, long sabers, bows and arrows, and armor, all looking finely made.
There seemed to be more space behind the counter, too, with another room separated by a curtain. Even from outside, Lu Ran could feel waves of heat pouring out.
"What materials did you bring, and what do you want forged?" Master Lin returned behind the counter and sat down, gesturing for Lu Ran to sit as well.
"I have a piece of meteoric iron ore. I'd like to forge a sword."
"Hm? One of the finest high-grade materials. Not bad." Master Lin paused in surprise. "Is it for your own use? Meteoric iron ore is generally better suited to forging armor for pet beasts."
"It's for my pet beast," Lu Ran said.
"For your pet beast? A sword?" Master Lin pondered this. "What's your pet beast-a monkey or a gorilla?"
Even for monkeys or gorillas that could hold weapons, a sword wasn't a practical choice.
With material this good, wouldn't armor be better? At the very least, he could make arm guards.
"Neither. My pet beast is a Silly Husky, so the size needs to be tailored to him. Can you do that?" Lu Ran asked.
Master Lin: ???
Huh?
His expression froze.
Forge a sword for a Silly Husky? Was this a joke? In all his years in the trade, this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre customer!
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