Chapter 15 Return_1

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The visitor was clad in a golden-trimmed white apothecary robe.

The eagle he rode stood three to four meters tall, with a back broad enough to easily carry a person.

The giant eagle's feathers were golden-brown, and it looked around with a sharp, imposing gaze.

"I am 'Ginger,' a steward from the Medicine Pavilion Guild."

After landing, the visitor called back his eagle-shaped pet beast outside the maid coffee shop.

By this time, Xiao Ling, Lu Ran, and others, who had heard the commotion, had already come outside.

Upon seeing Lu Ran and the others, the steward from the Medicine Pavilion Guild introduced himself.

"Cool." Although the golden eagle had already been recalled, Little White Dragon and the others had all seen it.

Little White Dragon lamented that raptors are truly damn cool.

"Indeed." Lu Ran also nodded.

Although Lu Ran couldn't determine the golden eagle's level, he felt that the pet beast's level must be over 10, maybe even over 20.

I wonder how it compares to a war machine.

This person should not be a fourth-generation beast trainer like Little White Dragon, Xiao Ling, and himself but rather a third-generation beast trainer who had already achieved that status a year ago.

After all, in Xia Country, it should be somewhat difficult for an ordinary person to come into contact with avian creatures. This eagle is very likely not an initial pet beast but one contracted later.

Hmm... for my second beast, I also want to secure a pet beast that ordinary people can't lay hands on!

"Hello, Neko Maid Cafe, Windy Feather." At this time, Xiao Ling stepped forward and said.

Whether it was Xiao Ling or this Ginger, they both seemed to be college-age students, which reminded Lu Ran that since his arrival in Infinite City, he had not seen a single older beast trainer. They all seemed to be young and middle-aged adults aged between 18 to 40.

"We were the ones who made contact earlier. This is the new friend I mentioned, Passerby A." Windy Feather introduced Lu Ran to the other party, and she did not introduce Little White Dragon, as after all, he was not involved in this matter.

"Hello, brother, you're quite lucky, having stumbled upon a grass attribute fruit. Are you interested in joining the Medicine Pavilion Guild? Once the evaluation period upon joining is over, we'll allocate a set of commercial housing near our real-world station, very convenient." The steward Ginger, upon his arrival, did not start with business but instead warmly began to draw Lu Ran in.

Being able to produce a high-level resource like a grass attribute fruit indicates that Lu Ran's beginner score is at least D-rank, which is already considered a good performance for a newcomer. The officials and the major guilds are all aware that 90% of newcomers only manage to get E or F scores.

Only those who were aware of Infinite City before obtaining a black card, with someone guiding and planning their trials from the start, might hope for a high score.

Besides, it was those with exceptional beast training talent or those in reality frequently dealing with ferocious beasts by their professions. Apart from these few groups, C or D ranks were already exceptionally high.

"Uh." Lu Ran was momentarily at a loss for words.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ling wasn't surprised as talent was indeed a scarce resource among the major forces in Infinite City.

However, Little White Dragon was staring wide-eyed, afraid that his Lu Ran would be taken away.

This Ginger is not playing fair!

But fortunately, Lu Ran didn't abandon him. Lu Ran's response eased Little White Dragon's worries.

"I'm still a high school student, and this all happened so suddenly, I might need to discuss it with my parents." Lu Ran showed a conflicted expression, using it as a reason to refuse.

That statement was purely a fabrication.

"A student, eh." Ginger shook his head; seeing that Lu Ran indeed looked underage, he thought better of it, as drawing this person in would only lead to a pile of troubles.

He said, "Anyway, if you're ever interested, just let me know, and now, let's proceed with the trade as we previously agreed. Could you give me your beast trainer number and ID, so I can transfer the crystal coins to you?"

"Sure, ID Passerby A, number 9528."

"That's a great name." Ginger exclaimed; a real Passerby A wouldn't have been able to produce a grass attribute fruit. In his eyes, Lu Ran had the makings of a supporting character who could survive more than a dozen episodes in a TV drama.

