“I want a strawberry boba milk tea with double pearls!” Li Chengying exclaimed eagerly as soon as she sat down. “And a slice of chocolate blueberry cheesecake!”
Gao Xue ordered lemon green tea and matcha mille crepe, while Ouyang Qin opted for black coffee and tiramisu.
“What about you, Liu Yi?” Li Chengying asked. “My treat today, order whatever you like!”
Liu Yi thought for a moment. “Then I’ll have a mango yogurt smoothie and a chocolate lava cake.”
Once the desserts arrived, Li Chengying immediately scooped a large spoonful of cake into her mouth, mumbling, “Speaking of which, just how big is the Sky Colosseum in the Monte Region? I saw in the videos that the floating islands move randomly, and it seems really hard to judge distances.”
Gao Xue cut a small piece of matcha mille crepe. “From what I understand, a standard Sky Colosseum consists of 49 floating islands. There’s one large main island in the center, surrounded by 48 secondary islands of varying sizes.”
“That many? How big is that arena?” Li Chengying put down her fork in surprise. “Does that mean we have to memorize all the floating island positions before every battle?”
“Not only that,” Ouyang Qin added. “The floating islands rearrange every few minutes, so both combatants need to adapt flexibly. You have to consider that this year’s competition format is mixed-grade, and some excellent Third-years have already cultivated Advanced pets.”
“The average body length of Advanced rank pets is already around four meters. Add in some area-of-effect skills, and you won’t think the Sky Colosseum arena is that big.”
Liu Yi thoughtfully stirred her smoothie. “So, contestants from the Monte Region are accustomed to this battle environment from a young age.”
“Exactly.” Ouyang Qin nodded. “Their contracted pets will also lean towards those with flight capability or special movement methods.”
Li Chengying sighed, “Why did the National High School League undergo such a major reform of the competition format this year? The first stage is already so difficult!”
Gao Xue shrugged. “Who knows?”
Ouyang Qin put down her coffee cup, pondering for a moment. “Currently, the reformed format certainly increases the challenge. But in the long run, this cross-grade competition allows everyone to grow faster. Especially for First-years and Second-years, facing higher-grade opponents early on is a rare opportunity.”
“And because of the randomness of the assigned competition zones in the first stage, coupled with the activation of specialized arenas, it’s hard to say if the Third-years will suffer an upset when facing First-year and Second-year contestants,” Ouyang Qin finished with a smile.
“Uh…” Li Chengying shrank back. “Senior Qin, how can you smile when talking about something that might be disadvantageous to yourself?!”
Liu Yi looked at Ouyang Qin’s expression and quirked her lips. She seemed to guess the source of Ouyang Qin’s amusement.
“Because I was thinking,” Ouyang Qin glanced at Liu Yi. “This year’s National High School League might be the most prestigious ever. Whether it’s the special battle environment or the possibility of encountering junior ‘genius’ Beast Tamers in later competition stages, these are things that haven’t happened in previous years.”
“Wouldn’t winning the championship in this year’s National High School League be an especially proud achievement?”
Just then, the dessert shop door opened, and a familiar figure walked in.
“Huh? Isn’t that Wei Tan'an?” Li Chengying pointed at the doorway.
Wei Tan'an also saw them and, after a moment of hesitation, walked over.
“What a coincidence,” Wei Tan'an said, scratching her face a little guiltily as she stood by the table. “Sundays are my designated dessert days, so I came to buy some small cakes.”
“Sit down,” Liu Yi moved further in, making space for Wei Tan'an. “We were just discussing the National League.”
Wei Tan'an ordered a Black Forest cake and hot cocoa. “Oh, speaking of the Monte Region, I remembered what my cousin said in our family group chat a few days ago.”
“My cousin’s family moved to the Monte Region a few years ago. According to him, there’s a First-year at Fugang Beast Taming High School who already has an Advanced pet. I just don’t know which competition zone Fugang Beast Taming High School was assigned to.”
“What?!” Li Chengying cried out. “A First-year with an Advanced pet? How is that possible?!”
Gao Xue and Ouyang Qin exchanged a look. “Did they inherit a pet from an elder?”
“Senior Gao and Senior Ouyang immediately caught on,” Wei Tan'an took a sip of her freshly served hot cocoa. “My cousin said the student’s name is Pei Yingwu, and he contracted an Advanced rank Nightblade Wolf left behind after his grandfather passed away.”
Ouyang Qin showed a ‘just as I thought’ expression and said, “In such cases, pets with inherited contracts often won’t obey the Beast Tamer’s commands in battle, or might even fight passively.”
“That’s right,” Gao Xue continued. “My aunt works at the Beast Taming Research Institute, and they’ve done relevant statistics. The data shows that pets with inherited contracts, or high-level pets contracted in the wild beyond one’s control ability, have an average obedience level of only about 10% compared to pets cultivated from a Junior stage contract.”
Li Chengying bit her straw, asking indistinctly, “Then why do people still do that? Wouldn’t it be better to just contract a new pet?”
“Because the growth cycle of Advanced pets is too long,” Liu Yi softly explained. “It usually takes three to five years to cultivate a pet from the Junior stage to the Advanced stage, and some might take even longer. Inheriting a ready-made Advanced pet allows them to immediately gain powerful combat strength.”
Wei Tan'an nodded. “Liu Yi is right. Pei Yingwu was eyeing the Nightblade Wolf’s immediate combat strength. However…” she hesitated. “I heard that Nightblade Wolf has a very volatile temper and often doesn’t listen to commands.”
Ouyang Qin put down her coffee cup with a crisp clink. “Such cases aren’t unprecedented. Last year, a Second-year contestant in the National High School League competed with an inherited Advanced pet. In a critical moment, the pet refused to follow orders, leading to a crushing defeat.”
“Ah?” Li Chengying was even more confused after hearing this. “Since there are already such bad examples, why do people still do it?”
“They might still have a bit of wishful thinking,” Liu Yi smiled. “Think about it, if this year’s National High School League was still divided into First-year, Second-year, and Third-year segments, just like previous years.”
“Then this year’s First-years would have to face this contestant with an Advanced rank pet throughout the competition. With most First-year pets still in the Junior stage, or just having evolved to the Intermediate stage.”
“That Pei Yingwu wouldn’t even need the Nightblade Wolf to be very obedient. This Advanced rank pet, which has been evolved for who knows how long, might just by its presence on the field exhaust the energy of Junior rank pets. If he got lucky, and the Nightblade Wolf listened to one or two of his commands, he could directly win a battle.”
Li Chengying suddenly understood. “I see! In that case, the format reforms actually messed up their plans, didn’t they?”
Rate on N.U.
