Sophia instantly became curious, "Just made it onto the rankings today? Someone I know?"
As she spoke, she immediately denied her own guess, "No, that can't be right. I know all the well-known beast tamers in the South Soren region. Those who were supposed to rank have long since made it. There shouldn't be anyone still unranked at this point. So, it must be a junior or sophomore, someone I'm not very familiar with." Sophia stroked the Ice Mandarin Duck that swam beside her, analyzing seriously.
"Nope.", The junior sister shook her head again.
Sophia: "?"
"It's a freshman."
Sophia: "!"
Sophia's expression shifted from deduction to shock and then to utter disbelief, "A freshman?"
The junior sister nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes!"
"…Don't joke with me.", Sophia still found it hard to believe, "A freshman being this strong?"
Thinking back to her own freshman year, she had already contracted two pet beasts by then and just happened to catch the rankings' opening. At that time, she barely squeezed into the bottom of the list.
And now, she was being told that someone directly soared to first place?
Sophia's first reaction: 'Fake. This must be a scam!'
"Aiya! Senior Sophia, why would I lie to you about this.", The junior sister pouted and rolled her eyes at Sophia, "It really is a new freshman. And, Senior, you even know him."
Sophia pushed back her long, wavy hair, her face full of confusion, "Know him? I know him? Where would I have met a freshman?"
The triple-question conveyed the deep bewilderment in Sophia's heart.
"Someone from our school?", As soon as she said that, Sophia shook her head, denying her own guess.
'No, no, no.'
'Impossible.'
'If our school had such an outstanding freshman, the administration would have heavily promoted him by now.'
Even though Sophia didn't frequently follow external news, she would have heard something about it.
And yet—
No recollection at all.
None whatsoever.
"Stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me.", Sophia shot a sidelong glance at her junior sister, whose shocked expression still carried a hint of amusement.
They had known each other for over a year, and Sophia understood well that her junior sister enjoyed watching drama unfold. This little troublemaker was clearly trying to build up for a big reveal.
"Asher.", The junior sister giggled and finally stopped hiding, her voice brimming with excitement as she revealed the name.
Sophia: "?"
Sophia was stunned for a second before finally reacting.
Asher.
She knew him.
Freshman.
How many people could match all the above conditions?
Immediately, Sophia's mind flashed to the recent—well, not that long ago, just in the past few days—the hottest news.
Old Rothschild's Ancestral Dragon had successfully evolved into the next Dragon King after challenging three Dragon Kings.
To put it simply—
Sophia glanced at the Ice Mandarin still circling and paddling around her.
"Asher, huh… So, he's incredibly talented in battle too. It's absurd, but also kind of makes sense.", Sophia rubbed her temples, her expression complicated, "But instantly taking first place is still ridiculous."
Not just a little ridiculous.
Extremely ridiculous.
The junior sister beside her nodded furiously, "Senior Sophia, you have no idea. He didn't just take first place out of nowhere—he first jumped to eighth place, then whoosh whoosh whoosh climbed straight to first."
Since the junior sister had been at the venue at the time, witnessing the flashing rankings firsthand, her retelling was incredibly immersive.
Could a normal person really do something like this?
Oh!
Someone capable of evolving an Ancestral Dragon into a Dragon King was probably not a normal person to begin with.
Sophia took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her mindset, "It's fine. As long as it's not Christopher surpassing me, I'm good. That guy… tsk."
The more she spoke, the less she wanted to continue.
If she had to choose between Asher and Christopher being ranked above her, she'd rather let Asher stand on top of her head.
So what if she was surpassed by a freshman?
It was still better than being beaten by that damn sword guy.
"What's Asher's battle power?", Sophia, now calmed down, grew more curious.
"Over 110,000."
Sophia, "?"
After struggling like crazy to nurture four pet beasts, Sophia had only barely reached the 100,000 threshold. Her mind completely blanked out.
———
[South Maple University]
"Brother Chris, you've been pushed down to third place!", A youth with a completely average appearance—neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, dressed in a generic outfit, wearing glasses, and utterly indistinguishable in a crowd—looked up at the speaker, a question mark appearing on his face.
"Third place?"
"Did someone new climb up?"
Blinking, Christopher said, "Hmm… I know most of the well-known junior and senior beast tamers in South Soren, and I have a rough idea of their strengths."
"Did Julia contract a new pet beast? I remember she mentioned being interested in a Spring Snow Pigeon last time. But even if she contracted it, it shouldn't be enough to surpass me—training takes time."
"Or did Joseph's Hundred-Spirit Hound evolve? No, that's unlikely. He's still missing key resources—Thousand-Poison Grass, Stardust, Dragon Scale Fragments. Collecting those is harder than expected."
