Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 28: The Baseball Training Hall

It's important to understand that the human brain's potential is limitless, with nearly a billion neurons—both mysterious and fragile.

Before the awakening of the Beast Master’s Codex, the brain is in what’s known as a dormant state.

After awakening, it enters what’s called the awakened state.

Intelligence does not directly correlate with the brain's development. The percentage of brain development is calculated starting from the moment one awakens the Beast Master’s Codex.

For an ordinary Beast Master, the brain's development after using magnetic stimulation to awaken the Beast Master’s Tome is about 2%.

Meanwhile, a self-awakened Beast Master's brain development is around 5%.

The more developed the brain, the better, but only if it's stable.

Throughout history, many researchers have conducted experiments and studies related to brain development, and without exception, they have concluded that stability is crucial in brain development.

If the brain isn’t stable, it could collapse.

Although Qiao Sang had previously sent a photo of her self-awakening proof to the admission office, everyone at that time was too excited about having a self-awakened special recruit applying to their school to scrutinize the details.

However...

Chen Shengtang glanced at the Firefang Dog. Since the child was able to successfully contract with a pet beast, the brain issue shouldn't be too severe.

Still concerned, he asked, "Did the person who tested your brain say anything?"

Qiao Sang nodded. "She said my brain waves are fluctuating a lot and advised me to get more rest and eat more nuts."

Then it should be fine. If the fluctuations were too severe, she would have been kept for observation.

Chen Shengtang breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want any issues with the first self-awakened special recruit to ever apply to their school.

At this moment, the male teacher sitting across from Chen Shengtang casually asked, "You have pretty dark circles under your eyes. Didn’t sleep well?"

Qiao Sang replied sheepishly, "I pulled an all-nighter last night."

Chen Shengtang: "..."

"Even though the high school entrance exams are approaching, you should still get good rest. Studying all night isn’t worth it." Chen Shengtang seriously advised.

Qiao Sang, who had stayed up because she was heartbroken over losing 5000 Alliance Coins, felt a little guilty and silently nodded.

Seeing Qiao Sang being so obedient, Chen Shengtang’s thoughts returned to her brain.

If there were no problems, once stabilized, her brain development could potentially reach up to 9%! She would be just one step away from a second awakening of the Beast Master’s Codex!

Although it’s unlikely...

Normally, such brain fluctuations eventually stabilize at the lowest or slightly above the lowest value.

Chen Shengtang stopped his wishful thinking, returned the information card and the self-awakening proof to Qiao Sang, and turned to introduce the only bald male teacher present.

"This is Mr. Zhao, who will be responsible for your brain testing."

"Hello, Mr. Zhao." Qiao Sang greeted.

Mr. Zhao nodded at Qiao Sang as a greeting.

"Don’t be fooled by Mr. Zhao’s appearance; he’s a genuine expert in brain science." Chen Shengtang said with a smile.

Indeed, it seems that experts in any field tend to have less hair...

---

Inside the testing room.

Having been through it once before, Qiao Sang was much more relaxed during the second test and no longer overthought Mr. Zhao’s subtle expressions.

With Qiao Sang's cooperation, the test was quickly completed.

Opening the door.

"Yip!"

The Fire fang Dog's eyes lit up when it saw Qiao Sang, and it immediately jumped at her excitedly, nearly making her stumble.

Since the Fire fang Dog started wearing the weighted bracelet, Qiao Sang hadn’t carried it much.

The dog also knew it was a bit heavy for its Beast Master to hold for long, so after staying in Qiao Sang’s arms for 10 seconds, it jumped down on its own.

"You two seem to be very close," Chen Shengtang couldn’t help but remark.

It was the first time he had seen a fire-type pet beast so obedient and affectionate towards its master.

"Mhm." Qiao Sang responded with a smile.

All the teachers from the office had come out and were neatly waiting outside the testing room for Qiao Sang.

Even if she hadn’t been nervous before, Qiao Sang started feeling the pressure from all the attention.

Mr. Zhao handed the test results to Chen Shengtang and said seriously, "There’s no issue, but it hasn’t stabilized yet."

Chen Shengtang looked at the results, which were the same as those on the self-awakening proof.

Self-awakened special recruits are given a score reduction on their entrance exam based on their brain development. Each school has different standards for special recruits.

At their school, a brain development of 5% would result in a 100-point reduction from the minimum passing score, and 6% would result in a 200-point reduction.

However, Qiao Sang’s brain development was still fluctuating, with no stable percentage.

This made things a bit tricky.

But it wasn’t a big issue.

Chen Shengtang made a decision and smiled at Qiao Sang. "Since your brain development hasn’t stabilized yet, we’ll take the median value for your score reduction."

Typically, if the brain development fluctuates between 5% and 9%, it should stabilize at 5% or 6%.

But Chen Shengtang decided to set her brain development at 7%.

None of the teachers around him seemed surprised by this decision.

This was the first self-awakened Beast Master to ever apply to their school. Whether her score was reduced by 100 points more or less wasn’t important. What mattered was showing their school’s attitude.

As long as she chose to attend Hanggang Sixth Beast Master High School, the doors were wide open for her!

Qiao Sang naturally understood the meaning behind this.

Most ordinary Beast Master high schools only list score reductions for 5%-6% brain development in their special recruitment criteria.

That’s because, in five years, a province might not even produce a single candidate with a self-awakened brain development of 7% or above.

And even if there were, they would definitely not apply to an ordinary Beast Master high school.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t touched. This meant she could now score 300 points below the minimum passing score on the entrance exam, which was essentially an admission offer.

"Thank you." Qiao Sang said.

---

After saying goodbye to Hanggang Sixth Beast Master High School, it was only 10:32 AM.

Qiao Sang didn’t take the Fire fang Dog to train in Chagui Park as she had the previous days.

She headed to the third floor of the Vile Plaza.

Baseball Training Hall.

After paying for two hours, Qiao Sang took the Fire fang Dog to one of the mechanical training rooms inside.

This baseball training hall was designed for people to practice baseball, but Qiao Sang thought it was perfect for training the Fire fang Dog’s reflexes.

The small, empty mechanical training room was only about a dozen square meters and had just two automatic baseball pitching machines.

"Fire fang Dog, try to dodge the balls that will be coming at you. I’ll be right here with you, and if you get tired, just let me know." Qiao Sang instructed.

Although the Fire fang Dog didn’t know where the balls would come from, it obediently nodded.

The automatic pitching machines had six settings, with the pitching speed increasing from level one to level six.

The weighted bracelet was still on the Fire fang Dog’s right front leg as Qiao Sang walked over to the pitching machine and set it to level one.

Both pitching machines activated, and with their slow speed, Qiao Sang easily dodged a ball and moved to a safe corner to sit down.