The Alliance categorizes skills into five levels: low-level, mid-level, high-level,超 level, and divine level. There are clear distinctions in both energy consumption and power between these levels. Low-level and mid-level skills are quite common, with many contract beasts spending their entire lives using just these two levels of skills.
For a contract beast to learn a skill, apart from reading the corresponding learning manuals and putting in diligent effort, the most crucial factor is talent. There’s a saying: talent determines the ceiling, while hard work determines the floor. Sometimes, even with abundant resources, if a contract beast lacks talent, it cannot evolve to its racial limit. The same applies when learning skills.
Logically speaking, it’s generally recommended that a contract beast only start contemplating learning high-level skills after evolving to a higher tier. However, the Beastmaster society has developed for many years, and there have been instances of mid-level contract beasts learning high-level skills. Such occurrences are surely recorded in the annals of contract beast prodigies.
While mid-level contract beasts have learned high-level skills, there has never been a case of low-level contract beasts mastering high-level skills. At least, Qiao Sang had never heard of such a thing.
Looking at the spirited Fire Tooth Dog before her, Qiao Sang felt a twinge of worry. She was glad that the Fire Tooth Dog was so determined, but some things couldn't be achieved merely by having the right attitude. Although Qiao Sang recognized the Fire Tooth Dog’s talent, she knew that being blindly confident was not the answer.
Still, thinking this way didn’t stop her from crouching down and patting the Fire Tooth Dog’s head with a smile, saying, “Alright, I’ll find a way.”
Using discouragement as a tool was not effective. A Beastmaster and their contract beast should work harmoniously towards a common goal; that was the right way to relate to one another.
“But you can’t neglect your skill training,” Qiao Sang continued.
Actually, there was still ample time; aside from training with the Fire Tooth Dog, she didn’t have much else to do. Moreover, the Fire Tooth Dog practiced skill releases using its clones, which saved a lot of time. Once the F-grade energy recovery liquid arrived, training sessions would probably only last about an hour.
With all that remaining time, they could focus on other things. Of course, effort was one thing, achieving results was another.
“Ya!” The Fire Tooth Dog’s eyes lit up as it solemnly nodded, then scampered over to its bag to search for milk. It wanted to drink milk! It wanted to train!
...
At 6:10 PM, during dinner.
Ye Ranran animatedly spoke about her experiences from the day. “You wouldn’t believe it! All my coworkers looked like their eyes were popping out! We went there expecting to sacrifice ourselves for the cause, but instead, we ended up winning! Who would have thought the guy was already tied up?”
“If it weren’t for Qiao Sang being just a kid, Team Zhang might have dragged her into our police squad right away,” Ye Jingwen remarked, putting down her book and looking at Qiao Sang in surprise. “Your observation skills are incredible! Why don’t you consider becoming a nurturer?”
Ye Ranran retorted, “Those observation skills would suit a cop better!”
Uncle San, who had been quiet at the dinner table, finally spoke up, “A Sang is a great candidate to become a professional Beastmaster; it’d be such a waste if she doesn’t!”
Aunt San came out carrying a steaming hot dish and chuckled, “Why are you all getting so far ahead? At your age, focusing on your studies is the most important thing.”
Usually, Qiao Sang would humbly change the subject a bit, but now her mind was preoccupied with how to help Fire Tooth Dog train for Meteor Shower, so she didn’t join the discussion.
“A Sang, how long do you plan to stay here?” Uncle San suddenly asked.
If this question were from a less familiar relative, it might seem like they were hurrying her to leave, but since it was Uncle San who asked, Qiao Sang didn’t think much of it. After pondering for a moment, she replied, “Not sure. If nothing unexpected happens, I should stay until school starts.”
“In half a month, there will be a marathon relay race in town, teams of three. I still need one more person on my end. If you’re interested, I can help you sign up,” Uncle San said.
Qiao Sang looked at him in surprise. She didn’t expect Uncle San, who was getting older, to still participate in a marathon.
Perhaps her surprise was too obvious because Uncle San added, “It’s a relay race for contract beasts; only Beastmasters with two contract beasts can join.”
Qiao Sang, caught off guard, thought to herself, “...”
She had overthought things. Besides the beast battle competitions and those flashy coordination contests, there were all sorts of competitions in this society. Just like the various events in the Summer and Winter Olympics, only now the participants were contract beasts.
“If you need someone for your team later, just call me,” Qiao Sang said. She didn’t mind participating in such activities. Fire Tooth Dog would manage fine as it had determination, but Little Treasure Hunter, who was barely a month old, would surely be last.
“Great.” Uncle San nodded and returned to his meal, the conversation fading into silence.
After dinner, Qiao Sang went back to her room, logged onto the Super Blog. The Fire Tooth Dog skillfully turned on the TV to find the contest channel, as watching battle games had become its recent hobby.
Just as Qiao Sang logged in, she was surprised to see over 110,000 followers on her account. It had only been two days since she got verified; could it be that Song Yuan helped her buy followers?
But when she copied and posted a picture of the Fire Tooth Dog along with a text topic, she realized how wrong she was.
[Reserving a front row seat]
[Aaaah! Finally waiting for you!]
[Ya Bao is so cool!]
[Is this the new Beastmaster praised by Sha Duo?]
[Is this the new Beastmaster praised by Gao Xulu?]
[There’s nothing surprising about winning with a Fire-type beast as an F-grade Beastmaster; I could do it too.]
[You've finally posted! I’ve been waiting for two days!]
[Sha Duo said you could participate in the regional competition later; I’m following you now to see if I can witness the rise of a new star.]
Most comments were directed at Sha Duo and Gao Xulu. It seemed these people hadn’t watched the Baixin competition but only came to follow her after seeing Sha Duo and Gao Xulu praising her.
With the popularity of Sha Duo and Gao Xulu, it was no surprise that she gained several thousand followers in an instant.
After reading a few comments, Qiao Sang closed the Super Blog and opened the forum instead.
[How can I train for Meteor Shower?]
Since she promised the Fire Tooth Dog, she needed to take action and find a solution. Eating super hot chicken wings was definitely not the answer. Initially, she had them to help activate the Fire-type energy within the Fire Tooth Dog.
But the skill of Meteor Shower essentially involved the beast launching a condensed Fire-type energy sphere into the sky, which then exploded to unleash a stream of energy to attack its target.
There were many challenges ahead: how to condense that energy sphere, how to successfully release it in the air, and how to control the sphere to explode mid-air.
The internet was indeed a gathering place for countless internet-addicted teens; just a moment after posting her question, Qiao Sang saw a reply.
[Do you want to get it for free?]
(End of this chapter)