"This root—it's not bad."
Outside the Herb Hall, Evan looked at the root in his hand and nodded slightly. Having a root would save him a lot of trouble.
No wonder Neil would one day become the regional head of the Herb Hall in Jiang Province. Evan hadn't revealed much, yet Neil had granted him a few benefits after just a brief probing during their conversation.
This level of insight and judgment truly belonged to someone capable of great achievements. As for the test of aura…
A Gold-rank aura? To Evan, it was practically a joke.
"Time to go back and plant this in the Beast Space." With that plan in mind, Evan raised his hand, and a taxi quickly pulled up to him.
By coincidence, it was the same cab he had taken to the Herb Hall.
"Young man, hop in!" The middle-aged driver, who was balding a bit, leaned out and greeted him warmly.
Evan smiled and got into the car.
"You must be from a well-off family if you're shopping at the Herb Hall." As he started the car, the driver glanced at Evan.
"Not really. I didn't even pay for these things," Evan replied with a grin. "I won them in a Beast Duel—made someone cough up 10,000 credits."
"So you're quite the Beastmaster then!" the driver commented.
"Not at all. I just started school."
"Even so, beating your peers at this stage is impressive," the driver said, with a hint of envy. "When I was young, I wanted to become a Beastmaster, but my talent was too poor. I didn't even qualify as D-rank."
"That's common enough," Evan replied. Beastmasters were held in high regard in this world not only because of their strength but also their rarity.
Though D-rank might seem like the bottom tier among Beastmasters, even reaching that level was difficult. For an average person, the odds of Awakening as D-rank were less than one in ten.
If you didn't make D-rank, you couldn't even open a Beast Space, which was the minimum requirement to become a Beastmaster.
The driver didn't dwell on it, smiling as he offered, "Young man, take my number. If you need a ride, I'll be there anytime."
"Sure." Evan nodded, and they exchanged numbers.
The cab sped along and soon reached the front gate of Blue River City High School.
"Young man, hold on a second." Just as Evan was about to open the door, the driver stopped him. "That group over there looks like trouble."
"What group?" Evan paused.
"Yeah, I saw them earlier. They were talking about finding some student to mess with. I thought it might be you. One of them even cursed at us on the road…" The driver spoke as he hit the brakes.
Hearing this, a warm feeling rose in Evan's heart. He looked up to see a group of more than ten people standing around the school gate, dressed in a mix of eccentric and sloppy clothes. They were pointing at the taxi.
In the crowd, Evan spotted John.
"So, he really went and got people," Evan smirked.
"Young man, maybe we should take off for a while, and I can bring you back later in the evening," the driver suggested nervously. "That group's part of an underground gang near the school. You're a newly enrolled Beastmaster—you might not be able to handle so many."
"No need. You can go, sir. I'm not worried about a bunch of small-time thugs."
With that, Evan stepped out of the cab.
"Hey, kid…" The driver hesitated, worried, but seeing the aggressive group ahead, he quickly ducked back into the car.
After all, he was just a driver and needed to keep a low profile to live peacefully in Blue River City. He'd only taken Evan this far out of concern, hoping he could give him a heads-up.
But he hadn't expected Evan to be completely unafraid. With nothing more he could do, the driver drove off.
Instead of avoiding the gang, Evan walked straight toward them, his fists clenched, emitting sharp cracking sounds.
"That's him, Ice Rain—the kid right there!" John whispered urgently to a burly, tattooed man beside him.
The man known as Ice Rain grinned, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Evan. "This brat's got a death wish, huh? How dare he mess with Dean's cousin."
With that, Ice Rain stepped forward, cracking his neck as he looked Evan up and down. "You're Evan?"
"I am," Evan replied calmly, his gaze shifting to John as a smirk crossed his face. "Hey, long time no see. Did you heal up so quickly?"
John shrank back at that devilish smile, instinctively retreating. Ice Rain, furious that Evan dared to threaten John in his presence, raised his voice.
