Chapter 29: You Must Be S-Rank

The Fire-Fang Dog was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the balls, only reacting when they were close to it.

Fortunately, the balls at Level 1 speed were not fast. As the Fire-Fang Dog lifted its left forelimb and left hind limb, the ball slid smoothly beneath its body.

Two baseball automatic pitching machines fired simultaneously, their muzzles rotating from time to time to change direction.

After dodging for about a minute, the Fire-Fang Dog became increasingly adapted to the trajectory of the balls. Its expression turned leisurely, and it began to act playfully, using subtle movements to dodge just as the balls were about to touch it.

Watching this, Qiao Sang was very satisfied; this kind of evasion required a certain level of reaction ability and dodging skill.

However, Qiao Sang's original intention in bringing the Fire-Fang Dog here today was not to practice dodging skills. Seeing that the Fire-Fang Dog had no problem with Level 1, she stood up and increased both pitching machines to Level 2.

The speed at Level 1 was approximately 3m/s, while Level 2 was 5m/s.

The distance in the room was only a short ten-odd meters, meaning the Fire-Fang Dog had to dodge two balls coming from different directions roughly every 3 seconds.

At Level 2 speed, the Fire-Fang Dog appeared less agile; just as it finished dodging one ball, another was being fired straight at it.

Under such a high frequency of fire, it was inevitable that the Fire-Fang Dog would be hit by the balls a few times.

Baseballs are divided into hard and soft balls. These balls, specifically designed for indoor training, were soft balls made of rubber and hollow, so being hit by them would not be painful.

In about a minute, the Fire-Fang Dog was hit a total of 5 times.

At this moment, Qiao Sang pressed the red button nearby, and the pitching machines stopped.

"Ya?"

The Fire-Fang Dog tilted its head, looking at its Tamer in confusion.

Why stop? It wasn't finished playing yet.

Qiao Sang walked over to the Fire-Fang Dog, crouched down, unfastened the weight rings on its right forelimb, and smiled. "We didn't come here to play this time. I came to see how your training results have been over the past few days and what your speed limit is."

"Ya!"

Hearing this, the Fire-Fang Dog used the strength in its hind limbs to prop itself up and patted its chest with its newly freed right forelimb.

It was ready to show off its skills to its Tamer!

Seeing the Fire-Fang Dog's high spirits, Qiao Sang couldn't help but pat its head and say, "Go for it."

The Fire-Fang Dog felt a surge of passion. It ran to Qiao Sang's backpack, rummaged through it, and pulled out seven pairs of sunglasses. After a moment of hesitation, it picked out a pair of dark green triangular sunglasses and put them on.

"Ya!"

The Fire-Fang Dog returned to its original position and nodded solemnly at Qiao Sang.

Seeing this, Qiao Sang knew the Fire-Fang Dog was about to show its true strength.

"Go for it," Qiao Sang encouraged again. After speaking, she went to the pitching machines and turned on Level 2 mode.

Once the weight rings were removed, the Fire-Fang Dog immediately underwent a transformation. Its speed was on a completely different level than before. At Level 2 speed, the fired balls posed no threat to it at all, and it dodged them with ease.

Two minutes later, Qiao Sang adjusted the machines to Level 3.

In Level 3 mode, the speed of the balls doubled, reaching 10m/s.

At 10m/s, the Fire-Fang Dog managed not to let a single ball touch it.

Although Qiao Sang had an idea of the Fire-Fang Dog's progress, seeing it with her own eyes brought a spontaneous sense of gratification.

Two minutes later, Qiao Sang increased the machines by another level.

Level 4.

The speed increased from 10m/s to 20m/s.

Caught off guard, the Fire-Fang Dog was hit by the very first ball fired in Level 4 mode, followed immediately by the second and third.

It seemed the Fire-Fang Dog's limit for neural reaction speed was around ten-odd meters per second.

After making this assessment, Qiao Sang prepared to turn off the machines.

