Chapter 561: Indeed, I Shouldn't Have Hoped
Chapter 561: Indeed, I Shouldn’t Have Hoped (Combined)
The fortune-tellers on the street said the same thing... Qiao Sang couldn't help but complain inwardly.
She was about to refuse when Maggie, who was walking ahead, turned around and asked with a smile:
"Teacher Madeline from Sahel High School, her Optimale is rarely seen. Her office is just up ahead. Do you want to take a look?"
There were other teachers and students from different schools, as well as a few Sahel High School students acting as volunteers, who also turned to look at her.
Technically, the teachers should lead the way without specifically asking the students, but the initial conversations between the schools had all revolved around Qiao Sang's issues, making Maggie subconsciously ask for her opinion.
With everyone staring at her, how could she say no... Qiao Sang nodded and said, "Sure."
...
The group arrived at Madeline's office.
The office door was closed, and the entrance was crowded with students in various school uniforms, chatting in small groups, making it seem like a tourist attraction.
When they saw Qiao Sang approaching, the surrounding students all turned to look at her and Fangy.
The previous match wasn't particularly exciting, but the familiars were ones they had never seen before, and the Beast Identifier revealed that one of them was an endangered familiar. Additionally, the Orange Star Array, which was impossible to appear in the high Mid-Rank segment, made Qiao Sang leave a deep impression on everyone.
"Up close, she looks even younger."
"People from the Dragon Nation naturally look younger than their actual age."
"Right, I once met a woman from the Dragon Nation who looked like she was in her twenties, but she was actually 42. I thought she must be a C-Class Beastmaster to look so young, but it turned out she was just an E-Rank Beastmaster."
As everyone knew, low-level Beastmasters had almost no ability to maintain their youth.
"Indeed, even if they're not Beastmasters, some people from the Dragon Nation take good care of themselves."
At that moment, the office door opened.
Five students, all wearing pure white shirts and silver-gray jackets, walked out.
"Lulu."
Behind them, a familiar that looked like an egg, with a mainly cream-colored body, looked around and then called out to a few students in dark red school uniforms before walking inside.
Even if they couldn't understand what it said, its actions clearly indicated that it was calling them in.
After the students in dark red uniforms went in, Qiao Sang turned and asked:
"Aren't we supposed to queue up?"
The people outside weren't queuing up; the egg-like familiar was calling people in randomly, seemingly following its own whims.
"No need to queue", Alva explained. "Teacher Madeline only performs divination for those with a connection. It's said that if people queue up in an orderly manner, it might affect the accuracy of the Optimale."
Qiao Sang thought to herself that she had never heard of such a thing before. Come to think of it, could Yuna's inaccurate Optimist divination have been because she wasn't one of those with a connection?
No, it was probably just inaccurate. The last time wasn't about divining a problem with her.
With that thought, Qiao Sang asked again:
"What's the difference? Does the order of divination affect its accuracy?"
Not queuing up just meant entering in a different order, but how could this affect the accuracy?
"No", Alva shook her head. "The Optimale has a fixed number of divinations each day, though we don't know exactly how many. Not everyone here will get a turn."
Qiao Sang: "..."
Got it. So, there's no need to queue because we might not get a turn anyway...
...
While Qiao Sang was waiting, in a large Training Field nearby, Thompson walked in with a gloomy expression.
A black-haired boy wearing boxing gloves, who was sparring with his familiar, stopped and asked, "What's wrong? You look terrible."
"Qiao Sang from Sai Nan High School has a Ghost-Type Beast Companion", Thompson said as he walked to a seat on the side of the field and sat down.
"A Ghost-Type Beast Companion?" The boy walked closer, surprised. "That's an unexpected attribute. I thought girls didn't usually like familiars with such attributes."
"That's not the main point", Thompson said, looking at him seriously. "The important thing is that her Ghost-Type also has a Psychic-Type attribute."
The boy sat down beside him, paused for a moment, and then said in a normal tone, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? Having a Psychic-Type attribute and knowing a few Psychic-Type skills are two different things."
"I'm not an idiot, Radko", Thompson said, annoyed. "That Ghost-Type Beast Companion knows Psychic Power. A non-Psychic-Type familiar can't learn that skill."
Radko paused in the act of taking off his gloves, pondered for a moment, and then sighed.
