Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 48: The Hundred New Competition

“Yap!”

The Fire Fang Dog’s bark pulled Qiao Sang back from her thoughts.

She looked down to see that an entire bottle of Qiyuan Milk had been drained.

The Fire Fang Dog gazed longingly at its Beast Tamer, clearly wanting another bottle.

Qiao Sang handed it the water she had prepared in advance.

Now that her entire savings had dwindled to three digits, she had to ration the water and milk.

If she didn’t, her assets might be depleted before the Hundred New Competition even started.

The Fire Fang Dog didn’t mind.

It gulped down the water, took two bites of the super spicy crazy grilled wings, and turned back to its training.

The Fire Fang Dog really seemed determined to learn Meteor Shower

Qiao Sang stared at the Fire Fang Dog, which was constantly breathing fire, and then pulled out her phone to search for training centers in Hanggang City that offered Meteor Shower lessons.

Soon, the web page displayed several institutions offering skill training.

One of them was just three streets away.

Qiao Sang clicked on it.

[One-on-One Nanny-Style Guidance]

[One of the Most Renowned Fire-Type Pet Beast Training Institutions in the Country]

[A team of nearly 500 trainers, including 1 A-Rank Beast Tamer, 12 B-Rank Beast Tamers, and 122 C-Rank Beast Tamers]

[Over 20,000 successful advanced skills training sessions each year]

The description seemed exaggerated. If it were truly one of the most renowned institutions in the country, they’d probably add another zero to the 20,000 successful sessions per year.

However, if they really had an A-Rank Beast Tamer as a trainer, this institution's strength couldn’t be underestimated.

Qiao Sang clicked to inquire about the cost of training Meteor Shower.

The response came quickly.

Qiao Sang felt a little dizzy.

So many zeros...One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand...

She couldn’t bear to look any further. She quickly closed the page and put her phone away.

It was better to just let the Fire Fang Dog continue practicing on its own. Hiring a trainer was out of the question…

---

June 30th.

Qiao Sang took the No. 63 bus early in the morning to the Pet Beast Arena at Shouke Park.

A long line had already formed at the entrance of the arena, mostly filled with people around Qiao Sang’s age.

There were also a few reporters with microphones randomly interviewing people.

Qiao Sang, carrying the Fire Fang Dog, deliberately took a detour to Line 2, afraid that some sharp-eyed reporter might interview her.

After all, the Fire Fang Dog was wearing sunglasses, making it stand out among the other new Beast Tamers of her age.

The Fire Fang Dog wasn’t wearing the sunglasses by choice; Qiao Sang had put them on it.

After several days of training with no progress on Meteor Shower, the Fire Fang Dog seemed to have lost some confidence and had become much quieter. So, Qiao Sang decided to give it sunglasses.

Though the Fire Fang Dog still wasn’t talking much, at least its spirits seemed higher.

After standing in line for over twenty minutes, Qiao Sang confirmed her name, received her contestant badge, and headed to the D section, Row 11, of the arena.

“Qiao Sang!”

A voice called out, waving from Seat 5 in Row 11.

Qiao Sang sat down next to Fang Sisi and asked, “Besides you, how many of our classmates are here?”

Last night, Fang Sisi had messaged Qiao Sang, and they found out they had both registered for the June 30th Hundred New Competition, leading to this meeting.

“Not many, maybe 4 or 5. The Hundred New Competition coincides with a few matches of the Interstellar Cup, so most people didn’t want to miss the livestreams.” Fang Sisi replied, her eyes shining as she stared at the Fire Fang Dog.

It was her first time seeing the Fire Fang Dog in sunglasses.

It looked so cool!

Fang Sisi thought the Fire Fang Dog was cool and said so out loud.

Normally, if someone complimented it like that, the Fire Fang Dog would puff out its chest and let out a proud bark.

But this time, it just puffed out its chest without making a sound.

The Fire Fang Dog wanted to bark proudly.

But it couldn’t. It had eaten too many super spicy crazy grilled wings in the past few days.

Its throat hurt...

“Your Cottonbug is growing well, it looks much bigger than last time.” Qiao Sang complimented.

Though, honestly, she was thinking it looked chubbier...

In just five days, the Cottonbug had grown much rounder.

However, insect-type pet beasts like the Cottonbug have short evolution cycles, so if they eat and sleep well, they develop much faster than other pet beasts.

These changes were noticeable to the naked eye.

“Cotton~”

Hearing someone praise it, the Cottonbug shyly turned its back on Qiao Sang.

“Is it bigger? I didn’t really notice.” Fang Sisi picked up the Cotton Caterpillar to weigh it.

“It does seem much heavier.”

Cottonbug: ...

It was all the same meaning, but why did it feel uncomfortable hearing it from its own Beast Tamer…

After chatting for about twenty minutes, the seats around them gradually filled up.

With the loud bang of fireworks, the Hundred New Competition officially began.

“What’s your number?” Fang Sisi asked.

“123. What about you?” Qiao Sang replied.

“11.” Fang Sisi answered.

Qiao Sang: ...

“Shouldn’t you go to the waiting room? I think it’ll be your turn soon." Qiao Sang couldn’t help but remind her.

The preliminary matches in the Hundred New Competition weren’t random but directly followed the number order: 1 against 2, 3 against 4, and so on.

“That can’t be. There are still five matches ahead of me. I’ll go backstage when the fifth match starts; I still want to watch more of the competition.” Fang Sisi said.

Qiao Sang thought it was a bit risky but didn’t say more.

Fang Sisi had a point. By the time the host finished introducing the event and a few matches had been played, it would take some time.

Sixteen minutes later.

“Damn! That was fast! Qiao Sang, I gotta go now!” Fang Sisi grabbed her Cottonbug and rushed out of her seat.

She sprinted down the aisle towards the backstage area.

In those sixteen minutes, the host had spent about ten minutes on introductions.

The remaining time saw nearly one match per minute.

The F-rank Beast Tamers in the arena only had beginner pet beasts, and with limited abilities, most matches ended within three moves if the opponent struck first.

Qiao Sang had thought she wouldn’t be called until the afternoon or even the next day.

Now it seemed certain she would compete that morning…

“Contestant No. 11, Fang Sisi.”

“Contestant No. 11, Fang Sisi.”

The host called Fang Sisi’s name twice, but she still hadn’t appeared.

“Let’s congratulate…” The host was about to declare Contestant No. 12 the winner by default when a voice suddenly came through his earpiece.

“Let’s congratulate Contestant No. 11, Fang Sisi, on her grand entrance!”

Since the start of the Hundred New Competition, the host had been straightforward, simply announcing the contestants’ numbers and names.

This was the first time he added the words grand entrance to a contestant’s introduction.

For a moment, the audience was intrigued.

Three seconds later.

Fang Sisi appeared on the field, panting heavily.

Beside her was her chubby Cottonbug, struggling to keep up...