"Ya!" the Fire-Fang Dog cried out urgently.

Don't stop! It can still go!

Qiao Sang was stunned; she hadn't expected the Fire-Fang Dog to notice her movements even under the continuous attack of the balls.

Since the Fire-Fang Dog chose to continue, Qiao Sang naturally did not stop it. Given the Fire-Fang Dog's temperament, if she didn't let it try more now, it probably wouldn't even enjoy its food and would end up sulking with her.

The Fire-Fang Dog refocused its attention on the balls. It was just that the speed had suddenly increased so much that it hadn't been prepared!

After so many days of training, how could it be defeated by these balls so quickly!

To Qiao Sang's surprise, the Fire-Fang Dog, which had been getting hit constantly at first, quickly entered a state of flow.

It went from being hit by every single ball at the start, to being hit once every 3 balls, and finally to being hit only once every 10 balls.

The progress was rapid!

Qiao Sang couldn't help but marvel; her Fire-Fang Dog was not only hardworking but also possessed extraordinary potential.

After 30 minutes, the Fire-Fang Dog had reached a level where it was hit on average once every 45 balls.

Since the Fire-Fang Dog didn't call out in exhaustion, Qiao Sang did not stop the machines.

Her original plan for today was simply to test its speed without letting its body become too fatigued.

After all, if it trained as usual, it would definitely feel sore tomorrow, which would prevent it from being in its best mental state.

Tomorrow was June 10th, the special recruitment exam for Shengshui Middle School. Qiao Sang wanted the Fire-Fang Dog to rest well today, so the testing was meant to be moderate.

But the Fire-Fang Dog wasn't just testing its speed right now; it was training.

If this continued, its state tomorrow certainly wouldn't be optimal.

Qiao Sang hesitated over whether to call a halt directly.

Just then, another identical Fire-Fang Dog appeared out of thin air to the left of the original!

Qiao Sang froze in place, rubbing her eyes to make sure it wasn't a hallucination.

What else could this unnatural phenomenon be besides a skill!

She immediately entered her Beast Manual with her consciousness.

[Name: Fire-Fang Dog] [Attribute: Fire] [Level: Junior (133/1000)+] [Skills: Bite (Beginner 74/100)+, Tackle (Proficient 198/500)+, Fire Fang (Proficient 188/500)+, Ember (Proficient 232/500)+, Shadow Clone (Beginner 2/100)+] [Points: 55]

Aside from Bite, almost all other values had improved to varying degrees through the training of the past few days.

Qiao Sang checked it every night before bed.

At this moment, the data clearly showed a skill that wasn't there last night—Shadow Clone.

Qiao Sang was shocked. Shadow Clone was a mid-tier skill, the same level as Fire Fang.

It had only been about 10 days since the Fire-Fang Dog had comprehended Ember, and now it had comprehended another skill—and a mid-tier one at that!

Normally, learning a skill is a long process that requires corresponding guidance and training.

Many novice Tamers who didn't know how to train for a desired move would send their pets to training institutions.

Such institutions are extremely popular in modern society; often, being able to teach just one skill is enough to make an institution stand firm for years to come.

Of course, that was on the condition that the skill was mid-tier or higher.

Qiao Sang pressed the stop button and looked at the Fire-Fang Dog with burning eyes.

"Ya?" Seeing the balls stop, the Fire-Fang Dog looked at its Tamer in confusion.

Why did it stop?

Qiao Sang praised, "Fire-Fang Dog, if talent could also be ranked, you would definitely be a solid S-rank."

"Ya~"

The Fire-Fang Dog let out a shy cry, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Why praise it so much all of a sudden? It was quite startling.

In the next moment, the Fire-Fang Dog realized something and turned its head to the left.

"Ya!!!"

The Fire-Fang Dog let out a terrified cry, ran toward Qiao Sang even faster than it had dodged the balls, and lunged into her arms.