Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 13: Yu Bao Cried
...
During Thursday morning’s reading period—
"...So, this afternoon, the entire first-year class will take a charter bus to the Huai City Exotic Beast Nature Reserve to begin a one-day wilderness survival training."
"The vast majority of you filled out the form from Monday night as required. You’ll be able to pick up your specialized field uniforms before we depart."
Zhou Shengfa pushed up his glasses.
"So, for the few students who didn’t fill it out... what’s the deal with that?"
Su Zhi fidgeted with his fingers. "Maybe they didn’t see it..."
"How careless of them," Zhou Shengfa said, his gaze deceptively benign.
Su Zhi shrank back.
’Sorry, I admit I was a bit too bold in turning on Do Not Disturb.’
The bell rang, and after listing a few more reminders, Zhou Shengfa left the classroom.
Su Zhi quickly scrolled up to find the form and fill it out, only to discover it had already been completed for him.
"If I hadn’t filled that out for you, would you have gone this afternoon without a uniform to wear?" Shao Ya asked, a funny expression on her face.
"Isn’t this week four? I thought the wilderness training was in week eight."
"It used to be. But the school moved it up this year to prepare for the City League."
"Right..." Su Zhi nodded in understanding.
In a small place like Huai City, No. 1 High had always been the school with the strongest overall power.
However, as more and more students from No. 2 High and No. 3 High began studying on loan in other cities, and even other provinces, No. 1 High’s dominant position had begun to waver.
No. 1 High had tried taking in students on loan as well, but the city authorities put a stop to it, reasoning that as a model high school, it shouldn’t engage in such practices.
It was utterly absurd.
If things went as expected, the students from rival schools they’d encounter at the City League would all be "proxies" who had returned from their studies elsewhere. It was anyone’s guess who was actually stronger.
No. 1 High was pulling out all the stops to help its own students perform better.
"Woof! Woof!"
Yu Bao wagged his tail energetically, his eyes sparkling.
’He wanted to go to the City League!’
’The City League was bound to have lots of powerful Pet Beasts. If he could just clash with them a little, wouldn’t he be able to get a ton of Points?’
Su Zhi ruffled the fur on his head.
He understood what Yu Bao was thinking.
With both his Earth Force Field and Skybound Strike hitting a plateau, the Points he was gaining had dwindled, dropping to only 0.02 per day.
The system’s logic for awarding Points was actually quite realistic.
No amount of perfect training could compare to the usefulness of actual combat.
Regardless of victory or defeat, the number of Points one could gain just from sparring with a master was something training could never match.
And constant real-world application was the very basis for the unique Skill path he had designed for Yu Bao!
"CRINKLE—"
Shao Ya tore open a three-pack of small sausages and popped one into her own mouth.
Su Zhi deftly snagged one.
Yu Bao panted, "Hah, hah," wanting one. He had already leaned his head over, but then he glanced at his deskmate, big brother Xiaoyue.
Xiaoyue covertly licked his lips.
Then, he waved a paw with an air of indifference.
"Meow, meow." (Only kids eat snacks like this. You can have it.)
"Woof!" (Thanks, big brother!)
Yu Bao happily gobbled up the small sausage, not forgetting to use his Earth Force Field to draw a picture for his big brother Xiaoyue.
Countless fine specks of dust arranged themselves, forming the image of a young girl and a cat strolling down a small school path.
Xiaoyue nodded in satisfaction.
’One sausage in exchange for the enjoyment of high art.’
’Now *this* was a win!’
"Yu Bao’s use of Earth Force Field is getting better and better!"
Shao Ya took a picture to save it, as usual, her azure eyes fixed on the drawing, unable to look away.
She had even created a dedicated folder just to save Yu Bao’s dust drawings. Xiaoyue would also have her print them out and paste them inside his cat bed.
"Oh, right, has Yu Bao learned Sandstorm yet? He’s been training so hard these past two days, right?"
"Not yet," Su Zhi sighed.
The process of Yu Bao learning Sandstorm was a bit different from what he’d expected. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
How should he put it?
