After saying goodbye to Eli, Silas stood at the front desk of the Elkwood City Spirit Beast Breeding Center, cradling Fuzzlet while listening carefully to the staff member's explanation.
"This is the handbook for nurturing spirit beasts during their juvenile stage. Your teachers should've gone over this. Honestly, there's nothing to worry about—spirit beasts are tough and easy to raise. They can eat the same food as humans. Well, I mean if you just want to keep them alive."
He flipped to the next page, pointing at a section labeled "General Spirit Beast Dietary Recommendations." "These are nutrition plans developed by master spirit beast nurturers. Very versatile stuff."
Turning a few more pages, he added, "Since your Fuzzlet's pretty unique, you can also go with specialized diets based on which element you're aiming for it to evolve into. Tailoring the diet like this helps the evolved form grow stronger."
"For general diets, we recommend the Starter's Delight combo, or its upgraded version, Balanced Bite. These contain basic Aether nutrients and gentle energy blocks."
"For Metal-type development, we suggest the Iron Belly Set—high concentrations of Metal-element Aether crystals paired with compressed mineral blocks. Great for boosting resistance and strength perception."
"For Grass-type, there's the Green Leaf Platter…"
"…If you haven't decided on Fuzzlet's evolution path yet, we recommend getting a box of each meal type—see which one your little guy prefers~"
Silas's mouth twitched. Did he look like a fool?
He turned to see his parents nodding along enthusiastically. Uh-oh. Red flags.
Opening his system panel, Silas noticed that after contracting with Fuzzlet, a new section had appeared with more detailed info—and new options for purchase.
[Fuzzlet – Normal-Type, Juvenile Stage 87%]
[Beast Realm > Chordata > Mammalia > Primates > Family: Fluffidae > Genus: Fuzzus > Species: Fuzzus minor]
[Details:]
Height: 0.28m; Weight: 2.3kg
Physique: 1; Aether Power: 3
[Trait: None]
[Spirit Beast Summary: (Tap to expand)]
[Skills: (To unlock: Deduction Point *1)]
[Nurture Paths:]
Basic Development (15 Deduction Points) Speed-Focused Training (30 Deduction Points) Physique-Focused Training (40 Deduction Points) Aether Power-Focused Training (50 Deduction Points) (Unlock requirements not met)
[Evolution Routes: (Tap to expand)]
"No time to be sentimental." Silas gritted his teeth and unlocked the basic development path. His Deduction Point balance dropped into the single digits.
[1. Basic Development:]
[(1) Starter Meal – "Phaseblock":]
[Formula:]
Mix Illusion-type Aether crystal powder, Dark-type Aether crystal powder, inspiration mushroom powder, rune-ore dust, and arcane honey in precise ratios.
[(2) Training Strategy (Tap to expand)]
"Thanks, but I won't be buying any premade meal kits," Silas politely cut off the sales rep's enthusiastic pitch.
"Do you have Illusion-type and Dark-type Aether crystal powders? I'll also need inspiration mushroom powder, rune-ore dust, and some arcane honey."
Hearing Silas's smooth string of material names, the salesperson's expression changed.
The pricing also switched from the "package, package, package" mode to "priced by weight."
Rare Aether crystal powders were pricey in crystal form but cheap as powder—6 Federal credits per gram for Illusion-type, 5 credits for Dark-type. Inspiration mushroom powder cost 8 credits per bottle, rune-ore dust went for 10 credits per gram, and arcane honey was 4 credits per bottle.
Fuzzlet's meal required 1g each of Illusion and Dark crystal powder, 0.5g of rune-ore dust, and a quarter bottle each of the other two—totaling 19 credits per serving.
With three meals a day, that worked out to 1,710 Federal credits per month. A steal compared to the 2,000- or 3,000-credit "nutrition kits" the sales rep kept pushing.
Most importantly: perfectly tailored to Fuzzlet.
Silas bought a one-month supply.
One Fuzzlet, plus materials and tools for prepping the custom diet—grand total: 182,000 Federal credits. Not even a discount. Absolute daylight robbery!
But summer vacation had just begun. Silas had plenty of time to bond with Fuzzlet.
Over the next few days, his classmates who'd also chosen the spirit beast track began forming contracts with their first spirit beasts, and the group chat lit up.
More accurately, it exploded into a show-off war.
[Emily Gray]: [Image]
[Emily Gray]: Look at my new Lightwing Fox! Isn't he dreamy?
[Tina Rosario]: @Emily OMG! You actually landed a Lightwing Fox?? That's amazing! I also got a fox-type—mine's a Galefern~
[Tina Rosario]: [Image]
[Emily Gray]: @Tina I bet they'll be besties!
