The universe is actually a kind of information form and so is the thing within. 

In a certain universe, a certain planet, a certain continent, a certain country... 

It was the destination of a certain information form that was delivered outside the range of understanding of even the universe and the creatures within it. Its target was a young man in a school dormitory. 

 

-

 

Howell was preparing himself for his first day as a second-year High School student. 

To be honest, he would rather not spend additional money to become a student and just work like everybody else. 

 

'My results are normal. I doubt I can make my family have a better life. ' Howell said to himself. 

He was thinking about the result he had as a Beast Tamer. Beast Taming was something everyone could do, at least in the knowledge Howell retrieved from his families, neighborhood, teachers, and fellow classmates. 

The issue Howell had however, made him reconsider these 'common' pieces of knowledge. Besides, his results are standard. Not good but also not bad, something in the middle. That made things hard for him because he wanted to at least be above average. 

 

As a Beast Tamer, he had been allocated his first Beast companion free of charge. Of course, the quality is not as good as the other children from aristocratic families but it was sufficient to be a proper Beast Tamer. Furthermore, he had to spend additional money on his resources to nurture his Beast companion. 

Then the next issue came, his Beast companion was ordinary in rank among the peers. It was a red snake with an ordinary bloodline and low-rank potential. This affected him severely as the beast companion can be considered the Beast Tamer's strength. 

 

Howell glanced at his left wrist and his left arm felt soft movement. Below his school uniform sleeve, a small red snake slowly moved out,. The red snake slithered and let out its tongue. Then its head moved to see Howell's face head-on. 

Howell extended his finger and rubbed his index finger atop the head of the snake. This was his habit of greeting his beast companion. Despite knowing the limitations of his beast companion, Howell did not hate it one bit. 

 

"Hello there, Little Red. How is your progress? Is it a success?" Howell spoke to Little Red. Of course, Howell did not need to speak his intention out loud but he still did because he wanted to understand his companion better. Just using his connection to his beast companion was not enough to show his intention and will, especially to the companion that was rather close to him. 

Little Red moved from Howell's left wrist, climbing upward, and stayed where it was close to his face. It moved a bit slower and completely stopped when it covered Howell's neck with its body despite failing to do so due to its small size. 

 

"Is that so? Good, good. You are finally advanced from the fifth level of Wildbeast rank!" Howell was joyful of the thing Little Red transmitted to his mind. 

Actually, Little Red felt the slight hesitation Howell had but he still congratulated it for its advancement. 

'Master is bearing additional burden again nowadays. I want to help too!' that was the will of Little Red. 

"You progressing this far is already helping me enough. Come on, the school is about to begin and we need to move." Howell prepared the things he needed for classes as well as beast foods for Little Red. 

 

After that, Howell and Little Red moved to the auditorium that was usually used for the new-year freshmen. 

 

-

 

The auditorium. Howell was greeted with a sea of people. Their school uniform showed that those people were fellow students from the same school. 

"As usual, the new semester is beginning and I heard that there are several students with excellent potential. " Howell took a cursory glance and headed to somewhere in the crowd. 

 

He did not care for the place because he was alone. He had neither a friend nor someone who supported him in school. Even if he was only left with Little Red, he was fine. 

Also, he wanted to see the good seedlings of the new first-year students so he kept looking around. While he did that, he also gave Little Red some light snacks to consume. 

 

'Hmm, the food given by Master is still the most yummy.'

"Thanks for the compliment as always." Howell felt the expression his companion wanted to convey and replied softly.

 

Some good things for Beast Tamer students like Howell were they could bring their companion beast around the school area. Of course, it is under strict surveillance and monitoring that such things could happen. 

Howell glanced at his right wrist, looking at his wristband. This was the tool that could monitor not only him but also his Little Red. 

 

Some of its functions were to check the vitality of the Beast Tamer and its beast companion. Other than that, there was also a tracking device embedded in it. It was given by the school so it was probably for monitoring the location of the students.

Then the introduction of the school to the new students began. Howell could see that the person on the podium was someone with a middle-aged appearance.

It was the headmaster of the high school. As far as Howell knew, the headmaster was a powerful figure in the city. He was at the Commander Rank while Howell was at the Tamer Apprentice Rank, two major ranks below. 

"I probably need five years just to reach Conscript Rank, how much more time do I need to reach Commander Rank?" Howell pondered in his mind. 

 

 

Howell calculated this based on his aptitude, his beast's overall capability as well as resources that were steadily available to him. 

