The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 88

Crash, bang!

If Han Siha hadn’t hurriedly bound Ptera with his magic, the creature would have flown straight out the window.

“No way I’m letting that happen.”

This was an A-grade monster that he had painstakingly acquired.

He had spent over a month carefully nurturing it, ensuring it was well-fed and clean.

Han Siha, struggling to keep Ptera restrained with his magic, panted heavily.

“Please…”

“Keeeeek!”

Ugh, this is driving me crazy.

Han Siha glanced around the room.

Broken shards of glass were scattered across the floor, and the furniture had been overturned in the chaos caused by Ptera’s wild thrashing.

Despite turning the room into a complete mess, Ptera was still brimming with energy.

This is not how a one-hour-old hatchling should behave.

How can this little thing be so strong?!

Flap, flap!

“Piiiiiiiek!”

Basilus, as if deciding to just knock Ptera out, raised a paw.

Noticing this just in time, Han Siha screamed and rushed to stop him.

“No, no, no! Absolutely not!”

“Whack. Piiiek. Finish.”

“No, not ‘finish’! What are you even saying?!”

If Basilus were to hit Ptera, the poor creature would be killed instantly.

Determined to protect the small and precious Ptera, Han Siha tried to hold the creature in his hands.

But once again, “crash”!

“Ugh!”

He failed.

Gritting his teeth, Han Siha quickly ran through the taming techniques he’d learned in his mind.

“How was this supposed to be done?”

To be honest, Han Siha didn’t need to learn the theoretical aspects of Taming Studies in great detail.

Thanks to his innate affinity, he could tame most monsters without much difficulty.

His talent was so extraordinary that even the most experienced tamers would be envious.

But the problem was that, since Ptera was just born, his usual affinity wasn’t working at all.

Han Siha grabbed his staff.

A few possible approaches came to mind. One was to knock Ptera out first and then attempt to tame it.

“No, that’s not right.”

That would be crazy. The creature might die.

“Piiiiiek!”

Then…

Han Siha began muttering a rune spell that was a modified form of a sleep spell.

Putting the creature to sleep outright wouldn’t help with the taming process, so he opted for something just short of that.

He focused intensely.

“Work… please, work…”

“Piiiiik… eeeek….”

…It worked.

Ptera, blinking its large eyes, relaxed its grip on the magical tether it had been pulling on frantically.

The intense wariness it had displayed earlier began to diminish.

Han Siha slowly approached the creature.

“Now my affinity might finally start working.”

“Piiik…”

Nodding off slightly, Ptera still fought to keep its eyes open.

If not for the magic, it would’ve thrown another fit by now.

Han Siha carefully reached out his hand.

First, he let Ptera sniff and get accustomed to his scent, then slowly moved to touch it.

Like when trying to tame a puppy, Han Siha sat quietly in place.

As he had learned from taming Adela’s Hellhound, monsters generally dislike overly excited tamers.

The most important thing is to establish trust by showing that you mean no harm.

Drawing on his past life’s experience, Han Siha skillfully petted Ptera.

“Much better now.”

It probably wouldn’t be fully tamed after just one session.

Although the creature was somewhat settled, the fact that the status window hadn’t appeared yet indicated that it would take at least a week to complete the taming process.

Han Siha wasn’t in a hurry.

Ptera wasn’t a wild monster running rampant in the field.

As long as he kept it securely tied up until the taming was complete, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Finally, something else caught his attention.

“Oh.”

That broken window is going to be a problem.

Just thinking about how to clean up this mess was already giving him a headache.

He pressed his temples and was about to stand up when—

Bang.

“What in the world has happened here?”

Strange faces peeked in through the door.

Middle-aged counts dressed in stiff suits.

Han Siha swallowed hard and took a step back.

Unlike yesterday, Han Taesu seemed visibly irritated as he walked into the room, frowning.

The shattered glass on the floor, the excited Basilus, and the unfamiliar new reptile were not scenes the counts would find pleasant.

One of the counts, who had always looked for a reason to criticize Han Siha, seized the opportunity to make a snide remark.

“So, this is the kind of environment tamers work in these days.”