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: [Image]
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: Has everyone seen my Goldcrest Dracogator yet? Dad won it at auction for me. It's beyond awesome!
[Noah Spencer]: @Jasper Dude! You let it use Earthspike inside your room? Are you nuts?!
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: Ahaha… Yeah, communication still needs work. I didn't tell him to use it. He just… has a lot of personality.
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: Seriously, he's totally unmanageable. I treat him like royalty now. He roars all the time, dashes around the house, and refuses to sleep on the stone cliff bed I had moved in from the center! He insists on sitting on my shoulder—he's HEAVY, okay?!
[Noah Spencer]: Hahaha @Jasper You guys definitely need more bonding time. Still, super jealous you got such a strong starter!
[Lily Anderson]: Hehe~ I just bonded with a Tidalshade!
[Lily Anderson]: [Image]
[Noah Spencer]: Classic long-range water-type! Water skills are super strong—totally suits you, Lily. But heads-up: Tidalshades love damp places and generate a lot of moisture. Don't let her flood your house!
[Lily Anderson]: Hahaha I didn't think that far. She's just too pretty to pass up!
Silas tapped on Lily's image.
The Tidalshade had a sleek, elegant body. Its skin shimmered like flowing water, with hues of silver and deep blue. Its translucent fins resembled silk, like ocean flowers blooming mid-wave. Under Lily's professional lighting, it looked even more graceful and ethereal.
Definitely a rare blend of beauty and power.
But…
Silas glanced over at Fuzzlet, who was quietly watching TV on the sofa. He snapped a photo and posted it to the group.
[Silas Carter]: [Image]
A moment of stunned silence followed—then the chat exploded.
[Lily Anderson]: AAAAAHHHHH!!! Fuzzlet!!!! So cute!!! ALL HAIL THE CUDDLE KING!!!
[Emily Gray]: ALL HAIL THE CUDDLE KING!!! OMG Silas I'm so jealous!!! Let me pet it when school starts!!!
[Noah Spencer]: ALL HAIL THE CUDDLE KING!!! No offense, but… does Fuzzlet actually have any offensive power?
[Emily Gray]: Ever heard of "cuteness is justice"?
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: ALL HAIL THE CUDDLE KING!!! Silas!!! Post more pics please!!! He looks so well-behaved!!!
Silas looked at Fuzzlet and started recording a video.
"Fuzzlet, wanna say hi to everyone?"
Fuzzlet blinked its wide eyes in mild confusion, then tilted its head.
"Mrrrp?"
Silas sent the video. Predictably, he got flooded with praise—and mock threats to kidnap his spirit beast.
Fuzzlet: breathes
Everyone: THE CUDDLE KING STRIKES AGAIN!!!
Just then, Noah Spencer sent Silas a private message with an invite to a new group:
[Beastmond Forest High Newbie Spirit Beast Masters Support Chat]
Silas clicked Accept.
This chat was even livelier. It had many of the same classmates from before, plus other first-years from different classes who'd chosen the spirit beast track—60 members in total.
[Zoe Harper]: Anyone know how to get a Windchime Bird to open its beak? Mine hasn't made a single sound since bonding, so I can't train its wind chime skill…
[Ruby Holloway]: Tried whistling at it? My cousin says some birds mimic sounds. Maybe yours just thinks you lack musical flair?
[Lily Anderson]: Tidalshade ignores my hand-drawn targets—only reacts to reflections in water. Anyone know how to train its aim?
[Noah Spencer]: Maybe ask Mr. Victor?
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: Try bribing her with energy fruits?
[Lily Anderson]: Energy fruits? Those are expensive! Do we really need those for training?
[Jasper Vanderbilt]: My Goldcrest Dracogator's hard to manage. I promised him two Physique Fruits per day—he agreed to train for 30 minutes.
[Lily Anderson]: …
[Noah Spencer]: …
[Silas Carter]: …
Physique Fruits were among the least rare energy fruits, but demand had pushed prices up to 10,000 Federal credits apiece.
Who here could afford two of those per day?
Silence settled over the group chat.
Capital used its 'silence' skill on the poor.
"If Jasper keeps this up, he might actually become a Champion. I've even got the title ready for him—'The Affluent King.'"
"Thank goodness for my system, or I'd be left in the dust by rich kids like him."
With that, a surge of urgency welled up in Silas.
He dragged his spirit beast studies textbook to the living room, sitting beside Fuzzlet to bond while studying up on spirit beast knowledge.
He had to earn more Deduction Points—fast.
"Why couldn't the isekai package include my parallel self's memories?"
Silas sighed. But looking at Fuzzlet's adorable profile, he gave in and opened his book.
"At least Fuzzlet's already ahead of the game."
"Because power can be hacked with the system, but cuteness… cuteness is forever!"