Emily Thompson still ended up picking the most aggressive-looking bird spirit among them, holding it in her hand, but she didn’t seem to care much about it.

Ryan Carter scratched his head.

His situation was just a little bit awkward.

Those who could get into the Dragon Taming Academy mostly already had a young spirit with decent potential, some were even just one step away from a breakthrough.

Emily Thompson obviously had her own young spirit, and the aloof young master seemed as if he already owned a young dragon.

Bai Qi was still sleeping in the ice cocoon, and Ryan Carter had nothing at all at the moment—barely counted as a “moth connection,” forcibly squeezed in.

Looks like he’d have to rely on the academy’s charity to get his starter spirit.

Still, this was at least Ryan Carter’s starting point. Ryan Carter couldn’t be bothered to listen to that aloof young master’s arrogant explanations and continued to carefully make his selection.

Identifying dragons is like appraising treasures...

It requires extremely sharp eyes, and a bit of luck.

Unfortunately, Ryan Carter had neither.

Blind and unlucky.

But the sense of ceremony was still necessary, and he had to at least show the right attitude.

“Can you hurry up!” the aloof young master said, his tone growing heavier.

Ryan Carter pretended not to hear, carefully observing the little creatures here. Some were still in their eggs, some had just hatched, and some already had feathers and teeth, showing a bit of destructive power toward their handmade little nests...

Chapter 11: The Little Crocodile Spirit

“Lululu~~~~~~”

Suddenly, a trough opened, and a mix of various feeds flowed in. Hearing this sound, the little young spirits playing around all spread their claws and pounced into the feeding trough.

Time to eat!

The bigger and earlier-hatched young spirits could usually grab a good spot and eat until their bellies bulged, while the smaller, weaker ones could only anxiously circle around. After finally squeezing in, they’d get pushed out after just a few bites.

Ryan Carter took a look at the food in the trough—greens, chicken, fruit, meat worms, big bones... Honestly, it was richer than the rations of the commoners in Wutu.

“Meat silkworms?”

Suddenly, Ryan Carter noticed a type of food—those big meat silkworms he’d been raising for years. Interestingly, most of the young spirits had no interest in them at all, not even the bird spirits...

After a round of scrambling, only some rotting food and a few ignored meat silkworms were left in the trough. At this moment, Ryan Carter spotted a little black crocodile spirit, warily circling around the strong little wolf spirits. It snatched up a big meat silkworm and dashed off!

The little wolf spirits saw the black crocodile spirit and immediately gave chase, biting at it.

The little crocodile spirit was still very young, and each little wolf spirit was a size bigger than it, not to mention there were four of them chasing it together.

The little crocodile spirit crawled nimbly, shaking off three of the wolf spirits in a row, but in the end, it was blocked in front of its nest by the largest wolf spirit, about the size of an adult dog. It didn’t even get a chance to swallow the meat silkworm before being pinned to the ground by the wolf spirit...

“There’s bullying even here.” Ryan Carter shook his head, grabbed the wolf spirit with one hand, and tossed it aside.

Freed, the little black crocodile spirit immediately pounced on the now dirt-covered meat silkworm, not caring if it was dirty, and gobbled it up in two or three bites.

“Little crocodile spirit, wanna team up with me? Whether you can become a dragon is another story, but you’ll never run out of meat silkworms—I’m a pro at raising them!” Ryan Carter picked up the little black croc.

Up close, the little black croc was kind of ugly-cute, with a big, goofy head and a thick, stubby crocodile body.

Its skin was still fairly smooth, not covered in bumpy scales like most fierce crocs.

“Here, have another one. Let’s call it a deal.” Ryan Carter picked another big, ignored meat silkworm from the trough and offered it to the little crocodile spirit.

The little croc must have been starving—it quickly devoured it all.

Ryan Carter tried feeding it chicken, but found the little croc wasn’t interested at all. It only had eyes for meat silkworms...

This reminded Ryan Carter of what the Valkyrie had said: some true dragons loved eating meat silkworms when they were young.

But Ryan Carter also noticed a small bump on the little croc’s forehead. Touching it, he could feel it was hard bone.

A hidden horn that hadn’t grown out yet.

A croc with a hidden horn?

Only dragons have horns!

Alright, you’re the one.

Doesn’t matter if you’re a bit ugly or a bit black—not like I need you to be cute or perform tricks.

As long as you can fight and take a hit in the future!

The aloof young master and Emily Thompson were already getting impatient.

Emily Thompson deliberately came over, wanting to see what extraordinary young spirit Ryan Carter had chosen after all that careful picking. When she saw it was just a skinny, black crocodile spirit, she immediately lost interest.

The aloof young master didn’t even bother to look, not even deigning to pick a young spirit here.

...

After forming a soul bond, the little crocodile spirit became Ryan Carter’s new spirit pet.

Next came the accommodation arrangements. As expected, the aloof young master wasn’t staying with them—he had his own private courtyard.

Ryan Carter and Emily Thompson were assigned to a large dormitory.

A shared practice yard, twelve independent wooden houses lined up side by side—clean and comfortable enough.