Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Okay Then, Dear
...
The Cafeteria—
"ARF ARF! ARF..." (*It all happened so fast! Right then, I...*)
"MROWW!" (*You’ve already told that story three times!*)
Yu Bao held his little food bowl with one paw, the other waving in mid-air, passionately telling his story with grand gestures.
Next to him, Xiaoyue clamped both paws over his ears, shaking his head back and forth like a rattle. He looked completely fed up.
The most miserable one was Xue Li. Its butt, which hadn’t fully healed, had taken another serious hit, so it couldn’t sit down. Liu Yuhang had to hold it.
The little duck ate in silence, gazing at the two titans with eyes full of admiration.
(ง•̀_•́)ง I’ll work hard to get stronger too, quack!
The Class Ten students at the celebratory dinner were all charmed by the three little creatures, and the table was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
The afternoon’s showdown was undoubtedly a success.
Despite Class Nine’s strategic matchups, Class Ten managed to turn the tide with a two-to-one score, pulling off a miraculous comeback!
What was supposed to be a do-or-die battle had suddenly become the fight that made Class Ten famous.
In a few days, Class Nine would also be delivering the five Tier Two Resources they owed.
It was a total sweep for Class Ten!
"Alright! I’ll just say a few words, then! Everyone worked hard for this showdown!"
Shao Ya was in the middle of a game with Su Zhi. They had just made it to the final circle when their classmates started clamoring for her to give a toast as the host.
Shao Ya had no choice but to let Su Zhi cover for her. She stood up and raised her glass of juice.
"The first toast is to me, of course! For winning the opening match and setting the stage for our victory!"
Emperor Shao tilted her head back and drained her glass.
The classmates laughed and raised their own juice glasses in a toast.
"This second toast is for our academic rep! Defeated, but with honor! You did great!"
"Cheers—oops, my bad."
In his excitement, Liu Yuhang meant to raise his glass but picked up Xue Li instead, leaving the little duck completely bewildered.
"Let me try that again. Cheers!"
Amidst the students’ applause, Liu Yuhang downed his juice.
He’d been a bit bitter right after losing, but now he was starting to let it go.
’There’s always someone better out there. All I have to do is acknowledge the gap and work to catch up.’
It was worth noting that his opponent, Wang Zijie, had privately added him as a friend. They chatted for a bit and even made plans to train together over the weekend—making friends through Pet Beasts, you could say.
"This third toast is for... hold on. Did we win that last round of the game?"
Su Zhi: "We lost."
"Scrub! What are you even good for?!"
Shao Ya gave him a light karate chop.
"Ahem. This third toast is for Su Zhi! For slaying Brother Fu in the time it takes for wine to warm and clinching the crucial point for us! Everybody, say it with me: Brother Shu is awesome!" fгeewebnovёl.com
"Brother Shu is awesome!"
"CLINK—" The crisp sound of glasses tapping together echoed through the cafeteria.
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Evening Self-Study—
Of course, self-study at a Beast Taming High School is different from a normal high school.
To make it convenient for everyone to train their Pet Beasts individually, the rules for self-study were relatively lax. As long as you didn’t leave the school grounds, it was fine.
However, Pet Beasts generally have a huge capacity for training, and one had to train from morning till night just to get through their regimen.
Even during self-study, most students had to stick to their training syllabus and weren’t truly free.
After all, not everyone was like Su Zhi, who had been slacking off since his first year.
Behind the main school building, in a small grove of trees.
"ARF!"
Yu Bao opened his jaws wide at Xiaoyue, looking very imposing!
"Mrow?" (*That’s it?*)
Xiaoyue knocked Yu Bao down with a single Cat Cat Fist.
Yu Bao’s seventeenth challenge to Xiaoyue—a crushing defeat.
Yu Bao wasn’t discouraged at all. Instead, he scrambled back to his feet, eyes Bling Bling like little stars. "HAH HAH!" (*Brother Xiaoyue is so cool!*)
With a look of disdain, Xiaoyue planted a paw on Yu Bao’s face to keep him from getting any closer.
’This dumb little dog only knows how to lick everything.’
’Xiaoyue was a noble Cultivation Cat. He could groom the dumb puppy, because the dumb puppy was his underling.’
’Letting the puppy groom him would mess up the hierarchy!’
The grove had no lamps. Cool moonlight filtered through the trees, shattering into fragments on the forest floor.
The two Beast Tamers sat on the ground amidst the shards of light, one propping his chin on his left hand, the other on his right.
"So what’s Yu Bao practicing? He always lets out a little ’awoo’ every time."
"Sandstorm."
"Huh? Are you serious?"
