Fire Fang Dog was caught off guard by the sudden ball and only reacted when it was close.
Luckily, balls at the first speed setting were not fast. Fire Fang Dog simply lifted its left foreleg and hind leg, and the ball rolled smoothly beneath it.
The two automatic baseball pitching machines fired at the same time, their muzzles occasionally turning to launch balls in different directions.
After dodging for about a minute, Fire Fang Dog grew more accustomed to the balls' trajectories. Its expression relaxed, and it started fooling around, making tiny movements to evade the balls just before they hit it.
Qiao Sang watched with great satisfaction. Dodging like that required a certain level of reflexes and evasion skill.
However, Qiao Sang had not brought Fire Fang Dog here today to practice dodging. Seeing that it had no problem with the first speed setting, she got up and adjusted both automatic baseball pitching machines to the second setting.
The balls at the first speed setting traveled at roughly 3 m/s, while those at the second setting traveled at 5 m/s.
The room was only a dozen or so meters long, meaning Fire Fang Dog had to dodge two balls fired from different directions every three seconds or so.
At the second speed setting, Fire Fang Dog no longer seemed quite as nimble. It had barely dodged one ball when another came flying straight at it.
With balls being launched so densely, Fire Fang Dog was inevitably hit a few times.
Baseballs came in hard and soft varieties. These baseballs designed specifically for indoor training were softballs, made of hollow rubber, so being hit by them did not hurt.
Over the course of about a minute, Fire Fang Dog was hit five times in total.
At that moment, Qiao Sang pressed the red button beside her, and the automatic baseball pitching machines stopped.
"Fang?"
Fire Fang Dog tilted its head, looking at its Beastmaster in confusion.
Why stop? It had not had enough fun yet.
Qiao Sang walked over to Fire Fang Dog, crouched down, and removed the Weighted Ring from its right foreleg. Smiling, she said, "We didn't come here to play this time. I came to see how effective your training has been these past few days and find out your speed limit."
"Fang!"
Hearing that, Fire Fang Dog pushed itself upright with the strength of its hind legs, then patted its chest with the newly freed right foreleg.
It was ready to show its Beastmaster what it could do!
Seeing Fire Fang Dog so full of fighting spirit, Qiao Sang could not help patting its head. "Good luck."
Fire Fang Dog felt its blood boil. It ran over to Qiao Sang's backpack, dug out the seven pairs of sunglasses inside, hesitated for a moment, then picked out the Dark Green Triangle Sunglasses and put them on.
"Fang!"
Fire Fang Dog returned to its original spot and solemnly nodded at Qiao Sang.
Seeing that, Qiao Sang knew Fire Fang Dog was about to get serious.
"Good luck," Qiao Sang encouraged it again. Then she went over to the automatic baseball pitching machines and turned on the second speed setting.
The moment its Weighted Ring was removed, Fire Fang Dog sprang back to life. Its speed was on an entirely different level from before. Balls fired at the second speed setting posed no threat to it at all, and it dodged them with ease.
Two minutes later, Qiao Sang adjusted the automatic baseball pitching machines to the third speed setting.
At the third speed setting, the balls' speed doubled directly, reaching 10 m/s.
At 10 m/s, Fire Fang Dog did not let a single ball touch it.
Although Qiao Sang had some idea of how much Fire Fang Dog had improved, seeing it with her own eyes still filled her with satisfaction.
Two minutes later, Qiao Sang raised the automatic baseball pitching machines by another setting.
The fourth setting.
The speed increased from 10 m/s to 20 m/s.
Caught off guard, Fire Fang Dog was hit by the first ball fired in fourth-setting mode. Then the second and third balls struck it as well.
It seemed Fire Fang Dog's neural reaction speed limit was somewhere in the teens of meters per second.
After making her judgment, Qiao Sang prepared to turn off the automatic baseball pitching machines.
"Fang!" Fire Fang Dog cried anxiously.
Don't turn them off! It could still do it!
Qiao Sang froze. She had not expected Fire Fang Dog to notice what she was doing even while being continuously bombarded by balls.
Since Fire Fang Dog had chosen to continue, Qiao Sang naturally did not stop it. Given its temperament, if she did not let it try again now, it would probably not even enjoy its food and would sulk at her afterward.
Fire Fang Dog refocused on the balls. The balls had just suddenly become much faster, and it had not been prepared!
After training for so many days, how could it be defeated by these balls so quickly?
Qiao Sang discovered in surprise that Fire Fang Dog, which had initially been hit over and over, soon found its rhythm.
At first, every ball hit its mark. Later, only one out of every three balls hit it, and eventually, only one out of every ten managed to strike it.
It was improving at an astonishing rate!
Qiao Sang could not help marveling. Her Fire Fang Dog was not only hardworking, but its potential was extraordinary too.
Thirty minutes later, Fire Fang Dog had reached a level where it was hit only once for every forty-five balls on average.
Fire Fang Dog did not say it was tired, so Qiao Sang did not stop the automatic baseball pitching machines either.
Her original plan had been to simply test its speed today and not let its body become too exhausted.
After all, if it trained as usual, its body would definitely be sore tomorrow, and it would not be in its best mental state.
Tomorrow was June 10th, the day of Saint Water High School's Special Enrollment Exam. Qiao Sang had wanted Fire Fang Dog to rest well today, and the test had only been meant to be brief.
But Fire Fang Dog was no longer testing its speed at all. It was training.
At this rate, it definitely would not be in peak condition tomorrow either.
Qiao Sang hesitated over whether to call a stop directly.
Just then, another identical Fire Fang Dog appeared out of thin air to Fire Fang Dog's left!
Qiao Sang stood frozen in place. She raised a hand and rubbed her eyes, making sure she was not hallucinating.
What else could cause such a supernatural phenomenon besides a skill?
She immediately entered the Pet Beast Codex with her consciousness.
Name: Fire Fang Dog Attribute: Fire Level: Elementary (133/1000)+ Skills: Bite (Beginner 74/100)+, Take Down (Proficient 198/500)+, Fire Fang (Proficient 188/500)+, Spark (Proficient 232/500)+, Shadow Clone (Beginner 2/100)+ Points: 55
Over the past few days of training, every stat except Bite had improved to varying degrees.
Qiao Sang checked every night before going to sleep.
Now, the data clearly showed a skill that had not been there last night—Shadow Clone.
Qiao Sang could not help feeling shocked. Shadow Clone was a Mid-Level Skill on the same level as Fire Fang.
It had only been about ten days since Fire Fang Dog had comprehended Spark, yet it had comprehended another skill already—and a Mid-Level Skill at that!
Normally, learning a skill was a lengthy process that required proper instruction and training.
Many new Beastmasters who did not understand how to train the moves they wanted would send their pet beasts to training institutions where they could learn skills.
Such training institutions were extremely popular in modern society. Often, teaching just one skill was enough to keep an institution thriving forever.
Of course, that was only true for Mid-Level Skills and above.
Qiao Sang pressed the stop button and looked at Fire Fang Dog with burning eyes.
"Fang?" Seeing the balls disappear, Fire Fang Dog looked at its Beastmaster in confusion.
Why had it stopped?
Qiao Sang praised, "Fire Fang Dog, if talent could be displayed and ranked too, you would definitely be a solid S-rank."
"Fang~"
Fire Fang Dog gave an embarrassed cry, feeling a little shy.
Why was she praising it so suddenly? How embarrassing.
The next moment, Fire Fang Dog realized something and turned its head to the left.
"Fang!!!"
Fire Fang Dog let out a terrified cry, then ran to Qiao Sang faster than it had dodged the balls and threw itself into her arms.
Before you continue