Monday – Western City Gate
Teo and his gang were already at the site, waiting for the others. He had five Tarfollio—Domas was the strongest, but the other four were also strong; all four were Overlords.
Then Lyrus arrived, riding on Lanfer's beast body, together with Lanfer and Ishvel (both of them in armored form). Lyrus didn't know they had transformation abilities. Meanwhile, Horus, Sedestro, and Titus flew in the sky. Vigil was sitting like a queen on Horus's shoulders.
Domas: Ho. Ho. Ho.
Teo: What the hell...? (He was surprised.) This kid has almost caught up to his mother... This boy really has royal lineage to grow this fast. If the Eisien Clan knows this, they'd definitely take this kid back to the capital.
Lyrus: Uncle. (Lyrus called, then got down together with Ishvel, while Lanfer remained seated like a queen. Then Horus descended coolly, while Vigil remained seated like a villainess. Titus descended as well and walked to Lyrus's left, while Sedestro hovered in the air like a black demon in daylight.)
Teo: I never thought... you've grown this strong already.
(Teo only knew that Lyrus had four beasts: Lydia, Vigil, Lanfer, and Ishvel. Seeing another five unknown beasts with him, he was stunned.) But wait... where's that spider...?
Lyrus: I'm not strong—my companions are.
Teo: Hmm... (He just realized the spider was the gorgeous woman on the demon guy's shoulders.) How is this possible...? (He was terrified.)
Lyrus: (Seeing Teo's reaction, he glanced back at Vigil and Lanfer.) It just kinda happened. Haha.
Teo: Whatever secret it is—keep it to yourself.
(He felt like Lyrus would spill everything if allowed to talk. He knew something like this was impossible. Humanoid beasts were not unusual, but this spider literally evolved into a human form, breaking the reality concept between mammals and insects.) Hayz...
Lyrus: It just kinda happened, though. (He also didn't expect it.)
Ishvel: Greetings, Mr. Teo.
Teo: Oh. Your speech has gotten even more fluent. (Then he looked at Lyrus.) It seems like you've grown much more powerful now.
Ishvel: I am. (He said with confidence.)
Domas: Fight. Fight. (He was asking for a duel with Ishvel.)
Teo: Hey, hey! Stop it. We can't afford injuries now. (Domas was disappointed.)
Ishvel: We can still have a duel some other time. (He consoled Domas.)
Lyrus: By the way, Uncle—this is Titus. (Titus bowed.)
And this is Horus. (Hmm.)
That's Vigil. That's Lanfer. And that one is Sedestro. (He pointed at Sedestro hovering in the air.)
Lanfer: Greetings, old man.
Vigil: We meet again. Hi. Hi. (Spooky and scary.)
Teo: Both of you evolved far beyond my expectations... and grew this much in just a few years. (He was referring to Lanfer and Vigil.) This is a Royal Beast evolution. Only those with the purest bloodlines can evolve like this.
Lyrus: I know. Don't worry, they won't cause trouble for me. After all, I'm still an Eisien Clan member.
Teo: (This kid clearly knows some people from Eisien are keeping an eye on him.) Hmm...
Lyrus: By the way, where are the others?
Teo: (He looked at his watch—it was 6:30.) They'll be here soon.
After a while, another Legend Rank Tamer arrived: Vania Pastial, with her Denegra (Crimson Dragon Centipede) and a Lyfilia (Vine Queen). Then came Selso Auston, a middle-aged man with his Tristrikal (Big Thunder Spiky Leopard – Yellow), along with six Overlord Tristrikals. Another middle-aged man, Logan Tredes, arrived with Borus (Red Flame Bear) and a Daroke (Big Black Horned Wolf).
Then, a dozen Tamers from Teo's company came, all with Overlord Tarfollio.
Finally, three tamers Lyrus's age arrived:
Luke Demeisa, with a Revaris (Silver Armored Humanoid Rhino)
Denise Nieves, with a Vebeerin (Humanoid Queen Bee)
Tristan York, with a Cerdal (Humanoid Black Panther)
All had rare beasts.
