Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

6:00 PM, Wudu New Village.

”Big Tree! Your Little Tree is back!”

The moment Su Zhi stepped through the door, his mom, who was binge-watching a drama on the sofa, called out toward the kitchen.

”He’s back?”

Wearing a small pink apron, Old Su came pattering out and opened his arms from afar.

Su Zhi spread his arms to receive the embrace—

And then Su Mao walked right past Su Zhi, lifted Yu Bao from behind him, and held the little guy high in his arms.

”...” Su Zhi pretended to fix his hair.

”Did you behave at school today? The Pet Beast Ranking updated, right? What’s Yu Bao’s rank?”

Su Mao had the look of a curious dad.

Yu Bao’s eyes darted away, and it guiltily retracted its tongue.

Su Zhi said, ”Yu Bao is ranked 4,000.”

”Rank 4,000...”

Su Mao mumbled the number, mulling it over.

Although he was just a full-time writer who had never practiced Beast Taming, he still knew the basics.

Number One High School only had a little over 3,600 students. Factoring in the few top seniors with Tier Three Beast Taming Spaces who could contract two Pet Beasts each, the total number of Pet Beasts in the entire school was just over four thousand, tops.

In other words, Yu Bao’s current rank was basically rock bottom...

”What’s wrong with 4,000? It’s a nice, round number!”

Wang Sujuan shot Su Mao a look. ”It’s only the third week. Xiaoshu and Yu Bao are both slow to warm up. What’s the rush?”

”Right, right, we’re not in a hurry! Beast Taming is just like writing web novels—being strong in the late game is what really counts.”

Su Mao chuckled in agreement and bustled back into the kitchen.

”Don’t feel any pressure, you two, just train hard! Tonight, I’m letting you taste a famous dish: braised pork knuckle!”

”Okay.”

’What pressure could we possibly feel?’ Su Zhi stifled a laugh as he led Yu Bao into his bedroom.

Even for a walk of just a few steps, Yu Bao had to take the opportunity to practice its Earth Force Field.

But the house had tile floors, and Yu Bao’s Earth Force Field couldn’t yet control such a ”hardcore” material. It could only act as a vacuum cleaner, sucking up the floating dust.

Still, it wasn’t completely useless.

By the time Yu Bao had walked to the bedroom with its Earth Force Field active, the Free Attribute Points had just ticked up by 0.01.

”HUFF! HUFF!” (We got more Points!)

”Where do you want to add them?”

After all, Yu Bao had earned these Points itself, so Su Zhi decided to ask for its opinion.

The little dog pondered for a moment, then wagged its tail.

”Woof!” (Intelligence!)

Looking at its stat panel, its Intelligence was just a little shy of the average, while its other Attributes were either average or above average.

If it patched up its Intelligence, wouldn’t it become a perfectly well-rounded puppy?

Su Zhi nodded. This coincided with his own thoughts.

With a mental command, the Free Attribute Points returned to zero, Intelligence became 1.00, and its Energy Value rose to 173.

”...”

”...”

”Woof?” (That’s it?)

Yu Bao tilted its head.

Unlike with Agility, it didn’t feel anything when the point was added to Intelligence.

It didn’t seem to have gotten any smarter.

”Maybe it’s because it was just a small number of points, or maybe Intelligence isn’t as obvious as Agility,”

Su Zhi speculated, propping his chin on his hand.

According to the system’s explanation, Intelligence wasn’t IQ, but rather the Pet Beast’s level of mental acuity and learning ability.

Those kinds of things were rather abstract to begin with, so it was normal that Yu Bao couldn’t feel it.

It was also possible that it had already taken effect, but they just hadn’t noticed.

”But quantitative changes lead to qualitative ones. Once enough points accumulate, the effect will definitely be obvious.”

”HUFF! HUFF!” Yu Bao’s eyes sparkled.

Its classmates always called it a dumb puppy, and though it hated it, there was nothing it could do.

But times had changed! Its Beast Tamer could add points wherever he wanted, strengthening any weakness.

Alright! From now on, all points to Intelligence!

Who says the Dog Race can produce no Great Emperor!

”Woof...” (But just practicing Earth Force Field takes so long...)

Su Zhi nodded thoughtfully as well.

At first, Yu Bao had been very enthusiastic, practicing for a whole day and farming 0.04 points on the very first day.

Later, the efficiency of farming points slowed, dropping to 0.03 per day, and then to 0.02 per day.

To Yu Bao, Earth Force Field was much more interesting than Rock-Breaking Teeth, but everything has its limits. Practice too much, and it gets annoying.

