STRIKER: Independent Beast Tamer

3rd Zone – Beast Taming Association

When the daily meeting was about to end, it was time to select the representative.

There were senior-most beast tamers here. Obviously, they would not go for recruitment to the lower zones, despite being the beast tamers who represented humanity.

Everyone had their inbuilt biases. They looked down upon the lower zones.

The only thing that could reduce their judgment was S-Grade talent. S-Grade talents, no matter where they were, would be welcomed by all the Beast Taming forces.

Even if someone from the meeting went to the special base in the 4th zone, it was still about recruiting talent for the Beast Taming Association. The selected candidates would be given preferences.

If they were selected by more than one beast taming force, they could select their preferred organization; if not, they had to join the single organization that chose them.

The discussion took a serious turn. No one wanted to go there as a representative. It was true that they disliked the idea, but it was also a fact that they all had important work to do. The new elders were looking at each other’s faces.

If the senior-most elders were not going, the people next in line would always point toward the newest elders. The newest elders were all natives. Each of their native cities might have been different, but they were all from the 3rd zone.

Thus, they possessed their own inbuilt biases. In the end, the new elders were given a chance to volunteer. The new elders were hesitant, but one of them was utterly pissed off by the current situation.

She was a female elder with long black hair, dark eyes, and a pale skin tone. She was a Tier-9 Beast Tamer, and her name was Rosalie Rose.

She raised her hand all of a sudden. Seeing that, everyone quieted down.

The faces of the senior-most elders and the mid-level elders shifted dramatically. Even the other new elders were dumbfounded; they had not expected her to raise her hand.

”Rosalie, are you sure about this?” a white-haired old woman asked. She was one of the senior-most leaders present.

The gazes of the other senior elders fell on Rosalie as well. It was because Rosalie hailed from a prominent Beast Taming family. Absolutely speaking, there was no need for her to go.

The new elders were worried. They did not understand why Rosalie was doing this.

Rosalie watched everyone’s reaction.

She smiled and said, ”I am genuinely interested in visiting the 4th zone. I have never been to the lower zones before.”

”Are you sure?”

”The natural energy there is weaker than in our zone. Your lifeline beast will find it hard to stay comfortable,” one of her friends advised her.

”Don’t worry, my lifeline beast is quite an adventurous one. She would love to go and explore new places,” Rosalie said to the others.

Since she was this confident, the others did not know what to say. The senior-most elders had nothing to say either, because this was entirely her voluntary decision.

It was decided in the end that Rosalie Rose would go to the special base in the 4th zone, representing them in the upcoming recruitment drive.

Meanwhile,

A similar situation was happening in the first and second zones. The elders there were not ready to visit, but the head of the Beast Taming Association had given his word to the human alliance.

The human alliance did not want the recruitment drive to stop. They had invested rich resources in the training camps of the special bases. Ultimately, the beast tamers there needed to contribute to humanity.

They did not want the top three zones to act on their own, but the members in the first and second zones had different ideas.

They all had important work tied up in their hands. They decided to disobey the instructions from the higher-ups.

They would visit the special base in the 4th zone sometime later. It was an independent decision made by those elders. Unlike the third zone, a meeting had not even been held to select a representative.

Unless there was an urgent situation, no one kept in touch with the people from the other zones.

Therefore, the first and second zones did not know about Rosalie’s assignment. The other Beast Taming forces had already requested more time from the human alliance.

They were going to visit the special base in the 4th zone only after the current crisis ended.

...

Special Base (4th Zone)

The following day,

Jeremy Night left his room for the training facility. Yesterday, he had not done much except spend time inside the practice room. Stella had consumed the natural treasures alone, and she felt comfortable right now.

”If I’m not wrong, the representatives might arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” he thought. He was kind of looking forward to it.

Since the representatives were coming from the Beast Taming Association, he did not know how they were going to conduct the recruitment.

While having these doubts in his mind, he headed toward the training facility. When he arrived at the place, he saw that there was a considerable crowd gathered. Everyone was excited about tomorrow.

He walked into the facility and began to look for available training rooms, but he realized that all of the rooms were occupied.

He checked one room after another; he had not expected that the members would be giving such a massive last-minute push.

Like him, they had all received resources from their families. It was only logical that they were inside the training rooms pushing their limits.

He then collected his thoughts and started heading back. Right then, he felt the heavy gazes of the second- and third-year students directed at him.

[Their gazes are unkind and filled with hostility.]

Jeremy heard Stella’s voice in his mind and replied, ”I am ranked among the top 50 Beast Tamers on the leaderboard rankings.

”No one can undertake missions right now, so the current ranking is completely fixed. It is only normal for them to harbor some hatred.”

[Why don’t we enter the wilderness and return before evening?]

Jeremy heard Stella’s voice again. His mouth twitched; he could understand her emotions.

She wanted to explore the wilderness. He had promised her that they would hunt Tier-6 beasts together out in the wild.

”Just wait for the recruitment drive to be over. Then I will spend more time in the wilderness with you,” Jeremy said to Stella.