“I don't have any particular event I want to join. I'll just see where there's a shortage of people and fill in there,” Qiao Sang asked casually, “What about you? Which one do you want to join?”
Although Jin Feifan wasn't a poor student, as one of the few special-admission students in the class, she was certainly a prime candidate for the sports meet.
“I want to compete in shuttlecock kicking,” Jin Feifan said bashfully.
“That event is simple. Since your pet is a Little Ball-Rush, I feel like it's a guaranteed win,” Qiao Sang smiled.
Pets cannot use skills during shuttlecock kicking, but they can use their heads, feet, and other body parts to keep the shuttlecock aloft—excluding the upper limbs. For Grass-type pets, vine whips are considered part of the body, so they can be used to catch the shuttlecock under the rules.
Generally speaking, Grass-type pets have a very high chance of winning in this event.
The first period was taught by the homeroom teacher.
When class began, Li Yi walked in, accompanied by a Gravity Monkey carrying a box of school uniforms.
The uniforms were distributed one by one.
Looking at the uniform in her hand, Qiao Sang couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. If nothing else, the efficiency of the Beast-Taming society was truly fast.
In her previous life, freshmen would report their sizes at the start of the semester, and normally, uniforms wouldn't be issued for half a month. Now, they had them in less than five days.
During the lesson, Li Yi accelerated the pace of the lecture, explaining the content at double speed, and everyone listened effortlessly.
Except for Qiao Sang.
Qiao Sang was writing notes furiously, wishing she had two more hands.
Although her memory had improved significantly, in a class full of "study gods," she couldn't afford not to work hard!
By the time the lesson content was finished, there was still more than half the period remaining.
Li Yi clapped his hands and said, “We'll use the remaining time to continue yesterday's topic. The school sports meet will be held on September 29th; this will be the first sports meet you participate in.”
“Although our class is recognized as the top in the entire grade for academic performance, I hope the students of our class develop comprehensively in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics, and can also achieve impressive results at the sports meet. I know the students of our class are absolutely capable of this!”
While speaking, the homeroom teacher looked straight ahead. It seemed like he was addressing the whole class, but anyone with eyes knew that these pleasantries had been said yesterday; saying them again today was clearly directed at Qiao Sang.
Qiao Sang didn't react, remaining buried in her notes to deepen her impression of the material.
Li Yi glanced at her from the corner of his eye and continued, “Students, in response to the call, I solemnly promise you today: as long as we take first place, the PE teacher will absolutely not fall sick during future PE classes!”
The students in the classroom burst into laughter.
Jin Feifan whispered a complaint, “Do all homeroom teachers love this routine? My middle school teacher said the exact same thing, but the PE teacher remained frail and sickly and kept taking leave. I basically never saw him during my entire third year of middle school.”
Qiao Sang looked up and asked, “Did your class take first place in the sports meet back then?”
Jin Feifan paused. “We got fourth.”
“Then you can't blame your middle school teacher,” Qiao Sang smiled.
Jin Feifan: “...”
Soon, the selection process got down to business.
“First, the 400-meter hurdles sprint. Anyone want to participate?” Li Yi asked, looking around.
The hurdles sprint was an event completed jointly by the beast tamer and the pet. The pet wore a sensing device on its head, while the tamer wore an electronic visual device at the starting line.
There were no physical hurdles placed on the track; instead, they were displayed in the tamer's electronic visual device.
When the pet was about to reach the position of a hurdle, the tamer had to jump forcefully in place. The sensing device would allow the pet to feel the tamer's movement.
At that moment, the pet had to jump, because the hurdle would suddenly rise from the ground.
The hurdles sprint tested the pet's speed, reaction time, and the level of tacit understanding and trust between the pet and the tamer. For tenth-grade freshmen who had just become beast tamers, the difficulty was not small.
Despite this, many people still raised their hands to sign up.
They were all new beast tamers in their prime, not to mention they were students of the Imperial Heavy Class at the city's top beast-taming high school.
The registration proceeded smoothly. Fifteen minutes later.
Li Yi looked at the sign-up list in his hand and coughed. “Everyone, quiet down. There are three events that no one has signed up for: bare-handed brick breaking, swimming relay, and aerial rings. Is anyone willing to give them a try?”
Almost the entire class intentionally or unintentionally looked toward Qiao Sang.
“Qiao Sang, aren't you signing up?” a student sitting in front turned around and whispered.
Qiao Sang's mouth twitched. She said, “These events don't seem to suit me.”
She had intended to fill in wherever there was a shortage, but she never expected these three to be the ones left.
Bare-handed brick breaking was an exclusive event for Fighting-type pets. Those who participated were basically all Fighting-types; pets of other attributes would just be cannon fodder.
The swimming relay was a joint event for Water-type pets and tamers. Although she had already pre-selected Water-Liana as her third pet, she hadn't signed the contract yet. She couldn't guarantee that her Beast Codex would have a third page before the sports meet.
Aerial rings were the choice of Flying-type pets. While there was no rule stating it *had* to be a Flying-type, they had a massive advantage.
Pets had to scramble for rings floating in the air; whoever could first hook a ring onto the target object below was the winner.
Rings would be replenished promptly, and the remaining pets would continue to compete to determine the rankings.
During the event, wind-generating devices would create wind interference. According to the rules, skills could not be used on competing pets, but skills could be used on the rings.
Except for telekinesis.
Skills could also be used to accelerate in the air.
Except for teleportation.
What the hell is the point of playing this!
Qiao Sang seriously suspected these rules were specifically designed to target Psychic-type pets.
Overall, this event was time-consuming and exhausting, testing the pet's grasp of wind direction and force.
Ya Bao and Little Treasure could participate, but with rules forbidding attacking opponents and teleporting, how could they possibly beat Flying-type pets who had a natural advantage in the air?
Just as Qiao Sang was shaking her head inwardly, Li Yi finally couldn't resist and called her name: “Qiao Sang, aren't you participating in an event?”
Qiao Sang shook her head. “These events aren't suitable for my pets.”
“I think your Flame-Listening Hound and Treasure-Hunting Ghost are both quite suitable for the aerial rings,” Li Yi chuckled.
He was practically lying through his teeth... Qiao Sang spoke up, “I think Yu Zhao is more suitable than I am.”
The Yu Zhao she mentioned was the one who had chased the Little Fat Pigeon all over the place on the first day of school.
Yu Zhao, who had been watching the spectacle, was startled and quickly refused, “I can't do it!”
He didn't want to participate in some damn sports meet!
Studying already took up so much of his time; where would he find the energy to spend on training!
“Student Qiao Sang, as a member of our class...” Li Yi looked at Qiao Sang, about to use an emotional plea to persuade her, but halfway through, he was so startled by a suddenly appearing pet that the words were choked back into his throat.
“Xun-xun!”
Little Treasure-Hunting Ghost appeared and excitedly pointed to one of the events written on the blackboard.
All the students followed its finger and looked at the board.
Qiao Sang's mouth twitched. “Are you sure?”
“Xun!” Little Treasure-Hunting Ghost nodded with a serious expression.
Qiao Sang remained silent for a few seconds, then turned and said, “Teacher, I'll participate.”
Hearing this, Li Yi said with surprise, “That's more like it. Although the aerial rings are mostly joined by Flying-type pets, both I and the classmates believe in your strength.”
Qiao Sang paused. “Teacher, I'm not joining the aerial rings. I want to join the bare-handed brick breaking.”
Li Yi: “???”
“Xun~”