NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1 - 1 1: Innate Talent
1 Chapter 1: Innate Talent
Translator: 549690339
Under the cover of a cerulean sky, the lake appeared perfectly crystalline and clear. Sunlight reflected off its shimmering surface, as though sprinkling the water with pieces of shining silver.
By the reservoir, a young man was fishing with a rod along the shore. A bucket stood beside him, but its contents were merely water and nothing else.
“Boss, could I add some time? An extra two hours please,” said David Jones, totally unruffled.
The boss of the reservoir heard the familiar voice and his eyebrows instinctively furrowed.
He looked up, and indeed it was that handsome young man with delicate features and fair skin. “Sorry, but there’s no extending time for fishing here!” He hastily refused. Then, with a conscious jest, he asked, “Speaking of which, it’s strange how other than you, nobody else is able to fish up a Red-tailed Goldfish from this reservoir. How has your luck been today?”
“Name”: Red-tailed Goldfish
“Type”: None
“Species Level”: Rookie
“Species Skill”: Water Jump
“Profile”: Lives in lakes and supposedly contains a trace of dragon blood. It is an ornamental dragonfish. It has virtually no combat ability, and very few people would choose to contract this type of pet. But, due to its beautiful appearance, it’s much loved and often raised for viewing.
Considering that he raised one at home, David Jones immediately recalled the detailed information about this pet.
“Seems like my luck isn’t great today,” David Jones conceded.
“Really now…” Hearing this, Mr. Dell unintentionally snickered, then he said, “Only one hour left. Go easy, okay? Don’t be like last time, catching a bunch of Red-tailed Goldfish. I’ll go broke like that!”
“No problem.”
An hour later, looking at the single Red-tailed Goldfish in the bucket, Mr. Dell had a look of disbelief on his face. “So this is your idea of going easy?”
“Four hours total, only caught a single fish.” David Jones said matter-of-factly. “Of course I was going easy. Anglers should never fish excessively.”
For the first time in his life, Mr. Dell was facing an angler who couldn’t catch any fish other than his Red-Tailed Goldfish. Why did it have to be his Red-tailed Goldfish!
“Are you still buying these?” David Jones hoisted the bucket in his hand and asked, cocking his head with a smirk.
“Yeah, the Red-tail Goldfish is slightly smaller than those from the last time.” Mr. Dell gave an exasperated eye-roll , “Last time I paid 8,000 dollars for four; for this one, how about 1,800 dollars?”
“Alright.” David Jones took out his phone and expertly opened the Star Coin QR code.
Mr. Dell transferred the money to David Jones, his face filled with indescribable sorrow. When did the Red-tailed Goldfish in his reservoir become so easily caught?
Although he could make some profit by selling them, to him, earning less was equivalent to loss!
As if remembering something, Mr. Dell raised his head and earnestly asked David Jones, “I know you and John are classmates, aren’t you graduating to senior grade next year?”
“Mm-hmm, classes start tomorrow,” David Jones responded, glancing at Mr. Dell.
“Just in time for you to contract your initial pet.”
Mr. Dell’s eyebrows raised as he eagerly asked, “Have you picked out your pet? I have connections to obtain Superior ranked pets at a big discount!”
“No need, I can’t afford those pets.” David Jones shifted his gaze to the Earth Wolfhound not far from Mr. Dell, “Rather than discussing this, you should focus on getting it more food. Look at it, it’s eating dirt again.”
Mr. Dell tilted his head in confusion.
“Name”: Earth Wolfhound
“Type”: Earth
“Species Level”: Intermediate
“Species Skill”: Breath Search, Rock Claw, Bite
“Profile”: This Intermediate creature evolved from a previously tamed hound. It obtains nutrients by consuming soil and is proficient at using its nose to search for enemies’ scents.
“I was just kindly recommending a pet to you, if you don’t want it, so be it. But let me make this clear, third time’s a charm. If this happens a few more times, I’ll go bankrupt and be forced to eat dirt!” Mr. Dell shook his head and changed the topic.
