This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 734: Chapter 734: Reclaiming the Crowd’s Attention

The crowd erupted in shock and awe.

And not just civilians. The VIP booths were practically vibrating. Military officers leaned forward. Scholars scribbled notes. Even some 9-star beast tamers looked openly impressed.

Kain checked the tournament logs with a flick of his fingers.

Starfire had already fought Frozen Sun and First Celestial.

They’d lost to both.

And in both cases… they hadn’t used these suits. Despite the fact that they too were top 5 Colleges and that they lost to them, so the excuse of the opponents not being strong enough to draw out the trump card can’t be used.

No. For some reason, the “honour” of being the opponent for the debut of these suits seemed to have been purposely left to Dark Moon College.

Kain stared at the stage, fists clenched loosely at his sides.

“So they saved it just for us,” he muttered.

Serena glanced over. “You think it’s personal?”

“Could be, who knows? But it is weird.” His jaw tightened. “They threw two matches. Just so they could surprise us? I didn’t realize that we were so important. Should I be flattered?”

He exhaled through his nose.

Pheneos was still at the far end of the arena, accepting a damaged chestplate from one of the students and immediately starting diagnostics while another staff member replaced the missing piece with a spare quickly before the next 5v5 match started.

Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

But one thing was clear.

This match wasn’t about winning the round.

It was about sending a message.

Kain wasn’t quite sure what the message was that Starfire was trying to convey, but Kain was already planning how to respond.

With overwhelming force.

—————————–

After a brief interlude while the stage and contracts were repaired, Serena and Kain entered the stage with the other three who had just lost.

At their arrival the crowd became even more exuberant. Now hopefully with Kain and Serena present and these new powerful suits of armour, they would get to see the full capabilities of both sides.

Both sides summoned the maximum amount of contracts possible. Kain summoned Aegis, Bea, and Queen. Still wanting to keep his third blue-grade contract hidden and because the Vespid guard could hopefully offset any numerical disadvantages.

Serena, much to Kain’s joy, finally summoned the evolved form of Prismarin— the Lustral Veil Hare—along with the Elemental Guardian and Starweaver familiar to the audience.

At the appearance of new contracts, the crowd grew even more excited while the announcers introduced the new contracts to the lay audience.

Seven blue-grade creatures now stalked or floated across the field—three from Starfire, and four from Dark Moon (Bea, Aegis, Soren’s ice dragon, and the evolved Prismarin. So in that sense Dark Moon was now slightly above the opponents.

And both sides had summoned the maximum number of contracts allowed—fifteen, three per person.

But despite the very crowded stage, nearly everyone in the audience was focused on just two spiritual creatures—well, mostly one. Despite some interest in Queen, the majority of the gazes still kept drifting to the center of the Dark Moon lineup where something new stood.

Something radiant.

Something adorable.

A long-eared, opalescent hare stepped onto the battlefield with unnerving grace. Its fur shimmered with faint pastel hues, like moonlight refracted through glass. Its presence was pure and serene, which of course was a complete illusion. Kain knew better than anyone that the rabbit was pure deceit, trickery and mischief!

But the naïve and uninformed crowd erupted with gasps and attributed all kinds of positive traits to the ‘pure’ hare.

Even the announcers were briefly stunned into silence.

—————————–

Thankfully, the silence didn’t last long.

“Ladies and gentlemen—!” one announcer finally managed. “We are… not entirely sure what we’re looking at!”

That got a few confused laughs from the crowd. But the confusion was genuine.

A third voice cut in, smoother and older. “Then allow me.”

The image of a man flickered onto the projection screen hovering above the arena. Short gray hair, formal robes. The camera panned slightly to reveal the badge on his chest: Royal Evolutionary Planner’s Association. And the 8-stars on his badge denoting either his rank in the association or his personal power grade were enough for the crowd to weigh every word this man said heavily.

A quiet murmur of anticipation passed through the stands.

“Planner Devric Grellian,” the announcer read aloud. “Here to provide real-time classification. Thank you for joining us, sir.”

“My pleasure. I must admit, I’ve been waiting for this moment. The chance to analyze the evolutionary paths of some of the continent’s most promising beast tamers.” He tapped on a panel out of frame.

The screen shifted. A complex holographic diagram of Queen filled the air above the field.

“Let’s begin with the flying insect contract belonging to Kain. This appears to be a successful evolution of a Vespirae Queen. Now, you might say, ‘So what?’ But let me remind you… a successful Vespirae evolution has never been recorded in modern history. Attempts have all resulted in harmless failure at best, and destabilized hives, madness, or death at worst. To see a functioning evolved Vespirae Queen at this level—”

The camera zoomed in on Queen as her wings shimmered.

“—is frankly, astonishing. And while I can’t confirm what evolutionary resource or catalyst was used, the fact that this creature has not destabilized or gone feral means that young Planner Newman—Kain Newman—managed to pull off something no one else has in centuries.”

A new panel opened beside him, now analyzing the hare.

“Now, the rabbit-like illusion-attribute contract beside Miss Serena Storm. Based on residual spiritual traces, this appears to be an evolved form of a Prismarin, an already rare species of illusion-attribute spiritual beast.”

He paused.

“However… this specific evolution path is one I’ve only ever seen referenced twice. Once in ancient scholar notes… and once in the biography of Calista Eyera. One of the nation’s Top 5 Founders.”

That brought the stadium to a new level of shock.

“Calista Eyera’s personal contract was also an evolved form of Prismarin. It is said her contract evolved into a unique form—never replicated, the process was never explained how. If this truly is the same Lustral Veil Hare, the same evolution Eyera’s contract achieved… then what we’re witnessing is the rebirth of a form thought lost for centuries.”

A beat passed.

“And if I may speculate—it’s likely Newman had a hand in it. As an evolutionary planner, I’ve followed his published work. I’d bet my own certification that he was involved.”

The crowd roared.

This time, louder than even for the armoured suits.

Now it wasn’t just about equipment. It was about new evolutionary paths. Yeah, the new suits were cool, but the average citizen will never get to wear them. But whenever Kain found a new evolutionary form, it presented the opportunity for anyone with a same species contract now or in the future to successfully evolve.

The stadium stood, and for once, the Starfire cheers were drowned out.

“Kain! Serena! Kain! Serena!”

Serena didn’t even blink.

Kain, hands in his pockets, whispered under his breath: “…finally I’ll get to see what these suits can do up close and personal.”

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