"Wai… wait a minute!", Wren clutched his forehead in shock, "I think my eyes are playing tricks on me…"
'Otherwise, why does it seem like the Silverfang Tiger is evolving?'
'This must be a dream!'
'It must be a dream, right?'
Wren turned to look at Kent beside him, hoping that this guy, who was usually at odds with him, could give him a hard slap and wake him up.
But what Wren didn't expect was…
Kent's face showed even greater shock than his own.
Unexpected.
Truly unexpected.
Wren: "…"
'Although...'
It seemed he had no choice but to accept reality.
He… probably wasn't mistaken. The Silverfang Tiger really was evolving.
"This… this isn't right!", Wren, who had quickly accepted reality, took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then let out a depressed cry.
'No, no.'
'None of this makes sense!'
'Evolution… the existing evolution path for the Silverfang Tiger, its evolution conditions aren't like this at all.'
Wren wasn't sure about other things.
But when it came to the evolution process of the Silverfang Tiger, there was one crucial step. After meeting the level and resource requirements…
A thunderstorm had to be specifically chosen.
A dry thunderstorm without rain? No good. A rainstorm without thunder? Also no good.
It had to be both rain and thunder together.
Only in such a thunderstorm could the Essence of Thunder be used. The storm would help the Essence of Thunder fully activate its energy, allowing Thunder-attribute beasts to evolve.
The process was dangerous.
Evolution required caution.
Using the Essence of Thunder for evolution, every three to five years, there would be news of some Beast Tamer randomly losing their life in the process.
Besides, the Silverfang Tiger was already powerful enough. Many Beast Tamers weren't willing to take such a risky gamble to evolve it into a Thunderfire Tiger.
But…
But what was happening before their eyes?
Look at the sky.
Clear and bright, the sun shining down.
Look at the clouds.
Pure white.
No dark clouds.
No thunder.
And then look at the Silverfang Tiger right in front of them.
It was evolving.
Its body, wrapped in a milky white glow, was rapidly expanding and growing larger.
Even through the glow, they could see the well-defined, muscular limbs of the Silverfang Tiger.
A sudden flash of insight.
Wren abruptly turned his gaze toward Asher, who stood not far from the evolving Silverfang Tiger. His eyes scanned Asher up and down as if his gaze could pierce through the mask covering Asher's face.
Wren's expression shifted from shock to realization.
Then from realization to excitement.
"You… no, you… are you Professor Asher?", Wren took two steps forward, moving closer to Asher, speaking with a tone of respect.
Before Asher could respond…
Kent let out a confused grunt.
"What are you talking about?", Kent glanced at Wren, then at the masked Asher, "From the way this senior operates and behaves, it's obvious he's a senior Pet Beast Breeder, isn't it?"
Though he said that, Kent felt a vague sense of unease.
"Heh," Wren rolled his eyes at Kent without hesitation, "Did Professor Asher say anything? And yet, you're over there making baseless noise!"
Kent: "…"
Very annoyed.
But he couldn't refute it, so he could only look at Asher with hopeful eyes, silently pleading for an explanation.
Asher: "…"
Explain what?
How was he supposed to explain?
With no way to explain, Asher decisively ignored Kent's gaze and instead turned to Wren, asking with curiosity, "How did you recognize me?"
Before leaving, Asher had specifically checked that his mask was securely attached to his face.
There was absolutely no chance of an embarrassing mask-drop incident happening in public.
Asher had no interest in social humiliation.
But despite that, he still got recognized.
Hearing Asher's words, which was essentially an admission, Wren grinned foolishly, "Hehehe… this was… deduction! Yeah! That's right! Deduction!"
"The main thing is that this is Radiant City. If I saw someone who seemed like a top-tier expert in pet beast evolution elsewhere, I wouldn't dare assume their identity."
"But in Radiant City or NY City…"
If someone appeared using an unbelievably absurd method to evolve a pet beast—
No need to overthink it.
Just assume it's Asher.
Asher didn't respond, but Kent fell silent first.
"…Isn't that just some internet meme?", Kent opened his mouth, looking at Asher with an extremely complicated expression.
