"Why are you here too?" Shi Yu raised an eyebrow at Chen Kai.
This guy was so weak. His Ice Armor Beast hadn't even been able to withstand a single hit from Eleven before. What was he doing joining in the fun?
"What's wrong with me being here? It's not just me, either. Most of our classmates came, and the teacher was fairly encouraging about it. You know, after we left that day, that statue in the park exploded that night. Pretty exciting, huh?"
Could it have been more exciting for you than it was for me?
Shi Yu scratched his cheek. What could he say? He couldn't very well tell Chen Kai that he had talked to it until it exploded, or that he had talked the Secret Realm ruins into appearing too.
"Oh, right, your training method really works. My Ice Armor Beast is already level seven."
Chen Kai thanked Shi Yu. Only after pushing himself had he realized how much potential he and his Ice Armor Beast had.
He had been meaning to thank Shi Yu for a while. He had a feeling Shi Yu would definitely come to this training assessment, so he had kept an eye on his surroundings beforehand. To his surprise, he had actually found him.
All in all, he had had a very fulfilling week.
"I'd advise you to show some restraint." Black lines covered Shi Yu's face.
Your exploits have spread through every pharmacy in Ping City. Stop while you still can!
He didn't want to be the culprit responsible for damaging the flowers of the nation.
"I will. I'm keeping it under control."
Chen Kai looked up at the sky. In any case, everyone could just watch him perform in this training assessment.
To find Shi Yu, Chen Kai had deliberately held back instead of heading over with the classmates who had come to participate. On their way to the training base together, Chen Kai said, "I heard each training site has a hundred applicants per batch. Teacher Zhang let slip that only the top twenty in the assessment at each base will have a chance to enter the ruins."
"To be honest, I'm really not that confident..."
"One in five? That's not so bad." Walking beside him, Shi Yu said, "Don't worry. You're a top student."
A level-six Ice Armor Beast might have had a hard time, but Shi Yu hadn't expected Chen Kai to actually pop pills and break through.
Things had gotten way too competitive these days.
Chen Kai's face reddened. MMP, top student my ass.
After seeing Shi Yu's strength, he knew he could only show off at school. He couldn't compare to the Beast Tamers outside.
Still, though he said he wasn't confident, Chen Kai did have a tiny bit of confidence.
His Ice Armor Beast was only level seven, but it wasn't weak.
Wasn't Shi Yu's Iron-Eating Beast's growth level even lower? Yet its strength was just as absurd.
An Awakening Stage pet beast's growth level meant practically nothing. A level-ten Green Silkworm whose Worm Silk hadn't been trained might not even be able to beat a mutt!
Growth level was at most a reference. Combat strength depended on how the Beast Tamer had trained their pet beast in every aspect. Otherwise, there would have been no need to organize a practical assessment; everyone could just compare levels.
"By the way, have you participated in anything like this before?" Shi Yu asked.
"The school organized one before, but it definitely wasn't on the same scale as this." Chen Kai shook his head. "What about you?"
"First time."
"Right, you majored in breeding, so you definitely wouldn't have participated before..."
Shi Yu nodded. Since transmigrating, this was indeed his first time coming to a relatively dangerous place like this. Even his cells were unconsciously growing excited.
Ah... I really am a restless soul.
A little while later, the two entered the training base. By then, more than fifty Beast Tamers had already arrived.
The apprentice Beast Tamers, each carrying a backpack, were chatting in groups of two or three.
In the distance, five Beast Tamers in green camouflage uniforms were also talking among themselves. They seemed to be in charge of this training exercise.
The surroundings were growing noisier. Eleven, who was sleeping soundly in the Beast Taming Space and storing up strength for a big effort, was fine and couldn't sense much. But the Green Silkworm in Shi Yu's backpack was startled awake and hurriedly poked its head through a gap in the bag for a breath of air.
