Chapter 18: Proficiency

Attribute countering is common sense, and of course Chen Tongtong knew that.

Still, it was true that he had never fought a fire-type pet beast; the whole school only had two tough guys who dared to contract a fire-type pet beast as their first.

Both of them were Gao Er, and not a single one in their year had done it.

Is attribute suppression really this strong? Chen Tongtong fell into a funk.

He was so out of it that after paying, he didn't even know when the other party had left, until Jiang Liu patted him on the shoulder.

"Why didn't you add her contact info before transferring the money? That way you could've sent her contact info to me too."

Chen Tongtong: "... Get lost!"

……

After Qiao Sang had finished her third match, her mother's call came in.

"Why aren't you home yet?"

The value of Fire Fang stopped at 10.

"Fang."

But reality was cruel — right after Fire Fang Dog released Fire Fang for the fourth time in a row, it went... listless.

【Name: Fire Fang Dog】

The corners of her mouth dropped, the muscles pulling a little, and she actually felt a twinge of bitterness.

Qiao Sang consoled herself: from the bus stop nearest the 37th Beast-Taming High School, it would take over half an hour to get home, so by then she should have digested it all...

This was clearly the power of the golden finger!

Releasing skills also costs energy and stamina, so obviously the current Fire Fang Dog could only cast Fire Fang a few times.

【Skills: Bite (Beginner 74/100)+, Tackle (Proficient 138/500)+, Fire Fang (Beginner 5/100)+, Spark (Beginner 5/100)+】

In the end, Qiao Sang ate 5 skewers, and Fire Fang Dog ate 15.

Fire Fang Dog pointed with its tiny paw at the barbecue stall in the distance.

Can a pet beast's skill really go from beginner to proficient that fast?

"Fang."

Too slow.

Fire Fang Dog's cry pulled Qiao Sang back from her fantasy.

【Attribute: Fire】

When that time comes...

【Name: Fire Fang Dog】

"Yeah." Qiao Sang replied, sniffing the smell of barbecue. "Auntie, give me 20 lamb skewers."

"Fang!"

Qiao Sang didn't know how other people's skill proficiency worked, but hers really did seem to increase with every release.

"Ahem, let's go home." Qiao Sang said, picking up Fire Fang Dog.

【Skills: Bite (Beginner 73/100)+, Tackle (Proficient 135/500)+, Fire Fang (Beginner 6/100)+, Spark (Beginner 3/100)+】

She was very unsatisfied with today's results; the after-school rush was only so long, and by the time she finished three battles, most people had already left.

All the skill values had gone up by a little, more or less — but why weren't these points multiples of 3? Did defeating different pet beasts give different amounts of points?

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

Fire Fang Dog answered, then let out a satisfied burp.

The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then said: "Come home early. Dinner's already gone cold."

"Fire Fang Dog, use Fire Fang once." Qiao Sang suddenly said.

"No way, there's already food waiting at home." Qiao Sang turned her head away and resisted the temptation.

"Student, you haven't gone home yet?" The auntie running the barbecue stall recognized Qiao Sang.

"You can only have two skewers." Qiao Sang conceded.

Even a low-level skill, practiced every day, would take nearly a month to go from beginner to proficient; the stage after proficient was Minor Accomplishment, with several times the power, and that would take at least half a year.

Was it the Cotton Worm that dragged the points down?

Qiao Sang looked at the data in front of her and suddenly thought of something.

With this golden finger, was she still afraid she couldn't get first place in Holy Water Middle School's special recruitment? When the time came, she'd grind all her skills to proficient — what would they use to fight her!

Only then did Qiao Sang realize she had laughed herself numb...

On the way back, Qiao Sang said earnestly: "When we eat dinner later, you absolutely have to pretend you haven't eaten your fill and finish your food, got it?"

Qiao Sang looked at the Beast-Taming Codex again.

Qiao Sang was silent for a moment, then withdrew her consciousness from the Beast-Taming Codex and immediately had Fire Fang Dog cast Fire Fang 100 times to see what happened.

"Got it."

Fire Fang Dog had already fought three matches in a row, and had consumed a good deal of stamina and energy.

Qiao Sang felt that just camping out at someone else's school waiting wasn't really a workable plan either.

【Level: Beginner (115/1000)+】

This little guy actually learned to act cute...

Qiao Sang reviewed her limited beast-taming knowledge.

Qiao Sang judged that, in a state of full mental energy, casting Fire Fang 10 times in a row should be no problem.

To verify her idea, Qiao Sang had Fire Fang Dog release Fire Fang once more.

Pet beasts can eat human food normally, but to develop well and get good nutrition, they have to eat specially prepared food containing energy.

"Fang!"

Qiao Sang: "……"

After Fire Fang Dog finished releasing it, sure enough, the value of Fire Fang went from 6 to 7.

The value behind Fire Fang had increased!

【Level: Beginner (115/1000) +】

【Points: 55】

Didn't that mean that if she practiced on her own, the proficiency of skills could increase without needing an attack target!

She had been overthinking it before. Skill proficiency was built up through practice; it didn't necessarily require an attack target to increase.

Fire Fang was an intermediate skill. Just going from entry-level to mastery would take about 5 to 7 months.

She thought for a moment, and her consciousness entered the Beast Codex.

If she released it 10 times in the morning and 10 times in the evening, wouldn't Fire Fang's proficiency reach mastery in 5 days?!

Wencheng Junior High's dismissal time was exactly 17:00 in the afternoon. Home was close to the school, and taking a bus got there in just over ten minutes. Usually, even dawdling, she could arrive by 17:30.

But Fire Fang Dog could do it in 5 days.

Fire Fang Dog nodded, looking as though it had everything handled.

【Attribute: Fire】

Qiao Sang checked the time. 18:17.

No.

She had battled three times today: Little Fat Dove, Cotton Worm, and Bai Sha Fox, all beginner pets. The only difference was that aside from Cotton Worm being one-shot KO'd, the others had gone a few rounds.

Although Fire Fang Dog didn't understand Qiao Sang's intention, it obediently used Fire Fang. Since there was no attack target, Fire Fang was quickly recalled.

Qiao Sang glanced over and realized she was hungry too — no wonder she had smelled cumin drifting over from so far away.

Qiao Sang came back to her senses, only to see some people around her looking over with strange gazes. She instinctively adjusted her expression.

She arrived in front of the barbecue stall.

Fire Fang Dog nodded happily.

"Fang~" Fire Fang Dog looked up at Qiao Sang with its moist eyes.

But if releasing a skill once could increase proficiency, wouldn't everyone's pets be able to reach the transcendent realm with their skills?

"I took Fire Fang Dog to train." Qiao Sang answered.

【Points: 55】

The pet's food at home was always specially prepared by her mother, which took quite a bit of time. If Fire Fang Dog ended up too full from eating lamb skewers and couldn't eat what her mother made…

Qiao Sang shook her head, not daring to think further.

From here, taking the subway would get her home in just over ten minutes, but for Fire Fang Dog's sake, Qiao Sang still chose to take the bus.

On bus route 66, probably because its energy had been used up and it was full, Fire Fang Dog was unusually quiet, lying at the window watching the scenery outside.

(End of chapter)