Teo: I guess this is everyone.
(Phone ringing — Ring, ring)
Teo: Hmm? Hello...? (He stepped aside.) Hmm. Okay.
Then, Norton arrived with the Legend Rank Legulus (Flame Lion) and Mortomis (Shadow Fiend).
Teo looked at Lyrus—he already knew Norton was his father's henchman, secretly watching him and reporting everything.
Teo: Let's go!
(ROAR!)
A massive white serpent greeted them outside the gate. It was one of Teo's Legend Rank beasts—so big, it couldn't even enter the city.
Denise: Such a colossal beast... (She was surprised—and a little afraid.)
This beast was already almost a Mythical Rank beast. The wilderness was nothing more than a playground to it.
Everyone hopped onto its back, on metal bars installed to make the ride comfortable—after all, the serpent's skin was made of scales and quite slippery. Lanfer's beast body was attached to it. Even though it could fly, it was still slower. Other than Lanfer's beast body and humanoid body, Ishvel also rode the serpent together with Lyrus, while the others flew in the sky.
Vania rode her Denegra, along with her Lyfilia. Logan rode the serpent, but his Borus followed, while he mounted his Daroke. Selso rode his Tristrikal. All their beasts were incredibly fast.
Vania: Let's meet at the location. Let's go, Deia.
Then her Denegra crawled forward at extreme speed.
Selso: We'll go ahead, Teo.
Teo: Sure.
Then Selso and his Tristrikals ran ahead into the forest. Logan followed suit shortly after. His Daroke was three times bigger than Selso's Tristrikals. Adult Tristrikals were about 4 meters high and 8 meters long, not including the tail. In comparison, adult Darokes were around 6 meters tall and eleven meters long.
The three interns and dozens of other employees of Teo hopped onto his Ulsevian (Giant White Serpent).
Teo: Vasha, let's go.
Teo was at the head of Vasha together with Norton, while the others stayed toward the back.
Lyrus: Whoa...
Lyrus was surprised by the serpent's speed. Despite its enormous size and many passengers, it was still fast, slithering effortlessly. After a while, he successfully got accustomed to the speed and this form of travel. Then he turned around and struck up a conversation with the three other teens.
Lyrus: I remember you guys. You're the top of this year's graduates, right?
(Lyrus started the talk with the three.)
Lyrus had gone to high school in Bulgaria National Beast Master Academy, the only secondary school in this city. Bulgaria City, despite being far from the capital, was still a large city with a population of 13 million. BNBMA accommodated over a million students. It was a big school, and being among the top graduates meant they were geniuses.
Denise: Haha. Yeah, we are. But we're still weak compared to you.
(They knew Lyrus. His mother was quite famous, and he was the son of a prestigious family—the Eisien Clan. Naturally competitive and sarcastic toward each other, they behaved politely toward Lyrus. Even though he was just a concubine's son, he was still part of the clan. And judging by his beasts, he was already powerful enough to be famous like his mother.)
Lyrus: (He knew they were keeping the conversation safe—the other two just smiled and stayed quiet.)
No, no, I'm not that good. If I were, I should be like you guys.
(Referring to their status as top students. Yes, he wasn't as good as them academically, because he only focused on his beasts and his own growth. In terms of other subjects, he was just an average guy and never really put much effort—he simply wasn't interested.)
We're in the same boat here, so don't be awkward with me. We're all here to train and gain experience. By the way, I'm Lyrus. (He offered a handshake.)
Denise: I'm Denise, nice to meet you. And this is my beast companion, Esil.
Tristan: I'm Tristan. And this is Bane.
Lyrus: The cool guy that's good with combat and knows how to unify with his beast. Nice to meet you.
Tristan: Haha. (He was embarrassed.)
Luke: Hi, I'm Luke. Nice to meet you. And this is my beast, Regas.
