Asher, who had no idea he was almost hit on the head by a large pot: "?"
'What happened outside?'
'Oh.'
He knew it all.
Angel told Asher the general situation, but it deliberately concealed the little role it played in the events.
"You did something too, didn't you?", Despite everything, Asher still spoke in a certain tone.
Angel's big eyes blinked rapidly, almost as if confusion was about to spill out of them.
'How does he know?'
'I clearly haven't said anything.'
'I even deliberately skipped that part in my report.'
"Human wisdom," Asher smiled without explaining further.
Explain?
How was he supposed to explain it to Angel?
Could Asher tell Angel that he had just made a wild guess?
Of course not.
To maintain his image in Angel's mind, Asher kept an expression that looked perfectly composed. Given Angel's current understanding of human complexity, it had no way of seeing through Asher's casual nonsense—though, deep down, he was a bit guilty.
Why was he able to guess?
Asher believed that his relationship with Angel was quite good. If any negative opinions about him appeared online, Angel would absolutely not stand idly by, right?
The facts proved this to be true.
Not only did Angel intervene, but after doing so, it hadn't even told Asher.
When Asher turned the tables and asked about it, Angel finally felt like its actions might have been a little strange.
Angel: ?
'So even as an intelligent machine, I can still act emotionally?'
Angel felt it needed to run a virus scan on itself.
Oh.
Angel wasn't actually an artificial intelligence, just a being temporarily without a body. It couldn't even run a self-diagnostic scan if it wanted to.
Angel chose to remain silent and stopped talking to Asher.
Asher burst out laughing.
"Hahaha."
'Good, very good.'
After laughing twice, Asher stopped. He knew when to quit—if he laughed too much, Angel would really get mad at him, and that wouldn't be worth it.
Once he calmed down, Asher finally felt the double exhaustion, both physically and mentally, that the beast tide had brought him. The scene when the tide arrived far exceeded his imagination.
In the distance, densely packed creatures came charging in large waves, all of them ferocious supernatural beasts, including wolves, tigers, leopards, lions, and more.
There were also some beasts whose original forms were unrecognizable, looking grotesquely terrifying.
They gathered in massive numbers—nearly ten thousand of them.
And according to Miles, a beast tide of this scale was only considered a mid-to-small-sized one.
Fighting the beast tide.
Eradicating the beast tide.
No one dared to let their guard down.
Including Asher.
Hiding one's strength was not an option—the main strategy was unleashing one's full potential and letting the beasts use their full might.
Little Raven and Cat Worm both displayed their bloodthirsty nature during the battle.
What?
beasts below Tier 6?
If they dared to come, they had to be prepared to be wiped out.
One came, one was killed.
Ten came, ten were killed.
Not a single one escaped alive from Little Raven and Cat Worm.
As for Little White Snake, it took care of sneaky finishing moves from behind.
What?
That one wasn't fully dead?
No problem!
Snake would take care of it.
Of course.
When it came to which of Asher's beasts gained the most from this beast tide—
It wasn't Little Raven, who broke through from Tier 5 Advanced to Tier 6 Low.
It wasn't Cat Worm, who was just one step away from Tier 6.
And it wasn't even Little White Snake, who successfully mastered Refined Water during battle.
Instead, it was... the little jellyfish, who used this opportunity to gorge itself, stuffing itself full of energy, thickening its bloodline, and awakening new talent skills.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Beast: Box Poison Flower Jellyfish]
[Attributes: Water + Special]
[Breed: High-Rank Supernatural Mid-Tier]
[Level: Tier 5 Mid]
[Skills: Water Cannon, Water Jet, Bubble Attack]
[Evolution Route: ——]
[Bloodline: Kun]
[Awakening Degree: 7%]
[Talent Skill: Gluttony]
— Gluttony 1: The more food energy it consumes, the faster it grows and the quicker its strength improves (Upgradable).
— Gluttony 2: Can devour the skills of opponents whose strength does not exceed twice its own, converting them into absorbed energy (refer to Gluttony 1), and seals the devoured skill for ten minutes (Innate Ability).
