The next morning. Howell stretched his arms upward, feeling the origin energy circulating when he used Shrouding Flow Cyclic Art.

Little Red was wrapping herself around his left arm while Carmen had to be carried inside the transparent box.

 

He also packed the stuff his mother had prepared for him.

"Mother, I don't need much luggage! It will be difficult for me too." Howell protested due to the large amount of items he had to carry back.

"But this is your second year. It is one of the busiest schedules of the students of high school. Besides, I also pack some consumables for Little Red and Carmen here..." Martha clearly did not want to hear a refusal from Howell and said some things that Howell could not ignore.

"Erm...that, I can provide it myself. Self-sustainability is always my objective..." Howell's voice lowered due to his own uncertain circumstances.

"No, you are barely able to live. But as a beast tamer, you have to grow along with your tamed beast and increase in power. This should be of help. Or do you want to remain as you are?" Martha unknowingly hit Howell where it hurt. Howell was thinking about the undercurrent that he could perceive in Bethlen City alone.

What if this was part of a bigger scheme? Should he remain as he was...or become stronger faster?

 

At that question, Howell did not hesitate any longer and took the items.

"Mother, thank you once again." Howell looked at Martha and could only utter that word.

"Sweetie, I can feel that you have something to do. But I want you to remember one thing and one thing, your safety. Please take care of yourself." Martha stroked Howell's head gently as her beast also laid on top of Howell's head.

 

Howell picked up the spirit seeds before raising his right palm to his head, letting the bird feed it in delight.

"Spencer loves spirit seeds the most." Howell remarked while knowing it for the fact that he had seen it countless times but never bored him in the slightest.

"Ugh...Howell, you're finally awake." Seth who had got out from his bedroom stretched his body when he saw Martha and Howell already packing things.

The bird then flew before pecking Seth on the head.

"Ouch, ouch. Please stop! I am sorry to make her worry okay!" Seth knew the bird's personality and begged for forgiveness. The bird chirped before returning to Martha.

 

"Spencer, you little thing. I know your concern but he is also troubled over this." Martha lightly stroked the bird in consolation while Howell gave Little Red and Carmen their food.

'Yum. This is good. If I were still the old me, this would make me level up.'

'Partner's mother's food choice is good. I like it!'

 

Then the wolf snuggled up Seth's leg. He bowed down and rubbed its head and lower jaw. Seeing it made Howell also participate in the action. It was because no matter how many times he did it, the feeling of that soft fur was not to be forgotten.

Howell wanted to give the wolf the bloodline of the wolf from his inventory but held himself back. Perhaps it was because of the issue of the system exposure or because bloodline was something important and had to learn a bit more but Howell decided not to give them anything this time in fear of something undesireable.

Then he spoke up and heard about the side story of his parents. They did it while finishing breakfast before Howell returned in the afternoon.

 

"Howell, promise us that you will not ghost us anymore. Is that expression correct?" Martha asked due to her newfound usage of expression.

"Yes, I learned from my mistake. That expression is not wrong." Howell replied while carrying with him a bag worth of consumables.

"And also be careful. The trial in the future, it will probably be more dangerous than we all expect." Seth grabbed Howell's hand and said with a genuine smile. Martha also got closer and touched his cheek.

 

"I am going." Howell turned around and left to the direction of the downtown while Seth and Martha kept watching until his shadow disappeared altogether.

"He has grown up"

 

-

 

Howell ran with all his might after making sure no one was watching and Little Red do the confirmation of the fact. Now, he had acquired a new phone as a gift from the team. They said it was a good congratulatory gift for him. Remembering that Jake accidentally caused his phone to be broken, yeah he decided to not add his contact number for now. Howell used it to communicate with even the restaurant where he had a part-time job.

 

Also, he told them that he went to his parents' house for two days and two nights. At this time, he checked what messages his device received.

"There is another from Miss Misha. Let me see..." Howell checked the message and found out that she wanted Howell to go to the restaurant and work if possible. The message was recently sent too.

 

Howell: Now I am available till night. Can I go to work?

Misha: Mister Howell. Are you sure? It will help us a lot. But if you are actually busy then don't

Howell: No, I will be there ASAP

 

"Looks like my part-time job is demanding, and bountiful!" Howell ran in excitement until he reached close to the district with lots of traffic. He only lightly sprinted to follow some people who moved when they were at Tamer Apprentice rank level 9 at most.