In any case, he regretted choosing the name Ginger. Why was he so absent-minded back then?

Now changing an ID costs 10,000 crystal coins, an expense no one could easily bear; Infinite City is so ruthless in its money-grubbing, grumbled Ginger in his heart.

Soon, Lu Ran received a transfer from Ginger.

At the moment, what Lu Ran was most concerned about was the wind attribute fruit. He had already taken out the grass attribute fruit from his bag, ready to make the exchange.

The grass attribute awakening fruit looked like a green pear.

Meanwhile, the wind attribute awakening fruit that Ginger brought out resembled a white pineapple.

The two exchanged their items, and upon receiving the grass attribute fruit, Ginger smiled satisfactorily and said, "Pleasure doing business."

"Thank you." Having received the wind attribute fruit, Lu Ran too was somewhat eager to awaken Mr. Husky's attributes.

"You're welcome."

Ginger laughed heartily and said, "I've got other matters to attend to, so I won't stay long. Xiao Ling, sister, if you come across such business again, you can still approach us. We have an unlimited demand for grass attribute fruits, and uh…"

"Passerby A, brother, if you have any rare resources you'd like to sell in the future, you can also directly ask me if I'm interested. I'm in charge of that at the Medicine Pavilion. Also, if you need to purchase any medicines, feel free to inquire with me."

"Okay." Lu Ran and others responded.

After finishing, Ginger nodded his farewell and summoned his eagle-shaped pet beast before hurriedly leaving... it seemed he truly wasn't planning on delving deeper into Lu Ran's potential.

"The Medicine Pavilion isn't so much a guild as it is a commerce chamber; being a steward there must be busy." Xiao Ling smiled and said, "But, Xiao Lu, your eyes were glued to that man's bird, no, eagle, are you interested in it?"

"Cough cough." Lu Ran, holding the pineapple-like white fruit, put the fruit back into his bag and said, "It does look a bit more handsome than my pet beast and seems quite nice for travel."

"Does Infinite City permit that kind of flight?"

"As long as you pass your flying license test, Infinite City has a special area for examinations. Unlicensed flying might get you punished by patrol beasts..." Little White Dragon said, "Your Husky is a wind attribute; once it can materialize wings, it should be able to fly too... you could also..."

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"Husky Knight?" Lu Ran shook his head, forget it, he should strive to contract a proper flying pet beast instead.

A Husky Knight is just too silly.

"By the way, I want to leave Infinite City, I can just use the 'Teleportation' function on my character card to return to Blue Star, right?" Lu Ran said.

"That's right, but since we're still newcomers, the permissions we have in Infinite City are quite limited; we have to go back to our own house before we can teleport," Xiao Ling explained.

"Are you planning to leave?" Little White Dragon asked.

"Although I've had some Bright God Tea, I still feel a bit tired. I want to go back and sleep first. Besides, being away for a day, I think people in reality might be worried about me."

"True, after being gone for an entire day, it's about time to go back and check. You don't live alone, do you? Disappearing suddenly can easily make your family worry. I'll send you my real-world mobile number. If you run into any difficulties in reality, like with your parents, or at school, you can contact me. I should be able to solve them," Little White Dragon said, "Also, whether you decide to join the official organization or not, please contact me as soon as possible in reality to complete the identity registration."

"Okay," Lu Ran nodded. If he wanted to maintain his Beast Trainer identity and planned to frequently enter Infinite City, it would indeed lead to many complications if he didn't manage things properly in reality.

"Then, goodbye." Cat Ear Maid Xiao Ling also said.

"Wait, I should still buy some basic Beast Training information first," Lu Ran pondered for a moment and then decided. Since he didn't plan to join any organization, the only option left was to buy the information here.

...

After a while, Lu Ran said farewell to the two of them, and he too came to the roadside. He imitated what Little White Dragon had done before, rented a shared motorcycle, which cost 1 crystal coin per hour. Lu Ran felt it was expensive since 1 crystal coin could be used for a whole day in the training field, but after drinking such expensive tea, he didn't mind this bit... Right now, he just didn't want to walk anymore.