His respected senior…
How did he suddenly turn into his rival's esteemed senior in the blink of an eye?
Kent felt his heart falter, unable to digest so much wild information at once.
Especially since this was actually lining up with those ridiculous internet memes.
"You see, I was right!", Wren puffed out his chest, grinning smugly at Kent, as if daring him to challenge the truth.
Kent was so frustrated he refused to speak.
Meanwhile, the suddenly sidelined Larry: "…"
Larry's emotions were complicated.
Very complicated.
He had long suspected that Asher was a big shot.
But never in his wildest dreams did he expect that the person in front of him would actually be Asher himself.
In other cities and regions, people might only know Asher through the internet or his achievements. They might not have a deep personal impression of him.
But as someone who had lived in South Soren for years and had ties to both Radiant City and NY City, Larry was deeply familiar with Asher's name.
He also knew what Asher meant to NY City and Radiant City.
If he really managed to pull Asher into the field of pet beast care and breeding…
Larry could already imagine himself being hunted down by the NY City Beast Tamer Alliance.
Oh.
And not just NY City's alliance, probably the entire pet beast evolution research community would blacklist him for life.
Because Asher's talent in pet beast evolution was simply too terrifying.
At this thought, Larry let out a deep sigh.
'Sigh!'
'Geniuses shine no matter the field they're in.'
'Asher will stand out no matter where he goes!'
A perfectly polished diamond's brilliance can't be hidden.
Wherever he appeared, he amazed the world.
At this moment, Larry completely abandoned the idea of poaching Asher. He simply looked at Asher's back, sighing endlessly.
'Romeo, why must you be Romeo…?'
'No, wait—Asher, why must you be Asher?'
'Why can't Asher's innate skill be cloning?'
Asher: *A sudden chill down his spine*
Asher glanced left and right, then turned to meet the inexplicably intense gaze of a sharp-dressed man he didn't recognize.
Asher: "…"
'This guy is definitely thinking about me. And it isn't anything good.'
Asher turned away.
Better to pretend he saw nothing.
Instead of trying to figure out what other people were thinking, he might as well focus on the evolving Silverfang Tiger.
'…Most importantly, why is the Silverfang Tiger evolving in the first place?'
Asher hadn't noticed before.
As the Silverfang Tiger evolved, Asher reopened the information he had previously recorded about it and discovered—
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Beast: Silverfang Tiger]
[Attribute: Thunder]
[Species: Mid-tier Extraordinary, Mid-rank]
[Level: Tier Four, Intermediate]
[Skills: Thunder Roar, Tail Whip, Thunder Bite, Desperate Strike]
[Evolution Route: Thunderfire Tiger]
[Mental State: Chaotic]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher ignored the rest and focused on the Silverfang Tiger's evolution route.
He double-checked.
There was only [Thunderfire Tiger].
No second option.
Asher had never encountered this situation before.
It wasn't that he had never seen a beast without a second evolution route.
Some evolution routes weren't universal for the entire species, like Little Raven's [Three-Legged Golden Crow].
Due to factors like bloodline and mutations, individuals of the same species could have differences.
This Silverfang Tiger lacking a second evolution route didn't mean that all Silverfang Tigers had only one route.
But…
Asher had never encountered a case where a beast evolved despite having no second evolution path.
And, as the milky-white light, crackling with electricity, completely dissipated around it, Asher was absolutely certain that the evolved form of the Silverfang Tiger before him was definitely not the Thunderfire Tiger.
A new evolution form.
A new evolution route.
But it wasn't displayed on the interface.
Asher: "?"
'Did the system fall behind?'
'Does it need an update?'
'I don't think so.'
'The problem is probably with this evolved Silverfang Tiger itself.'
Asher scrutinized the newly evolved Silverfang Tiger from head to toe.
Originally about the size of a normal tiger, its body had now grown more than five times larger, making it easy to carry a two-hundred-pound adult man on its back while running at high speeds.
But compared to its size change, the color shift in its fur was even more noticeable.
