Beast Tamer: I Can See Evolution Paths

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Very soon, he arrived at the door of his classroom. The stares directed at Asher had noticeably decreased.

But right on their heels came the fiery gazes of his classmates.

Asher: "..."

'Can't escape, can't escape, can't escape at all.'

"Asher, you're here." The class monitor, Jenny, smiled brightly and took the initiative to greet him.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Asher, taking a few quick steps forward to curiously ask, "Asher, was that really you at the academic conference a week ago?"

The surrounding classmates all perked up their ears.

They were curious too.

The class group chat had been buzzing about it nonstop back then—it was practically on fire.

Only Asher, the person in question, had never stepped forward to say a word.

Before Asher could nod, a sarcastic voice rang out from the side. "I wondered who it was—turns out it's our genius Asher."

Asher's brows furrowed as he turned back to look. Not far down the hallway, someone was striding toward him.

The one who spoke was none other than Ronnie, who had always been at odds with Vicky.

Asher glanced at him briefly and then looked away, clearly not taking Ronnie seriously.

The truth was that Asher had no interest in starting conflicts with people.

There was no need.

It was a waste of time.

Turning to look at Jenny, who was still waiting for his answer, Asher gave a slight nod. "It was me."

Jenny's gaze flickered between Asher and Ronnie, but curiosity ultimately got the better of her.

"How did you do it? And that Fire Fox Queen... is it your contract pet? It looked so cool and alluring."

Asher answered one by one: "It's hard to explain—luck and strength, I suppose."

"The Fire Fox Queen isn't my pet; it's... a friend's."

"Hah, what kind of friend gives you a brand-new evolutionary route? If you ask me, you must've used some underhanded means to fool everyone." Ronnie's sinister voice rang out again.

This time, Jenny truly couldn't continue her questions.

She glanced worriedly at Asher, then frowned at Ronnie and scolded, "Ronnie, what nonsense are you talking about."

"Asher isn't that kind of person."

Hearing someone defend Asher made Ronnie's face darken even more.

His complexion turned a mix of green and purple, like a palette of paint that had been spilled, ever-changing and chaotic.

It left Asher marveling.

'Wow!'

He'd always thought descriptions like this only existed in literature—he never expected to see them in real life one day.

Impressive indeed.

"You say he's not? What's your relationship with him?" Ronnie sneered mockingly, his face full of ridicule. "Coming up with a brand-new evolutionary route in just one month?"

Then Ronnie snorted coldly again. "Ridiculous! I've never heard of anything like that. That guy surnamed Snow must've used some deceitful methods—he just hasn't been exposed yet." [T/N: Asher's surname is Snow]

"And that so-called Beast, the evolved Fire Fox... maybe it's actually just some undiscovered Beast that this guy claimed credit for."

The more Ronnie spoke, the more he convinced himself he was right.

'Yes!'

'That must be the truth.'

Ronnie would rather believe that Asher got lucky and stumbled upon an undiscovered species of Beast than believe that Asher had truly researched a new evolutionary path.

"Ha?"

At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind.

Hearing it, Asher's lips curled into a slight smile, forming a sharp contrast to Ronnie's rage-filled expression.

Vicky swaggered toward the classroom. As he passed Ronnie, he ignored the empty space to the side and deliberately bumped Ronnie with his shoulder, causing him to stumble.

"If you're not walking, don't block the way—others still need to pass through," Vicky said arrogantly before strolling up to Asher's side.

He slung an arm around Asher's shoulder like they were close brothers.

Ronnie's eyes glared venomously at both Asher and Vicky.

Asher was helpless.

What was this?

He hadn't even said much, and his buddy had already maxed out the hostility points for him.

Asher said kindly, "Say less. Don't provoke him into having a meltdown."

It was because Ronnie looked truly furious—his face flushed purple, chest heaving violently. Asher was genuinely afraid he might faint from anger.

That would be a big problem.

"Alright, alright," Vicky said nonchalantly. "If my buddy says so, what can I do?"

Spreading his hands, Vicky continued, "It's just that some people can't accept that others are geniuses because they aren't one themselves. I was just trying to help him understand, but who knew..."

Vicky shook his head.

He sighed dramatically.

"Ah! My good intentions are seen as ill will."

Asher: "..."

Jenny: "..."

Other classmates present: "..."

'Good intentions, my foot.'

'This mouth of yours is truly unmatched.

Everyone was just short of outright saying: Is this what you call 'good intentions'? You're practically about to make Ronnie explode on the spot with your words.

