Wren and Kent, who were being questioned: "..."
'Why are we being looked at?'
'Why are we being stared at?'
'It was as if we are supposed to know what is going on.'
If they had known, they wouldn't have turned to look at Asher earlier.
Their astonishment at Asher calming down the Silverfang Tiger and transforming the irritable beast into a docile little kitten was no less than Lydia's.
In fact, because they deeply understood the difficulty of the feat, their shock was even greater.
Originally, they had thought he was just a somewhat skilled senior.
But now...
He wasn't just a senior.
This was like a towering mountain.
Pressing down with such weight—
All problems vanished instantly.
Asher, still immersed in observing the changes in the Silverfang Tiger, didn't notice the burning gazes fixed on him.
Could those fiery stares be more shocking and astonishing than the transformation happening in the Silverfang Tiger?
Asher rubbed his chin, '…This crystal's effects are far greater than I imagined.'
It wasn't that he had underestimated it before.
It was just that Little Raven had been growing too fast, making the changes brought by the crystal seem less impressive.
But now, seeing what happened with the Silverfang Tiger, the situation was completely different.
Clearly—
A fully grown and complete Three-Legged Golden Crow, even in death, left behind a legacy far greater than imagined.
Asher recalled the Golden Crow Secret Realm he had set aside, temporarily leaving it unexplored.
It was a name he had casually come up with.
Judging by the special energy displayed by the Three-Legged Golden Crow's blood, the name was well deserved.
Looking down once more—
It was visible to the naked eye: the Silverfang Tiger's condition was improving rapidly.
Others couldn't see it, but from Asher's perspective, there was a faint mass of golden-red flames burning fiercely in the tiger's head and chest cavity.
That must be the [Divine Flame] ignited by the crystal.
Asher silently observed the Silverfang Tiger's condition.
Wren, Kent, and the others didn't disturb him, not even the competition's official personnel stepped in.
Lydia stole glance after glance, unwilling to look away. She wanted to know what miraculous transformation the Silverfang Tiger had undergone.
And more importantly, she wanted to know—
How exactly did this mysterious, godlike expert achieve it?
Unfortunately—
Even with stolen glances, time was running out.
Sighing, Lydia turned her attention back to the Golden Silk Mouse assigned to her, beginning the psychological guidance process.
Going from a Silverfang Tiger to a Golden Silk Mouse…
The difficulty hadn't exactly decreased, but compared to the completely uncooperative, frenzied Silverfang Tiger, the Golden Silk Mouse's symptoms were much milder.
With the company of the Fairy Butterfly, the soothing effects of Sweet Nectar, and Lydia's practiced techniques, her calming voice, and the gentle aura she exuded, The mildly depressed Golden Silk Mouse gradually showed signs of improvement.
A staff member took a glance at Lydia.
Her skills and abilities were already considered above average among the second-round competitors.
At any other time, she might have drawn quite a bit of attention.
Unfortunately—
Right now, every spectator's gaze was focused on the Silverfang Tiger not far away.
Including Wren, Kent, the officials, and even Lydia herself.
Lydia: 'Hurry! I have to push myself to the limit quickly while leaving myself some time!'
'This is a rare opportunity to observe a true expert handling an enraged beast up close.'
If she missed this chance, there might never be another.
Even if she could only grasp a fragment of his technique, integrating it into her own methods would be invaluable.
Driven by this desire and pressure, Lydia pushed her skills to the maximum, and truly managed to bring the Golden Silk Mouse's condition to the limit of what she could treat, with twenty minutes still left before the round ended.
While she continued gently stroking the Golden Silk Mouse to keep it relaxed, her gaze had already drifted toward Asher and the Silverfang Tiger.
Lydia: !
Her eyes widened.
"Did I… did I really just miss half an hour? Or did I miss an entire season of the story?"
She turned to Wren and Kent, her expression utterly dumbfounded.
The two of them completely understood her reaction and could easily relate to her perspective.
"…I was watching the whole time, yet I still feel like I missed an entire season of the plot."
"+1."