Lyrus: Yeah, I know you. You're the valedictorian, right?
Luke: Ah... haha. Yeah.
Lyrus had a nice chat with them, mostly about school stuff, while Vasha slithered out of the forest near Bulgaria City and headed into the rocky mountains.
Lyrus: Hmm? What's that...?
(He noticed a tower in the rocky mountains. More of them were visible in the distance due to their height.)
Luke: That's the Watchers' Post. They guard the borders of the Wildlands and prevent beast hordes and powerful wild beasts from bypassing the region.
Tristan: Yeah, my father is one of them. I want to become like him someday.
Denise: You just want the cool uniform. That job's boring—and dangerous too. You'd be stuck there, guarding the post.
Tristan: Tsk.
They soon arrived at one of the posts. Teo seemed to know the Watchers—they passed through with just a nod. Watchers were only responsible for monitoring the area. They had no authority to interfere with tamers entering or exiting the Wildlands—unless a tamer reported something like a rescue mission or a potential outbreak threatening the city. Watchers typically had Overlord-ranked beasts.
Teo: We're nearing the Wildlands now. Most of the beasts we'll encounter here are far more powerful than those near the city outskirts, so be careful.
In the Wildlands, Commander Rank beasts were just considered normal. This area was filled with beasts below Overlord Rank, with a few actual Overlords, and rarely a Legendary Beast. The deeper into the Wildlands, the more dangerous it got.
In the distance, Lyrus could already see Horus, Vigil, and Sedestro engaging in battle, hunting some beasts—a few Beast Kings, a group of Zaida (Triple-Horned Thunder Horses). These beasts were common in the area. The group only managed to kill three before the rest of the pack fled—their speed was insane.
The entry zone of the Wildlands in this region was grasslands, and most of the beasts here were herbivores. In the distance, he could observe that most herbivorous beasts were fleeing at the sight of a gigantic serpent approaching. There were groups of antelope, deer, taurus, horses, boars, bulls, triple-horned tamaraws, and even dinosaur-like herbivores.
Lyrus: This place has a large variety of beasts... but they're way too normal.
He noticed that most of the beasts in the area were just normal animals. "Normal" meaning they had no attributes, only physical strength. These animals had no cores. Only the Zaida that the trio hunted could be considered actual beasts.
Luke: Most beasts in the wilderness have no attributes. But you can still find beasts here with attributes from time to time—they're just fewer in number. This place has been the hunting ground for millions of tamers from Bulgaria.
(They also observed other people hunting nearby. Hunting was the best way to earn money, and most beast parts were sellable. In the Wildlands, only 18 and above with Beast Kings were permitted to hunt. Those under 18 could only roam the outskirts, but the beasts near the city walls were harmless and weak, often avoiding humans, making the area useless for tamers.)
Eventually, they reached the entrance to the forest of the Wildlands, where Vania, Selso, and Logan were already waiting with their beasts. They were setting up tents.
Everyone dismounted from Vasha. Teo's men also began setting up tents. This would become their camp for the next few days. After all, they'd be hunting for a week.
Lyrus had prepared beforehand, having bought a large tent for himself, which was stored in his spatial ring, along with all his supplies.
Lyrus also found out that Teo's internship with these new graduates was more of a harsh test than a supervised program. They were letting them tag along into the Wilderness to develop their own survival skills. Their safety wasn't guaranteed. No one cared what happened to them—as long as they stuck close, they'd be protected. But if they wandered off on their own, they were on their own. After all, the wild followed the law of survival: either you eat your prey, or you're eaten by predators.
Lyrus also let all of his beast companions roam and hunt on their own, leaving only Lanfer's beast form behind to stay with him. She was currently resting beside his tent.
Teo: Are you not going?
(He was the last of the five Legend Ranks to depart.)
Lyrus: I'm not. Just take Ishvel with you. I'll roam around the grasslands first and get familiar with the environment here. Maybe I'll head out tomorrow.
