Fang Lan's messages made Lu Ran grip his phone tightly and worry about her. How did he and Fang Lan get selected one after the other? Although White Dragon had said that black cards appeared in large numbers, this was too coincidental. Had she already contracted a familiar?
Lu Ran quickly looked down again. He wanted to find out if she had followed the instructions on the black card to become a beastmaster. Although he and Captain Doofus had a lot of fun in the beginner trial and even wanted to stay there for a few extra days, it was still very dangerous for ordinary people.
[Fang Lan: Hey, hey, hey, it’s actually true. Please pick up the phone. Where did you run off to?]
[Fang Lan: Should I follow the instructions to become a beastmaster? It feels a little dangerous, but... I’m really interested and don't want to give up this opportunity. What should I do?]
The next message came over ten minutes later.
[Fang Lan: Damn it, I've made up my mind. I decided to give it a shot. I can't wait anymore.]
Don't do it! Trying to do everything will only get you hurt! Couldn’t you have thought it through for a bit longer? How could you be so rash?
[Fang Lan: I'll make a contract with my sweetheart as soon as I get home. Although contracting a large dog could be a better decision, I still want to give my sweetheart the opportunity to evolve!]
From what Lu Ran remembered, that was what Fang Lan called her favorite spider. It was a very common Great Xia wolf spider, found in many regions across Xia. These sturdy, agile, and fierce predators were also known in some areas as "land warriors." After all, they were the natural predators of many agricultural and forest pests such as beetles and moths.
However, the reason Fang Lan particularly liked her Great Xia wolf spider was its unique color. While ordinary Great Xia wolf spiders were an earthy gray, hers was a bluish-purple.
But was it really okay to contract a spider?
White Dragon said that Limitless City possessed awareness, allowing it to arrange beginner trials based on the first familiars newcomers chose. Nevertheless, Lu Ran was still worried. He felt so anxious that it seemed as though he were the one going in, perhaps because they were as close as siblings even though they weren’t related by blood.
He read the next message.
[Fang Lan: Amazing ＼(◎o◎)／! I completed the contract, and my sweetheart became so cool! I feel like it’s almost as big as your Captain Doofus!!!]
Lu Ran looked at the picture that Fang Lan had sent. To his astonishment, her Great Xia wolf spider was now the size of a medium-sized dog.
Her small spider’s evolution made it that big?
[Fang Lan: It’s so strong! Its venom has become more potent, and its silk is much tougher too. The silk it spits out can even be coated with poison. I tested it, and it should be instantly fatal to an adult.]
Hey, why does your familiar have an innate Poison attribute!? Well, Great Xia wolf spiders are naturally venomous, so I guess that makes sense. Damn, wouldn’t someone who contracted an electric eel get a Lightning-attribute familiar?
[Fang Lan: We have ten minutes left before we get teleported. I don't know if Little Blue and I will make it, but we should be fine. It told me that it would protect me.]
[Fang Lan: Lu Ran!!! I didn't tell my parents about this. I just texted them that I’m staying at my bestie's house today. When you see these messages, don't tell them anything and wait for me to come back. If I don't, then please take care of them for me.]
Lu Ran could feel a headache coming on. Since childhood, Fang Lan had always been braver and wilder than him. She wasn’t even afraid to catch spiders and snakes with her bare hands back in elementary school, so it wasn’t surprising for her to be excited when she encountered something .
Lu Ran quickly called Fang Lan, but she didn’t answer. She was probably still in the secret realm or Limitless City and had yet to return.
"She should be fine."
Lu Ran had actually thought about it before. Since the black card appeared en masse, it was only a matter of time before someone he knew was chosen. He just didn't expect it to be so soon. Fang Lan did one thing better than him, though: before going somewhere dangerous, she left a message with a friend.
I didn't prepare well enough last time, but I'll do better moving forward. Before I go back to Limitless City, I'll leave a message to avoid any trouble.
"After school starts, I will definitely have less time to spend in Limitless City. Taking another leave of absence would be a bit difficult, but I can't let my studies delay my beastmaster training.
"I just have a holiday make-up class right now, so I can still skip it, but once school starts, I can't take time off anymore. Forget it, I’ll handle this one step at a time. White Dragon said that he could solve these kinds of problems for me anyway, so I'll just ask him when the time comes."
Lu Ran called Fang Lan again, but she still didn’t answer. He sat on the sofa, his headache growing worse.
He believed that Fang Lan would be fine. Without his telepathy, he likely wouldn’t be a match against Fang Lan when it came to handling animals and surviving in the wilderness.
There was no point in getting stressed out. All he could do was wait.
At the same time, in Limitless City #3.
A tall figure came out of a private room and excitedly looked at the mysterious starry sky.
"What was that? That beginner trial was way too easy! Why did we only get a B when we performed so well, though? Never mind that—let's see what's going on here.”
Fang Lan looked around and saw a woman walk out of a private room near hers.
She quickly walked up to the person. “Umm... Hi!”
The woman was in a black T-shirt, brown shorts, and a lab coat. Her long and beautiful legs, rivaling Fang Lan’s, were covered in black stockings.
"Ummm..." Fang Lan looked at the woman in amazement. The woman was so beautiful, but she radiated such a cold aura that it stopped Fang Lan in her tracks.
Hmm? Fang Lan took a closer look at the other person and suddenly remembered something.