— Gluttony 3: When the absorbed energy reaches the body's limit, the excess energy can be stored for future use.
[Hic—so full! So full! Hic—I could grow ten more stomachs! I can still eat!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher: "..."
Never mind how to achieve the miraculous feat of growing ten more stomachs—Asher just wanted to ask, 'Do you even have a stomach?'
'Not even one, right?'
Thanks to its ridiculous Gluttony skill, the little jellyfish had gone from being the weakest in the household to having a strength that, at best, was only slightly below Cat Worm.
Suddenly, Little White Snake was once again the weakest in the house: "Awoo?"
'What just happened?'
'Why is Little Snake once again the weakest in the house?'
Little White Snake's golden eyes stared blankly at the floating jellyfish. Just as it was about to get mad, it was instantly distracted by the jellyfish's new appearance.
Asher also noticed the changes in the little jellyfish's body.
The most obvious one—its size had increased.
From half the size of Asher's palm, it had grown to fit his entire palm... well, about the size of a regular apple.
Still not very big, but compared to its previous frail form, the grown-up little jellyfish now clearly resembled a proper box jellyfish.
Asher had no doubt—
If it grew any bigger, he wouldn't be able to hide its true identity anymore.
Asher pondered for two seconds, considering whether he should do something to conceal the jellyfish's identity... Three seconds later, he chose to give up.
'Eh, I'll deal with it when the time comes,' Asher shrugged, looking completely indifferent.
It wasn't that Asher didn't want to hide it.
It was just that... 'Even if I tell people the truth about the jellyfish's species, no one would believe me.'
Honestly speaking—
If someone came out and claimed they had contracted a box jellyfish, who would believe them?
No one, obviously.
And given Asher's status as a Beast Professor, people would rather believe he had created a beast similar to a box jellyfish through illegal experiments rather than accept that he had a real box jellyfish.
The little jellyfish wiggled its long tentacles: "?"
'What is Beastmaster thinking?'
'His expression looks so weird!'
Asher looked at the jellyfish again.
Yes.
Its changes weren't just about its size. Its number of tentacles had increased from eight to twelve, each one shimmering with iridescent colors, like semi-transparent, artificially dyed jelly.
It looked enticing—almost edible.
But on a beast… that usually meant it was poisonous.
Yet, Asher didn't see a poison attribute in its profile.
Nor did he see any new skills in its list.
Just the same three skills he had painstakingly taught it.
Asher: 'Suffering. This is real suffering.'
But—
Asher's gaze fell on the jellyfish's unlimited potential, its 7% bloodline awakening, and its Gluttony talent skill.
A thought crossed his mind—
Asher stroked his chin: 'It can store indigestible energy... Could this be the beast version of a hamster's cheek pouch for storing food?'
No wonder Asher made this comparison.
It was just too similar.
Asher instinctively thought of this.
But when he imagined the little jellyfish's exaggerated, nonexistent stomach that seemed to connect to an endless void, along with its insane demand for energy, Asher suddenly felt it wasn't all that strange.
Any beast with an extreme energy requirement would always develop some survival strategies through evolution.
Previously, the little jellyfish hadn't eaten enough, and its physical growth couldn't keep up.
Now, following Asher, it was gradually adapting to alternating between starvation and feast, then stuffing itself full. Naturally, its body's growth also caught up.
The changes in its appearance and the color of its tentacles were proof.
The evolution and addition of its [Gluttony] talent were also proof.
"Storing excess energy? Doesn't this count as another form of food storage?", Asher muttered, "So when it gets hungry, the little jellyfish can just eat its own stored energy…"
The little jellyfish, having understood what Asher was saying: "!"
Despite having no eyes, the little jellyfish still used its tense body and tentacles to express its shock to Asher.
As if to say: 'You're actually this kind of beastmaster?'
'Even my stored energy, you're eyeing that too?'
'Do you even have a conscience?'
