Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

”Woof!” Wu Bao nodded, full of spirit.

Su Zhi: ”Did it work?”

”Woof.” Wu Bao shook its head, its eyes losing their sparkle.

”Hsss-hah.” Yu Bao mocked it mercilessly.

Wu Bao shot it a look and lowered its head to eat.

”Cheep...”

Shan Bao stood on Su Zhi’s shoulder, watching its two ”brothers” flirt and bicker. Its little face turned pink, and its eyes grew hazy. It was probably imagining something not suitable for little birds.

’Why is Shan Bao a fujoshi...?’ Su Zhi buried his face in his hands, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

’The pure and adorable Shan Bao is gone forever. I’ll have to be more careful with my browser history from now on...’

Shao Ya suddenly punched him.

Su Zhi jumped in surprise.

’Holy crap, I get hit the moment I think about my browser? Can she read minds?’

But then Shao Ya pulled out her phone and waved it in front of his face. ”Hurry up and fill out the form in the class group chat! You’re the only one who hasn’t!”

”Oh, right...”

Su Zhi quickly took out his phone. Seeing a file in the class group chat titled ”Sophomore Year First Semester Textbook Tally,” he raised an eyebrow.

”They’re already doing the textbook tally? Don’t they usually do this a week before school starts?”

”Yep. School starts in a week.”

...?

Question marks appeared over Su Zhi’s head.

’Did I get transported to an Otherworld?’

’Isn’t summer break supposed to be two months long?’

’It hasn’t even been three weeks!’

”It was announced in the group chat this morning. The Provincial University Tournament is being held early, so we have to start school early too.”

Shao Ya scrolled up to the class monitor’s announcement. ”When the time comes, Old Zhou will probably pick us for the training camp again, and then all sorts of competitions, and then blah, blah, blah...”

”But the University Tournament is a team competition. The format is different from individual competitions like the City League. It’ll probably be school versus school, with something like three singles matches and two doubles matches.”

”All right. There really are a lot of competitions,” Su Zhi sighed in agreement.

’But more competitions isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Yu Bao just evolved, and I just contracted Shan Bao. Both little guys need a lot of practice.’

’If it’s a team competition, we can also work on our teamwork!’

Speaking of competitions, Su Zhi thought of his sparring partner and upperclassman, Liu Junpo. He hadn’t seen him in a long time, not since the summer camp.

’Now that I’ve just contracted Shan Bao, it’d be a good idea to have him take a look and give me some pointers.’

BUZZ BUZZ.

His phone vibrated. Su Zhi pulled it out and saw a message from Old Zhou, whom he hadn’t heard from in a while—

10:37

[Old Ban]: Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s summer break going?

[Old Ban]: The University Tournament is right after school starts, so the schedule is tight. Keep up your training during this time and don’t relax too much.

10:59

[Old Ban]: Shao Ya told me you awakened a Tier Three Beast Taming Space? And your Pet Beast is a rare Flash Gold Sparrow? Damn, son!

[Old Ban]: A Pet Beast like the Flash Gold Sparrow isn’t part of the standard contract path. The exam curriculum has no training guidelines for it. You’re in luck this time. You can train it however you want.

[Old Ban]: But given the Flash Gold Sparrow’s natural inclination towards mobility, I suggest you focus on training its agility to take advantage of its high speed.

11:03

[Old Ban]: ...You there? /confused_black_guy.jpg

[Old Ban]: I wrote all that, and you’re not even going to reply?

[Old Ban]: Don’t tell me you think you’re hot stuff just for awakening a Tier Three Space before sophomore year? In the big city schools, there are countless kids just as strong as you, or even stronger.

11:15

[Old Ban]: Fine, ignore me. I was just telling you to be prepared. I couldn’t care less about the rest.

12:35

[Old Ban]: Shao Ya said you guys are back? Have you eaten?

18:37

[Old Ban]: Eaten dinner?

19:05

[Old Ban]: You there?

Seeing how pathetic ”Brother Shengfa” was being, Su Zhi finally felt a twinge of pity and typed a reply—

[Su Zhi]: Got it.

’He replied!’

Far across the city, a certain middle-aged man let out a long sigh of relief.

[Old Ban]: It’s nothing major, really. I’m just pretty excited that you contracted a new Pet Beast so quickly.

[Old Ban]: So, how do you plan on training that Flash Gold Sparrow? There’s no established training method for unconventional Pet Beasts, but you should be pretty good at custom training.

[Su Zhi]: I plan on having her learn Hardening.

[Old Ban]: ...

[Old Ban]: ...

[Old Ban]: Do you even hear yourself right now???

[Old Ban]: What suicidal impulse made you decide to teach a mobility-type Pet Beast a Defense Skill??