"A-Are you Dr. Gu!?" Fang Lan exclaimed.
"You know me?" the woman in the research coat asked, surprised.
"My name is Fang Lan, a freshman majoring in veterinary medicine at Mystic University this year. I've watched your interviews, Dr. Gu."
The woman in the research outfit was even more surprised. She hadn’t expected the newbie she had just randomly met to be an underclassman. Her cold expression melted, giving way to a faint smile.
"I see. I am indeed Gu Qingyi. Since you’re my underclassman, you can just call me Big Sister Gu. l can tell just by looking at you that you have a lot of questions right now. I just so happen to have some time, so I can answer them for you."
"Great! Thank you, Big Sister Gu!"
Aware of how accomplished Gu Qingyi was in academics, Fang Lan immediately turned into a fangirl. Gu Qingyi even earned a double doctorate in veterinary medicine and zoology at a young age! Did she also get chosen to become a beastmaster?
Green Sea City, Xingguang District.
While waiting for Fang Lan, Lu Ran tried to summon Captain Doofus and give him the Wind fruit, but he seemed to be asleep inside the black card.
"Heh. You get tired sometimes too, huh?"
Lu Ran decided to postpone Captain Doofus’s attribute awakening for now. He wasn’t the only one who had a long day.
Considering Captain Doofus fought for an entire day, it was likely even more tired than he was. Its injuries could be healed, but not its physical, mental, and spiritual fatigue. Moreover, unlike Lu Ran, who got to drink the Mind Cleansing Tea, Captain Doofus only ate some fruit. It was probably better to let it sleep for a while.
Lu Ran planned to use this time to look through the Basic Beastmaster Manual he had bought from the Cat Maid Cafe so that he could pretend to be a pro once Fang Lan was back.
The manual wasn’t worth much. The other party sold it to him for only 100 crystal coins, which meant that it was probably a common item. After all, according to White Dragon, this kind of basic information was free for members of the government or a guild. However, Rain repeatedly emphasized that their manual had exclusive details and tricks, and Lu Ran wouldn’t lose out if he bought it.
He materialized the booklet and opened it to the first page. It started with a brief introduction to beastmasters.
[Beastmasters are a profession that contracts, cultivates, and controls familiars!
Among them, the strength of a combat-type beastmaster is roughly composed of two elements: their beastmaster skills and the combat power of their familiar!
The basic combat power of familiars is determined by their level and species rank.]
Lu Ran carefully picked out the important information.
"The familiar’s level is the numeric value I see using the Eye of Detection. Level 1 is the lowest, and the highest level is currently unknown. Every 10 levels, the familiar will face a bottleneck that will stop it from leveling up, just as Mr. White Dragon mentioned.
“The same applies to beastmaster levels, which are divided into Apprentice, level 1, level 2, and so on, corresponding to the familiar’s level ranges of 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, and so forth. If a beastmaster wants to level up, they have to get their familiar to break through its bottleneck. This can be achieved by clearing the corresponding ascension realm. “Once the ascension realm is cleared, it benefits all the beastmaster’s familiars. If so, then ascension realms are likely unavoidable.
"A beastmaster without beastmaster skills is considered unqualified. There are various types of beastmaster skills: those that unleash the beastmaster’s power, those that enhance the familiar’s skills, and those that utilize the familiar’s strength to enhance the beastmaster. Therefore, beastmasters are also generally split into two schools.
“Beastmaster skills are obtained through secret realm rewards. The rewards of each secret realm are different. Some special secret realms have a one percent probability of getting a beastmaster skill card with an S score, making them extremely difficult to obtain."
Lu Ran was shocked by how lucky he was. Not only did he score an S in the beginner trial, but he was also fortunate enough to get a beastmaster skill card.
Of course, it could have also been related to the drop rate bonus of the Beginner secret realm. According to White Dragon, the rewards of Beginner secret realms were far more generous than those of ordinary secret realms of the same level. This, along with the experience from killing monsters, was a perk for newcomers.
Super Beast Mimicry belongs in the category of skills that use the familiar’s strength to enhance the beastmaster!
"Beastmasters can only learn one beastmaster skill for each level, so it would be best to coordinate them if you have a choice. I can only learn another skill when I reach level 1, huh?"
Lu Ran read on. "In theory, beastmaster skills aren’t ranked. The power the skill exerts depends solely on the beastmaster's proficiency with the skill. There are no trash skills, only trash beastmasters. Such a familiar sentence."
This point was bolded in the manual, so Lu Ran memorized it carefully. Beastmaster skills went beyond just their superficial effect—the beastmaster could further develop them!
Lu Ran's mind began to race. This was in line with what he expected. Not long after he had obtained Super Beast Mimicry, he got the idea of improving it.
He continued to sift through the manual.
The species rank of familiars was divided into Transcendent, Champion, and King, and each rank was further divided into Low, Intermediate, and Superior. There were also some basic interactions and counters between different attributes, but they were relatively simple.
What Lu Ran paid the most attention to was the theoretical cultivation path, which had an entire page dedicated to it. This was the most important page in the training manual!
[The skills of familiars have to be developed under the guidance of the beastmaster. Based on their cultivation method, familiars can turn out to be quite unique.
However, due to the limited energy and talent of familiars, skill development can be roughly divided into four categories!]