Asher: "…"
Asher really wanted to say, he hadn't even mentioned the other uses he had in mind for the stored energy. Eating it was merely the simplest and most wasteful way to use it.
After all, making the little jellyfish eat to fullness, let alone to the point of bursting, was no easy task.
If it wasn't possible, then storing excess energy would be impossible.
Simply eating it… a waste.
The best use should be trying to "add" this energy, converted from skills, into the little jellyfish's abilities when it used them, enhancing their power.
That way, even the most ordinary, common skill could deliver a star-shattering effect.
But there wasn't a good opportunity to test this right now, so Asher wasn't in a rush.
Besides… the little jellyfish seemed to be extremely protective of its food. Asher wasn't planning to trigger its sensitive nerves at this moment.
'First, let's find a way to feed it until it's full…'
'Sigh!'
Asher let out another sigh.
Just thinking about how, during the beast tide, the little jellyfish had devoured at least a third of the beasts' skills to finally achieve fullness and bloatedness, Asher felt utterly unconfident about raising and feeding the little jellyfish.
'Seriously?'
'Is this something a normal person can even accomplish?'
'Think about it, Asher. Think!'
'But even if it is impossible, I still have to do it!'
'I have already raised it, already formed a contract—can I just give up?'
"Be good, behave," Asher showed the little jellyfish a kind smile, "You should be able to tell the difference between being full once and being full every meal, right?"
The little jellyfish: "…"
'Sob! Sob! Sob!'
Its nonexistent eyes shed deep, sorrowful tears.
Little jellyfish: 'Threat! This is a threat… Alright, I'll behave.'
*Obedient and Sensible*
Asher smiled and patted the little jellyfish's soft, bouncy bell.
'Hmm.'
'It feels great.'
Asher hugged the little jellyfish, scrolled through his phone, briefly skimmed through the online discussions, and then tossed his phone aside.
No big deal.
Just some excessive glorification of him.
Once the netizens calmed down and returned to reason, they would realize that the Fourth Legion's miracle wasn't solely because of him.
He really wasn't strong enough to single-handedly turn the tide of battle.
Asher threw his phone to the side.
———
[Bluewind University]
Iris, upon seeing the news related to Asher: "?"
"…As expected of that brat," Looking at the obviously absurd discussions and trending topics, if it were anyone else, Iris would definitely have questioned it.
But since the person in question was Asher… Iris suddenly felt there was nothing to question.
Question what?
It wasn't like this was her first time witnessing Asher's absurdity.
From the very first time she saw the Fairy Butterfly being born under Asher's hands in the surveillance footage, Iris had a vague premonition.
'Asher is just this ridiculous.'
Sure enough.
Asher later used a series of actions and proof to tell her—during their first encounter, Asher had been holding back.
And now?
This was just basic operation.
Just as Iris was about to put away her phone, she received a message from the principal.
[Principal Boyle: Iris, do you think there's a possibility of letting Asher teach an elective course?]
Iris silently typed a question mark.
'Hmm?'
'This doesn't sound like a big deal?'
'We can just ask Asher directly—he will definitely agree.'
Whether it was because Asher was already an honorary professor at Bluewind University, or because of Principal Boyle's friendly attitude towards him in the past, Asher had no reason to refuse.
Then, Iris saw another message from Principal Boyle.
[Principal Boyle: A combat class.]
Iris: "…"
A bit ridiculous, but considering Asher's rank as number one on the combat leaderboard, and the rumored capabilities he displayed during the Fourth Legion's beast tide crisis…
[Iris: Principal, Asher's main strength and talent should still be in pet evolution research. Even the help he provided to the Fourth Legion this time was likely in that area.]
[Iris: Of course, if you insist on him teaching a combat class… he probably wouldn't refuse, right?]
Iris's fingers tapped on the keyboard.
As he typed, Iris suddenly remembered Asher's dream—an outstanding, strongest beastmaster.
Pet professor?
Hah!
That was just something he did for fun.
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