Chapter 37: Hidden Shift Power, Breakthrough to Mid Quality

"Lionel, come rest for a bit." Adrian waved his hand. Lionel, who had been darting around the hall, landed steadily on the table, raised his head to look at Adrian, a hint of confusion still in his eyes.

"Meow…?"

What is it, tamer? I'm not tired yet! I could do this set of moves a hundred more times!

Adrian stroked the soft fur at the edge of Lionel's face and said, "I know you're full of energy right now. Remember that pagoda halo that appeared behind Violet a few days ago?"

Lionel nodded. He had been right there at the time.

Not only that, he also remembered Adrian's face had gone pale and his legs had gone weak, as if he was about to faint.

And he remembered Adrian telling Violet, "Where you are is home." That was the first emotional shock of his cat life.

But now, such a good human was his tamer!

Thinking of that, Lionel felt a surge of pride. He wondered how his three siblings' tamers were.

But they definitely could not compare to his!

The more he thought, the wilder his heart became. He almost activated the Wild Heart trait again.

Adrian watched the changes in his Status panel: Memories surging. Half a year east, half a year west. Do not look down on a poor kitten. The current me is terrifyingly strong, and my tamer is the undisputed number one in the world!

Adrian: ?

Where did Lionel learn these things?

He had only mentioned Violet's pagoda, and Lionel suddenly became this arrogant.

It made Adrian himself feel a little embarrassed.

Adrian lightly tapped his head, pulling Lionel out of his smug mood.

"Cough. What I mean is, I'm going to awaken you now, just like I made the pagoda appear behind Violet that day." Adrian said with a smile.

The Bond Awakening Art had high requirements for the bond between beast and tamer.

Although Adrian had only known Lionel for a few days, after the contract, the heart-to-heart bond was enough to make up for the short time they had known each other. This was also an advantage between a tamer and their contracted beast.

"Meow? Roar!" Lionel had just calmed down, but the fire in his heart was lit again.

This cat can actually become even stronger?

But almost two seconds later, he slowly stepped back two paces and even shook his head. A trace of worry also appeared in his emotions.

Because he remembered how pale Adrian had looked that day.

He had come to this home and did not seem to have contributed much. He drank Spirit Dew, ate the cake, and now he was going to drain his tamer dry… Was that not a little too much?

Adrian sensed it and said directly with a smile, "It's fine. After contracting you, my spiritual power improved. And you are not as strong as Violet, so the consumption will not be too great. It's nothing."

Hearing that, Lionel finally relaxed. He stepped forward two more paces and even puffed out his chest, the fur at the edge of his face sticking out even more boldly.

Adrian began to use the Bond Awakening Art.

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After his spiritual power increased, using it again felt less strained. Following the established circulation path, he gathered energy at his index finger and touched Lionel's forehead.

Almost instantly, Lionel began to change.

The Wild Heart that was already about to be activated was instantly ignited. Along with it came the Lion Spirit trait.

The lion phantom behind him became more solid, then actually merged directly into Lionel's body.

Lionel's body suddenly grew larger and heavier, pressing the table until it creaked.

The fur at the edge of his face grew longer. Light burst from his eyes. He looked truly majestic.

But the form lasted only two seconds before returning to his current appearance.

More interestingly, after another two seconds, he actually turned back into the appearance he had when he was still common quality—the little kitten with messy fur.

This change made Lionel panic.

Could everything that happened these past few days have been just a dream?

He immediately shook his body, meowing like a kitten. Only after more than ten seconds did he finally return to his current appearance.

He let out a long breath of relief.

Then he felt his body drained. Dizzy, he collapsed on the table and fell asleep within seconds.

Before losing consciousness, he thought: He had been afraid of draining his tamer dry, so why did this strange ability drain him first…

Adrian was also stunned by the changes.

He immediately looked at the panel. In the Traits column, a new ability had appeared—Hidden Shift.

[Hidden Shift LV1]: Based on the bloodline flowing within the body, within a certain period of time, the power of a bloodline that has not yet fully awakened can be applied to the body in advance. The body undergoes transformation and gains an all-around boost.

At the same time, after future growth, it can also trace past bloodlines and, within a certain period of time, transform into a form it once possessed.

So that was it.

This trait also seemed to incorporate the characteristics of Lionel's personality—endurance, wildness, and bravery.

How the form would change depended on Lionel's current situation and mental state.

Of course, maintaining this [Trait] was still too difficult for him.

Probably only after reaching the Exceptional stage, like Violet and Roxy, could he control it with ease.

Adrian walked into the plant room and looked at Violet, who was still focused on using the Life Spirit Pendant. He did not disturb her. He gently drew a drop of Spirit Dew from the basin with a dropper, then returned to Lionel's side and dripped it into his mouth.

Although Lionel was exhausted, his overall condition was still good.

Adrian could sense that those few transformations just now seemed to have rapidly consumed and spread the accumulated Lionbright Fruit energy. When he woke up, there might be a surprise.

At nine thirty at night, Adrian sat in front of the computer looking up information.

Suddenly, he felt his already somewhat tired brain become clear. He immediately realized something.

He turned around. Lionel, whom he had carried to the bed to rest earlier, had woken up.

He was currently looking around, still a little sleepy.

Compared to his physical state during training earlier today, Lionel seemed to have grown a bit more. Especially his limbs were stronger, and the fur on his face was thicker.

Adrian immediately looked at his panel.

[Quality]: Exceptional-Mid

[Level]: Common 5

Quality had risen from Lower to Mid!

Level had also risen from 4 to 5!

No wonder he had felt a wave of refreshment earlier. Because of Lionel's breakthrough, his own spiritual power had also risen from 21 to 26.

A few points less than when he first contracted Lionel, but still extremely efficient.

Lionel quickly jumped to Adrian's side and meowed a few times, indicating he was full of energy again and ready to train more!

"Lionel, it's quite late. I still have some materials to finish reading. If you really have energy, just swing your claws tonight. Don't jump around the house and disturb Violet and Roxy."

"Remember what I taught you during the day. Find the voice inside yourself. Train the timing for using your traits."

"Tomorrow is the first day of school. You should meet your other thirty-nine classmates in the class. Adjust your state!"

"Meow!" Lionel raised both paws, showing he understood.

Then Adrian continued looking at the materials on the computer.

At Westbrook Beast-Taming Academy, the first day of Grade 11 had always had some small "surprises."

More precisely, there were always assessments, big and small.

Earlier, when Mr. Caldwell assigned homework to the forty students, he only emphasized contracting their first beast.

But Adrian knew things would not be that simple.

He had been a teacher in his past life. Of course he knew how to expand a topic from a single point.

So what he was doing now was organizing information on these classmates.

He remembered the talents of the forty students in Class 1: six S-rank, thirty-four A-rank.

He did not understand every talent one hundred percent.

So today he used that as a starting point, thinking with his own understanding: if he had this talent, what kind of first beast would he choose to match it?

Once he started researching and expanding, his excitement rose.

His spiritual power had just increased, so he felt he could do more deduction.

The next day.

Adrian woke up on time to his alarm and found that Lionel had somehow fallen asleep curled up at his feet.

The morning glow spread romantically across the sky. The rising sun fell on Lionel, printing gold on his body, making him look very noble.

Adrian stretched.

His first day as a student of Grade 11, Class 1, the Ember Class, was about to begin.