Beast Taming: The Beginning of Hatching an Ancient Dragon

Chapter 30: Accepting the Mission

“Registering for the official Beast Tamer qualification.”

The receptionist dutifully explained the requirements and precautions for registering as an official Beast Tamer to Li Chang’an.

After completing his registration, Li Chang’an took the examination form and headed to the examination site within the Beast Tamer Association, following the address provided.

The examination site was quite large, though slightly smaller than the training grounds of the Hunter’s Guild. It could accommodate three apprentice Beast Tamers simultaneously.

Given that high school students had just gone on vacation, a significant portion of the examinees were students. Ahead of Li Chang’an were nine people—six students and three working adults, the latter exuding a strong sense of corporate drudgery.

The Beast Tamer Association’s examination criteria were straightforward: use your initial beast to defeat the beast released by the examiner. That was it.

As for the written test, holding an apprentice Beast Tamer certificate already signified that your academic performance was up to par. The association naturally wouldn’t waste resources on a redundant written exam.

While waiting, Li Chang’an noticed that the beasts released by the examiners were carefully chosen. For instance, if an examinee’s beast was a relatively weak Earthfang Rat, the examiner would release a slightly stronger Digging Rabbit. If the examinee’s beast was stronger, like a Blue Lake Hound, the examiner would release an even more formidable Chrysanthemum Sprite.

As long as you could command your beast to defeat a stronger opponent, you would pass. Throughout the examination, the examiner would not issue any commands. This was what hunters referred to as the “Baby Test.”

It was relatively simple.

Li Chang’an breathed a sigh of relief. If it had been any harder, with his rudimentary command skills, he might have had to rely on Mao Mao’s instincts to pass.

Two and a half hours later, the nine people ahead of Li Chang’an finally completed their examinations. During the wait, more than ten additional examinees had joined the queue behind him. It seemed the Beast Tamer Association’s examination services were quite busy at this time.

“Examinee number 63, please step forward.”

Li Chang’an walked up to the command platform and, following the rules, summoned Mao Mao first. The Thorny Star Contract Array beneath his feet flashed quickly, and Mao Mao, in his kitten form, appeared on the battlefield, exuding the aura of a hybrid dragon.

This was something Li Chang’an had specifically instructed. Unfortunately, the proficiency of his Concealment Technique could only suppress the aura to this extent. Of course, the Concealment Technique was just a low-level skill, and achieving this much already made it an exceptional low-level skill.

The examiner, sensing the dragon-like aura emanating from Mao Mao, twitched his lips. “Well, well, a dragon-type beast right off the bat. Judging by the aura, it’s at least a hybrid dragon. Which young master is taking the exam today?”

The examiner took a deep breath. The association’s provided beasts didn’t include anything of this caliber, so he had no choice but to release the strongest beast available—a Shadow Leopard with purple-black spots, a powerful dark-type beast in the early stages.

The moment the Shadow Leopard was released, its elegant demeanor immediately faltered. Its calm gaze fixed intently on the small cat ten meters away, its body lowering, teeth bared, ready to pounce.

Mao Mao yawned, shifting from a crouching position to a standing one, as if giving the little cat across from him some face.

“Mao Mao, Hellfire.”

Upon receiving the command, Mao Mao opened his mouth and spat out a dark red Hellfire ball, which shot toward the Shadow Leopard at high speed.

The Shadow Leopard’s pupils contracted to pinpoints. Just as it was about to use its racial ability to dive into the shadows, a terrifying pressure interrupted its movement, leaving it frozen in place for two seconds.

Those two seconds decided the outcome. The Hellfire struck the Shadow Leopard, a beast with high attack but low defense, rendering it unconscious instantly.

Mao Mao retracted the Hellfire burning on the Shadow Leopard to prevent it from killing the fragile creature. After all, Li Chang’an had warned that accidentally killing an examination beast would cost him a month’s worth of food. For a glutton like Mao Mao, that was unbearable, so he reluctantly dispelled the Hellfire’s burning effect, sparing the Shadow Leopard.

The scene of the Shadow Leopard being instantly defeated left the examinees behind Li Chang’an swallowing hard. A one-hit KO! And against a Shadow Leopard, known for its speed. They realized just how powerful the young man on the command platform was.

