[( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ )]
[Nom nom nom...]
Claude sat on the sofa, staring at the baby golden dragon energetically devouring diced apple slices beside him.
He definitely had not expected his day to go like this. Weren't beasts like this supposed to be almighty, arrogant, and powerful? Was this little muncher really a Supreme Grade beast?
With that thought in mind, he checked its stats again.
▷Beast Information
[Name: Divine Beast of Light]
[Age: 883,935]
[Grade: Supreme]
[Race: Seraphim of Life]
[Level: 1 | 0% → 3%]
★
[Satisfaction: 4% → 6%]
[Happiness: 1% → 3%]
[Hunger: 100% → 88%]
[Sleepiness: 100% → 95%]
Nope.
It really was a Supreme Grade beast.
"Do you have a name?" Claude asked.
The golden dragon set down an apple slice and glanced up at him.
[(￣へ￣)]
[My name's Victoria.]
[Ding!]
[Beast's name recorded!]
[(NEW) Name: Victoria, Divine Beast of Light]
Ah.
Victoria?
Claude had been half expecting something ancient and eldritch. The name sounded surprisingly modern. Not to mention, her appearance did not resemble what he imagined a Supreme Grade beast would look like. Maybe it was because she had only just formed a contract with him.
Either way, Claude had read enough books to know the basics of beast taming. He also knew the first steps one should take after forming a contract.
"Victoria, show me your skills."
[(￢_￢)]
[Let me finish eating first.]
[Nom nom nom...]
Yeah.
This beast was far too silly.
Claude stood up and walked into his bedroom. He showered, changed his clothes, and opened his laptop. He decided to check Retweet to see if anyone had messaged him after his Dormant Grade announcement.
Instead, he found a flood of hate threads, scam links, and notifications that people had removed him from their friend lists. Sierra was no exception. She had even gone a step further and blocked him.
Among all of them, however, one person had remained his friend since childhood and had not abandoned him.
Delilah Octavia.
He clicked on the chat bubble and found a long string of messages she had sent from morning until just a few minutes ago.
He opened the image. It was just her holding up her middle finger while standing outside the auditorium.
Claude chuckled and continued scrolling.
His eyes widened. When he opened the image, he saw a giant black anaconda wrapped around Delilah's neck like a scarf. From the glint in her blue eyes, he could tell she was excited.
Had she cut her hair shorter? The black bangs suited her.
Just as he was about to continue scrolling, Victoria hopped onto the bed and stretched her wings.
Another status screen appeared in front of him, displaying all of Victoria's skills.
▷Beast Skills
★Ultimate: Divine Light [Supreme], Heavenly Rainfall [Supreme], Singularity [Supreme+]
★Special: Shapeshifting [Divine], Lie Detection [Awakened], Mana Sharing [Tyrant], [+29 others]
★Basic: [Click to expand +520 Basic Skills]
[(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧]
[I'm sharing some of my mana with you. That's why your status says you have an infinite amount. Hehe.]
"That wasn't a bug?" Claude blurted out.
[Heh. Nope. As long as you have me by your side, you'll be safe. Now then, Claude, I require more sustenance.]
His heart began to race. He had not realized it before, but this beast was on an entirely different level. Could anyone even come close to him now?
What would happen if people found out?
[(￣へ￣)]
[Food!]
"Sorry. Yeah, give me a second. I'll order something," Claude replied, quickly ordering ten pizzas.
Despite the overwhelming amount of mana, he knew he could not use much of it yet. He was still Level 0, and by this world's standards, he was a low-level Awakened Grade human.
The same applied to Victoria. Her stats might be maxed out, but…
No.
Who was he kidding?
She could probably snap her tiny fingers and wipe out the entire continent.
Ugh.
How was he supposed to deal with this?
The hours passed quickly, and before long, the sun began to set. On one hand, traffic should have died down, making the trip to the Beast Taming Association easier. On the other hand, he did not want to go.
If he showed up with a Supreme Grade beast, the association would capture him, dissect him, take the beast away, and then kill him.
That was the last thing Claude wanted. However, if he failed to show up, the Beast Taming Association would send someone to his house instead, which would create even more trouble.
"Victoria?"
He turned to the side.
In the corner of his room, Victoria sat atop an empty pizza box, devouring her tenth and final pizza. Her enjoyment was obvious. When she looked at him with sparkling eyes, he realized he had just discovered her favorite food.
[(^‿^)]
[What is it?]
"I saw you have a Shapeshifting skill. Do you also have one that can lower your Grade?"
Victoria paused.
[Um... Yes.]
[(￣～￣;)]
[Why?]
Claude smiled and explained his plan. Once he finished, Victoria stuffed the last slice into her mouth and nodded with a slight pout.
[Fine... What Grade do you want? Awakened? Ascended? Transcended, maybe?]
Claude shook his head.
"Awakened is fine."
[(￣^￣)]
[Is it your hobby to let people look down on you? Humph. No. I'm going with Transcended.]
The moment she spoke, her golden tail began to glow. A second later, the light faded.
[Your beast has disguised their Grade!]
[Supreme → Transcended]
[Your beast has altered their name!]
[Name: Victoria, Gold Spewing Lizard]
"Victoria... This is too much."
[Humph. No. I do not like your underdog complex. You'll be above average now.]
Above average?
Did Victoria realize how rare Transcended Grade beasts were?
Awakened Grade was the most common. With so many Awakened beasts in existence, the odds were nearly one in two.
Ascended Grade was closer to one in 128.
After that, the gap widened dramatically.
Transcended Grade beasts were rumored to have odds of one in 100,000. That would place him among promising geniuses, just behind Tyrant Grade prodigies and Saint Grade once-in-a-decade monsters.
As for anything above Saint, information was scarce. Very few people possessed beasts of that level.
Still, now that everything was set, Claude put on a coat and grabbed his backpack. He emptied the books out onto his bed, then placed the bag down and looked at Victoria, who was lying atop a pile of pizza boxes with a full belly.
"We're leaving. Come here. I'll put you in my backpack."
[...?]
[(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)]
[Y-You dare put someone like me in a backpack? At least get me a royal throne!]
Claude rolled his eyes.
"I promise I'll get you something more comfortable later. For now, just hop in. If I'm late, we're going to be in trouble."
[(;一_一)]
[I'll remember this.]
Victoria stood and waddled toward him. She tried to hop onto the bed, but because she had eaten so much, she barely made it halfway.
Claude smiled softly, bent down, picked her up, and placed her inside the backpack. A small pillow sat inside, so she would be comfortable. The bag was just small enough for her to peek her head out.
She struggled at first, then eventually settled in.
Claude went to the kitchen, grabbed a few cookies in case Victoria wanted more snacks, and stepped into the living room lined with rows of keys.
Most were car keys, but his gaze settled on the motorcycle ones.
His parents were rich. Thanks to his investments, he was even richer. He had bought an entire car collection on a whim, along with several custom motorcycles. Today, he chose one in particular.
He grabbed the keys, set his phone to do not disturb, and took the elevator down to his garage.
What he did not expect was to find someone already waiting for him there.