Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

There's a saying online: When two beast tamers lock eyes, it’s highly likely a battle is about to ensue.

To satisfy Yabao's desire for a match, Qiao Sang deliberately followed the gaze of Ice Shimmer Bear's tamer, trying to make eye contact with her.

It wasn’t difficult to locate Ice Shimmer Bear's tamer.

Although the arena was spacious, the number of tamers in it could be counted on one hand.

Each person stood far apart, and within Ice Shimmer Bear's ten-meter radius was only one person, a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, with long straight black hair and a slightly delicate appearance.

It was clear she was Ice Shimmer Bear's tamer.

Generally, people can feel when they’re being stared at. But after Qiao Sang had stared for nearly a full minute, the woman remained completely unaware.

Left with no choice, Qiao Sang walked up and asked, "Hello, would you be interested in a match?"

"Yap!" Yanao also let out a battle-ready cry toward Ice Shimmer Bear.

Yabao: ...

The woman squinted at Qiao Sang, then pulled a pair of glasses from her shoulder bag and put them on.

So she's nearsighted, no wonder she didn’t react despite being stared at for so long. Qiao Sang thought to herself.

The woman looked at Qiao Sang, then at Yabao, before pulling out a business card from her bag and handing it over.

She said, "Sure, but my sparring sessions are booked until next week. You can reserve a slot for the week after next."

Qiao Sang took the card and read it.

Hongying Beast Taming Battle Club, Senior Sparring Partner, Zhang Jie.

Qiao Sang's first thought was: She's a sparring partner, how come I don’t have a business card?

Her second thought: Sounds like she thinks I'm a customer. Well, sparring partners usually charge a fee, so it makes sense.

Qiao Sang asked, "Out of curiosity, what's your hourly rate?"

"Ten thousand alliance coins. Judging by the fact that you’re here, you’re probably a sparring partner, too." The woman said.

"Since we're colleagues, I’ll give you a 10% discount."

Qiao Sang thanked her.

With her current bank balance, the discount wasn’t really necessary, but who could resist the appeal of a discount?

Qiao Sang then took Yabao to the spot she had initially scoped out.

"Xun~" Little Treasure emerged, proactively pulling an energy recovery drink from the ring and offering it to Yabao.

"Drink this first to recover a bit, you’ve been flying for quite a while." Qiao Sang said to Yabao.

"Yap."

Yabao nodded and used his telekinesis to open the energy recovery drink, pouring it into his mouth.

Although energy recovery drinks are expensive, they’re worth it. YabAo instantly returned to peak condition.

Qiao Sang set her backpack in front of her, and Lubao immediately leaped out, positioning herself next to Ya Bao.

"Here’s the plan." Qiao Sang told her three pet beasts.

"Yabao, practice the Meteor Rain technique with your Shadow Clone, while the main body uses telekinesis to hurl gravel at Lubao."

"Lubao, you’ll try to dodge the gravel. I'll place a pen on Yabao. Your task is to dodge the gravel, make your way to Yabao, and grab the pen."

"Little Treasure, continue with the tile-breaking exercise, but increase the count to fifteen pieces. Once you’re tired, use telekinesis to control gravel and launch it at Lunak, like Yabao."

Yabao and Little Treasure’s training routines had always been clear.

For Lubao, Qiao Sang’s training plan involved perfecting her Healing Light technique and building up her basic attributes.

On land, water-type beasts generally can’t move as quickly as they can in water.

Qiao Sang didn’t expect Lubao to become a jack-of-all-trades.

But in large competitions, the battle field is chosen randomly, so luck alone can't guarantee a water environment.

If beasts are summoned before the field is revealed, Lubao could end up at a disadvantage.

After all, suitable environments for water-type beasts to fully demonstrate their strength are rare.

The Stone Fragment Barrage Technique could enhance Lubao’s reaction time, movement speed, and physical endurance.

Moreover, it could sharpen her willpower.

Most low-level beasts would instinctively move away from a barrage of flying gravel, rather than risk getting hit while moving and dodging.

Even if Lubao struggled with speed initially, since the gravel was controlled by telekinesis, she could have Yabao pause or adjust the speed of the attack anytime.

This also allowed Yabao to enhance his telekinesis proficiency.

Most importantly, training together might strengthen their bond.

A win-win, perfect.

For recovery, they had the energy drinks, and the overpowered super-tier skill Healing Light allowed for endless training. Okay, maybe not endless, but close enough.

Qiao Sang had high hopes, but reality proved merciless.

Yabao was, after all, just an intermediate-level beast. In addition to practicing Meteor Rain, a high-energy move, his telekinetic control over the gravel was quickly draining his energy.

Qiao Sang calculated that, on average, Yabao needed a third of an energy drink every five minutes.

At this rate, forget about training endlessly; they’d probably be heading home in two hours.

Thankfully, her beasts were all dedicated to training, which offered some comfort.

Having cooperative pets was truly heartwarming.

Lubao’s performance exceeded expectations, too. Qiao Sang kept an eye on her.

Since most of Yabao's energy went into practicing Meteor Rain with his clones, the gravel attacks weren’t too intense. But for Lubao, who was small and still a low-level beast, they were challenging enough.

Lubao faced the incoming gravel without hesitation, charging forward and increasing her speed.

Some gravel inevitably hit her, but she didn’t even flinch.

Watching her for a while, Qiao Sang suddenly realized her mistake.

Perhaps, given Lubak’s repeated injuries and the perfection of her Healing Light, her body strength didn’t require further training.

"Xun~"

Just then, Little Treasure floated over, showing his claws with a tired expression.

But his eyes kept glancing at Yabao hurling gravel at Lubao.

That looks fun! He wanted to try!

Qiao Sang checked her phone, only 17 minutes had passed since training began.

She put her phone back in her pocket and said, "If you’re tired of breaking tiles, you can practice Hypnosis. There should be ants around here. I remember you telling me you want to evolve."

"If you don’t step it up, Lubao might evolve before you."

Little Treasure had initially been unconcerned, thinking Lubao was an old-timer.

But having stayed close to Qiao Sang, he’d overheard her conversation with Liu Yao and realized Lubao was only seven months old, not much older than him.

"Xun!"

Little Treasure was anxious.

No way! He couldn’t let someone close to his age evolve before him!

He immediately scoured the ground for targets to practice Hypnosis.

Because they were positioned far from the other senior sparring partners, the continual Meteor Rain from Yabao’s clones, with its heavy firestorm and booming impacts, created a sensory overload.

As a result, Qiao Sang had no idea that every senior sparring partner in the arena had been staring in her direction for a good ten minutes.