Chapter 29: Hugo’s Spirit Pet

The next day, Ain found himself in his usual seat, waiting for Teacher Turner’s arrival.

Seated beside Ain, Hugo appeared elated and conversed with Ain. "Ain! I think I'm going to reach rank-1 today!"

Excitement and joy were apparent in his voice.

Ain smiled upon hearing this and encouraged him. "Keep it up; you’re going to be one of the earlier ones to reach Rank-1 in our class."

Ain’s statement was true. When he arrived today, he spotted four students excitedly showing off their spirit pets. Five students had reached Rank-1 and contracted spirit pets over the weekend. The fifth student, like Ain, didn’t openly display his spirit pet.

With over a hundred students in the class, Hugo would indeed be among the top few to reach Rank-1.

"You’re right. It’s believed that the faster you are, the better your talent is. You’re talent is amazing.”

Hugo’s comment was heartfelt, which was an aspects Ain admired about him. Others would be filled with envy and jealousy towards Ain, and such was the case for many classmates.

"Have you considered your first spirit pet?" Ain asked.

"An avian! My target is a flying spirit pet. Don’t you think it’s suitable with my talent? It’s possible to ride them in the future. It’ll be so cool to fly on my spirit pet!"

"Hmm, it’s indeed a good choice with your talent. Your Sensory Enhancement can turn it into an excellent scout."

Ain figured out the direction Hugo wanted to develop in. Most spirit tamers followed a similar path, synergizing with their innate talents if possible.

As for the flying bit, Ain didn’t comment. He knew that spirit tamers would gain the ability of flight as their rank increase.

It wasn’t known to Ain when this became possible, but the question was whether Hugo’s spirit pet would be capable of carrying him before Hugo himself gained the ability to fly.

As the students conversed animatedly amongst themselves, Teacher Turner arrived, marking the beginning of the class period.

It was the morning training session once again.

The students who just reached Rank-1 stayed behind in the classroom to consult Teacher Turner, while the others arrived at the training hall.

Since the only spell Ain still hadn’t mastered was Spirit Impact, which was disruptive to practice, he obediently meditated.

With each training session, Ain sensed his spirit core strengthening. Soon, it will be able to withstand the branding process.

When that came true, he could begin branding, subsequently reaching Intermediate Rank-1.

Time passed as the spirit energy circulated in his body, following along the path described in the Basic Meditation Technique.

Some of the spirit energy seeped into his spirit core, strengthening, and polishing it further. It was also absorbed by his bones, flesh, and blood. It seemed to have a small body tempering effect.

Ain already noticed this phenomenon when he used Introspect during training.

As the training session neared its end, there was a sudden fluctuation of spirit energy beside Ain.

He turned and saw Hugo’s figure, who was immersed in training. A small vortex of spirit energy formed around him, as the surrounding spirit energy was drawn to him.

Observing this familiar phenomenon, Ain knew that Hugo had just condensed his spirit core, reaching Beginner Rank-1.

As Hugo still needed to focus and consolidate his spirit core, Ain retrieved his gaze and focused on his own training.

Just like that, the morning training session ended. Ain congratulated Hugo as they made their way back towards the classroom.

At this moment, Ain received a request from Hugo, "Ain, I’m going to the market after school to pick out my spirit pet. Can you come along?"

"Of course, I have some time after school."

"Great! I’m not really confident in going there alone," Hugo heaved a sigh of relief at Ain’s agreement.

...

While talking about their training experiences, Ain and Hugo arrived at a tall building in the central region of the city.

"This is the place I found on Cyberspace. They have the most avian spirit beasts in the entire city," Hugo briefly introduced the store to Ain as they walked in.

They were immediately greeted by the cool air and modern furnishings inside the building. A greeter came forward to welcome them before pointing out the directions for them.

Hugo came prepared and had already decided on a wind-attribute spirit pet. An elevator brought them to the relevant section of the store.

Upon arriving, they requested a digital catalog from the shop assistant and began browsing.

Of course, it was only a cursory glance; Hugo had already narrowed it down to two choices.

"Ain, take a look at this. This is the Swift Swallow I told you about, with a max quality of Transcendent. They have reasonable flight speed and high flexibility in combat."

