According to the profile, the guy’s name was Jacob Flynt. His talent in cultivation was deemed to be hopelessly poor when he entered high school, since he was far from being able to even condense his first star by the time of the awakening ceremony.
In fact, despite persistent effort day and night to condense enough spiritual power and form his first star, he still only had as much spiritual power as the average elementary school student.
Overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness, and certain that he’d be destined to never become a beast-tamer, it came as a shock to everyone when he woke up screaming from pain due to a burning sensation one night. A burning sensation that ended in the manifestation of a scorpion shaped birthmark.
A lot of effort went into finding a spiritual creature from the south of the border that matched the appearance of his birthmark. Fortunately, his parents (?) were quite wealthy and managed to procure the capture of a juvenile platinum-quality fire and poison dual-attribute Firescourge Scorpion.
Kain looked at the image of the Firescourge Scoprion within the profile. This particular spiritual creature was extremely rare even within the southern deserts where it is exclusively found.
It looked like a nightmare from the depths of a molten wasteland. Its carapace shimmered with hues of red and black, resembling flowing lava, while its massive pincers, emitted a temperature so high that distortions could be seen in the captured image due to heatwaves.
The creature’s tail arched menacingly, tipped with a venomous stinger that could emit a corrosive poison capable of melting through armor and flesh alike.
This venom doesn’t just burn; it eats away at anything it touches, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
Victims stung by it experience an agonizing fusion of searing pain and relentless corrosion, every part of their body dissolving under the relentless assault.
Despite its rarity, it does have an infamous reputation among the tribes. When a full-grown one is spotted, most tribes, which are already semi-nomadic, would prefer to just pack up their stuff and run, rather than fight.
Most spiritual creatures with healing abilities are useless against its poison and would only help to prolong the life, and thus the suffering, of the poisoned. After all, very few causes of death could be more painful than the sting from its venom.
Thankfully, the rules of this national competition dictate that any poisonous spiritual creatures taking part must also have an antidote provided by their beast-tamer or give the organizers enough notice to manufacture an antidote.
Therefore, Jacob’s contract won’t be able to kill anyone, but the brief period between the sting and when an antidote is administered would be absolute torture.
Thankfully, Kain’s affinity seems to be uniquely primed to combat the scorpion.
Bea is so small and invisible it’d be impossible to sting her. However, whether the splits could survive the poison coursing through its body is unknown.
The newly evolved Vespid Sentinels are large in quantity, so as long as Queen is alive more can always be produced.
Finally, Aegis is mostly made up of rock and his “core” is mobile and microscopic compared to most golems. So while the corrosive properties of the poison may cause damage to him, it won’t cause any pain, and the core microscopic body controlling the large rock exterior would also be difficult to harm directly.
It’d probably be a difficult fight, and he’d probably have to be prepared to lose some Vespids that could have been used in future matches, he was confident in achieving the final victory.
Another contestant of note was one not from a top 5 college, but one of the few stand-out competitors among the colleges outside of the top 5.
Kain looked at the image of the girl who deceptively looked no older than 12, with light green hair and eyes. Despite her childish appearance, according to the profile she was in fact 3 years older than Kain, despite also being a first-year.
She was also another student who practiced a foreign cultivation method.
Based on her childish appearance, Kain could tell that she was at least half Elorian—the humans native to Elowen Haven.
The humans that live in Elowen are rumoured to be partially descended from an elf-like humanoid species that had long gone extinct.
Likely due to this ancestry, they tend to grow at a slower rate than humans, which explains her childlike face despite being in her twenties.
She was a student of Lunaris Vale Academy, which is a college within the eastern region that is currently ranked 8.
Experience tales with
Lunaris was a unique college in that they are located northeast of Dark Moon College and border Elowen Haven directly.
Thankfully, out of all foreign nations, the Celestial Empire has the best relationship with the Elorians, and they are also a peaceful and non-confrontational nation.
Due to the excellent relationship between the founder of Lunaris and a member of the Elorian royalty, there was a longstanding tradition of young Elorians entering Lunaris College to study.
Clearly this girl, Elysara Virelith, was one such foreign-exchange student.
In addition to having the best relationship with us, the Elorian’s cultivation method mostly closely resembled the one of the celestial empire.
However, they absorb life-attribute spiritual power directly from nature, rather than the stars. The absorbed spiritual power takes the form of a tree within their bodies, and every “fruit” that the tree produces can serve as the home to a spiritual creature that suits their affinity.
Another difference from those within the Empire, is that the affinities of Elorians are almost exclusively to spiritual plants, and they almost all are able to awaken a gift related to plant-life.
Plant-type affinities aren’t nearly as common within the Empire so Kain was intrigued by the combat style of those that specialize in spiritual plants.
Additionally, considering that there are probably many Elorians at that college but only Elysara was in the top 5, leads Kain to believe that the plants she’s bound to are particularly powerful.
Unfortunately, all of her contracts seem to be native to the territory of Elowen Haven, so not much information was able to be found on their specific abilities.
All that was able to be uncovered was that they all have a physical form resembling a rose, and all 3 of her contracts seem to specialize in either offence, support/healing, or control. It was a well-rounded lineup.