"What kind of background does one need to have so many rare familiars?"
Thompson snorted, "Isn't it because he bonded with a Steel Sparrow?"
Ladko looked at him, "Did you just go looking for trouble with the Steel Sparrow?"
Thompson remained silent.
Ladko felt a headache coming on, knowing that Thompson's silence was an admission.
He had grown up with Thompson and knew more about his family situation than anyone else.
Thompson's intense dislike for the Steel Sparrow race stemmed from more than just his father's influence. There was another reason that no one else knew about.
In fact, when Thompson was a child, he had always been fond of Steel Sparrows. Before his Beastmaster Codex Awakened, he had been talking about bonding with a Steel Sparrow as his first familiar. His family had even prepared a young Steel Sparrow, which had just hatched from a Beast Egg, so he could bond with it as soon as his Codex Awakened.
He had spent a lot of time with that Steel Sparrow, but then his father, Yuto Koyori, forcibly dissolved the bond and took the Steel Sparrow away.
Thompson had been present and knew that the Steel Sparrow had left willingly.
This had left a deep emotional scar on the young Thompson, causing his former affection for Steel Sparrows to turn into a strong dislike. He never showed a good face when he saw a Steel Sparrow.
However, bullying a familiar also depended on its owner, and Qiao Sang from Sai Nan High School was not someone to be messed with.
Ladko opened his mouth to try to reason with his friend.
Thompson scoffed, "I know it's during the exchange tournament, but I just happened to see the Steel Sparrow on the way here and told Corrosive Hawk to spit some Saliva at its head. Who knew it would dodge."
"That's a good thing", Ladko sighed in relief, smiling. "With so many people from different schools gathered here, it wouldn't look good if something happened."
Thompson dismissed it, "What's not to look good? Who can prove I did it on purpose? Besides, Corrosive Hawk's Saliva will only make the Steel Sparrow's feathers fall out for a week. I noticed that the Steel Sparrow already looked a bit bald, so a little more won't matter."
As he spoke, he seemed to think of something and made a hand sign, summoning Corrosive Hawk.
"Why couldn't you even spit a little Saliva accurately?" Thompson looked up at Corrosive Hawk, displeased.
"Poison... poison..."
Corrosive Hawk lowered its head, looking contrite.
At that moment, a cold breeze blew by for no apparent reason.
"Poison... sneeze!"
Corrosive Hawk's nose twitched, and it sneezed uncontrollably.
Saliva splattered downward.
"Poison! Poison!"
Corrosive Hawk realized the danger and quickly flapped its wings to deflect the falling Saliva to the side.
But even the best plans can go awry, and a single drop of Saliva still landed.
Thompson felt a cool sensation on his head.
His heart sank as well.
He seemed to realize something, and his expression froze.
"Cyril, you..." Ladko looked at his head, hesitating to speak.
"Poison... poison..."
Corrosive Hawk silently backed away.
Thompson took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and touched his head, pulling at his hair.
"Ah!!!"
Two seconds later, a scream echoed throughout the Training Field.
...
The office door opened, and several students in the same school uniform walked out.
The cream-colored familiar looked around, and when its gaze fell on the Steel Sparrow, the Steel Sparrow smiled its brightest smile.
"Lulu."
The cream-colored familiar paused, then called to Qiao Sang and the others, signaling that they could go in.
"Truly lucky", Alva remarked. "You got your turn so quickly. I won't go in; I'll wait for you outside."
They were indeed lucky, as they had thought they might not get their turn... Qiao Sang sighed and followed the group inside.
Inside, she saw a tall woman with a high nose, thin lips, black hair, and brown eyes, along with a familiar about seventy centimeters tall, mostly white, and holding a stack of cards in its right hand.
Though it looked different, the ribbon on its body and the cards in its hand revealed a hint of Optimist.
Optimale? So small? Qiao Sang glanced at its wrist and, as expected, saw the Miniaturization Band.
Madeleine smiled, "Feel free to sit."
There were sofas nearby, and after they sat down, Madeleine said, "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask? For accuracy, I can only perform two readings for you."
Qiao Sang thought, so it's not one reading per person. No wonder the previous group came out so quickly...
Maggie thought for a moment and looked around, "Do you have anything you'd like to have read?"
The group exchanged glances, and Gota spoke up, "I do."