"Did those two girls from before come?" Shi Yu looked around and asked Chen Kai, referring to Zhuang Yue and Yu Jingjing.
Chen Kai said, "Yu Jingjing wanted to, but her parents talked her out of it. As for Zhuang Yue, her Iron-Eating Beast has trouble even catching a rat, let alone taking part in training..."
Anyone who dared sign up for wilderness training was a brave soul. After all, the training wasn't entirely without danger. Looking around, there really weren't many girls. Even aside from the dangerous creatures, ordinary animals like bugs and snakes were enough to scare off a great many people.
"Chen Kai, come over here! What are you doing over there?"
As soon as Chen Kai finished speaking, several people called out to him from a distance. He hurriedly said to Shi Yu, "My classmates. Um, I'll go over there for a bit. See you later."
"Go ahead." Shi Yu nodded.
Chen Kai jogged over, and Shi Yu continued surveying his surroundings.
He focused mainly on the Beast Tamers in camouflage uniforms, curious about who they were.
Were they Beast Tamers hired from a security company, or had they been transferred from the Beast Taming Corps?
The former were merely employees, while the latter were more like soldiers on Earth.
For ordinary people from poor families who wanted to become Beast Tamers, joining the Beast Tamer Association's Beast Taming Corps was actually a good option.
After passing the various checks and entering the recruit training camp, they would be issued young pet beasts by the authorities and undergo closed training alongside them.
During that time, the Association covered all expenses.
After training, the authorities could also assign them jobs, such as guarding city walls in various locations or clearing out the wilderness.
This path had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that it could fulfill the dreams of people who otherwise couldn't become Beast Tamers. The disadvantage was that they might lose some freedom, with obeying orders becoming their primary duty, and their pet beasts wouldn't belong entirely to them.
His predecessor had considered this path too, but ordinary people had a hard time enduring such rigorous training, so Shi Yu had ultimately given up on it.
"Tweet-!"
"Everyone, quiet-!!!"
As Shi Yu surveyed the area, a square-faced middle-aged man in the distance took out a whistle and blew it hard. The piercing sound immediately drew the attention of every apprentice Beast Tamer present.
"Time's up. Everyone here, keep quiet and immediately line up in an orderly fashion to sign the safety liability agreement!"
"While you do that, listen as I explain the important points of this training assessment."
"First, I'm Zhou Wanshan, the person in overall charge of this Tianmang Mountain training assessment. In addition to me, four other professional Beast Tamers and a number of security personnel will be responsible for your assessment."
"I won't waste any more words. Once you've signed the safety liability agreement, we'll give each of you a guidebook."
"Tianmang Mountain contains a large number of ferocious beasts and rare resources. All their types are recorded in this guidebook, along with their corresponding point values. Hunting ferocious beasts and collecting rare resources is how you'll earn points and improve your assessment ranking!"
"In addition, before you enter, we'll issue you location and distress-call devices. We've set up numerous safety points inside Tianmang Mountain, where security personnel will be stationed. If you encounter danger and want to give up on the assessment, you can choose to call for help."
"You can also hand your spoils over to the security personnel at the safety points along the way. They'll be responsible for recording and registering your results."
"Your task is to earn as many points as possible over the next three days. In the end, the twenty Beast Tamers with the highest scores will gain permission to enter the ruins!"
The instructor named Zhou Wanshan shouted at the top of his lungs, making sure every apprentice Beast Tamer could hear the important points clearly.
Behind him, the other four professional instructors smiled as they sized up the rookies, recalling their own first training experiences.
"Their average age isn't very high. A few of them look soft and plump. Can they really handle it?"
"Ah, I wish I could go back to being an apprentice too. These ruins are such a rip-off. They actually won't let higher-level people in."
The instructors grumbled and cursed. Otherwise, how would such a good opportunity have fallen to these pampered newcomers?
"Cut the chatter. Don't slack off. Do your jobs, and don't let there be any casualties during this training."
