Leon looked up at Claire.
“Did Uncle Vance ask you to give this to me?” Claire nodded.
Leon’s eyes stung slightly with emotion.
He looked down at the egg in his hands, his fingers gently tracing the warm shell, and remained silent for a long time.
When the alien invasion occurred, he had lost both of his parents at the age of six.
Uncle Vance happened to save him, taking him into his own home and raising him.
Leon had only moved out after he grew up and became capable of supporting himself.
He hadn’t expected Uncle Vance to still be watching over him so closely, preparing a high-quality monster egg the moment he learned Leon had awakened as a Beast Tamer.
Even though it wasn’t explicitly stated, Leon knew his foster father must have paid an astronomical price or traded a massive political favor to secure this legendary asset.
Leon carefully handed the egg back to Claire.
Claire froze.
She tilted her head, her icy blue eyes filled with absolute confusion.
The cowlick on her head curled into a distinct question mark, swaying gently atop her hair.
Seeing her like this, Leon couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch her cheek.
The skin was incredibly soft and warm, like the finest silk.
“I don’t need this, Claire.
Return it to Uncle Vance and tell him I’m completely confident I can pass tomorrow’s trial instance on my own.” Using a pet of this caliber right now would be a complete waste of resources.
With his system template, even a plain, White-tier common pet could have its quality boosted to an unimaginable level.
More importantly, Uncle Vance might have agreed to some harsh, restrictive conditions to acquire it, and Leon refused to let his foster father suffer a loss on his account.
Claire stared at him for a few seconds, searching his face for any signs of hesitation.
Finally, she nodded, accepted the Silver-Winged Hawk egg, and placed it back into her spatial storage.
Although she didn’t know where Leon’s absolute confidence came from, she trusted him implicitly.
Well, except when it came to other women.
She stole a quick glance at Leon, thinking to herself: Honestly, even if he fails the trial and becomes an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
That way, he would belong solely to her, and no one else would ever try to steal him away.
“Alright, I’m going to take a shower.” Leon grabbed a change of clothes from his wardrobe and headed toward the bathroom, ready to wash up and go to sleep.
Claire nodded, watching him walk away.
Then, quite naturally, she stood up and followed him right inside.
Inside the bathroom, Leon turned around and looked at Claire.
The air turned dead silent as their eyes locked.
Leon’s face darkened.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Her cowlick bobbed up and down, silently conveying her message: Let’s take a bath together.
Slam!
The bathroom door flew open, and Claire was promptly shoved out into the hallway.
The door slammed shut again, followed by the sharp click of the deadbolt locking into place.
Standing outside the door, Claire puffed out her cheeks, looking exactly like an annoyed hamster.
The next day.
Mountcrest City Square, the central stadium.
The massive circular arena, capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands of people, was packed to maximum capacity, filled with a surging, overwhelming roar of voices.
Today was the highest-rated broadcasting event for the entire human race—the day the new generation of awakened professionals entered their mandatory personal trial instances.
For countless corporations, mercenary guilds, and elite universities, this was a massive scouting feast to acquire fresh talent.
For ordinary citizens, it was the most thrilling entertainment spectacle of the year.
For the young men and women who had just transferred classes, it was the first true test of their destiny.
In the absolute center of the stadium, a giant projection screen floated high in mid-air.
The display was divided into more than a dozen streaming frames, each broadcasting young figures fighting, maneuvering, or being overwhelmed by various dungeon monsters.
Exclamations, sighs, and thunderous cheers erupted from the audience from time to time.
The spectators leaned forward in their seats, staring intently at every detail on the screen as if they were right there inside those dangerous zones.
Professionals who possessed absolute confidence in their abilities would apply for a dedicated channel to stream their runs.
Viewers only needed to input the specific city, school, and student ID to tune into any student’s live broadcast.
Hovering above the massive main screen were rows of silver-colored ranking data.
Of the featured streams, the top three slots represented the most popular broadcasts across the entire human race.
The remaining frames displayed the top genius students from Mountcrest City.
The number one spot on the global rankings belonged to none other than Claire from the Fifth District.
The viewer count on her stream had already reached an astonishing 300 million.
Inside her trial instance, Claire wielded a legendary-quality longsword.
Her figure moved like a flash of silver lightning, cleaving through hundreds of dungeon monsters with terrifying efficiency.
The second-place spot belonged to an arrogant male student from the First District.
He was a scion of an Imperial Capital family who had awakened a Legendary High Grade class: Elemental Mage.
His broadcast currently commanded 100 million viewers.
Third place went to a beautiful girl with white fox ears and a seductive figure.
Even in the heat of combat, her every movement was incredibly alluring and breathtaking.
Her class was also Legendary High Grade: a Nine-Tailed Ice-Flame Fox from the Second War Zone, a human-beast hybrid.
Her stream sat at 80 million viewers.
A precipitous gap separated the top ranks.
Claire’s name sat comfortably at the absolute peak, and her viewership numbers were still climbing rapidly.
After all, she was only the third Mythical-class professional to appear in humanity’s recent history.
In an inconspicuous corner of the stadium stands, Leon let out a massive yawn, tears welling in the corners of his eyes.
He rubbed his dark circles and looked up at the silver-haired figure dominating the giant screen.
That girl had completely exhausted him yesterday; he had barely gotten any sleep at all.
It was truly hard to wrap his head around.
The fearsome Mythical-grade Sword Saint currently flashing across the screen, unleashing a chilling sword intent to butcher hordes of monsters, had secretly crawled into his bed last night.
The girl wasn’t young anymore; her body had fully matured into stunning proportions.
Yet she still acted like a clingy child, insisting on sneaking into his bed to hug him while she slept, completely refusing to leave no matter how much he complained.
When he had tried to force her back to the living room futon, she would open her icy blue eyes, letting them fill with a misty, tearful glaze.
Her ahoge would droop flat against her head, making her look exactly like an abandoned, shivering kitten.
Faced with that sight, Leon’s conscience had spiked with intense guilt, and he simply couldn’t bring himself to push her away.
Left with no other choice, he had ultimately surrendered and let her have her way.
However, that concession had placed him in absolute psychological torture.
Leon sighed, rubbing his throbbing temples.
He was a perfectly healthy eighteen-year-old male with normal physiological responses.
Being held tightly all night by a girl with a flawless face and an incredible figure, while forcing himself to suppress every single impure thought, was practically a form of advanced water torture.
What troubled him even more were Claire’s small, unconscious habits.
In her sleep, she would throw her legs over him, rub her smooth cheek against his chest, and breathe softly against his ear.
He even secretly suspected the girl was browsing the exact same questionable internet forums or movies as him.
Otherwise, how could her every single movement in bed precisely hit his absolute weak spots?
“Sigh.” Leon let out another helpless breath.
He shook his head vigorously, trying to banish the lingering sensory memories of the previous night from his mind.
Given their deep history, Leon knew Claire likely wouldn’t object even if he crossed the line and took things further, but he refused to do that right now.
He still possessed his own sense of male pride; he wanted to wait until he grew powerful enough to stand as her absolute equal before fully committing to a romantic relationship.