Chapter 155: The Wastes [I]

"The Heavenly Immortal Tortoise?"

Luke revealed Amigo’s new species. Luke’s revelation of Amigo’s new species stunned Scarlett.

Was it really what she thought? Or just the same name, but a different Species? Likewise— how was this even possible?

If a summoner must evolve their beast, the beast must complete tasks given by the system. Most of these tasks are prerequisites. When the tasks are completed, the beast moves one step at a time to the next checkpoint of the beast’s evolution.

Amigo used to be an Astral Tortoiseling, but now it had become the Heavenly Immortal Tortoise, so it must have completed those tasks to achieve so.

According to Scarlett, those tasks must be anything but easy.

Why, because the higher the beast’s grading, the harder the tasks.

Evolution at Primal-tier is easier than at Lesser-tier. Simultaneously, evolving a Lesser-tier beast is easier than evolving a Greater-tier beast; and so on and so forth, the climb becomes steep.

Therefore, evolution at Mythic-grade deserves applause.

In that case, Scarlett would never receive any applause in her life, haha.

Luke soared into the heavens with his Mythic-grade beast, but what about her? Her Mythic-grade beast, the Empyrean Phoenix, was still taking baby steps. When she awakened the Empyrean Phoenix, she was at Mythical Rank 2.5. Now, she’s only at 2.9. So slow, even reaching 3.0 would be a cause for celebration.

And yet, people out there still called her the strongest genius of her generation.

While Luke is right here.

By that math, all those titles ought to belong to him instead. The very man everyone once called the biggest waste of a Summoner there was!

"Hello, Amigo," Scarlett said. "We meet again. This time, you’re the highest-ranking Beast I’ve ever seen. But I’m curious — if you fought my Empyrean Phoenix, who’d win?"

"Hello, Amigo," Scarlett said. "We meet again. This time, you’re the highest-ranking war beast I’ve ever seen. But I’m curious—if you fought my Sky Phoenix, who would win?"

"Of course I would win," Amigo said.

"Its fire can’t hurt me. I can create the hardest, most durable shell—the Primordial Glyptodon Shell I learned in the Sixth Era when I was the Primordial Glyptodon. That shell can withstand a near-certain cosmic-level blow. And the scales of the Colossus Tortoise, those are the hardest scales. The form of the Colossus Tortoise is my favorite, too."

Scarlett listened through this eccentric explanation, then asked, "Impressive. But how do you beat the Empyrean Phoenix, then?"

"I outlast her, and I’ve got more to brag about," Amigo said. "Doesn’t that count as winning?"

"Winning means putting the other guy down for good, Sherlock," Luke cut in.

"Fine, spare me," Amigo protested. "I’m a Support-type beast, that’s all I’ve got."

"Since you’re a Support beast," Scarlett continued nervously, "could you help me sort out my contract with my beast? I’ve tried for a long time, but I still can’t get it right. I thought learning ’Soul Link’ would be helpful, but it wasn’t."

"Ehh? Contract issue?" Amigo said. "You’ve had this since episode one, no? Miss, how have you not solved it, not gotten past it, all this time?"

"Nobody’s born knowing everything," Luke interjected. "The first generation of Summoners didn’t even know how to raise their beasts or how to evolve them. If you can help Scarlett find a way, at least get her to raise her contract with the Empyrean Phoenix to the Cooperation-rank, that would be a good thing."

Scarlett glanced at Luke, gratitude in her green eyes. She said her thanks.

Amigo wasn’t one for reading a room. He didn’t want to pour cold water on it, but he had no way around it. He was helpless in this matter even though he was a Mythic-grade 9.5 Heavenly Immortal Tortoise.

"I cultivate the Primordial Path," Amigo said. "This part, unfortunately, isn’t under my jurisdiction. If you ask me about the difficulty of beast evolution, transformation, adaptation, and the creation of its origin, I can help. But this is something at the other end, not on my road. My guess is you’d need the Scholar Path, or the Arcane Path. Though honestly, I don’t even think a Beast Contract counts as... an Art, in the first place. Which means it should fall under the Scholar Path, not the Arcane Path."