Originally, the Silverfang Tiger's fur had black and purple stripes, and its eyes were a deep purple, giving it an intimidating presence when it lowered its body to attack.
However, after evolution, the Silverfang Tiger's new form… how should he put it?
It had slightly weakened its originally heavy aura. Starting from its back, its fur had turned white, with a white base and black stripes stretching down to its belly and the middle of its limbs. The lower parts of its limbs retained the original Silverfang Tiger's fur color.
Its head's color remained unchanged.
The tip of its tail had a tuft of black fur.
This resulted in the evolved Silverfang Tiger having a slightly, just a little, eye-burning color scheme.
'…Alright.'
'Very eye-burning.'
Asher took a deep breath and sighed.
A vague guess formed in his mind.
'If the evolved Silverfang Tiger awakens a bloodline…'
Asher looked at it.
Sure enough, the interface displayed the updated details of the evolved Silverfang Tiger.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Beast: Striped Thunder Tiger]
[Attributes: Thunder + Fire]
[Species: High-tier Extraordinary, Low-rank]
[Level: Tier Four, Advanced+]
[Skills: Thunder Roar, Tail Whip, Thunder Bite, Desperate Strike, Blazing Fire]
[Evolution Route: ——]
[Bloodline: White Tiger]
[Awakening Degree: 3.5%]
[Innate Skill: Solar Blaze]
[Solar Blaze: Repels all evil, immune to all poisons (Unaffected by poison-type attacks, immune to all negative status effects)]
[Innate Skill: 50% Awakening]
[Power! It's surging! I'm heading out to beat up some trash, be right back!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher: "…"
'Wait, wait, wait!"
'Something is definitely wrong here!'
Asher quickly stopped the Silverfang Tiger, no, the Striped Thunder Tiger, from making a move.
"Calm down," He took a step forward, and the Striped Thunder Tiger instantly halted, lowering its head to look at him.
Its purple eyes still locked onto Asher.
Wren and Kent, who had been watching the evolved Striped Thunder Tiger, were initially quite excited.
A new evolution route had appeared.
How could they not seize this opportunity? They had to follow Professor Asher closely and learn from him.
Yes.
Including Kent.
From misunderstanding to resolving the misunderstanding, to embarrassment, to finally coming to terms with himself, Kent's mental journey was unknown to outsiders.
The only thing that made Kent feel heartache and oddly resonate with Larry was—
'Damn it!'
'Why isn't he our team's expert?'
'He clearly has an extraordinary talent for beast breeding, but we can't poach him.'
'Damn it!'
'He's amazing!'
Fine.
He'd just steal some knowledge.
Anything he could learn was a gain.
Then…
The moment the Striped Thunder Tiger's gaze swept over them, everyone felt as if their bodies had frozen.
They stood stiffly in place, unable to move.
Their minds went blank.
But the blankness quickly faded.
As Wren, Kent, and Larry snapped back to their senses, they were amazed to find that their bodies seemed to be filled with warmth… No, not exactly warmth. It was an overwhelmingly positive feeling, as if all the negative emotions weighing on their hearts had been wiped away.
They felt light and happy.
Wren and Kent exchanged glances.
Both silently set aside their little grudges and usual minor disputes. Their eyes met, and their thoughts aligned.
'This is terrifying!'
'How does this even work?'
'Is this some kind of special ability?'
Meanwhile, Larry's mind was spinning at full speed, 'This unknown ability… isn't it exactly what I have been dreaming of?'
'The ability to heal a beast's psychological issues!'
"Professor Asher, about the Silverfang Tiger's new evolution route…"
The Striped Thunder Tiger's overwhelming presence?
Small issues like that were nothing in the face of a dream coming true. Larry stared at the Striped Thunder Tiger's intimidating gaze, then "whoosh", darted right to Asher's side.
He grinned, rubbing his hands together as if preparing for a heart-to-heart conversation.
Asher: "…"
Got it.
"If I told you I'm just as confused as you are, would you believe me?", Asher said flatly, "Honestly, even I don't understand how the Silverfang Tiger just evolved."
Believe him.
Really!
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