Rocky slowly opened his eyes again.
He blinked nonstop as the familiar scene appeared in front of him.
"Don't move. The patient needs to rest."
The healer tamer, Olivia, shook her head, annoyed. She approached him, checked his wounds, then nodded.
"Next time you come here, you must pay me for my service."
Rocky smiled bitterly.
"You see, now I'm even worse than trash. I don't even have money to give you."
Olivia sighed and spoke, her voice trying to ease his mood.
"I'm just kidding. Don't worry. After all, what your parents did for the world… this is the least I can do for you."
Rocky let out a tired sigh and asked,
"What time is it?"
Olivia glanced outside, lingering for a moment before replying,
"2 p.m. The time to open the gate to the Beast World is about to begin."
Rocky nodded and shot up from the bed. He quickly changed into new clothes.
Meanwhile, Olivia watched him with sympathy. After a moment, she spoke up instinctively.
"You should give up… I mean, you can leave the academy and go somewhere hidden. I'm sure the branch Clan won't waste time chasing you. After all, you're already just an ordinary human."
"You could live in peace."
From the recent news she'd heard, the branch Clan had taken control from the main branch.
They had allowed Rocky to stay alive and even let him attend the academy. Still, he was constantly bullied. To her, it felt like a clear message.
Give up, and we'll let you live safely.
It was harsh, but still acceptable.
"I think they're already showing you some goodwill."
Rocky clenched his jaw and fists. After everything they had done to him, now she was telling him to give up.
But in the end, he only sighed, bored.
Olivia only knew things on the surface, so she could easily say something that sounded cowardly and foolish.
She could never understand what he had gone through.
He wasn't angry with her.
"Thank you for the advice, but don't ever say that to me again."
***
The principal glanced around before speaking.
"Ehm… since there isn't much time left, I'll begin the summoning ritual to open the gate to the Beast World right now."
Just like that, the principal started the ritual. He needed at least a few minutes to open the gate from the void.
While waiting, the first-year students chattered excitedly about what kind of beast they might tame.
Only Rocky stood apart, isolated among the first-years. He didn't expect to tame a great beast; he just hoped, at the very least, that his beast would be one related to combat.
Very bad. With his trash-level taming ability, he might end up taming a beast even worse than his dog before.
Well, it was quite strange that he had such a useless taming ability when it should've been very high for him. Because most members of the Great Clans had high compatibility with beasts, making them unique.
Soon enough, the gate to the Beast World began to open. The first-year students, faces full of eagerness, quickly stepped into the gate one after another.
Rocky slowly approached it. After all, this wasn't his first time entering, yet at this moment, it still felt tense.
Before long, his feet touched the land of the Beast World. He glanced at the ancient forest and gulped.
At a glance, he spotted a lion. He quickly strode toward it, intending to touch its forehead. A rune appeared in front of him.
—
Name: The White Lion
Compatibility: 0%
Species Rank: Mutant
Level: 1
Unique Skill: Lion's Claw
Current Preferred Mana Core:[None]
Current Mood:[None]
—
"Are you kidding me? Why do I only get a system now?" Rocky's expression twisted with irritation as he stared at the system screen.
Countless thoughts rushed through his mind. If he had had a system since the moment he was reborn into this world, his fate wouldn't have turned out like this.
"I guess… It's all about timing. The system only comes when things are desperate."
He regained his calm and observed the system screen. The first thing he noticed was compatibility… 0%. If so, he had no chance with this lion.
But what surprised him the most was the current preferred mana core and current mood, because they were vital to making beasts stronger.
If he knew the current preferred mana core, he could pick the proper monsters for his beast… he could already imagine his beast's level climbing like the wind. He could even catch up to his generation in time.
Finally, the current mood was vital too. If he did something wrong and put his beast in a bad mood, it wouldn't be able to develop its skills. Beasts always needed a good mood to create new skills.
(My beast will be invincible.)
Well, if he was able to tame a beast at all—because at this moment, none of the beasts wanted anything to do with him.
He wandered leisurely through the forest, seeing countless creatures.
Lions, dogs, falcons, even bizarre beings—yet all of them ignored him, as if he were nothing but useless trash.
They judged him to be a talentless tamer.
Above him, a dragon flew past and cast him a disdainful glance. To his left, a group of hyenas laughed, as if mocking him.
Six hours passed, and not a single beast wanted to approach him. Meanwhile, time was running out—he only had three hours left to tame a beast before the connection between the two worlds ended.
He didn't give up.
He even climbed a mountain, searching for anything at all, but it was useless.
Until something finally caught his attention.
It was hard to put into words, but it felt as if something there was welcoming him.
Without hesitation, he ran toward it.
"Black zone?"
Rocky frowned. Beasts from this zone were known for their strange traits.
First, they were hideous.
Second, all of them possessed extremely low species Rank:
Feral/Mutant/Aberrant/Apex/Calamity.
On top of that, there was a tale shared among every beast tamer—those who chose a beast from the black zone would soon die. It was like a red flag, a curse saying that any master of a black-zone beast was bound to suffer.
"But… Do I even have a choice?" Rocky sighed and stepped into the black zone.
Indeed, most of the beasts here were grotesque. They made sounds that sent chills down his spine.
The deeper he went, the more he doubted his decision. The beasts here looked like cursed beings—disproportionate bodies, countless legs and fingers, as if they had crawled out of hell.
They stared at him as if he were something interesting, but half a second later, they fled, as though he were the hideous and wretched one.
Two hours later.
His expression darkened more than ever. Even the beasts here didn't want to choose him.
Maybe his talent for taming was worse than trash. Taming Jack back then had probably been nothing but a miracle.
"F-FUCK!"
Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a beast—
A humanoid beast, nearly three meters tall. Its frame was muscular, patchy black fur covering its body.
It dragged a rusty longsword as it approached Rocky.
At the final step, the humanoid beast slowly knelt down, lifting its pure eyes toward him, like a knight awaiting orders from its king.
"Finally, there's something a beast wants from me."
Rocky ran forward. He didn't want the beast to change its mind. He placed his hand on its head, forming a connection between them.
—
Name: [None]
Compatibility: 100%
Species Rank: Calamity
Level: 1
Unique Skill: Basic Swordsmanship, Void Forging
Current Preferred Mana Core:[None]
Current Mood: Want a master.
—
However, his face twisted in disbelief as he glanced at the status.
Calamity?… Damn.
He never imagined there was a beast with the highest rank in the Black Zone. It was unbelievable. On top of that, beasts of the highest rank were always hard to raise. Beast tamers could never truly understand what they wanted. As a result, leveling up those beasts always faced huge obstacles—except for the Great Clans. With their deep knowledge of beasts, accumulated over many centuries, it was no wonder they always stood at the peak of mankind, not only because of their high compatibility.
However, beasts from the Black Zone were different. No one had ever tamed them, so no one truly knew them—especially this one.
He could tell that no one in the world knew it.
Luckily, he had a system. It wasn't a big deal.
"From now on, your name is Bobby."
Bobby's eyes gleamed. He slowly stood straight and uttered,
"B-Bobby."
Pretty soon, Bobby sized down its shape into a tiny humanoid beast and perched on his shoulder.
"Let's go back to the academy."