He scanned the figure on the podium in a cursory glance before he glanced at the place slightly below near the podium. 

The third year was in an elevated position at the back while the second year like him was slightly below them in place. The entire auditorium was structured in that the podium was the lowest in altitude and the audiences were allowed to be in the place where the students were currently standing. 

The closest to the podium was naturally the first year, the new freshmen. 

 

'Master, I feel so many strong pressures from the front. They are new here.' Little Red informed Howell through the link between the Tamer and the beast through the Taming Pact. 

'There can only be two possibilities. Either they are at the peak of Widlbeast Rank or they have stronger potential, meaning stronger bloodline and genetic inheritance.' Howell pursed his lips. The first-year this time was talented, even more than his peers and the seniors in the third year. 

For beasts, the civilization categorized the beast's power level based on something else. 

The corresponding power level in Howell's mind could be seen like this as he watched the first year with a strong desire to spar with them. 

Widlbeast - Tamer Apprentice Rank

Bronze - Conscript Rank

Silver - Commander Rank

Platinum - Admiral Rank

Gold - Tamer King Rank

 

And as usual, the lullaby that was known as the speech from the headmaster never fails to make one sleepy, Howell included. 

His eyelid went down slowly but steadily, his consciousness was blurred due to the regurgitated content of the speech. It was the sacrifices from the past, the result of the students in the present as well as hope for the future. 

But Little Red on Howell's neck was staring at the front row while letting its tongue out, gauging the potential of the new beasts. 

Only after the speech from the headmaster had been completed that Howell and most of the students could finally wake up properly. 

 

 

"Well, my mandatory presence here is done. Let's look around for some information for the first year." Howell moved out from the auditorium, to the main Hall of the high school. 

He knew at least one person who had a wide range of information networks. Everyone in the school also knew him so it was common knowledge for the students. 

"Hey, Jake!" Howell waved his hand when he saw a brown-haired man with the student uniform in the Hall. 

 

But Howell realized that Jake did not hear him and walked closer before he shouted once more. 

"I can hear!" Jake was annoyed since Howell's loud voice was quite grating to the ear. Jake was quite attractive for a young man and Howell had to admit that. Even his annoyed expression was better than Howell's when he smiled. 

 

"What? You want to know about the new first year, it is so obvious." Jake said before he raised his right hand and raised only his index finger. 

"One Low-quality Origin Stone and I can exchange all the acquired information for the figures of the first-year student."

 

Howell was flabbergasted. One resource for improving the strength of Beast Tamer and the Beast was Origin Stone. 

It is said in the textbook that the stone was created from the compressed and accumulation of origin energy. As for what origin energy is, even Howell did not dare to say that he knew more than what the textbook he had read. 

He was in a dilemma since he wanted to know the unique aspect of the first year that was not available on the school website. But at the same time, he truly wanted to save some more resources for his strength growth. 

 

'Should I accept the deal or not?' Howell was so in deep thought that he ignored some early noises that came from somewhere unknown. 

 

 

[Suitable host discovered]

[Binding the system to the host]

[In progress...loading]

[1%... 2%...]

 

 

"Forget it. I really want it but my current situation forces me to save up. Perhaps next time, Jake. Sorry to bother you." Howell let out a regretful sigh and replied. 

"Is that so? That's too bad, then." Jake was shrugging his shoulders as he contemplated Howell's situation. 

Howell then went to the class where he usually learned for his current grade. Little Red felt its master emotion and curled up around his neck as its entire body rubbed against his skin. 

Due to his condition, he had to take some part-time jobs to not only accommodate his living expenses but also for his beast. Hence, Howell went to the usual place he worked as soon as he had no other class to attend. The subject of the day was beast taming history and it was a review so Howell only made some notes and that was it!

"That history class and the theme this day is terrible!" Howell got out of the high school entrance in a daze. Many of the teacher's words rang in his head like a broken cassette.

Walking to the construction site which Howell was part of the recent city development plan, he met with his coworkers and also the supervisor of the site.

 

"Howell, you finally here." a middle-aged man gave a slight smile as another two young men turned their heads to look at him.

"I usually arrive at this time. So, where should I go this time?" Howell did not beat around the bush and asked directly.

"The joints of the building need to be inspected. Make sure that it passed the preliminary test for all the important parts, the architect already marked it here..." The middle-aged man gave Howell the parts of the building where the inspection had to be taken.

