"Knock, knock, knock."
The door to the manager's office was gently tapped, and after a "come in," Lin Su, with Qiuqiu in his arms, pushed open the door and entered, "Manager, why couldn't I find the battle room for this challenge?"
"Oh, look at my memory." Zhong Tianzhan slapped his forehead and stood up, "I was so caught up in the conversation that I forgot. Wait for me to arrange it."
As he spoke, he strode out of the office, then turned back and said, "Oh, right, this is your challenger, Zhao Tianchen. This is Su Qing from Mountain City University, a Beast Tamer. You two might as well get to know each other a bit."
With that, Zhong Tianzhan closed the door behind him, leaving the two young men to face each other.
"Um... hello, are you here to fight directly or something else?" Lin Su smiled and began to ask, "I'm okay with either."
"One-on-one creature battle," Zhao Tianchen replied without hesitation. "Let my Fire Cloud Dog battle your Su Qing. There are no restrictions. Do I need to summon my creature for you to check it out?"
"No need," Lin Su coughed lightly. "My creature has a certain aversion to Fire Cloud Dogs. If you summon it now, the two creatures might start fighting right away."
"Hm?" Zhao Tianchen's expression became slightly odd. "What a coincidence, my Fire Cloud Dog also has a certain aversion to Su Qing..."
The two Beast Tamers exchanged a look and tacitly skipped over the subject.
"I heard from Uncle Zhong that you're also a high school senior like me?" Zhao Tianchen glanced at Su Qing in Lin Su's arms. "I think with your Su Qing's ability, getting second place in Mountain City University's entrance examination will be no problem."
Huh?
Lin Su's expression grew a bit strange.
What does it mean 'no problem getting second place'?
"Then who do you think will be first?" Lin Su couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Of course, me."
"..."
Looking at the other's carefree expression, for some reason Lin Su suddenly felt an urge to slap him hard across the face.
I've never met anyone so arrogant in my life.
For a moment, he lost the interest to continue chatting with Zhao Tianchen and looked down at Qiuqiu in his arms, communicating with it silently through telepathy.
"You heard that guy. Teach his creature a lesson later."
"Meow! (◣_◢)" (Understood!)
Just a Fire Cloud Dog, watch as my Qiuqiu defeats it in the blink of an eye!
Zhao Tianchen did not speak again and sat quietly in his seat, waiting.
In his opinion, it was impressive that this Su Qing had been trained to such a level, but posing a threat to his entrance examination was still impossible.
Before the entrance exam, his own creature would surely evolve, becoming an elite-ranking high commander species. Meanwhile, since Su Qing had no evolutionary form, even if it reached elite rank, it would only be a high-level elite species. The power gap between them was set to widen, making it impossible for Su Qing to be his match.
Soon, Zhong Tianzhan came back, informing them that the battle ground was ready and they could start the battle.
The two opponents exchanged glances, sparks seeming to fly as their gazes crossed before they walked shoulder to shoulder toward the Battle Arena.
Quickly, Zhong Tianzhan, watching the two contestants take their places on either side of the Battle Arena, spoke with a smile, "I'll act as the referee for you two."
He was also looking forward to their battle.
Although Lin Su had never lost a battle at the Battle Arena before, this time, Zhong Tianzhan was still more inclined to believe Zhao Tianchen would win.
It wasn't about being biased; the Fire Cloud Dog, as a fire-type creature, naturally had a certain advantage over Su Qing.
Fire and ice were mutually suppressing attributes; however, in actual combat where both sides had similar strengths, the fire attribute would mostly suppress the ice attribute.
"Countdown starts, summon your creatures!" Thinking this, Zhong Tianzhan spoke in a deep voice.
In previous sparring matches, which were somewhat casual, Lin Su had let Qiuqiu fight directly, but this time, at Zhao Tianchen's request, the match would follow the official procedure. Lin Su would need to recall Qiuqiu to the Beast Taming Space and then summon it after the countdown.
As Zhong Tianzhan began the countdown, both competitors saw light patterns of pale yellow appear below their feet, quickly weaving into an array. Surges of energy stirred up whirlwinds sweeping past them.
And after Zhong Tianzhan counted down to zero, the contours of creatures simultaneously appeared at the competitors' feet.
With Lin Su appeared, naturally, Qiuqiu. Standing opposite him, at Zhao Tianchen's feet, was a dog-like creature cloaked in sleek fiery red fur, looking much like a tuft of burning cloud.
[Sequence IAM-0045
Species Name: Fire Cloud Dog
Species Rank: High-Level Elite Species
Element: Fire
Growth Stage: Juvenile
Normal Energy Value: 396P
Talent Skills: Flame Roar (Core), Fiery Flame Claw]
Seeing its familiar foe, Qiuqiu's expression became fiercely belligerent.
"Meow! ((눈_눈))" (Fire Cloud Dog!)
And upon seeing Qiuqiu in the distance, the Fire Cloud Dog also bared its teeth involuntarily.
"Woof! (▼㉨▼メ)" (Su Qing!)
Meeting an enemy intensified their animosity.
Almost at the moment when the two creatures appeared, the atmosphere in the arena grew chilling.
Lin Su started communicating quickly with Qiuqiu via telepathy.
"This Fire Cloud Dog's normal energy value is close to yours, there's no overwhelming power. You're well aware of its talent skills, Flame Roar and Fiery Flame Claw, but be mindful that your enemy isn't like those in the Beast Tamer Tower; it also has mastered two teaching skills."