Then he arrived at the restaurant and could not believe the sight. It was super crowded and now Howell realized how understaffed the restaurant truly was. Going through the backdoor, Howell entered and reported Misha.

After that, he had to navigate through the crowded tables as he delivered the orders. This happened thirty minutes straight. Worse, he had to inform the customers that he was a beast tamer and could let Little Red help him.

But Howell knew that the payment was quite good so the effort was worth it.

 

"Thank you, Mister Howell. If not for you, we will lose a lot more potential customers." Misha said in a flat tone but Howell could perceive the good affinity from her voice.

"Well, looks like your father's new recipe is successful among people. No need to thank me for this. This is my job even if it is just temporary." Howell replied and allowed some of his thoughts to be expressed.

"I am sorry. Previously when you say something about yourself, I assume it was boasting. Now that I look back, you are only doing what you have to do. Even informing me about your absence and help immediately when the opportunity arrives. I want you to work with us for real though..."

"Sadly the law doesn't permit that. It's late evening. I need to go back to my dormitory first. See you later Miss Misha!" Howell took his clothes, bag, and his transparent box before he went home. Misha then raised her hand and waved at him.

 

Howell arrived at the front of his dormitory and reported his return to the overseer there. The same one he had to report before he had gone to his parent's house.

After that, Howell finally locked the door to his room as he unpacked everything he bought. Supplies of consumables were stored in the refrigerator and he also cleaned the transparent box before placing the silk that Carmen created back.

"Okay, all is done." After some time, Howell tidied up his room with Little Red and Carmen helping in the middle.

 

"Now, which one of you will go to the beast training dimension?" Howell asked the two. Little Red did not want to go there as she missed a lot of time with her master. Carmen was willing to go there again since her capability was limited at the moment.

Howell initially wanted Little Red to go but then he understood that Little Red's capability was more than what she was spending her years on the training dimension. Carmen however lacked it most. Although, Howell could also feel that the two were competing for him.

'Partner, I will go! I am not strong enough and even some of the materials from today's hunt only allow me to increase my Jade Metamorphosis to SS' Carmen had assimilated and synthesized the materials that elevated her ability to SS.

"What!" Howell then immediately checked the information panel and found that it was true.

[...Jade Methamorphosis(SS),...]

"This time is crucial for Carmen as her Jade Metamorphosis ability is her potential to be strong when she undergoes the metamorphosis process." Little Red explained. She knew that Carmen could be a rival for gaining her master's attention but at the same time she was also like a little sister to her so she could not help but hope for the best for Carmen.

No! Please listen to me first, Howell felt something for a while but respected Carmen's own will. But this time he could not help but interject.

'Partner?'

"Let us not do any Beast Idle Training Dimension for a few days." Howell proclaimed seriously. This made Carmen confused but Little Red understood immediately.

"You are still not accustomed to the living environment where Master is but already used to growing up in the training dimension. Master wanted you to experience more living with humans." Little Red added.

Carmen went silent for a while. Howell waited patiently before a reply came.

'I understand. But let me go tomorrow okay? I want to grow stronger faster!'

"Okay, okay. Now that is settled, it is time for us to sleep. It is already near the usual sleep time"

 

Howell then placed Carmen inside the transparent box on his desk.

"Good night, Carmen."

'Hmm...'

 

"Little Red, tomorrow is an important day. So watch with attentive eyes." Howell said as he tidied up his bed and laid on it with his blanket. Little Red who had been polymorphed into a human form then went up to the bed and laid next to Howell.

"Yes, Master. Good night." Little Red said with affection in her voice.

If not for the fact that Howell was used to it, he would be tempted...really tempted.

"Actually...Master..."

"Stop. No means no. I have so much to think about my own matter and I am not sure the relationship between a beast tamer and their beast." Howell replied firmly before he went to sleep. Little Red could feel the conflicted issue her master faced but remained supportive of him.

Then she hugged him from behind and both of them slept.

 

-

 

The next morning. At dawn.

 

The first to wake up was Little Red. Every day, she had to learn something and this habit persisted even for a thousand years. 

