The Trainer Guild building in Waterland City is located in the heart of Rivergate District, surrounded by bustling streets.
As the landmark building of Waterland City, the Trainer Guild building has fifteen floors, making it the tallest building in Rivergate District, with a vast land coverage and a grand façade.
"How about we find a primary ice training ground with a lake? Not only will it save some money, but we can also practice our skills together," said John Hornby, turning to David Jones in the Trainer Guild hall.
"Sounds good."
"You know, I haven't had a chance to show you my Thorny Fish pet. Would you mind identifying its potential for me later?"
"No problem. Let's go rent a training ground first," David Jones agreed enthusiastically.
Hearing that, John quickly went to the front desk of the Trainer Guild hall and registered for the rental procedure.
With the guidance of a young lady at the front desk, the two men quickly arrived at an artificial ice and snow area with a lake.
The ice and snow training ground was spacious and could accommodate a large number of trainers.
At this moment, not far from David, there were two trainers playing around in the snow with their Snow Leopard pets.
"Brother David, meet my buddy, Kuro."
As soon as the words left John's mouth, his Star Ring emitted a blue light, and from a blue rune circle in front of him emerged a black Thorny Fish covered in white bone spines.
"Plonk." This was the sound of the Thorny Fish breaking through the lake's ice surface.
As soon as it entered the icy water, the Thorny Fish excitedly swam all over the place. Its powerful body occasionally leaped out of the lake, splashing through the water and creating waves with crystal-clear ice shards.
"Kuro? Your naming sense is a bit too casual, isn't it?" David Jones teased John. He then took a closer look at the active Thorny Fish in the lake several times before turning to John again. "Ask it to be quiet so I can observe it properly."
"Kuro is easy to remember. Wait a moment; it will take some time to calm Kuro down."
John raised his right hand and scratched his head helplessly. Kuro hadn't been too obedient since their contract began the day before. For example, at that moment, John was somewhat embarrassed as he saw Kuro not responding to his commands.
Cold wind brought a few snowflakes, as well as a slight chill.
Without saying much, David squatted down and silently watched as the excited Thorny Fish gradually quieted down through the falling snow. Using the Identify skill, he observed the fish carefully.
"Pet Name": Thorny Fish
"Pet Type": Water, Poison
"Species Level": Green Superior
"Species Skill": Water Jet, Poison Sting, Camouflage
"Pet Potential": Green S tier
"Profile": An extraordinary fish that lives in water. It has dark-colored skin and is covered in white, thorny bone spines. A mid-sized fish, it is good at camouflaging and hunting food with poisonous stingers. It has a relatively mild temperament and weak attack. Due to the venomous spines on its body, it is not recommended as an initial pet.
"Looking at its body size and the shine of the bone spines on its body, it's obvious that its physical condition is excellent. It should be a Green S tier Superior pet with outstanding potential," said David, stroking the quiet Thorny Fish's head.
The fish did not resist and even had a hint of curiosity in its dumb fish eyes. David stood up with a smile on his face.
"Of all the Thorny Fish in the icy river, Kuro is the one that caught my eye. It seems my judgment was not bad. Even though Kuro drank some Life Water to increase its potential, it must have been at least Green A tier before," said John, excitedly squatting down and touching Kuro affectionately.
Ignoring John's vanity, David Jones turned and summoned little Rainbow, then gently hugged it in his arms and softly said, "Rainbow, today we'll start our training!"
"Yi yi, ya?" (What is training?) Rainbow lazily replied.
David's expression became serious upon seeing this, "Training is practicing your skills. We will train for two hours today. If the result is good, I'll help you Strengthen a little more, okay?"
"Yi yi, yi ya!" (Simple, no problem!)
Upon hearing this, little Rainbow opened its adorable big eyes, looked seriously at David, and then happily wrapped its body around his arm while calling out in a crisp voice.
"Mmhmm, our deal won't change. First, get down from my hand. We'll start by practicing the Class I Cold Breath skill!"
"Yi ya." (Watch me.)
Little Rainbow's mouth opened, and it spat out three continuous icy streams of cold blue air, hitting the snow-covered rocks not far away.
When the blue currents disappeared, the entire rock was already wrapped in frost and frozen.
Watching little Rainbow proficiently release the Cold Breath skill multiple times within a short period, a smile appeared on David's face. He felt a bit emotional – was this the potential of a Purple SS tier?
Only a month old and yet able to accurately land three consecutive Cold Breaths on a target – by the skill's level of proficiency, Rainbow's Cold Breath has already reached the level of skillful. With more practice, it might even reach the level of Excellent.
Cold Breath can be considered the core skill of the Coldjade Snake. The advantage of this skill is its extremely fast exhalation speed, with a very short cast time, able to instantly freeze opponents in battle, thus rendering them powerless. However, its drawback is that, as a constraining skill, the skill's damage is not very high.
"Ah, Kuro."
A sudden exclamation of pain interrupted David's thoughts.
He furrowed his brows, turned his head, and saw that John Hornby's right-hand finger was bleeding bright red, evidently injured by the Thorny Fish's attack.
"What happened? Stop the bleeding for now. Luckily, the Thorny Fish's teeth don't carry toxins, otherwise, you would have to go to the hospital now."
David's face was serious as he looked at the Thorny Fish standing still in the water. After seeing that it didn't make any excessive movements, he quickly took a band-aid out of his backpack.
He tore open the package, walked to John's side, and directly applied the band-aid to the wound on his finger.
"Yi ya?" (What happened?)
Rainbow stopped practicing Cold Breath and looked at the Thorny Fish with confused eyes.
"I accidentally touched Kuro's mouth just now, and I didn't expect to be bitten," John said helplessly.
"So that's what happened. I thought your Beast Taming Contract had backlash issues!"
David's tight frown suddenly loosened, and his tone became much more relaxed.
Although cases of contract backlash are rare, once they occur, they can cause significant damage to a Trainer's Arcane Star.
At worst, it can cause the Arcane Star to shatter violently, resulting in the Trainer's death.
Seeing that John was fine, David teased, "Be careful, Thorny Fish's thorns are poisonous. I don't want to see you on the news!"
Although under the constraints of Beast Taming Contract, Pets cannot initiate attacks on Trainers, some Pets' natural weapons can pose a threat to their own Trainer, such as sharp fangs and poison stings.
Upon hearing this, John glanced at David unhappily. How did he end up with such a terrible friend? If he couldn't speak well, he shouldn't speak at all!
Seeing John's depressed expression, David continued, "How do you feel now?"
"The wound is not big. I guess it'll heal soon. I just have to be more careful when I touch it in the future." John glanced at the Thorny Fish in the water.