Chapter 34: Targeted Training

Seven beast tamers ran on the playground, and the results of their speed checks came out one after another.

Unquestionably, the Shadowcat was the fastest, completing a lap around the 400-meter playground in just 18 seconds, followed by the Ghost-Faced Mastiff in 26 seconds.

The third place went to the Wildflame Monkey at 35 seconds, and the fourth to the Armored Rhinoceros at 49 seconds; Wang Bing’s Armored Rhinoceros was still in its growth phase, and its speed and eruption force would increase significantly once it reached adulthood.

The fifth place was the Desert Tortoise, which took 89 seconds, at an average speed of 4.4m/s—considering its huge size, this speed was quite acceptable.

The last two places were taken by the Salty Bay Crocodiles.

They finished the 400 meters in 152 and 203 seconds, securing sixth and seventh place respectively.

Zhou Hao held his beast tamer with heartache, as its paws bled from the run around the 400 meters.

Chen Xing also checked Taotie, finding slight abrasion marks on its claws and belly scales, but fortunately, there was no bleeding.

“Now you understand the advantage your beasts have on land compared to other beast tamers; your beasts are not yet adults. Their speed will increase slightly when they grow larger, but only to a certain extent.”

As Kuang Shiyi spoke, he paused, “Alright, let’s go and check their speed in the water—you all have to go.”

The last sentence was directed at the four senior students.

“Ah? We have to test too?”

“You must test. Combat terrain will never cater to you; you also need to test the speed of your beasts in water,” Kuang Shiyi said with a meaningful glance at the Wildflame Monkey and Ghost-Faced Mastiff.

Both beast tamers furrowed their brows, sensing that the matter wasn’t simple.

…

“Woof, woof, woof~”

The Ghost-Faced Mastiff jumped into the water as if electrocuted, its fluffy fur standing up like bristles, as it instantly leaped out and ran far away.

Tian Xuechuan called out to it in vain; it just stood at a distance, face grim, warily watching its owner.

“Come here, it won’t hurt you, come here,” Tian Xuechuan beckoned.

“Woof, woof, woof!!!” the Ghost-Faced Mastiff barked loudly.

Chen Xing struggled to keep his mouth from turning up; he understood the Ghost-Faced Mastiff’s barks, which were quite foul-mouthed.

Seeing the Ghost-Faced Mastiff’s miserable state, the Wildflame Monkey sat restlessly by the pool, occasionally lifting its head to offer a polite smile to its owner.

“Tong Xuhua, prepare your beast,” Teacher Kuang’s voice rang out.

“Get ready to go into the water,” Tong Xuhua commanded the Wildflame Monkey.

The smile on the Wildflame Monkey’s face gradually faded, and it sat by the pool like a lost child, as if mentally prepared for its impending fate.

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A splash as it hit the water~

Gurgle gurgle gurgle…

Reacting swiftly to the advance instruction, Taotie quickly dragged the Wildflame Monkey back to the surface from underwater.

“Both of your beasts being afraid of water is not going to work,” Teacher Kuang said.

“Ahem, Teacher, it’s not particularly afraid of Water Element skills; it’s just these large pools it fears, it has thalassophobia.”

On hearing this, Kuang Shiyi replied irritably, “But is this the sea? It’s just a small pool.”

In truth, he had high hopes for this year’s school team. If they performed well, there was a chance they could make it into the top eight of the Shu State Cup, and possibly even the final four if they were lucky with their group and overcame their weaknesses.

It was just that these two Fire Element beast tamers were both afraid of water!

Encountering water-fearing beasts was not something new to him. It was normal for Fire Element beasts to be averse to water, but to fear it to this extent was quite rare.

“`

And to encounter two at once! Both in my own team!

This is an obvious weakness. If targeted by an enemy, it would only take a Water Element Beast of above-average level to give them a severe disadvantage.

Compared to these two Fire Element Beasts with a fear of water, the performance of the Shadowcat and the Arid-land Tortoise was much better.

Though the Shadowcat also dislikes water, at its owner’s command, it still swam back and forth with ease, completing a 100-meter round trip in 32 seconds.

The Arid-land Tortoise was particularly impressive in its performance. Despite the word ‘arid’ in its name, it’s not a landlubber. It took 64 seconds to swim a 100-meter round trip in the water.

