Chapter 32: I'm Sorry

In the stands, the remaining eight candidates sat side-by-side in the row closest to the arena.

One boy with delicate features asked, "Who do you think will win?"

"The girl, probably. Her pet is a Fire Fang Dog," Zheng Yining interjected.

She had observed them closely while trying to strike up a conversation earlier. The relationship between the Fire Fang Dog and the girl seemed quite harmonious, showing none of the signs described online where a new Beast Tamer contracts a fire-type pet only to end up treating it like a demanding ancestor.

She figured commanding the Fire Fang Dog in battle shouldn't be an issue.

"Not necessarily. Do you guys know who that Lu Liangye is?" Li Yang, sitting nearby, joined the discussion.

"The poser."

"The idiot in the group chat who said the experts are always the last ones to arrive."

Li Yang: "..."

"He achieved spontaneous awakening last September. The Hangang Metropolitan News reported on him. If the middle school entrance exams hadn't ended that year, he'd probably be a freshman at Litan Beast Taming High right now," Li Yang explained.

"Then how did he end up taking the special recruitment exam for Shengshui Middle School?" the delicate-looking boy asked in shock.

It wasn't that he was disparaging Shengshui Middle School, but Litan Beast Taming High was the only school in Zhehai Province that stood a head above Shengshui. After all, with the top school right there, what sane person would choose the second best?

Besides, even if one chose Shengshui Middle School, they should have been recommended through the gifted program! Why were they taking a special recruitment exam? Didn't this mean one of the five slots was absolutely his?!

"I don't know," Li Yang replied.

Who knew what that show-off Lu Liangye was thinking.

Listening to the conversation, Zheng Yining looked at the girl in the arena with a hint of sympathy. Although she had a Fire Fang Dog, her opponent was the person with the highest chance of taking first place. To run into him in the very first round—her luck was truly something else.

On the field, Qiao Sang took a pair of dark green triangular sunglasses from her backpack and put them on the Fire Fang Dog.

This was the color and style the Fire Fang Dog liked most.

After so many days of training, wasn't it all for today's exam? In such an important duel, one should naturally go all out from the start and bring out the secret weapon.

"Yaa!"

Once the dark green sunglasses were on, the Fire Fang Dog tossed its head back with a cool expression, and its aura instantly changed.

"The battle rules are 1v1. Deploy your respective pets and fight upon my command. The first side to fall or lose the ability to fight loses the right to continue," Sun Boyi announced.

This type of match, where no one is designated to attack first, is a popular modern format. It emphasizes the element of surprise and tests whether the Beast Tamer chooses to observe the situation or strike preemptively.

"Running into me in the first round... I can only say I'm sorry!" Lu Liangye said, though his expression and tone suggested otherwise.

Qiao Sang: "..."

This guy was so punchable.

Following his pre-match speech, a pale blue pet appeared within the white star formation.

Its mouth was yellow, and a white collar circled its neck. It had a pair of forelimbs and a tail fin at the front and back; because it lacked legs, it supported its body on the ground using its tail.

It was a water-type pet, the Water Ring鲢 (Water Ring Shad).

"It's actually a Water Ring Shad. That girl is in trouble. Setting aside her strength, her attribute is being countered."

"If you were up against a Water Ring Shad, would you be confident?"

"...Mine is a ground-type, so I'd be countered too. Heavens, please don't let me face him in the next round!"

The candidates in the stands discussed heatedly.

Zheng Yining sighed, feeling even more sympathetic toward the girl in the arena. This kind of luck...

Just then, Sun Boyi gave the command to begin the battle.

"Get close and eliminate it directly," Qiao Sang commanded first.

The second the words left her mouth, the Fire Fang Dog charged forward.

*Good speed,* Sun Boyi evaluated mentally.

*Eliminate it directly? How?*

Lu Liangye wanted to laugh upon hearing that, and in reality, he actually did laugh...

"Haha, use Water Gun! Don't let it get close!"

An entry-level Water Gun is only about 2 meters long, but the Water Ring Shad's Water Gun reached 5 meters, clearly having reached the proficient level.

The Fire Fang Dog dodged easily.

In a flash, the Fire Fang Dog seemed to become two.

The Water Ring Shad was stunned, momentarily unsure which one to aim at.

The two Fire Fang Dogs quickly surrounded the Water Ring Shad from the left and right, revealing sharp teeth enveloped in flames.

"Use Water Ring to protect yourself," Lu Liangye commanded unhurriedly.

"Isn't that fire a bit too big?"

Li Yang, who possessed a certain amount of knowledge, raised a question.

"Is it? I'm nearsighted." The delicate boy squinted his eyes to look seriously into the arena.

Li Yang: "..."

On the field, the Fire Fang Dog's flame-wrapped fangs had already bitten into the Water Ring. Instead of the two forces neutralizing each other as they normally would, the Water Ring was shattered in the next second, and the fangs bit viciously into the Water Ring Shad's head.

"Ring!! Ring!!"

The Water Ring Shad let out a painful scream.

"How is this possible?! Water Ring Shad!" Lu Liangye lost his composure, calling out to the pet in a panic.

On the other side.

"It's a proficient-level Fire Fang," Qin Wen said.

"The Fire Fang Dog is quite good. It seems it mastered it before the contract," Zheng Guoping remarked with admiration.

"This Fire Fang Dog has been contracted for less than two months," said the slicked-back man who had remained silent until now.

"How is that possible?" Zheng Guoping looked incredulous.

"You don't even believe the Vice Principal?" Qin Wen glanced at him.

Zheng Guoping was choked up by the remark.

Vice Principal Liu Yao had been practically begged by their school to come. He was not only an A-grade Breeder but also a senior researcher who had won the Tongyu Award. He worked at the Prims Higher Research Institute; if the Principal hadn't used their childhood friendship to shamelessly blockade his house for a month, he likely would never have settled for a position at a Beast Taming High School.

If he said the Fire Fang Dog had been contracted for less than two months, then it was... less than two months.

Zheng Guoping looked at the Fire Fang Dog on the field with a strange expression. The dog had already released the Water Ring Shad and was looking incredibly proud.

Even though the dark green sunglasses covered its eyes, the way its mouth was curled up, its chest puffed out, and its head held high made it as if it were terrified people wouldn't know it had won...

Was this Fire Fang Dog really less than two months old?

In the arena, the Water Ring Shad had already fainted on the ground.

As Sun Boyi announced the result, Qiao Sang walked up to Lu Liangye and said, "I'm sorry."

Lu Liangye: "...!!"

Qiao Sang picked up the Fire Fang Dog and went to sit in the stands.

Before the Fire Fang Dog was even trained, she had dared to take it to the gates of the Beast Taming High School to challenge high school students, winning three out of three matches.

Now, the Fire Fang Dog's strength was worlds apart from back then, and the opponent had been changed to a middle schooler who had just contracted a pet and hadn't even taken the entrance exams.

How could she lose?

Winning was the only normal outcome.

As soon as Qiao Sang sat down, she couldn't help but yawn again.

The surrounding candidates all turned to look at her with eyes full of both shock and admiration.

She had won too cleanly!

Winning against a type disadvantage so effortlessly was not something an ordinary person could do.