Requesting Leave

Her mother paused. "Isn't a Fire Fang Dog too aggressive?"

When Beast Tamers chose Pet Beasts, they undoubtedly looked at three things: attributes, talent, and potential.

But for novice Beast Tamers, the most important thing was a Pet Beast's temperament.

Little Chubby Doves, White Sand Foxes, Short Tail Snakes, Sand Bob Rats, and Deep Fur Turtles were popular first choices for beginner Beast Tamers largely because of their personalities.

The Pet Beasts bred by Pet Beast Bases were not all docile and harmless toward humans.

If an inexperienced Beast Tamer's first contract was with a bad-tempered Pet Beast, forget commanding it in battle—they would not even be able to make it train.

Last year, a boy from Kainan City who had just finished the High School Entrance Exam contracted a Flame Sparrow. Less than two days later, the Flame Sparrow would rather suffer the backlash than keep the contract.

The boy's brain domain was severely damaged. By the time he returned to high school, half a year had passed, and he had fallen far behind his peers.

It was only later, during an interview, that people learned the cause: the boy had merely wanted the Flame Sparrow to strike a few poses for a social media post...

The news even trended for a few minutes.

Most fire-type Pet Beasts were rough and willful, and Fire Fang Dogs were no exception.

But Qiao Sang did not think so. It was impossible for every Fire Fang Dog in a species to be ill-tempered. There had to be a few with different personalities.

Otherwise, if every member of a species had the same personality, how unoriginal would that be?

"Mom, didn't you say I had talent for Beast Taming? I think Fire Fang Dogs suit me quite well," Qiao Sang said.

Fire Fang Dogs were fire-type Pet Beasts with strong offensive power. After one evolution, they would definitely be enough to help her pass the E-Class Beast Tamer qualification assessment.

Although Fire Fang Dogs were not as expensive as Psychic-type Pet Beasts like Bubble Bells, they still cost much more than Little Chubby Doves and the like.

Pet Beasts like Little Chubby Doves, the preferred choice for novice Beast Tamers, cost around thirty thousand, while Fire Fang Dogs cost about one hundred thousand.

Qiao Sang knew her family's situation. They could still afford it.

"Fine. I'll take you to the Pet Beast Base tomorrow morning." Her mother agreed without saying anything more.

The next day, Qiao Sang was awakened by her mother before dawn.

Urged along by her mother, she got ready and ate breakfast in just ten minutes. By the time they left, it was only 7:06.

Qiao Sang's eyelids drooped the whole time, looking as though she had not woken up yet.

That was, until she took to the sky.

Hangang Pet Beast Center was not in the city proper, but in the suburbs over forty kilometers from the city center.

By the time the Fat Domestic Pigeon carried them to Hangang Pet Beast Center, it was already 8:31.

They arrived just as the Pet Beast Base opened for business.

Because it was still early, they were the only people in the entire Hangang Pet Beast Center there to buy a Pet Beast.

They had no appointment, but there was no need to queue either.

The person who received them was a female staff member who looked to be in her thirties.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" She walked over with a professional smile.

"We want to buy a Fire Fang Dog," her mother stated directly.

"Certainly. Please follow me." The staff member led the way.

She was clearly experienced at her job. She introduced things continuously along the way, never allowing the atmosphere to turn awkward.

"We currently have twenty-seven Fire Fang Dogs at the base. They are all developing very well. Two are even close to evolving, while among the other twenty-five, nineteen have already learned Spark.

"Seven have even learned Fireball. They are a few centimeters taller than Fire Fang Dogs their age, and there are another five..."

While she spoke, they had already arrived at the area specifically used to raise Fire Fang Dogs.

Before Qiao Sang could even approach—

Boom!

An explosion suddenly rang out, and a burst of flame struck the ground roughly five meters away from her.

Qiao Sang jumped.

She looked in the direction the flame had come from.

Two Fire Fang Dogs, clearly much taller than the others, were baring flame-covered fangs at each other in a standoff.

Burning flames covered their sharp teeth. This was a skill inherited by nearly all Fire Fang Dogs—Fire Fang.

The staff member remained calm as she explained, "Those two are the Fire Fang Dogs close to evolving. They keep fighting to prove who is stronger, but it always ends in a draw."

As she spoke, flames flew everywhere. Another blast struck roughly four meters away from Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang's scalp went numb.

The staff member pointed to a patch of bushes not far to the left. "That Spark just now was released by that Fire Fang Dog. Its power is quite impressive."

Qiao Sang looked over and saw another Fire Fang Dog standing before it. The atmosphere between them did not seem good.

Sure enough, the next second, the two started biting at each other.

The staff member provided live commentary. "They're love rivals. They're fighting for the affection of a female Fire Fang Dog, but nothing will come of it because that female Fire Fang Dog likes another one."

Qiao Sang: "..."

After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Where is that female Fire Fang Dog?"

A female Fire Fang Dog's temperament had to be better than a male's, right?

The staff member smiled. "She's the one cheering beside them while they were fighting just now."

Qiao Sang froze. She looked again and, sure enough, there was a Fire Fang Dog by the bushes with cleaner, smoother fur than the other two, barking excitedly.

"Fang!"

"Fang!"

The staff member translated, "She's probably shouting, 'Fight! Fight!' She doesn't like either of them, but she likes watching them fight over her."

Qiao Sang: "..."

While Qiao Sang was left in a state of confusion, the staff member noticed that her mother had not spoken and asked, "Is there a Fire Fang Dog you like? I can bring it over for you to have a closer look."

Her mother shook her head. "I'm here with my daughter. She's the one who wants to contract a Fire Fang Dog."

The staff member suddenly understood. "No wonder. Your daughter awakened on her own, didn't she?"

Her mother looked delighted. "How did you know?"

The staff member explained, "Today is Friday, and your daughter is still wearing Wencheng Middle School's uniform. She should be in her third year of middle school.

The Pet Beast Alliance's annual unified brain domain awakening period has not arrived yet. If she had not awakened on her own, how could she possibly be here contracting a Pet Beast?

Besides, at such a crucial time, it wouldn't be easy to request leave from school."

She had made all of that up.

She only guessed because three days ago, a girl from Wencheng Middle School had come in. She had also awakened on her own, and her parents had brought her to contract a Pet Beast. The staff member had happened to receive her.

But what kind of feng shui did Wencheng Middle School have? Two self-awakened children from the same grade?

When she got home, she absolutely had to discuss taking out a loan with her husband to buy an apartment in that school district. Her son was already in fourth grade.

The smile on her mother's face gradually stiffened.

Qiao Sang came back to herself and asked quietly, "Mom, did you call my Class Teacher today to request leave for me?"

Her mother gave an awkward laugh. "Haha, how could I forget?"

"I remember you requested leave yesterday, but today..." Qiao Sang questioned.

"I requested two days off for you yesterday!" Her mother's voice rose unconsciously.

"That's good, then," Qiao Sang said.

She sighed inwardly.

She wondered whether her mother had noticed that whenever she lied, her voice got louder.