However, not everyone was impressed. One person muttered under his breath, “He’s just relying on his family’s wealth to buy a strong initial beast. If I had that kind of background, I could do the same.”

The examinees near him immediately distanced themselves. “Are you out of your mind? Knowing he’s from a powerful family, and you still dare to say that? Aren’t you afraid of retaliation later?”

Li Chang’an, with his sharp hearing, naturally caught the envious remark. He never expected that the treatment usually reserved for villainous young masters in novels would one day fall upon him. Life was truly full of surprises.

But so what?

Li Chang’an hugged Mao Mao, who had pounced on him seeking praise, and gently stroked the soft mane on the little guy’s head, continuously praising its performance through their soul contract.

The examiner, witnessing this scene, was momentarily stunned, and his earlier assumptions were dispelled. A young man who could be so close with a dragon-type beast couldn’t possibly be a bad person.

The man who had muttered enviously earlier was now being criticized by someone behind him. “What are you so proud of? Look at your Shield Crab and how you treat it. You rarely interact with it, don’t you? Look at how close he is with his beast—it puts you to shame.”

The man retorted, “If I had a dragon-type beast, I’d interact with it all the time too.”

Hearing such shameless nonsense, someone else chimed in sarcastically, “With that face of yours, even if you licked a dragon-type beast’s rear, it wouldn’t give you the time of day.”

The man was furious, but the others simply sneered. A scumbag who didn’t even cherish his own beast wouldn’t be worth a glance from a pure-blood dragon’s offspring, even if one appeared before him.

High school teachers had made it clear: the higher the rank of a beast’s offspring, the more sensitive their perception. They could easily sense human emotions, and some could even discern a person’s character. That was why forming contracts with these high-ranking beasts was so difficult. It wasn’t just you choosing the beast—the beast was also choosing you. If you weren’t up to par, they wouldn’t give you the time of day, let alone someone like this envious man.

Li Chang’an paid no attention to the commotion. After receiving his qualification certificate, he headed straight to the reception hall to register as an official Beast Tamer. With his Beast Tamer badge in hand, he made his way to the mission hall.

The mission hall had a futuristic design, with all operations handled by intelligent systems. The only human staff were engineers maintaining the smart mission boards and volunteers guiding new Beast Tamers on how to use the equipment.

Beast Tamers could use their badges to select and accept suitable missions on the smart mission boards. Once a mission was accepted, the badge would project a detailed mission description.

Li Chang’an easily found a mission to eliminate Blackfang Boars. Unlike the Hunter’s Guild, solo hunting missions here were rarely taken by new Beast Tamers, who mostly opted for gathering missions or group hunting missions. Although the latter paid less, they were safer.

In today’s society, young people weren’t foolish. Few would recklessly choose dangerous solo combat missions like in novels. Losing your life meant it was over—teaming up was the optimal choice.

But Li Chang’an was an exception. He had come to the Beast Tamer Association precisely for combat.

This solo combat mission involved eliminating several Blackfang Boars, rated at Transcendent 1-Star, with a generous reward. Each Blackfang Boar offered a 5,000 credit reward—nearly a month’s salary for an average worker—not to mention the additional income from harvesting the boar’s meat and tusks. All in all, killing one Blackfang Boar could net around 7,000 to 8,000 Donghuang Credits. Completing the entire mission efficiently could earn you 30,000 to 40,000 credits in a single day.

This was why Beast Tamer families were never short on money—Beast Tamers earned too easily. However, they also bore greater risks.

For instance, the Blackfang Boar mission Li Chang’an accepted involved a pack of these beasts, which typically traveled in groups of five or six. Most new Beast Tamers couldn’t handle these tough-skinned, high-damage creatures. Although the mission was rated for Level 1 Beast Tamers, it was usually taken by those at Level 3 or higher.

When Li Chang’an accepted the mission, a volunteer kindly reminded him, “This mission is too dangerous. Maybe you should pick something else?”

Li Chang’an grinned. “No problem. Danger is exactly what I’m looking for.”

The volunteer: “???”