"Qiuqiu, use Fiery Breath!"
"Yingying aw~"
Upon hearing Shao Zifeng's command, Qiuqiu, who was running, suddenly stopped and opened its mouth wide to take a deep breath, quickly absorbing fire elements from the surroundings like a whale gulping water. Fire elements visible to the naked eye gathered in Qiuqiu's mouth, forming a deep red energy ball.
At the same time, a mysterious array appeared in front of Qiuqiu. As the energy ball touched the center of the array, a thin column of fire shot out from the center of the array, appearing rather feeble.
"Boom!"
A slight explosion accompanied by a weak wave of heat uplifted the enclosed space, so weak that it hardly formed any turbulent currents, showing just how low the power of this skill was.
This was a skill testing room in the Combat Training Department of Su City University. After Shao Zifeng made up his mind to transfer departments, Director Zhao brought him here. Unlike Su City's appraisal center, the appraisal centers in major cities nationwide were extremely busy. Therefore, each university could appraise their students' pet beasts by themselves and then transmit the data to the appraisal bureau for registration. The Battle Training Master certificate would be sent to the students within two working days.
As for why Wang Hao wasn't tested at school, it was because he had too many appraisals done when choosing his pet beasts, and the teachers in charge had stopped paying attention to him.
"The potential of this armadillo lizard of yours is such a pity," Director Zhao said, holding an appraisal report provided by the school's staff workers. "It only has two skills, not to mention its defense ability and the Fiery Breath's power is considerably lower than others of the same rank. Although it has already reached the second rank, whether it can evolve into a Fire Lizard in the future is still unknown." Director Zhao shook his head slightly, feeling somewhat disappointed. This was someone whom Director Luo had high hopes for... a lizard.
Although he didn't know where Shao Zifeng got this armadillo lizard, it was clear that this one fell significantly short compared to others of its kind. It was two-thirds smaller than a normal armadillo lizard's juvenile, had fewer skills, and their power was weak by more than ten percent compared to others of the same rank and kind. It was a very underperforming pet beast.
The South African armadillo lizard was pursued by many Combat Training Masters because of its resemblance to a western dragon and its known evolution forms—Fire Lizard and Fire Dragon Lizard—which were extremely powerful fire-type pet beasts. Unfortunately, their population was too sparse, and their habitat was limited to South Africa. Hence, South Africa listed the armadillo lizard as a protected mutant creature and made it a super rare pet beast that only a few could apply to contract with the state.
Regarding Qiuqiu's origin, not only did Director Zhao not know, but even Shao Zifeng wasn't clear. In another timeline, the armadillo lizard was also rare in the climbing world, but he remembered clearly that he had pulled some strings to buy an armadillo lizard. But in this timeline, Shao Zifeng couldn't recall anything about Qiuqiu's origin, his memory was a blank.
Seemingly feeling Director Zhao's disdain, Qiuqiu instantly became unhappy, gritting its teeth and glaring at Director Zhao fiercely. If it weren't for Fengfeng telling it to control its power, it would surely burn this nasty man bald.
Hmm... compared to Fengfeng, Dandan does sound better. It's decided then, from now on, Fengfeng will be Dandan.
Lord Qiuqiu is really a genius at naming.
✧(≖◡≖✿)
Qiuqiu, who was puffing with anger just now, wasn't angry anymore and showed a mysterious smile.
Feeling Qiuqiu's discontent in his arms, Shao Zifeng kept soothing its emotions. He didn't know if it was because Qiuqiu had grown up, but it had been increasingly concerned about its dignity recently.
Although Shao Zifeng urgently needed the identity of a Battle Training Master, he didn't want to appear too outstanding. For example, besides defense and Fiery Breath, Shao Zifeng chose to hide the "Flame Control" skill. This skill required the pet beast to have a strong affinity with fire elements and could enhance or weaken the power of fire-type skills.
Qiuqiu used this skill to significantly weaken the power of Fiery Breath, deceiving the appraisers.
He also didn't mention that Qiuqiu's evolution direction was not the ordinary armadillo lizard's, but a rare and possibly unique atavistic evolution. Atavistic evolution was so rare that the whole of Daxia had only a few known pet beasts with it. Even if he said it now, others might not believe it.
"Student Shao, follow Xiao Liu now to complete the contract. I have some things to attend to, so I won't be accompanying you." Director Zhao said.
Watching Director Zhao leave, Shao Zifeng breathed a sigh of relief. Although Director Zhao still wore a smile, Shao Zifeng keenly sensed a subtle change in his attitude, making him feel much more relaxed. Not being noticed was exactly what Shao Zifeng wanted.
Last time, when he was taken for investigation by the Abnormal Administration Bureau, Director Zhao was present. After being inexplicably released, Shao Zifeng had been puzzled. But today, with Director Zhao taking the initiative to help him register as a Battle Training Master, Shao Zifeng had a vague guess.
He and Director Zhao were neither relatives nor friends. Before this, Shao Zifeng didn't even know who he was. As a student with a disadvantaged family background, Director Zhao had no reason to take special care of him. Moreover, with his status, it was impossible for him to make the Abnormal Administration Bureau release someone directly.
In this situation, Shao Zifeng could only think of one possibility. Director Zhao was working for someone else, and he vaguely guessed who it was.
"Alas, no matter what, I'm indebted to someone." Shao Zifeng sighed silently. He could only repay the favor when he became stronger in the future.
...
"Student Shao, please stand on that platform, drop a drop of blood on your pet beast's eyebrow, then apply your pet beast's blood on your own eyebrow. After that, focus on sensing the Contract Space, and open it up. Do you have any questions?" A female staff member in her thirties introduced, pointing to the high platform in the middle of the room with a gentle smile.
Shao Zifeng smiled and thanked her, then walked up the spiral staircase next to the high platform. The platform was over two meters high, and on the flat surface, strange patterns were drawn, connected by lines and converging at the center.
This was the contract array. As soon as he saw the array, a large amount of memory flooded Shao Zifeng's mind.
More than 20 years ago, when the "Unknown Recovery Event" occurred, animals around the world underwent strange changes, gaining unknown powers.
Animal attacks on humans happened worldwide, but Daxia seemed prepared and quickly suppressed most attacking animals with unknown means and speed. Although remote areas and some towns suffered devastating damage, the overall impact on the country was minimal.
...
Shaking his head to clear the messy memories from his mind, Shao Zifeng took out a small knife given by the staff and made a cut on his thumb, pressing it on Qiuqiu's eyebrow.
Informed by "Dandan" on what to do, Qiuqiu's approach was much simpler and more straightforward. It used its left paw to make a cut on the right paw, and a drop of blood containing fire elements was flung to Shao Zifeng's eyebrow, bringing a warm sensation.
Instantly, the entire array seemed to activate, emitting a faint glow. An indescribable feeling lingered in his heart, like a bond connecting their minds together.
Shao Zifeng and Qiuqiu closed their eyes simultaneously.