Chapter 25: A Good Meal
Chapter 25: A Good Meal
"Let's start with a couple of laps to warm up", Qiao Sang added.
Fangflare adapted to the gravity ring relatively quickly. Walking was mostly fine, but it didn’t provide much of a training effect.
"Fang."
Fangflare nodded, accepting Qiao Sang’s plan without objection.
This time, Qiao Sang decided to run alongside Fangflare.
Encouraged by Qiao Sang, Fangflare managed to finish two laps, though it looked utterly miserable by the end.
You call this a warm-up?
Qiao Sang was also panting heavily. Running two laps had taken a toll on her too.
Looks like I need to exercise more...
Once Qiao Sang caught her breath, she checked the time on her phone.
During the morning jog, Fangflare had averaged about 18 minutes per lap.
Now, with the gravity ring, the first lap took 29 minutes and 3 seconds, and the second lap took 38 minutes and 42 seconds.
Qiao Sang noted these times in her phone’s memo, planning to compare them later.
"Warm-up is over. Next, use Ram ten times on this tree", Qiao Sang said, leading Fangflare to the sycamore tree where she had read earlier.
"Fang~"
Fangflare plopped down on the ground, weakly whining.
"Don’t you want to get stronger?" Qiao Sang asked.
From their days together, Qiao Sang knew Fangflare was determined and had a strong will. Despite only having fought four times, it always charged to the front, unafraid of injury.
Get stronger?
Fangflare slowly stood up, its eyes becoming resolute.
Wasn’t the bond meant to help it find more opponents and grow stronger?
Qiao Sang was pleased with the change in Fangflare’s expression. She remembered their first meeting.
Back then, Fangflare had been using its small body to repeatedly ram the tree trunk, with the same determined look.
Reflecting on it now, it felt like a long time ago.
"Maybe this training will help you master the skill you wanted to learn last time", Qiao Sang smiled.
"Fang?"
Fangflare looked at its Beastmaster with confusion.
"Remember the skill you wanted to learn when I first met you at the Pet Beast Facility?" Qiao Sang explained.
"Fang?"
Fangflare was even more puzzled.
When did it ever want to learn a skill?
"Didn’t you want to learn something when you were ramming the tree? Or were you just practicing Ram?" Qiao Sang was also confused.
That didn’t make sense. Ram requires a run-up of at least five meters to generate enough force. She remembered Fangflare ramming the tree from less than a meter away.
Fangflare recalled its first meeting with Qiao Sang.
What was it doing then?
It was ramming the tree to try and knock down the fruit.
"Fangfangfangfangfang."
"Fangfang."
Fangflare gestured and explained to Qiao Sang.
Qiao Sang: "..."
After a long silence, Qiao Sang ended the conversation. "Let’s start the training."
With the goal of getting stronger, Fangflare trained with extra enthusiasm.
Ram is a skill that requires the limbs to build up force and release it in a sudden, powerful impact.
However, with the gravity ring, Fangflare’s speed was significantly slower, and the force generated was insufficient to be considered a true Ram.
After six attempts, Fangflare finally managed to execute a proper Ram on the seventh try.
"Fang!"
It looked excitedly at its Beastmaster, only to find her lost in thought.
Qiao Sang was still processing the revelation.
She found it amusing that Fangflare had been so persistent in ramming the tree just to get the fruit.
Was the food at the Pet Beast Facility not enough?
With its small body, how could it possibly knock down the fruit by ramming the tree?
It would have been better to use Ram...
Not only did it fail to knock down the fruit, but it also ended up with a headache...
Why didn’t it just climb the tree?
“Fang!”
“Fang!”
Fangflare's cry brought Qiao Sang back to her senses.
“I’m fine,” Qiao Sang said.
“Fang.”
Fangflare nodded, having forgotten why she started calling her Beastmaster in the first place, and resumed her training.
17:53.
Training ended.
Fangflare lay on the ground, exhausted. Qiao Sang gently picked her up and said, “You’re the best Fangflare I’ve ever seen.”
Although she hadn’t seen many Fangflares, that didn’t stop her from praising her.
Even though she was running out of energy, Fangflare gritted her teeth and relied on sheer willpower to complete the final tenth Ram.
After an afternoon of training, they had achieved a hundred impacts.
“Fang~”
Fangflare nestled in Qiao Sang’s arms, unusually shy.
“I’ll take you out for a treat,” Qiao Sang smiled.
...
Fruit Paradise.
Fangflare stared at the food on the table with wide eyes.
Fruit platter, fruit salad, fruit noodles, fruit ice cream, fruit cake, fruit jelly, fruit pie, fruit juice...
The table was filled with all kinds of fruit-based dishes.
“Gurgle…”
Fangflare’s stomach growled as she stared at the food.
“Go ahead and eat,” Qiao Sang said softly.
Fangflare didn’t hesitate and immediately picked up a piece of fruit cake with her paw, devouring it hungrily.
Qiao Sang found the scene incredibly heartwarming and beautiful.
But this beautiful scene came at a cost...
The cost was a fifth of Qiao Sang’s assets, plus a scolding from her mother...
...
Three days later.
“Bang!”
A flame the size of an adult’s fist, accompanied by intense heat, caused a rock in the distance to explode, leaving a significant hole.
Name: Fangflare
Attributes: Fire
Level: Junior (127/1000) +
Skills: Bite (Novice 74/100) +, Ram (Proficient 168/500) +, Flame Fang (Proficient 116/500) +, Spark (Proficient 135/500) +
Points: 55
In just four days, Fangflare had brought her Flame Fang and Spark to Proficient level.
If others knew about this, it would cause a huge stir.
While Spark wasn’t unusual, as there were a few exceptionally talented familiars who could advance from Novice to Proficient in a short time, Flame Fang was different. It was a solid mid-level skill!
On average, it took about six months to advance a mid-level skill from Novice to Proficient, but Fangflare had done it in just four days!
Fangflare, wearing the dark green triangular sunglasses she had received the day before, was focused on her skill training.
The combination of red and green made Fangflare a real eye-catcher, and many children playing in the park stopped to watch, though they dared not get too close due to the flames surrounding her.
After these few days of training, Fangflare no longer needed Qiao Sang’s guidance to know what to do.
Under the sycamore tree, Qiao Sang was reading a book.
Since Fangflare had advanced her Spark and Flame Fang to Proficient, she was no longer worried about the familiar combat in the Holy Water High School Special Recruitment exam.
Everyone was new to bonding with familiars, so it was impossible for anyone’s familiar to have a mid-level skill at Proficient like Fangflare.
Fangflare’s speed had also steadily improved. Yesterday, she completed a lap with the gravity ring in 22 minutes and 7 seconds, nearly 7 minutes faster than the first day.
The familiar combat in five days wasn’t a concern, but Qiao Sang still lacked confidence about the High School Entrance Exam in twelve days.
(End of Chapter)
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