Chapter 53: Temporary License

In the park, Ain held the black spear with both hands.

The only weapon he knew how to use was a knife, but with his understanding of martial arts as well as meticulous body control, learning some basic spear techniques wasn't difficult.

He practiced stabbing, lunges, and other moves with the spear numerous times as he adjusted the micromovements to better exert power.

He practiced with the spear for only twenty minutes before moving on to the body tempering training. He still planned to primarily rely on his physique during combat; a weapon was only the icing on the cake.

With the effects of the Blood Refinement Pills, Ain's body tempering progressed smoothly. When he was completely exhausted, he returned home once again.

After washing up, he checked on the two new residents. The pups were crawling around the cat, which had stayed behind instead of following him to the park. They let out some whimpers every now and then to gain the cat’s attention.

Ain observed for a few seconds before retrieving his winter blanket for the pups.

The cat was also young when it adopted Ain, but it was capable of handling itself, as seen from how it could climb up to his window at night. He had bought blankets for it twice, but they both disappeared soon after. The cat didn’t seem to care for blankets.

As temporary measure, Ain used the blanket to form a boundary circle around the pups and used the leftover parts to cover them. The cat remained seated within the circle, yawning as it stared at him and the pups.

"Cat, look after them," Ain said to the cat.

"Meow," the cat’s lazy voice sounded, as if telling him not to worry.

After settling this matter, Ain sat on the bed and meditated to finish the day.

…

The next morning, Ain arrived at the Spirit Tamer Association early, wanting to complete the procedures for the temporary license to keep the pups.

It was Sunday, but that was irrelevant to spirit tamers, and the Spirit Tamer Association seemed no different from the last time he was there.

Glancing at the tall HQ, Ain quickly entered through the large doors and arrived at one of the service desks.

"Good morning, how can I assist you today?" The clerk smiled and greeted Ain as he approached her desk.

"Good morning. I want to apply for a couple of temporary licenses for uncontracted spirit beasts," Ain said, returning the greeting and stating his purpose.

"I can assist you with that. Please scan your ID here." The clerk gestured towards the scanning device.

Ain scanned his ID by holding it against the device.

The clerk operated the screen in front of her for a few seconds before another screen appeared in front of Ain.

"Please fill in all the requested information. There are some requirements for the license, so please be sure to review them. Pressing accept at the end will acknowledge that you meet all the requirements."

Ain listened to the clerk attentively before reading through the form on the virtual screen. All the requirements he saw the previous night were listed in detail. He found no problems and quickly filled in the relevant information, such as the two pups’ species, current quality, rank, etc.

After pressing accept, the screen flashed briefly before disappearing. The clerk spent another minute fiddling with her screen before the printer on her desk began operating. Two distinct pieces of paper appeared.

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The clerk handed the papers to Ain, saying, "Here are the two temporary licenses. Please be mindful of their expiration date."

Ain extended his hand and received them. The two papers were very thick, unlike regular paper.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" The clerk asked.

"No, that was all," Ain replied.

"Okay then, have a wonderful day."

Ain bid farewell and walked out of the Spirit Tamer Association with the papers. The duration for both temporary licenses was three months. At that point, he would need to apply for another one or sell the pups.

Ain saw no issues in that regard and boarded a local hoverbus toward Liberty Firm. Thirty minutes later, he left Liberty Firm holding a metal cage, small bedding, a couple of blankets, and some small toys. The roofless cage was foldable, making it easier for him to carry as he returned home.

The rest of the day passed as usual. Ain occasionally checked on the pups as he studied and trained.

…

The next day, Ain completed his morning meditation before opening his hololink.

The attribute traces measurement service he posted still received no response. Ain changed the words and tone for the umpteenth time before updating the post. He had previously attempted to come off as shrewd, mysterious, and even aloof recently, but it was all in vain.

The belief that it was impossible to measure attribute traces in decimals was deeply rooted in the world, which surprised Ain. Even the attribute measurement devices, AMDs, developed by the top authorities in the world, were unable to do so. His little post was probably dismissed as a scam at first sight.

Ain foresaw great potential in his ability to measure attribute traces, but he had yet to find the appropriate method to display this potential.

After some thought, he closed the trading forum and opened the market. Browsing for a few minutes, Ain found the cheapest AMD available to him, priced at 600,000 star coins. He had only 740,000 star coins in his account.

Ain stared at the device on the screen and thought things through once more before confirming the purchase with determination.

Selling this service was not as straightforward as he expected, so he could only take an alternative path.

Using the combination of Scan, Deduction, Analysis, and mechanical knowledge, Ain planned to deconstruct the cheap AMD he had bought and study it in-depth.

By using Scan to measure attribute traces and then drawing inferences from his measurements, he believed in the possibility of developing a new AMD capable of measuring in the decimal range. If this could truly be realized, Ain’s returns would be unfathomable.

He would be able to buy numerous meditation techniques, body tempering techniques, spells, and resources to facilitate his power and training.

That’s why Ain decisively spent most of his savings on the cheap AMD.

The next step was to improve his alchemy, which also played a crucial role in this plan.

Even if he didn’t consider this plan, alchemy was still on his list of priorities. After learning Telekinesis and Spirit Combustion, Ain would be able to use true alchemy techniques to create medicines.

Both spirit pets and medicines possessed attribute traces. The closer the match between the two, the more effective the medicine would be. When spirit masters created unique medicines for a spirit pet, especially evolution potions, one of their concerns was to match the attribute traces with the greatest accuracy.

But without accurate attribute traces, the endeavor was always filled with sighs and regret. Even if their abilities were sufficient, they were unable to match the two accurately due to the lack of relevant information. The best they could do was match them to the whole number.

Of course, the results still great, but they could be even greater.

If Ain could progress in his alchemy, not only could he bypass this issue and provide the best medicines and resources to his spirit pets, but he could also manipulate the attribute traces in the medicines down to the decimal range, using it to work backward toward a new method of measuring attribute traces.

Thinking of all this, Ain clenched his fists before releasing them.

Now, along with his usual spirit tamer training and spirit master studies, time to research the AMD needed to be included in his schedule.

Ain rested for a few minutes and played with the pups before returning to the chair. He released Nox before opening the inheritance book and immersing himself in it.

After a week of study, he was already past the introductory section. Along with alchemy, methods and techniques to study spirit pets also began appearing. Many theories regarding the nurturing of spirit pets opened Ain’s vision to a whole new world.

It had become a habit for Ain to consume Spirit Recovery Pills while maintaining Analysis and Deduction as he studied.

Since he had yet to gain sufficient proficiency in Telekinesis and Spirit Combustion and attempt creating Rank-1 medicines, Ain spent the entire afternoon on the theoretical studies. In the evening, he practiced with the black spear and the two spells before completing his body tempering training.

At night, just before meditation, Ain habitually opened the “Red Oak Elite” group chat. The students would often post various information in the chat.

As he browsed through the messages, he found something interesting.

[Organizing a group training activity outside the city!]

It was a message from this morning, and many students had replied to it.

A couple of students were organizing a trip outside the city, requesting the group members to join. Just from a rough estimate, Ain counted at least ten students who had already confirmed their participation.

There were nearly eighty students in the chat, so this response wasn’t bad. The organizing students planned to accept a group mission to exterminate a large number of Beginner Rank-1 Spirit Beasts in the plains.