"Talking big in front of Ice Rain? Who the hell gave you the guts to act so cocky?"
With that, Ice Rain swung his fist straight at Evan's face.
He was a large man, and his punch carried real weight. The sound of it cutting through the air was loud and fierce.
"He's trained with a Breath Technique," Evan noted as he watched the punch, frowning slightly.
It was clear Ice Rain wasn't a Beastmaster, so how had he gotten a Breath Technique without the school's help?
Evan had his suspicions but didn't hold back. He dodged to the side as Ice Rain missed, grabbing his arm and swiftly spinning him into an over-the-shoulder throw that slammed Ice Rain hard onto the ground.
Thud!
A dull thud echoed, and everyone around felt a chill. They didn't even need to look to know that must have hurt.
"How dare you harm Ice Rain! You're dead!" The thugs charged at Evan.
These guys were much weaker. Thin and untrained, they hadn't practiced any Breath Techniques. Against Evan, with his battle-hardened experience and *Sanctified Breath*, they were no match at all.
One punch per thug was all it took. In no time, more than ten people were sprawled out on the ground, leaving only John standing.
John was utterly stunned. He'd thought that with so many people, they'd easily scare a newly enrolled Beastmaster like Evan. But he hadn't expected Evan's combat ability to be this overwhelming.
As Evan's gaze fell on him, John panicked, stammering, "E-Evan, you'd better not touch me! My cousin won't let you get away with it!"
"Your cousin?" Evan chuckled. "Forget your cousin. Even if your cousin's cousin came after me, I wouldn't care."
"Now get lost. Tell your cousin to send someone competent next time. These lowlifes? It's an insult to fight them."
At Evan's dismissal, John scrambled back into the school, grateful for the chance to escape.
"I told him to leave. Did I say the same to you?" Evan turned to Ice Rain and the remaining thugs, who were trying to slip away.
They froze, Ice Rain forcing a smile as he said, "Brother, this is all a misunderstanding."
Evan didn't bother with pleasantries. "Come here. I have questions for you."
"Y-Yes, of course." Ice Rain nodded hurriedly, approaching Evan cautiously. "Brother, ask whatever you want."
Evan glanced at the other thugs and said coldly, "I only need him here. The rest of you—unless you're looking for another beating, get lost."
The gangsters scattered, some so frantic they left their shoes behind.
"Useless." Evan shook his head and turned to Ice Rain. "Where did you get your Breath Technique?"
"Breath Technique? I don't know what you're talking about." Ice Rain looked nervous, but tried to play it cool, even mocking himself. "Brother, you must be joking. Our gang is too low-level for something like that."
"Hmph." Evan snorted, his gaze piercing. "The Thunder Breath Technique has three levels. At the first level, your breathing and movements create thunderous sounds. Looks like you just started training, huh?"
Ice Rain froze, completely thrown off as Evan named his technique on the spot.
"You'd better be honest," Evan's tone turned icy. "Otherwise, I know plenty of ways to get the truth out of you."
There was a hint of killing intent in Evan's voice. Ice Rain felt his breath hitch as he saw the look in Evan's eyes.
This teenager—he must have killed before!
"Alright, alright! I'll talk." Ice Rain could no longer hold out. "The Breath Technique was given to me by someone higher up."
"Someone higher up?" Evan frowned, looking at Ice Rain. "Aren't you just a street thug? Who's this 'higher-up'? Your gang leader?"
"No, no!" Ice Rain shook his head repeatedly. "They're some powerful figures who recently arrived in Blue River City. They took over all the underground groups in the city, including our gang."
"I haven't seen them much—they have people managing things for them. A few days ago, they selected some gang leaders and gave them Breath Techniques. Since I'm decent at handling the area around the school, I was given one too."
"Powerful figures?" Evan's eyes widened in surprise.
It seemed he'd stumbled upon a secret—someone was deliberately consolidating control over Blue River City's underground forces.