John Wicked: Endlessly Evolving My Pet Monsters-Chapter 8: Encounter

John and Alfred moved deeper into the Silver Hill Spring area and soon encountered monsters.

Windscythe Doves. Annoying little pigeons with wind-based projectile attacks, and they were always in groups of five to seven.

Fortunately, John and Alfred could easily dodge them, and the Doves had an utterly low defense, so each died with a single attack.

This time, John absorbed the Soul Cores to increase his cultivation.

Once he increased his Soul Core to 100 and then used Soul Synergy, Alfred's skills would get twice as strong or more, depending on how he used them!

The only caveat was his strength, Speed, and Defense. Without a Monster Geno Art, it was impossible to increase humans' physical stats to the level of Monsters.

However, Monster Geno Arts were rare. No Kingdom or forces aside from the Four Ruling Sects possessed them in this Gratar Continent. They were the main distributor of Monster Geno Arts and many other resources, but they also had a priority scoop on young Tamers and other things impacting the continent as a whole.

Ultimately, the Four Ruling Sects were the governors of the Gratar Continent that housed 167 Kingdoms across four major regions.

But it was also every Tamer's dream to join the Four Ruling Sect branches and then ultimately join their headquarters at the edge of the continent in the fifth region, the Heavenrend Region.

In this Brimwind Region, the Sub-Branch Leaders of the Four Ruling Sects had arrived in their grand airship that was two hundred meters long and roughly a hundred meters wide.

It was almost like a floating fortress. The other members of the Sub-Branches didn't even know that the branch leaders had arrived this early.

Floating right above the clouds over this Paladon Forest, a huge airship was acting as the control center for the wristbands worn by the students.

At one corner of the ship, the crew members who were setting up some magic equipment were engaged in conversation while working.

"Do you think there'll be anyone impressive this month?"

"A few renowned surnames in regions have entered, so there's a chance."

"But why do they want us to broadcast this now? It's too early."

"This is a request from a big shot from the headquarters of the Ouroboros Hall."

"What?! That hidden 5th ruling sect that never interferes within regions of the Gratar Continent?"

"Jeez, how many people even know about them here in this region?"

"Nobody talks about them, and their information is forbidden to be written down in any form, so new generations might not know."

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"All regional trials are forced to be closely monitored in this year's 10-day survival trials right from the start because their people are watching."

"Could it be one of their representatives is also on this ship?"

"Indeed, there is."

...

Above the ship in the open air, five people sat at a table, each of their eyes faintly glimmering with different patterns.

They were observing the trial in relaxed postures and utter silence.

"Don't come peeking into my area, Donny. I'll burn you next time."

The black-haired woman, looking in her late twenties with a long ponytail, suddenly spoke, her voice frosty.

"Relax, I just saw the person I was watching enter your area, so I mistakenly followed in."

"Get out."

"Shsss... stop being annoying, you two. Speak in the soul network. We don't need to hear your voices."

'Hey, Miss Ourorobos representative, can I take a short look at that guy in Silver Hill Spring, please? I was observing him while he was in Verdant Canopy.'

'I will burn you if you trespass.'

'...Fine, then can you just tell me if you can identify that beast? It has Blood and Dark attributes. That combination is quite rare here, you know?'

'It doesn't matter, but I'll tell you. It's a Ravenous Hound. It's rare to get them, but not impossible, and there's a chance for any wolf-type Bronze-rank monster to birth a Ravenous Hound given that the right conditions are met.'

'As expected of the most knowledgeable sect. Then I wonder if you know about their possible evolution paths.'

'Why? Do you want to snatch it from that kid later and take it for yourself? I've heard some people practice this when they see a Monster Pet with high potential in someone's hand. These vile people snatch those Monsters because they want to train and evolve those rare and talented monsters themselves.'

'Are you one of those, Danny?' Azelis glared at the bald man, looking in his thirties with a rather handsome appearance and blue eyes. She added, 'I am keeping an eye on that kid, and if he survives for ten days, I'll take him to Ouroboros Hall's branch. I dare you to do anything foolish.'

'...I'm sorry. I will never bother you again. Jeez.'

Azelis internally snorted and focused on observing her area.

The Paladon Forest had 15 different types of areas, and these five Branch leaders had selected three areas each to observe. No trespassing allowed.

These five people were Emperor-rank Tamers with Monster Geno Arts, Soul Techniques, and strong Monster Pets.

And there were more Emperor-rank Tamers observing these 10-day survival trials at different places in the four regions.

Each place had a different venue and different Monsters, but there was one place where all these venues were being observed by the masses.

Heavenrend Region.

The most advanced and prestigious region of the Gratar Continent, and also the place where the headquarters of the Four Ruling Sects and the hidden Fifth Ruling Sect were situated.

Only the top elites and their families could live in this region's cities, and to them, these trials were a sort of entertainment.

Hundreds of thousands of people were watching this live, yet the people of the four other regions were not allowed to watch broadcasts unless they arrived at the venue.

But people in the Heavenrend Region had high-tech products and infrastructure, with monitors and screens at every corner and house.

Even John wasn't aware that such a luxurious and advanced place like a metro city existed in this world, but hopefully, it wouldn't be long before he found a place there.

For now, John finished digesting the Soul Cores he absorbed, making his Soul Reach reach 64 already.

He was getting stronger, and so was Alfred.

It appeared that reaching Prime-stage didn't mean Alfred stopped getting stronger. He had more potential in his flesh to bloom, given that he grew fast.

'Alfred is really a top-tier Bronze-rank Pet,' John grinned as he saw Alfred's stats reaching 42-41-41 as they fought and defeated a horde of Icewhip Foxes.

John extracted their soul cores and finally arrived at the area where Silverwind Eagles had their nests high up in the trees.

"Okay, buddy. It looks like we'll have to attract one down to catch it."

John looked up, and Alfred mimicked him as the duo squinted their eyes.

'It's fucking three hundred meters high. 'This is insane.'

"Awooo!!!"

Alfred howled with its full power towards a couple of Eagles flying around right above, but none of them heeded them.

Alfred turned to John with his tongue out, panting with a comical face.

"Yeah, yeah, we can't attract them from here."

John wryly smiled as his eyes moved to the big branches.

"It looks like we'll have to climb these giant-ass trees in biting cold wind and stand on one of the solid, wide branches to even begin."

"And if we fall, we can use Umbral Drift to land safely."

"Bark! Bark!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But let's observe first. We have to find a top-tier Silverwind Eagle."

As John and Alfred began moving to observe, they encountered some students who were also roaming around.

They also saw a camp built by a student between trees in a big space with his Metal Blade Mantis.

John inspected the guy when he passed by and was shocked because Metal Blade Mantis was almost as strong as Alfred at the Bronze-rank Prime-stage.

Moreover, the guy also had two Soul Techniques, not one.

'Must be from a powerful background.'

John clenched his fist, the fire in his eyes fueling up. 'I'll become stronger than you all. just watch.'

"John!!"

Suddenly, John heard a familiar voice calling out his name and turned his head to the north.

Yuna was there, standing on a boulder near the cold spring with her hand in a cone shape around her mouth, still in a shouting position.

Seeing John looking at her, Yuna waved her hand while smiling as if she finally found water after being parched for hours.

John couldn't help but smile in reaction to this, but only for a brief moment before he retracted it and waved his hand.

"Woof!"

"What? You want me to ride you? No way!"

"Woof! Woof!!"

"I know you are big enough to carry me and run easily, but no."

Alfred stared at John after standing in front of him for two seconds before snorting and turning his head away.

"Whatever, I don't care if you throw a tantrum."