On the way they met quite interesting people, among them was a team that fought with bird-type beasts, Franz and Nepheli had quite a few problems dealing with them, as only Franz's beast could defend itself to a certain extent, Nepheli and Franz on the other hand were forced to flee with Shadow's help.
It was a bit embarrassing that, despite their confidence, they ended up losing so miserably, Nepheli was the most affected in this case as she kept shouting and cursing the enemy team for using such cowardly methods.
Franz didn't have much to say, it would be a miracle if they could win every fight they got into, even more so considering that the two of them had only learned a low-grade support skill.
Another difficult encounter was against two tamers who used two strange beasts, they had the appearance of moles, however, these had claws made of steel and their size was almost as large as the bronze-grade cave bear they had previously faced.
The strategy of the two was to dig holes at an impressive speed and attack from unpredictable points, which made it difficult to defend, the terrain also played against them, Nepheli fell several times into gaps and had to be rescued by Franz.
In the end, Franz had to become the eyes of the team as he was the only one who could foresee where the next attack would come from.
With a lot of effort and teamwork from the two, they barely managed to win the fight.
After several more matches, Franz and Nepheli made the top 20 among the 100 beast tamers, a pretty good position to be sure.
Between the two of them it could be said that Nepheli was the one who had enjoyed the multiple fights the most, her confidence that she could beat anyone in her same rank had dropped, however, she was not disappointed by it, rather she was excited to know that there were as many people as strong as her or more at her level, He looked forward to advancing to second grade and meeting even stronger people.
Franz was also pleased, until now he hadn't really had the opportunity to compete against other beast tamers, however, today's results had opened his eyes and led him to a world of new perspectives.
So they spent their time in the simulation room, fighting and planning new battle strategies, in the end their best record was to finish in 12th place, quite good for both of them.
The two left the place quite happy promising to return regularly.
. . . .
- And then Franz ran and began to fight with bare fists against an ape twice his height! Can you believe it?! –
- Nepheli, honey, I already told you not to talk when you have food in your mouth - Nepheli's mother said.
Nepheli apologized to her mother, everyone started laughing, creating a nice harmony in the process, this was a scene that was repeated occasionally, the two families had become closer over time and to some extent Franz could consider them all as one family.
- By the way, I received this letter, it is for you Franz, I still have no idea why it must have been sent to our house - said Nepheli's Pope who handed an envelope to Franz.
- Who sends letters today? – Nepheli murmured.
Franz thought the same thing as he looked at the letter in his hands, the letter had nothing special, there was no name or address, only the name to whom the letter was addressed was written, but nothing else.
Franz thanked Nepheli's father and saved the letter to read later, for the moment he was ready to enjoy a good meal in the company of Anne, William and Nepheli's parents who were a little more reserved, but still very nice as people.
. . . . . . .
The sumptuous dinner ended with Anne and William taking the Nepheli family home, Franz on the other hand sitting on his bed while opening the envelope of the letter.
The letter didn't say much, there were only a few words that said the following; "Let's meet at the chimera association the day after reading this letter, I would like to meet you Franz Merrick"
After reading the little content of the letter, it caught fire and disappeared into thin air, taking Franz by surprise.
- "I couldn't detect a shred of mana in the letter, how?" –
"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go," Franz thought, however, since at least the person bothered to send a letter, it could be an important matter, plus they would be in the Chimera association so it should be safe.
Either way, he would have to go to the Chimera association, he had promised Nepheli to help Shadow learn new skills, he could do it at home, but if someone found out that he did that kind of thing in the house, he would most likely get in trouble for teaching skills to beasts without the necessary facilities and permits.
As for their discovering their ability? That it mattered, he could pass it off as his innate talent, either way, beast tamers were known to awaken unique talents over time.
Without thinking about it any more, Franz lay down to sleep next to Pom Pom, tomorrow he would go to see who was the person who wanted to meet him.
. . . . .
Franz was on his way by taxi to the Chimera association, he decided to arrive early since the letter did not have an exact time for the meeting, in any case, he could take the opportunity to copy some more skills and accept some other request.
At this time even though he didn't exactly need money, he still needed to buy Pom Pom and shadow's food.
Speaking of, Shadow's owner, Nepheli, was standing next to him, leaning against the window as she struggled to stay awake.
Franz didn't give it much importance, instead he thought that, the weather was a bit strange and depressing today, the sky was full of gray clouds, it seemed as if at some point they were going to fall and fill the city with water.
After about half an hour of travel, the two arrived at their destination.
Nepheli was still yawning and dozing while Franz made his way towards one of the receptionists in the application room.
However, before he could say anything, a person approached him.
"Oh, you must be Mr. Franz, must you not?" –
Franz was about to answer, but was interrupted by the person who seemed to work at the place, although he was not really sure about it.
- Oh don't pay attention to me, they are waiting for you in the private room A-1, there is a man waiting for you for a while -
Franz was a little surprised, the private rooms were divided into categories, with D being the worst and A being the best, but this one was only assigned to important people within the association, which meant that the person looking for it had to have some prestige, even Nepheli woke up instantly knowing how important this could be.
As the clerk indicated, the two arrived in front of a door of about two meters, the door was beautifully decorated and from it emanated a rustic and elegant air.
Suddenly the door opened by itself, but neither of them looked at anyone inside the room.
Nepheli was the first to enter the room followed by Franz, but when he entered the room, she discerned the hand of a man next to her, she tried to dodge it, however, the person was much faster and managed to hold him by the neck.
Nepheli became alert when she saw everything and just as she was about to summon Shadow, the person made a sign with her other hand and began to speak.
- I wouldn't do that if I was in your place miss, I'm having trouble killing this one, but killing you wouldn't be difficult for me -
-What do you want? Nepheli asked while keeping her gaze on the man's grip on Franz.
- Just talk and ask a few things, although of course, they cannot be denied and it would be better if they were honest - the man stopped a little in his words and said with a clear killing intent - I do not tolerate liars -
- Then ask - Nepheli replied who could barely stand due to the pressure that the man emanated.