Curious Wen Yu

As Rheo stepped out of the woods, a cool breeze blew past his face, with a sense of accomplishment, he let out a heavy sigh.

Rheo took out his phone and checked the time, it was twenty minutes past ten in the morning. He had spent about three hours in the woods.

"The day is still young"

Without much contemplation, he started strolling back into the city while surfing the internet.

The youth trudged lightly on the paved road, It was about a 30-minute journey from the area into the city so he felt there was no need to book a cab.

Even if he wanted, which cab driver right in their head would come to this location?

The area was eerily silent. A place once known as one of the busiest districts in New Pearl had long been overtaken by wild plant life.

Towering buildings were now draped in thick, wriggling, spiked vines.

Shops lay buried beneath layers of poisonous, bioluminescent moss, while grotesque monster flowers bloomed in the open, each flower's gaping mouth belching out clouds of green, toxic vapor that the wind carried down the abandoned streets.

The cityscape had become a poisonous green graveyard.

Thick green vines spread over tall buildings and shops, making them inhabitable.

As his gaze landed on a nearby store with its doors hanging loose, his stomach growled with a low, unsettling sound that reminded him that he hadn't eaten.

The signboard above creaked in the breeze, dangling by a thread, while the flickering light over the entrance gave off a pulse like a dying heartbeat.

There was no point in hoping for food. This place had been abandoned for ages, which meant, anything inside would've rotted or expired long ago.

Even though no monsters were seen around, there was no telling what type was lurking in the shadows of the buildings and shops.

Although plant-type monsters lack locomotion, they still made their foreboding presence known by spreading kinds their roots through the earth and overrunning large expanses of land within a small amount of time.

After some moments of strolling the paved road and surfing the internet to move his mind away from hunger, Rheo navigated to the website, Pet Evolvers.

Ninbunny is a dual-type monster, he hope to find Martial and shadow cultivation formula.

After some moments of strolling through the section, he stumbled across a post.

"There"

Martial and Shadow element cultivation formula, the title was bold as if waiting for me to read.

Rheo smiled, it wasn't that hard to find, compared to Earth and Electric.

It was a Tier two formula, which meant Ninbunny tier would ascend to Tier two of commander grade if its Martial and Shadow elements were cultivated.

Without even bothering to read the ingredients and preparation, he copied and pasted it into the notepad of my phone, then titled it ~Ninbunny Evolution Formula~

"Great"

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Just in the middle of his celebration, Rheo heard a coarse voice that drew his attention away from his phone screen.

It seemed he was too embroiled in the evolution formula he had just found, such that, he didn't notice when someone was about a few feet from him.

"Kid, this is no place to play, this location is an Iron-grade lair..."

The man was clad in a black suit and shades, Rheo recognized him as one of the association monster rangers, they always patrolled around monster lairs with black suits and shade.

Since he was initially scrolling through his phone, the man's eyes caught the talent mark at the back of his right hand, he cleared his throat and spoke out more politely.

"Are you perhaps on a mission from your guild? I'll need to check your license before you proceed with any lair activity"

The man tried to force a smile.

"No, one of my pets escaped into this location so I came to see if I could find it"

Rheo didn't really want any trouble so he tried to find a perfect lie, if he told him he was coming from hunting, since only licensed monster rangers were permitted to raid monster lairs, he would have to pay some fine for breaking the law.

"I'm very sorry about that but you must return to the city now, this location is off-limits to civilians"

Although it was off-limit, he could easily come back to hunt again, thanks to Raizen's ability to survey location, he just have to hunt lower-grade monsters, and considering the fact that Ninbunny is a commander-grade monster, he could probably hunt wild-grade monsters with it.

Monster rangers from the association always patrolled monster lairs, however, their little numbers weren't enough for them to be everywhere at once.

They had to prioritize some lairs over others, such an example was this man.

Rheo noticed he was the only one patrolling this larger area of the monster's lair.

Perhaps he had some powerful monster pet at his disposal.

Compared to other developed countries where the Association had firm government backing, New Pearl's Ranger Association was like a patchwork scarecrow trying to guard a cornfield, present, but barely effective.

After some moment, Rheo stepped into the city, the busy lane was bustling with activities.

After boarding a cab, within a few minutes, he had reached the Evolver Pet Center.

It was a hospital built mainly for monster pets and the main branch was located in this very city.

Rheo stepped out of the cab, greeted by the looming hospital building and many noises that originated from monster pets of different shapes and sizes.

He let out a heavy and satisfactory sigh and then called out Raizen and Ninbunny from his Tamer Space.

The Steel-feather Thunder Falcon had already perched at his left shoulder but Ninbunny was nowhere to be found!

What?

Rheo knew the two Pets had left the Tamer Space, he was so sure of it, but where was the second one?

He looked around panickily, scanning the hospital, after some moment, it wasn't long before his gaze landed at one corner of the hospital's large compound.

There it was, like an assassin hiding in the shadows, concealed beneath the shade of a massive hospital billboard, the Ninbunny stood with its back and right leg pressed against the wall, arms crossed.

Its piercing red eyes met Rheo's, its thick fur of mask partly concealing its expression.

Huh, when did it reach there??

The corner of Rheo's mouth twitched.

Ninbunny, come back

He called back the pet, and within a blink of an eye, it was already right behind him!

[Pet has used skill: Night Step]

"So, that was night step, moving through the shadows"

Rheo smiled nervously, that was one hell of a skill.

Rheo continued walking, while Raizen remained quiet on my shoulder, almost unusually still.

He couldn't even hear its voice in his mind. It must still be recovering from battle. Still, it looked fine—just eerily silent.

That was why he came here—to have both pets examined.

Just as he reached the entrance of the hospital, Rheo's eyes caught a familiar figure.

"The skinny boy with the mega monster at the association? I think his name is Wen Yu"

Wen Yu was exiting the side of the building, wearing a white lab coat.

"The first-class monster breeder, is he working here?"

As the boy spotted Rheo, his eyes lit up immediately.

"It is you, I met you at the contract ceremony"

He rushed over like he'd spotted a long-lost friend.

"Tell me, why does the contract light go out during your turn, I have never seen something like that before, I want to know!"

Wen Yu looked super curious, realizing the boy was too close, Rheo stepped away a little bit and continued entering the hospital premises, however, Wen Yu continued following him like a pet.

"There are many mysteries surrounding monsters and their evolution, like this your Ninbunny, it evolved from Muscle Rat, right? Yet in the taxonomy, Rat and bunny are not the same species, although they are from the same superorder"

Wen Yu pointed at Ninbunny who was right behind Rheo, his expression was so intensely fascinated.

This one looked like he would enjoy several hours of science lecture

"This nerd is on another level"

An idea suddenly sparked in Rheo's brain, one that made a thin mischievous smile spread on his lips.

"Maybe he could help me become first-class in tomorrow's Monster Breeder exam"