Turning back time to the night before the finals, at a random alley in the capital, two robed figures were talking in hushed voices.
"Our plan failed again. What's more, our young master lost his taming system! Everything is that bastard Zeshion's fault!"
The robed man said to the other. Although he was whispering, the anger in his voice was apparent.
"First, we lost two of our best assassins, now, we let our lord's son's ability get removed! Nothing went as planned since we came here!"
The other one, whose voice sounded neither a male's nor a female's, said in anger.
"Now that it has come to this, we should at least ensure that we succeed tomorrow. If not, our organization wouldn't have any more future to look forward to."
"Of course, everything is already in place. Even if that cocky Zeshion interferes, there's nothing he could do."
The second robed man, after hearing about the status of their preparations, quickly nodded.
"It's good that preparations are doing well. However, don't let your guard down. Our opponent is a God Tamer, who knows what tricks he got on his sleeves."
Before the first one replied, the second robed man quickly walked away. As if to whisper it to the wind, the first man said his reply.
"We await your signal to start the war, Lord Phantom."
---
"B-Bad news! The capital's prison has just had a jailbreak! Hundreds of criminals are on the loose!"
The messenger said while almost gasping for air. It seems that he ran to this place as fast as he physically could
"Jailbreak?! Which jail?!"
The woman to the right of God Zeshion stood up and slammed her palms on the table. Hearing her question, the poor messenger flinched before stuttering his reply.
"I-It was the central prison!"
"Impossible! There are thousands of competent guards there!"
The old man quickly lost his composure as he shouted in disbelief. As if ignoring the old man's outburst, the woman quickly pondered before asking for confirmation.
"The central prison has [that person] at the lowest level, don't tell me..."
"Y-Yes! [That person] was sighted within the escapees!"
When the messenger said so, God Zeshion's eyebrows twitched. A short while later, he vanished from his seat like a ghost. After seeing that God Zeshion made his move, the remaining four committee members sighed in relief.
The tournament committee, which was actually composed of the top leaders of the capital city, quickly discussed within themselves before facing the three of us who were standing by the side. The old man now spoke quickly, as if his initial slow and almost hypnotic voice was just a lie.
"Now's not the time for formalities. We'll send your cash prize to each of your designated town's government offices. Tamer Will, quickly choose three C-Grade artifacts. For Tamer Wan Li, choose two B-Grade artifacts from this list."
As the old man spoke, a different colored paper popped in front of Wan Li. She quickly scanned the list for something she would need. Me, I already selected what I want while the messenger was talking.
Storage Ring (10 cu. m. capacity), Venom Dragon's Nail (Poison Dagger), and Unicorn's Horn (Healing Earrings). One for convenience, one for offense, and one for protection. With these items, I could better ensure my survival in the wild. As soon as I completed my selection, the list vanished and in its place were instead the three items I chose, similarly floating in the air.
Ember doesn't need a weapon or armor yet since at this stage she's better off relying on her physical skills than relying on tools. That's why all of the items I selected are for boosting my own strength.
Similarly, after Wan Li received her selected treasures, the four committee members quickly left the room with the messenger. The three of us, who were left in the room, quietly decided to take our leave too. Rather, before I even noticed, Hiden vanished from the room.
As our destination was basically the same, Wan Li and I was walking side by side while talking. While walking along the hallways of the stadium, Wan Li mentioned something she just remembered.
"Right, I remember you want to try contracting Aster's Shadow Wolf. Although God Zeshion went out, it should still be possible to at least try."
"I almost forgot! Thanks for the reminder."
"It's fine. Rather, I'm surprised to know that you actually have enough mental strength to handle two tamed beasts already. For me, Xiao Bing is already more than what I could handle."
"Well, let's just say that my mind is more mature than my body is."
While talking about this and that, the two of us reached the enclosure where Fang, Aster's Shadow Wolf, was kept. After asking the person that was keeping watch over it if we could try taming it, he quickly gave us the OK.
Wan Li and the keeper kept their distance while I tried to approach Fang.
As I took a deep breath, I quickly sent a telepathic message to Fang which contains all of my terms and conditions, the pros, and the cons. Compared to Ember's, it was basically the same but with some parts modified to fit the situation better.
Fang, who received the contract, stayed quiet for a short moment. Although she was a wolf, her expression was more human-like than I thought. It was visible on her face that she was hesitating. I do not know the reason she was hesitating, however, I still tried to speak to her like a salesman pitching his wares for sale.
"I promise to respect your rights and not give you orders that will lead to your injury like Aster. Can you place your trust in me?"
After I said my piece, Fang stared at my face. I, too, stared back at her. We kept staring into each other's eyes until a few moments later, a flash of white light emitted from Fang.
"Congratulations!"
The caretaker and Wan Li quickly said. For me though, I was still wandering the vast amount of skill information that suddenly flooded my mind, leaving me temporarily unresponsive. A few moments later, after finally gathering my thoughts, I said my thanks.
With this, Fang is now officially a member of my party!
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