Chapter 9 - Limitless City

"I choose Limitless City!"

***

Limitless City was a sacred and majestic place that seemed to be floating in a spatial rift, keeping it isolated from the rest of the world. Stars sparkled like gems in the silky blue sky, gently sprinkling starlight upon the ground.

In a spacious open field, rows of simple gray roofs quietly jutted out under the starlight. Inside a room located in the southern district of the city, a white light flashed, and a figure emerged within it.

Lu Ran, who had just completed the beginner trial, carefully observed his surroundings.

He didn't expect the return trip to allow for two destinations. Thus, when he had seen the options, he chose to come to Limitless City, a hub for beastmasters, without a second thought. He had many questions that needed answers, after all.

However, the most important thing right now was the rewards that he had just received. They were the fruits of his and Captain Doofus’ hard labor after a long day.

There were a total of nine grades, from SSS to F. Considering that, Lu Ran was quite satisfied with the S rating that he had received. Although it wasn’t the highest, it was still well above average. Most people who simply avoided danger and just survived for a day would get something around an E or F rating.

Only Lu Ran and Captain Doofus really knew what happened in the secret realm that day. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, but he had to thank the pendant for that. He and Captain Doofus wouldn’t have been able to get far without its healing effect.

Unfortunately, although he had a powerful healing item, Captain Doofus' species rank was still too low. It had only been a husky before evolving, and its fighting capabilities were limited. If someone contracted a tiger or a polar bear, not accounting for any injuries, then they would be able to hunt far more efficiently.

Its low starting point shouldn’t be an issue, though, assuming that Captain Doofus could continuously evolve. As long as they worked together, they could definitely break through the limitations of its species. It wasn’t entirely impossible to one day be on par with or even surpass mythical creatures such as dragons.

The magic of the secret realm had given Lu Ran hope, especially now that they were about to start with several good rewards thanks to the Divine Deer Pendant.

Lu Ran took out the ID card that he had gotten as a reward from the secret realm. Its appearance and material were very similar to the black contract card, except it was white and could store the resources he was rewarded.

[Name: Lu Ran (Changeable)]

[Beastmaster ID Number: 9528]

Besides basic information, it also had four tabs at the bottom: [Communications] [Team] [Storage] [Transfer].

The 10,000 crystal coins and three items rewarded from the secret realm were all neatly stacked in his storage. The Beastmaster skill also took the form of a card, so he just called it a “skill card." The crystal coins, on the other hand, had no physical form, and just appeared as a number like money in an online bank account.

Lu Ran guessed that the crystal coins were some sort of universal currency in Limitless City. He should be able to spend it just by swiping the ID like a credit card.

Looking around the room he had been teleported into, he noticed that it mostly just had some basic furniture. What caught his eye, though, was a pillar in the room that seemed to have something like a credit card reader attached to it. He walked up to it, and a screen with captioned images popped out.

"This is..."

[Name: Spider Cave]

[Rank: Beginner]

[Difficulty: Easy]

[Entry Fee: 200 cc]

[Name: Wild Boar Valley]

[Rank: Beginner]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Entry Fee: 500 cc]

[Name: Giant Beast Forest]

[Rank: Beginner]

[Difficulty: Hard]

[Entry Fee: 700 cc]

It seemed that he had to spend crystal coins to gain entry to other secret realms. Considering there were five pages, and the first page listed ten secret realms, he had over forty beginner-level secret realms to choose from!

Flipping through the catalog, Lu Ran found a few particularly outrageous entries, such as the Lake of Death.

[Name: Lake of Death]

[Rank: Beginner]

[Difficulty: Hell]

[Entry Fee: 1,000 cc]

"Seriously!?" Lu Ran cried out in shock.

The secret realms had four difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell.

Entry fees generally ranged from a hundred to a thousand crystal coins. With 10,000 cc in his pocket, he could run multiple secret realms, though nothing caught his immediate interest.

In the Demon Cat Forest, an Easy beginner trial secret realm, they were injured multiple times and came out exhausted despite having the help of an Epic item. Until he had more information, it was better to avoid Normal-difficulty secret realms, not to mention hard and hell.