Ronnie ground his teeth in fury.

"That's enough!" Asher pushed Vicky's arm off his shoulder, speaking with a bit of exasperation.

As someone who prided himself on his mature mindset, Asher didn't take these petty disputes seriously.

These were just high school-level conflicts.

No need to escalate.

If you had close friends, there would also be people who disliked you. No one could please everyone.

Besides, even a hundred bucks paper wasn't universally loved—some people used it to light fires.

Avoiding enemies entirely was impossible, so Asher simply chose to ignore them.

While Vicky had backed off for now, Ronnie felt even more humiliated

Asher wasn't even taking him seriously.

"Let's cut the nonsense. If you're so great, how about we have a pet beast battle? Let's use strength to prove it." Ronnie shouted loudly in Asher's direction.

The classmates instantly perked up with excitemennt.

'Oh?'

'A pet beast battle?'

They wanted to see that!

Most of the class had only formed contracts with their beasts before summer break ended, so they hadn't yet experienced real battles.

Having just contracted their pet beasts, they were brimming with curiosity about battles.

Even if they couldn't fight themselves, watching people they knew battle was still entertaining.

Asher didn't say a word, but Vicky's temper flared first.

Vicky rolled up his sleeves and was about to charge forward to "reason" with Ronnie. "Excuse me? Why should Asher agree to battle you to prove his strength? Who do you think you are that Asher needs to prove anything to you?"

He came out swinging with a barrage of three questions.

Not only was Ronnie stunned, but even the other classmates following Vicky's train of thought were caught off guard.

"You think my buddy's value is so cheap that you can challenge him whenever you want?" As Asher's best friend, Vicky was always the first to step up and defend him against anyone and anything.

Asher: "..."

"Son, say less. If you keep talking, my hostility points will really max out." Asher patted Vicky on the shoulder, hoping he'd tone it down.

Vicky waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry. Even if everyone becomes your enemy, I'll always stand firmly by your side."

Asher fell silent.

'So... why would everyone become my enemy?'

'Is it all because of your big mouth?'

Vicky: 'Why not?'

Just then, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Arthur, strolled in with his big beer belly, moving at a leisurely pace.

The moment he reached the door, Mr. Arthur's round face squinted into a smile as he looked around. "Well, well, what's this? Why aren't you all in the classroom? Standing so neatly in the hallway—what are you up to?"

Hearing Mr. Arthur's voice, everyone instantly settled down.

The earlier conflict vanished without a trace.

Ronnie shot Asher a venomous look before stomping off to his seat.

Asher was about to enter as well when Mr. Arthur stopped him.

"Oh, right, Asher, I have good news for you."

Vicky, who had already walked halfway into the classroom, poked his head back out with a sneaky look.

Mr. Arthur glared at him before turning back to Asher, his face now wearing a frighteningly kind smile. "Care to guess what it is?"

Asher thought for three seconds.

"Mr. Arthur, just say it directly."

"Hey! You're no fun at all." Mr. Arthur shot Asher a wounded look.

The next moment, though, he enthusiastically pounded Asher's shoulder with a hand like a fan and loudly announced, "I just got word from the higher-ups. Because of your discoveries and achievements, they've decided to reward you with extra points for the college entrance exam."

'Extra points for the college entrance exam?'

As soon as these four words were spoken.

The classmates who were eavesdropping in the class were all in an uproar.

However, what shocked them even more was yet to come.

"Do you know how many points it is?" Mr. Arthur's eyes behind his glasses were gleaming brightly.

Without needing Asher to answer, Mr. Arthur said directly: "Forty points. That's a whole forty points."

Hiss—

The classmates in the class once again gasped sharply.

Forty points?

What kind of concept is this?

For a person with poor grades, it might not be very useful.

But for Asher, who is at the top of the class pyramid and would drop several ranks in the college entrance exam for a one-point difference, forty points—this directly guarantees Asher's admission into a top university.

Just moments ago, because of the confrontation between Ronnie and Asher, the doubts some classmates had about Asher disappeared into thin air at this moment.

Not a trace was left.

Doubt Asher?

The college entrance exam extra-point award has already come out, what is there to doubt.

Asher is truly amazing.

Several classmates whose grades were slightly worse than Asher's looked at Asher with eyes full of envy and jealousy, without hate.

Just thinking about what Asher said at the academic conference, they were utterly convinced.

Anyway, they couldn't figure out a thing.

At most, they could only cling to the expert's thigh and shout "666" after the discovery.

