However, his expression quickly twisted into humiliation when his beast showed a hint of terror.
His beast was shivering like a pathetic prey standing before a natural predator.
(My beast is afraid? …Frightened by that useless trash's beast?)
(I'm going to be a joke for those pretty girls and my young master.)
Alex clenched his jaw and fists in rage. His eyes filled with killing intent and pure disgust toward his own beast.
"Attack that scum. Otherwise, I'm going to kill you."
Threatened by Alex, the gilded bull quickly regained its composure. It immediately rushed toward Bobby at maximum speed, willing to smash the enemy into pieces.
Before the gilded bull's insane charge could reach him—like a vicious train ready to crush everything in its path—Bobby simply stabbed his longsword into the ground and stood motionless.
Sure enough, he didn't even bother to use his sword against an enemy weaker than him.
Pure humiliation flooded Alex's mind—and his gilded beast.
"KILL HIM!"
Bobby directly countered the gilded bull, catching its horns head-on. With a swift motion, using its own momentum and inertia, he tossed the beast into the arena wall like a ragged doll.
He spat in disgust before glaring at Alex with a deadly stare, sending a chill down his spine.
The next moment, he kicked the sword still pinned in the ground, sending it flying toward Alex like a death arrow.
Bang!
The longsword had missed, yet it left a terrifying deep scar in Alex's mind.
(H–How could this be?)
He knelt to the ground, shivering. Sweat poured down his body as his heartbeat raced wildly, the near-death moment from just a few seconds ago replaying in his head.
At that moment, the entire arena burst into chatter. Everyone was discussing Alex's failure.
"Did you see that? A beast from the black zone defeated a beast with a red aura."
A student clicked his tongue.
"He's just lucky. I think Alex's beast was already exhausted after so many rounds."
Another student nodded in agreement.
"For sure. A beast from the black zone could never do something like that. Even if that fur ape was a Calamity-rank beast, it was still far weaker than a beast from another zone."
After hearing supportive shouts from the stands, his expression quickly shifted, regaining some confidence. The humiliation of being defeated by that fur ape faded a little.
"Yes! My beast was tired after so many rounds. If it were at full strength, that scum's beast would just be useless trash!"
Alex shouted maniacally, his expression twisted.
"Next time, my beast will crush your beast into shit."
Meanwhile, Tad frowned as he watched Rocky's performance. He had never seen a beast like that in his entire life.
It looked more like a knight than a beast with ordinary intelligence.
Misty asked,
"Have you ever seen a beast like that in the black zone, sir?"
Indeed, even with the knowledge of a professor like her, she couldn't tell what that ape was.
Bobby's movements were like those of a trained knight. He even knew how to threaten his enemy.
She didn't know much, but she could tell that Rocky's beast hadn't used all of its strength.
For sure, that furred ape didn't even want to use the sword.
"I don't know." Tad shook his head in disappointment. It was quite an embarrassment for an old sage who was supposed to possess the greatest wisdom in the world.
He had spent many years in the beast world, researching all kinds of beasts— even those from the black zone.
None of the beasts could stand against Rocky's beast.
He could tell that all beasts from the black zone had traits that were quite bizarre. And he had witnessed many tamers with beasts from the black zone—well, most of them had died strangely, or, if they were smart enough, they killed their own beasts to avoid an unlucky fate.
"S-So… it's a new race?" Misty asked in an uncertain voice.
Tad sighed.
"I have a theory… that his beast comes from the deepest black zone. That is a place no beast tamer can approach. I once tried to step into the deepest black zone, but it was useless. A mist guards it and guides any beast tamer who enters to their death."
He let out a slow breath as the terrifying memory resurfaced.
"Luckily for me, my beast saved me in time… but since then, I've stopped researching the deepest black zone."
Misty frowned in confusion.
"So you mean Rocky went through that dangerous place and tamed a unique beast?"
Tad shrugged.
"It's just a theory."
***
Just like that, Rocky received his reward.
1,000 golden coins…Well, it was quite less, but he should not complain. After all, he didn't even have any coins.
The academy then guided the first-year students to the green dungeon to begin their first clear with their first beasts.
Of course, Rocky was one of them.
At this moment, he only had time to think about his beast's skill.
(Void Forging.)
He instantly armed a gauntlet on his hand from the void. Soon, a black gauntlet materialized, wrapping around his hand.
(Great. Indeed, with a beast of Apex-ranked species or higher, I can use its skill.)
He never imagined that his beast from the Black Zone could do something like that. After all, the knowledge from his taming world was never wrong—except when it came to his beast, a completely new race.
If so, the Black Zone was truly a special place, one humanity knew very little about. It seemed that next time, he would continue venturing into the Black Zone.