In the Land of Nothingness, on a clearing at the heart of the forest, Lian Xia sat atop the carcass of a ferocious beast, his gaze fixed intently on the leaderboard before him. A towering Rock Golem stood silently beside him, faithfully performing its duty as his guardian.
"Less than a 20-point gap between me and second place? That's too narrow," Lian Xia murmured, his brow furrowed.
The current standings were:
1st: Lian Xia, 754 points
2nd: Han Xuemei, 738 points
3rd: Yun Ye, 732 points
4th: Jin Haocan, 725 points
5th: Loo Si, 467 points
"The scores of those trailing me are impressively high!" A glint sparked in Lian Xia's eyes. He could disregard Loo Si in fifth place, but Han Xuemei, Yun Ye, and Jin Haocan were not to be taken lightly. Their scores were perilously close to his own. Any complacency on his part, and he'd be quickly overtaken.
"This is the Nightbay Academy's entrance exam, after all—a gathering of prodigies. It's incredible how effortlessly I've encountered such formidable rivals."
A flicker of confusion crossed Lian Xia's eyes. Before arriving in Nightbay, he had meticulously gathered intelligence on all the strong contenders among the candidates. His focus had been on the four other third-rank pet owners besides himself. Now, three of those four had secured second to fourth places, but what about the last one?
Lian Xia scanned the leaderboard and soon spotted Xie Yang's name.
"125th? His score is unexpectedly low!"
"He's only amassed less than 300 points?" Han Xuemei peered at Xie Yang's ranking, a hint of perplexity dancing across her refined features. "Isn't his pet of the third rank? How did he manage to score so poorly?" She pondered briefly before shaking her head dismissively.
"No matter, there's no point in concerning myself with someone ranked beyond the top hundred. My true competitor is Lian Xia, and with just 16 more points, I'll catch up and then surpass him!"
"Come on, I've rested enough. It's time we resumed the hunt."
The Steel Striped Dragon lying at her feet let out a soft growl, rising to its feet and affectionately nuzzling Han Xuemei's cheek with its head. Then, it fell into step beside her as they ventured deeper into the forest.
The sound of the air being shredded suddenly erupted.
A thorny vine lashed out like lightning, striking the Thunder Worm midair with a vicious snap.
The Thunder Worm let out a pitiful cry as it plummeted to the ground, now bearing a gory wound from which dark blood oozed.
Soon, the Thunder Worm succumbed to the poison, convulsing briefly before its life faded.
The Poison Vine Demon, triumphant in its kill, excitedly thrashed its vines.
"Well done," Jin Haocan offered coolly, yet his gaze remained fixed on the leaderboard, unblinking.
"By all accounts, Xie Yang should be the strongest among us five. So why are his ranking and score so disappointingly low?"
"Is it possible the intel I got was off? Maybe Xie Yang's abilities aren't as formidable as I thought."
"He's only at 125th place. He's nothing but a glorified nobody," Yun Ye scoffed, eyeing the leaderboard with a disdainful chuckle.
He had assumed the genius who passed the superior grade Apprentice Assessment would be impressive.
YOU ARE READING
Reborn to Be A Beast Master
FantasyIn an alternate modern world, where people could summon their own beastly companions, His journey was anything but ordinary. As the college entrance exams loomed, He found himself the subject of ridicule for his choice of a companion - a small, seem...
