8: Starting on a slope
Li Muyun, who was standing nearby, blushed. “Little Spring Spirit.”
“Ling~”
Little Spring Spirit still looked confused. It carefully looked around and only then realized that almost all of its Water Arrows had scattered elsewhere.
Due to its unfamiliarity with the Skill and simultaneously condensing too many Water Arrows, its control plummeted.
Although Bud Treasure was hiding behind the tree, the tree didn't even feel damp.
“Ling (=ＴェＴ=) Scolded”
Regrouping, Little Spring Spirit abandoned the idea of a volley of arrows and calmly struck Bud Treasure one by one with single shots, but Bud Treasure just kept hiding.
The greatest damage the Water Arrows caused Bud Treasure was the coldness of the water splashing on its body. Although Little Spring Spirit’s water might even have a nourishing effect on it, it still instinctively shivered, shaking off the water.
This action caught Little Spring Spirit's eye, and it began to get a little annoyed, starting to fly towards Bud Treasure.
“Ling~ (｀Δ´)ゞ”
The frequency of Skill releases also began to quicken. Bud Treasure saw that Little Spring Spirit had indeed fallen for the trick and began climbing the tree with its four short legs.
Although it didn't understand what Bud Treasure was doing, Little Spring Spirit's actions didn't slow down.
A Water Arrow grazed Bud Treasure and struck the tree trunk.
“Bud~”
That was close, so close to being hit.
Climb faster, it's almost at the ideal height.
“Whoosh—whoosh—”
After much training, Little Spring Spirit's efforts gradually became apparent, and the accuracy of its Water Arrows began to improve.
But Bud Treasure wasn't slacking either, its speed increasing even more.
It leaped upwards, flying from the tree trunk to a higher position.
Seeing Bud Treasure's performance, Li Wen also felt a surge of excitement.
“Now, Bud Treasure!”
“Show our bond!”
“Use Half-Slope Start!”
The chuunibyou-esque voice echoed in the open space. Li Muyun turned to look at Li Wen, not knowing whether she was stifling laughter or something else, she just looked at him without speaking.
The scene became a bit awkward for a moment. Li Wen suppressed the urge to find a hole to crawl into and quickly changed the subject.
“Uh… let's see Bud Treasure's performance.”
Damn it, he was too deeply influenced by Pokémon anime in his original world; he still needed to control himself.
Li Muyun, however, was very obedient and immediately turned back to watch the battle.
In a flash, Bud Treasure had already used the Ram Skill in mid-air, its body shooting straight towards Little Spring Spirit in the air.
Seeing Bud Treasure about to attack, Little Spring Spirit immediately increased its floating height, successfully dodging a Tackle.
Bud Treasure's momentum ended, and it was no longer moving forward, instead beginning to descend slightly.
“Ling~”
“You're still too naive. Do you really think you can defeat me like this?”
A classic power-up monologue. Bud Treasure would not let its encouragement (mockery) go to waste.
“Bud~”
“Do you think this is the end?”
“Then you're celebrating too early! Watch my Half-Slope Start!”
Li Wen narrated the battle scene in his own way.
Bud Treasure quickly slashed diagonally upwards towards Little Spring Spirit. For a moment, Bud Treasure's height actually surpassed Little Spring Spirit's.
Bud Treasure used Slash on Little Spring Spirit.
Skill hit.
Little Spring Spirit, an elemental body, is immune to some damage.
attribute advantage, critical hit, causing massive damage.
Little Spring Spirit fainted.
Seeing both pet beasts about to fall from the air, Li Wen quickly rushed up to catch them, one in each hand.
Bud Treasure landed in his hands perfectly fine, even blinking its bright eyes excitedly.
“Bud~ Bud~”
“Battle! Battle!”
“Battling is so much fun.”
Seeing Bud Treasure still so energetic and no longer resisting battles, he felt relieved. Now, he had to worry about Little Spring Spirit.
“Where's Little Spring Spirit?”
As he spoke, Li Wen looked around for Little Spring Spirit's whereabouts.
Logically, the fainted Little Spring Spirit should have fallen into his arms.
But there were no traces of water on his clothes, so where did it go? He didn't see it in the sky or on the ground.
Li Muyun's next sentence instantly made him feel his intelligence was questionable.
“I recalled Little Spring Spirit into the Beastmaster Space.”
Oh, right! There's the Beastmaster Space!
He had just rushed over like an idiot; it was a bit embarrassing.
But now was not the time to dwell on that; they needed to quickly take Little Spring Spirit to the treatment center.
“Let's go, hurry to the Pet Beast Plaza to treat Little Spring Spirit.”
... The Pet Beast Plaza is like a large shopping mall, except all the shops inside are related to pet beasts.
Every Pet Beast Plaza's standard features are a treatment center and an item shop.
Some have privately owned pet beast-themed restaurants, and in some large cities, there are even clubs specifically for battle exchanges.
So the size of the plaza depends on the prosperity of the city, and in a small city like Shanghe City, it goes without saying that the plaza wouldn't be very large.
After taking a taxi to the plaza, they arrived at the treatment center shortly.
“Hello, I'd like to treat both of our pet beasts.”
The young female clerk looked up at the young faces before her.
“You two must be this year's newcomers. Show your Apprentice Beastmaster certificate, and you can get free treatment.”
In the past, when there were only two Crown Ranks, the Mechanical Pioneer and Void, the Mechanical Pioneer, having transformed himself into a machine, required long-term maintenance to cope with emergencies, while Void focused on research into space and rarely managed the Eastern Splendor.
However, Shi Daizhi, who was relatively more responsible, immediately became a destined workaholic upon taking office.
And Shi Daizhi, who urgently needed someone to take his place, constantly introduced various preferential schemes for newcomers.
Free treatment for newcomers, pet beast contract loans, weekly subsidies for Beastmasters, and so on, were all Shi Daizhi's masterpieces.
Coupled with new Beastmaster research discoveries, the strength of the Eastern Splendor's new generation has been continuously rising, and the difficulty of the College Entrance Examination competition has also been steadily increasing.
It's hard to say whether to be happy or sad for them.
Li Muyun took out her personal Beastmaster certificate and summoned Little Spring Spirit. Due to the recovery in the Beastmaster Space, Little Spring Spirit's state had changed from fainted to sleeping.
A green summoning circle, different from Li Wen and Li Muyun's, appeared beside the female clerk.
Like pet beasts, Beastmasters also have different ranks: Apprentice, Entry-level Beginner, Entry-level Intermediate, Entry-level Advanced, Professional, Master, King, Legend, and Crown Rank.
The corresponding colors of the summoning circles also range from colorless, white, light yellow, yellow, green, blue, dark blue, purple, to gold.
Seeing that the clerk wasn't much older than Li Wen and Li Muyun, she was already a Professional Beastmaster.
Soon, a tall vine pet beast appeared.
【Contract Pet Beast: Violet Vine】
【attribute: Wood】
【Species: Elite Advanced】
【trait: Slow Poison】
Skills have chronic toxins; after multiple hits, they can completely paralyze enemy pet beasts.
【Skill ①】: Healing Powder
Heals the target using pollen from the flowers on the vines.