"Not an Art?" Luke asked. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, the big misconception 101," Amigo proclaimed. "Beast Contracts are an agreement between the souls of the summoner and the summoned beast. Compared to our other variables, its magical aspect is very faint. It’s a push and pull, a give and take. So there’s no clear method that allows you to ’cultivate’ it or ’evolve’ it. In my opinion, it adjusts itself according to circumstances."

"According to circumstances..." Under her breath, Scarlett repeated.

Flip that around, and in other words, didn’t that mean—it depended on luck?

So she’d just have to keep grinding away at this half-obedient Mythic-Rank Phoenix of hers, waiting for fortune to smile upon her and reward her with a cup of tea and a piece of bread?

"Thanks, Amigo. You’ve been helpful," Luke said sincerely.

"Anytime," Amigo replied, but he sensed something in the air.

How can Miss Scarlett fight in an Origin Realm with a half-obedient beast?

Won’t that make the place even more dangerous?

Amigo was right, but what he feared was the same thing Scarlet was thinking. She’s also counting on it.

Scarlett remembered when she and the Empyrean Phoenix fought side-by-side and efficiently with their lives on the line at the Mutated Dungeon of the Pentegate. If the Origin Realm is more dangerous than a Pentegate, then their lives will be on the line again, which means they would fight together and cling tighter again.

Maybe this is the stone that kills two birds.

Bird One— Clear the Origin Realm

Bird Two— Settle the score with this contract!

As for Luke, he didn’t care at all whether Scarlett’s dangerous plan succeeds or not.

Scarlett was brave, optimistic, always eager to move forward.

Meanwhile, he knows he’s going to step in and save her like always if things don’t go well.

Soon, they arrived in The Wastes.

The Wastes was a ruined place, rotting everywhere. Like a ribbon, it stretched between two countries. Countries 1 and 2. There was no civilization here, because there was no living to be had. It is larger than Skeleton Town, and more dangerous. The place was too vast, with too many unvisited areas.

The sky was a hazy gray because rot fogged out the sun. The ground was dark and filthy, with puddles of water in its craters.

Monsters were everywhere in the Wastes, and they were too many to kill.

Some monsters, like Vile Ants, even became domesticated because hunters were too lazy to kill them every time, so they treated them merely as companions on the road.

As soon as Luke and co arrived, some Vile Ants swarmed around them, some were run over by the wheels of the car, while others scattered.

Luke put on his mask, stepped out of the car, scanning the area through his mask’s lens. Monsters, plenty of them, no question.

But out here, what was more troublesome was the monsters, the terrain, or even where to plant your feet?

The Wastes had "Havens." Havens were for hunters who came here to hunt. They could provide you shelter from the wind, a place to get your bearings, and if you’d come without supplies, a place to get a meal.

Luke and Scarlett stopped at one of them—the Western Haven.

Western Haven had a gate to the rest of the Wastes. Without permission, they couldn’t pass, so they had no choice but to stop.

In the distance, there were a few hunters and the shadows of their summons. Scattered around were some small dwellings.

The two approached, where they were greeted by two middle-aged men.

One carried a Monkey-Cat beast. The other man leaned on a large staff of his, and a bird-like beast perched on his shoulder. The bird beast was as tall as a child, making his shadow appear frightening.

"Welcome to Western Haven, Hunters...?" the one with the staff said.

"Hunters Sylvia and Logan," Scarlett answered quickly, very fast with her lie.

The one with the monkey-cat chuckled, arms crossed, his broad frame exposed. He looked at Luke and said, "What, mute? Having a woman sign in for you?"

"..."

"Sorry," the man said dryly and fell silent after Luke didn’t reply and after Scarlett’s gaze went cold as a blade.

"Western Haven’s got lodging, hot water, guides if you need directing, and someone who can repair Beast Armor. Food’s tight, though. You’d best have brought your own rations. If not, it’ll cost you dearly."

"Don’t worry, we won’t be staying long," Luke said. "We just need to head out to some Monster Zones. Need your clearance for that."

"How many Zones? What tier? Blue tier? Green tier? Yellow tier? Or—dare to touch Orange tier?"