"Hi."
Su Ping stepped over. She was a customer, so he had to treat her nicely and politely.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up my Astral Pet." The store owner had come. Su Yanying turned her looks away from the empty store and said to Su Ping, "The Lightning Rat that I put here half a month ago. Is it doing okay?"
"The master of the Lightning Rat?" Su Ping was surprised.
The memories related to this matter were dug out.
Su Ping remembered at once. There was a strange look on his face. He couldn't help but throw more glances at this girl.
Was she the luckiest girl…
Su Ping felt uncomfortable since the Lightning Rat had to be returned to its original master. Part of the reason was that he had become attached to the Lightning Rat and the other part was because he felt unwilling…
After all, this was a super Lightning Rat that had mastered one of the 10 special skills!
How could he just give it up like this?
Well… he knew this little guy was someone else's in the first place.
Su Ping felt dispirited by this and could only heave a few sighs. "It is totally fine, better than fine. Come with me and settle the bills first," he said, lifelessly.
Su Yanying was at a loss. Why did this caretaker sound strange? Was he upset?
She seemed to have an idea. "Don't worry. I came ahead of time but I will pay you the foster fee as we discussed. I will pay you in full."
"Hmm…"
"??"
Su Ping was not in the mood to talk to her. He took out the bill for the deposit. When he saw the digits, he felt another surge of heartache.
He took a deep breath and tore the bill down slowly.
He acted as if a piece of flesh had been cut off from him and his voice was laden with a deep feeling of grief. "Minus the deposit you paid, you have to give another 108…" His voice was shaking and he was almost choking!
108…
Only 108!!
An Astral Pet that had learned one of the 10 special skills was going to be given away at an appallingly low price!
"Well…"
Su Yanying found that something was off about the owner but she could not put it in words. She settled the bill quickly. "Here you go. Can you show me to my Astral Pet?" She was dying to see the Lightning Rat, and to check if it was safe and sound.
After all, some pet stores would make mistakes when they were feeding the pets which could lead to sickness. While those events were rare, she could not see such unfortunate incidents happening to her at this critical juncture.
Su Ping heard the prompt tone of the money entering his account. His mouth twitched. Eventually, he stood up and turned around. "Wait here," he said.
He left the counter and stepped into the pet room slowly.
As he looked at the Lightning Rat that was napping in the stalagmite array, recalling the battles they fought side by side for the past three days, he felt reluctant to be parted with it.
"Come on. Time for you to go home." Su Ping sighed and picked up the Lightning Rat gently.
The Lightning Rat was startled and woke up. When it saw it was Su Ping, the Lightning Rat relaxed gradually and closed its eyes, falling back to sleep.
During the three days of desperate and cruel training, only when the Lightning Rat was with Su Ping could it feel secure enough to sleep.
This was a force of habit and trust!
Su Ping produced a forced smile. He took some deep breaths to calm himself down and then he stepped out of the pet room.
"My Lightning Rat."
Su Yanying's eyes glowed as she saw Su Ping coming out with the Lightning Rat in his arms.
She knew this was her Lightning Rat the moment she saw it. While the Lightning Rat's appearance seemed to be slightly different from before, the bond shared by flesh and blood that came from the contract could not be wrong.
However, she found something strange. When she first came into the pet store, she did not feel the presence of the Lightning Rat from their contract, as if something had blocked it.
She had no time to ponder about it. She hurried forward and took over the Lightning Rat from Su Ping's hands.
The Lightning Rat was startled again. The Lightning Rat's drowsy eyes glowed once it saw that it was Su Yanying. It threw itself into her arms happily and squeaked coquettishly nonstop.
Su Ping stood by their side. The happy sounds made by the Lightning Rat gave him the strange urge to strangle it to death.
"This punk… it only knows how to squeak coquettishly when its real master is here."
The Lightning Rat never did this with him.
But Su Ping was well aware that the emotional bond sustained by the contract would exert a great influence on the Astral Pets. That was why the majority of the Astral Pets would never betray their masters; they would even sacrifice their lives for them!
"Come on. Let's go home."
Inside, Su Yanying was glad that the Lightning Rat was still intact and was just a bit skinnier.
She had heard about how some unethical pet stores would cheat on pet food to make more money. She didn't want to look further into this.
Just as long as the Lightning Rat was healthy. Otherwise, to cure its illness would take a long time.
Su Yanying patted its head once she placed the Lightning Rat on the ground. She didn't even bother to look at Su Ping who was standing by her side. Inside, she had given a negative rate about this store. She would never come back again!
The Lightning Rat began to bounce around Su Yanying happily once on the ground. It was over the moon, since it had not seen its master in ages.
Su Yanying pushed the door open and left. Soon, the girl and the pet vanished from Su Ping's sight.
Su Ping looked away as the Lightning Rat bounced about and disappeared. He heaved a sigh.
Right then, the system suddenly sent a message—
"Detecting money entering the account. [Shop] opened…"
"Beep. Money has been converted into energy points."
Su Ping was stunned. Before he could check, he heard another message.
"Quest: [Chaos Spirit Pool for Incubation] is ready. The host must breed a pet that belongs to himself within a week."
"Reward for quest accomplished: a random skill book for battle pet warriors."
"Punishment for quest failed: downgrade the host's rate. When the rate is below the passing line, the host will be erased!"
A skill book for battle pet warriors?
Su Ping was confused. He wasn't a battle pet warrior at all, and the force of the original core did not exist in his cells.
"The host can purchase 'Awakening Potion' in the shop to be qualified as a battle pet warrior," the system alerted him.
Su Ping was amazed. Then, he gasped. Awakening Potion?
He was destined to be a common man from birth. Was it possible for him to change his life? Could he become a battle pet warrior?
Something had to be spelled out.
Innate skills were determined at birth!
Only a tiny minority could be the exception, those who could awaken their abilities later in their lives, but there wasn't even one in a million!
Of course, it was said that the state had developed some potions made from special plants found in space, and such potions could greatly increase the common people's chances of awakening.
Still, such potions were priced at a level that only the rich could afford. Anyone without millions upon millions would not even get a chance!
As for those vastly wealthy people, who would take the risk of becoming a battle pet warrior to struggle in the front lines at the frontier, apart from satisfying their curiosities for a moment?
"Where is the shop?"
Su Ping could not wait to see this "Awakening Potion." He was eager to acquire it. After all, whether in strength or survival abilities, there was a world of difference between battle pet warriors and the general public!
A simple case in point would be Su Ping and his sister Su Lingyue.
Ever since Su Lingyue joined the Academy for Astral Pets at the age of 12, Su Ping had never, not even once, gained the upper hand in close combat. He had always been defeated easily!
Therefore, over the years, he had learned to use his brain instead of brawn, unless necessary.
…
…