Chapter 11: Holy Water High School

Qiao Sang was utterly heartbroken.

Is this why you suddenly attacked the TV?!

She lifted Fire Fang Dog's head, ready to give it a proper lecture.

"Click." The door opened.

Qiao Sang slowly turned her head and forced a stiff smile. "Mom, you're back."

"Coo!"

The plump House Dove immediately trotted over to its mother and nuzzled against her affectionately.

Mother stared at the carnage in the living room in silence for a few seconds, then turned her head toward Qiao Sang and asked in a gentle tone, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Qiao Sang immediately held Fire Fang Dog up in front of herself as a shield. "It was all its doing!"

Fire Fang Dog blinked its innocent big eyes.

Mother stared at Fire Fang Dog for a moment, then said, "It'll be deducted from your allowance."

Mother didn't answer the question, but instead asked, "Is there any high school you want to attend?"

Qiao Sang looked it over. The special admission exam for Holy Water High School was on June 10th, one week before the high school entrance exam — twelve days from now.

A pet beast's potential is limited. You can't tell a pet beast's aptitude just from its outward appearance. A pet beast with good aptitude learns skills and undergoes reawakening much faster than an ordinary one.

"Fang."

Qiao Sang was briefly stunned, thought for a moment, then said, "Hanggang Sixth Beast-Taming High School."

"Hanggang Holy Water High School?"

Apart from those who get recommended admission or choose special recruitment at other schools, Holy Water High School gets over a dozen applicants each year through self-awakening. After all, it's the number-one ranked school in Hanggang City — it has that kind of prestige.

"No," Qiao Sang answered against her conscience.

22:12 at night.

【Attribute: Fire】

Qiao Sang mainly looked at the self-awakening special recruitment section.

Holy Water High School — ranked first among Hanggang City's 108 beast-taming high schools, and second in all of Zhejiang-Hai Province, with a college admission rate as high as 98.73%. A truly top-tier prestigious school.

Honestly, that's actually quite a bargain…

The night was deep and still; all was quiet.

You got scared into learning a Spark skill just from watching TV?!

It nodded, indicating it wanted to watch.

The corner of Mother's mouth twitched. "Then go register online right now."

Is trading over 4,000 Alliance Coins for a skill a bargain?

……

"Got it." Qiao Sang picked up Fire Fang Dog and headed out.

【Points: 0】

Qiao Sang gazed at her with a resentful look.

Students who can get into this school are naturally the absolute cream of the crop in Hanggang City.

Although self-awakened individuals are one in ten thousand, when you gather everyone from all of Zhejiang-Hai Province, there are still forty or fifty in a year.

Qiao Sang picked it up and looked, the corner of her eye twitching.

Qiao Sang said in a soft, gentle voice, "I don't blame you for what happened this morning. Do you still want to watch TV?"

【Name: Fire Fang Dog】

As for Holy Water High School, things were a bit more troublesome. Only five self-awakened special-recruit students were admitted each year. After the application review, they had to compete in pet beast battles at a designated time and place.

"Is there something you need?" Qiao Sang asked.

Students ranked second through fifth who pass must score 50 points above the high school entrance exam's minimum cutoff to be admitted.

Judging by Qiao Sang's current grades, it shouldn't be a problem.

Fire Fang Dog's body trembled involuntarily. Why did it suddenly feel a bit cold?

……

"I stopped by your school." Mother walked over and sat down on a single armchair nearby. The plump House Dove followed as well.

Qiao Sang thought for a while. Everyone participating in the special recruitment had only just self-awakened this year, and their pet beasts were all beginner-level. She had contracted a fire-type pet beast — that wasn't without its advantages.

Fire Fang Dog recalled the morning's incident and knew it had been in the wrong. The things inside that screen weren't going to come out.

Qiao Sang picked up the recruitment brochure from the coffee table and said, "Forget about the allowance — I just want to give it a try."

