Beast Taming: I Can Add Points

”Yeah, I’ve already asked Zhou Shengfa for time off. I’m planning to head to the Storm Strait in a couple of days.”

Speaking of evolution, a fire rekindled in Liu Yuhang’s eyes.

”Brother Shu, I may be trailing you for now, but I’ll work hard to catch up, so don’t you get too comfortable. Once Xue Li and I complete her evolution, I’m looking forward to another Pet Beast Battle with you!”

”You bet!” Su Zhi said with a smile.

’Come to think of it, he couldn’t take all the credit for getting stronger. Whenever he felt like slacking off, the thought of having such powerful classmates would fire him up all over again.’

Zhou Shengfa leaned in. ”You two seem to be really close, eh?”

”Ah!”

Liu Yuhang’s face flushed red, and he quickly took a few steps back. ”Teacher, I’m not usually like this...”

Shao Ya: ”...”

Su Zhi: ”...”

”It’s all good~”

Zhou Shengfa shot him an ”I get it” look, then crooked a finger at his three aces. ”To my office. We’ve got things to discuss in detail!”

·

「Huai City Second Beast Taming High School, Battle Hall.」

”Fang Yuan? What’s he doing back?”

”Wow, that’s rare. I can’t believe Fang Yuan has his Pet Beast with him when he’s not even training...”

”Have you forgotten? His visiting student status at the Shanda University Affiliated School was revoked.”

”Oh yeah, that’s right. I heard his Pet Beast got injured, which affected his performance, but Fang Yuan refused to switch it out, even if it meant breaking the rules...”

”Huh. I always thought he was a total ice king. Guess he’s just one of those ’cold on the outside, warm on the inside’ types.”

”All facts aside, I bet his family’s out of money. You forget his dad got hauled off a while back...”

The students’ whispered conversations were a mix of praise and criticism for Fang Yuan.

Following his homeroom teacher’s instructions, Fang Yuan joined the class formation, standing calmly next to a girl with her hair in a bun, acting as if the surrounding chatter didn’t exist.

”Chirp?”

Lilith, perched on Fang Yuan’s shoulder, blinked timidly.

’They don’t seem to like us very much.’

”That’s normal.”

Fang Yuan said calmly, idly flipping through a textbook. He added, ”I don’t care.”

Although Fang Yuan was officially a student in this class, he had been a visiting student at the Shanda University Affiliated School for his entire school career. To these classmates, he was a familiar stranger.

’He wasn’t even that close with Su Zhi yet. If Su Zhi were the one treating him like this, he might actually care a little...’

’Wait, why am I even thinking about that guy Su Zhi? Sure, I owe him one, but thinking about him constantly is getting a little weird...’ Fang Yuan shook his head, trying to clear the thought of Su Zhi.

”...Chirp!”

Lilith reached out a paw to pat his forearm, letting out a soft cry.

’It doesn’t matter if other people like us! Lilith will always like Fang Yuan!’

The corner of Fang Yuan’s mouth turned up slightly. He reached out and gave her head a gentle scratch with his index finger.

’He wasn’t doing this because of Su Zhi’s influence,’ he thought. ’It was just because Lilith was genuinely cute.’

Today was the first day of the semester, and as was tradition, all the high schools organized a quiz to test the students’ training progress over the break. The Second High was no exception.

The Pet Beast Battles were soon underway.

Fang Yuan and Lilith stood by the arena, waiting. They were up next.

Fang Yuan’s opponent was also waiting by the arena—a boy in a tank top with a fiery red mohawk, a cigarette dangling from his fingers.

The student body at Second High was a clear step down from First High, with a much more eccentric cast of characters.

Even so, while this student looked like a delinquent, his Pet Beast was no joke—

Beside him stood a towering Thorn Armor Dragon, its scales glinting in the sun like an immovable iron tower.

[Pet Beast: (Iron Wall) Thorn Armor Dragon

Attribute: Gold Element

Race: Middle Elite

Real-time Energy Value: 2902]

An impressive level of power.

Even at First High, a Pet Beast at this level would rank in the top thirty of its year.

”GRRR~” The Thorn Armor Dragon glanced down its nose at Lilith, then turned its head away in disdain, not even deigning to give her a second look.

”Well, well, if it isn’t Young Master Fang. What gives you the time to come back to our humble little city?”

The boy with the mohawk asked in a tone of undisguised contempt, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction.

Fang Yuan just glanced at him without responding.

In the stands not far off, the students of Class 356, having already finished their quizzes, were gathered together, discussing the two figures on the floor:

”Fang Yuan’s luck is the worst! He drew the grade’s number one for his first quiz match. He’s totally screwed...”

”Not necessarily. Fang Yuan was the runner-up in the city league, remember?”

”That was ages ago. His White Flame Battle Spirit hasn’t been training properly since its injury. Look, its Real-time Energy Value is only 2506.”

”That’s enough to demolish ten of me... but yeah, probably not enough to beat Tang Shuai.”

”I’m not a huge fan of Fang Yuan, but man, I’d love to see that asshole Tang Shuai get his ass handed to him just once!”

”Ditto. Tang Shuai is way too arrogant...”

The students chattered on.

The girl with the bun hairstyle shrank back in a corner like a little mushroom, her eyes fixed anxiously on the arena.

As they spoke, Fang Yuan and Tang Shuai took their respective command positions, and their two Pet Beasts got ready.

Tang Shuai dropped his facade, his gaze turning vicious.

Thanks to his powerful contracted Pet Beast, Tang Shuai had always been the undisputed number one at Second High. He acted with impunity at school—smoking, drinking, extortion, he did it all.

Most students gave him a wide berth, and Tang Shuai reveled in the fear in their eyes.

However, because Fang Yuan had been a visiting student from the Shanda University Affiliated School, Tang Shuai had always been considered the de facto second-best in their year, a fact that had always stuck in his craw.

And today, his chance had come.

Fang Yuan’s Pet Beast, weakened by injury, had seen its power fall off a cliff. It was a shadow of its former self.

’I’ll use this quiz to shatter the myth of Fang Yuan to pieces!’

DING.

The battle light flashed on.

”Iron Wall, Heavy Armor Charge!”

”ROAR!” The Thorn Armor Dragon roared, its charge shaking the very ground. The arena trembled under its immense weight.

”Holy shit, holy shit! It’s so fast!”

”What’s Fang Yuan’s Pet Beast doing?! Why isn’t it dodging?!”