One by one, Christopher went through the possible candidates, then logically ruled them out.
The underling who reported the news: "…"
Once again, he was reminded that their boss was probably not a good person.
"Brother Chris, you—", Before the underling could finish speaking, Christopher cut him off.
"By logical deduction, it should be impossible for anyone to surpass me."
From sophomores to seniors, he had gone through everyone with potential.
This one? No way.
That one? Also impossible.
So, what the hell happened?
Christopher was completely baffled.
"Uh…", Sweat trickled down the underling's forehead. He gestured with two fingers, indicating something small, "That is to say, is there a chance… that the person is a freshman, and you just don't know much about them?"
Christopher: "?"
A giant question mark popped up over Christopher's head.
"A freshman.", Christopher looked at his underling, "You're not joking?"
"Among South Soren's freshmen, there are only a few notable ones. Even the top-ranked freshman, Andy, barely makes it onto the overall battle rankings. If it were a freshman from Central Region, maybe they'd do a little better."
Christopher refused to believe it.
"Asher, Brother Chris. The person is Asher!", The underling, seeing his boss spiraling into confusion, quickly revealed the name, "He shot straight to first place, pushing that Garcia girl and you down!"
Christopher: "…"
Upon hearing the name, he immediately connected it to a real person.
Asher.
A name he had been paying close attention to…
As a pet beast researcher.
Yes.
Christopher had never categorized Asher as just a university student—because Asher's achievements had already far exceeded that level.
"…Bluewind University still hasn't let him graduate directly?", Christopher frowned, confused, "With Asher's research achievements, he could easily be teaching at Bluewind University by now!"
"Damn it!"
"My deductions are flawless!"
The more Christopher thought about it, the angrier he became.
The underling beside him said, "Uh… After all, Asher just enrolled. Even if those at the top have any actions or plans regarding him, it's impossible for them to act so quickly."
The more Christopher thought about it, the angrier he got. But after reaching an extreme level of anger, he suddenly calmed down, "What is Asher's combat power value? What are his pet beasts? Tell me his stats."
"Combat power value: 118,690.", The underling, who was well aware of Christopher's habits, had already memorized Asher's exact combat power value, "His pet beasts are the Three-Legged Golden Crow and the Cat Dragon. The Golden Crow is suspected to be a new evolutionary form of a mutated Oriental Peacock, while the Cat Dragon might be a new dragon-type pet beast."
"The Golden Crow's strength should be around mid-tier Rank 5, while the Cat Dragon's strength ranges from mid-tier to high-tier Rank 4."
Christopher fell silent for a moment after hearing this.
"Just two pet beasts?"
The underling nodded, "Just two."
"Two pet beasts breaking through 110,000 in combat power? How did Asher manage that?", Christopher, who had just calmed down, was once again filled with questions.
He couldn't understand.
He couldn't imagine it.
This had completely exceeded the scope of his normal cognition.
It wasn't as if he had never owned Rank 4 or Rank 5 pet beasts before.
As an information fanatic, Christopher had collected a wealth of data on Beast Tamers from all the top universities, except for the top two in Star City. He was highly familiar with the strength levels of these Beast Tamers' pet beasts.
He had calculated an average value.
A standard Rank 5 pet beast's combat power value was at least 10,000, with the known strongest ones reaching around 50,000. However, both Christopher and Sophia's Rank 5 pet beasts only had combat power values of around 40,000.
As for Rank 4 pet beasts, their minimum combat power was 4,000, but stronger ones could reach about 15,000. If they were even stronger, they would directly break through to Rank 5.
Sophia and Christopher's four pet beasts were already at the excellent level within these values. Their combined combat power value was around 80,000 to 90,000, and with a bit of effort, they could push past 100,000.
But unexpectedly—
Asher, with just two pet beasts, had effortlessly surpassed the 110,000 threshold.
"Is there a holiday coming up? I want to take a trip to Bluewind University. If I don't figure out what's going on, I won't be able to sleep at night.", Christopher adjusted his glasses, his eyes dark with determination.
Never mind the future; he was already itching all over right now, desperate to uncover the truth.
The underling: "…"
"Chris bro, forget about it. You haven't even finished your graduation thesis. The class advisor said that if you don't submit a draft within a month, you can expect to be pinned down at school."
"…Repeating a year isn't entirely out of the question."
Now it was Christopher's turn to deflate.
Alright, fine.
The more intriguing the mystery, the longer it had to be left unresolved. There was no point in rushing. He could only take it slow.
Take it slow…
———
Asher was still unaware that he had caught the attention of the former number one and number two rankings. But it didn't matter—after becoming the new number one, he was bound to face scrutiny and discussion.
