Aurum North High School.
The school's awakening machine cost billions but was honestly pretty basic—it couldn't detect what talent you got.
Staring at the words in front of him, Cole could barely contain his excitement.
Divine Resonance.
Every beast he raised would directly power-level him—times two!
And a Beast Master could contract multiple beasts.
If all of them grew… how strong would he become?
Unimaginable.
This kind of body-strengthening talent was basically unheard of.
In this world, normal Beast Masters only got a tiny fraction of feedback from their beasts—maybe one-tenth at best. Human bodies stayed weak; that was just common knowledge.
That's why even top-tier Beast Masters always kept one or two dedicated tanks or healers—the master himself was usually the squishiest link in the chain.
With this talent? Cole was going to become the strongest human on the planet.
Maybe even mythic-tier human.
…
"Nope… failed again." Tyson walked out looking like his dog died. Seeing Cole looking equally dead inside, he laughed through the pain. "Hah! You failed too, right? Fifth time—new record! Seeing you flop makes me feel better."
Cole silently pulled out the shiny blue Reserve Badge from his pocket.
Tyson froze, then let out a wounded animal noise.
"You absolute bastard—you awakened without me?! I'm still here failing like a chump!"
Right then, a stunning senior appeared at the hall entrance and clapped her hands.
"All successful candidates, come stand by me. I'm giving you the mandatory safety briefing for the Phantom Trial. It's dangerous. Pay attention—this is about your lives."
She radiated big "don't mess with me" energy. Cole glanced at her nameplate:
Student Council Officer, Beast Master Class — Vivian West
Cole patted Tyson's shoulder and walked over.
Tyson stared at Cole and the handful of badge-holders with pure envy.
The gap of life, laid bare.
…
"You'll be teleported into the Phantom Trial tomorrow morning, 12 hours from now…"
Senior Vivian began the briefing.
The trial space was created by a friendly mythic-tier phantom beast specifically for newbies.
Participants got randomly dropped into low-danger zones.
Normally you only met Tier 1 beasts like Water-Spraying Fish or Snake-Head Grass.
Even Tier 1 beasts could kill you—they were about as dangerous as large attack dogs.
Still deadly enough—plenty of students died every year.
Vivian looked straight at Cole. "You're way too skinny. Weak constitution. Stay hidden or team up. Don't try to be a hero."
Cole nodded solemnly.
The newbies started introducing themselves—teaming up was smart.
Vivian gestured to the tall, muscular, dark-skinned jock beside her.
"This is my junior disciple, Marcus Zhao. If you run into him inside, ask for help. With his strength, protecting you is easy."
Junior disciple—meaning both she and Marcus had personal mentors. Huge deal.
Marcus grinned, raised his right hand. A faint blue sigil flashed—and a puppy made of fire appeared.
"My first beast—Tier 2 bloodline, Flame Golden Retriever. Basically invincible in the newbie trial~"
He already had a Tier 2 beast. Bought, of course.
A good Tier 2 cost millions.
Cole felt the sting of reality.
Marcus Zhao—rich second-gen Beast Master brat.
Why was a guy who already had a beast doing the newbie trial?
Simple: top scores got insane rewards and official recognition.
Marcus spent big money on a strong starter beast to sweep the rankings.
One step ahead, forever ahead.
That's life.
Vivian continued, "I know most of you have zero shot at the rewards, but rules are rules."
"1. Survival time = base points."
"2. More contracts + higher bloodline tier = more points."
"3. Kill wild beasts (recorded by your wrist device or materials turned in) = bonus points."
"Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Prioritize staying alive. Contracting one beast and coming back breathing is already lucky."
She glared at Marcus. "That includes you. Don't get cocky just because you have a Tier 2."
Marcus nodded obediently, then pulled a face the moment she looked away.
"I'm obviously taking first place. Bossy woman…"
…
Evening, Peace Alley.
Crappy rental apartment.
"You actually awakened a Beast Space?! For real?!"
Cherry Voss was sprawled on the couch picking her feet like a goblin.
"Have some girly manners!"
Cole glared, about to toss her the badge, then saw her hands and changed his mind. He walked over and flashed it in her face.
Cherry's big pretty eyes went perfectly round.
"You… you actually did it, holy crap!"
She jumped up cheering.
"That means our family's gonna have a real Beast Master! You don't even know—Kinsley in my class brags nonstop about her cousin being one…"
Cherry was in 8th grade—prime bragging age.
"Kinsley… the one who won't shut up about 'vibes', 'serving cunt', 'she ate and left no crumbs'?"
"Yup, that's her."
"Told you to stay away from that crowd."
They were orphans raised together in the system—not blood-related, but closer than most real siblings.
Cole had always worried she'd fall in with a bad crowd, but deep down he was relieved: even in this parallel world, annoying middle-school girls were exactly the same.
"I told Kinsley you said that. She said it was the first time she truly felt the malice of old people."
…Old? I'm 17!
Cole ignored her and went out to buy supplies for tomorrow.
Emergency meds, obviously. But the real target: Beast Lure Potion—8–9k credits a bottle. Massive expense for him.
Guess I'll be eating instant noodles for months again.
Wait—no, I'm a future Beast Master now. Money won't be a problem anymore.
That thought cheered him up.
…
Next morning—Aurum North High School, in front of the Trial Building.
Huge crowd. Teachers, director, principal, and half the school showed up to watch the "heroes."
Marcus was the star, walking his Flame Golden Retriever on a leash like a total show-off.
Cole's little supply box looked pathetic in comparison.
Poor kid among the trial participants—dead last in family background.
Blah blah speeches, ceremonies—finally they stepped into the glowing teleport array.
Weightlessness. A tunnel of blinding colors.
Trial Building Core Control Room.
Red alarm lights suddenly screamed.
"What the hell?!"
"Energy spike—Phantom Trial space is going haywire!"
Principal Elias Grant rushed in with Vivian.
After checking the readings, the principal's face turned ashen.
"Principal Grant, what's happening?" Vivian asked.
His voice was dry: "For unknown reasons… the trial space has mutated. Difficulty just skyrocketed."
"Mutated?!" Vivian paled. "Then the students inside…"
Principal Grant closed his eyes and sighed.
"Except maybe Marcus with his Tier 2 beast… the rest are as good as dead."
Lately other schools had reported similar accidents, but the odds were tiny. Of course their school won the lottery.
The light stabilized.
Cole landed on alien soil.
Sweet, humid floral scent filled the air—almost cloying.
Twisted plants straight out of textbooks. Roars echoed from endless bushes.
He was at the edge of a swamp.
Swamps were notorious death traps in the Phantom Realm—way above what a newbie trial was supposed to throw at them.
"…Swamps are super dangerous zones. Why the hell did I spawn here?"
He quickly burrowed into thick bushes and hid.
Then—he heard frantic splashing and high-pitched squeaking nearby.
Peeking through the leaves:
A head-sized rat was wrestling a big shiny beetle to the ground.
"Fire-Spray Rat and Glimmer Beetle!"
Live wild phantom beasts!
Both Tier 1, both contractable.
Not every phantom beast could be contracted—some species just didn't work with humans, or the bond was garbage.
Glimmer Beetle was famously one of the "three trash starters."
But the Fire-Spray Rat? Rare for Tier 1, could breathe fire.
Raise it right and it could evolve into something that rivaled Marcus's golden retriever!