"You really are impressive, kid." Mr. Arthur patted Asher's shoulder again and again, his smile never leaving his face.

Asher was already one of the top students in the class.

His grades always floated within the top three, and with these forty extra points, getting into a good university was absolutely not a problem.

Mr. Arthur advised Asher: "This year, you can spend a little more time on nurturing your contracted beast. With these forty points, as long as your grades don't drop too much, a top university is guaranteed."

Faced with the homeroom teacher's earnest advice, Asher smiled and agreed.

"Okay."

Hearing this news, Asher was not as happy as the homeroom teacher and other classmates.

Asher was thinking—'what about the promised guaranteed admission?'

'Why did it suddenly become college entrance exam extra points?'

Forty points, although not small.

But this meant that in the coming year, Asher still had to spend a large amount of time in school.

If this were the case, Asher definitely would not have held that academic conference, showing off too much.

He would be watched closely by many people at school.

Asher couldn't guarantee that using his talent skills at school wouldn't accidentally slip up.

However, no matter what Asher thought, the first day's school process still had to be followed.

Registration, receiving books, registering the first contracted beast, and collecting the special nutrient serum issued as a welfare benefit by the Alliance.

This welfare was only available to students in designated Beast Taming classes and Beast Taming programs.

As long as a contracted beast was registered, depending on the beast's needs, the Alliance would provide one to three vials of special nutrient serum daily.

The special nutrient serum could help beasts quickly recover physical strength, heal wounds, and slightly enhance their physique.

On the market, each vial would cost thousands of alliance coins.

To better support the growth of the new generation of Beast Tamers, the Alliance had indeed invested heavily.

Asher also brought Little Raven for registration. Because Little Raven's strength was relatively high, standing out among the new first-tier beasts today, Asher successfully received the maximum distribution of three vials of nutrient serum per day.

Shaking the transparent, colorless, and odorless liquid he had received, Asher curiously asked: "Teacher, can I drink this?"

The teacher responsible for distributing the supplies: "…"

The other classmates: "…"

The teacher responsible for distributing supplies was the first to recover, speaking with a mix of professionalism and barely suppressed amusement: "It's not that you can't, but it's not recommended. The energy contained in the nutrient serum is a bit… uh, overly stimulating for males."

"Especially if you drink it in public, you might have some… socially embarrassing physical reactions that can only be relieved by going to the hospital. You wouldn't want to try it, would you?" After saying this, the teacher even glanced at a certain… special area of Asher.

This time, it was Asher's turn to remain silent.

'Great.'

Through the teacher's gaze, he immediately understood the unsaid words.

"I was just asking." Asher immediately categorized the nutrient serum as forbidden.

But Asher still had a tiny bit of curiosity.

That is to say—this effect of the nutrient serum on males, which genius discovered it?

And what kind of socially embarrassing situation had occurred at the time, for the teacher to have such a strange expression?

Clearly.

Not only Asher thought of this, but everyone else's expressions were also peculiar. They looked at the nutrient serum in their hands with a few extra traces of reverence.

As for whether someone would be curious enough to go… cough cough.

This is no longer within Asher's range of control.

While other classmates were registering their contracted beasts, Asher also took a moment to observe.

To see what kind of beasts everyone else had.

Jenny's Blue Lotus Jade Flower needs no elaboration. Its appearance matches the name very well. It was an extraordinary plant-like creature, resembling a feminized flower, about as tall as Jenny's calf. The creature was pale blue all over, and at first glance, it sparkled under the sunlight.

What surprised Asher more was that three students had actually chosen to contract Honeybugs.

Among them, a short-haired girl noticed Asher's gaze after registering. She held the nutrient serum she had just received and walked toward Asher.

"Asher… Honeybugs… can they really evolve like that?" The girl's voice was soft. Her bangs were so long they covered her eyes, and her ten fingers tangled together—a picture of utter lack of confidence.

Asher had some impression of this girl.

July—she was an orphan, her situation somewhat similar to his but more complicated.

Asher seemed to have heard that she had been abandoned by her biological parents, who later sought her out after she awakened her beast-master potential.

The details were unclear to Asher.

However, July's choice of a Honeybug was undoubtedly due to financial struggles.

Just like Asher—she had considered contracting a Honeybug at first, thinking that if worse came to worst, she could evolve it. After all, once evolved, Honey Bugs became Intermediate Extraordinary Low Rank creatures, offering great value for cost.

Faced with a question from someone so similar to himself, Asher did not conceal anything: "Yes, evolving Honeybugs is not difficult."