Perhaps that was why Yu Bao could farm 0.02 points by practicing enthusiastically for two hours, but would still only get 0.02 points by gritting its teeth and forcing itself to practice for a whole day. So Su Zhi simply told it not to overdo it.

’Earth Force Field probably isn’t the only way to farm points, but just one type of behavior that happens to trigger the point-farming mechanism.’

’But what does Earth Force Field have in common with other behaviors?’

While Su Zhi was pondering the system’s mechanics, Yu Bao started practicing Skybound Strike on the spot.

Tossing a ball up and then kicking it out of the air—that was a skill from the official curriculum... but it belonged to the Winged Antelope, not the Yu Dian Dog.

Su Zhi had nothing better to do, so he joined in the practice.

He could throw the ball to the ceiling, making it rebound and fall faster, which was a better test of Yu Bao’s reflexes.

The old Yu Bao couldn’t even catch a ball it tossed up itself, but now it was awesome. Its 1.07 Agility allowed it to hit the ball every single time, and it was even starting to get a little carried away.

After practicing like this for who knows how long, Old Su’s voice came from outside the study: ”Dinner’s ready, dear!”

’Judging by his tone, personally waiting on the ”Supreme God” of the web novel world made a certain washed-up, middle-aged author feel pretty good. Never underestimate a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man!’

”Okay!”

Su Zhi called back and was about to head to the dining room, but he froze and blinked.

[Assignable Attribute Points: 0.00]

[Assignable Attribute Points... 0.01]

·

「Dinnertime.」

Ever since the new member joined the family, the dinner table had always been lively.

”Hey son, can Yu Bao eat pork knuckle?”

”Don’t just feed it whatever! If you make Xiaoshu’s Pet Beast sick, I’ll deal with you!”

”It should be fine. The lady at the breeding center said you can feed Yu Dian Dogs pretty much anything.”

The Yu Dian Dog was the most beginner-friendly Pet Beast. They had loyal and honest temperaments, were easy to raise, had extremely strong survival skills, and basically had no dietary restrictions.

”HUFF. HUFF.”

Yu Bao sniffed the piece of pork knuckle Su Mao had picked up for it, drooling with desire, but didn’t eat it.

Su Mao dropped the pork knuckle into its little bowl, and only then did Yu Bao bury its head and start eating with loud chomps.

Both Su Mao and Wang Sujuan watched the little dog with loving expressions, while their actual son, Su Zhi, was treated like he was invisible.

”Oh, right, son. You have a quiz next Monday, right?”

’So, Su Mao remembered he had a son after all.’

”Let me see.”

Su Zhi took out his phone and glanced at the class group chat in the Joyful Beast Taming app. Sure enough, the group announcement had been updated.

[Class Teacher] [WaitsForHerHairToGrow]: This Saturday from 8 AM to 10 AM, our entire class will proceed to the school’s Battle Hall for a quiz. The format will be random 1v1 battles. This quiz will affect the Pet Beast Ranking and is also relevant to the selection for the city league tournament. Please take this first quiz seriously and get off to a good start! Reply with 666 to confirm receipt.

[WhatchaDoin~]: 666

[Demands-LotM2-With-Knife]: 666

[HiddenChicken]: You can tell he really wants to grow his hair long

”HiddenChicken” has been muted for 1 day.

[HeavyweightContestant]: 666

...

”Yeah, it’s tomorrow morning.”

”Go for it! If you win, I’ll make you guys something delicious!”

”And if I lose?”

”You’ll still get some!”

”Ha, okay.”

”Woof!”

His parents chatted and nagged as they ate, while Su Zhi and Yu Bao quickly finished their meal and returned to the study.

”Woof!?” (Why did the Points increase again?)

”I’m guessing it has to do with practicing Skybound Strike!”

Su Zhi’s eyes gleamed. ”Wanna give it another try?”

”Woof!”

Yu Bao nodded vigorously.

Ever since Agility had leaped up to become its strongest stat, Yu Bao had fallen in love with Skybound Strike.

Now, it could keep it up for ten minutes straight without breaking a sweat!

「Half an hour later...」

Finally, Yu Bao collapsed onto the floor with a SPLAT.

”Woof...” (I can’t... I’m seeing lots of little butterflies...)

”No, you did great.” Su Zhi’s gaze was intense.

After half an hour of Skybound Strike training, the Free Attribute Points had actually increased by another 0.02! That was just as much as from Earth Force Field!

Realizing it was truly effective, Yu Bao excitedly scrambled back to its feet, as if its exhaustion had vanished in an instant.

”Where do you want to add it this time?”

”Woof!” (Still Intelligence!)

·

·