Shao Ya’s eyes widened. "You’re getting even more sidetracked... Besides, isn’t that Skill incredibly hard to learn?"
Sandstorm is an Earth High Level Extraordinary Skill that unleashes a wide-area attack by manipulating vast quantities of high-speed, rotating sand. It’s an extremely powerful, large-scale Output Skill.
This Skill is a technique used by Desert Pet Beasts to hunt prey or fight off predators.
For a Pet Beast not from the desert, learning it is a thankless, uphill battle.
"It is difficult, but Yu Bao already has a foundation in Earth Force Field, and the principles behind the two Skills are very similar."
A slight smile touched Su Zhi’s lips. "A Pet Beast’s traits determine its affinity for certain Skills. I have to thank you for what you said at lunch—it gave me the idea."
Shao Ya rubbed her hands. "Hehe, is there a reward?"
"Your reward is a look at my masterpiece!"
Su Zhi proudly pulled out a piece of paper. "I designed a specialized Skill progression path for Yu Bao. I wonder if it will meet with Emperor Shao’s approval? Of course, this is just version 1.0. I haven’t figured out the path for his Evolutionary Type yet..."
"Gimme that."
Shao Ya snatched it away and studied it intensely.
Then, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Not bad. I don’t totally get all of it, but you’ve really thought this through."
"Ha, I’m not that amazing."
"But some of these Skills aren’t easy to learn, right? Like this Soul of Burning Steel. It requires the Pet Beast to have incredible physical strength."
"You’re right."
’If I couldn’t allocate points, that is.’
"Doesn’t matter. Yu Bao will make it happen."
Su Zhi smiled and turned his gaze back to the distance.
Yu Bao rested for a while, then continued to train hard with his big brother Xiaoyue.
Although Xiaoyue looked annoyed, he continued to patiently beat him up.
He was already a dog with access to a cheat system, yet he was training even more diligently than before he had it.
’With that kind of drive, how could he not succeed?’
·
The Office.
"Hold on, Yuhang."
"Huh?" Liu Yuhang, holding a stack of homework, turned his head in confusion.
"About the showdown this afternoon, our class won, right?" Zhou Shengfa propped his chin on both hands.
Liu Yuhang looked shocked.
"Y-You’re that well-informed, sir?"
"Heh." Zhou Shengfa smirked.
Liu Yuhang hung his head. "I’m sorry, Teacher. We shouldn’t have had a private..."
"Shh."
Zhou Shengfa made a "stop" gesture.
He looked around again, confirming there was no one else in the office or nearby, and shut the door and windows tightly.
Then, he switched his expression to one of wild joy and gave a huge thumbs-up.
"Nice work! I’ve been sick of that damn Old Du’s class for a long time!"
"Ah, huh?"
"Yuhang, you faced a strong enemy without flinching and showed great spirit! Your performance was especially good!"
"Ah! It was my duty!"
"Take this. It’s a reward from your teacher."
"This is..."
Liu Yuhang looked at the Blue Crystal Rock that Old Ban took out, somewhat at a loss.
This was a high-quality Tier One Water Element resource!
"I couldn’t possibly accept this..."
As he said this, Liu Yuhang took the Blue Crystal Rock and stuffed it in his pocket.
Zhou Shengfa laughed. "Since you feel bad about it, make up for it by training hard."
"Yes! Goodbye, Teacher!"
"Wait."
Zhou Shengfa rummaged in his drawer again and took out a smooth, bright brown bead.
It was a high-quality Tier One Earth Element resource: a Brown Relic.
Liu Yuhang had an epiphany. "This one is for Brother Shu, right?"
"I didn’t say that." Zhou Shengfa put on a straight face.
"This is also a reward for you. You can do whatever you want with it, even give it to someone else... Alright, off with you now."
"Hehe, I get it! Goodbye, Teacher!"
Liu Yuhang left the office, pleased as punch.
After the student left, Zhou Shengfa’s expression relaxed slightly.
Confirming no one was around, he took out his phone to handle his side hustle—
[NotQuiteHeartbroken]: Hey Confession Wall~ I have a crush on the guy who fought third for Class Ten this afternoon! The way he turned the tables was so hot! And his Pet Beast is super cute~ I’m XX from Class 19, and I just got out of a relationship. I wanted to ask if he has a girlfriend? If not, I’d love to date him~ My demands aren’t high, he just has to help me train my Pet Beast and let me manage his campus card~
[Huaiyi High Confession Wall]: Okay, dear~
’Trying to get your hands on my class’s Brother Shu? In your dreams.’
Teacher Zhou snorted lightly and went back to writing his lesson plans.
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