Chapter 37 — A Strange Creature

"In addition, before you enter, we will issue you positioning and rescue-call devices. There are numerous safe points set up by us within Tianmang Mountain, and security personnel will be stationed there. If you encounter danger and wish to abandon the assessment, you may choose to call for rescue."

"At the same time, your spoils of war may also be handed over along the way to the security staff at the safe points, who will be responsible for recording and registering your results."

"What you need to do is obtain as many points as possible during the three days of this trial, and in the end, the top twenty beast masters in the point rankings will earn the right to enter the ruins!"

The instructor named Zhou Wanshan bellowed at the top of his lungs, making sure every trainee beast master heard the key points crystal clear.

Behind him, the four other professional instructors looked over this batch of green newcomers with smiles, recalling the scene of their own first trial.

"None of them look old on average, and a few look plump and pampered — can they really cut it?"

"Ugh, I wish I could drop back down to trainee level too. This ruin is such a scam — they won't even let the higher-level ones in."

The instructors grumbled and cursed; otherwise, how would such a fine opportunity ever fall to this bunch of cosseted newcomers?

"Enough chatter. Don't slack off — just do our jobs and make sure no one dies or gets hurt on this trial."

Five professional beast masters, working with a crowd of security and technical staff — that was the entire team in charge of this trial assessment.

While they were evaluating this batch of examinees, Shi Jin had already signed the safety responsibility agreement and received a wristwatch-like positioning and rescue-call device, as well as a manual.

The wristwatch's functions were simple; after a brief look, Shi Jin casually strapped it on, his attention fixed on the manual.

Shi Jin opened the manual to the first page, and the entry recorded there turned out to be an old friend — the Earth-Faring Rat.

Hunting one of these things earned twenty points.

He kept flipping through, and it seemed twenty points was the lowest there was; as expected, the Earth-Faring Rat had no standing to speak of.

Still, that made sense. Apart from the Earth-Faring Rat, creatures like the Red-Crested Snake, the Great-Blade Mantis, the Man-Eating Grass, and the Thorn Monster were worth only a little more in hunting points, yet their names sounded several times more formidable than the Earth-Faring Rat's.

As Shi Jin turned to the last few pages of the ferocious beast catalog, he found the beasts growing more and more outrageous.

[Name]: Frenzied Python

[Attribute]: Water

[Growth Level]: Awakened Ten

[Species Level]: Mid-tier Transcendent

[Species Skills]: Frenzy, Torrent Tail

[Description]: Inhabits Green Water Lake and Little Mang Lake on the map. Two in number. Extremely dangerous. Hunting not advised.

[Points]: 4000

Shi Jin: "?"

Hunting not advised, and you give it 4000 points? That's the equivalent of two hundred Earth-Faring Rats...

Grumbling aside, Shi Jin of course understood that the advice was against weak beast masters hunting it.

It had been specially marked out as prey for those beast masters confident in their own strength.

Shi Jin flipped a few more pages and found several BOSS-type prey marked in the manual, akin to the Frenzied Python.

To be honest, the Frenzied Python's Frenzy skill was quite good; once activated, it comprehensively boosted strength and speed. The drawback was losing one's reason.

But if he could grind it up to Perfect-level proficiency, surely that would make up for the weaknesses?

A Berserker Iron-Eater?

The training base was all about the wild side — you would never find a skill like this at the breeding base in Icefield City.

"Hm?" Shi Jin's hand suddenly stopped as he continued leafing through the illustrated catalog.

He had spotted a rather peculiar creature.

[Name]: Electric Slime

[Attribute]: Lightning

[Growth Level]: Awakening Level 10

[Species Grade]: Mid-tier Transcendent

[Species Skills]: Multiplication, Discharge

[Description]: Inhabits the magnetic mountain region of the map; population of three; extremely dangerous; hunting not advised.

[Points]: 4000

"A slime?"

Shi Jin had to admit the training base really knew how to have fun. Just as the Iron-Eater was a creature unique to Eastern Radiance, slimes were creatures unique to other nations — there were none native to Eastern Radiance.

Had the training base actually captured one of these things to serve as a boss, just to broaden the beast masters' horizons?

"Wait a minute — this Multiplication...!" Shi Jin was suddenly drawn in by the slime's skill.

If he remembered correctly, this Multiplication was a skill that allowed one to freely control body size.

It could shrink, and it could grow.

In its shrunken state, it could preserve stamina to the utmost and accelerate stamina recovery; in its giant form, it burned energy to the limit, sacrificing speed in exchange for greater power!

"This skill seems like a perfect fit for Eleven... I just don't know if he can learn it..."

The Iron-Eater's body was still too small — even a full-grown one was only two meters. That was fine for now, but if he ever came up against those behemoths that ran dozens of meters tall, he would be somewhat outmatched...

If, on the other hand, he could learn this Multiplication — Shi Jin's mind conjured an image of a colossal Iron-Eater tearing a dragon apart with its bare paws, and then, in a blink, the image shifted to a tiny Iron-Eater cub being lifted in his own hand. This skill was equivalent to granting a single beast three forms: a shrunken state that conserved stamina and sped up energy recovery, a normal state balancing power and speed, and a giant form that pushed strength to its absolute limit!