She saw Howell who was still sleeping but his face showed an uncomfortable expression. His brows furrowed, in a state of fear. Little Red knew that Howell experienced this quite often and decided to help her master. 

 

"Master..." Little Red massaged Howell's face and forehead with her hands. She could also feel his facial muscles contracted and helped it relax. 

Howell then turned around and instinctively hugged anything near. As a result, Little Red was caught but she did not stop the massage. Little Red then turned to look at the study table where a white jade tiny figure wriggled. 

 

"Have you done exercise for the morning?" Little Red asked Carmen. 

'Hmm. But I am in the middle of accumulation and want to step forward in my evolution. It will take around hundreds of years if I want to get perfect evolution results.' Carmen replied telepathically before asking. 

'What are you doing?' She asked in return.

"Make Master comfortable?" Little Red said as a matter of fact.

'I will do it too!' Carmen did not want to lose out too so she thought it was a good idea to know her partner more. Even though they had a spiritual connection, it was not enough.

"Can you feel it? The circulation of Master's origin energy..." Little Red was always monitoring Howell's condition and the Shrouding Flow Cyclic Art started to flow on its own accord. It meant that Howell had touched its important aspect.

'Hmm. This is excellent. But there is also something called [Dragonblood] inside Partner's body. Will he be fine?' Carmen asked with a spiritual connection.

 

"Previously, this aspect was hidden. But now Master's Dragonblood is responding to the origin energy and shows signs of awakening. This makes me remember that I once had to drink Master's blood..." Little Red was remembering each event with Howell and some things could be answered.

But to her, together with her Master was the happiest thing that could happen and she wanted to enjoy it more.

'Is that so? Well, then let me show you my result of accumulating resources in that place!' Carmen did not want to lose out. Little Red faintly knew what Carmen wanted to do so she watched.

Carmen spat out silk and started to form a cocoon that enveloped Howell's entire body. When she was done, strands of origin energy flowed on the silk and entered the cocoon.

A green faint light could be seen from the cocoon and Carmen was controlling all of this process. This was the entire ability she had learned and put into practice for herself the first time. This time, she wanted to let her partner know the effect of her most powerful ability.

Both of them felt it. The entire body inside the cocoon was transforming. The only downside was that the process was slow and not immediate but they knew that Howell was becoming stronger even if the increase was little. After fifteen minutes, the cocoon was retracted by Carmen as she ate the silk and repurposed it inside her body. She ate all the silk and none of the traces remained in the bed and the room.

 

 

-

At this moment, Howell had a strange dream. It was so strange that he could not make up his surroundings. 

There were echoes of beast roaring. Howell did not know what beasts produced such noises. All he knew was that the roar was a kind of summon. What summon it was or what it was summoning, Howell had no clue. 

Then he saw something amazing. 

That was when his gaze landed on a beast at the top of the mountain, looking down on countless other beasts. That beast roared at the sky and the countless other beasts cowered in submission.

That instance was what Howell tried to etch into his memory. Sadly, this dream was one where he forgot the moment he woke up. 

-

 

"Mmm..." Howell was feeling strange and he slowly opened his eyes that was heavy. He felt more energized than even yesterday due to the fact that he was sensitive to the minute change in his body.

"Master, good morning!"

'Partner, good morning!'

 

Two different responses from different paths of communication. Howell opened his eyes wide when he heard that.

"Good morning to you too!" Howell became sober fast. But he also remembered that he did not dare to tell his parents about his lineage. He told them his experience for the past year with the exception of the system. He felt that he was not ready yet to unravel that part of his life. So, he could only do things at his own pace.

He opened his own curriculum book and read the next part because the previous part was done thoroughly, especially when Little Red also helped. He kept reading about that part because this part expanded the concept of the beast's ability.

Every beast had ability. Some of them were learned through experience but most of them were passed through their bloodline. Some abilities were strong and others were weak. Howell's question this time was how an entity integrated the ability to become its own.

He had some clues in the fact that he had Information Form Manipulation. Any experience could be considered a kind of information. But most of the information could not be integrated into someone's deepest core to be an ability of its own. This time, Howell wanted to know the reason why but he had a feeling that he already had the answer.

'What is it that makes an individual learn ability and even pass it through bloodline, literature, records, etc?' Howell asked this inside his heart.