Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

"I know." Qiao Sang nodded.

"You know?" Pirite was a little surprised.

Qiao Sang responded with a light “Mm”: "I watched the matches at home yesterday and took note of all the contestants who advanced."

Getting to know potential opponents was a small habit she'd picked up from her days participating in the National Campus Beast Mastering League.

But unlike back then, when teachers and school teammates helped gather data, this time she only had a rough idea of the basic information about the participants, like their profession and ace beasts, mostly things she could find online.

Such a diligent attitude toward learning… Pirite couldn’t help comparing her to his own disappointing son and immediately felt disheartened. But he quickly collected his thoughts and asked: "What information did you find out?"

"Groki Haldorson, 27 years old." Qiao Sang recalled.

"Four beasts in total, two general-level, one high-level, and one low-tier beast."

"His ace beast is the Snow Lion King, a dual Water and Ice-type general-level pet. Its body fat is thick enough to resist extreme cold, it doesn’t feel chilly even below freezing temperatures."

Qiao Sang thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. I only know his age, professional level, and number of pets."

That’s already pretty good. After all, most students in such training-oriented competitions only focused on strengthening their beasts... Pirite slowly explained: "Coordinators don’t emphasize sheer power in their pets. Instead, they find every way to showcase their beasts’ charm. But anyone who knows the field understands, true coordinators are far from weak."

"They often study one skill to its absolute limit. And the higher the coordinator’s level, the more likely they’ll attempt to perfectly combine two or more skills into one seamless performance."

"Groki has already achieved this."

Qiao Sang silently listened, then summarized: "He uses combo techniques?"

Biritt glanced at her.

"More than just one."

This opponent is something else... Qiao Sang felt a flicker of excitement.

For combo moves to be effective, the skills involved had to be extremely well-practiced.

Whether one was a professional Beast master or Coordinator, later stages of development always came down to combining moves for peak performance.

Currently, Yulianton University’s curriculum was laying the foundation for combo techniques.

Thanks to her golden finger, Qiao Sang's skill mastery progressed rapidly, so she could already think about advanced pairings.

But for others, mastering skills wasn’t easy. It took thorough thought and targeted training, followed by careful fusion.

For someone his age to already wield multiple combo moves, he could rightfully be called a genius.

Pirite continued: "There’s another thing to remember when facing a coordinator: Don’t get fooled by appearances."

Qiao Sang recalled the time the Coordinator Department's dean seemingly disappeared right before her eyes. She nodded seriously: "I understand."

---

The Beast Tamer Star Tournament only introduced each contestant on Day 1. After that, there were no more individual intros.

So once the players finished grouping up, the battles began quickly.

The whole arena was buzzing. Many of the beasts Qiao Sang saw were new to her. Everyone had all kinds of dazzling tricks, coordinators, item specialists, rune masters, and other professions. It was a true eye-opener.

Time ticked by.

A staff member approached: "Miss Qiao Sang, you’re up next. Please follow me to the prep area."

"I'm going." Qiao Sang stood and told Pirite.

"Go on." He nodded.

Qiao Sang followed the staff through the passage to the backstage area. She was just about to wave her hand to return Yabao and Little Treasure into the Beast Codex.

"Xun xun!"

Before she could raise her hand, Little Treasure understood her intent and called out, he insisted on going into battle!

Qiao Sang stopped mid-motion, surprised.

"Why? You don’t usually like battling that much."

"Xun xun~"

Little Treasure curled his right lip slightly, raised a paw, and adjusted his monocle.

He had overheard the earlier conversation.

The upcoming opponent was a coordinator. He believed he had a talent for that kind of battle and wanted to test himself.

Qiao Sang: …

Still under the influence of the Coordinator Department dean, huh…

No wonder he's been striking poses all the time lately…

Even insisted on buying a towel to wear as a cape… Qiao Sang sighed and explained patiently: "This isn’t a coordination contest."

"Yap!"

Yabao nodded in agreement. This was a real battle, he should be the one to go!

Qiao Sang: …

"Xun xun~"

Little Treasure waved his paw dismissively.

It didn’t matter if this wasn’t a coordination match, the opponent was a coordinator, so their tactics would lean in that direction. He just wanted to see how well he could respond.

Saying this, he floated beside Yabao and patted his shoulder.

"Xun xun~"

Big bro Yabao, don’t worry. One match for you, one for me, we’ll take turns.

"Yap yap."

Yabao thought for a moment and nodded. That was fair.

