The night quickly passed. By the time I woke up, the sun was already way above the horizon. It seems that the fatigue from using [Shadow Movement] is hard to recover from. Is it because I'm a human and not a Shadow Wolf? Either way, I have no choice but to continue using it for faster travel.
After we ate food from stalls, which was a large amount given my gluttonous slime and my new big wolf, we rested a bit on a park bench. All in all, one meal for the three of us is equivalent to a 10-person meal.
After filling our stomachs, we quickly exited the gate and continued our travel. Fang already recovered her stamina and was raring to go on her training. Of course, Ember didn't lose in terms of intensity. Seeing that my two tamed beasts were already raring to start, I quickly entered Ember's shadow once more.
The travel distance this time was long since it was still morning. We originally planned to reach our town by nightfall, however, I doubt my stamina and mental strength would last the whole way. We planned to rest along the way when I became tired, so as long as our rest time didn't last too long, we could still catch up to our original schedule.
After passing two towns, the sun had yet to reach the zenith. I went outside the shadow to rest, feeling like I was about to die. After drinking some tonic, and eating high-calorie foods, I managed to recover faster.
Since we still have half of the day left, we toned down our pacing and increased the training menu for the two. Ember enjoyed racing with her clone whilst Fang was trying to chain multiple skills in succession. Fang's case wasn't as bad as Ember's first-time chaining skills though. In just a few tries, she managed to get the hang of it.
A few hours later, when the scenery was slowly getting dyed a madder red, we reached our base town. Although I say "base" town, we didn't really have permanent residences inside the town. Still, Ember and I spent more or less a month here. Even the scenery near the gates felt nostalgic even though we only left for a week.
"Oh, you're that newbie slime tamer, right? Welcome back!"
The friendly gatekeeper greeted as he recognized Ember. The strict gatekeeper was attending to another person so I wasn't able to greet him though.
After passing through the gate, the wide plaza greeted us once more. Relying on my memory, we quickly headed for the government office. Reporting the results of the tournament to Vice Chief Fina comes first.
After a few minutes of walking as we reached the church-like government office. After entering, it was as lifeless as usual. Only a handful of personnel was stationed at the front desk with little than a dozen tamers and civilians here and there. After looking around, I couldn't see Fina anywhere. Not having any choice, I went to a vacant window and asked.
"Can I speak with Vice Chief Fina? Tell her that Will had come back from the newbie tournament."
"Tamer Will? I received word of you from the Vice Chief. She's in the drawing room inside, let me guide you."
The teenager-looking receptionist with red hair replied with a business smile. After that, she led me to the same room that Fina took me into before. After a few knocks, a voice saying "Enter" was heard. The receptionist gently opened the door and gestured for me to come in.
After entering, the room was almost the same as before other than two luxurious boxes on top of the coffee table.
"Please sit down."
Fina gestured to the sofa seat to her side. I thought for a bit before sitting on the one across her instead. For me, speaking with someone face-to-face is easier than side-by-side. Maybe it's because I have the habit of staring into the other party's eyes when talking.
"So, how did it go?"
She quickly asked as soon as I sat down comfortably. Two days had passed since the end of the tournament so I thought she already knew about it. Or maybe she knew but still wanted me to talk about it? Either way, I should answer her question.
"I finished second."
"Second? Wow, who would have thought you could claim second place? Still, too bad you didn't win the championship."
Fina said with a somewhat sadder expression.
"Anyways, regardless of what place you end up, you deserve these promised rewards."
Saying so, she pointed towards the two luxurious-looking boxes on top of the table. I quickly retrieved one and opened it. Inside it is a piece of purple crystal about the size of a fist. It was quite large and felt cold to the touch.
"That's the promised high-energy essence crystal. It's said to be from an ice-elemental demonic being. Just this one piece could allow a 4th stage beast to barely evolve into a 5th stage."
Although I was tempted to use it as soon as possible to evolve Ember, I decided to stash it for now. When I placed it inside the storage ring, Fina's eyebrows visibly twitched in surprise.
"A storage ring. You chose quite a versatile reward."
Fina nodded her head repeatedly as if saying "I understand why you chose it". I just brushed it off with a smile before opening the second box.
The content of the second box is a silver-colored tag. Other than an engraving of some sort of emblem, there's nothing else on it. It was of simple make but exudes quite an inexplicable aura.
"That one is your one-day pass for our town's Advanced Training Center's Special Training Room. Please do not lose it or show it off. That one tag cost tens of millions of credits so many would try to snatch it from you if they know you have one."
Hearing her warning, I slightly hesitated. I didn't think it would be so valuable. Not wanting to risk it, I quickly stored it inside the storage ring together with the essence crystal. With this, there's no fear of dropping or losing them. Unless the other party cuts off my ring finger with the storage ring, they wouldn't even be able to touch or see what I stored within.
"As for the extra rewards..."
Fina leaned closer, placing one of her knees on top of the table.
"Since you didn't win first place, think of this as a consolation prize."
Saying so, she tugged on my chin and placed her lips over mine.
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