"And this right here is the Grand Eagle, its max quality is also Transcendent. Their senses are superior amongst avians, especially their vision."

"Their potential in combat is similar but there is a slight difference in price between them.”

Hugo pointed out his choices in the catalog while briefly explaining to Ain.

After Hugo’s quick explanation, a thought appeared in Ain’s head.

‘Both of these should be within Hugo’s budget. He clearly prefers the Grand Eagle but is hesitant because of its higher price. He subconsciously wants reassurance on spending more.’

Ain naturally believed that the Grand Eagle more suitable. Its extraordinary senses were a perfect match for Hugo’s Sensory Enhancement.

"The think you should choose the Grand Eagle. It synergized well with your innate talent. It’s not bad to invest now for greater returns later." Ain followed it up with his thoughts.

With Ain’s agreement, Hugo smiled in relief and promptly made his decision. He approached the shop assistant with the catalog.

After some time, Hugo was taken to another room to meet his spirit pet and complete the contract.

As Ain waited, Hugo returned with visible exhilaration. "Ain, I have a spirit pet now!"

"Congratulations." Ain smiled as well remembering his own experience contracting Nox.

The two didn’t stay long and immediately left the building.

"Ain, how’s the progress with your spirit pet?"

"It reached Beginner Rank-1 recently."

"That was fast; I’ll have to try my best too."

After some chit-chat, Ain asked, "Have you named your spirit pet?"

"Name? I’m gonna let my old man do it. Remember I told you about him?"

"Mhm." Ain nodded.

"I thought I would have settle for a cheap spirit beast reaching only Noble, but my old man had actually been saving up for years in case I became a spirit tamer. So, I want him to name my first spirit pet."

"That’s thoughtful," Ain replied. He remembered what Hugo told him before. After his wife’s death, Hugo’s father had become a drunk, living day-to-day with no motivation, without much regard for his sole child. So it naturally came as a surprise when his years of efforts were exposed.

The conversations continued until it was time to separate.

Hugo stated his intentions to spar against Ain but decided to wait until the upcoming week. Ain obviously raised no objections. It wouldn’t be a challenge with the difference in ranks between their spirit pets, but he still believed the experience to be valuable.

...

It was already evening, and Ain was seated on his bed.

Since he couldn’t train his body, he decided to focus on his spirit tamer training instead. Furthermore, he had yet to try the effects of the medicinal pills.

He had three types of pills at hand now. The Spirit Recovery Pills were used to accelerate spirit energy recovery, while the Blood Refinement Pills were for body tempering.

Only the Spirit Condensing Pills could assist in his spirit tamer training.

Spirit Condensing Pills could temporarily increase the quality of spirit energy, which, in turn, increased training efficiency. Ain’s spirit core would be strengthened faster, allowing him to reach Intermediate Rank-1 sooner.

Out of curiosity, Ain decided to use Scan on the pills.

Soon, the relevant information appeared in his mind.

[Name: Spirit Condensing Pill]

[Rank: Rank-1]

[Attribute Traces: Fire 8.256%, Water 8.064%, Earth 7.922%, ...]

The name and rank were as expected. Only the attribute traces showed an interesting distribution.

The Spirit Condensing Pills were well-balanced in terms of their attributes. Of course, this balance was still relative. Common attributes like fire and water were more abundant than some uncommon and rare attributes.

Attributes like time were not even detected. From Ain’s understanding, this was due to his insufficient rank, not due to their absence. There should be attribute traces lower than 0.001% that Ain couldn’t detect yet.

After this small interlude, Ain swallowed the pill without hesitation.

As soon as it reached his stomach, a cool and refreshing sensation quickly spread throughout his body. It seemed to meld with his spirit energy, bringing about a wondrous change.

Ain didn’t waste any time and immediately began to circulate his spirit energy.

Soon after, Ain noticed an obvious change while using Introspect.

Compared to this morning, the increment by which his spirit core strengthened with each cycle showed an obvious increase, while the spirit energy used remained constant. It was the same with his body. His bones, flesh, and blood received more nourishment compared to before.

His training speed had effectively increased.

The Spirit Condensing Pills were amazing, even with their limited duration. It was no wonder why they were said to be essential to spirit tamers.

Ain was invigorated and was soon completely immersed in his training.

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