For a pet beast, there were only three ways to grow.
Food, training, and battle!
The easiest was to absorb nutrients from food and convert them into the substances needed for growth.
Training was a little tougher, but it could hone a pet beast's racial abilities to a higher level, thereby promoting growth.
Battle was the most dangerous, especially a life-or-death battle in which the mind, will, and spirit were all intensely focused. It tempered a pet beast more than anything else, and the growth experience gained from using abilities in high-intensity combat was beyond anything basic training could match.
To nurture a powerful pet beast, ample, nutritious food, proper training, and a suitable amount of combat tempering were all indispensable.
For now, Shi Yu intended to take Eleven into an evenly matched battle. Of course, it wouldn't be a life-or-death fight, but a beast-taming battle held at a proper venue under a set of rules.
At their current stage, he and Eleven couldn't yet take part in battles on the level of a life-or-death fight, and the city had no place where they could temper themselves that way, either.
Even if it did, Shi Yu wouldn't be so bored he'd go looking for death. He was a normal person, and with the Skill Index in hand, wasn't it better to develop steadily?
Places where his life would be in danger... in any case, he definitely wouldn't go.
That afternoon, Shi Yu recalled the little Iron-Eating Beast into his Beast Taming Space and went out again.
A well-developed city needed several essential facilities.
For example, the Beast Tamer Association, the administrative body for Beast Tamers.
Or the Beast Tamer Corps, stationed at the city's outskirts to protect it.
There were also places like schools, breeding bases, dojos, and martial arts halls. Every city had them.
Besides those, battle venues where Beast Tamers could temper themselves in combat were indispensable.
Battle venues were generally managed by the authorities, and they were the only places in the city where Beast Tamers could fight one another. Shi Yu wanted an opponent for a practical battle, so this was one option.
He could also head into the wild and look for creatures with decent fighting strength, but that was a little too dangerous. Considering that he and Eleven hadn't reached the maximum level yet, Shi Yu put that option aside for now.
Still, to become a professional Beast Tamer, it seemed he had to max out his wilderness survival skills.
As far as Shi Yu knew, the professional Beast Tamer assessment included a wilderness survival test in addition to the basic and practical combat assessments.
If he wanted that certificate, it seemed hard to avoid... well, ultimately, they were still too weak. If they could simply steamroll any danger in their path, they wouldn't have to tread so cautiously.
If Shi Yu remembered correctly, the Beast Tamer Association seemed to organize wilderness training for apprentice Beast Tamers on a regular basis, and any apprentice Beast Tamer could sign up voluntarily.
For such events, the high-level transcendent creatures in the training area were generally cleared out beforehand, and high-level Beast Tamers and rescue teams were stationed in the rear to handle unexpected dangers.
If he decided to train in the wild, Shi Yu thought going with a group would be a good choice. At least it would be safer than roaming around on his own.
Although he'd have to pay to sign up, if he could harvest some rare materials and copy some rare skills in the wild, it might not be much of a loss.
After spending some time on the journey, Shi Yu arrived at a battle venue quite far from his home.
Pingcheng District had a permanent population of 130,000, and Beast Tamers made up a considerable proportion of it. Among those Beast Tamers, apprentice Beast Tamers accounted for an even larger share.
Every city might have few professional Beast Tamers, but it was bound to have plenty of apprentices, so there were a great many battle venues as well.
Ping City Battle Venue, Yuyang Road Branch.
"Hello, welcome."
After Shi Yu entered the venue, a young female receptionist at a counter to the side greeted him with a smile.
Following the sound, Shi Yu looked over. There were four reception desks in all, and only the receptionist who had just greeted him wasn't currently handling business.
The receptionists at the other desks were registering Beast Tamers of various ages. There were more people here than Shi Yu had expected.
"Hello."
Shi Yu immediately replied and walked over.
The receptionist looked at Shi Yu and said, "How may I help you?"
"I'd like to have a battle, but it's my first time here. Could you give me a brief introduction?" Shi Yu asked.
The receptionist smiled and nodded. "Our battle venue provides facilities for battles below the Transcendent Level. Here, you can choose either a prearranged battle or a random battle."
"For a prearranged battle, you arrange an opponent in advance, and we provide only the arena, referee, and medical services."
"For a random battle, you need to fill in your basic information, and we'll randomly select an opponent for you and provide the other services."
"Random battles are divided into two brackets based on the Beast Tamer's pet beast's level: levels one to six and levels seven to ten. Based on your pet beast's level, we'll randomly match you with an opponent in the appropriate range."
"Regardless of the mode, the venue fee for one battle is 100 yuan per person."
100 yuan?
Shi Yu's heart ached!
100 yuan for one battle! So expensive! He could live for three days on 100 yuan.
But when he thought about the cost of arena repairs, referees, and even medical care, the price seemed reasonable. If a venue like this weren't supported by the authorities, it might charge even more.
"Oh, right, there are also wager battles," the receptionist added.
"Both sides can place a wager before the battle. The loser pays the venue fees for both sides, meaning the person who loses has to pay 200 yuan, while the winner pays nothing."
"I'll choose a random wager battle, with the pet beast level range set to level six and below," Shi Yu said at once.
The little Iron-Eating Beast was currently at growth level five and had mastered Expert Level Hardening, as well as the unscientific High-Speed Healing. Even if the opponent were a level-six pet beast of a high-level race, they wouldn't necessarily lose.
To save a little money, he could only apologize to his opponent. As for the possibility of losing... if he lost, Shi Yu could only accept it.
He hoped the opponent would be weak, but not too weak.
"All right, please fill out this form..." The receptionist handed him a form.
Shi Yu took it, looked it over carefully, then picked up the carbon ink pen beside him and quickly began filling it out.
Name, ID number, pet beast species, and pet beast growth level were the four key pieces of information he had to fill in.
The rest consisted of options, such as checking random battle and confirming his choice of a wager battle...
After filling everything out, Shi Yu handed the form back. At the same time, he couldn't help asking, "Can extra stakes be added to wager battles here?"
Since he was gambling anyway, why not go big?
Pokémon trainers earned money when they won battles, so Beast Tamers ought to be able to as well, right?
"Sorry, that's beyond the scope of our services."
Shi Yu: "..."
That was one less way to make money.
Next, the young receptionist began entering the information Shi Yu had provided into the large-screen computer in front of her.
At the same time, she said, "Here's your number card. You can wait in the lobby for now. Once you've been matched with a suitable opponent, your name and battle arena number will appear on the lobby screen."
"All right, thank you." Shi Yu took the number card and nodded, then walked over to a chair in the lobby and sat down to wait for an opponent.
Meanwhile.
A boy wearing a blue-and-white school uniform and glasses was also registering his information at a reception desk.
Name: Chen Kai Pet beast species: Ice Armor Beast Pet beast level: Awakening Level Six Battle mode: Random wager battle
After filling out the form, the boy in the school uniform felt a sense of anticipation.
As one of the top students in his class, he felt his classmates were too weak to put any pressure on him at all. In a growth environment like that, when would he ever become a professional Beast Tamer?
He needed pressure!
So he had chosen to come to a battle venue with no age restrictions, only level restrictions, hoping that some apprentice Beast Tamers from outside school would show him a thing or two.
That said... Chen Kai felt that, as a top student, it would be hard for him to lose.