"But you need to give your Honeybug enough care and affection, helping it grow from timid and cowardly to strong little by little. Only then can it break its cocoon and turn into a butterfly."

For some reason.

After Asher finished speaking, he felt that July's gaze seemed to shine with sparkles.

"En! I will definitely do it." Li Xiaoyao nodded heavily. The eyes beneath her bangs seemed to glisten with water, "Thank you, Asher."

After saying this, July ran off, leaving Asher standing there, completely bewildered, as though he didn't understand what had just happened.

He blinked.

If he couldn't figure it out, he would let it go.

Asher continued observing the other students' contracted beasts. Apart from the three classmates with Honeybugs and Jenny with the Blue Lotus Jade Flower, the remaining classmates who contracted beasts during summer vacation had chosen Beasts through loans from the League.

Everyone had similar thoughts: The strength of their first beast would impact their future development of resources.

Rather than gambling on whether a Honeybug could evolve, they opted to be practical.

Carrying some debt was no big deal.

As beast masters, their job prospects after graduation were far better than those of ordinary people. Even if they didn't fare well, it would just take an extra two years to repay the loans.

Asher offered no opinion on this.

Everyone had their own thoughts and decisions. The public evolution route for Honeybugs was just to provide an option for those who truly had no other choice.

The busy morning passed just like that.

On the first day of school, with no classes yet, the students could return to their dorms to settle in properly.

Beast master students were few in number, so even the dorms were two-person rooms; otherwise, they wouldn't be filled.

Asher shared a dorm with Vicky. After simply cleaning up the dust accumulated over summer vacation, changing to a fresh set of bedding, the cleaning work was done.

"Ash, wanna play games?" Vicky waved his phone.

Just as Asher was about to agree, his phone rang.

"You go ahead and play, I need to take this call."

Seeing the name "President Robb" on the phone screen, Asher walked to the balcony and answered the call.

———

[NY City Beast Master Alliance]

The reception area was unusually quiet today.

The few receptionists who usually gathered to gossip or talk about interesting things happening recently were all sitting quietly, wishing they could disappear from the president's view.

But there was no helping it.

When the reception room called for someone.

One of them had to step in to serve water.

After pushing and shoving among themselves, the unlucky receptionist lady was chosen once again.

She carefully walked into the reception room, just in time to hear President Robb's furious voice rise: "What do you mean it doesn't count? What kind of nonsense standard is this?"

"Do you realize how important this discovery is?"

"And you're trying to f*ck me off with this nonsense?"

As he spoke, President Robb slammed the table repeatedly, making loud pa-pa-pa sounds.

On the carpet, a snow wolf that was half a person's height even while lying down was lazily wagging its tail, thumping the ground in rhythm. Gradually, the rhythm matched President Robb's table slams.

The receptionist noticed this detail, and her careful mood suddenly turned cheerful.

Especially when she heard President Robb curse and the snow wolf let out a low "awoo" in perfect sync.

The receptionist finally couldn't hold back and let out a snicker.

President Robb, who was mid-rant: "…"

The snow wolf, frozen with its tail mid-air and mouth agape: "…"

Two pairs of eyes, one large and one small, stared straight at the receptionist.

The receptionist, her smile still lingering: '…I'm doomed.'

Putting on her most professional face, the receptionist quickly swapped out the teacup with lightning speed and, balancing the tray, left the room as fast as she could in her high heels over the soft carpet.

What happened?

The receptionist didn't know.

She was just an ordinary working woman.

Back at her desk, no matter how curiously her coworkers stared at her or how insistently her phone buzzed in her pocket, the receptionist remained straight-faced and serious.

Gossip?

No gossip to share.

If she dared to gossip now, she'd better prepare to pack her things and go home.

Meanwhile, in the reception room, Robb wasn't as furious as the receptionist had imagined.

That little interlude had cooled his anger a bit.

Taking a few long, deep breaths, he spoke as calmly as he could into the phone: "I don't know what you're thinking, but the Fire Fox Queen's successful evolution is the best evidence from that academic conference."

"You say I'm being unreasonable? I think you're the ones being absurd."

"If you insist on this, fine, but I'll leave this here—if Asher's proposed concept ever proves to be groundbreaking, don't expect to get any benefit from it."

"Including this call today—I've already recorded it."

Saying that, President Robb sneered coldly into the phone: "What? You think I'm dreaming? I think you're all just a bunch of outdated fossils, rotten and wrinkled inside and out, smelling of decay. What era do you think we're living in?"