Right before their eyes, the Silverfang Tiger's condition was improving at a visibly rapid pace.
Thirty minutes had passed.
The difference between the Silverfang Tiger now and the one from half an hour ago was like night and day, No—like two completely different tigers.
Because, the Silverfang Tiger's previous mental state had been terrible.
Abused by its Beast Tamer, subjected to a master who sought to kill it.
With all those terrible experiences stacked together, they had felt heartache for the Silverfang Tiger, anger on its behalf, and seething rage toward that wretched human.
But they had also been realistic. Healing the Silverfang Tiger's mental state… would be incredibly difficult.
Even an experienced beast caretaker might not be able to achieve it.
And if it were possible, it would surely take long-term companionship and a slow, painstaking accumulation of trust. A process that would be time-consuming and arduous.
Yet—
Thirty minutes.
Just thirty minutes.
The storyline they had expected to take at least a hundred days, or even a year without limit, had been completely skipped.
Aside from a lingering fierceness in its gaze, the Silverfang Tiger's condition had completely turned around.
Everyone exchanged stunned glances.
At some point, one of the competition organizers had stepped forward, staring at Asher in disbelief.
"…A genius! This is the talent we've been desperately searching for. Why isn't someone like this participating in our competition?"
"Is our prize money not enticing enough?"
Radley, a Fifth-Tier Beast Tamer, nodded furiously.
Exactly.
He wanted to know too, why wasn't someone like this competing? This competition was practically tailor-made for him.
"What are you thinking?", Kent rolled his eyes dramatically, "Someone of Senior's caliber definitely already has a prestigious identity and profession! Beast caretaking? That doesn't even compare to a Beast Evolution Professor."
Wren: ???
"Are you trash-talking me?", Wren glared, "Clearly, Beast Evolution Professors rank higher than your field!"
"Be realistic! Beast Breeders have a much higher entry threshold than Beast Evolution Professors. Your field just relies on sheer numbers."
"Oh, like Beast Caretaking doesn't rely on numbers? Do they even have our status?"
Competition official: "…"
Lydia, a contestant: "…"
'…Seriously?'
'Is this even appropriate?'
Thankfully, their argument didn't last long.
Because—
The round had ended.
The sound of the concluding music played, snapping them back to reality.
Both Wren and Kent abruptly froze mid-argument, exchanging glances.
Their eyes conveyed the same thought—
…Alright, well, Kent wasn't embarrassed at all.
Turning to Lydia and the competition officials, Kent offered a "kind" smile.
"I had no other intentions just now. Don't overthink it."
Larry Oak, the official host of this event, rolled his eyes.
'Good grief.'
'The way he said it, it's as if we'd be petty if we took it seriously.'
Kent smiled: 'I never said that, don't slander me.'
By comparison, Larry still found Wren a little more pleasing to the eye—just a little.
After all, someone who could argue with Kent meant that neither of them truly cared about pet beast care in their hearts.
Indeed.
Larry admitted.
Compared to pet beast evolution research and pet beast breeding research, pet beast care and psychological adjustment… were indeed lagging behind. And in terms of social status, it was also temporarily inferior to the first two.
But that didn't mean pet beast care shouldn't exist, that there was no market for it, that it was a useless gimmick made up just to make money.
Their starting point was good.
It was for the psychological well-being of pet beasts.
Their ultimate goal was to resolve the berserk period caused by the violent energy within pet beasts' bodies.
Although… the progress was extremely slow, and most current ideas and technologies were still limited, making pet beast care mostly remain at the most basic level—taking care of scales, fur, and physical condition.
But the more lacking it was, the more they needed to find ways to compensate for it and make up for these shortcomings!
As he thought about this, Larry's gaze on Asher practically glowed.
No matter what Kent said.
Larry knew in his heart that someone like Asher could never be an ordinary person, he must have already shone brilliantly in some field.
But then?
What if?
People.
Always need dreams.
If you don't have dreams, how are you any different from a salted fish?
Larry felt he could ask.
Dig around a little, maybe he could poach him.
