Chapter 268: Not Training?
If it were her past life, Qiao Sang would've packed up and gone home the moment it wasn't her turn to compete.
It wasn't that she lacked team spirit; it was just that as people grow older, school sports meets start to feel dull.
The events are mostly running and high jumps, and after seeing them repeatedly, they lose their appeal.
In her past life, the opening ceremony of the sports meet was the highlight, with the most people attending.
Once the ceremony was over, most students dispersed, and only those waiting for their classmates to compete stayed on the field.
But things were different in this Beast Tamer society. Most of the competitors were pet beasts, and even though the events remained the same each year, the different shapes and abilities of the pet beasts made them far more entertaining.
Qiao Sang decided to stay and cheer for her classmates.
"Xun..."
Little Treasure, realizing he didn't have a match today, drooped a bit.
Qiao Sang patted his head and smiled.
"It's actually good that your match is tomorrow. You get an extra day to practice. I'll go find out who your opponents are for tomorrow, so we can be fully prepared."
"Xun!" Little Treasure's eyes lit up; he thought this was a great idea.
"I know!" Zhang Shuzhou, who had been talking to others nearby, suddenly leaned over enthusiastically.
"I know who's competing in the Brick-breaking by hand event tomorrow!"
Though he was chatting with others, Qiao Sang, being such a standout figure in school and with her unique pet Treasure-Seeking Demon, was hard to ignore.
Zhang Shuzhou kept sneaking glances at Little Treasure.
Treasure-Seeking Demon... who would've thought what Wang Yiding from the other class said was actually true...
Zhang Shuzhou looked at Qiao Sang with a complicated expression, thinking she should rename herself to Qiao the Outrageous.
Unaware of Zhang Shuzhou's thoughts, Qiao Sang played along and asked, "Who else?"
"There are thirteen competitors in total, one from each class." Zhang Shuzhou replied.
"Aside from Li Jiang from Class 2 and Zhao Fangrui from Class 8, the other ten participants, all except you three, are sending Fighting-type pet beasts to compete."
"Besides you, there's another strong contender: Liu Qijia from Class 9. His pet beast is a Power Monkey, and I hear his dad is a Beast Tamer specializing in breeding Fighting-type beasts. It's intense."
Qiao Sang was taken aback.
"How do you know I'm a strong contender?"
Zhang Shuzhou chuckled, "Who doesn't know about your Treasure-Seeking Ghost, no, Treasure-Seeking Demon now. Everyone knows your Treasure-Seeking Demon not only breaks tiles but has perfected it. Forget competing with first-years; it could easily crush third-years too."
Qiao Sang's mouth twitched.
"That's just a rumor."
"Rumor?!" Zhang Shuzhou exclaimed.
"Are you saying your Treasure-Seeking Demon can't break tiles?"
The entire class instantly fell silent, looking over.
Qiao Sang held back for a moment, "...It can."
The class resumed their chatter.
"I knew it had to be true." Zhang Shuzhou laughed.
Qiao Sang: ...
At 8:10 a.m.
Once the school leaders finished their usual speeches, almost all the students summoned their pet beasts.
Usually, summoning pet beasts wasn't allowed, but the sports meet was an exception.
In an instant, the field was filled with pet beasts.
Qiao Sang summoned Yabao.
As for Lubao, when she stored her in her Beast Tamer Codex this morning, she was still asleep. It hadn't been too long, so she decided to let her rest a while longer.
"Yap!"
Yabao, seeing the lively atmosphere around him, wagged his tail excitedly.
"Yabao, do you remember Little Ball Pofu?" Qiao Sang asked.
"Yap..." Yabao tried hard to recall.
"The timid one with a dandelion on its head." Qiao Sang reminded him.
"Yap!"
Yabao called out, indicating he remembered.
"We're going to watch it compete in the shuttlecock-kicking event now." Qiao Sang said.
"Yah!"
"Xun!"
Jin Feifan's shuttlecock-kicking event was today, scheduled as one of the first events right after the opening ceremony.
Though shuttlecock-kicking wasn't exactly thrilling, the short event time and the audience's high spirits right after the ceremony meant there was a large crowd.
Seeing the crowd, Qiao Sang nimbly hopped onto Yabao's back.
Yabao understood his Beast Tamer's intentions and used his telekinesis to levitate above the crowd.
With her view unobstructed and a great vantage point, Qiao Sang had one word in mind, Awesome!
Bang!
With the starter pistol's sound, thirteen pet beasts lined up and began kicking the shuttlecock.
Qiao Sang looked toward Little Ball Pofu.
Although Little Ball Pofu's body was round and its legs were short, it was nimble, kicking the shuttlecock back and forth without needing to use its vine whip yet.
Another stable contender was the Multi-Clawed Crab on the far side. It hadn't moved from its spot at all, using its ten claws to alternate and kick the shuttlecock in place.
In theory, kicking the shuttlecock should involve some movement, but the Multi-Clawed Crab didn't shift even a bit.
So that's what coordination ability looks like, Qiao Sang thought to herself.
Yabao's mental strength and basic stats were solid, stamina, physical durability, speed, and burst strength all far surpassed pet beasts of his level. However, he didn't seem to have any standout skills in coordination.
Coordination, simply put, is control ability.
The higher the skill mastery, the stronger the control.
Yabao could improve his control ability by enhancing his skill proficiency, but that only applied to specific move control, not overall bodily and energy control.
Qiao Sang couldn't help but think that while Yabao's mental and energy levels were both high enough, he still had a long way to go if he wanted to keep his main body in school while maintaining a clone at home.
Recently, his progress had slowed. If he could improve his control ability to better manage internal energy and control his clone, perhaps he could further extend the distance...
How could she train Yabao's coordination ability?
"Yap yap!"
Yabao cheered enthusiastically for Little Ball Pofu, completely unaware that his Beast Tamer was considering ways to train him.
7:02 p.m.
Tianjing Garden, Apartment 1705.
"Aren't you going to train?" Qiao Sang asked Lubao.
"Lu."
Lubao gave a cold shake of her tail.
Only a pet like Yabao needs to train; Lubao doesn't need it to be stronger.
Didn't the vice principal say that when Water Luriana evolved, it would be driven to get stronger? This wasn't adding up. Qiao Sang was puzzled.
She thought for a moment and asked, "You were practicing Rain Prayer for a while; have you stopped?"
Lubao looked at Qiao Sang, her lips curling into a slight smirk before quickly smoothing out.
If Qiao Sang hadn't had sharp eyes, she might have thought she imagined it.
"Lu."
With a flick of her tail, Lubao walked toward the courtyard with an aloof gait.
Qiao Sang paused, then hurried after her.
In the courtyard, Lubao stopped close to where Yabao was.
"Lu lu."
Then, Lubao looked up and let out a cry.
A chilly wind picked up, and a dark cloud appeared in the sky. A couple of seconds later, rain began to fall.
It... it started raining?
Feeling the raindrops on her face, Qiao Sang was stunned. Something clicked in her mind, and she quickly accessed her Beast Tamer Codex to check Lubao's stats.
Rain Prayer (Novice 2/100)+