"No, Master. You are only not knowledgeable, that's all. Now that we know the cause, we can try to awaken it and unlock its power." Little Red felt Howell's emotion and grabbed his hand firmly. Howell felt touched since Little Red was comforting him. He was also glad that his hard work was not wasted, it was just absorbed by his Dragonblood.
He felt his vision blurred. Without him realizing it, something flowed down to his cheek. Little Red then rubbed her hand on his blond hair as she cleared the tear that stained his face.
Howell choked, trying his hardest to not cry. He was working hard not only for himself but also for the parents who raised him. Only the above-average beast tamer had a decent wage that could support the family with one person alone.
Little Red just let Howell vent out his buried feelings of helplessness and sadness. Only after that, she continued with their previous topic.
"The second matter is about the Life Sharing Mark. You have one in your body, Master." Little Red said with a severe tone. Her amber eyes looked at Howell as if she could pry everything he had. But Howell knew that Little Red was diagnosing his overall condition. Yes, it was true that the system could display his status but Howell also realized that it did not display his current health status, his psychological condition etc.
It meant that the system did not display his entire condition for whatever reason. But Howell did not blame it too much since dependence on the system would only harm him, with the system's nature not much known.
"What is it? Is it harmful to me?" Howell asked with the possibility that this was a bad omen.
"How should I say? It is just a tool, Master. Well, in Master's case, you are the 'mother' and not the 'child'." Little Red then tried to find the sentences that could be understood in a nutshell.
She continued seeing that Howell listened attentively, "What I am afraid of is if Master's is the 'child' but if Master's mark is the 'mother' then it will be fine, I guess. Life Sharing Mark is the mark that some nobles of several civilizations like Dragon, Phoenix, and Human, to put their talented individuals with their guardian."
"If their talented individual was unfortunately killed before they ripe and did not remove the mark, their guardian will be dead too. In short, the guardian is at an absolute disadvantage since they have to protect the talented ones and lose their life all the same if they fail. There is a possibility that Master is also one of the most talented individuals in your civilization. And that also meant that someone somewhere out on this planet is your guardian. If Master dies, that person with the 'child' mark will also die."
Hearing all that, Howell soon fell into confusion.
'What does all of that mean? There is only one thing, ask my parents. Perchance they know what truly happened.' Howell could only leave this idea in the back of his mind and inhale the air before exhaling it slowly.
"Is there any way to remove this mark? Or will there be complications?"
"That is the issue I have to explain. It is not easy to remove the mark since this is a kind of protection, curse, and conditional mark. Even if there is some method, I am not sure if someone can monitor the general situation of the mark when it is removed." Little Red could remove it but did not want to risk the possibility of someone sensing the removal of the mark.
"And there is also some kind of detection range for this mark. It is used to let each other know their position. They are the protected and the protector after all so this mechanism will be included. Pay attention to this." Little Red already saw the position of the mark on Howell's body but did not dare to probe it further.
"How would I know the sign of the mark foretelling me of the other?"
"Master's mark is on the breastbone, on your chest. Master will feel the mark heating up a bit and a bit of attraction to the direction of the 'child' mark."
Hearing Little Red's explanation, Howell was not sure he grasped the detail but he took note of that. He nodded and asked one important question, "Little Red, how are you going to conceal yourself? You can morph into your snake form but your power rank is not easy to hide."
"Master, that is easy!" Little Red then became excited as she handed him one of the crystals from her spatial ring. Howell who saw that was flabbergasted.
'That is a freaking spatial armament, isn't it!? Space manipulation, space compression, space expansion...but more than that though, what is this crystal?' Howell was confused but he remembered that he gained a new ability as a reward.
[Insight Eye(E-) used on the target]
[Information Form Crystal
The crystal which an entity with Information Form Manipulation can create. It can store many kinds of information. Knowledge, technique, and even ability can be stored with it. The higher the control, the power, and the rank of the user, the better and more comprehensive the information can be stored.
This Information Form Crystal stored "Pure Concealer" technique]
"Pure Concealer, a technique to suppress, disguise and conceal one's energy? Is this technique what I think it is?" Howell was staring at the transparent crystal with an amazed look.
"Hehe, Master can use it too. Here, let me show you how to use it." Little Red giggled seeing that her master was in awe. Then she placed the crystal on Howell's forehead. The crystal soon melted and Howell suddenly got a technique inside the crystal.
Soon, Howell channeled his origin energy as per the information and his energy fluctuation was at the Tamer Apprentice rank level three even when he did not try to forcefully stuff the origin energy to his Dragonblood.
"It doesn't matter if the entire planet has Gold Rank all over the place. They cannot even see through the concealment, I can lower my vigilance a bit then. You already used this technique, right?"
"Yes!"
"Good. You can come with me then, in your snake form."
