After coming down the stairs, I quickly sat down on a vacant chair at the table. The three other tamers were looking at me the whole time.
"Looks like I became famous before I knew it."
I said with a smile, trying to be a bit humble.
"Famous? You're the only one in the main tournament with a beast at 1st stage of evolution! Nobody would say they haven't heard of you, you know?"
The girl in twin tails shouted as she slapped the table excitedly.
"Yes, a 1st stage that can sweep the floor against 2nd stage beasts."
Guren, my opponent earlier, said with a wry smile.
"I'm curious about that too. It's a plain big slime, right? Not some mutated variety?"
The woman, who exudes a cold aura, asked curiously.
"Yes, of course. Ember is a normal big slime. It's just that we trained hard on using skills."
Hearing my response, the two of them nodded their heads as if in realization. On the other hand, the twin tails girl's eyes shine brighter than before. When the girl was about to ask another question, I quickly changed the topic.
"This should be the first time we meet, so let me introduce myself. My name is Will, and this here is Ember. We came from somewhere down south and of humble birth, so please don't worry and casually speak with me."
"Oh, where are our manners? My name is Wan Li, and this is my tamed monster Xiao Bing, an Ice Pixie."
The woman with a cold aura immediately introduced herself. As if on cue, a small girl with wings flew on top of the table and did a small bow.
"And I'm Wan Er, younger sister of Wan Li! My tamed monster is Xiao Huo. She's outside the guest house right now since she's too large to fit inside. Ehehe."
The girl with twin tails said with a toothy grin.
"It's my turn, right? I'm Guren and my tamed beast is a Power Kong, Kaiser. Similarly, he should be at the stables right now since he's too big to come inside the building."
I nodded my head after hearing all of their introductions.
"I see... From your name, I guess Wan Li and Wan Er both came from the east. And Guren, since Power Kong is a bit of a rare beast, should've come from up north."
"Correct. It seems that you're not only well versed in training your beast but also in geography."
Wan Li commented offhandedly.
While we were talking, some servants served me a meal. It seems that the other three already finished theirs, given the almost empty plates in front of them. Engaging in small talk while eating is an experience I have long forgotten.
In my previous life, I lived like what you would call a corporate slave. Living in a small apartment, and eating mostly convenience store food or instant noodles. Living like that is probably one of the main reasons I died early.
Reading novels, playing games, and the likes are the only things that gave color to my almost robotic lifestyle. I suddenly felt a bit emotional after remembering my lonely life in the past.
"Are you alright?"
Wan Li asked, with clear concern in her voice.
"Ah, it's nothing. I was just reminiscing on how many years ago it was when I get to chat with another person while eating a warm meal like this."
I said with a bit of a forced smile. I guess even if my mental state is that of an adult over 40, my body still is that of an 18-year-old brat. I can't control my facial expressions as much as I wish.
"D-Don't you have a family?"
Wan Li stuttered a little as she asked. Looking at her, she was hiding half of her face behind her folding fan. I wonder what's wrong with her?
"I was an orphan, so I don't even know their name or face. I was all alone in the slums as far as I can remember."
"... Sorry, I was insensitive. Please accept my apology."
"It's fine, I don't mind."
"Wait, slums? You're not the son of a rich merchant or something?"
Guren asked, clearly bewildered.
"You mean to say that you managed to train such a powerful 1st stage tamed beast all by yourself? How long did you train it to reach this level of power?"
Hearing his question, I immediately responded. It wasn't like I was hiding it, so there's no harm in telling.
"Yes, I have drilled all of Ember's skills and tactics myself for the past few weeks. To be specific, I only tamed her approximately a month ago."
"A month?!"
Wan Er shouted in bewilderment.
"So we're the same age?! I thought you were as old as my sister from your demeanor!"
So Wan Er was the same age as me. Honestly, since she's a bit shorter and has a child-like build, if not for the fact that she has a tamed monster, I would have thought she's around 12 or so. Rather, since I just turned 18 a few weeks ago, she's actually older than me?! What a surprise, really.
"So... I was defeated by a big slime with only a month of training... What can I say... This is depressing..."
Guren clearly felt shocked after hearing the truth. His shock quickly turned into depression. I didn't have any proper tamer around me so I had no idea what was normal and what was not.
"Ah, that, I guess Ember just has too much experience already before I tamed her. I guess my training only did a little to add to her innate talent. I actually needed a measly 30 pieces of small essence crystals to push her to the 1st stage of evolution."
What I said is all true, despite removing some facts here and there. I guess taming a slime from zero to the stage Ember is in right now is supposed to take years and not months.
"Hmmm... I guess that could happen. My Xiao Bing too already possessed the skill [Physical Damage Nullification] before I even contracted with her."
With support from Wan Li, Guren seemed to have recovered a little.
"Well, I guess luck is part of skills too."
Guren sighed as he leaned back on his chair, placing his arm over his eyes.
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