Just thinking about the Solar True Fire innate skill that Little Raven used. To say one wasn't tempted at all… that would be an outright lie.
A big lie. The kind that just stops short of lying to oneself too.
Anyway, Clyde was definitely tempted.
If Flame Emperor could also awaken this innate skill, Clyde could already imagine how powerful the skill would be when used by a Tier 9 powerhouse like Flame Emperor.
Asher didn't forget to pour cold water on Clyde at this moment, "Hard to say."
"But it'll definitely help purify Flame Emperor's flames to a certain degree, and considering the environment in which Little Raven uses Solar True Fire, the effect should be quite good."
Awaken Solar True Fire?
Asher felt a bit guilty.
Yeah, having dreams is great. But one still has to consider whether the dream is actually achievable.
Anyway, in Asher's opinion, the likelihood was rather small.
Better to stay calm.
Fortunately, Clyde was also a calm person by nature, and he quickly understood what Asher meant.
"You're right," Clyde held the red crystal with sharp edges and let out a light yet somewhat helpless sigh.
"Let alone that awakening innate skills isn't something easily influenced by external objects, sometimes even beasts of the same type might not awaken the same skill."
"As long as it can purify flames…"
If Flame Emperor's flames could become more powerful in lethality and attack strength, the result would already be beyond imagination.
Clyde gave Asher a grateful smile, "Really, thank you so much, Professor Asher."
He expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
Clyde knew, Asher didn't have to do this. Asher chose to do it.
Otherwise, Asher could have easily hidden this matter and avoided some trouble.
Asher smiled, "This crystal is really useful. When I was researching Silverfang Tiger before, this crystal powder already showed pretty good effects."
Just that back then Asher hadn't figured out a legitimate way to use this crystal openly.
Now was a perfect opportunity. Asher could even add a new success to his research record.
"And you're basically acting as a lab rat, a volunteer, this time," Asher added.
After all, in the area of flame purification, Asher hadn't truly experimented yet.
It was just a hypothesis based on trust in the Three-legged Golden Crow.
Clyde didn't show any anger or displeasure upon hearing this; instead, he was quite calm.
He smiled and said, "It's my honor to be Professor Asher's volunteer."
Sincerity is always the ultimate weapon.
"If Professor Asher publicly recruited volunteers, there'd definitely be a lot of people willing to come."
Seek wealth through risk.
But Asher's reputation was here. There would definitely be plenty of willing participants.
Asher smiled, "That wouldn't be the same."
A Tier 8 Ace ¹1 and an ordinary volunteer, how could they be in the same tier?
"Alright, alright," Freya happened to pass by with Jaeger and heard the conversation between the two. She looked at them and waved her hand.
"Stop madly flattering each other already, leave a way out for ordinary folks like me," Freya walked past the two, saying this with a distant expression.
Asher: "…"
Clyde: "…"
'No, seriously?'
'How did you even say that?'
'Ordinary person?'
'A perfectly ordinary Tier 7 Beast Tamer, this kind of ordinary person?'
Freya: "Exactly! At least compared to my brother and Professor Asher, I really am just an ordinary person!"
Asher fell silent.
If you put it like that… then the definition of "ordinary person" was a bit too outrageous.
After using the Three-legged Golden Crow's blood crystal, Flame Emperor continued battling Little Raven.
However, outside the field, the two Beast Tamers, Clyde and Asher, were no longer operating in a standard opposing-commanders combat mode.
Somehow, the two of them had ended up together at midfield.
Rubbing their chins.
Asher: "Flame Emperor's flames seem to have changed a little? Probably not just my imagination?"
"Nope," As Flame Emperor's Beast Tamer, Clyde could more precisely sense every tiny change in Flame Emperor. He replied with full certainty.
Not a hallucination.
"Flame Emperor's flames really seem more aggressive now," Clyde closed his eyes as he spoke, and once again carefully felt the contract link between himself and Flame Emperor.
"Yeah, it's just a little bit, but that little bit is absolutely real."
Before Asher could say anything, a wild Freya suddenly refreshed into the scene.