[Su Zhi]: Uh, my Flash Gold Sparrow is quite ambitious. Even though she’s a glass cannon, she has the heart of a tank...

[Old Ban]: But you have to be realistic! A Flash Gold Sparrow has such a tiny body, it’ll go down with one hit. What good will it do to train its defense to the heavens?

[Su Zhi]: We just tried it.

[Old Ban]: You actually tried it? It didn’t die, did it?

[Su Zhi]: It took Yu Bao’s Furious Sand Blade head-on. Got a small scratch, but it’s healed now.

[Old Ban]: ...

[Old Ban]: Forget it. I’m not dealing with you anymore. Train her however you want.

[Su Zhi]: Got it.

”Pfft.”

Shao Ya, who had been peeking at his screen, couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. ”You’ve completely shattered Teacher Zhou’s Dao heart.”

”You sprayed spit on my face...” Su Zhi shot her a look, imagining Zhou Shengfa’s face as he stared blankly at the sky, but he couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

In truth, it wasn’t just Old Zhou; even Su Zhi himself hadn’t expected the Effect of adding points to Shan Bao’s Constitution to be so dramatic.

But on second thought, Shan Bao had been gravely wounded by a Demon Abyss Claw and still managed to warp in front of them, which was a testament to its incredible resilience.

’Super-high mobility + super iron-headed...’

’The second coming of Wanzi!’

”Yu Bao, don’t you let your guard down either. Xiaoyue has been training secretly these past few days and has been improving really fast.”

Shao Ya leaned in close to Yu Bao’s ear and whispered, ”He’s planning to surpass you in one go so he can be the big brother again!”

”!” Yu Bao was instantly on alert.

’Time to up the intensity. I absolutely can’t give big brother a chance to overtake me!’

”Meeeow...”

Xiaoyue shot Shao Ya a look. ’She’s so loud, even I could hear her.’

”Well, we’re heading back now. You guys train hard!” Shao Ya made a fist pump gesture at Su Zhi and went upstairs.

”You too. See you at the Battle Hall!” Su Zhi smiled slightly, watching the girl disappear up the stairs.

Shan Bao waved at Shao Ya with a serious expression.

’Big Brother Yu Bao said this is a special ritual to get stronger. To get stronger, I have to do it seriously.’

’Very good...’

’I really do feel a little stronger now!’

·

「The next day, at Huai First Middle School.」

It was still summer break, but Su Zhi swiped his student card and entered the campus without any issue.

He had arranged to meet Liu Junpo for a sparring session today, so Zhou Shengfa had specifically given the security office a heads-up.

In reality, he probably didn’t need a heads-up. Su Zhi was a celebrity now, the champion of the freshman division of the City League.

Especially since Su Zhi had terrible luck with his matchups, facing tough opponents all the way. The fact that he could snatch the championship from a group of transfer students who had returned from other cities was a testament to just how strong he and his Pet Beast were.

Unfortunately, Su Zhi had competed as an independent participant, so the final honor belonged to him alone and had little to do with Huai First Middle.

’Speaking of which, that old principal was a real idiot. He deserved to be ousted...’

Compared to its usual bustling and lively state, the empty, deserted campus had a different kind of atmosphere.

On the grassy field, the somewhat scruffy-looking handsome guy had been waiting for a long time.

”Yo, yo, if it isn’t Su Zhi! Haven’t seen you for a few days and you’re already this strong.”

Seeing Yu Bao, who had already transformed into a Yu Dian Farm Dog, Liu Junpo broke into a pleasantly surprised smile. ”Congratulations. You have an Evolutionary Type before sophomore year even starts. You’ve joined the ranks of the big shots.”

”Not at all, not at all.”

Su Zhi made a token show of humility, then casually activated his Tier Three Beast Taming Light Array and brought out Shan Bao.

—Shan Bao preferred staying in the Beast Taming Space more than Yu Bao did, perhaps because it was a Space Element type.

”Jiji?” Wanzi curiously sized up Shan Bao.

”Cheep!” Shan Bao bowed low.

’H-Hello, big shot!’

”Well, well. You just finished being humble and now you’re showing off with your Light Array.”

Liu Junpo slapped Su Zhi’s back good-naturedly, then bent down to study Shan Bao with a curious expression. ”This little chickadee, is it really as tough as you say? Can it really withstand Yu Bao’s Furious Sand Blade?”

Su Zhi tucked his hands into his pockets. ”Why don’t you find out for yourself?”

”Alright, I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Liu Junpo grinned, rubbing his hands together as he looked at Wanzi.

”Come on, Wanzi, let’s give this little one a taste of the adult world!”

·

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