Seeing that the other students weren't responding, Maggie said, "Then you can go first."
Gota stood up, approached Optimale, and said seriously,
“I want to ask if I will inherit the family business in the future.”
Optimale made no move.
Madeleine smiled and said, “Distant events are unpredictable. Optimale can only divine matters within the next two days.”
Upon hearing this, Gota looked a bit disappointed and said,
“Then I’ll ask if I have a chance to participate in the Friendly Match tomorrow.”
Madeleine nodded at Optimale.
Seeing her Beastmaster’s signal, Optimale tossed a deck of cards upward.
All the cards instantly froze in mid-air, without any discernible pattern.
Time seemed to stand still in the air.
A moment later, one of the cards suddenly lit up with a blue light and flew toward Optimale.
“Optimal.”
Optimale glanced at the card and called out.
Madeleine translated, “You will get to participate.”
Gota smiled politely. “Thank you. I have no more questions.”
“Do any of you have other questions?” Madeleine asked.
After asking, she looked at Qiao Sang and smiled, “Would you like to experience the divination abilities of our Supernest familiar?”
During the morning match, Madeleine had been present and knew that the girl in front of her wasn’t from Supernest.
Is it sensing a connection with me... Qiao Sang hesitated for a moment and asked,
“Can you divine something that exists but I’m not clear about?”
Madeleine smiled and said, “Isn’t divination meant to provide direction for things that are unclear?”
Qiao Sang thought about it and found it reasonable. She then asked,
“I want to know if the next stage of Blazing Star Hound’s Evolution will result in one type or multiple types.”
Fangy’s Evolution was entirely new, with no clear direction, but she had the Beastmaster Codex, which allowed her to add points and evolve without issues.
However, she wasn’t sure if there was a more suitable Evolution path for Fangy in the next stage, which was why she wanted to accumulate credits to exchange for a Dream Insight Stone.
Although Fangy’s Flame Listener and Blazing Star Hound forms had never appeared on Blue Star, the Beastmaster Codex always displayed their names accurately, leading her to reasonably suspect that these forms might have existed on other planets.
Perhaps even the next stage of Evolution.
Of course, if Optimale divined that there was only one type, Qiao Sang would still accumulate credits to exchange for a Dream Insight Stone.
Given the precedent with Optimist, she wasn’t entirely confident in Optimale’s divination abilities.
The others present were momentarily stunned, unsure why Qiao Sang was asking this question.
“Isn’t it the Blazing Star Hound?” Madeleine looked at Fangy and asked with a definite tone.
During the morning Friendly Match, she had used the Beast Identifier to confirm, and now she was just rechecking.
“Fangy nodded.”
That’s me.
“It’s her,” Qiao Sang said.
Madeleine nodded at Optimale.
Optimale tossed the cards back up.
The cards froze in mid-air.
Optimale closed its eyes.
This time, it remained closed for a considerable duration.
Optimale frowned, and sweat began to bead on its forehead.
Invisible to the human eye, its energy was rapidly depleting.
After a quiet half-minute, Optimale suddenly opened its eyes, and the cards fell to the ground.
Hylis and the others looked at the scene, exchanging glances, and saw confusion in each other’s eyes.
“Optimal...”
Optimale shook its head at its Beastmaster.
Madeleine’s expression became complex as she looked at Qiao Sang and the Blazing Star Hound familiar, saying,
“Optimale’s energy is depleted. It won’t be able to continue divining today. Could you please inform the others outside to stop waiting?”
Qiao Sang: “...”
I shouldn’t have had any hope.
...
At 7 PM, in a five-star hotel within a kilometer of Sahel High School.
Room 2703.
Qiao Sang stood by the large floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the first district shrouded in night.
Sai Nan High School had been generous, booking a private room for each person in a five-star hotel.
This made Qiao Sang, who had shared a room with Yang Jiayi last time, feel a bit out of place.
She turned around and saw Treasure Seeker applying Strengthening Oil to Steel Treasure.
It seemed that the team battle training over the past two days had improved the bond between Treasure Seeker and Steel Treasure... Qiao Sang thought with a sense of relief.
After a moment, Qiao Sang asked,
“I see you two have been building a good rapport. Why don’t we go up and test our skills tomorrow?”
(End of Chapter)
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