"Hm?", Freya curiously squeezed between Asher and Clyde, wrapping her arms around Clyde's and leaning forward, watching the battle between Flame Emperor and Little Raven with interest.
"This doesn't look like a fight at all; feels more like the two pets are competing to see whose flames are stronger?", Watching Little Raven and Flame Emperor spitting fire back and forth, Freya gave a sharp assessment.
Couldn't help it. This scene just looked way too ridiculous.
Freya really couldn't restrain her urge to comment.
"Well, you can't say that's totally wrong; it is part of it," Asher also nodded.
As they talked, they were still seriously observing the intensity of Flame Emperor's flames.
Little Raven: ╭(╯^╰)╮
'Very angry!'
'The bird's Beast Tamer actually giving attention to someone else's pet.'
'Is this because the Bird isn't strong enough?'
'Unforgivable!'
'Watch how the Bird blows up that big guy!'
Big guy Flame Emperor: "…"
Flame Emperor felt wronged.
Flame Emperor decided to strike fiercely.
"ROAR—", With a roar, the flame Flame Emperor exhaled changed from scorching red to streaked dark blue, almost black in color.
The onlookers, Asher and the others: "!"
"Mutation?"
"No mistake, it really mutated!"
"And for a moment there, I felt the field's temperature rise again. Quick, check the monitoring system!"
The three of them spoke in turn.
Little Raven, struck by the flames, had a large patch of its wing scorched black.
Flame Emperor didn't give Little Raven any chance to counterattack. Seizing the opportunity while Little Raven's wing was injured, he launched a full-on assault.
Little Raven, KOed.
Asher, witnessing this: "…"
'So this is the so-called 'digging a pit for yourself'?'
Thinking that, Asher didn't hesitate in action. He quickly jogged forward, scooped up the injured Little Raven, and headed straight for the medical pod like a seasoned pro.
Yup, over this period, both Little Raven and Asher had become extremely familiar with the medical pod.
Even Sarah and the others would give a knowing look whenever they saw Asher walk into the little room where the medical pod was placed.
Those who know, know.
"Professor Asher, it's really no shame to lose to Mr. Clyde," Pierce popped up from who knows where, patting Asher on the shoulder hard and saying loudly.
His face full of admiration for Asher.
Asher: "…"
"Thanks, I don't think there's anything wrong with losing to Mr. Clyde either," Asher said very calmly.
Still that same thing, 'Losing is normal, isn't it?'
Moreover, just like how Clyde could sense subtle changes in the strength of Flame Emperor's flames, Asher could also feel subtle changes in Little Raven's strength.
Originally, Little Raven was locked at the peak of the Tier 6.
Even though Asher had never stopped training Little Raven and improving skill mastery, he could feel it.
There was almost no further improvement in strength.
It was as if a thick wall had risen between Asher and Little Raven, blocking their path forward.
Until, the recent battles with Flame Emperor.
At first, the iron wall remained unchanged.
But as time passed, the wall seemed to become less solid.
Asher could feel it.
Energy was building up again in Little Raven's body, accumulating, accumulating, continuing to accumulate.
When that accumulation reached its peak… no doubt about it, that would be when Little Raven broke through the level lock.
Thinking of this, Asher's face showed a satisfied expression.
He turned his gaze to the other pets, starting with Cat-Worm, "Cat, you're second in the family, but your strength is still behind even Little Jellyfish. Haven't you reflected a bit on whether you're not working hard enough?"
PUA master online. [T/N: PUA=Con Artist]
Cat-Worm: "?"
Cat-Worm's line-shaped eyes were nearly turning into question marks.
"Meow! Meow! Meow?"
'What's going on?'
'Oh, wait. I'm a dragon, not a cat.'
"ROAR!"
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!", Cat-Worm jumped up and down nimbly on its six little legs, making a deliberately fierce and angry sound at Asher.
'This dragon is strong!'
'Super strong!'
'Little Jellyfish is just my underling!'
Asher: *Stare—*
"Why don't you look at the strength difference between you and Little Jellyfish right now?", Asher crouched in front of the medical pod and pressed on the spot between Cat-Worm's two horns.
