Chapter 10: Dream

Set the scene: a snowy day.

Mode: melee.

Generate opponents: random.

With the settings complete, snowflakes fluttered throughout the Training Room. The Simulated Beasts, generated by the ritual, appeared.

As the Snow Joy talent activated, Nuobai felt a heavy shackle lift off her. She narrowed her eyes comfortably.

High-level training rooms were indeed better, and most importantly, she could use this one for free.

She stretched her front limbs, arched her rear, and gave a long yawn.

‘Now, let the hunt begin.’

Her paws stepped through the snow without leaving a single trace.

When she felt tired, she would catch a snowflake in the air to replenish herself. She could use her skills recklessly without worrying about consumption.

In her home field, Nuobai was shielded and empowered by the snow.

The five generated Simulated Beasts couldn’t even touch a single strand of her fur.

‘Too weak. Continue generating opponents.’

Double the Simulated Beasts appeared. Now, fifteen Simulated Beasts chased after Nuobai, kicking up countless snowflakes.

This was finally getting interesting. Nuobai began her counterattack, first targeting a fox-shaped Simulated Beast.

Approaching with Silent Step to hide her form, she led with Sharp Claw for a one-hit kill.

The surrounding Simulated Beasts reacted, quickly swarming Nuobai.

While dodging with all her might, she seized an opportunity to kill another one.

Using a Stone Beast’s attack as a springboard, she broke through the encirclement and disappeared again.

If these Simulated Beasts could talk, they would surely curse Nuobai for being so slippery.

In reality, if it weren’t for the need to train her evasion, Nuobai—in her Snow Joy state—could easily take the lives of these same-tier Simulated Beasts without making a sound.

Even though she had been unable to advance before, she had never been slack. Whenever she had free time, she honed her skills.

A snowflake fell into her mouth. The Snow Eater talent devoured it, slowly restoring her injuries, stamina, and energy.

Once all the Simulated Beasts were killed, she looked at the snowy ground with a slight sense of regret; it lacked a splash of red.

However, the warm-up was over. “Generate a Second-tier opponent, race: Silverback Dragon.”

As her voice fell, a new Simulated Beast began to take shape in the air.

……

“Long Qianwu.”

After finishing the video, this name lingered in Bai Luxin’s mind.

She was Nuobai’s former Beast Master. She had shared in Nuobai’s glory, yet abandoned her when the cub could not advance.

Then, she had immediately contracted a Silverback Dragon. She was cold, heartless, and completely indifferent to the Beast Pet that had once given everything for her.

Back then, Nuobai was still in her Cub Stage. She had survived in the snowy mountains for over fifty days before finally outlasting her last opponent.

No one could imagine how much hardship she had endured.

‘If only the person she met first had been me.’

The Survival Tournament was an event organized by the city to engage its residents, encouraging universal participation.

The last Survival Tournament was held at Longmian Mountain.

The rules stated that only Second-tier and below—including the Cub Stage, juvenile stage, and youth stage—Beast Pets could participate.

Despite that, those in the Cub Stage usually just went through the motions before being eliminated.

Furthermore, the Longmian Mountain venue was covered in snow year-round with a harsh environment.

During that particular tournament, Nuobai was the only cub who had even signed up.

No one took her seriously; they only thought she was overestimating herself.

In the latter half of the competition, those remaining were all Second-tier opponents.

Among them was a traveling Professional Athlete who had entered his second Beast Pet on a whim.

He had figured that since he could only participate once a year, it was better to dominate a frontier city than to get crushed in a major one.

He began clearing the field immediately. Yet, just as he thought victory was in his grasp, the end of the match was never announced.

Realizing there was still a Beast Pet that hadn’t been eliminated, his pet began searching. Thus, a long, grueling battle of thirty-six days began.

It started with the ease of a cat chasing a mouse, but it shifted to anger, confusion, doubt, disbelief, and finally, agony.

In the end, he was forced to withdraw from the competition. When the mystery was finally revealed, the entire audience cheered.

Just like that, Nuobai became the most popular star Beast Pet, and Long Qianwu was idolized along with her.

Suddenly, Bai Luxin gave a bitter smile. What was the difference between her and Long Qianwu now? She was also about to send Nuobai into a competition.