He thought that in the future, he could make a tricycle for himself and then have Mr. Husky pull him; after all, their breed was essentially sled dogs, accustomed to pulling people, and this could also save some crystal coins.

Wind Attribute Beasts... aren't they known for their speed? He would consider it endurance training.

After leaving the Maid Coffee Shop, Lu Ran didn't head straight for the residential area but took a detour as Xiao Ling suggested, heading to the Smithy.

In the Novice Secret Realm, he obtained three rewards: the Beast Training Technique he could use himself, the Grass Attribute Awakening Fruit he had exchanged into a Wind Attribute Fruit for Mr. Husky, and the last remaining value from the Meteorite Mine yet to be fully utilized.

Lu Ran was thinking of forging it into a weapon.

In this way, he would have made use of all his rewards from the Trial Secret Realm, which could be considered a perfect start!

"Infinite City, Beast Training, it's quite interesting." Lu Ran licked his lips, savoring the taste of the tea he had just drunk. It was delicious – he'd try an even more expensive one next time.

Riding his beloved little motorbike, Lu Ran soon arrived at his destination.

But upon arriving, he regretted it. He looked at the Smithy that had already closed after "business hours," and after twitching his mouth a few times, he emotionlessly rode the motorcycle back to the residential area.

"I'll deal with it next time," Lu Ran gritted his teeth.

It hadn't even been an hour before Lu Ran returned to the community from which he had left, and he returned the shared motorbike to its designated spot.

Then, he went straight to his exclusive room, eager to return.

As he had said himself, after being missing for 24 hours, he hoped it wouldn't cause any trouble.

In principle, since he was an orphan and had taken a long leave from school, and since Fang Lan had just seen him, it shouldn't cause too much commotion... right?

He had achieved his goal in coming to Infinite City early, yet not quite fully.

He learned a lot of useful information for becoming stronger in the future, but unfortunately, he didn't manage to find any information about that strange dream. It could be either the dream itself was fake, or that Little White Dragon and others weren't high level enough.

But actually, Lu Ran had a guess: if the dream was a Premonition Dream, could it be possible that Infinite City was training Beast Trainers to fight against some disaster?

After returning to the white room, Lu Ran once again lamented Infinite City's stinginess because each teleportation between Infinite City and reality also cost 5 crystal coins—a round trip cost 10 crystal coins.

Really, there were crystal coins to be spent everywhere.

Fortunately, he scored high in the Beginner Trial, so he had more crystal coins than the average beginner.

In his exclusive room, Lu Ran took out his identity card, and with a thought, a familiar voice came to his ears.

[Do you wish to spend 5 crystal coins to return?]

Yes.

Lu Ran thought to himself.

[Teleportation countdown 10…9…]

Ten seconds later, in Lu Ran's exclusive room, a flash of light blinked, and his figure immediately vanished.

With the sensation of weightlessness, after a brief moment, Lu Ran reopened his eyes.

Back in his familiar room, he took a deep breath and immediately glanced at the cluttered living room; the things he had prepared for his trip to Infinite City were still scattered on the floor.

Then, Lu Ran picked up his cellphone.

Turning on the screen, his heart skipped a beat.

Because on it, there were several missed calls.

"It's over," Lu Ran quickly unlocked his phone to check who had made the missed calls.

Soon, Lu Ran was somewhat stupefied because all of those missed calls were from Fang Lan.

And they were made shortly after he had entered the Secret Realm!

Beyond the missed calls, Fang Lan seemed to have sent many messages as well!

Fang Lan: [Lu Ran, why aren't you answering your phone again (angry face)!!!]

Fang Lan: [Big news - remember the post I shared with you when we were having dinner?]

Fang Lan: [Ah, you might not believe it, but... it might be true because I've just received a Black Card too! (shocked face)]