General Ha Makes the Ranking

In Third Infinite City's Beast Taming Plaza, all ten spots on the Extraordinary Pet Ranking had been filled!

Of those ten pets, eight had been rated as having a "mighty species," while two had been rated as having "incredible aptitude."

The former meant the pets had an overwhelming advantage in physical attributes, while the latter meant they had an enormous advantage when it came to learning skills.

General Ha clearly belonged to the latter group.

Yet no matter how incredible his aptitude was, most people still couldn't immediately connect "Snowfield Dog" with "launching Sword Aura at range."

Wasn't that just plain absurd?

What was going on with this pairing?

"A Snowfield Dog... is that a husky, an Alaskan malamute, or a Samoyed?"

"Actually, it's Wind-type."

"What's wrong with Wind-type? Is it bad?" someone asked.

"It's not bad. Snowfield Dogs are fiercer and stronger in cold regions, so they're usually Ice-type. If that isn't its first attribute, choosing Ice as its second might unlock its hidden species potential and make it stronger! That's a good thing. Its path forward is already clear."

As everyone discussed it, many turned their attention to the Snowfield Dog owner's ID: John Doe...

Well, damn...

Why did that name feel like a taunt aimed at everyone who hadn't made the ranking?

"This..." Someone in the crowd actually recognized that ID.

A woman nearing thirty, dressed in business attire and black stockings, froze in surprise. She was Sister Hua from the Newcomer Recruitment Department, the same woman who had taken Pig Farmer to test his attribute.

Watching the constantly changing Extraordinary Pet Ranking-which could also be called the newcomer ranking-she had been wondering which of her colleagues had sweet-talked these newcomers with outrageous potential into joining.

Then... she suddenly saw a familiar name.

John Doe... wasn't that a newcomer Little White Dragon Amid the Waves had guided before?

"Contracted a Silly Husky, awakened the Wind attribute, John Doe! He actually made the ranking? That stupid-looking Silly Husky is that strong?" Sister Hua couldn't believe it.

She hurried to contact Little White Dragon...

Little White Dragon was actually right there in Beast Taming Plaza. Sister Hua didn't need to contact him at all. He had seen it too!

Holy shit, Lu!

"Sister Hua, what do you want... I saw it! John Doe made the ranking!"

"No, he hasn't joined the official organization, but he might as well have. A powerful member of the Official Strategy Team took an interest in him and plans to send him to Beast Taming University for further study. Once he graduates, he might even join the strategy team directly."

"Anyway, the higher-ups have their eye on him. Don't spread his information around and cause him trouble."

Little White Dragon spoke to Sister Hua with a heavy heart. But I found him first... No wonder Dr. Gu had taken an interest in Lu Ran. Those Beast Tamer genes in his blood really weren't wasted. He was one of only two people to make the Extraordinary Pet Ranking with an Intermediate Extraordinary Species!

And his reason for making the ranking was a Silly Husky unleashing Sword Aura? Wasn't that complete bullshit...?

Those two weren't the only people in Beast Taming Plaza who knew Lu Ran. In the end, Pig Farmer hadn't been able to resist the Divine Pet Rankings' appeal either and had stayed to watch for ages. When John Doe made the ranking, his expression went blank. Huh?

"Seriously, why are there fewer and fewer people here? Did they all go to Beast Taming Plaza to look at the Divine Pet Rankings?"

Meanwhile, at Infinite City's Arena.

Fang Lan, the Five Poisons Cult Saintess, had come to watch and familiarize herself with pet battles. Yet after waiting ages, she still hadn't seen a single match between newcomers.

People only left the Arena; no one came in.

This left Fang Lan rather frustrated. She wondered whether she should come back another day and go take a look at Beast Taming Plaza herself.

Just then, she overheard a conversation between two passersby who were about to leave the Arena.

"My friend just messaged me. The tenth name has appeared too... and this one's the craziest. Its reason for making the ranking was a Snowfield Dog unleashing Sword Aura to instantly kill a higher-level Demon Cat? What the hell? Who's this John Doe? Do you know what's going on?"

"It must have brought an extraordinary weapon, right? That's the only explanation... but didn't they say relying on outside help lowers your selection weighting?"

"A dog using a sword to launch Sword Aura? Sorry, I can't accept that explanation." His companion couldn't buy it.

Listening to their discussion, Fang Lan abruptly stopped in her tracks.

"John Doe? Snowfield Dog?"

Damn it, that bastard Lu Ran! He wouldn't let me challenge a Secret Realm, then secretly went and did it himself? And even made the Divine Pet Rankings!

At the same time, in the Demon Cat Forest Secret Realm.

Lu Ran had no idea General Ha's move had put them straight onto the ranking.

After all, as far as he knew, a pet's selection weighting would be reduced if a weapon boosted its combat strength.

