Then Howell realized that the system had its own inventory so he stored the extracted matters inside.

Little Red cleaned up the remaining thing by devouring it whole.

After all of that was done, Howell proceeded to do his daily meditation. While it was true that meditation helped in circulating and absorbing origin energy, its true purpose was to calm one's mind and make them still.

'But according to Little Red, meditation is the method to access abstract understanding. In other words, inspiration and enlightenment come from abstract understanding and meditation is the key.' Howell then understood some stories where some people went away from society and became a hermit.

But to Howell, you could do it anywhere as long as it was calm and peaceful, just like at nighttime.

Howell and Little Red then meditated like they usually do. Their origin energy flowed in the most natural manner suitable for their body. While this was useless to Little Red, she was synthesizing the information she had gained so far and etched it deep inside her core. It was because these pieces of information were related to her master.

Then midnight came and Howell opened his eyes. He was thinking, contemplating when he meditated and this was his way of life now.

Little Red also finished her meditation as she gained much more during her contemplation.

"I am going to fetch the caterpillar first." Howell then brought the caterpillar who had eaten all the herbs. Then Howell, Little Red and the caterpillar entered his bedroom and Howell placed the caterpillar on his study table.

"You can stay here for now. Grow well and healthy." Howell was rubbing the caterpillar's soft body with his index finger before leaving.

"Wait!" the caterpillar was nervous because this as the first time it had been in this world. It did not know many things and the fear of the unknown crept in.

"Calm down. For tonight, let us have a night talk. How about that Little Red, caterpillar?" Howell suggested an idea to which Little Red and the caterpillar tacitly agreed.

 

Then Little Red polymorphed back into the beautiful girl with long red hair. She sat on Howell's bed as she wore a black nightgown.

"Master, how about giving your new beast a name?" Little Red smiled at Howell. Howell was surprised because he did not have much naming sense. He named his red snake beast companion Little Red because she was small and adorable.

"I don't think that is a good idea. My naming sense is not even good." Howell denied doing it.

"Name me...you are the only one who can do it. You know more things than the current me." the caterpillar on the study table relayed its thought to Howell and he winced at the thought of giving someone a name that would likely stick for the rest of their life.

'No. I am naming my first beast companion Little Red. Do you think I can somehow pull a good name?' Howell refused and countered, 'I believe you can give yourself a much more better name than I am even capable of.'

'Name me! Name me!...' the caterpillar was surprisingly stubborn on this matter and Howell was bombarded with its nagging.

'No means no! Little Red, please help me by giving some suggestions.' Howell could not endure the nagging any longer and begged Little Red to help him.

'Master, I am sad to inform you that this occasion is where you have to give it a name with the best ability you can muster. Why does Master think I accept the name of Little Red in the first place? Just because you are my Master? No, it is because you put thoughts, devotion and sincerity when giving me the name and I feel it!'

'Hah!? But that name is not good sounding and not cool.' Howell only had the lesson of properly giving a name after he formed a pact with Little Red so now he had some sense of a good name but could not come up with one himself.

'It does not matter what opinion the others have. At least you did not give a name as if putting a price tag, did you, Master?'

'Of course not! Name...is something significant. It is a label to identify someone or something. More often, the name has carried with it the expectation, hope, and understanding of one. But I cannot come with a good name even now!' Howell was thinking of a suitable name but he could not even find one.

The caterpillar felt its partner's dilemma and figured that it should postpone the matter.

'You can do it later...just please put your thought in it.'

But Howell was looking at it thoroughly while also feeling the link between the two of them. The caterpillar understood that the matter of naming it could not be forced and took a step back but Howell sensed the feeling of sadness and disappointment from it. So he started to think in an abstract manner while seriously pondering about the name he should give to it.

'Wait a moment. I did not know but what is your gender? Little Red has been confirmed to be female so I thought giving it a cute name would suit her but sometimes it is different than what I think is suitable. I just want to make sure that I can narrow down a name that will fit you.'

'Partner, I am what you call female. I think...' the caterpillar answered it in a vague manner that made Howell's eyebrows raised and his lips twitched. He still kept pondering the suitable name for some time...

And all of a sudden, Howell felt like his entire mind was hit by a jolt as a name spontaneously appeared and flashed in his mind.

 

"Aha! Eureka!" Howell screamed as he clenched both of his hands into a tight fist. Little Red and the caterpillar could feel it through the link, Howell already had decided on the name of the caterpillar and he was even satisfied with it. Little Red calculated that it took thirty minutes of pondering before Howell came up with a name.

Howell moved to the student's table as he lifted the caterpillar and gently caressed its soft and wiggly body. He could feel that the name he would give...

'Carmen. From this moment, your name shall be Carmen. Do you...like it?' Howell looked at the caterpillar and waited for its response.

