Chapter 15: Seeking Only a Defeat

But this competition was scheduled for after the High School Entrance Exam, and the registration period hadn't even begun; it was impossible to participate right now.

Other battle training venues, regardless of size, also had restrictions.

The only exception was the underground Beast Taming Black Matches, which were specifically for gambling and amusement; they had no requirements regarding a Beast Tamer's level.

Because of this nature, the barrier to entry for such matches was low—even an E-rank Beast Tamer could participate—but those who frequented these underground matches were mostly the dregs of society.

Before the match, a contract had to be signed stating that life and death were not an issue during the pet battle.

In formal competitions, if one side's pet lost its combat capability, a referee would promptly terminate the match, and a specialized medical team would be stationed in the background to treat the pet.

The underground Black Matches were not like that; such matches only ended when one Beast Tamer voluntarily surrendered.

The people coming to these matches were all ruthless individuals or gamblers.

Some didn't care about the survival of their pets because the pets had no more potential; some were looking to make quick money; and others were purely pursuing the thrill of such violent stimulation.

In short, it was not a place where a junior high student like Qiao Sang should be.

Fire-Fang Dog was still too small; Qiao Sang didn't intend to expose it to such cruel matches all at once.

According to Qiao Sang's original plan, she would wait until the High School Entrance Exam was over to train Fire-Fang Dog's speed and stamina first, and once the basic training was solid, she would practice controlling its special moves.

Her "Golden Finger" could allow Fire-Fang Dog to gain point bonuses through combat in a short period, but if its physical fitness couldn't keep up and it couldn't control its own energy, it wouldn't be able to exert the combat power a pet of that same level should possess.

If she wanted to make progress in a short amount of time now, she couldn't take it so slowly.

Only combat could rapidly enhance Fire-Fang Dog's combat power.

What Qiao Sang wanted were sparring matches that stopped at the right moment, not death matches.

Aside from formal Beast Taming competitions and underground Black Matches, various regions also had training halls, clubs, and exchange meetings where pet battles could take place.

Training halls offered "one move every six months" programs, specifically helping Beast Tamers train specific special moves of their pets, but since it wasn't registration season, she couldn't get in.

Clubs simply required money, and Qiao Sang had none.

Exchange meetings were only for those who had made an appearance in formal competitions and had been sent an invitation.

Most people would spar with friends around them during their spare time, but the people Qiao Sang knew hadn't even awakened their brain realms, let alone engaged in pet battles.

Summing it all up, there was actually nowhere in the entire Hanggang City for Fire-Fang Dog to have a proper fight.

Could she just grab a random person on the street and say, "I want to have a pet battle with you"?

If she happened to grab a D-rank or higher Beast Tamer, she wouldn't even know how she died.

Qiao Sang paced back and forth on the street, thinking seriously.

Five minutes later, she walked toward home, cradling Fire-Fang Dog.

Once home, Qiao Sang took off her school uniform, changed into casual clothes, went to her room to write a few words on a piece of paper and tore it off, then took a roll of tape and put it in her pocket.

Then, she put on her backpack and headed out.

...

Nanhe Park, next to Hanggang No. 37 Beast Taming High School.

"Student, want some barbecue?" an auntie running a stall called out at the park entrance.

Qiao Sang checked the time: 16:27. There was about an hour left until dismissal at No. 37 Beast Taming High School.

"I'll take ten skewers of lamb, please," Qiao Sang said, approaching the stall.

"Do you want it spicy?" Seeing business, the auntie asked with a wide grin.

"No, thank you," Qiao Sang shook her head.

"Are you from this school? I don't think I've ever seen you before," the auntie chatted away while busy with her hands.

"No, I'm just waiting for someone," Qiao Sang replied.

"I thought so. If I had seen such a beautiful girl, I definitely wouldn't have forgotten," the auntie laughed.

Qiao Sang gave a polite smile.

She had been praised frequently since she was a child; she used to feel shy about it, but as she grew up, she became numb to it.

Five minutes later, Qiao Sang took the lamb skewers and handed one to the drooling Fire-Fang Dog.

"Ya!"

Fire-Fang Dog barked happily, took it with its two paws, and immediately lowered its head to eat.

"What's this pet's name? I haven't seen one like this around here," the auntie couldn't help but ask while staring at Fire-Fang Dog.

A chasm existed between Beast Tamers and ordinary people, dividing them into two different worlds.

The circumstances they faced after nine years of compulsory education were completely different.

However, although Beast Tamers held a higher status in this society, ordinary people were also divided into classes.

Those with power and those without, those with money and those without, small business owners, employees...

Power and wealth were often determined at birth.

If they weren't born with these things, it was difficult for ordinary people to come into contact with information regarding supernatural creatures after their compulsory education.

Even if information was widely disseminated and broadcast on all channels, ordinary people didn't have the time or energy to learn about it.

Just making ends meet was difficult enough for them.

The auntie in front of her was clearly among the lower strata of ordinary people.

"Its name is Fire-Fang Dog," Qiao Sang answered.

"Ya!" Hearing its Tamer introduce it, Fire-Fang Dog barked in response.

The auntie smiled. "It looks so well-behaved. My son is in junior high too; when he graduates, I'll buy him one like this."

Qiao Sang hesitated to speak.

Actually, she wasn't wrong; aside from being a bit feisty, Fire-Fang Dog was quite well-behaved...

"Ya."

Fire-Fang Dog looked up at Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang handed over another skewer of lamb.

Fire-Fang Dog happily accepted it.

The ten skewers of lamb were eventually split 30/70: Qiao Sang ate three, and Fire-Fang Dog ate seven.

Qiao Sang sat down on a nearby leisure bench.

The view from here allowed her to see the main gate of No. 37 Beast Taming High School perfectly. The position was ideal; any student passing through Nanhe Park after school would be able to see her.

Qiao Sang put down her backpack and used the tape to stick the paper onto it.

【Pet Battle: Seeking Only Defeat】

In the bottom right corner, there was a small line of text

【50 Alliance Coins per match】

This was a method Qiao Sang had thought of after much deliberation.

If one were to ask where the most F-rank Beast Tamers were, it would definitely be at the Beast Taming high schools.

It takes at least 1 to 2 years to raise a mid-level pet, so the pets of freshmen and sophomores were basically still at the junior pet stage.

Writing "50 Alliance Coins" was purely for fun; Qiao Sang didn't actually expect anyone to battle her for such a small amount of money.

She just hoped to attract their attention. To high school students who had just become Beast Tamers, this would be a form of entertainment, and surely someone would be willing to compete with her.

As for why she chose No. 37 Beast Taming High School, it was because it was the closest school outside her own residential area.

Changing her uniform and leaving her area was intended to avoid running into people she knew.

After all, coming to the outside of someone else's school and writing "Seeking Only Defeat" was quite embarrassing...

Qiao Sang sat quietly on the bench, holding Fire-Fang Dog.

Although school hadn't let out yet, there were still other people in Nanhe Park.

As they passed by Qiao Sang, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look.

The content written on that backpack didn't seem to match the girl's image at all.

"Ya!"

Seeing people looking, Fire-Fang Dog bared its teeth and barked.

Well.

With this Fire-Fang Dog, the image finally matched...