The Armored Rhinoceros was a bit faster than the Arid-land Tortoise, completing the 100-meter round trip in 57 seconds.

Chen Xing felt that there was something wrong with the way these creatures were named; all this ‘arid land,’ ‘Armored Rhinoceros.’

The names made them sound like total landlubbers, but their swimming was smooth sailing, the opposite of their clumsy forms.

Wang Bing coughed, “It’s normal for a ‘Land Tank’ to swim, isn’t it? What kind of tank would it be if it couldn’t enter the water?”

Zhou Hao rolled his eyes, “Stop being so Versailles.”

A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Xing’s eyes. The fact that the Armored Rhinoceros was not afraid of water was unexpected.

Next up was his turn. Chen Xing said, “Get in the water.” With a slick move, Taotie, who was angled by the poolside, slipped into the water and turned into a sword darting straight forward. After reaching the opposite side of the pool, it made a nimble turnaround.

The shadow burst through the water’s surface, splashing water everywhere. Taotie’s upper body emerged from the water, its crocodilian snout lifted high like a little dog begging for a reward.

“That’s impressive!” Chen Xing did not skimp on his praise.

Taotie seemed very happy to receive the encouragement.

“Sixteen seconds, not bad. An adult Salty Bay Crocodile generally takes 7 seconds for a hundred meters in water,” Kuang Shiyi nodded, quite satisfied with the result.

Sixteen seconds for a hundred meters, clearly much faster in water than on land, and the movements were agile; you could only see a fleeting black shadow underneath the shaking surface of the water.

Zhou Hao’s Salty Bay Crocodile was a bit slower at 19 seconds but still surpassed the Shadowcat to take second place.

“Every Beast Tamer has their strengths. This test is only meant to show you which aspects to target in training, and of course… weaknesses shouldn’t be too obvious. In two months, you and the beasts of Chen Xing and Zhou Hao will spar in combat training.”

Zhou Hao turned pale with shock, “Ah? Me?”

Their developmental time lagged by two years, didn’t it?

“Of course, in the water,” Kuang Shiyi added with a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“Ah? What!” This time, it was Tian Xuechuan and Tong Xuhua whose faces drastically changed color.

Kuang Shiyi, however, felt a bit regretful, “It’s a pity that Chen Xing and the others are two cohorts ahead of you. The difference in Beast Taming is too great; otherwise, the practical effect would be much better.”

The gap in Energy Level was too wide, making it difficult to create pressure; they could only forcefully compete in an extreme environment like the swimming pool that was entirely water.

And if their Salty Bay Crocodile and Armored Rhinoceros could grow a bit bigger, that’d be great; if not an adult size, then at least 70-80% of an adult’s size. It would also allow for training on how to handle heavyweight opponents.

But speaking of which, Chen Xing’s Salty Bay Crocodile was indeed bigger than Zhou Hao’s by a good measure.

He glanced at Chen Xing’s Salty Bay Crocodile; its size was almost approaching two meters, wasn’t it? Its development was quite rapid; its Physical Body Talent was indeed impressive.

“Teacher Kuang, didn’t you say we were going to do targeted training? When will we start training?” Zhou Hao boldly asked.

Kuang Shiyi stood with his hands behind him, looking at the two crocodiles swimming in the pool, “Are you in a hurry?”

Zhou Hao was taken aback, unsure of the teacher’s attitude. He thought his words might have been disrespectful and was about to apologize when Kuang Shiyi continued, “Before training, I also need to assess the level of your beasts to prescribe the right solution. Moreover… no matter how targeted the training is for you novices, there’s a limit to how much you can improve.”

At this point, Kuang Shiyi looked at Zhou Hao with a half-smile, “I know you’re eager, but don’t get ahead of yourself.”

That evening, after the team disbanded, Zhou Hao grasped the meaning behind Teacher Kuang’s words.

Looking at the book in front of him, roughly the size of an elementary school language textbook, especially when he heard that they had to memorize the contents of the book within a month, his face turned a dismal green.

“You are the brains commanding the beasts; your brain needs to hold a wealth of knowledge. This book contains all common mid- and low-tier skills of the four elements, as well as traits and attack patterns of creatures typically found in Nightmare Swamp. Take it back and memorize it thoroughly; I’ll be testing you on it later.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep