Chapter Twenty-Six

After quite some time, Cheng Yuan finally awoke from that profound, soul-soothing comfort. As he regained consciousness, the two little creatures beside him stirred as well. The young tiger shook its body, feeling fully revitalized, brimming with boundless energy. On the other side, the Barbaric Swamp Giant Lizard was much the same, experiencing an inexplicable sense of security by Cheng Yuan’s side, and feeling energetic enough to swim a few more laps.

Cheng Yuan glanced at the newly appeared system notification: Trainer, skill learned—Deep Sleep. For the first time, he opened his own panel, realizing he possessed such a thing.

Name: Cheng Yuan
Gender: Male
Primary Profession: Monster Trainer
Secondary Profession: None
Element: None
Skills: Meditation LV3, Deep Sleep LV1
Talent: None
Soul Strength: 30 (before contract: 10)
Contracted Monsters: Weijin White Tiger LV10 (8), Barbaric Swamp Giant Lizard LV6 (5)

Seeing the panel, Cheng Yuan finally understood: he wasn’t merely an accessory to his monsters. The prevailing philosophy among trainers in this world was to become their monsters’ appendage in the later stages, akin to a manager, relying on the power reciprocated by the contract to bully the weak.

Meditation, Cheng Yuan realized, was a skill he hadn’t practiced since crossing into this world. Sloth, he mused. Over time, he’d come to understand the fundamental function of his golden finger: skill training. As long as he practiced, the skill level would naturally rise.

The young tiger let out a vigorous cry, and Cheng Yuan instantly understood its meaning: “I’m not sleepy anymore.” Stroking its little head as it nuzzled against him, he said, “Then continue practicing Gale Companion.” He also instructed the Giant Lizard to resume swimming.

While both creatures trained, Cheng Yuan examined the skill effects. Deep Sleep was clearly tailored for those who grind relentlessly—a short nap of three hours, and one could toil for another lengthy stretch. Yet this skill was one of the rare restricted types: usable only once per day, not too frequently lest it harm the mind, and unusable as a control skill. It could only be activated via contract, with a chance of failure—such as when the young tiger was already energetic, making success unlikely. Moreover, the originator, himself, was often the first to succumb to sleep.

Having clarified his own situation, Cheng Yuan turned his attention to the Claw Blade skill. His own compatibility was 0%; the young tiger, 20%; the Giant Lizard, 5%. Observing these sporadic compatibility rates, Cheng Yuan looked at his hand, then at the young tiger climbing a tree, and made a deduction: “Compatibility probably relates to whether the target possesses the relevant skills.”

He glanced at the young tiger’s panel. Besides the maxed-out skills—Golden Claw, Sharp Claw, Hook Claw—progress had been made over time. Hook Claw seemed to be a passive skill, quietly reaching level three, while Golden Claw and Sharp Claw, rarely used, remained at level one.

Just then, the young tiger scaled the tree, and Hook Claw jumped to level four. Cheng Yuan pondered this, then looked at a new function: Simulated Dungeon? Curious, he searched and eventually found an icon resembling a cave entrance. “Simulated Dungeon” was emblazoned atop the page, with only one entry in the middle: “The Angler’s Secret.”
“Would you like to initiate a simulated battle?”
“Yes.”

The young tiger, leaping about, and the Giant Lizard, swimming, suddenly felt the world flicker before their eyes. A red light shot up from the river’s center into the sky.

Intrigued, Cheng Yuan directed the Giant Lizard to swim toward the light. As it approached, the Giant Lizard sensed a malicious gaze upon it. The next second, tremors emanated from the water, prompting the Giant Lizard to dart toward the shore. Cheng Yuan saw the red light pursuing the Giant Lizard.

But the Giant Lizard was faster and quickly climbed ashore. At that moment, Cheng Yuan heard the rattling of bones—a skeleton with glowing red eyes was clambering from the riverbed.

A sense of danger swept over him. Soon, he saw the skeleton, its claws nearly ten centimeters long, running swiftly toward him. Cheng Yuan had barely taken a few steps when a sharp pain pierced his chest. Looking down, he saw white bone claws thrust through his torso.

Soon after, pain shot through his neck, and his vision flickered. Four large red characters flashed before his eyes: “Challenge Failed.” Cheng Yuan clapped his hands—so this is how it worked.

Then he heard splashing from the water. The Giant Lizard poked its head out, peering at Cheng Yuan with confusion, as if it had seen a ghost.

“Keep swimming,” Cheng Yuan said, waving his hand. He realized the Giant Lizard understood the purpose of the simulated dungeon—simulated battles, how interesting. In the dungeon, every fight was a struggle for survival; some monsters, due to their individual personalities, displayed unpredictable and intense combat styles. Defeating one, the next could easily wipe out both trainer and monsters.

This dungeon was an indirect means to enhance his combat experience, giving him better odds next time he faced the Claw Blade Skeleton. But for now, he’d avoid the challenge; the sensation of being decapitated twice was best left unexperienced.

Moreover, it was clear the Claw Blade Skeleton in the simulated dungeon was at its peak, not the weakened state of one that had soaked in water until its head softened. As the dungeon boss, its strength was restricted to adult stage, but it was still formidable—the speed and precision of its decapitating strikes were undeniably boss-level. Unbeatable, utterly unbeatable.

In the following five days, Cheng Yuan fished and practiced Meditation. Previously, he’d only wanted to cling to others, but now, seeing room for self-improvement, he decided to train—after all, it didn’t interfere with fishing.

The young tiger smoothly mastered Gale Companion to max level, acquiring the Gale Companion talent. Walking as if accompanied by wind aptly described the young tiger. Its running speed was astonishing; Cheng Yuan couldn’t catch up even at full sprint.

He reckoned that if it raced the Claw Blade Skeleton, it would survive three minutes longer than himself.

After Gale Companion reached max level, it triggered synergistic effects with the three basic skills—running, clawing, biting—yielding three new abilities: Wind Speed, Wind Bind, Wind Blade. Additionally, synergy with Tiger Roar produced the skill, Summon Wind.

Four new skills in one wave, an outcome Cheng Yuan hadn’t anticipated. Watching the gold-element young tiger acquire a slew of wind-type abilities confounded him.

Nonetheless, the benefits were clear: when the young tiger ran, wind always lifted its fur, making it appear even fluffier and larger—adorable as ever. Since tigers love bathing, it had no peculiar odor. Even female students from Xichuan Academy who occasionally fished nearby were tempted to pet it.