In the early days, everyone thought that only dead monsters were useful, until the summoner class, which is also known as beast tamer, appeared.
Summoners are of two types, those who have the ability to summon spiritual monsters, what type of monster and at what level and rank they can summon depends completely on how many stars their class has and the rank of their innate skills.
Liana is from this type of summoner, she was able to summon two spiritual monsters from the Heavenly Realm and make contracts with them.
The Heavenly Realm is actually a very special place, it is a complete world, exactly like their world or the Ruined Realms.
The Heavenly Realm is a place that awakened ones who have passed at least three evolutions can access, in the early days when the first Ruined Realm appeared, no one knew such a place existed.
Only when the first awakened one who passed three evolutions and reached level 60, did they realize the existence of the Heavenly Realm or Heaven
A mythical world where thousands and millions of intelligent and very powerful races live, a place rich in resources and very powerful creatures.
Of course, their world has been at war with the races of the Heavenly Realm for years, and both sides hate each other.
The reason? In this matter, the fault is theirs, the Heavenly Realm is a very rich world, a world so rich that humans came to the conclusion that they should colonize it, and this caused a war in that world between them and the natives of that world.
If the monsters of the Ruined Realm attacked their world, then they also attacked the Heavenly Realm.
Anyway, until the Heavenly Realm was discovered, summoners thought that the spiritual monsters they summoned came from the Ruined Realm.
It was after that that they actually understood that the origin of those spiritual monsters was the Heavenly Realm.
The second type of summoners are those who are lucky enough to get a skill among their innate skills for taming monsters and making contracts with them.
They have the ability to tame and control monsters... the second type is considerably rarer.
But this same second type led to the formation of the animal taming industry.
The "Golden Horn Beast Consortium" store was much larger than what Lian expected.
Upon entering, the smell of dry grass, monster feed and dense mana was in the air, various sounds could be heard from different sections of the building.
Roars, neighs, the sound of wings flapping, and even screams of creatures that Lian had never seen.
A middle-aged seller with gray hair came to greet him.
"Welcome to the Golden Horn Consortium. Are you looking for a combat monster or a mount? Or a combination of both?"
"A mount." Lian answered without hesitation.
"Only a mount?" The man raised his eyebrow, most people who came here were looking for both.
"Only a mount."
"Then you are one of those people who know what they really need." A faint smile appeared on the seller’s face.
He took Lian to the back section of the store, along the way dozens of different monsters could be seen.
Some were gigantic, some had natural armor, some had horns as big as a full grown human.
But none of them caught his attention, he was not looking for power, monsters that had high power had average speed, what he needed was speed, mobility and a way to cover long distances without wasting energy.
"Most novice awakened ones make a mistake." The seller said as if he had read his mind.
They passed through the cages.
"They see a scary monster and buy it, then three months later they realize all their money has gone into feeding and maintaining that monster."
"I care more about speed and how far it can go." Lian nodded.
"You are making the right choice." The seller led him to another section, in this part, the creatures were calmer and smaller.
"Before you choose, it is better to know the ranks." The man continued.
"Common, cheap, suitable for beginners." He pointed at a horse-like creature.
Then he went to the next section.
"Rare, faster, smarter, more resistant, the most popular choice for hunters." Then he pointed at a massive creature with black skin.
"Elite, for professionals, from here on the prices become insane."
Lian looked at the monster, its power was clear, but he did not need such a thing.
"These three categories I told you about are monsters whose wild counterparts are the same normal and fallen monsters, and depending on their racial abilities and rarity in the market, they can fall into any of these three categories." Then his tone changed a little.
"But from here on, the story is different."
His eyes narrowed.
"Unholy, monsters that have full consciousness, creatures that can think like humans, it is almost impossible to tame them." He was silent for a few seconds.
"And above that... Demons." Even in the crowded store, this word had a special weight.
"They are legendary, the vast majority of awakened ones do not even see one in their entire lives."
Lian involuntarily thought about the Demon core inside his storage space, he had expected that Unholies and Demons would not be that tamable.
He had only seen one living Unholy, and from that meeting he could say that creature was in no way tamable.
"When did this industry start?" His curiosity went toward another topic.
The seller smiled, it was clear he liked this question, because most customers only asked about prices.
"After the discovery of the first Ruined Realm, at first everyone thought monsters were only for killing, but gradually they realized some of them are more valuable than gold."
They passed by several large cages.
"First the skills related to monster control appeared, then guilds formed, then global trade started." He laughed.
"Now billions of dollars are moved every year just in this industry."
Lian looked around, seeing the size of the store, his words did not seem exaggerated, and a few moments later he asked another question.
"What is the highest monster your store has tamed?" The seller’s face immediately brightened.
"An Unholy."
"Really?" Lian was a little surprised.
"Really, and it is now with the head of the consortium." Pride was dripping from his voice.
"A monster that many of the big guilds of the country and the continent made offers to buy, and none of them succeeded."
Lian whistled, an Unholy was no joke, but the more important question still remained.
"What is the highest tamed monster in all of history?"
The seller was silent for a few moments and then said.
"Have you heard the name Astreon Valkris?"
"Of course." Lian answered almost immediately.
How could he not have heard? The most legendary summoner in history, a man who appeared during the third Ruined Realm.
A creature that was said to have single-handedly destroyed four of the seven crystals of the third Ruined Realm.
"He managed to tame one and only one Demon." The seller smiled.
Silence filled the space, for a few seconds even Lian did not say anything, he had expected there to be several cases.
But only one Demon?
The seller continued.
"Unholy monsters and above are not wild animals, they have intelligence, they have pride, they have personality, and most importantly, they have will." His face became serious.
"Many of them prefer to die rather than live under someone’s command, that is why the total number of tamed Unholies in history might not even reach twenty."
"And Demons? One, only that one case."
Lian slowly let out his breath.
In the end, the seller took him to an open area, dozens of riding monsters were there, and among all of them, one caught his attention.
A sleek body, long legs, silver-gray fur, and yellow eyes that showed clear intelligence.
"You have a good eye." The seller smiled.
"Windrunner Strider, Common rank."
"Level eleven, extremely fast, excellent stamina, consumes little food, for long journeys it is almost without rival, but it has no combat power, otherwise it could have been a Rare."
Lian examined the creature for a few minutes, the monster also calmly examined him.
No roar, no display of power, and no extra behavior, just calm and ready, exactly what he needed.
"I want this one."
The seller smiled.
"An excellent choice."
The ownership documents were prepared and transferred, and a few minutes later everything was official, he entered his bank account information and sent a withdrawal request to the bank.
After confirmation and payment, Lian left the building, the monster moved calmly beside him.
Finally he felt truly ready to leave the base.
The massive city was behind him, watchtowers, stone walls, busy markets, and thousands of awakened ones each following their own dream.
But in front of him... the endless land of the Ruined Realm lay ahead.
Finally the time for exploration had come.