While Little Red morphed into her previous snake form, Howell tried to use Insight Eye to see his chest. Well, he wondered if the current Insight Eye could perceive the mark. He lifted his shirt and looked at it carefully and the result...
[Life Sharing Mark- Mother Mark
???]
[!]
[Your Insight Eye rank is too low to extract the insight from the item]
-
All along the way, Howell was using his Insight Eye to look around and the whole world in his eyes became full of information panel. Information about beast tamer, their beast abilities, and most of the information of many items that entered his eyes could be changed into an information panel about them.
'But my Insight Eye is still low in rank. Fortunately, I will be using this ability a lot and that help in improving its rank faster.' Howell was sure of that and with this ability, he could even gather general information of anyone in his sight if he faced them. He had some intelligence advantage in an encounter with either unknown person or foe.
Little Red however saw the same street her master used to go to his highschool in a new perspective. Previously, she was just an ordinary snake with unusual ability for origin energy detection. Now, she could see so much that the her of two days ago in this dimension was unable to perceive.
'So many Tamer King sweep their energy detection at certain interval. Not to mention there are some Gold Rank beast patrolling in the air, on the building and even underground in the sewer. Few in number but at least they change their shift every eight hour so the city at least has a Gold Rank beast and a Tamer King watch it every day.' Little Red not only could use her Origin Energy Sensory to feel their presence but also used her Information Form Manipulation to gather some data from human's internet.
But she was glad that her master could enjoy the calm and peaceful place like this. She grew in the place where the fittest could survive and every time was not wasted on trivial and unsubstantial things.
"Little Red, do you remember this time a year ago?" Howell suddenly asked.
'Yes, Master. The beast tamer rite of passage!' Little Red was excited when she remembered it since that was the most important event in her life. The time when she saw for the first time her beloved master.
"Good because apparently, the school decided to host it a few days late, that means Monday will be the first year's rite of passage." Howell was receiving information from his Insight Eye while Little Red had known about the matter a long time ago. No, to be exact she was listening in as the board director of the high school decided the matter without them knowing.
Howell then tidied up his school uniform which was a bit of a mess but Little Red helped him on this one so it looked a lot cleaner. Little Red was coiling around his left arm, polishing the cleaning of his uniform from the inside.
He arrived at the school gate when the students, regardless of whether they were the first, second or third year, looked at several figures that walked in.
"It's them. The ones from Aristocratic clan, why would they attend here?" a student asked.
"Who knows? Our worlds are different. I can't understand why those families send their children to this high school in particular."
"Heh, you should use your brain and information gathering a bit. Do you know that in this high school, there is an influential figure stationed?" then Howell was surprised to see that Jake was the one interjecting. He could use this opportunity to listen to free information.
"What is it? Just tell us some generic information, okay? I don't want to be robbed of low-grade origin stone."
"Fine. Do you know that one of the Royal Army members is here and he is also the most influential among those aristocrats? That is one of the reasons. The other reason is that someone among the children who are assigned here...she is a special case." Jake only said those two pieces of information before he left. Most of the students were speculating but Howell was truly thinking about the last time he encountered Jack and today's information.
"Who is 'she'...that even Jake mentions a bit highly?" Howell was sure that when he met Jake two days ago, he wanted to trade the information around her.
Well, his Insight Eye stared at the group who entered the school gate. Howell then found a girl with short, brown hair walking timidly. Her expression was one of nervousness but the information panel he saw amazed him.
[Name: Lilian Scythe
Race: Human (Spectral form locked)
Rank: Tamer Apprentice level 7
Ability: Death Reaping Scythe(E-)[shared], Physical Damage Immunity(E-)[shared], Phased Body(E-)[shared], Assasination(C-), Danger Detection(C-), Origin Energy Sensory(D+), Meditation(D+)
Beast Companion: Red Masked Reaper(Gold Rank potential) ]
"Scythe family? No wonder Jake has eyes on her. One of the aristocrats...and who is that?" Howell looked a bit forward and saw a young man with orange hair that looked like a horn in overall form but it was his hair. Howell was amazed by the thing he saw on the information panel.
[Name: Reise Arcturus
Race: Human (Dragonid form locked)
Rank: Tamer Apprentice level 6
Ability: Dragon Aura(E-)[shared], Wind Caller(C)[shared], Floodrain(D+)[shared], Dragonblood(C-), Origin Energy Sensory(D), Meditation(D)
Beast Companion: Cloud Flood Dragon(Gold Rank potential)]
"Arcturus? The clan whose members have a trace of dragonblood flowing in their veins. Am I connected to them in some sort? Damn it, I don't care for now! But the fact that those children come here means that there is something important to do at this high school." Howell rubbed his nose bridge in annoyance.