Thinking of Fire Fang Dog, Qiao Sang was slightly stunned, then her consciousness entered the Beast-Taming Codex.

Qiao Sang went to her room, turned on the computer, and registered for both Hanggang Sixth Beast-Taming High School and Holy Water High School.

Qiao Sang lay on the bed, hands clasped behind her head, a gleam of eager anticipation deep in her eyes. She tossed and turned for a long while, then sat up again and looked at Fire Fang Dog, who was still wide awake beside her.

If the high school entrance exam were still half a year away, Qiao Sang would be willing to put in the effort. But counting from today, there were only 19 days left until the exam — it was absolutely impossible to get in that way.

Qiao Sang gazed at Fire Fang Dog, lost in thought.

Fire Fang Dog was stared at for a long while, its face full of confusion.

"Fang?"

If you were unlucky enough to contract a pet beast of mediocre aptitude, you might spend a whole year without it learning a single skill.

A pet beast battle, huh.

The first place was a bit more lenient — you only needed to score at Hanggang City's minimum cutoff.

She placed the recruitment brochure in her hands onto the coffee table.

"Do you have any objections?" Mother asked.

Mother looked at Qiao Sang calmly and said, "Sign up. You don't have to pass — as long as you try your best, I won't dock your allowance."

Like last year, Hanggang City's minimum score line was 332. If Qiao Sang could develop her brain domain to 6%, she'd only need 132 on the middle school exam to get specially recruited.

Her Fire-Toothed Dog has decent aptitude — should she take it to watch a ghost movie next time?

……

【Level: Beginner (115/1000) +】

Qiao Sang didn't understand. Even if she had self-awakened, were her mother's expectations of her unreasonably unrealistic?

A month's allowance was only 1,000 Alliance coins, and a TV cost at least over 4,000 Alliance coins. Losing four months' allowance in one go — of course she had objections.

Mother said without changing expression, "Yes."

Ye Xiangting watched her daughter's back, a flash of amusement in her eyes. Then she recalled what had happened at school that afternoon, and her expression darkened again.

Qiao Sang withdrew her consciousness and looked at the Fire-Toothed Dog with a strange expression.

Hanggang Sixth Beast-Taming Middle School's conditions were relatively simple: once proof of self-awakening was uploaded online and approved, score reductions were granted based on the degree of brain domain awakened.

If that's the case, why waste time making room to sit this school's special recruitment exam?

Mother took a recruitment brochure from her随身 bag and placed it in front of Qiao Sang. "I think you could try applying to this school."

"Mom, aren't you thinking too highly of me?" Qiao Sang said helplessly.

【Skills: Bite (Beginner 73/100) +, Tackle (Proficient 135/500) +, Fire Fang (Beginner 2/100) +, Ember (Beginner 3/100)】

A 5% brain domain development gets you 100 points off Hanggang's middle school exam minimum score line; 6% gets you 200 points off.

Based on Qiao Sang's old grades, she definitely couldn't have gotten into a school like this, but now that she'd self-awakened, she could give the special recruitment a try.

The rankings of these two schools differed greatly, and their special recruitment requirements weren't the same either.

Choosing this school was purely because it was close to home.

Fang Sisi had actually mentioned this matter in a message she sent.

The Sixth Beast-Taming Middle School wasn't the sixth-ranked middle school in Hanggang City — it was simply called that name. Its actual strength ranking among Hanggang City's 108 beast-taming high schools was 52nd, a middling level.

Qiao Sang picked up the phone by her bed, searched for the most popular ghost movie recently, and held it in front of the Fire-Toothed Dog.

The Fire-Toothed Dog watched with rapt attention.

A forest shrouded in thick fog — a girl in white walked through it. Through the girl's perspective, a faint black shadow could be seen floating in the air…

Qiao Sang didn't watch along. Her right hand rested on the phone as she observed the Fire-Toothed Dog's reactions, ready to pull it out at any moment.

(End of chapter)