Rishi put in extra effort over the last four days he only slept for five hours and spent most of his time in the dungeon. He had slaughtered so many magic beasts that he had lost count.
Due to his dedication and hard work, he finally reached level 7 of the advanced stage. Sheru has also reached level 7, while Vakar has reached level 5. After being exhausted from his excessive training, he sat down to rest, he began planning his next move.
"What should I do, and where do I even begin?" he wondered, looking up at the sky. Sheru, who had grown to be 2 meters tall and frightening, licked Rishi's face and rubbed his head on him.
'It appears that even Sheru can see how tensed I am, I need to chill and do things step by step' he thought. He patted Sheru on the back and rubbed his neck. "Don't worry, I'm fine; I was just overthinking," he assured Sheru.
"There are a lot of things to do, I need to prepare for the beast cultivation exam and I also need to start taking guild a little seriously if I want to make it big."
"Let's make a list of everything I need to do and decide their order," he said, pulling out his phone and opening the notepad app to type.
It took him some time to make a list. He carefully reviewed and double-checked it to ensure he hadn't overlooked anything.
[List of tasks]
1.) Increase the number of Guild members.
2.) Get to level 10 as quickly as possible.
3.) Add the guild to the academy and complete some missions to make it popular.
4.) Study for the Beast Cultivator exam and pass it. Then join that class and learn more about magic beast evolution.
5.) Get ready for the semi-annual exam.
6.) Kick Aditya in the shins.
"Aditya, wait for a little; I will ruin your life little by little," he said as he double-checked the List before saving it. On his face appeared his trademark evil grin. "Let's go, Sheru, and get some rest." "I must begin studying for the exam every day beginning tomorrow; I only have five and a half months."
Rishi awoke early in the morning and prepared for his class. He received a call from Ajit after completing all of his classes: "Hello, Ajit, how are you? Is there an emergency?"
"Rishi, I've scheduled your meeting with Jay in the training hall," Ajit responded.
"Don't you think you could have found a better place? Is the training hall even a meeting place? You should have scheduled the meeting in a cafeteria or a hotel close to the academy, "Rishi expressed his dismay.
"I said the same thing to him, and he said that we can only meet in the training hall," Ajit replied helplessly.
"All right, let's meet him there; when do I have to get there?" Rishi inquired.
"He said he is free right now; it is a perfect time," Ajit explained.
"How about right now? All right, I'll be there in five minutes," he said.
Rishi began walking towards the training hall and soon arrived. When he entered the room, he noticed a brown-haired boy his age practicing archery.
Rishi was only ten meters away, so he decided to approach him. Rishi took out his sword from his space ring and defended himself when he saw an arrow coming at him.
"Who are you?" Jay inquired.
When Rishi looked at him again, his face became visible to him. He had light brown skin and green eyes.
"I am the person who helped you," Rishi replied.
Jay relaxed when he heard Rishi say, "Thank you for helping me." he thanked Rishi.
"You don't need to thank me. I did it because I needed something from you," Rishi replied with a smile.
"It makes no difference why you helped me. Many people tried to use my situation to force me to sign an agreement, but you helped me without any strings attached," he said.
"How is your mother's health?" Rishi inquired.
"She is no longer in danger. She asked me to thank you for your assistance and to follow you. "He said this before taking out a tiffin box and passing it to Rishi.
"Mother instructed me to give you this as a thank you. She made it herself," he said, extending the tiffin box towards Rishi with an unwilling expression.
'Looks like he likes his mom a lot' thought Rishi in his mind.
Rishi took the tiffin box and opened it. He discovered four samosas (a popular Indian snack) inside. He took one out and began to eat it. He quietly seated it while Jay watched him with a watery mouth.
"Your mom is a good cook," Rishi said as he ate the samosa. He'd eaten many samosas in big hotels, but this one had something special that made it much better. 'Is it mother's love?' he pondered in his mind.
"Of course, my mother is the best cook in the world," Jay smiled.
Rishi's eyes welled up with tears as he remembered his mother, whom he had only seen in photos.
"I helped you because I saw your potential and wanted to recruit you to my guild," he said calmly.
"I'll join you because of my mother but I will first check if you really are a person worthy enough to be followed by me," Jay said.
This answer made Rishi a little confused. 'Dude, can't you answer in a yes or no? are you a politician?' he thought in his head.
"What?" Rishi asked, perplexed. He never thought convincing Jay would be so simple.
"I said I'd join because my mother told me to and I never deny anything she says, but first, I'll test you which will make me clear my thoughts am I repaying you or following you for real," he said, pointing his bow at Rishi and saying, "Fight me."
"Are you sure? I am of way higher leveled than you" Rishi asked as he drew his sword.
"Hundred percent, I have fought many higher level beast Tamers but never lost a battle this will be same" Jay replied confidently as he began shooting arrows at Rishi.
Rishi noticed several arrows coming at him from different directions. He swings his sword at a very high speed and easily defended himself. They continued fighting for two minutes before Jay stoped.
"You're not bad, but if this is all you can do, we should stop now or did you ran out of arrows."
"You're not bad yourself; be careful now; I'm not going to hold back," Jay said as he picked two arrows from his quiver and began shooting two arrows simultaneously. Rishi found it difficult to defend himself, but he could still do so due to his high level and Talwar being a very good defensive weapon too.
If Rishi wanted he could have used his 'Shadow walk' skill and ended the fight in one go but he wanted to play fair. He was also interested in finding the limits of Jay's potential.
He was really impressed by him for now and was looking forward to see what other cards Jay have in his hand.