Divine Resonance: My Pet Evolves, I Ascend to Divinity

Chapter 008: Level 1 Badge!

Aurum North High School, outside the Trial Building.

The air was so heavy you could cut it with a knife.

Five days were up. The newbie trial was finally over.

Principal Grant, the grade director, a bunch of teachers, students, and parents were all crowded around the teleportation platform. Everyone was on edge, hearts in their throats.

No wonder. This trial had gone completely off the rails with that freak mutation. Word was most of the kids probably weren’t coming back.

Some parents were already sobbing. Others just stared blankly at the platform, eyes red and swollen.

“Coley… you better come back alive, bro. If you die in there, I can’t even afford to buy you a decent grave. I’m broke, man… waaah…”

Cherry was in the crowd too, eyes puffy from crying the past two days straight. Plenty of other parents looked just as exhausted and hollowed-out.

Compared to them, Marcus’s dad—a slick, obviously-loaded middle-aged guy in a tailored suit—looked totally calm. There was even a hint of anticipation on his face.

Sure, the trial had turned into a nightmare for normal kids. For a real prodigy like his son, though, it was the perfect grindstone—an unexpected chance to get battle-hardened and come out stronger.

But for a prodigy like his son? It was just extra training—an opportunity.

Principal Grant hadn’t even lit the cigarette dangling from his fingers. His brows were locked tight. Losing a dozen awakened talents at once would hammer the school’s Beast Master program, especially with the cut-throat competition among Aurum City’s top high schools.

Losing a dozen freshly awakened talents in one go? That would gut the school’s Beast Master program.

Vivian, the senior Cole kinda knew, stood beside the principal, palms sweaty. She didn’t like Marcus’s arrogant attitude, but they’d trained under the same mentor, so she couldn’t help worrying about him anyway.

but they were from the same class. She was still worried.

All of a sudden—the teleportation array flared to life!

“Someone’s out!”

The light faded, and the first person to stumble through was… Marcus!

He looked like absolute hell. His expensive tracksuit was shredded and caked in mud, fresh claw marks across his face. His once-proud Flame Golden Hound limped behind him, fur singed and matted, clearly exhausted.

“Marcus!”

His dad rushed forward.

Marcus was panting hard, but a smug, survivor’s grin quickly spread across his face.

“Principal, teachers, senpai… you have no idea how insane it was in there! The beasts went berserk—way stronger than expected! If my Golden Hound wasn’t such a beast itself, we’d never have made it out alive…”

He launched into a dramatic retelling, naturally making himself and his hound the heroes while conveniently skipping the part where he ditched his teammates.

His haul this time? Insane.

The Beast Master Alliance evaluators were already waiting. Level 3 Beast Master Kirk—the same alumni Cole had seen with the fire dragon—walked over with his staff.

Marcus synced his Pip-Boy wrist device to the scoring system.

A prompt popped up in his mind:

【Hide portions of your record?】

“No way—this young master is going full swagger!”

“Nah. Hide what? Your boy’s going full flex mode!”

He hit the button with confidence.

Instantly, his stats exploded across the giant public screen.

【Trial Participant: Marcus Zhao】

【Survival Time: 119h 47m (full base score)】

【Contracted Beasts: 3】

Flame Golden Hound (Tier 2 bloodline) Lv.15 → Lv.20

Ironclad Snail (Tier 1) Lv.12 (new)

Razor-Claw Monkey (Tier 1) Lv.8 (new)

【Beasts Slain】

Lv.1-5: 10

Lv.6-10: 3

Lv.11-15: 1 (Lv.14 Thornfang Rat Boss)

【Final Score: 87 points】

The entire crowd lost it.

“Eighty-freaking-seven?!​ Marcus is cracked!”

“He soloed a Lv.14 boss?!”

“Three beasts already? Dude’s basically a Level 2 Beast Master in the making!”

Marcus soaked it all in, chest puffed out like a peacock.

One by one, a few more survivors trickled out—battered, bloody, but alive and grinning like they’d won the lottery.

James—Cole’s loyal lackey—was among them.

Most of them only scored in the 20s or 30s, but still…

Brand-new Level 1 Beast Master​ badges were personally pinned to their chests by the grade director.

Instantly, jealous stares from every regular student in the crowd.

A Level 1 badge wasn’t just bragging rights—it came with real perks.

Over ten grand a month straight cash from the Alliance

Free premium beast food rations every month

Big discounts on materials, skill discs, and pretty much anything beast-related

Marcus just smirked. Cute.

He’d already had his Level 1 badge before the trial even started.

While everyone else was just praying for their first contract, he was chasing the top-spot genius rewards from the school and Alliance—enough resources to hit Level 2 in a single month.

For him, this trial was never about “getting a beast.” It was about first place—about snagging the genius reward package and rocketing straight to Level 2.

Level 2 meant twenty grand base pay per month, tax exemptions, priority boarding, deeper internal discounts—the full VIP package.

Level 3? Instant wealth freedom. Schools and corporations would fight to throw money at you just for guest lectures—like becoming a high official or owning a major company.

Principal Grant did a quick headcount. Only five survivors, including Marcus.

More than a dozen still missing—including that scrawny kid, Cole.

“…Looks like the rest didn’t make it,” the grade director sighed. “Pretty grim for whoever’s still inside.”

“Coley still isn’t out?!” Cherry was on the verge of tears again.

Kinsley grabbed her hand, already rehearsing in her head how she was going to comfort her best friend.

Death wasn’t rare in this world. They’d both seen it up close before.

But just when Cherry was about to break—

The teleportation array lit up again.

This time the light was brighter, lasted longer.

A final figure began to materialize.

The last guy to step out?

Cole.