This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The next morning, Kain received a notification from the Order. His rewards had been calculated, and he was to report to the administrative office to collect them. He made his way through the bustling corridors of the headquarters, his mind still preoccupied with the strange connection he and his contracts seemed to have with the Abyss.

When he arrived at the office, he was greeted by a stern-faced administrator who handed him a detailed breakdown of his rewards. Kain's eyes widened as he scanned the document. The Order had been generous, reimbursing him for 60% of the cost of the Cryostasis Nexus, the Vessel of Purification, and the Space Severing Nail. On top of that, he had been awarded a substantial amount of credits for completing the mission and neutralizing the risk of abyssal invasion from Brightstar City.

Kain couldn't help but smile as he received the notification about the arrival of the credits into his account. This was more than enough to replenish some of the 'necessities' that Benji had previously convinced him to buy as well as resources to increase the strength of his contracts.

However, Kain had heard that the most invaluable opportunity in the order wasn't the rare items, evolutionary materials, weapons, or spiritual skills for sale. Apparently, the greatest chance to increase their contract's strength was an "opportunity for realization"—whatever that meant.

Unfortunately, nobody felt inclined to explain it to him in detail since it was only useful for blue-grade spiritual creatures about to advance and high-level spiritual creatures. Otherwise, attempting to enter it may do more harm than good.

Therefore, although Kain suddenly had an abundance of credits he wasn't in a rush to spend them. With his current financial resources, connections with nobles due to being a top Evolutionary Planner, and his status as a top 5 student at one of the top 5 colleges, he could obtain most rare items without the help of the order. Heck he even had a system that could provide him with many new resources as long as he paid the corresponding amount of GP.

He planned to save his credits for those opportunities exclusive to the Order that the more senior members kept lamenting not having enough credits for.

'Speaking of…according to the people that received us when we left the relic, we had been in there for over a month. By now another re-ranking should have occurred, so I guess I'm not a member of the top 5 currently…' Kain lamented the sudden drop in status.

However, he wasn't too upset. There would be a final re-ranking before the national tournament and given his current strength he had no doubt that he'd be able to reclaim his spot. He'd consider having someone new enjoy the fruits of being in the top 5 for a few months as his latest act of charity…

Not to mention the current privileges and resources given to the top 5 weren't particularly valuable to him now since he could receive the majority of them through other channels.

The main appeal of the top 5 for him was going to the National Tournament and getting to enter one of the college's resource vaults again that contained resources that he may not even be able to get in the Order, such as that fate-attribute spiritual skill 'Threads of Destiny.' During his previous walkthrough of the vault, there had been many items that appealed to him, but he had been forced to restrict his selection to only 3 items. To go in again, he had no choice but to make achievements on the College's behalf at the National Tournament.

'I guess I'll also miss the top 5 dormitory too though…' Kain suddenly recalled one more privilege he supposed he would miss. After all, since he'd missed the latest re-ranking there was a possibility that he had dropped from the top of his year to the very bottom. In which case, he may very well end up in a closet-sized room.

With his business at the Order concluded, Kain made his way to the teleportation array. The array was a massive, intricate structure carved into the floor of a grand chamber and had connection points to all major colleges and cities of the Empire.

Kain stepped into the center of the array, feeling the familiar hum of spiritual power as the runes activated.

After a flash of light and a brief sensation of weightlessness (thankfully he seemed to be getting accustomed to teleporting), he was standing in the teleportation chamber of Dark Moon College.

But he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

The college was eerily silent, the usual hustle and bustle of students and faculty conspicuously absent. As Kain walked through the campus, the grounds were completely empty, and the buildings were pretty much all dark—with no lights left on to indicate that people were inside.

Kain quickened his pace in unease, his footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. As he approached the main entrance, he noticed a thick column of smoke rising in the distance, its dark plume staining the otherwise clear sky. His heart sank. Something had happened while he was away.

He ran through the open, and seemingly unattended, college gates and into the city, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of life. The streets closest to the college were intact but completely lifeless—like a ghost town.

But as he moved further toward the outskirts in the direction of the smoke, the damage became more apparent. Buildings were reduced to rubble, their walls blackened by fire. The streets were littered with debris, and the air was thick with the horrifyingly familiar smell of burning flesh mixed with rot—a smell that had practically permeated the entire battlefield during the fight against the abyssals in the relic.

'There's no way…'

The closer he got to the edges of the city, the more people he saw. They were working tirelessly, clearing debris, rebuilding structures, and tending to the wounded. The atmosphere was one of grim determination, the kind that comes after a disaster has passed but its scars remain fresh.

Kain's mind raced as he tried to piece together what had happened. He pulled out his phone and dialed Collin's—the manager in charge of most of his businesses—number. He had noticed that the region of the city that seemed to be affected was where one of their newest factories were being built and, knowing Collin's professionalism and workaholic nature, he should know best what happened here. After a few tense moments, Collin's voice crackled through the device.@@novelbin@@

"Kain? Are you back!" Collin's voice was a mix of relief and exhaustion. "Where are you?"

"I just got back to the college," Kain replied, his tone urgent. "What the hell happened here?"

There was a pause on the other end before Collin spoke again. "It's… complicated. While you were gone, there was a sudden outbreak of corrupted in the outskirts of the city. It happened so fast—one moment everything was normal, and the next, people were turning into corrupted and attacking others. The college mobilized immediately to contain the spread, but it was chaos for a while." Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire

Kain's grip tightened on the communication device. "An outbreak? How did it start?"

"We're not entirely sure," Collin admitted. "Some people just… turned. No warning, no signs of abyssal creatures beforehand. The college managed to contain the outbreak pretty quickly, and so the casualties were kept low, but the damage was already done. Pretty much the entire city has been focused on rebuilding ever since and all regular events and operations have been significantly delayed."

Afterwards, Collin began to lament the loss and damage to their factory and workers, reporting the costs, delays, and other business related things to Kain. But Kain's mind had already flown far away.

'If all events were delayed or cancelled, maybe I don't have to give up my top 5 dorm…' Kain thought, while trying to find a silver lining in this otherwise bleak event.