Contract a Contract Beast!
Now that the moment had actually arrived, Xu Ran still felt a little nervous.
He slowly closed his eyes. Vaguely, he seemed to see a swirling mass of white light rotating deep within his consciousness.
This was first-tier contract power.
With it, Xu Ran could form a contract with one Transcendent Rank Contract Beast.
As Xu Ran released the contract power from his body and let it envelop the kitten, an inexplicable connection bound him to the little creature before him.
The contract took effect!
A warm current flowed from between Xu Ran's brows through his entire body, improving his physical capabilities across the board. It felt as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring, and he nearly moaned aloud.
This was the power feedback that came from contracting a Contract Beast.
Feeling his newfound physical strength, Xu Ran picked up the kitten.
"Shall I give you a name?"
"Meow~" (Yes!)
The kitten's voice reached him, but unlike before, Xu Ran could now easily understand what she meant.
This was the wondrous effect of forming a contract with a Supernatural Creature.
"Let me think..." Xu Ran studied the kitten carefully.
Her silky long fur had only recently been washed and groomed. Fine, snowy white, and soft as clouds, it made the purple lightning mark on her forehead stand out all the more clearly.
Besides, she was a little female cat.
So...
"How about Lightning Mother?"
The kitten's expectant expression froze.
"Just kidding." Xu Ran laughed it off. "Let's call you Purple Cloud."
"Meow~" (That's a good one!)
Compared with "Lightning Mother," the kitten thought this name sounded beautiful.
"Then it's settled."
Holding Purple Cloud, Xu Ran opened the system panel.
After he contracted a Contract Beast, the panel had changed.
[Host: Xu Ran Contract power: First tier Contracted Contract Beast: Purple Cloud [View details] System skills: [Fur Plucking (D-rank)] (1/100) Contract Beast skills: [★Claw Edge] (Available to teach) Happiness Points: 174 System upgrade experience: 50/1000]
After two single draws, he had only a small remainder of Happiness Points left.
The contracted Contract Beast field no longer read "None," and the notice for the Contract Beast skill Claw Edge no longer said "No eligible target." That meant he could teach this skill to Purple Cloud.
Xu Ran's gaze landed on [View details] after Purple Cloud's name.
The system seemed to have gained a few new features now that he had contracted a Contract Beast.
After he clicked to view the details, a new panel appeared.
[Contracted Contract Beast: Purple Cloud Species name: Lightning-Chasing Cat Attribute: Lightning ...]
Up to this point, the panel was much the same as the appraisal the system had provided earlier.
Xu Ran continued reading.
[... Growth Rank: Transcendent Rank (123/500) Species rank: Commander species Skills: [★★Electric Spark (Stardust level)] (0/100) [★★Electric Arc (Stardust level)] (0/100) [★Bite (Stardust level)] (0/100)]
There was something new. Xu Ran nodded in satisfaction.
Growth Rank had also appeared in the system's earlier appraisal function, but the information displayed on this panel was clearly more detailed than on the appraisal page.
(123/500) was clearly her progress toward the next Growth Rank.
Once a Contract Beast's strength naturally developed to a certain point, it would advance to the corresponding tier.
Creatures that had just awakened as Supernatural Creatures, as well as newborn Supernatural Creatures, were all at the first Growth Rank: Transcendent Rank.
After that came Elite Rank, followed by even higher Growth Ranks.
Having exact figures would let him keep better track of Purple Cloud's growth, and Xu Ran was quite pleased with that.
His gaze shifted to the next entry: species rank.
Thanks to his predecessor's memories, he knew something about this as well.
The higher a pet beast's species rank, the more powerful its skills were, and the higher the maximum growth tier it could reach in the future.
Whether they awakened naturally or were born to Supernatural Creatures, all Supernatural Creatures started out at the Species Rank of Commander, even if their parents were higher-ranked Supernatural Creatures.
Supernatural Creatures could raise their Species Rank through a special transformation called evolution, which also raised the upper limit of their Growth Rank.
Of course, that was still rather far off for Xu Ran.
Xu Ran calmly continued down the panel and saw Purple Cloud's Contract Beast skills.
The two-star skill Electric Spark, the two-star skill Electric Arc, and the one-star skill Bite.
The stardust level listed after each of the three skills represented its proficiency level.
For Contract Beast skills, star rating was not the only factor that determined their power.
The more often a skill was used, the greater the proficiency, and naturally, the more power it could unleash.
Once "0" became "100," the skill's proficiency level would probably rise from stardust level to the next level: starlight level.
Looking at the page before him, Xu Ran patted Purple Cloud on the head.
"Purple Cloud, use Electric Spark!"
"Meow~"
Purple Cloud lightly hopped from Xu Ran's arms to the floor. After briefly gathering her power, she opened her mouth toward an empty space nearby and spat.
A pale purple ball of energy flew from her mouth. On closer inspection, purple currents could be seen coursing through it.
"Crackle-"
With the sound of an electric arc piercing the air, the energy ball flew a short distance before exploding. Purple arcs darted rapidly around, covering a roughly spherical area one meter in diameter.
That looked pretty powerful!
Xu Ran stroked his chin. "Purple Cloud, can you make it explode over a wider area?"
Purple Cloud spat out another ball of light and tried hard to control the area of its explosion.
But compared with before, there seemed to be no difference.
"Meow~" (I can't...)
She shook her head.
"That's all right. Try making the explosion smaller instead."
This time, she managed it.
After the area shrank, the purple arcs coursing through the air also became denser, increasing the skill's power.
"Meow!" (Yay!)
Having successfully done what her beast tamer asked, Purple Cloud looked very happy too.
"Now try making it explode as far away as possible."
The results of this test showed that Electric Spark's maximum explosion distance was five meters.
Xu Ran nodded, now thoroughly familiar with how the skill worked.
There was another piece of good news.
Electric Spark's proficiency progress had changed to (1/100).
"Let's try Electric Arc and Bite!"
Soon, the testing was complete.
Contrary to what Xu Ran had imagined, Electric Arc was not an attack skill, but a skill that increased Purple Cloud's movement speed.
After using it, Purple Cloud left distinct afterimages and flashes of electricity as she ran at full speed. Xu Ran could barely follow her with the naked eye.
Bite, meanwhile, was a close-combat skill. When Purple Cloud used it, her canine teeth became sharper and her bite force increased dramatically, enough to crush an ordinary creature's bones with ease.
The proficiency progress for both skills also changed to (1/100) after the tests.
Having finished testing her existing skills, Xu Ran rubbed his hands together excitedly.
It was time to try teaching her a skill!
Before you continue