Five professional Beast Tamers, working with a group of security personnel and technicians, made up the entire team responsible for the training assessment.
While they were evaluating this batch of examinees, Shi Yu had already signed the safety liability agreement and received a watch-like location and distress-call device, along with a guidebook.
The watch's functions were simple. Shi Yu briefly familiarized himself with it and casually put it on. His attention was on the guidebook.
Shi Yu opened the guidebook to the first page and found an old friend recorded there: the Earth-Burrowing Rat.
Hunting one of the things was worth twenty points.
He flipped through a few more pages. It seemed twenty points was the lowest value. The Earth-Burrowing Rat really had no prestige.
Then again, aside from the Earth-Burrowing Rat, creatures like the Red-Crested Snake, Broadsword Mantis, Man-Eating Grass, and Thorn Monster were only worth a few more hunting points, yet their names sounded several times more formidable.
As Shi Yu turned to the last few pages of the ferocious beast catalog, he found the beasts listed there increasingly outrageous.
[Name]: Berserk Python [Attribute]: Water [Growth level]: Awakening Level Ten [Species level]: Mid-Level Transcendent [Species skills]: Berserk, Raging Torrent Tail [Description]: Inhabits Green Water Lake and Little Mang Lake on the map. Two in total. Extremely dangerous. Hunting not recommended. [Points]: 4,000
Shi Yu: "?"
Hunting isn't recommended, but you're offering 4,000 points? That's equal to 200 Earth-Burrowing Rats...
Complaints aside, Shi Yu understood, of course, that the warning was meant for weaker Beast Tamers.
It had been specially marked as prey for Beast Tamers who were confident in their strength.
Shi Yu flipped through a few more pages and found several boss-type prey animals like the Berserk Python marked in the guidebook.
Honestly, the Berserk Python's Berserk skill was pretty good. It boosted both strength and speed across the board, though the drawback was losing one's reason.
But if he raised its proficiency to Perfect Level, he should be able to overcome that drawback, right?
A berserker Iron-Eating Beast?
The training base really went wild. He couldn't find a skill like that at the Icefield City breeding base.
"Hm?" Shi Yu's hand suddenly stopped as he continued flipping through the guidebook.
He had spotted a very strange creature.
[Name]: Electric Slime [Attribute]: Lightning [Growth level]: Awakening Level Ten [Species level]: Mid-Level Transcendent [Species skills]: Size Alteration, Discharge [Description]: Inhabits the Magnetic Mountain Area on the map. Three in total. Extremely dangerous. Hunting not recommended. [Points]: 4,000
"A slime?"
Shi Yu thought the training base really knew how to have fun. Just as Iron-Eating Beasts were creatures unique to Dong Huang, slimes were creatures unique to other countries. There weren't any native to Dong Huang.
Had the training base even captured these things to serve as bosses and broaden the Beast Tamers' horizons?
"Wait, this Size Alteration...!" Shi Yu's attention was suddenly drawn to the slime's skill.
If he remembered correctly, Size Alteration was a skill that allowed the user to control its body size at will.
It could shrink or grow.
In its shrunken state, it could conserve stamina to the greatest extent and speed up stamina recovery. Its giant state, on the other hand, consumed energy to the limit and sacrificed speed in exchange for greater strength!
"This skill seems like a great fit for Eleven. I just don't know if he can learn it..."
Iron-Eating Beasts were still too small. Even as adults, they were only two meters tall. That was fine for now, but if Eleven faced giant beasts tens of meters tall in the future, he would be a little outmatched...
If he could learn Size Alteration, though, Shi Yu immediately imagined a giant Iron-Eating Beast tearing a dragon apart with its bare hands. In the next instant, he pictured himself holding a tiny Iron-Eating Beast cub in one hand. This skill would give a pet beast three forms: a shrunken state that conserved stamina and accelerated energy recovery, a normal state with both strength and speed, and a giant form that strengthened its power to the limit!