In just a few hours, the forums were flooded with topics about Asher.
["No way?"]
["Isn't Asher just a pet beast professor? Why is he also so strong in beast taming?"]
[What's the deal with Asher's two pet beasts?"]
["Does anyone know if Asher actually has a third pet beast?"]
Opening the forums, nine out of ten posts were discussing Asher. The only thread that wasn't about him eventually steered toward him anyway.
["Say no more! I just bought a copy of 'Beast Research of Soren' featuring the big shot's thesis today. One second, I was studying the content, wondering if I could find some insights. Maybe I could be the next Dragon King Beast Tamer! Then the next second, I saw the author shoot up the rankings. Me: ?"]
["LMAO! I'm a senior, and I still haven't written my graduation thesis. My advisor has used Asher as an example to motivate us more than once. At first, I was indifferent, but after reading Asher's thesis, all I want to say is—Dad, save me, help me!"]
["Facts prove that Asher's research in pet beasts is solid. Who could've guessed that Ancestral Dragon's inherited evolution method was such a trap? If it weren't for Asher, neither Old Rothschild nor Ancestral Dragon would have benefited. Seriously, who in their right mind would think of suppressing a dragon's bloodline instincts by challenging a Dragon King in a cross-rank battle? If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a suicide mission!"]
["That's true. Honestly, if someone told me to challenge a Dragon King without precedent… Uh, excuse me while I run."]
["Wait, aren't you guys going off-topic?"]
["No, no, we're on topic. While discussing Asher's strength as a Beast Tamer, we naturally can't ignore his other talents!"]
["I'm tired of saying this, but seriously—why does such a suffocatingly talented person exist in this world? I don't expect to be as multi-talented as Asher, but can I at least have one related skill?"]
'Heh, the heavens say you're not Asher, so no.'
["F***."]
———
[Star City]
[Beast Tamer Alliance Headquarters]
In a medium-sized conference room on the eighteenth floor.
Three elderly individuals, two men and one woman, all with graying hair, were finalizing a list.
"No matter how you look at it, this award should go to Asher. Otherwise, people will definitely call it a rigged selection.", The silver-haired grandmother, whose youthful days were long past, yet still had her hair neatly combed and adorned with a small, exquisite red double-petal peony hairpin, swept her clear gaze over her two companions.
"What do you two think? Hurry up and decide. Stop dawdling—I have a dance appointment tonight."
The other two: "…"
"Hmph! Dancing at your age? How undignified!", The square-faced elder, whose face was full of wrinkles, snorted heavily in displeasure.
"Old Haines, stop being so sour. If you were the one dancing with Agnes, you'd be grinning from ear to ear.", The bald but well-bearded elder chuckled.
Then, he turned to Agnes Rothbrocker, "Honestly, I think Asher is promising. But don't you think he's a bit too young? We should consider waiting a bit longer to see if there's another suitable candidate."
"Kushim, stop beating around the bush. Just say you don't fully trust Asher's achievements.", Agnes waved Asher's file, "The problem is… his achievements are too dazzling, making people suspicious."
The other two fell silent.
That was the issue.
Asher's accomplishments were extraordinary—too extraordinary.
Especially among beast professors who had only been in the field for a few years. He was the brightest star, impossible to ignore.
But that was exactly why people doubted him.
Kushim hesitated, "Asher is still young. If he truly has this talent, awarding him next year wouldn't be too late."
"As for this year's award…", He looked at the other candidates and frowned.
'Uh… Is there really no one else besides Asher?'
This decision was tough.
Old Haines noticed his dilemma and smirked, but upon realizing he was in the same boat, his smile vanished.
Agnes, on the other hand, was thoroughly amused.
Then she dropped the bombshell.
"I just received news—Asher topped the combat power rankings this afternoon."
Kushim: "?"
Old Haines: "?"
Small head, big question mark.
"Asher? Which Asher?"
Agnes tapped the file, "Which other Asher?"
Orsted Kushim, who was stroking his long white beard, trembled upon hearing this, accidentally pulling out several strands of his beard.
Normally, Kushim cared the most about his beard, but at this moment, he couldn't be bothered, "Are you serious? It's not two people with the same name?"
"Asher, freshman at Bluewind University, contracted beasts: Three-Legged Golden Crow and Cat Dragon. Go ahead and find me another Asher with the exact same details."
Kushim: "…"
He couldn't.
The information was detailed enough to match the school. What was there to doubt?
"This… this is really…", Kushim stammered for a long time, his expression shifting through several changes. In the end, he still couldn't think of a suitable adjective. He sighed, "Talent… This can only be described as an inimitable talent!"
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