Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Chapter 57: No!!!

In the guest seating area:

“This Fire fang Dog has some extraordinary strength.”

“It’s not just strength. Whether it’s speed, reaction time, or technique, it’s on a completely different level compared to other pet beasts of rookie Beastmasters.”

One of the guests who had watched the earlier matches added, “And its Beastmaster, if it weren’t for the information right in front of us, it would be hard to believe this is a rookie…”

“Yesterday, this Qiao Sang used the Fire fang Dog to defeat a Sand Fox despite the odds.” Another guest chimed in.

“Oh? A new student from Lintang High?”

“No idea, the information doesn’t say.”

The profiles of participants in the Bai Xin Competition are filled out by the contestants themselves online.

Except for the Beastmaster’s identity, which can’t be faked, other experiences are filled in at will, and the data verifiers don’t usually investigate further.

Most people embellish their profiles a bit, some even adding things like being a class monitor back in elementary school.

The purpose is simple: To give the commentators more to talk about during introductions.

Someone like Qiao Sang, who left all the fields blank except for her Beastmaster identity, is rare indeed.

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After watching the morning matches, Qiao Sang didn’t continue watching in the afternoon.

After returning home and eating, she took Fire fang Dog and boarded bus No. 59.

Fire fang Dog’s strength had surpassed her expectations.

As an excellent Beastmaster, one should always have a comprehensive understanding of their pet’s condition to better harness and improve its power.

Songchang Street.

Pet Beast Gym.

After declining the receptionist’s suggestion to sign up for a membership, Qiao Sang paid for an hour and directly took Fire fang Dog to the second floor.

As soon as she entered, she was hit by a wave of heat.

Most of the machines had pet beasts working out on them.

Most of the beasts here were of the Fighting type, with only a few other types mixed in.

Not all pet beasts had their Beastmasters beside them.

The higher the Beastmaster’s rank, the more contracted beasts they have, and the less time they can dedicate to each one. It’s impossible to supervise every workout session.

In these cases, it’s up to the pet beast’s discipline.

Like the three Power Claw Crabs chatting on the floor near the wall, they were clearly not very disciplined, as they hadn’t even broken a sweat, indicating they hadn’t started working out yet.

Qiao Sang took Fire fang Dog to a force-testing machine.

Ordinary force-testing machines at the gym can only measure a pet beast’s strength in its regular state.

For moves like Fire Punch or Ice Punch, you need a more advanced force-testing machine.

A Gravity Ape was in front of the machine, throwing a heavy punch at the target.

The virtual screen above the target instantly displayed a number.

369 kg.

The Gravity Ape frowned at the number.

As it was about to test again, it noticed someone watching from behind.

The Gravity Ape immediately straightened its back, raising its left hand to block its face while flexing its right fist, making its muscles bulge.

In the next instant, it threw a punch with a gust of wind at the force-testing machine.

433 kg.

The new number, dozens of kilograms higher than before, appeared on the virtual screen.

The Gravity Ape looked satisfied and then turned around, pulling a business card from its cloth belt and handing it to the human who had been watching it.

“Gravity, gravity.”

Qiao Sang took the card and glanced at it.

The Gravity Ape’s selfie was printed in the upper left corner, with the words Intermediate Fitness Trainer written behind it.

Qiao Sang: ...

“Fire fang Dog, quickly explain to it that we were just lining up.”

Fire fang Dog nodded and began communicating with the Gravity Ape.

“Yap yap.”

“Yap yap.”

“Yap.”

“Gravity, gravity.”

“Yap.”

“Gravity.”

The Gravity Ape understood, smiled at Qiao Sang, and then reached out to take back the card from her hand.

Qiao Sang: ...

Although the Gravity Ape was a bit stingy, taking its card back, it kindly offered its place.

“Go ahead.” Qiao Sang said.

“Yap!”

Fire fang Dog responded, then stood in front of the force-testing machine, mimicking the Gravity Ape’s stance, and swung its paw like a fist at the target.

13 kg.

Qiao Sang stared at the number on the virtual screen in silence for a moment.

Something seemed off…

The Fire fang Dog’s usual training, aside from speed, mostly involved skills.

Its raw strength hadn’t been trained, so a force of only 13 kg was to be expected.

Qiao Sang quickly figured it out.

She found a muscular guy nearby who was clearly a fitness enthusiast and asked if Fire fang Dog could test its Charge move on the force-testing machine.

The muscle-bound guy glanced at the roughly 60-centimeter-tall Fire fang Dog and said, “Sure.”

At this moment, a Rockfist that had been punching another force-testing machine next to the muscle guy overheard the conversation, and his eyes lit up.

He immediately backed up several dozen steps, intending to charge at the machine.

The muscle-bound guy’s eye twitched as he shouted, “You can’t! It might survive, but you’ll break it!”

Qiao Sang agreed that he was probably right, but Fire fang Dog wasn’t pleased.

It walked up to the force-testing machine and backed up over ten meters.

Because this was a pet beast gym, it was several times larger than a regular gym.

Even with Fire fang Dog backing up ten meters, it didn’t interfere with other pet beasts’ workouts.

Fire fang Dog felt like it had been underestimated.

Since it was born, no one had ever underestimated it!

It was determined to prove it could break this thing!

Four seconds later.

Qiao Sang looked at the number on the virtual screen with satisfaction.

128 kg.

Higher than she had imagined.

Fire fang Dog’s Charge move was only at the minor adept level, but its power was much stronger than that of other low-level pet beasts at the same level.

Although she couldn’t figure out why, she had achieved her goal of testing Fire fang Dog’s strength.

“Let’s go.” Qiao Sang said, crouching down to pick up Fire fang Dog.

“Yap!”

Firefang Dog took two steps back, shaking its head.

It hadn’t broken this thing yet! How could they leave now?

Qiao Sang thought Fire fang Dog hadn’t had enough testing and wanted to try a few more times.

Fire fang Dog was always diligent and had high standards for itself.

Back when Qiao Sang was cramming for her high school entrance exams and didn’t have time to supervise Fire fang Dog, it had still been very disciplined, training itself every day in the neighborhood.

Thinking of this, Qiao Sang said warmly, “Okay, you continue. Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

She was ready to extend the time.

“Yap!”

Fire fang Dog nodded solemnly.

In its eyes, underestimating it meant underestimating its Beastmaster.

For the sake of its Beastmaster, it would do its best!

Fire fang Dog gathered all its strength, feeling the energy inside it surge with its determination.

Its eyes filled with resolve, and it charged at the force-testing machine with all its might.

Twenty minutes later.

Qiao Sang was amazed to see that Fire fang Dog’s strength numbers kept climbing.

From the original 128 kg.

Then to 146 kg.

Later 159 kg, and it kept going up, now reaching 298 kg!

But Fire fang Dog’s proficiency with the Charge move was clearly still at the minor adept level, and the power of a skill shouldn’t increase progressively like this.

With energy and stamina being used up, Fire fang Dog should be getting more and more exhausted.

Fire fang Dog was already gathering strength again.

Qiao Sang suddenly recalled what the vice principal of Shengshui High had told her not long ago.

“Fire fang Dog is currently in a state that’s nearing a critical point, somewhat similar to the precursor of skill awakening…”

Qiao Sang suddenly realized.

Could it be…

At the same time, Fire fang Dog felt the energy inside it growing more and more intense.

A scorching flame suddenly ignited around Fire fang Dog’s body, wrapping it tightly from head to tail.

Fire fang Dog had a premonition.

This time it could do it!

In a daze, it seemed to hear its Beastmaster’s heart-wrenching scream.

“No!!!”

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