These two… Qiao Sang twitched at the corners of her mouth and waved to return them both into the Beast Codex.

---

Two minutes later, the announcer’s voice rang out over the field:

"Next up, we have the dazzling Groki Haldorson! And the breakout star who caused a stir on her debut, Qiao Sang!"

Qiao Sang stepped out of the passage onto the battlefield.

Since no one was shouting nepotism this time, she didn’t feel as tense as she had on her debut.

Opposite her stood a tall young man with golden curls, wearing a white suit. Even from a distance, he radiated a noble aura.

As the two entered the arena, the audience erupted in cheers.

"Groki! Groki!"

"Groki! You’re the most handsome!"

"Groki! Unstoppable!"

"Qiao Sang! Show us Ice Aipalu again!"

Finally, someone’s shouting my name… Qiao Sang felt a quiet satisfaction. Her face, however, remained calm.

Groki turned his head and flashed a dazzling smile. He blew kisses to each side of the audience.

"Aaahhhh! Groki! I love you!"

"Groki! Groki!"

"Aaaahhhh!!!"

The crowd's screams soared to new heights.

Qiao Sang didn’t hear her name again after that.

Then came a robotic voice: “3, 2, 1, match start!”

Qiao Sang rapidly formed hand seals.

She felt her speed was faster than before, yet Groki’s star array lit up first.

"Show yourself!" With his final seal in place, a lion-like beast about six meters tall appeared, mostly blue, with dark blue eyes, three white rings around its neck, and a round white nose.

Groki struck a dramatic pose and shouted, voice suddenly intense.

The Snow Lion King… Qiao Sang instantly recognized the summoned beast.

"Snow snow."

The Snow Lion King opened its mouth.

In an instant, rain began to fall like a curtain of beads from the sky.

The whole field became drenched, a misty haze rising.

"Xun xun…"

Little Treasure emerged from the array, happy at first, until it was thoroughly soaked.

Looks like I’ll really need to practice my hand seal speed later. If every opponent summons their beast faster than me, that’s going to be a problem… Qiao Sang reflected briefly, then called out: "Shadow of Darkness."

"Xun xun!"

Little Treasure looked up at the massive opponent, teleported high into the sky, and clasped his paws together.

Groki saw this, and his smile deepened.

Of course, displaying didn’t just mean summoning rain.

"Snow snow!"

The Snow Lion King roared again. Frost surged from its body, and the temperature plummeted.

Chilled mist lingered in the air, and the entire ground around it was instantly covered in a shell of ice.

Meanwhile, the rain falling from above turned visibly cold and began to freeze on contact with the mist.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rain turned to icy shards and began pelting down.

"Rain Prayer plus Ice Fog, two skills combined into ‘Ice Mist Rain!’"

The announcer's voice rang out passionately: "It attacks while also altering the terrain to his advantage! Groki immediately takes the upper hand!"

"What will Qiao Sang do next? The Ice Mist Rain covers the entire field! Ghost-type pets usually have low defense, and even if Phantom King goes invisible, it won’t help much, Ice Mist Rain is physical, and it counters teleportation too!"

"Did Groki anticipate that Qiao Sang would summon the Ghost Ring King? He used a combo move designed to counter it!"

In the stands, Groki's fans erupted, as if the battle were already won.

Some spectators still dazzled by Qiao Sang’s earlier brilliance weren’t having it:

"He’s just got the early advantage. The battle’s not over yet."

"Yeah, ghost-types are squishy, but this is a Blue Star ghost-type. Maybe they’re tougher than ours from Chaosu Star."

"Shouldn’t you be rooting for our homeworld’s contestant?" One of Groki’s fans retorted.

Those who were defending Qiao Sang suddenly found themselves at a loss for words.

---

On the battlefield, as the crowd continued to chatter...

“Xun xun!”

Little Treasure's head was being pelted by the freezing rain.

He showed a pained expression and instinctively wanted to retract the dark shadow he had just summoned and instead conjure a light wall to shield his head.

At that moment, Qiao Sang’s voice rang out: “Use the shadow control to block it!”

Little Treasure understood his Beast Tamer’s intent and gritted his teeth, raising a short toe.

The six-meter-tall Ghost Ring King mirrored the action.

A shadow about a meter thick suddenly emerged from his claw tip and swiftly shot to cover Little Xunbao’s head.

“Xun xun…”

His head no longer hurt… Little Treasure couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Qiao Sang has actually commanded the Ghost Ring King to use Shadow Control for defense!”