Without giving the other side a chance to respond, President Robb immediately hung up.

As the phone screen lit up repeatedly, he blocked the caller without hesitation.

After all this, President Robb finally felt a little better.

But the next moment.

He remembered… he still had to tell Asher about this.

Thinking of that, President Robb's mood soured again.

How… was he supposed to explain this to Asher?

After dawdling for half the morning, President Robb finally made the call to Asher just before noon.

Hearing President Robb vent his frustrations over the phone, Asher learned that the recommendation slot that was meant for him had been changed to additional points for the college entrance exam.

"Those people are so frustrating. They insist that your concept still lacks solid evidence, so they can't approve the recommendation yet."

"But isn't the Fire Fox Queen's evolution solid enough proof? Do they think discovering a brand-new evolution path is that easy?"

"If you ask me, they're just jealous that NY City produced a genius like you, so they're blocking you at every turn."

Listening to this, Asher understood President Robb's real intent.

President Robb was venting, but he was also trying to keep Asher from resenting the Beast Master Alliance.

Smiling, Asher said warmly, "I understand, Uncle Robb. You've done your best for me. Extra points on the college exam… It's a bit disappointing, but it's acceptable."

Though he was still a little annoyed.

But Asher wasn't the type to complain.

Running such a massive system wasn't an easy task to begin with.

From President Robb's words, Asher could tell that the higher-ups didn't harbor ill intent toward him. It was just their habit to drag their feet and put up obstacles here and there.

In the end, they'd still give him what he deserved. But whether it would still be useful by then? That wasn't their concern.

Asher: 'I get it, I really do.'

But when it happens to you, it's still frustrating.

If the recommendation had been secured, he could already be preparing to take Little Raven out for training, battles, and real combat practice to master all her skills.

Instead…

He had to juggle classes while squeezing in time to train Little Raven.

Asher: '…Is this the suffering of the human world?'

However, as it turned out.

This was only the beginning of his suffering.

On the first day of school, everyone was still reserved. Those curious about Asher would only sneak glances from a meter away.

They wouldn't actually approach him and be annoying.

But by the end of the first week…

Whether familiar or unfamiliar, everyone forcibly got to know Asher.

Some would randomly pull him aside to ask questions, while others invited him to spar.

There were even a couple of clueless classmates who made comments about Little Raven's appearance right in front of Asher.

Whenever that happened—

If the other party was an ordinary person, Asher would deal with them himself.

If they were also a Beast Master, Asher would drag them to the outdoor battlefield on campus for an utterly crushing defeat.

Within half a month, no one dared to say anything bad about Little Raven again.

Those classmates who approached Asher later would even bring snacks for Little Raven.

Little Raven: OVO

"Little Raven's basically the big sister of all the school pets now, huh?" Vicky laughed as he grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds meant for Little Raven and started munching.

Midway through, he stared curiously at Little Raven: "Hey, is our Little Raven male or female? If he's male, we should call him big bro, right?"

Little Raven: [○Д○] 'Pervert! Creep! How dare he…'

With a flap of her wings, Little Raven flew in front of Vicky and launched a flurry of slaps.

"Ah, hey! Asher, get your Little Raven under control." Vicky cried for mercy.

Asher: 'I can't hear you.'

Did they really think all that special serum and training over the past month was for nothing?

If Little Raven wanted to retaliate, did she really need Asher to stop her?

After playing around, Little Raven perched back on Asher's shoulder and started grooming her feathers with her soft yellow beak.

"Today, we're ready to start the next phase," Asher whispered.

Little Raven looked up, her black beady eyes curious.

'The next phase?'

'What phase?'

"The phase to become even stronger."

Both Little Raven's fire skills, Fireball and Smoke Screen, were already highly refined—so much so that she could use them to toy with other beasts.

Now, Asher was preparing for Little Raven to learn two new fire skills: Flame Bite and Thermal Energy.

One difficult, one relatively easy. Next, they'd master these skills.

Little Raven: ヾ(▽)ノ Yay!

She eagerly snuggled against Asher, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

'Does my Beast Master secretly go hunting without me?'

'Otherwise, how does he always make me so strong?'

Unable to figure it out, Little Raven stopped thinking.

Little Raven: 'My Beast Master is number one in the world.'

———

Central China Region, an official research institute.

It was clearly midday, yet the entire institute was eerily quiet.

No one spoke.

Even the sound of breathing was reduced to the minimum.

