Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 18: Profiency

Attribute restraint is common knowledge. Of course, Chen Tongtong knew that.

However, it was true that he had never fought against a fire-type pet before. After all, in the entire school, only two brave souls dared to contract a fire-type pet as their first choice.

Both of them were in the second year of high school; None were in his grade.

"Is the suppression of attributes really that strong?" Chen Tongtong was feeling depressed.

He absentmindedly handed over the money, not even noticing when the other party left until Jiang Liu patted him on the shoulder.

"Why didn’t you get her contact information before transferring the money? That way, you could have shared her contact with me."

Chen Tongtong: "…Get lost!"

---

After Qiao Sang finished her third battle, her mother called.

Qiao Sang checked the time: 6:17 PM.

Wencheng Middle School finishes at 5 PM. Her home is close to the school, only a ten-minute bus ride away. Even if she dawdled, she should have been home by 5:30 PM.

"I took Fire fang Dog out for some training," Qiao Sang replied.

There was a brief silence on the other end before her mother said, "Come home soon; the food’s getting cold."

"I understand."

After hanging up, Qiao Sang tore off the paper stuck to her backpack.

She was dissatisfied with today’s results. The school’s peak dismissal time was brief, and by the time she finished three battles, most of the students had already left.

Too slow.

Qiao Sang realized that waiting around at another school wasn’t a good strategy.

After some thought, she focused her consciousness into the Beast Codex.

Name: Fire fang Dog

Attribute: Fire

Level: Beginner (115/1000) +

Skills: Bite (Beginner 74/100) +, Charge (Intermediate 138/500) +, Fire Fang (Beginner 5/100) +, Ember (Beginner 5/100) +

Points: 55

All the skill values had increased slightly, but why was the point total not a multiple of three?

Could it be that different opponents award different points?

She had fought three times today: Against a Fat Dove, a Cottonseed Worm, and a White Sand Fox, all beginner-level pets.

The only difference was that, unlike the Cottonseed Worm, which was knocked out in one hit, the other two put up a fight for a few rounds.

Did the Cottonseed Worm lower the point total?

Looking at the data, a thought suddenly occurred to Qiao Sang.

"Fire fang Dog, use Fire Fang," Qiao Sang instructed.

"Yap."

Fire fang Dog didn’t understand her purpose, but it obediently used Fire Fang. Since there was no target, the skill quickly dissipated.

Qiao Sang checked the Beast Codex again.

Name: Fire fang Dog

Attribute: Fire

Level: Beginner (115/1000) +

Skills: Bite (Beginner 73/100) +, Charge (Intermediate 135/500) +, Fire Fang (Beginner 6/100) +, Ember (Beginner3/100) +

Points: 55

The value behind Fire Fang had increased!

That means the skill's proficiency increases even without a target!

She had misunderstood earlier. Skill proficiency comes from practice; it doesn’t necessarily require a target to improve.

But if using a skill just once increases proficiency, wouldn't everyone's pets master their skills quickly?

Qiao Sang didn’t know how proficiency works for others, but for her, it seemed like using a skill once did increase proficiency.

To test her theory, Qiao Sang had Fire fang Dog use Fire Fang again.

After it was done, the value for Fire Fang increased from 6 to 7, just as she expected.

Qiao Sang paused for a moment and then decided to have Fire fang Dog use Fire Fang a hundred times right then and there.

Fire fang Dog nodded, determined to succeed.

But reality hit hard. After using Fire Fang four times in a row, Fire fang Dog was exhausted and listless.

The Fire Fang value stopped at 10.

Using skills consumes energy and stamina, and it was clear that Fire fang Dog could only manage about four uses of Fire Fang in its current state.

Fire fang Dog had already fought three battles today, depleting its energy and stamina.

Qiao Sang assessed the situation. If fully rested, Fire fang Dog could likely use Fire Fang about ten times in a row without issue.

If they practiced ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening, the Fire Fang skill could reach proficiency in five days!

Can pet skills really improve from beginner to proficient that quickly?

Qiao Sang recalled her limited knowledge of beast-taming.

No.

Even low-level skills take about a month of daily practice to progress from novice to proficient.

The next stage, mastery, would take at least six months, with its power increasing several fold.

Fire Fang is a mid-level skill, and progressing from beginner to proficient would usually take five to seven months.

But Fire fang Dog could do it in five days.

This is clearly the work of a cheat code!

With this ability, how could she not aim to be the top recruit at Shengshui High School?

By then, she’d have all her skills at a proficient level—how could they possibly beat her?

When the time comes...

"Yap!"

Fire fang Dog’s bark snapped Qiao Sang out of her daydream.

Qiao Sang came to her senses and noticed that some people around were giving her strange looks. She instinctively adjusted her expression.

As she tried to relax her face, she realized her muscles were sore. She had been smiling too hard...

"Ahem, let’s go home," Qiao Sang said, picking up Fire fang Dog.

"Fang!"

Fire fang Dog pointed its little paw toward a barbecue stand in the distance.

Qiao Sang glanced at it and suddenly felt hungry herself. No wonder she could smell the cumin from so far away.

"No, there’s food at home." Qiao Sang resisted the temptation and turned her head away.

"Fang…" Fire fang Dog looked up at her with big, pleading eyes.

This little guy knows how to act cute now…

"You can have two skewers." Qiao Sang relented.

Fire fang Dog nodded happily.

At the barbecue stand.

"Hey, you’re still here." The lady running the stand recognized Qiao Sang.

"Yeah." Qiao Sang replied, inhaling the aroma of grilled meat.

"Auntie, I’ll take 20 lamb skewers."

In the end, Qiao Sang ate five skewers, and Fire fang Dog ate fifteen.

On the way home, Qiao Sang earnestly instructed, "When we have dinner later, you need to pretend you’re still hungry and finish your food, got it?"

"Yap."

Fire fang Dog let out a satisfied belch in response.

Qiao Sang: "..."

She consoled herself, thinking that it would take over half an hour to get home from the bus stop near the Thirty-Seventh Beast-Taming High School. By then, the food should be digested…

Pets can eat human food, but for proper growth and nutrition, they need specially prepared meals with energy-rich ingredients.

The pet food at home was prepared by her mother, who spent considerable time making it.

If Fire fang Dog couldn’t eat her mother’s meal because it was too full from lamb skewers…

Qiao Sang shook her head, refusing to dwell on it.

Taking the subway would get her home in just over ten minutes, but for Fire fang Dog’s sake, she chose the bus instead.

On bus number 66, likely due to exhaustion and a full stomach, Firefang Dog uncharacteristically rested quietly by the window, watching the scenery pass by.