Chris has the best thing that can be available out there. There is nothing that could be comparable to his second talent, nothing at all.
Though if others come to know that he has two talents and that too the second one is an SSS-grade talent would cause an uproar, possibly attracting everyone both good and bad, but the benefits offered by the second talent are enormous.
He has no need for the evolutionary materials that are required when his pet reaches the peak of the rank and needs to evolve in order to get promoted to the next rank. This would reduce the financial burden on him.
Unless the evolutionary path requires something that is considered very rare and unique, he doesn't need to worry about his pet's evolution.
So he can't say that he was dealt a bad hand.
What he got was a card that could either drag him to hell or raise him to heaven. The outcome would depend on how he plays the card. If he plays perfectly, he may become one of the strongest in the Federal Alliance.
---
While Chris was contemplating about his situation, the school leaders were also in discussion about the students.
Though no one knows how to actually increase the chances of talent awakening, many believe it depends on bloodline, intelligence and physique.
Bloodline was something passed through birth and there was nothing anyone could do about that. For this category, people who are beast tamers marry each other rather than marrying non-tamers, as that would decrease the chances of their children awakening a talent and becoming beast tamers.
Coming to Intelligence and Physique, are parameters that the school and even family could change after the birth. Feeding the children a balanced and nutritious diet from the start would change how their body grows.
A beast tamer should be strong. So even if it doesn't help with the awakening, a good strong physique would be helpful for beast tamers to survive in the wild.
For a beast tamer, the tamed beast is considered the main firepower and also defence while in a battle. So, enemies would attack the tamers, bypassing the beasts to take them both down. To survive such situations, the tamer should be strong enough too and having a good physique would help a lot.
Intelligence can be increased by studying hard and learning new things. This is something that a school can do. Many believe that someone who is good at studies has a high probability of awakening a talent and a good one at that.
There are many who did so but that was not always the case.
Even though there was no guarantee, it had to be done for the betterment of the school and society.
The society would be much safer if there were more powerful beast tamers and the school from where they graduate would obviously become famous.
Moreover, if there are good talents during the awakening, the education department would allocate more funds for the school. More funds means they can train the students in better ways.
In this world, only beats tamers could afford even basic necessities for training their children for the awakening and what comes after that. Most would have that through school and they could only do so if the education department allocates sufficient resources for them.
So, if this year's results are better, then the students who will go through this next year will have more resources for their training in the remaining year. Moreover, if there are any talented children from poor backgrounds, the school could sponsor them from early on.
So any year's results will not only affect them but also the next few years.
"Hmm, it seems there is not much different than it was last year", one of the directors muttered, clearly not satisfied that there was no improvement.
"Yes, you are correct. It looks like we have to wait for another year and hope that they would push our school forward", another director agreed.
The headmaster unlike others didn't utter anything but kept his eyes on the ones that had yet to awaken, hoping for a miracle, not big, just a small one would be more than enough.
---
Soon the talent awakening was completed.
"Congratulations to the ones that awakened a talent. From now on, your future will be different and how that future will be depends on you and only you. I know that not everyone was able to awaken their talents but don't be sad. You'll get another chance in six months".
"If you awaken at that time, even though you would be six months behind your peers, that won't matter as long as you work hard. I know even then very few would be able to awaken their talents. So, better prepare yourselves for that and make sure you have an alternative path for your life".
"Even if you are not a Beast Tamer, it would not be the end of your life. There are many ways that you can grow and have a beautiful life as long as you can work hard for it. So good luck to you all for the next time and coming back to the ones that were successful in awakening, please follow teacher Hale to the bestiary, where you can select your first pet".
"As I said before, if your parents had already selected an egg for you, you can leave. If not, follow teacher Hale. Remember that you can only contract one pet at this stage, so choose wisely", the headmaster ended his speech.
Hearing the headmaster's words, some left the school, while many followed the teacher.
Even if your family is a beast-tamer family, the rich are someone who has reached higher ranks. If they have a talent with A-grade, then there is a chance that they can reach a high rank faster compared to ones with lower grade talents.
The beasts usually choose someone with a better talent grade because the growth rate when they are bound to that person would be very high.
So not all beast-tamer families are the same. Many can't afford beasts and a free beast from the Alliance is a gift that they can't say no to.
Chris was one of them too. He had to follow his teacher to the bestiary for his first pet.