As for benefits and compensation, that was easy to arrange.
Shaking the suit jacket on his body, Larry lifted his leg and walked toward Asher.
As for the already concluded match… well.
Weren't there still other staff members?
It wouldn't be delayed.
Seeing Larry walking toward Asher, Kent and Wren exchanged a glance and immediately followed.
Kent: 'I can't let my bigshot get poached!'
Wren: 'I'm just going to watch the drama!'
Seeing their backs, thinking for a moment, Radley, the fifth-rank Beast Tamer, also followed.
Among the people present earlier, the only one left behind was Lydia.
Lydia stretched out her hand like a movie actress.
'Take me too!'
'I also want to learn from the bigshot up close!'
Unfortunately.
The verification process for confirming the pet beast's condition wasn't over yet, so Lydia couldn't leave her position for now.
She could only stand there like a 'longing wife stone', staring dumbly at Asher in the distance, along with the few figures walking toward him, her gaze filled with longing.
At this moment.
The desire to become someone exceptional, to become a leader in the industry, and to take their place took root and sprouted in Lydia's mind at lightning speed.
She had to become stronger.
———
"Hello?"
Larry originally wanted to walk up to Asher, greet him properly, and take the chance to build a good relationship.
However.
Silverfang Tiger was too close to Asher.
And Silverfang Tiger's vigilance far exceeded their expectations.
When facing Asher, Silverfang Tiger was as docile as a little kitten.
But the moment it noticed them approaching, it immediately bared its fangs, showing an expression full of aggression and lethal intent.
"ROAR—", Silverfang Tiger revealed its teeth, its eyes filled with menace. Its body tensed slightly, pressing downward.
It assumed a posture ready to launch an attack at any moment.
Larry's footsteps stopped two hundred meters away from Asher.
Poaching a bigshot was important, but his own life was more important.
Seeing this, Kent and Wren also didn't dare to move closer.
They craned their necks curiously toward Asher's direction.
"Senior, how did you achieve this situation with Silverfang Tiger?", Kent's face was full of curiosity and eagerness, attempting to learn from Asher.
Since the bigshots and top figures in their industry could do it, he should follow in their footsteps and be able to do it too!
Kent thought this way.
Asher shook his head: "For now, it might not be replicable."
"It has to do with my innate skill and some special encounters. It just happened to work out, a combination of coincidence and luck," Asher spoke sincerely.
He wasn't lying.
This time, it really was luck.
The first factor was his MAX-level affinity skill, which made Silverfang Tiger not reject his approach.
The second was the Three-Legged Golden Crow Blood Crystal he found in the Golden Crow Secret Realm, which just happened to resolve Silverfang Tiger's physical condition.
He was just this fortunate.
But on the side, Larry, Kent, and Wren all had expressions of disbelief.
Asher could easily read their thoughts from their eyes: 'The bigshot is just being modest!'
Asher: "…"
'I'm not being modest!'
Asher opened his mouth, wanting to explain something.
At this moment.
Asher noticed that the golden-red flames in Silverfang Tiger's mind and chest were gradually shrinking, getting smaller… becoming faint, as if they were about to extinguish at any moment.
Asher instantly realized.
The negative debuffs were all about to disappear.
Correspondingly, the continuous positive buff, [Divine Flame], would also vanish along with them.
…A bit of a shame, but also a bit useless.
'Couldn't this [Divine Flame] buff just stabilize itself?'
Asher couldn't help but think.
If it could stabilize, then the crystal's effect would be far greater than he imagined. It might even directly solve the current issue of pet beasts' berserk periods.
Mainly…
Asher thought of that Noise Flower, which refused to harm its Beast Tamer mate and ran to the Forbidden Land just to control the energy in its body.
This thought only flashed through his mind.
Because Asher remembered, the Three-Legged Golden Crow's Blood Crystal could only be used by fire-attribute and lightning-attribute pet beasts.
For other attributes…
Before Asher could think further.
A sudden burst of milky white light erupted from Silverfang Tiger's body.
Asher: "?"
Kent and Wren: "!!!"
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