The caterpillar felt nervous for some reason but when it heard the name its partner gave, it became happy. That happiness could be felt by Howell as he smiled in relief.

'Carmen, my name. I am Carmen. Please...take care of me, Partner.' the caterpillar expressed its happiness since the feeling Howell received was one of true and sincere one. Before this, the caterpillar was more of closing its thought and only did things due to the circumstances that forced her to accept the pact.

But now, she started to think that she would start deepening the bond between them.

 

Howell however had the next headache. It was because he was on the fence about a decision. He was not sure whether to send Carmen straight to Beast Idle Training Dimension. Feeling the hesitation came from Howell, Carmen then inquired.

'Partner, what's wrong?'

'Hesitation.'

Howell at first did not want to check the status window of Carmen due to his feeling that could drastically change if he saw something outof ordinary. Only now he braced himself to use Insight Eye to check.

 

[Name : Carmen

Race: Insect(Star-rank potential)

Rank: Wildbeast level 2

Ability: Silk(D-), Origin Energy Sensory(B), Jade Metamorphosis(S),
Illusion Manipulation(A), Synthesize(D+),Silk Web(F-)]

 

"No wonder you don't even escape with such strong ability. It is completely restrained by either Little Red's ability or the lockdown of this place." Howell then understood that despite Carmen's powerful ability, once it was countered, she was so helpless.

'I have to take note of this. At least, if another entity counters my ability I can fight back with another strong ability.' Howell thought and decided to etch this into his core. He also pondered why he only got one shared ability with Carmen while with Little Red, he had almost all her ability.

"What is the difference between Little Red and Carmen, no. It is the difference between the three of us..." Howell was not sure but in his mind, a concept was introduced.

"Is it compatibility? If so, compatibility of what?" Howell thought again and again only to realize that he possessed Dragonblood. This ability was one that even Howell was not aware of. Obviously since it was dormant and not awakened.

From his knowledge, the Arcturus clan was known for their Dragonblood Warrior. The legion where they were composed of Dragonid and utilized some power of the dragon with the Dragonblood as its catalyst.

"Little Red, how important is the compatibility of beast tamer and their beast?" Howell asked.

"Quite important. But there is another critical factor for compatibility other than similar information form of genetics, in other words, bloodline and lineage. Does Master know what it is?" Little Red then acted as a teacher who pointed the students toward a certain path. Of course, the student had to walk the path otherwise there was no point.

"Bond, Link, Understanding?" Howell knew that there was a reason why some of the beast tamers he knew of emphasized this part. With Bond, over time the beast tamer would adapt to the power their beast had. The so-called lineage or bloodline only hasten this process but it could not be denied that it was faster that way.

"Yes. That is why my ability can be shared more with Master. Not only bloodline but also the bond and intimacy between us is the one that make the compatibility so high." Little Red giggled, proud when she said that.

'I will not lose to you. Certainly.' Carmen protested about the bond since she also wanted to prove herself to be capable.

But Howell decided to see the progress of Carmen's dedication first. It was not like he distrusted her, he only wanted to make Carmen work as her direct evidence. So he postponed Carmen's opportunity to enter the Beast Idle Training Dimension.

 

[Current Power Rank: Conscript Rank level 3]

[Tamed Beast Staying Time Period: 13 years]

Howell could see that the time had been extended by a decade. He was sure that his rank increase caused the time to be extended but how the system calculated it? Now the level corresponded to a year while the rank was in a decade.

Whatever it is, Howell had one thing to do and that was to increase his strength. He now had a feeling that everything was not as simple as it seemed. So he felt that it was better to be safe than sorry. And then...

"Little Red, this is for you." Howell could finally make an armament even though it was crude and not look good to the eyes. He pulled it from the depths of his bag. Little Red then lifted her head as Howell carefully placed the helmet on her hand. Even though to Little Red the armament itself was trash, the value changed when her master was the one who made it.

'Thank you, Master. I will keep this as a memento.' Little Red was overjoyed as she intertwined her arms around Howell's neck. Howell was surprised but then he stroked her body to calm her down.

After that, Little Red slithered out from Howell. Howell sighed as he opened some books and did reviews from what was taught to what Little Red knew.

Little Red silently sat next to him as Howell moved his entire book and bag to the study table. Carmen also slowly wriggled her way to lay on top of Howell's shoulder.

Another two hours passed and finally, Howell closed the lesson book given by the school. His creased forehead was evident cause of many inconsistencies within the book and what Little Red had taught him.

"Ugh. I can't believe that only the theoretical knowledge from the first year is useful. The second-year content, however, why is it filled with superficial things?" Howell scratched his hair in annoyance. He even used Insight Eye to learn, discern, and extract insight from what he assumed to know.