The Windfall Sword had at least doubled the energy power of that last blast of Sword Aura.

That was what made energy-enhancing weapons so impressive!

If General Ha put down the Windfall Sword, taking out a level-eight Demon Cat probably wouldn't be so easy.

"Awoo."

Having cleaved through the Demon Cat with a blast of Sword Aura, General Ha was thrilled. He absolutely loved this new skill.

Now... I can even tear down ceilings! No, I mean catch birds for fun.

But...

A wave of weakness followed, making General Ha's whole body tremble.

"Does it use up that much?" Lu Ran asked, jumping down from the tree.

"Woof..."

"One blast of Sword Aura used up roughly a quarter of your stamina?"

"So you can only fire four at most before running out?"

Sensing General Ha's condition, Lu Ran felt a headache coming on. That made it a trump card they couldn't throw around carelessly.

Still, that was also because General Ha's level was too low. He was only level four.

His level-four stats were too weak, leaving him with little stamina. It was only natural that he couldn't unleash many powerful skills.

At level forty, he could probably unleash a whole sea of Sword Aura!

"For now, Energy Release skills are too extravagant. They cost a lot of energy, and it's easy to miss..."

"Once we get back, let's work on the other skill categories instead," Lu Ran said.

They could save Sword Aura for showing off and dealing with flying enemies.

In actual combat, unless they ran into an idiot like that Demon Cat, which had been scared senseless by the Sword Aura, Lu Ran felt it would be hard to land a hit.

Spending a heap of stamina on a skill only to miss would hurt.

By comparison, simply using Energy Wrapping to wrap energy around the sword and chase enemies down to slash them would consume much less energy.

Of the four major skill categories, Energy Flow should consume the least, while Energy Shaping, Energy Release, and Energy Compression each consumed more than the last.

Hmm... it'd be nice if my second pet knew control skills and could help General Ha land his big attacks.

"Awoo~" General Ha drooled, indicating that anything was fine and he would listen to Boss Lu, while his eyes remained fixed on the Woodscale Fruit Lu Ran had just picked.

After replenishing General Ha's stamina and resting there a while longer, Lu Ran planned to take him deeper into the forest.

Mostly because they had picked all the Woodscale Fruit here, and he wanted to gather more. Entering the Demon Cat Secret Realm cost two hundred Crystal Coins, after all. Even if he couldn't break even, he should at least recover half the cost!

This time, Lu Ran gripped the Wind-Slaying Sword tightly. General Ha led the way while he followed behind, copying his movements!

"Awoooo~~~"

A wild level-six Demon Cat appeared ahead. With the Windfall Sword in his mouth and Wind energy wrapped around his body, General Ha charged like a wind-speed hound. Sword light flashed as he passed the Demon Cat, and the thing that made intimate contact with it was, of course, the Windfall Sword.

Swish! Cut clean in two!

"Meeeow!!!" With an agonized shriek, the Demon Cat was instantly killed by General Ha and vanished into light.

In the battles that followed, General Ha stopped unleashing Sword Aura. It drained too much stamina for even Woodscale Fruit to replenish. Woodscale Fruit wasn't an instant recovery resource either; it restored stamina slowly over time, and not much overall. It simply wasn't suitable for replenishing big attacks. Most importantly, Lu Ran couldn't easily imitate Sword Aura at this stage!

Bang!

While General Ha fought, Lu Ran put on a convincing performance of his own, using Super Beast Mimicry to fight the air nearby and synchronize with General Ha's combat movements. He had to admit that practicing Super Beast Mimicry during battle was far more efficient than practicing in his room.

Every time General Ha defeated a wild monster, Lu Ran felt a warm current appear in his body, almost as though experience points were flowing into him... Of course, that was an illusion. It was merely Super Beast Mimicry gradually improving his physique.

"Huh? A material drop? The drop rate isn't very high."

After killing this Demon Cat, Lu Ran and General Ha stopped in surprise and looked at the ground. A ball of light had dropped when the Demon Cat died. A few seconds later, the light faded... revealing something shaped like a claw.

Lu Ran swept his "Greater Appraisal" over it-which was really just the Eye of Data.

[Name]: Demon Cat Claw

[Grade]: Common

[Description]: A material that looks useless and isn't actually much use either.

Lu Ran: ???

"What a piece of junk." Lu Ran was speechless. Couldn't it drop something useful, like... Fine, it did seem that Demon Cats had no particularly valuable materials on them. Next time, not even a dog would come to this Secret Realm.

"Woof." General Ha nodded in wholehearted agreement. That night, the Demon Cat he had worked so hard to defeat had dropped nothing but a useless claw. It wasn't worth a damn. He would remember this grudge! Still, since this Demon Cat was already dead, he would put it on the Demon Cat Forest Chief's tab instead.

If you enjoyed this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it next time.