“Looks more like a pet running wild than a proper taming session.”

“I heard he placed first in Taming Studies. How did he manage that with this level of skill?”

Judging by the state of the room, they assumed Han Siha had been messing around with his dragon and made a mess of things.

That seemed to be the conclusion they jumped to.

Han Taesu sighed and asked the obligatory question.

“This is a mess. What were you doing?”

Han Siha, still holding the now-calm Ptera, responded.

“Taming.”

A moment of silence followed.

* * *

“He tamed that?”

Count Caron mumbled in disbelief.

“Did he say he wanted to be a tamer?”

“My goodness.”

“Isn’t that… a Ptera?”

“Coo!”

Being a tamer wasn’t a particularly prestigious job in Ardel.

Not because tamers themselves were weak, but because the profession had its limitations.

If the monster being tamed wasn’t strong enough, then it wasn’t worth much.

Did the renowned tamers of the continent fail to become stronger simply because they couldn’t find powerful monsters to tame?

No. The stronger the monster, the exponentially more difficult it was to tame.

In fact, taming a powerful monster carried the risk of being killed by it during the attempt.

So, if someone had the ability to tame such powerful monsters…

If they had that kind of talent, they could grow faster than anyone else.

“Unbelievable.”

Count Caron felt like he was witnessing the seed of that talent.

He had only seen the rebellious side of Han Siha in the past, but now the boy seemed completely different, as if he had suddenly matured.

Ptera was an even more difficult monster to tame than a dragon.

Seeing the creature, calm in Han Siha’s hands, was nothing short of astonishing.

“You… you really tamed that?”

“Not fully tamed yet. I think it’ll take about a week to settle,” Han Siha replied casually, gently stroking Ptera’s head.

However, the fact that Ptera wasn’t lashing out at such a bold gesture meant that the taming process was already halfway done.

“A week? Where did you hear that?”

“From a book.”

“Did Ardel Academy teach taming separately?”

“I took Basic Taming Studies.”

But there was no way they would have taught how to tame a Ptera there.

Typically, a Ptera is not a monster that can be tamed as a hatchling.

Can it be done? Theoretically, yes, but practically, it’s nearly impossible for a second-year student at Ardel Academy.

Unlike dragons, which, when raised from birth, consider their tamer as their parent, Pteras instinctively flee when they detect a human’s scent.

They become somewhat easier to tame once they’ve matured, but even then, it’s no easy task.

Taming a Ptera hatchling is exceptionally difficult. They are not only incredibly challenging but also highly sensitive to stress; if not approached carefully, they can easily faint.

Yet here was a Ptera, sleeping soundly in Han Siha’s arms.

Count Caron, who had some experience in taming, knew just how extraordinary this sight was.

“Did you use a sleep spell?”

“No, it was a hypnosis spell.”

If he had used a sleep spell, Ptera might have died on the spot.

The fact that the creature was still intact after breaking the window was remarkable in itself.

Nevertheless, the quick thinking to use hypnosis in that split second and carefully approach the creature was a testament to Han Siha’s remarkable judgment and affinity.

A count standing beside Caron whispered in his ear, “Isn’t that impressive?”

They all had a sense of how significant this was, but they were reluctant to admit it.

The person most unwilling to acknowledge this was Count Caron himself.

He had always taken pleasure in taunting Han Taesu, holding onto the belief that Han Siha was a failure, a troublemaker on the verge of expulsion.

Now, Caron found himself torn between the thrill of encountering such a talent and the discomfort of that talent belonging to Han Taesu’s son.

But the former feeling was winning out.

Caron scowled as he glanced at Basilus, who was hopping around on the floor.

“Has he already tamed a dragon too?”

“Yes. I think it will be perfect to tame this one as well,” Han Siha responded smoothly, without hesitation.

He spoke with the confidence of someone who already knew he could tame Ptera.

When Caron looked to the side, he saw Han Taesu’s lips curling into a smile again.

“Ahem.”

Han Taesu was clearly thrilled.

Caron could see that Han Taesu was amused by the way his expression kept changing.

Caron swallowed dryly.