Countless pairs of eyes stared intently at the dazzling light in the nearby evolution room.

Until the light faded.

At the moment when an unprecedented gigantic creature appeared before their eyes—

Everyone could not help but erupt into waves of screams and cheers:"Success! We really succeeded. We successfully found a new evolution route."

They didn't care about how long the project had been running.

From when they truly began the evolutionary work on Beasts to achieving results, only a month had passed.

One month.

Even though countless researchers were conducting comparative experiments with different plans, according to their original estimates, it would take at least until the end of the year to successfully help the first Beast complete its evolution.

Yet now, only a month had passed...

They had completed the preliminary research work three months ahead of schedule.

The old researcher Damien Hohn was the first to snap out of it:

"Now is not the time to get excited. Hurry and test the specific values of the post-evolution defensive performance."

The old man shouted loudly, seeming unapproachable, still demanding work at such a moment.

In reality, Old Damien's face also carried an uncontrollable smile of joy.

All the staff members were beaming with happiness.

Work?

They loved work.

They could now continue to pour their entire energy into their current tasks.

Work was simply amazing.

Meanwhile, Old Damien oversaw the whole situation as he walked over to Adam's side: "Which plan was the successful evolutionary route?"

Adam did not speak, his expression a little strange.

"What can't you say? You look like you've seen a ghost." Old Damien shot him a glance, raising his eyebrows.

Adam coughed twice, handed over the document in his hand that recorded the experiment process to the old master.

The old man took it, adjusted his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, and squinted his eyes as he read word by word aloud:

"Illusion Crystal Flowers, 10... Dragon Blood, 1 milliliter... Beastmaster and pet bond level suspected to be maxed out?"

Old Damien sharply looked up at Adam.

Adam also stared at the old master.

"Who made this record?" Old Damien shook the document in his hand.

Adam pointed to a young man wearing glasses working not far away: "It's him. I just asked him about it."

"According to him, he happened to have watched Asher's academic presentation. While observing this group of beastmaster and pet, he felt that their state matched well with the concept of bond levels, so he casually noted it down."

"The problem is... this experiment was a trial-and-error check."

Old Damien immediately understood what he meant.

This was something that large institutes did due to their larger workforce.

When an experimental evolution route failed, before it was completely discarded, a final re-test would be done to rule out errors caused by special circumstances.

This kind of thing had happened before, but only once.

Generally, smaller research institutes wouldn't waste time on failed-plan checks.

Years ago, Old Damien wouldn't have either; it consumed both time and extra resources.

This time, however, the state was backing them.

Wanting to be thorough, Old Damien applied for extra resources to recheck failed routes.

Unexpectedly...

"Confirm that the only variable different from the previously failed evolution is the bond level?" Old Damien furrowed his brow, double-checking.

Adam: "Correct. I've already asked—every other step was exactly the same."

"If necessary, we can even retrieve the entire monitoring footage of the last experiment."

Old Damien: "Then pull it up."

"In our research, the one thing we cannot allow is ambiguity."

"Yes means yes. No means no."

"If we confirm that bond level is the only variable..."

Both Damien and Adam had slightly odd expressions.

Mainly because... they recalled a conversation from just over a month ago.

A young man not even twenty years old had contributed the most crucial variable to this project.

If it weren't for Asher—

Even if this check succeeded, they wouldn't have figured out why it succeeded.

———

[NY City, No. 11 High School]

"...The deeper the bond between beastmasters and their pets, the more the pets' personalities will gradually align with the beastmaster's direction. Though not all cases are like this, parts of the beastmaster's traits will often influence the pet's character..."

On the podium, the teacher was lecturing.

Below the podium, the students were drowsy.

After experiencing real combat classes, everyone had lost interest in these dull theoretical lessons.

If not for the looming college entrance exams…

Ahem.

They still had to listen to what was necessary.

Just then—

Several people suddenly appeared outside the door, causing a commotion among the students near the entrance.

The previously dead-silent classroom instantly became lively.

"There are two people in military uniforms."

"The two in white coats at the front seem to be protected. That old man looks really old..."

"They look so serious and scary."

"I feel like I've seen them before, but I can't remember where?"

The students whispered among themselves, heads turning and murmurs spreading.

Asher also glanced toward the door.

'Huh?'

He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt that the elderly man walking at the very front had locked eyes with him precisely.

On the serious face of this elderly man, a smile suddenly appeared.

[T/N: Are you all comfortable with reading 5k words per chapter? Or want to me divide it into 5 chapters and then post it?]

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