He continued, "Well, this is the usual routine. Now go."

Howell and the rest of the men moved to their designated locations. Howell could see the people along with their tamed beasts cooperating with each other to do things. For example, there was a man with a bird who usually oversaw the entire building to see whether it fit the blueprint and another with a mole who dug at a certain part of the ground. Howell was sure it had something to do with the building since the direction and distance were precise.

 

As for himself, he and Little Red were perceiving the thermal circulation of the joints that connected several parts of the building. Little Red was a snake so she could feel the heat from the flow of origin energy on the entire structure of the building with ease.

"Shared Sense," Howell said, and then what he felt was similar to what Little Red on his neck felt. Synchronization of the sense between the beast tamer and the beast was the fundamental ability of a beast tamer.

"The flow is good. No instability...Little Red, try checking the other places within our vicinity that I can not see." Howell said this and Little Red understood a bit more of what he said.

Then Little Red let out its tongue several times, feeling the flow of heat and the remnant of origin energy around her. She sensed in the place where Howell was not able to perceive and she slithered down and went in the opposite direction. They inspected the joints of one floor and after the two of them reached the end of the floor, they had done their part on that particular floor.

"Done!" Howell felt this and canceled Shared Sense as he recalled Little Red through their connected link. Howell could see Little Red slithering to him in an excited manner. Howell then reached for his pocket and grabbed a small meatball while waiting.

Then after Little Red went up to his neck, Howell gave the small meatball to Little Red.

"This is your reward for your effort today." Howell complimented while seeing Little Red gulped down the meatball in one bite. The meatball was a special food for a beast like Little Red that the beast tamer usually had.

While Little Red digested the food, Howell returned to the place where all the workers gathered to store their equipment. Fortunately for Howell, he only needed to wear safety equipment and nothing else hence he could clear his assigned task before the sun set.

 

"I am done with my task today. This is the last day for me to work here, right?" Howell reminded the middle-aged man who was looking at the blueprint of the construction site. Howell placed his charts of checked place on the large table where the middle-aged man used to spread the blueprint.

"Right. For a part-timer like you, 15 Stella is the highest amount allowed."

 

-

 

Evening.

Howell returned to his dormitory after work. Along with Little Red, they took a bucket of water and with a cleaning towel, wiped their body with it.

"Refreshing!" Howell wiped his back while feeling the sweat on his body disappear. Then he poured the water into the bucket on his body and he finished cleaning up. Of course, he was the last to complete it since he first attended Little Red.

Little Red slithered on his arm and rested on his neck. Howell received the expression and emotion of Little Red and knew that the bath was good. Then they had dinner. Howell went to the kitchen and put something in the large bowl. Even though the bowl was large, the thing inside was small.

"A mix of Wlidbeast-ranked meat along with Origin Herb, stir it and then heat it before giving it to your beast..." Howell was mixing the thing inside the large bowl with a certain amount of strength before pouring the content into the pan.

Then he turned on the stove and let it cook while he paid attention to the heat and the saturation of the heat on the ingredient. Little Red felt the usual dinner food for her and her tongue frequently sticking out.

[Binding the system to the host]

[In progress...loading]

[98%... 99%...]

As Howell turned off the stove, his ears felt like a buzzing and screeching. He knew that this was something similar to someone who had tetanus but why did it happen?

'Strange...what is that voice, that synthetical voice...' Howel was in thought when he heard the system announcement of the binding progress.

Little Red who found her master was in an emotional state got closer and wrapped her long body to his left arm. Howell felt the coolness of her scale and managed to calm down a  bit.

[100%...Binding Complete]

[Mimetic restriction lifted]

[Administrator goes online]

[Beast Tamer System Commence Operation]

[Scanning host for host's general status...loading]

[Scanning the reality point of the world around the host...loading]

[While the two important operation procedure is underway, the introduction of the system to the host will be played]

[Hello, Host. When you read this, the system has been bound to you completely and the mimetic restriction has been lifted too...]

"What is this? Little Red, can you see this?" Howell asked Little Red since he did not know whether this was something good or not.

'Master, what do you see? There is nothing abnormal.' That was the reply Howell received from Little Red's emotion through their link.

"So what is this system?" Howell had so many questions on his mind right now.

What was happening? What did he get himself into? Did someone have design on him? Whatever question Howell could think of, he let it out on his head. Sadly, it did not produce any answer he could use and most of them met a dead end.