Teo: Okay. We gotta go.
Domas: Ho. Ho. Ho.
(He leapt into the trees and vanished into the forest.)
Ishvel: We gotta go, Master.
Lyrus: Yeah. Enjoy.
Two of Teo's other employees were also stationed at their tents, so even if Lyrus didn't go, he'd still be safe staying at the base. Other employees of Teo were also hunting across the grasslands—you could see them from afar, killing some livestock-type animals. These beasts were considered luxury meat in the Meat Market.
The three interns had also started their individual training, fighting beasts in the grasslands.
In the distance, Lyrus burst out laughing as Tristan's beast, Bane, was sent flying by a bull charge, and now Tristan was being chased by the bull himself.
Lyrus: Hahaha!
Meanwhile, Luke had unified with his beast and slayed a bull. He looked cool doing it—but the downside was, he used such a grand technique to defeat a low-tier beast.
The two SSS-Rank tamers, Mike and Miguel, both with Overlord-rank beasts, burst out laughing when they witnessed Luke's dramatic first takedown.
Mike: Did he really act proud slaying that animal in such a gallant form? Hahaha.
Miguel: This guy definitely has main character syndrome. Hahaha.
If Luke had heard that, he would've been embarrassed. But the truth was—Luke was really talented, especially in his ability to unify with his beast and transform into such a cool battle form. His Revaris originated from this area. It was a variant rhino that evolved in these grasslands, now capable of earth and metal manipulation. If you looked around, there were a lot of rhino herds scattered throughout. Rhinos were naturally powerful beasts—even though they were considered "animals," most were already at Commander Rank or Beast Lord level.
Then suddenly, five big green serpents slithered out from the forest.
Lyrus: Hey, what is that?
(He asked Mike and Miguel, who were busy preparing food.)
Mike: Oh, don't worry about that. That's a Vermegia—a herbivore boa. Even though it's a Beast Emperor, it doesn't attack other beasts or animals. See? Even the nearby animals aren't fleeing. Every day around this time or in the afternoon, those beasts come out to sunbathe in the grasslands.
Miguel: And they're strong. Despite being "just" Beast Emperors, they can go toe-to-toe with Overlords, especially here in the forest and grassland regions. They're nature-type beasts—they can manipulate plant life for both offensive and defensive attacks. But they're weak to fire—even a Beast Lord with flame affinity could match them. Against earth or water types, though, they're basically unstoppable.
Lyrus: Those are huge beasts... Don't you want to hunt them and sell them to the meat market? Or are they poisonous or something?
Mike: They're not poisonous at all. It's just that their meat tastes like vines or tree trunks—not palatable at all. Their hides don't sell well either; they decompose easily.
Miguel: Still, you might spot some rare beasts around here from time to time. Keep an eye out—they sell for a high price, especially those with elemental affinities. Also, some of these herbivores tend to evolve in daylight, especially the bulls. Some even evolve into Zoltaur.
Lyrus: What? I didn't know Zoltaur evolved from bulls. I really should've studied more about evolution... Hmm? And what's that thing over there? Isn't that a Legendary Beast?
(He pointed to a distant dinosaur-like armored beast—emerald and yellow, with a few white horns and thorns across its body.)
Miguel: That one's native to this region too. Just like the Vermegia, it's harmless—but crazy tough. It's almost a Mythical Beast. Over the years, many people have tried to tame it, but no one has succeeded. It won't attack unless provoked. It's got three affinities—nature, earth, and light. If threatened, it transforms into a ball of yellow light and flees. But it'll always return a week or a month later to these grasslands. That's why most tamers just ignore it.
Lyrus: Oh. Has a Mythical Rank powerhouse ever tried to tame it? They might succeed, right?
Miguel: Dozens have tried over the years. But like I said—once it feels threatened, it flees at light-speed. Despite being a land beast with no wings and such a huge armored body, it can move like a beam of light. No one's been able to catch it.
