Chapter 1073 - The city of Zoo
While Quinn and the others had been busy hunting for the Demon tier beast, other members of his family hadn’t exactly been lazing around either.
Despite the war declaration, Erin and Leo had gone out on their own, continuing the search for the Pure base or at least any of their members. They had already learned that the Pure base was supposed to be on earth, information given to them by Eno.
According to the intel, Layla provided. One of the main bases on earth was located in a well known city by the name of Zoo. Similarly to the Truedreams, another Big Four family had founded the city and located most of their members there, only in this case the one responsible had been Mona Bree.
The reason for the quite bizarre name of the city was due to the many beasts that were roaming around freely. While it might seem dangerous at first, all of those beasts had at one point been tamed by members of the Bree family thanks to their ability.
Apart from the beasts there was one other thing that led to the city becoming a famous tourist attraction and that was Mona’s fascination with the architecture style of ancient times, in particular the Roman Empire. The city had been constructed with antique looking buildings, giant pillars and large statues of prominent figures of the Bree family. They even had a giant colosseum in the centre.
Even though Mona herself had disappeared, her family members had continued to follow in her footsteps. Many of them had joined the military, with a few branching off here and there, but overall Oscar had left them to their own devices. Nowadays the Zoo city is heavily guarded by strong members of the Bree family.
Walking down the streets Erin felt as if she had travelled back in time, she wouldn’t have even been surprised if at any moment someone would appear in a toga. Meanwhile Leo was just appreciating the structure of the architecture he could ’see’ with his ability.
"I’m not sure whether I should praise Pure for choosing such a place to have a base, or call them daring," Erin commented after the first shock had settled down.
"The best place to hide a tree will always be in a forest. Who would think to look for them in a city controlled by one of the Big Four?" Leo replied. "If Pure hasn’t given up on the idea of creating a manmade beast for them to control, then this would seem like the perfect location. Come to think of it, perhaps the members we found from the Bree family last time would have been taken from this city."
Just then they saw someone walking alongside a two horned walking beast that was a little larger than a human, it must have been at the advanced tier level. It was quite an amazing ability for them to control the beasts.
"Hmph, I could take out every single one of these with a simple swipe of my paw," Ovinnik commented lazyly from atop Leo’s head.
After seeing so many wild beasts walking around freely, the cat familiar had suddenly decided to come out and explore the Human World a little bit and Leo saw no problem with that at all. The only ’issue’ was that every time they encountered a beast that looked somewhat impressive, Ovin seemingly felt the need to remind them that he could beat them with a single swipe if he just chose to act.
Erin just stared at the cat, that for some reason had decided to include her in its thought talk, rather than just speaking to Leo directly. The only thing that worried the dhampir was whether this allowed Ovin to read her thoughts as well, but so far it hadn’t shown any signs of it.
’Can that fat cat really be that strong here?’ Erin wondered. ’I mean there has to be a difference between his strength in the Familiar World and this world, right?’
At that moment, as if Ovin had read her mind, he stared towards her and raised one of his chubby paws, seemingly ready to attack.
’Did he actually hear me? Whatever, I won’t back down from you! If one cat is all it takes to make me cower, how am I meant to face the Dalki?!’ Erin thought as she stared back at the cat and moved her hand towards the sword hilt by her side, ready to defend herself at any moment.
Ovin moved and Erin was halfway through drawing her sword, until she saw... that the familiar was merely liking its paw, before letting out a big yawn. From the looks of it, the cat looked far more interested in taking a big nap over getting into any fights.
’Yeah, I must be imagining things, no way that cat can hear me,’ Erin breathed out a sigh of relief, shaking her head over her previous behavior. However, the next moment she received a thought message that sounded like a sneer...
Before Erin had any chance to react to what she perceived as a sort of provocation, a man shouted from their side: "Attention, Attention! Last chance to register for this month’s Beast Battling Games! Riches and fame await you, as long your beast is the strongest!"
Behind the man there was a table, and quite a queue of people who looked eager to participate in that event.
"Are you interested?" Erin asked, since Leo had stopped to have a look.
"Such an event should be the perfect place to scout for strong users with the beast taming ability, so there is a good chance that someone from Pure would be there," Leo replied and walked towards the shouting man.
"Oh my, what a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to see such beauty. Are you here to register for the Battle of the Beasts? I’m afraid you will have to line up if you wish to," the man was too smitten by Erin’s appearance to notice Leo next to her.
"It’s our first time here, could you tell us more about this Battle of the Beasts event?" Erin asked in her cold voice, emphasising the ’us’ part.
Only then did the man notice Leo’s presence, as well as the fact that the only beast the duo had on them appeared to be a fat cat that for some reason was napping on the bald man’s head. He would have normally dismissed them, but the level of beast equipment and beast gear told him that both of them were either very powerful or quite influential.
"Oh, so you are newcomers! Each month, Zoo is hosting the Beast Battling Games in the coliseum. This month’s attraction is the so-called Battle of the Beasts, a tournament in which tamed beasts compete against each other. This time’s winner gets to walk home with the grand prize of a Demi-god tier crystal, courtesy of the Bree family," the man enthusiastically explained.
The price was certainly enough to garner a lot of attention. The question was whether the Bree family was just generous enough to continue certain traditions or whether this time’s event was somehow more special.
’Leo seems to be correct once more, with such a price it’s practically guaranteed that the strongest ability users would participate to show off the power of their beasts,’ Erin thought. ’It would be a wonder if Pure doesn’t show up.’
"Do you happen to sell tickets or could you tell us where we could purchase any?" Leo asked the man.
"Apologies, but our Beast Battling Games are quite the attraction for our city. They are sold out well in advance. If you are interested in attending one, then you should try to purchase some tickets in front of the colosseum. If you are lucky they should still have some for the show in half a year," the man explained.
"I’m afraid we don’t have much free time," Leo stroked his beard. "Looks like we will have to enter as participants."
"My colleague will be happy to register you, but one of the requirements is that your tamed beast has to be present during the registration process and it has to be at least at the advanced tier level," the man had still been polite, but it was clear that he was getting impatient explaining everything to the duo.
At that moment, Leo lifted Ovin from his head.
"This here is a beast at the Legendary level. I’m sure he will do well in the competition," Leo stated with a smile.
’If this fat cat is a Legendary beast, then I am a member of the Big Four,’ the man was sure that the other party was pulling his leg for some reason. ’This is a serious tournament, but I suppose the crowd deserves some laughs. If someone of that caliber wants to sacrifice a cat to enter it, who am I to stop him?’
Leo and Erin went in line to enter the so-called tournament, with Ovin as their contender.
———
Inside the city of Zoo, below a certain tavern, a certain meeting was being held.
"Now, do you understand what we have to do? Although I don’t particularly agree with this, we have no other choice. We have to keep an eye on the Bree family and keep a tab on all those who are able to control high and strong tier beasts," A red haired man explained to his listeners.
"Yes, Sir!" The group replied back
As the group prepared themselves, the red haired man couldn’t help but wonder.
’Is this really the right thing to do? Lucy, would you have tried to put a stop to this if you knew what we were going to do?’
*****
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