Chapter 17: Lionel's Release, The Price of Spirit Dew

Back in his room, Adrian felt a great deal of emotion.

After a whole day of ups and downs, plus the brief energy overdraft from using the [Bond Awakening Art], he was especially tired.

But his whole being was excited.

It was like the excitement from his past life after pulling three all-nighters and finally producing a set of good data.

Today's harvest felt like producing ten sets of good "data."

He would not call it "suffering finally paying off," because honestly, his life had not been that bitter. He had enjoyed his parents' love, lived a comfortable life, attended the best high school, and been appreciated by many teachers and classmates. For a high school student, that was not suffering.

To him, everything that happened today felt more like a "filling in." After his parents died two years ago, he had always felt like a large piece of his body and soul was missing.

After awakening his past-life memories, those gaps had stopped widening. They had kept him from falling apart.

And today, he could clearly feel those drafty gaps seemed to be filled in a little. He could not analyze the exact feeling, but this "filling in" made him feel quite at peace.

He opened his phone and found that Mr. Caldwell had sent him a message two hours ago.

"Adrian, how did the beast selection go at the cultivation center today? Leo told me you chose a beast fated to you."

"Spend this week building a bond. If you have any problems these days, ask anytime. Several of us Ember Class teachers are around."

Seeing these two messages, Adrian's heart warmed again.

"Thank you for arranging the appointment, Mr. Caldwell. Senior Leo helped me a lot today. I also chose the beast I felt the strongest connection with, the one I most wanted to choose."

"I'll work hard."

After replying, Adrian thought of Lionel again.

Tonight, should he shut him in the glass box to prevent him from escaping?

Adrian had always been cautious. But this time, he shook his head.

After Violet's evolution, he could clearly feel Lionel's emotions. Although their bond had not suddenly become deep, Adrian knew he would not run away.

Besides, Violet's energy seemed to alleviate the discomfort caused by his unbalanced bloodline. He loved staying in the plant room.

Thinking of how, earlier when he was collecting Violet's dew, Lionel had been swinging his claws in training, only to be "startled" when Adrian suddenly walked in and immediately retract his claws and lie flat pretending to sleep—Adrian smiled faintly.

His endurance was formed from his experiences, but the wildness and bravery in his blood were hard to suppress when he was relaxed.

Lionel was slowly releasing himself. This progress was faster than Adrian had expected.

At this moment, Mr. Caldwell was at home, renovating a new nest for Shadow, his Shadow Witch Cat.

As his third beast companion, he really was raising it like a youngest son.

Originally, contracted beasts could rest perfectly fine in the tamer space. But now the situation was different. There were quite a few "daughters-in-law" at home.

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The past two nights had been a bit noisy.

Although he wore earplugs, his rest was still somewhat affected.

Right now, he was reinforcing the soundproof wall.

The phone screen beside him lit up. He put down his work and tapped the screen. It was an anonymous help post he had made half an hour ago:

[Urgent! Online waiting! What do I do if my beast companion has an extremely strong mating drive?!]

The comments had already stacked past a hundred floors, but most were meme replies.

He shook his head helplessly.

Then Adrian's reply notification appeared. He opened the chat.

Reading Adrian's answer, he nodded inwardly.

Honestly, he was very curious which beast Adrian had chosen. Among the three types he recommended, he knew the strongest or most special ones at the cultivation center.

Frankly, he thought the mutated spider suited Adrian best. With Adrian's talent and knowledge, he was best suited to that kind of beast.

He was a general curriculum teacher. In Grade 11 and 12, he could bring Adrian onto some beast research papers to strengthen his record and get him onto the radar of the top ten universities' admissions offices early.

If there was a mutated-attribute beast, it would be easier to find an entry point for a paper.

But even if it was not the spider, the other two options were fine—the Exceptional—Upper quality, extremely elegant Serene Spirit Cat.

Or that Phantom Dream Butterfly with good quality and a special personality. A week ago, when he visited the cultivation center, it had kept circling his glasses.

In six days, he would know Adrian's choice.

He believed in Adrian's intuition.

He replied: "Good. I'm looking forward to it. See you in class in six days."

At ten p.m., at the Lumenhold Beast Research Center, Beast Product Research Department.

The suburban night was quiet.

Chen Ming, a Two-Star Senior Researcher, had a bit of a headache.

His main job was researching beast products. Naturally, he was also responsible for the Beast Tamers' League's testing of graded products.

For sample testing, they had testing standards.

First, there were strict controls on the amount taken. The amount could not exceed one percent of the sample's volume, and it could not be contaminated. This preserved the sample's original value and prevented losses for the merchant.

Otherwise, they would have to pay for the product at the estimated price.

Of course, if they encountered a novel product, they also had decision-making power—whether to directly retain a sample for deeper research.

The Beast Tamers' League's rating for Two-Star Senior Researchers was very strict. They had to have multiple experiences testing Exceptional—Upper products.

Chen Ming was normally diligent, rigorous, and had a zero error rate. His price determinations had never received any complaints.

But today, this product called [Spirit Dew] had stumped him.

He had already used up half of the first sample and still could not fully determine its value.

Because he needed to precisely judge the effects of this [Spirit Dew] to give a conclusion.

Now, on his report form, he had already written several points:

One: Can rapidly restore spiritual and physical strength. Also has a growth-catalyzing effect on plant-type life forms. Effect is higher than ordinary Exceptional—Upper products, at the top of this quality tier.

Two: Possesses very strong healing and pain-relief abilities. Same as above, effect is top-tier for Exceptional—Upper.

Three: An effect similar to a cleansing mechanism. Specific effect unknown. Currently inferred to be able to process impurities accumulated in the body over many years. Effective on both humans and beasts.

One product, three effects.

If it were only the first two points, he could already price this [Spirit Dew] at sixteen to eighteen thousand crowns per ten drops (0.5 ml).

That was based on his experience with top-tier Exceptional products he had tested.

Add the third point, and he could not settle it…

Absolute accuracy, complete peace of mind—that was what a researcher needed to achieve when pricing a product.

After thinking, he chose to call his old professor, a Four-Star Researcher.

Half an hour later.

In the old professor's research room.

"Good. When work exceeds your ability, seeking help from someone more experienced—you haven't forgotten what I taught you all those years ago." The old professor's hair was graying. He looked at Chen Ming with a kind expression.

"Leave the remaining half of the sample to me. I'll re-verify against your report. Watch from the side and learn. Just don't make too much noise."

The old professor's movements were slow, but his hands holding the sample were very steady.

Compared to Chen Ming's technique, as a Four-Star Researcher, he not only had decades more experience, but naturally also had a larger arsenal.

This Exceptional—Upper quality [Spirit Dew]—he had never seen it before either.

So his expression also showed curiosity and novelty for new things.

He did not care about the product's source, only the product itself.

Very strangely, in an Exceptional-quality product, he tasted hints of Commander-quality products, and even shadows of Monarch-quality products…

Ten minutes later, he made his final judgment. During the process, he used multiple instruments, and even two different research-type [Tamer Arts]. Only then did he nod.

On Chen Ming's original report, he added and modified after the third point.

Three: Can slowly remove stubborn ailments left in beasts from evolution, and bodily damage caused by conflicts between trait mutations or attribute mutations and their own constitution.

Then, in the pricing column, he wrote a number.

Thirty thousand crowns per ten drops.