Mike: Boss Teo and the gang even tried to capture it a while back. Even your mother tried. But we all failed, many times.
Thud.
A loud sound came from nearby—a beast body crashing to the ground.
Esil, Denise's Vebeerin, had just taken down an Elk Beast with rainbow-colored horns.
Denise: I got my first successful hunt!
Mike: Wow! That's an Edoleon. Those horns alone will fetch millions. Where did you find it?
Denise: Over there—among a group of elks. This one was the only one with crystal rainbow-colored horns.
Miguel: Did you poison it?
Denise: Esil just shot it with a paralytic spear, then we finished it off.
Lyrus: Can I take some blood samples from this elk?
Denise: Umm... sure.
(Then Lyrus pulled out a syringe and took some blood. Luckily, it was still fresh.)
Denise: What are you going to do with that?
Lyrus: Some experiments.
Mike and Miguel helped Denise slaughter the elk. Both were so professional that the entire process was done in just 15 minutes. Lyrus was already used to seeing such scenes from the market. He volunteered to cook—just simple skewers and barbecue.
Lyrus: Hmm... This is good. It tastes like goat or cow meat.
Denise: Hmm... (She was enjoying her food.)
The group of four enjoyed their meal. Then Tristan came back, covered in dirt and leaves—they burst out laughing.
His beast was okay, though. Even though they lacked battle experience, he was still S-Rank. He wouldn't be injured that easily.
Tristan: That damn bull...
Mike and Miguel: Hahaha! This is why you need battle experience. Unlike in the city where tamers just challenge each other, here beasts attack in numbers. You shouldn't have attacked the female, hahaha!
(He had been chased by several bulls after doing that.)
Then Luke also returned, having successfully hunted four bull beasts.
Mike: Hahaha.
(He was still laughing, amused by the inexperienced and flashy guys using ultimate moves on mobs.)
Meat like this on the market is just a normal delicacy. It doesn't fetch high prices.
Tristan: By the way, what is that?
(He was referring to the Legendary Beast nearby. Then Mike and Miguel shared the same information they told Lyrus earlier.)
Denise: Is it not dangerous?
Mike: It's not. It's here every day. As long as it's not attacked, it will just sunbathe until around 3 PM—just like those Vermegia.
Luke: (Browsing the internet) This guy's not even on the net. What beast is it?
Miguel: We don't really know either. Maybe it's a variant evolution of some herbivore land dinosaur. It's only been about six years since it first appeared in this region, after all.
Lyrus: What if we try taming it?
(He said confidently, then turned to White, who hovered in the air.)
Mike: Hey—what do you mean?
Lyrus: I'm very confident I can tame it.
Mother Swarm Lanfer 2: Scree.
Lyrus: Stay here.
Miguel: What are you doing?
Lyrus: Don't worry. I'm more capable than you could ever imagine.
(Then he flew toward the beast's location.)
Miguel: Hey! I know you're a Legend Rank powerhouse, but—
(He was already too far.) Fuck.
Norton: Let him be.
(Then suddenly, Norton appeared out of nowhere.)
Mike: I thought you went with Teo.
Miguel: (He leaned toward Mike and whispered.) He's an Eisien. He's here to guard Lyrus.
(He whispered, but it could still be heard.)
Mike: Ahahaha.
Moria: Arrogant kid. He will fail.
(The Mortomis spoke coldly.)
Norton: Well... about that.
Tristan: Do you know what that beast is?
Norton: It's a Creatops—but this one has three affinities. Normally, a Creatops has nature and earth, with green and black coloring. But this one's emerald, with gold and white. It's a powerful variant evolution of Creatops never before seen.
Miguel: Teo said you also tried to tame this beast.
Norton: Yeah, I did. But never did I expect it had a light affinity. We were no match for it. Moria's attacks had no effect, and Gaza's flame attacks were also useless. It's resistant to shadow powers, and it absorbs flame-based attacks and returns them tenfold.