The image of the confident, high-spirited Nuobai during battle and the image of her struggling to survive in the video intertwined in her mind.

She couldn’t tell if she was doing the right or wrong thing by letting her compete.

Perhaps she should have a talk with her when she had the chance…

……

The setting sun was as red as blood.

By the end of the day, Nuobai’s skill proficiency had increased significantly. If she continued, she could probably reach the next level in about two days.

In battles against higher ranks, she lost more than she won, especially against large-scale opponents.

Between the tier suppression and racial differences, she was prone to being caught by the opponent the moment she tried to counterattack.

If she simply focused on stalling, she could maintain a fifty-fifty split.

She had more than enough evasion to stay alive, but her offensive lethality was lacking.

After finishing her assessment, Nuobai wasn’t discouraged. Instead, she was looking forward to the future.

She wouldn’t be stuck in her Cub Stage forever. Being able to feel herself getting stronger bit by bit was quite pleasant, wasn’t it?

“Nuobai, it’s time to go home.”

Bai Luxin opened the door and shivered from a sudden blast of cold air.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Master, you could have just called me from outside the door. I like it when it snows.”

Jumping onto Bai Luxin’s shoulder, Nuobai wrapped her tail around her neck.

Through her Constant Temperature Body, her body heat rose and was quickly transferred through her tail.

Seeing her condition improve, Nuobai retracted her tail.

“I plan to continue training. Master, you should go back by yourself.”

Before she could recover from her lingering sense of loss, Bai Luxin instinctively refused.

“No!”

She immediately explained, “I made an appointment with Sister Qin. We have to go change your information tomorrow morning.”

Training wasn’t urgent, so Nuobai didn’t object. She simply became a bit absent-minded at the thought of meeting a certain someone.

Bai Luxin sighed inwardly. She was now a bit hypersensitive to the phrase “by yourself.”

She had lived alone all this time. Then Nuobai had suddenly burst into her life.

Or perhaps Heaven couldn’t bear to see her alone any longer and had granted her a family member.

She understood all too well the feeling of living alone with many things in her heart but no one to tell.

Nuobai had lived that kind of life too—misunderstood, with no one to help or support her.

She was truly worried and afraid. This stemmed from her ignorance regarding Beast Pet competitions, as well as her fear of losing Nuobai.

Fighting was never a simple matter. While others were excited by Nuobai’s elegant way of playing with her opponents, she was afraid Nuobai would get hurt and bleed.

She didn’t want to experience the disappearance of a loved one ever again.

‘Please don’t do dangerous things anymore!’

“Nuobai, do you… like fighting?”

“It’s alright, mostly because I have a dream.”

Bai Luxin waited quietly for her next words, a sliver of hope rising in her heart.

“Master, I want to become human.”

Seeing her dazed expression, Nuobai smiled and said, “I’m kidding, Master. I want to become a Beast King. I want to be the strongest, most incredible Beast King.”

Nuobai brandished her claws. She was in a great mood, much like when she had won the championship years ago. She felt as though the future was within her reach.

She didn’t notice at all that the eyes of the person beside her had suddenly dimmed.

“Nuobai, I will help you…”

“Okay! When the time comes, I’ll be the strongest Beast King in the world, and you’ll be the strongest Beast Master in the world.”

As Nuobai spoke, she wondered if she would give her Master a fright when she actually became human in the future.

This world was a bit strange. Very few Beast Pets chose a human form after becoming a Beast King, though she didn’t know why.

It resulted in everyone thinking she was joking whenever she said she wanted to become human.

As time went on, she simply claimed she wanted to be a Beast King.

A Beast King can become human, so a Beast King equals a human. There was nothing wrong with that logic.

Bai Luxin reached out, catching the setting sun on the horizon.

“Then I’ll be waiting. It’s a promise.”

“My word as Nuobai is a promise, and a promise is worth a thousand gold pieces.”

“Hahaha! Come here then. Let me see where those thousand gold pieces are.”

A pair of hands pulled Nuobai down, searching through her fur as she held her in her arms.

“Master!”

This time, Bai Luxin didn’t stop herself. ‘If becoming a Beast King is your dream, I will do everything in my power to help you.’

She had lost her own dreams long ago, but now, it seemed she had found one.