'Scythe, Arcturus, Caliburn, Sevelt and Tenebrant. Five renowned aristocrats of the country. Master, do you think that your circumstances have something to do with the Arcturus? Especially since I found that a major movement from the Liberation Sect seventeen years ago?' Little Red informed Howell as she could connect with many information and processed it much faster.
'What does that mean!? Where did you get that from!?' Howell did not even know that.
'Concealed from the keywords on the national network as well as access-restricted, at that time the aristocrats were in a huge upheaval since the Liberation Sect committed a massacre and kidnapping of talented children from all over the world, not just in the country. Hence, some of the nobility children were declared lost, missing due to the lack of clues and some of the search party even found their brain and spine used as the catalyst for the Evil Infant.' Little Red wanted to tell more but for now, she held back for the sake of her master's psychological health.
Howell was breathing out of sync, his eyes became somewhat blurred, blackened even. He did not want to hear that news for a moment as it was too heavy for the current him.
The entourage passed by and the day for study began once again. Despite the explosive exposure by Little Red, Howell could follow the lesson well.
-
"Welcome! Are you the new worker?" a girl with grey hair and a pale complexion greeted Howell. It was in the commercial district of the city where Howell got a new part-time job and the young girl in front of him was his co-worker.
"Nice to meet you. Hmm, you are in technicality my co-worker but you are still the daughter of the owner...how should I interact with you?" Howell was blunt, straight, and shed all pretense when it came to his work.
"You are eager but that straightforward attitude is a bit...concerning."
"Normally I don't but this is a working attitude. There should be a bit of line drawn when this matter involved after all." Howell explained a bit of the problem he had encountered in his previous workplace.
"I see. Fine, just treat me like a normal friend since you are one of the students from Olive Highschool." the young girl then said that before returning to her place. As for Howell though, he was remembering his job description in his mind. Ever since he learned Pure Concealer technique, he kept circulating the origin energy and let out the energy fluctuation at Tamer Apprentice rank and also let Little Red ensure that his cover was flawless.
"Little Red, do you feel like I am starting to receive more information easily?" Howell suddenly remembered that one of the shared abilities he had with Little Red and thought he should confirm his hypothesis.
"Master finally noticed. Usually, Insight Eye at the rank Master currently possess can only display the name and the power rank of the thing Master saw. But it gets stronger when Master also possessed Information Form Manipulation. This is called ability synchronization.
[Insight Eye(E-) + Information Form Manipulation(C)= Stronger Insight Eye(D+) and more information extracted.]
At least that is the rough estimate." Little Red explained.
"Ability Synchronization...no wonder those with wealth and resources look for compatible beasts and abilities. This is the reason huh."Howell was surprised that Little Red only explained things when he asked...
'Little Red, do you only give me what I want to seek and what I am willing to seek?' Howell then started to understand that Little Red's knowledge was vast but he was still learning a lot of things and could not digest all of it at once. It had to be slow, diligent and deliberate.
'Yes. There are so many things for Master to learn. I hope that Master continues to seek knowledge and guidance. Even I am also seeking for more guidance.' Little Red exposed her attitude toward learning.
'Now then, let us get to work. There is a delivery to be done.' Howell transmitted his thoughts to Little Red and he got to the front of the table where there was a packaged food.
"Now I can declare myself a delivery man." Howell then took the package as he checked the address of the recipient.
"Go Mister Howell. This is your first day!"
"Miss Misha, I'll be back around ten minutes...should be." Howell was already on his way to the first delivery target.
With his Conscript Rank power, his physical body had been strengthened, and running was far easier and enjoyable for Howell. He ran and zig-zag through some of the pedestrians as he carried the package on his back. He wore the special jacket for the restaurant's deliveryman while underneath that he still wore his school uniform.
"Here is your delivery and this is the receipt. Please confirm the contents and the receipt." Howell memorized this sentence that he could recite it even in the classroom. He also tried to be amendable since this was about business service.
"Thanks..."
-
"And that's the thirty-one." Howell returned to the restaurant that employed him. Misha was surprised to see Howell did his job well on his first day.
"You did well." Misha was complimenting Howell for his results and Howell was sure that was supposed to be good since she was not easy to impress despite her frail appearance.
"No, you and the owner is the one who accepts me so this is what I can do to repay that favor. Take it as such." Howell replied with an obvious attitude.
"This is today's payment. 20 Stella." Misha handed the twenty coin to Howell which made his eyes shine.
'Profit of 3 Stella. This excess can be transferred to my parents. Yes!' Howell fist-bumped on his mind as he rarely got anything above 14 Stella a day with his part-time job. Some of them were his daily necessities, food for two, materials for developing abilities and power rank advancement, etc.
"Thank you, really." As Howell returned the jacket to the hanger, he said this sincerely to Misha and left. Howell felt that his life had begun to change drastically from before. Partly due to the system, due to his power rank and also due to his bond with his beast companion.
