"A Yue, looks like there's a battle over there, and it hasn't started yet."
Outside battle arena No. 11, two young girls were walking together along a path.
Through the mesh fence, the commotion of someone summoning a pet beast caught their attention.
They looked over instinctively and saw the Ice Armor Beast and Iron-Eating Beast that had just appeared.
"Is that person... Chen Kai?"
The girl her companion called A Yue saw the face of the boy in the school uniform and his pet beast, and immediately exclaimed in surprise.
"You know someone there? Right... one of them does look like he's wearing your school's uniform."
"Yeah, he's my classmate. He's really strong..."
"Which of you is stronger?"
"I can't compare to him. There aren't many people in our whole grade stronger than him..." Zhuang Yue said immediately. "His Ice Armor Beast has already reached level six, and it's already very proficient with both its racial skills, Ice Crack Claw and Ice Armor."
"Oh, wow, you wouldn't guess he was a top student. Do you know his opponent? His pet beast is an Iron-Eating Beast, just like yours."
"I don't know him, but from my experience raising an Iron-Eating Beast, that one's growth level should still be below level six... It'll probably lose."
"Unless it's mastered Proficient Level Hardening, it'll have a hard time breaking through Ice Armor. And Iron-Eating Beasts are notoriously lazy... At this growth level, its Hardening skill is most likely still at the beginner level."
Zhuang Yue felt this deeply and sighed helplessly. Only after forming a contract with an Iron-Eating Beast could one understand how painful it was to train one.
If she could choose again, she would never pick an Iron-Eating Beast because it was cute. This kind of pet beast was far too lazy!!!
Chen Kai himself shared the two passersby's judgment.
Few Iron-Eating Beasts at this growth level could train Hardening to the proficient level. At least, not a single one of his classmates' beasts had done so.
And even if it had reached the proficient level, it might not be able to stand up to the Ice Armor Beast. After all, both of his Ice Armor Beast's racial skills had also been trained to the proficient level!
An adult Iron-Eating Beast's overall abilities were stronger than an adult Ice Armor Beast's, but that was after it reached adulthood. This Iron-Eating Beast was clearly still a cub!
"Ice Armor Beast, Ice Crack Claw!"
A beast tamer and his contracted pet beast could communicate mentally, much like Telepathy. As soon as the battle began, Chen Kai ordered the Ice Armor Beast to attack.
Whoosh!!!
The Ice Armor Beast burst forward, its icy blue body charging toward Eleven. At the same time, frost spread over the claws on its forelimbs. Cold air swirled around it, and a layer of white frost formed everywhere it stepped.
It soon leaped into the air, slashing its sharp ice claws at the Iron-Eating Beast with a fierce bearing.
"Good explosive power. It's been raised very well. As expected of a student from a key school."
The referee, Bai Shi, noticed that this Ice Armor Beast was no weakling.
"Hardening."
On the other side, Shi Yu gave his command.
Expert Level Hardening was certainly not weak, but this was their first battle, and they had no actual combat experience at all. It would be a lie to say Shi Yu and Eleven were sure of victory.
Could its hardened body defend against the opponent's attack?
Could its hardened attack break through the opponent's Ice Armor?
Shi Yu and Eleven still had no clear idea about either. Testing their strength was exactly why they had come for this battle.
It had to be said that falling training was a good way to train.
Aside from the final impact, the fall itself was also a test of Eleven's resolve.
After all, it knew it would soon suffer a powerful impact, yet still had the courage to jump and use its ability successfully in midair. It would be hard not to develop a firm will.
Thus, faced with the Ice Armor Beast's claw, Eleven showed surprisingly good composure. It wouldn't change color even if Mount Tai crumbled before it, and it activated Hardening swiftly and steadily!
Expert Level Hardening activated extremely quickly. Almost in the instant the thought crossed Eleven's mind, a metallic sheen spread over its entire body!
The black-furred parts turned a deep metallic black, while the hardened white-furred parts shone like silver. Eleven gave a howl and immediately completed its full-body armor!
Crack!!!
The next second, the Ice Armor Beast's Ice Crack Claw struck Eleven's fully hardened body.
In just one second, the ice crystals on the Ice Armor Beast's foreclaw that had slashed at Eleven rapidly shattered, as though they had struck something hard.
At the same time, heart-rending pain traveled from the Ice Armor Beast's foreclaw to its brain.