The commentator provided real-time narration of the situation: “Using Shadow Control as a defensive tactic? This is a completely new approach!”

With less energy than his opponent, slower casting speed, and being at a disadvantage… this needed to end quickly… Qiao Sang analyzed internally and shouted again: “Attack!”

“Xun xun!”

Upon hearing his Beast Tamer’s voice, Little Treasure's expression turned serious as he raised a second short toe.

The six-meter-tall Ghost Ring King mirrored the motion.

In an instant, a black shadow sprang from the second toe and launched swiftly toward the Snow Lion King.

The icy rain continued to fall.

It beat down densely on the shadow.

But it only slowed the shadow down slightly, making the surface it touched dent faintly, without breaking through it.

This level of Shadow Control proficiency… is even higher than I expected… Groki withdrew his gaze, flicked aside the hair on his forehead, and commanded: “Ice Crystal Wall.”

The Snow Lion King withdrew the energy it was using for the ice fog, the chill dissipated, and the rain reverted to normal water.

In the next second, ice energy gathered in front of the Snow Lion King, forming a thick ice crystal wall over six meters tall.

“It seems the earlier ice mist and rain slowed the Ghost Ring King’s attack just enough for the Snow Lion King to complete its defense.” The commentator explained.

The meter-thick black shadow collided with the massive ice crystal wall.

Groki smiled confidently and shouted “Freeze it! Snow Lion King!”

Are all Coordinators extroverts or something…? Qiao Sang muttered inwardly but kept her eyes fixed on the battlefield.

Though the ice wall blocked the shadow, it also blocked the Snow Lion King’s view.

“Now!” Qiao Sang shouted.

A cold aura spread from the ice wall outward, instantly covering the black shadow in a shell of frost.

But just then, the six-meter-tall Ghost Ring King suddenly vanished from the field.

The shadow control disappeared as well.

At the same time, Little Treasure vanished from the air above.

Groki’s pupils contracted sharply as he shouted: “Ice spikes incoming from behind! Don’t look back!”

He hadn’t forgotten the Ghost Ring King had demonstrated hypnosis in the previous match.

But in a battle where things change every second, that command was far too long.

From the panoramic view, Little Treasure reappeared behind the Snow Lion King.

He raised a paw, gathered a dense white light, and mercilessly chopped toward the Snow Lion King’s head.

At that moment, the Snow Lion King had just begun to gather energy.

“Snow snow!”

A heavy blow struck its head, and the Snow Lion King felt a buzzing in its skull, its energy dissipating as it staggered and let out a pained cry.

Groki: !!!

What was that?! Brick-Breaking?!

Groki could hardly believe his eyes.

“Oh! What did I just see?!”

The commentator’s eyes lit up with excitement: “The Ghost Ring King just used Brick-Breaking, a move usually exclusive to Fighting-type beasts! And the Snow Lion King is clearly in pain! That Brick-Breaking technique seems highly skilled!”

The audience erupted in a flurry of discussion.

“A Ghost-type using a Fighting-type skill, is that normal?!”

“I remember there’s a legendary dual-attribute Ghost/Fighting beast…”

“Yeah, but that’s an innate attribute! This Ghost Ring King is all skinny with no muscles, it clearly has nothing to do with Fighting-types!”

“I looked it up. The Ghost Ring King is purely a Ghost-type. This one’s just a rare variant, the Psychic attribute is a mutation!”

“Damn! That’s wild!”

As the crowd buzzed, Little Treasure's head glowed with a layer of white light again as it slammed into the Snow Lion King’s head.

“Snow snow!”

Despite the Snow Lion King’s head being many times larger than the Ghost Ring King’s, it was the one left reeling and screaming.

“The Ghost Ring King used Psychic Headbutt!”

The commentator was so excited that he shot up from his seat: “It just unleashed a high-level Psychic-type skill!”

“Snow Lion King! Pull yourself together! Full-area defense!” Groki suppressed his shock and issued a command.

As long as five ice walls sealed off all directions, the Snow Lion King could recover inside, and turn the tables again!

“Snow…”

The Snow Lion King had thick fat and strong defense, but its weakness was the head. Now, after two head strikes, the pain was unbearable.

Still, it listened to its Beast Tamer’s order.

The Snow Lion King shook its head, forced its eyes open despite the pain, and saw its opponent right in front of it, with glowing purple eyes.

“Snow…”

Boom!

Three seconds later, a thunderous sound.

The Snow Lion King collapsed to the ground.

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