He knew about this but did not know how much or how serious it was. Now that he had seen it with his own eyes, Howell could not help but complain.

"I know that most of the advanced knowledge are national secret and concern national security but if it results in misleading the students...what are the Education Department thinking!?" Howell was annoyed but he was also helpless.

"Oh, Master has stumbled upon one problem in this place." Little Red's eyes looked straight at Howell while a slight smile emerged on her face.

'What is it, what is it?' Carmen also wanted to know why her partner was frustrated and annoyed but some things could not be conveyed by emotion and feeling alone.

"Let's sleep. It is almost midnight and we all need a place to test and develop our ability. Little Red, do you know any? We will go there tomorrow." Howell finished his study and tidied up his books before he went to bed. He placed Carmen on the study table and told her to sleep there.

 

As for Little Red, she followed Howell to sleep on his bed. Howell could not say anything since it was the habit ingrained for a year.

"Good night."

 

-

 

Carmen was perceiving the world through her Origin Energy Sensory ever since coming out from her sphere. She found out that her partner's beast companion was not only stronger but also had True Dragon Blood in her.

Strangely, she saw that beast companion happily sleeping with her partner as if it was the most blissful thing.

'I also want to be able to change form!' Carmen had a fire burn inside her. She wanted to become stronger and help her partner and herself. Then she could find out about her own existence and perhaps even become the ultimate existence.

'But first, I need to synthesize the things I had eaten. The process of Jade Metamorphosis is arduous and an uphill battle so my resources need to be abundant.' Carmen realized that for any being, resources were important. Her partner complained about the resources called 'knowledge' after all...

But she also felt a slight liking toward Howell despite her aloof disposition. She did not reject it since she could also feel the emotion and the link between her and her partner.

After that, Carmen played with her Silk ability. She trained to make her silk with her origin energy but it did not increase much. Same with her Silk Web ability. After some time passed, she was tired and decided to sleep too.

'Good night, partner.'

 

-

 

When Howell woke up, he was not in a hurry since today was a holiday and no school. But he kept his usual routine since it was ingrained in him. He stretched and then opened his note. He added many things since he learned so many things yesterday. But when he wanted to store the note back, he was surprised to find the thread of silks on his study table.

'Carmen. Did she practice after I fell asleep?' Howell thought so and then he cleaned most of the silk as it covered the surface of the table. But he did not clean the one where Carmen built a small comfortable place for her to rest.

"Good morning, Master!" Little Red greeted him as she came from the kitchen.

"Morning, Little Red. This smell...did you try to cook us something?" Howell realized that when he woke up and Little Red was not beside him, she had gone somewhere. And from the noises he had heard from the kitchen, he assumed that she wanted to cook today's breakfast.

"Yes. Today menu is Beef sandwich." Little Red replied in a soft tone.

"Good. Carmen, you go with me..." Howell was slowly lifting Carmen with his index finger while walking to the dining table. Little Red followed as she was doing the finishing touched still wearing an apron.

The smell of the food to Howell was irresistible. But he was also concerned about something.

'How does Little Red become stronger here then? She will not improve much if she eats the snacks and meals I previously provided. Or did she have a technique to improve her power rank in the first place?' Howell was lost in his thought as Carmen crawled down from his index finger.

 

She moved around the dining table, looking for things that could be eaten. Fortunately, Little Red prepared a bit of salad and some vegetables to go with the Beef sandwich. Carmen went to the salad and chewed on it. She realized the richness and thickness of origin energy in it.

Howell also realized that with his Origin Energy Sensory after he went out of his trance. The ingredients for today's breakfast were luxurious and nutritious. Even he felt the origin energy inside his body circulating and condensing into more mist.

"Little Red, you should also enjoy the food you have made." Howell smiled at Little Red as he moved his hand to invite her.

"Of course. After all, today is our training day. We cannot go training without sufficient energy." Little Red was happy and enthusiastic but Howell felt that something was odd. Little Red was too excited for this occasion.

But Howell decided to not mind it too much and ate his sandwich. The bread was different from any kind of bread texture he had ever touched, tasted, chewed, and swallowed. Even the beef itself felt fresh, heavy with its juicy meat as well as the content of its origin energy.

"Delicious!" Howell knew that his tongue and taste buds had been pampered and doted on at this moment, allowing him to taste such food that he had never imagined.

"Little Red, is this one of the things you have learned there?" since Carmen was planned to be sent to the Beast Idle Training Dimension, Howell subtly mentioned it and also confirmed something.

"Master, I have to let you know that cooking is one of the things I have learned first. Other than human civilization history, I also learned human-related daily activity and cooking is one of the most versatile in its utility." Little Red sat down as she also took a bite of one of the sandwiches she placed on a large plate.

Her amber eyes stared at Howell gently as she looked at the delighted Howell tasting her cooked food.