Chapter 98: Count Me In
Chapter 98: Count Me In
Training days were monotonous, but that was only for Fangflare.
Under the shade of a tree beside Liu Gan Stream, Qiao Sang and Treasure Seeker were leisurely eating their ice lollies.
"You're still young, you should eat less cold stuff", Qiao Sang said, taking a bite of her ice lolly.
"Seek~"
Treasure Seeker responded cheerfully, then popped the whole ice lolly into its mouth, shivering and squinting its eyes into crescents.
Qiao Sang sighed inwardly; Treasure Seeker was getting more and more mischievous.
Ever since the incident with pretending to be asleep, Treasure Seeker's true nature had become more and more unrestrained.
In the past, if she told it to eat less cold stuff, it would immediately put down the ice lolly.
But now, it would nod in agreement while its body betrayed its true intentions.
On this side, Fangflare was sensing the energy within its body, and then opened its mouth.
In the next second, a small energy orb, about the size of an infant's fist, appeared in front of it.
Fangflare kept its mouth open, maintaining the rotation of the energy orb, trying to make it more solid.
"Come on, Fangy!"
"Seek! Seek!"
Qiao Sang and Treasure Seeker cheered from the side, acting like enthusiastic cheerleaders.
Fangflare focused on the energy orb, feeling its internal structure stabilize. Then, it tilted its head back, and the energy orb shot up into the sky.
Qiao Sang watched the energy orb closely.
Sure enough, the energy orb rose to about four meters before plummeting down, heading straight for Liu Gan Stream.
"Bang!"
A loud splash as water splattered everywhere.
Then, a fish floated to the surface, its body sideways.
"Little Seeker", Qiao Sang called out.
"Seek~"
Treasure Seeker, still holding the ice lolly, mumbled a response. It extended two short toes, and a blue glow emanated from its body. The focus bead around its neck also glowed faintly.
The fish in the water was controlled and floated over.
Qiao Sang placed the fish in a plastic bag she had prepared.
This was the seventh fish to suffer since Fangflare started training with the energy orb.
Fortunately, the fish in Liu Gan Stream were all wild, otherwise, they would have had to change the training location again.
"Tooth."
Fangflare was used to failure and did not get discouraged. It continued to sense the energy within its body.
It had been ten days since Fangflare started practicing the energy orb, and it had progressed from a tiny orb the size of a fingernail to one the size of an infant's fist.
For a junior familiar, this was an impressive rate of improvement.
However, the internal structure of the energy orb was not yet solid enough, and it would often fall uncontrollably after rising only a short distance, sometimes even exploding mid-air.
Qiao Sang checked the time.
5:01 PM.
With the help of the F-Class Energy Recovery Serum, Fangflare practiced until it was time to eat every day.
Qiao Sang considered herself a relatively ambitious person, but she doubted she could be as diligent as Fangflare without the pressure.
Having such a carefree familiar was truly... delightful!
Her classmates who had recently graduated from junior high and become New Beast Tamers were still figuring out how to get along with their familiars.
Forget about training skills; sometimes they had to coax and trick their familiars just to get them to master the skills they already knew.
The five types of familiars recommended for New Beast Tamers had good personalities.
But a good personality didn't always mean diligence.
A few days ago, Fang Sisi had messaged her, complaining that Cotton Worm refused to spin silk.
Qiao Sang suggested she look up information online or consult a Familiar Trainer.
The next day, Fang Sisi sent over the diagnosis from the Familiar Trainer.
Although the report was lengthy, it boiled down to one word: lazy.
Qiao Sang watched Fangflare form another energy orb, feeling content as she finished her ice lolly.
……
17:56.
At the dining table.
Third Aunt took a bite of the braised fish and sighed, “The fish Qiao Sang brings over is always so delicious.”
Qiao Sang shoveled a mouthful of rice and replied, “It’s because Third Aunt cooks it so well.”
“You’re such a child,” Third Aunt chuckled. “By the way, Ran Ran, how did your blind date go today?”
In the ten days Qiao Sang had been back in Hometown, Ye Ranran had already gone on three blind dates.
Qiao Sang, though not directly involved, was eager to hear the gossip. She lowered her head to eat, but her ears were perked up, listening intently.
Ye Ranran glanced around the table, then her gaze settled on Qiao Sang. “I feel like you’ve gotten a bit tanner.”
Qiao Sang: “!”
Getting tanner or gaining weight were things that girls generally cared a lot about, and Qiao Sang was no exception. She had been spending a lot of time outdoors lately, even though she stayed in the shade. The sun was intense, and she hadn’t used any sunscreen, so it was no surprise she had tanned.
“I just bought some Frost Coral Powder. You should try drinking it,” Ye Ranran suggested.
Frost Coral Powder was known to noticeably improve skin tone, with immediate effects. It had always been highly praised in the beauty market.
Qiao Sang nodded eagerly. “Sure, so how did your blind date go today?”
Ye Ranran: “…”
“It’s no good. During the Interstellar Cup, he actually supported Clivak,” Ye Ranran said helplessly.
The Interstellar Cup had ended a couple of days ago, but many people were still immersed in the excitement of the event.
Clivak was the one who had defeated Lin Ya.
His strength was clearly superior to Lin Ya’s, and he had won all his matches, only stopping at the semi-finals.
Although Clivak was powerful, in Dragon Nation, almost everyone supported Lin Ya.
Even those who weren’t Beastmasters knew what Lin Ya represented in Dragon Nation.
Supporting different Beastmasters during the Interstellar Cup could easily lead to emotional rifts.
According to statistics, during each Interstellar Cup, the divorce rate among couples rose by 9%, and many relationships ended in arguments or breakups.
“That’s definitely no good. What kind of person were they introducing you to?” Third Aunt said, clearly upset.
Obviously, Third Aunt supported Lin Ya as well.
As they neared the end of the meal, Third Uncle, who had been silent, spoke up, “Ah Sang, I’m still short one person.”
Qiao Sang was taken aback for a moment, then she remembered the Marathon Relay Third Uncle had mentioned a while ago.
Third Uncle lived in town, yet he couldn’t even put together a team of three for the marathon?
Was it because Third Uncle didn’t have good relations with others, or were the Beastmasters in town excluding him?
Qiao Sang’s mind raced with various possibilities.
“But Xiao Xunbao was just born. I’m afraid I’ll be a burden,” Qiao Sang said, worried.
If Third Uncle wanted to compete, he must have been aiming for a good ranking. The marathon was an extremely challenging event. Most participating familiars had undergone systematic training and possessed both speed and endurance.
Both physically and mentally, they were outstanding.
If it was just a three-person team, each sending one familiar, it would be manageable. But if they needed to send two familiars, a Treasure Seeker clearly wasn’t suitable for this event.
“Don’t worry. We just need one more person. You can just be a filler. Besides, the competition not only ranks the overall team performance but also calculates the individual rankings of each familiar based on their relay segment. I mainly want to win the individual ranking,” Third Uncle explained.
Qiao Sang immediately felt relieved.
If it wasn’t about winning the team ranking, then even if the Treasure Seeker only ran 100 meters and then gave up, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“Alright, I’ll do it. Who’s the other person?” Qiao Sang asked.
Ye Ranran put down her chopsticks. “It’s me.”
Qiao Sang: “…”
(End of Chapter)
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