“Taming two at once…”

“Yes, I think I can handle that. The books mentioned that three is the maximum…”

But that’s just theoretical.

The books were written based on the experiences of seasoned tamers who had already gone through plenty of battles.

And “maximum” means just that—few tamers can control three monsters simultaneously.

If Han Siha could eventually master that…

Ardel might soon witness the rise of a new taming prodigy.

With such ability, it made sense that he ranked third among the second years.

Han Taesu clapped a hand on the shoulder of one of the counts and coughed lightly.

Seeing everyone so awestruck only made him feel even better.

“He’s still got a long way to go, but he’s doing well. Let’s all head inside; it seems this wasn’t anything serious. Haha.”

“…Ah, yes, let’s do that.”

Han Taesu raised his hand and gave Han Siha a pointed look.

“Make sure you clean up this mess!”

“Yes, sir.”

Even though his words were stern, anyone could tell from afar that a smile was tugging at Han Taesu’s lips.

Han Siha chuckled softly as he looked down at Ptera, now peacefully asleep in his arms.

“Well, it looks like a success.”

* * *

Aculas Dungeon.

The dungeon wasn’t far from Han Siha’s family estate.

He had told Han Taesu he was heading there to complete a task, but in reality, it was to train Basilus.

He felt his limbs stiffening from being cooped up in the mansion for so long.

Today, Seymour had once again been dragged along, grumbling as he asked, “Why are we here?”

“For practice.”

“Here?”

Seymour tilted his head in confusion.

Even though this was only a B-grade dungeon, calling it a practice area seemed a bit of a stretch.

It was certainly more challenging than the Ghost Forest dungeon they had tackled as a group project before.

But Han Siha had no intention of lifting a finger today. He planned to sit back and let Basilus do all the work.

Basilus nuzzled against Han Siha’s leg, then leaped up excitedly.

“Coo!”

“Nice and cool here.”

As soon as they entered the wide cave, feeling the chill emanating from the dungeon entrance, Han Siha pulled out a wooden chair from his dimensional bag.

Seymour flinched and frowned.

“That fits in there?”

“Of course. Do you know how expensive this thing is?”

The chair he could understand, but why was Han Siha spreading out a mat? It looked like they were preparing for a picnic rather than a dungeon crawl.

Han Siha leisurely spread out the mat and sat down on it.

Sitting at the entrance of a dungeon like this seemed absurd.

Seymour blinked in confusion, unsure of what was happening.

Han Siha chuckled and explained, “We’re just going to relax.”

“But I thought this was for practice.”

“Yeah, practice for Basilus. Ahh.”

Meanwhile, Basilus had already darted off, happily smashing slugs in the cave.

The monsters looked like giant slugs but were over five meters long.

Despite their size, Basilus was easily beating them down, making it clear there was nothing to worry about.

These monsters were no match for Basilus.

Quick and sharp, Basilus’ attacks continued to land precisely.

“Screee!”

The screams echoed throughout the dungeon, and the monsters didn’t dare approach them.

“Nice job, Basilus!”

Han Siha gave a thumbs-up to Basilus.

Seymour stared at him in disbelief.

“Is that all?”

“He’s doing great on his own, so I’m letting him handle it.”

“…”

Han Siha calmly pulled out a packed lunch and began to eat.

His composure was astounding.

“This is tasty. Want some?”

“Uh… sure.”

Seymour replied, still in a daze.

Slash, slash.

The sound of monsters being sliced apart filled the air.

Yet, the person sitting right in front of the action was casually enjoying his meal on the mat.

Munch, munch.

As Han Siha took a big bite of salad, Seymour grew increasingly bewildered.

What exactly is the job of a tamer?

“A job where you just sit back and relax…?”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Just then—

Beep, beep.

“Hmm?”

Han Siha looked up in surprise as he felt a gust of wind.

A giant eagle was flying towards them through the dungeon entrance.

“What’s that…?”

“A messenger?”

The eagle had a necklace around its neck bearing the crest of Ardel Academy.

Han Siha frowned and stood up abruptly.

It was a message from Ardel Academy.

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