It was 7:45 in the evening.
Qiao Sang sat at her desk, planning how to utilize the remaining time of her summer vacation. It was only July 6th, and according to past years, high school usually started in early September. That left her with a month and a half of time to spare.
Her Fire-Tooth Dog had already accumulated 456 points. If she added all those points to its levels, at the normal rate of gaining 2 points a day, it would take about 176 days for it to evolve. She figured that by having Fire-Tooth Dog battle, it could earn enough points during the summer to complete a stage of evolution.
As for its Blaze characteristic, she had asked Fire-Tooth Dog to try activating it that morning, but it wasn’t as reliable as a skill that could be used 100% of the time. She had gathered some knowledge about characteristics. The alliance rated characteristics from E to S, with six levels in total. This rating wasn’t based on their usefulness; instead, it assessed how well a characteristic could be utilized.
It reminded her of assessing the proficiency of skills. There were also some forced characteristics. For example, the ‘Rainy Day Nap’ characteristic of the Moonflower Grass was an innate E-level trait that couldn't be changed because it couldn't control itself.
Many experienced beastmasters would take note of the characteristics their contracted beasts had. Qiao Sang thought the data in the Beastmaster Codex regarding characteristics was likely based on the alliance's standards. If Fire-Tooth Dog's Blaze feature needed points or a bad state to activate, she felt it was better to let it evolve naturally for now. After all, if future battles relied on Blaze to turn the situation around, she didn’t think she could call herself a competent beastmaster.
In the morning, she had experimented with skills. Since she was still in the neighborhood, Fire-Tooth Dog could only practice Fire Tooth with its clones. If it trained other skills at the same time, the homeowners resting below would likely complain.
Using five clones, she released 40 Fire Teehs. That was the limit of energy within Fire-Tooth Dog now. It had come a long way from when it could only release about 20 Fire Teehs after recharging each day.
The Little Treasure Ghost was an unexpected surprise. Originally, she thought her second companion beast would still be an egg. However, she didn’t mind things going outside her plans. In fact, she welcomed more surprises like this…
Little Treasure Ghost was still a young beast. Training it directly would be unfair. She decided to let it enjoy its childhood a bit longer and would start training it a month later.
The summer vacation still had to be focused on Fire-Tooth Dog…
Under the lamp's light, the girl supported her chin with one hand and held a pen in the other, writing and stopping intermittently.
In the living room, three companion beasts were playing hide and seek. Little Treasure Ghost was floating openly on top of the TV. Watching Fire-Tooth Dog and the Plump Dove aimlessly searching in the kitchen, it could not help but curl its small claws into fists and felt an odd thrill.
In another room, a phone call was still underway.
“Hello, is this Second Sister-in-law? No worries, just calling to chat, my Sang Sang…”
…
The next day.
Qiao Sang set off for Jin Yu Building, where she had arranged to meet Song Yuan, with Little Treasure Ghost perched on her head and holding Fire-Tooth Dog in her arms. Little Treasure Ghost drank from a milk bottle, its curious eyes scanning the surroundings.
Passersby would glance at it but quickly turned away, trying not to meet its gaze. This made it feel amused, so it focused on someone until they turned to look at it.
In contrast, Fire-Tooth Dog behaved much more maturely—different from usual. It understood that today was important.
Its beastmaster had said, as long as today’s photoshoot went well, it could drink milk freely from then on! The milk powder money for the new little brother might also depend on this photoshoot!
On the 18th floor of Jin Yu Building, a young woman in professional attire knocked on the door and reported, “Mr. Song, the person you appointed has arrived.”
“Let her in,” Song Yuan said as she picked up the prepared contract.
The young woman didn’t leave but stood there, with a hesitant expression. She recalled that the boss had arranged to meet with the first place winner of the Bai Xin Competition. Since they would be discussing collaboration, she had already investigated Qiao Sang’s background.
A recent middle school graduate, she had specially passed the examination to enter Holy Water Middle School, earning first place in the Bai Xin Competition with her lower-tier companion beast, Fire-Tooth Dog. However, the data didn’t mention her having a Treasure Ghost. Could it possibly be a wild extraordinary creature?
Should she report this to the boss? But, the security downstairs seemed quiet…
“Do you still have something to say?” Song Yuan asked.
“No,” the young woman thought it over and chose to trust the security.
Thirty seconds later.
Song Yuan stared blankly at Qiao Sang, who had just walked in, unable to greet her right away. Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Hello, is this the inspection department? I have a wild ghost beast here, a Treasure Ghost. The address is…”
Qiao Sang: “…!”
She hurriedly spoke up, “This is my newly contracted beast!”
Song Yuan: “!!!”
After a brief yet effective conversation, Song Yuan finally hung up the phone. “I remember you just graduated from middle school,” she said, her expression a mixture of confusion and surprise.
“I guess I’m a bit of a genius,” Qiao Sang replied.
Song Yuan: “…”
She suddenly felt like not talking anymore.
After a while, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you contract a ghost-type beast as your second? You could’ve chosen a more manageable beast first and then considered a ghost-type when your strength increased in a few years.”
Song Yuan was puzzled.
She wasn’t someone who typically meddled in others' affairs; there were plenty of gifted children among her relatives, but compared to this girl, they seemed somewhat ordinary. It made her feel a sense of admiration.
From what she could see, the girl’s talent could easily lead her on the path of a professional beastmaster. But if she contracted a beast that was hard to manage too soon, she would waste time dealing with messes and outsmarting her own beasts, plus guarding against more radical beasts seeking to sever contracts, which was never a wise choice.
They said a genius’s thoughts differ from the ordinary, but her relatives’ children seemed perfectly normal.
Qiao Sang sighed, “Sigh, I didn’t want this either, but it is a genius.”
Song Yuan: “…”
She really shouldn’t have spoken earlier.
The endorsements and photoshoots proceeded smoothly. Fire-Tooth Dog only needed to model three styles of new sunglasses, which didn’t take too long.
Little Treasure Ghost watched the whole process with fascination. It floated slowly in front of a pink heart-shaped pair of sunglasses just taken off, clumsily removing the ring on its head to place the sunglasses inside.
Qiao Sang: “…”
She closely observed Little Treasure Ghost. Knowing the nature of Treasure Ghosts, she couldn’t just let it act thoughtlessly. Each Treasure Ghost had different preferences. She wanted to see what her little one liked.
Unexpectedly, it picked up the sunglasses. Did it enjoy the same things as Fire-Tooth Dog?
Just as Qiao Sang was about to ask Little Treasure Ghost to take the sunglasses out, before she could open her mouth, it proactively took off the ring and brought the sunglasses out.
Qiao Sang felt a surge of relief.
She thought Little Treasure Ghost sensed her feelings.
But, it floated to where Fire-Tooth Dog had just completed its shoot and presented the sunglasses to it.
“Xun Xun~”
“Ya~”
Fire-Tooth Dog let out a shy bark.
Qiao Sang: “…”
As the beastmaster of these two companion beasts, she of course understood what they were saying.
Qiao Sang looked at Little Treasure Ghost with a strange expression. Was that compliment sincere? It felt a bit too mature for its age…
(End of Chapter)