Chapter 29: You Must Be S-Class
Chapter 29: You Must Be S-Class
Fangflare was caught off guard by the sudden ball and only reacted when it was close.
Fortunately, the ball at first speed wasn't fast. Fangflare lifted its left front and hind legs, and the ball smoothly passed beneath it.
Two baseball pitching machines began firing simultaneously, their nozzles rotating to change the direction of the balls.
After about a minute of dodging, Fangflare became more accustomed to the ball trajectories. Its expression grew more relaxed, and it started to play around, using subtle movements to avoid the balls just as they were about to touch it.
Qiao Sang watched with satisfaction. Such dodging required a certain level of reaction speed and evasion skills.
However, Qiao Sang's intention today wasn't to train Fangflare's dodging skills. After seeing that Fangflare had no trouble with the first speed, she got up and adjusted both pitching machines to the second speed.
The first speed was around 3 meters per second, while the second speed was 5 meters per second.
The room was only about ten meters long, so Fangflare had to dodge balls coming from two different directions every three seconds or so.
At the second speed, Fangflare seemed less agile. It had just dodged one ball when another was already coming at it.
With such a high firing rate, Fangflare inevitably got hit a few times.
Baseballs come in hard and soft varieties. These indoor training balls were soft, made of rubber and hollow, so they didn't hurt when they hit.
In about a minute, Fangflare was hit five times.
At this point, Qiao Sang pressed the red button, and the baseball pitching machines stopped.
"Fang?"
Fangflare tilted its head, looking confused at its Beastmaster.
Why did it stop? It wasn't done playing yet.
Qiao Sang squatted down next to Fangflare and removed the gravity ring from its right front leg, smiling. "We didn't come here to play. I wanted to see how your training has been going and what your speed limit is."
"Fang!"
Hearing this, Fangflare used its hind legs to stand up and patted its chest with its newly freed right front leg.
It was ready to show its Beastmaster what it could do!
Seeing Fangflare's enthusiastic demeanor, Qiao Sang couldn't help but pat its head. "Good luck."
Feeling a surge of determination, Fangflare ran to Qiao Sang's backpack, dug out seven pairs of sunglasses, hesitated for a moment, and then chose the dark green triangular sunglasses to wear.
"Fang!"
Fangflare returned to its original spot and nodded solemnly at Qiao Sang.
Qiao Sang, seeing this, knew Fangflare was about to show its true abilities.
"Good luck", Qiao Sang encouraged again, then went to the pitching machines and set them to the second speed.
With the gravity ring removed, Fangflare's speed was in a different league. The balls at the second speed posed no threat, and it dodged them easily.
After two minutes, Qiao Sang adjusted the pitching machines to the third speed.
At the third speed, the ball velocity doubled to 10 meters per second.
Even at 10 meters per second, Fangflare didn't let a single ball touch it.
Qiao Sang, though she had a good idea of Fangflare's progress, still felt a sense of pride and relief when she saw it in action.
After two more minutes, Qiao Sang increased the speed to the fourth setting.
The fourth speed was 20 meters per second.
Fangflare was caught off guard by the first ball at the fourth speed and got hit, followed by the second and third balls.
It seemed Fangflare's neural reaction speed limit was around 15 meters per second.
Qiao Sang decided to turn off the pitching machines.
"Fang!" Fangflare exclaimed urgently.
Don't turn it off! It can still do it!
Qiao Sang was taken aback, not expecting Fangflare to notice her actions while being attacked by the balls.
Since Fangflare chose to continue, Qiao Sang didn't stop it. Knowing Fangflare's nature, if she didn't let it try again now, it would probably be upset and refuse to eat properly.
Fangflare's attention refocused on the ball. It had just been caught off guard by the sudden increase in speed.
After so many days of training, how could it be defeated so easily by these balls?
Qiao Sang was surprised to see that Fangflare, who had been hit by the balls at the beginning, quickly improved.
From being hit by every ball at first, to being hit once every three balls, and finally being hit only once every ten balls.
Such rapid progress!
Qiao Sang couldn't help but marvel at how hardworking and talented her Fangflare was.
After 30 minutes, Fangflare had improved to the point where it was only hit once every 45 balls.
Fangflare didn't complain about being tired, so Qiao Sang didn't stop the baseball pitching machine.
Initially, she had planned to just test the speed today and avoid overexerting Fangflare's body.
After all, if she trained as usual, Fangflare would likely be sore the next day and wouldn't be in the best mental state.
Tomorrow was June 10th, the Special Admission Exam for Holy Water High School, and Qiao Sang wanted Fangflare to rest well today. The test was just to gauge the speed.
However, Fangflare wasn't just testing the speed; it was training hard.
If this continued, Fangflare wouldn't be in the best condition tomorrow.
Qiao Sang was hesitant about whether to call it quits.
At that moment, another Fangflare identical to the first one appeared on the left side out of nowhere!
Qiao Sang was stunned, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
This unnatural phenomenon could only be a skill!
She immediately accessed the Beastmaster Codex.
【Name: Fangflare】
【Element: Fire】
【Level: Junior (133/1000) +】
【Skills: Bite (Novice 74/100) +, Ram (Proficient 198/500) +, Flame Fang (Proficient 188/500) +, Spark (Proficient 232/500) +, Shadow Clone (Novice 2/100) +】
【Points: 55】
Over the past few days, Fangflare's stats had improved in all areas except for Bite.
Qiao Sang checked the data every night before bed.
Now, there was a new skill listed that wasn't there last night—Shadow Clone.
Qiao Sang was shocked. Shadow Clone was an Intermediate Skill, on par with Flame Fang.
Fangflare had only learned Spark about 10 days ago, and now it had already grasped another Intermediate Skill!
Normally, learning a skill is a lengthy process that requires proper guidance and training.
Many new Beastmasters who don't know how to train their desired Signature Moves send their familiars to Training Academies where they can learn skills.
These Training Academies are incredibly popular in society, and often, even teaching a single skill can ensure the institution's long-term success.
Of course, this is especially true for Intermediate Skills and above.
Qiao Sang pressed the stop button and looked at Fangflare with intense eyes.
"Fang?" Fangflare looked at the stopped balls and then at its Beastmaster, confused.
Why did it stop?
Qiao Sang praised, "Fangflare, if talent could be ranked, you would definitely be S-Class."
"Fang~"
Fangflare let out an embarrassed call, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Why was she being praised so suddenly?
In the next moment, Fangflare realized something and turned its head to the left.
"Fang!!"
Fangflare let out a frightened cry and ran to Qiao Sang faster than it had dodged the balls, jumping into her arms.
(End of Chapter)
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