Lu Ran thought back to the Communication and Team tabs that he had seen on the ID card earlier. They suggested that high-difficulty secret realms could be challenged in a team.

Besides the dangerous secret realms, Lu Ran also found one that was absolutely safe.

[Name: Training Secret Realm]

[Rank: Beginner]

[Entry Fee: 1 cc per day]

Based on its name, it was probably just a basic training ground. Entry was extremely affordable, at least.

"I should take a look at the rewards I got first. They should be able to help boost our combat power."

Lu Ran left the pillar, and the screen disappeared automatically. He turned his attention toward the resource rewards in his storage.

In the secret realm, he was only given temporary use of the Eye of Detection. When he passed the trial, though, he gained permanent access to it.

However, since it was only the basic version, it didn’t have the same functions as the one that he had in the secret realm, like revealing the information of other creatures. His Basic Eye of Detection could only show information about himself, his familiar, and some low-rarity resources. It was far less practical.

[Name: Meteorite Iron Ore]

[Grade: Superior]

[Description: Iron ore found in meteorites from outer space. It is a great conductor of energy and has amplifying effects. Can be used to make weapons and equipment.]

[Name: Attribute-Awakening Fruit (Grass)]

[Grade: Superior]

[Description: Helps familiars with an affinity for the grass attribute to awaken its attribute.]

Meteorite Iron Ore and a Grass Element Fruit!

Meteorite Iron Ore was a game changer. Lu Ran had been frustrated about not being able to bring weapons with him. Considering he couldn't take weapons from the outside world into the beginner trial secret realm, he deduced that he could only bring items with supernatural powers, like the Divine Deer Pendant.

Since this meteorite ore was a special resource, he should be able to bring weapons made out of it into secret realms.

Lu Ran was very pleased with this reward. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, or even where he could get a weapon crafted.

The fruit also made Lu Ran excited. The extraordinary creatures he encountered during his recent trip were mostly without attributes, which he found to be very strange. From what he understood, creatures should have attributes like wind, lightning, water, and fire, yet he had not come across any monsters with one.

Perhaps it was difficult and rare for transcendent creatures to awaken an attribute. It likely required some sort of external assistance, too.

That was where the Element-Awakening Fruit came into play, which was obviously meant to help a familiar awaken their attribute. He doubted that Captain Doofus would be compatible with the grass attribute despite having an appetite for vegetables, though.

If he couldn’t use it, then he could just sell it or trade it for an attribute he needed. However, to do that, he first had to find a way to determine Captain Doofus' attribute. He added it to his goals here in Limitless City.

Among all his rewards, though, the beast control skill excited him the most. In Lu Ran's opinion, between a beastmaster and their familiar, beastmaster skills were the best that a beastmaster could bring to the table. They were likely the determining factor of a beastmaster’s strength, considering they either augmented the strength of the familiar or the beastmaster themselves.

Hm...

[Name: Super Beast Mimicry]

[Description: Grants a beastmaster the behavioral characteristics, strength, and abilities of their familiar.]

"Huh...? Holy shit!" Lu Ran cursed.

What is this? Could it be...?

Although he didn't know much about beastmaster skills, this just so happened to solve his inadequate combat power. Acquiring his husky’s abilities could boost his power tremendously.

However, Lu Ran's face soon darkened. The skill also mentioned that it would grant him the behavioral characteristics of his familiar.

In ancient times, people practiced the Twelve Zodiac Fist, which imitated the characteristics of twelve animals. Hence, this beastmaster skill wasn’t completely unusual. If Lu Ran one day contracted a dragon, a tiger, or a bear, then he would acquire this skill without hesitation. After all, it could even grant him the strength of a bear, the vision of an eagle, or the speed of a leopard. Unfortunately, he contracted a dog.

Lu Ran imagined himself behaving like Captain Doofus.

"This is ridiculous! Who even came up with this skill?" Lu Ran clenched his fists in rage. "I'd rather be beaten to death in a secret realm or fail to become a powerful beastmaster in my lifetime than imitate a dog!"

After a brief pause, though, he quickly changed his mind.

“No, I should stop complaining and think of a solution instead."