It was certainly starting to take shape, but it always lacked the sharp edge of a proper Output Skill, making it unusable in actual combat.
It was like a creator’s update—it seems like something changed, but after you’ve seen it, you feel like nothing has changed at all.
Su Zhi had prioritized allocating the extra Points from the last two days to Perception.
Yu Bao’s Perception had already reached 1.13, and his Real-time Energy Value was 290.
Yu Bao himself also indicated that he felt he had the ability to learn it!
But he just couldn’t make that final breakthrough.
"Relax. Maybe he’ll have a breakthrough during the wilderness training these next couple of days."
Shao Ya beckoned with her finger. "Come on, follow me to the school warehouse."
"G-Go? What for?"
"To get you your Special Training Suit."
"...Oh."
·
That afternoon, on the school bus headed to the wilderness training area—
"Hmph-woof-woof-woof-woof..."
Yu Bao gathered his strength and held his breath.
The entire busload of classmates and Pet Beasts stared at him and Su Zhi, their gazes a mix of everything.
Shao Ya stifled a laugh. "Kukuku..."
"...What are you laughing at?"
"It’s nothing, it’s nothing."
"..."
Su Zhi’s face was covered in dark lines; he felt completely numb.
Although Yu Bao hadn’t managed to squeeze out a fart this time, the foul-sounding noise was still enough to make Su Zhi suffer a wave of brutal social death.
’Oh, Bao, we really don’t need to be thinking about Sandstorm while we’re on a bus...’
Su Zhi leaned his head against the window, pretending to be dead.
The scenery outside flew past. The tall buildings grew sparser and shorter, and little by little, the field of view filled with green.
From city to suburbs, then to natural jungle, it was like watching a scroll painting of civilization’s evolution playing in reverse.
"Ooo..."
The sound of sobbing from his arms snapped Su Zhi back to reality.
"Why are you crying, Yu Bao?"
Yu Bao’s little mouth was puckered, his button-like black eyes glistening. His two ears drooped, looking utterly wronged.
"Oh! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have laughed at Yu Bao..."
Shao Ya quickly used a tissue she had on her to wipe Yu Bao’s tears.
Xiaoyue licked his little brother’s fur and gave him a few pats with his paw.
"Meow, meow." (A real man can’t be a crybaby. Be strong.)
Ignoring the strange looks from those around them, Su Zhi held Yu Bao in his arms and comforted him.
"If you want to practice, then practice. I’m not annoyed with you! And don’t worry about what other people think. We just need to walk our own path."
Su Zhi said softly, looking into his eyes.
Yu Bao gave a loud sniffle.
"Ooo..." (But I can’t seem to learn Sandstorm...)
"If you can’t learn it, you can’t learn it. It’s not a big deal."
Su Zhi smiled nonchalantly. "It’s just one Skill. If you really can’t learn it, we can just learn something else. It’s okay."
"The ’unique Yu Bao Skill path’ didn’t exist in the first place. It’s something we designed together."
"If Yu Bao can’t learn it, that just means it’s not a good fit, so we won’t learn it. We’ll just find something new to learn."
Su Zhi said a lot in one breath.
Yu Bao had never cried like this before. He’d always been a carefree, silly little dog, so much so that Su Zhi had subconsciously assumed his personality was the laid-back type.
But Yu Bao wasn’t really laid-back; he just did his best to hide his competitive side.
"Big sis Shao Ya is watching you, and big brother Xiaoyue is watching you too. Don’t cry anymore."
Su Zhi helped him wipe away his tears, then used his fingers to push the corners of Yu Bao’s mouth up into a smile.
"You’ve worked so hard recently. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Some things can’t be rushed; it’s fine to take it slow."
"The wilderness training is about to start. Perk up, and let’s go on a total rampage together!"
"And we won’t just dominate this time. We’ll dominate at the exchange match the week after next, and we’ll keep dominating all the way to the City League! What do you say?"
"...Woof!"
Yu Bao rubbed his tears away and nodded vigorously.
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