"Counterattack."
Almost in a flash, Little Eleven looked at its opponent.
After feeling the force of its opponent's attack, it was utterly bewildered.
Because the power of that attack... seemed weaker than what it experienced during training.
At Shi Yu's command, Eleven's gaze sharpened, its bewilderment vanished, and it let out an "Awooo!" Still fully hardened, it swung its arm and smashed out a palm strike with all its strength!
The change in that instant caught Chen Kai and the Ice Armor Beast completely off guard, and their expressions changed.
Ice Armor!
Chen Kai sent the command mentally, his expression panicked.
"Hiss-" The Ice Armor Beast lived up to his expectations and successfully used Ice Armor. The icy blue scales on its body grew more crystalline, and cold air poured out.
Not only did its scales become harder, but the energy pouring out could also freeze any opponent that touched it. That was the effect of Ice Armor.
However.
When Eleven's bear paw struck the Ice Armor Beast, there was a crack, and the Ice Armor crumbled like it was made of paper. Its outermost layer rapidly collapsed, just like the frost that had covered Ice Crack Claw. Immediately afterward, the frost freezing onto the Iron-Eating Beast also shattered furiously under the tremendous force.
Bang!
Under the immense force, Eleven sent the Ice Armor Beast flying almost in the blink of an eye. It flew backward several meters, then rolled several more across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
After that single exchange, everyone present fell abruptly silent.
At the sight, Chen Kai's heart stopped, and his vision went dark.
As the Ice Armor Beast's beast tamer, he could sense that it had been knocked unconscious in a single blow!
Th-this wasn't scientific!
The Ice Armor Beast he had raised without the slightest flaw had lost just like that???
How was that possible!!!
At that moment, Shi Yu's heart stopped too.
Because Expert Level Hardening seemed a little too strong in actual combat. If he'd known, he would have let Eleven perform normally instead of using dinner to fire up its fighting spirit.
Was it over already...? This didn't meet his requirements for the evenly matched battle he wanted. It seemed that if he wanted to test their strength further... he would have to find a stronger opponent.
"I-it's over?"
The referee, Bai Shi, was also dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes hard, then opened his mouth wide.
What had just happened...? Looking at the violent Iron-Eating Beast cub with its boundless strength, he felt it didn't quite match his initial assessment of innocent and carefree. Even an adult Iron-Eating Beast's strength was no greater than that, surely!!
That was...
"Expert Level Hardening?" Bai Shi and Zhuang Yue, the Iron-Eating Beast's beast tamer outside the fence, both spoke up in astonishment.
They were dumbstruck. Neither had expected that such a young Iron-Eating Beast, only at growth level five, had developed Hardening to this degree.
"Your top-student classmate lost..."
"Sorry, I mistook him for someone else. He's not my classmate," Zhuang Yue said after a silence.
A level-five Iron-Eating Beast that had mastered Expert Level Hardening? That was ridiculous.
Its talent was far too strong... And could that beast tamer be a high-level beast tamer keeping a low profile while training a new pet from scratch?
Otherwise, he had to be a rich second generation or a beast-tamer second generation, with top-grade nutritional supplements and special training methods.
Chen Kai's expression alone showed how outrageous Shi Yu and Eleven's performance had been. Zhuang Yue only hoped that her top-student classmate, who stood so far above the rest at school, could withstand the pressure.
At that moment, Chen Kai felt like spitting blood. He couldn't understand why he had been unable to think straight and come to a place like this to find an opponent.
This Iron-Eating Beast... this beast tamer... Compared with the opponents he had faced before, they made no sense at all.
Losing was one thing, but the crucial point was that he had been taken out in an instant without getting the slightest bit of training out of it... Damn it, just how had this Iron-Eating Beast been raised?
Most outrageous of all, when Chen Kai looked at the Iron-Eating Beast, Eleven unconsciously began to smile, revealing a nucular-friendly smile that stabbed another vicious knife into Chen Kai's heart. He regretted it. School really was a better fit for him. What kind of monsters were out in society? He was starting to question his life.
Eleven: (O ^~^ O) Hehehe, have you ever encountered a steel plate at four in the morning?
At that moment, Shi Yu, Chen Kai, and the people around them all felt differently, but the happiest of them had to be Eleven.
Because its dinner was safe! Saving dinner was a great victory! That made it even happier than winning the battle.