STRIKER: Independent Beast Tamer

The Abandoned Ruins:

The Training Ground In-charge, Ariel Burt, was present as well. Her eyes swept across the Beast Tamers from each department.

1. Attack Department, 2. Defense Department, 3. Elemental Department, 4. Control Department, 5. Mechanical Department, 6. Medicine Department, 7. Machinery Department, 8. Field Department, 9. Special Department, 10. Striker Department.

When her gaze fell on the last department representative, her eyes flashed with worry because there were only two people standing there.

The Instructor, Jacob Henry, and Striker Department Representative, Jeremy Night.

”That kid is going to face the toughest challenge of them all,” she commented.

Unknown to her, the words were heard by the Department Instructors. They shifted their gaze to Instructor Jacob. They knew Instructor Jacob used to be proud.

Now he was given a fallen department to take care of. These people had mixed feelings in their hearts. They had no idea what they would do in Jacob’s shoes.

While the Department Instructors had their own thoughts, the representatives were checking each other out as well.

Most of their eyes were drawn to the two S-Graders. May Lindsey stood with her arms crossed, waiting for the patrol team to secure the border.

Victor Scott was enthusiastically speaking to his department members. He was motivated to get first place in the department rankings.

So he was instructing the members to work hard.

From time to time, people glanced at the loner, Jeremy Night. Somehow, his name had been attached to the title ”loner” in the past few days.

Meanwhile,

Jeremy’s eyes were closed. He was paying attention to the mental zone. The concentric circles had changed. He had become Tier 1, Rank 2 - Early Stage Beast Tamer.

On the huge black door, inside the first concentric circle, the Rank 1 Block’s 3 Sub-blocks shone with bright light. Now, Rank 2 Block’s 1st Sub-block was shining. It was the sign of Rank 2 Early Stage power.

Jeremy’s heart rose with ecstasy. It could be called a silent breakthrough. Inside the mental zone, the white mist had become slightly stronger.

The unknown egg was lying quietly on top of the platform. But if one observed closely, they could see that it was absorbing the natural energy from the surroundings.

To be honest, he had been staying quiet for the past few days. He continued the same routine of visiting the department building, then going to the canteen. Then he would return to the dorm.

Though it was a waste of time, it lowered the guards of unwanted people. According to Instructor Jacob, there were still voices who didn’t like the resurrection of the fallen department.

Without any choice, he acted that way. But right now, he felt confident. The Rank 2 breakthrough might seem insignificant, but it was still progress.

He knew others might have started practicing the natural energy method. The name came from the special energy found in the world after mutation. It was a breathing method created by scientists in the Human Alliance.

There were different types of breathing methods. The most common one was the natural energy method. It was almost used by all the academic institutions for newcomers.

Because the method was given by the Human Alliance to the people, it was free to use. But it was not the most suitable and powerful method for everyone.

Those with better backgrounds could buy better methods.

Jeremy’s eyes flashed with a gleam. He glanced at Victor Scott and May Lindsey. He felt that these two must have the better energy method.

Jacob noticed Jeremy’s reaction. He sighed inwardly. He had forced this kid to stay low-key. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

There were people who didn’t like the sharing of resources, despite Dean Carolyn’s words. That’s why he had asked Jeremy not to go anywhere until the ranking competition ended.

The other department instructors had already started teaching fighting methods to students according to their Beast Taming Talent.

He had even heard that the Medicine Department Beast Tamers found a way to kill the Corrupted Beast as well. On the other hand, he was the one who did nothing.

”Maybe I should start looking into the Breathing Method,” he said in his heart.

Dean Carolyn had already given her word. He decided to ask her later. As long as he could find a suitable breathing method for Jeremy.

Then Jeremy’s progress would be faster.

Buzz!

The next second, one of the University Patrol Teams returned at that moment. Other teams had already secured three sides of the border.

No higher-tier Corrupted Beast would enter their place.

”You all have three days until the competition is over. So you have to collect as many decapitated heads of corrupted beasts as possible.

”The department and individual winner will be the one with the most head count.”

”No students can kill each other. There are High Tier Beast Tamers watching from the shadows. So the killer will be killed or expelled on the spot.”

”In case of an emergency, they will rescue you. You just have to find a safe spot to hide until they come.”

”Alright, we can start the competition. The patrol teams are ready. They can enter the ruins to hunt the beasts,” a middle-aged man said. He was the captain of this patrol team.

Instructor Jacob and others went forward and started to discuss. Afterward, they told something to the middle-aged man.

”All the 1st years gather in front of me. External items are not allowed to be carried. I’ll allow you to enter one by one after checking your storage items,” the middle-aged man said.

Hearing that, May Lindsey was the first one to step forward. Then her department members stood behind her. Seeing that, others followed suit.

Jacob returned to Jeremy’s side and said, ”Don’t put your life at risk. Even if it’s Tier 2 Corrupted Beasts, if you are careless, then it can kill you easily.”

”So think before taking action,” he added.

”Don’t worry, instructor,” Jeremy replied.

Not far away from them,

”Hmmm, look at him!”

”Do you guys think he can kill beasts?”

”I heard he didn’t have any breathing or fighting methods.”

”It’s because he is a loner. He stayed hiding on his department floor.”

The other department members started gossiping.

Among the group, Petra Ross was standing in line in the Elemental Department. Hearing the comments of her classmates, she furrowed her eyebrows.

She knew Jeremy well. He was not just a lazy and careless person. She didn’t think he came unprepared for this competition.

”Something’s fishy. Did his instructor give any weapons to him?” she said to herself.

But she shook her head. The Patrol Team Captain wouldn’t allow external things to be carried.