“You’re not allowed to fish here anymore!”
“Got it, I won’t come next time.” David Jones left the reservoir. Getting pets from Mr. Dell wasn’t easy. He already knew exactly which initial pet he wanted.
…
With a pouch on his back and a bucket in his hand, David stepped onto a bus. The bus swiftly followed its route, shortly arriving downtown. He disembarked and followed the crowd towards his home.
Walking street after street, his pace began to slow as he approached a dim alley. On the right side of the alley was an old apartment complex. Surrounding the apartments were bustling restaurants selling food.
The door to the apartment was unlocked. He walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, and on the left was a small single room. The broken-down door had the number 403 written on it – this had been his home for the past two years.
Lying on the comfortable bed, David rested his right arm on his forehead. In the shadows, his eyes exuded faint traces of loss and desire.
This world is unique, for it contains an extraordinary force: the Arcane Force.
Because of this force, most animals and plants can awaken greater intelligence and powerful Talents. Even elements such as wind, snow, thunder, lightning, fire, and water can evolve into life forms.
Humans can awaken Ultra-capabilities through the Arcane Force, although the power of an Ultra-capable is not weak, it is still mediocre compared to the gifted Beasts.
Most Beasts view the weaker humans as ants. Some human tribes even have to offer sacrifices to gain the protection of powerful Beasts.
However, the strength of humans lies in their ability to create and utilize. With the passage of time, the human race found that absorbing the Arcane Force from the universe could awaken the Talent of Beast Training: Arcane Star.
Through the Arcane Star, one can forcibly capture Beasts, even forcibly control them. Those with the power to control Beasts are gloriously known as Trainers.
The combat effectiveness of Trainers is much stronger than that of Ultra-capables at the same level, so Trainers gradually began to flourish, causing the number of human Ultra-capables to continually reduce.
Fast forward tens of thousands of years to now, humans have established a splendid Trainer civilization. Unfortunately, the overlord of Blue Star is still the Beast, and humans can only live in a corner.
Therefore, all human kingdoms share a common dream, which is to explore the origin of all things, the pillar of the world: Yggdrasil.
If we could successfully investigate and study Yggdrasil, perhaps humans could become the overlords of Blue Star.
Unfortunately, surrounding Yggdrasil are various powerful Beasts of Blue Star. It is even rumored that divine beasts with the power to destroy the world nestle on the world tree. No human powerhouses have ever reached Yggdrasil so far.
Several scholars even speculate that the Arcane Force may have been born directly or indirectly through the world tree.
Currently, Beasts are still the dominant species on Blue Star, occasionally launching attacks on human cities. David’s parents died in the disaster of the King Beast Tide twelve years ago.
Because of that, David spent a long time in the orphanage until he awakened his Talent at sixteen and chose to leave.
On Blue Star, every person has three chances to awaken the Talent of Training Beasts, also known as Arcane Star, at the ages of sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. If one fails to awaken the Arcane Star three times, it means they have no Talent for Training Beasts. Those with the Talent for Training Beasts, on the other hand, have a chance to awaken an Innate Talent at the same time.
The Arcane Star includes the Five Elements, one of which is chosen. The Innate Talent can only awaken one. This is the iron law of Blue Star’s known history.
Not all Trainers have an Innate Talent, but those with an Innate Talent are definitely Trainers.
During the school’s awakening ceremony for the Talent of Training Beasts, David awakened the Innate Talent of “Identify,” which allows him to detect Beasts’ Species Level and Potential, the effectiveness of treasures, and even sense the emotions of Beasts.
Though the Talent David awakened isn’t suitable for combat, compared to the strange Talents other students awakened, his is quite decent.
His head teacher, Mr. Job, once strongly suggested that David should develop in the direction of an Identifier, but David rejected his advice.
With the inheritance left by his parents, the apartment assigned by the state, and the national subsidy he receives monthly, David had quite a bit of savings that he can use to purchase and cultivate pets.
He didn’t want to become a professional Identifier. Instead, he yearned to become a powerful professional Trainer, or even a Dragoon.