That little area between its dragon horns.
It felt especially soft to the touch.
Even the scales felt smooth.
"You, mid-Tier 5, nearly high-Tier 5 strength."
Asher then pointed to Little Jellyfish next to him.
Little Jellyfish stretched out a tendril toward Asher, and Asher gently touched it before continuing, "Little Jellyfish, high-Tier 6, almost peak-Tier 6 strength."
"Do you see the problem?", Asher looked down again at Cat-Worm.
Cat-Worm: (ΩДΩ)
'What?'
"Yes, exactly that," Asher repeated with emphasis, and Cat-Worm's expression became even more incredulous.
This really was… hard to believe. Very hard to believe.
Asher smiled, "So hurry and get stronger, or else you'll become your little brother's little brother."
Little Jellyfish waved its tendrils cooperatively, looking very interested in Asher's words.
'Big bro?'
'Not as good as big sis type?'
'No problem!'
'Little Jellyfish can do it!'
Cat-Worm: !
'No!'
'This dragon cannot accept that!'
'This dragon is going to train now!'
'Beastmaster, hurry up and follow!'
'What are you standing there watching for?'
Watching Cat-Worm all flustered like that, Asher couldn't help but let out a "pfft" of laughter.
"Alright, alright," Before Cat-Worm noticed, Asher was already up and following.
———
[Friday Morning]
Not exactly at the dot, but Asuka Media still published the interview with Asher on schedule in the morning.
Divided into video and article formats.
"Well, since it's already posted, don't overthink it," The boss looked at the crowd of anxious people around him… okay, their company didn't have that many people.
But everyone who could move and breathe was gathered around him.
Eyes unblinking, watching the boss launch the market release of Professor Asher's interview.
"Worrying won't help, so today I'm taking everyone out, movies, karaoke, dinner, let's go!", The boss waved his hand generously.
Hiking? Nope!
Exercise? Nope!
The boss admitted he wasn't that diligent himself, so he wouldn't drag his employees down with him.
"""Yay!"""
Though the employees were still worried about traffic numbers, hey! it's party time.
Whatever concerns remain can wait till Monday, or the next workday.
Vacation time go.
———
[Monday]
Early in the morning, the company re-enacted the earlier scenes of showing up early for work.
It wasn't even 8:00 yet, and both the boss and all the employees were already there.
Everyone looked at each other.
You look at me, I look at you.
"Um, I'm just curious how many views our video has now…"
"Seems like the article's read count is also kinda high?"
"And it's been reposted so many times, it's probably close to a million now, right?"
"Definitely broke a million! My Moments feed is full of reposts!"
"Maybe not a million yet?"
"Check, check! Boss, hurry up and check!"
All the employees looked at the boss with eager faces.
The boss, full of excitement, reached out with trembling hands.
After all, over the weekend, the buzz about Professor Asher never dropped in Moments. NY City's pride wasn't just empty talk.
Even Jinyang City shamelessly joined in the hype.
Two major city regions plus nearby smaller cities, maybe it really did hit close to a million views?
With that thought, the boss clicked into the backend full of hope.
And then… the computer froze.
Boss: "?"
The boss slapped the CPU.
The computer was still frozen.
But the screen full of 99+ made the boss realize that this traffic might really be even more exaggerated than he had imagined.
Restart, reboot.
This time, it successfully entered the backend.
Looking at the screen full of numbers, everyone fell into silence.
Trevor was quietly counting on the side, "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions... wait wait wait? How many zeros is this? Or are my eyes having problems?"
Trevor's quiet muttering never stopped.
It stood out especially in the quiet office, and Trevor himself, who was fully focused, didn't even realize it.
The other employees were also shouting silently in their hearts.
Ten million! Is this the amount of views a small company at their level could have.
Did the website backend run into some kind of bug?
"Seems like it really isn't some bug?"
"So this is really our..."
"Traffic?"
As they spoke and exchanged glances, they could all see the unmistakable shock in each other's eyes.
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