Chapter 6: The Leon Kingdom and the true face of Ray’s seal!

At dusk, the Beast Tamer Trial being held in the White Sparrow Town came to an end. It produced sixty new beast tamers this year, not counting Ray. Because of his cursed seal, he was ineligible for official recognition as a beast tamer, which meant failing to become a knight of the kingdom.

The Leon kingdom had a strict and brutally rigid hierarchy. At the very bottom were the slaves. They had no rights. If they were pretty and pleasant to look at, they would be used for pleasure. Otherwise, they would be treated as harshly as a beast of burden, being used for harsh labour. Not having any rights meant that they could be punished or killed without the risk of facing any repercussion. And it didn’t cost much to afford one.

Above the slaves were commoners. Anyone who wasn’t a beast tamer was considered a commoner, regardless of their bloodties or backing. This meant that even the king’s oldest son, who was the former crown prince of the Leon Kingdom, was no more than a commoner!

Of course, comparing him to an ordinary commoner would be foolish as the king was very fond of him. Not only did he resemble his dead lover, he also didn’t have to be on guard against him like his other sons as he wasn’t a threat to his throne. Anyone who dares trouble him would be offending the king, and in this kingdom, who could survive after offending the only overlord of humanity?

Back to the topic, the lives of commoners, especially the poor and powerless, weren’t much better than those of slaves. A single beast tamer could destroy their livelihood out of spite or on a whim and suffer no consequences.

Above the commoners stood the nobility and royals, divided into the following ranks.

Knight

Grand Knight

Town Master

Viscount also known as city lord, a person put in charge to manage a part of the territory of a count

Count also known as Warlord during wartime

Marquee also known as Grand Warlord during wartime

Prince & Princess

King

Each rank was further divided into low, mid, high, and peak tier.

A noble’s rank was determined by their strength as a beast tamer. For example, an Iron-rank tamer with an initial-stage Iron-rank beast was only a low-tier Knight.

Worth noting, every major breakthrough brought an opportunity to climb up the hierarchy. For a change in status, one simply needed to visit an authorized guild to have their rank re-evaluated.

A Grand Knight was at least Bronze rank, while a Town Master was guaranteed to be Silver rank or higher.

Garrick, a Black Gold-rank powerhouse, was considered a peak-tier Grand Warlord thanks to his fully matured Fire Drake. He ruled multiple cities and was regarded as one of humanity’s greatest weapons against demonic beasts. In countless battles for the kingdom, he had lost comrades and bled for survival, becoming cold and stoic. Over time, resentment for ordinary mortals crept into his heart. In his eyes, beast tamers carried the race’s survival on their backs, while commoners leeched off their protection. No wonder he had killed Chansi over a single slight.

***

News of the trial spread through the town like wildfire. The sun hadn’t yet dipped below the horizon before the gossip started.

“Did you hear? This year’s trial produced twice as many beast tamers as last year! Last year it was 30. This year, it’s sixty.”

“This is good enough to warrant a reward from the kings. He might double our yearly resources!”

“Possible, yes… but very pointless for average folks like us. You know as well as I do. The higher-ups will swallow it all. We won’t even see the scraps.”

The more beast tamers that emerged from a place, the higher that location’s value in the eyes of the kingdom. Since the town gave birth to sixty beast tamer, it would receive a considerable amount of resources to not only cultivate them, but also improve the condition of the town.

Unfortunately, corruption ran deep in the town. No one could say where those resources would end up, but it certainly wouldn’t be toward the town’s benefit. Ten years had passed since the current Town Master took power, and in that time, nothing had improved for the common folk!

***

Clink~

Inside a tavern, mugs clinked. People drank ale while chatting.

“The Gilmoren family gained the most from the trial this year, but also suffered a great loss. Their clan beauty offended Lord Garrick and was swatted to death like a fly.”

“Karma finally catching up to that darn family. It’s unfortunate that their psychopathic male heir awakened an extraordinary seal. Soon they’ll have two Bronze-rank beast tamers. They’ll become the third strongest family in town.”

“You take things too simply. The Ashford won’t let anyone take their place without a fight. The Gilmoren might face a disaster this year if they don’t treat carefully.”

“I heard something really exciting happened in the trial this year.”

“What is it? Out with it!”

“You won’t believe it… A young man with perfect innate magic power awakened a seal. But failed to become a beast tamer.”

Are they talking about me?

Ray, who was having his first meal of the day, was seated only a few seats away from the group of people chatting loudly while chugging ale like water.

When they started talking about him, he didn’t look over as he eavesdropped on them while eating his delicious steak, dead set on finishing it before it could get cold, his ears perked up in attention.

The tavern master knew how to cook a steak. It was perfectly medium and warm on the tongue, not hot enough to burn it, but hot enough to warm and fill his stomach. Back on Earth, you’d ask for medium and they’d serve you rare, then act like nothing was wrong. Some people had faced this problem even in fancy restaurants that charge a criminal amount for a mere steak. Here it only cost a few copper, which was one tenth the amount the original owner was left with when Ray transmigrated over.

“Huh? How could that be? He met all the requirements, so why didn’t he become a beast tamer?”

“Jahkass, are you pulling our legs?”

“Lady Rose, does it look like I’m joking? The reason he failed is the quality of his seal. Same as the kingdom’s former crown prince.”

“He has… the cursed seal? No wonder he failed.’

“Possessing magic power and awakening successfully, yet still failing to become a battle master. What rotten luck.”

The people gossiping in the corner were whispering about him with pity, but Ray almost wanted to laugh. Cursed seal? It was anything but that!

“Status,” he murmured under his breath.

A translucent character panel shimmered into existence before his eyes. No one reacted to its sudden appearance. Only he could see it.

Ray

Level: 0

EXP required to level up: 10

Rank: Awakened Beast Tamer

Beast Taming Seal:Eclipse Devouring Seal — A unique seal that can devour other seals and perfectly replicate their abilities.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep