"Alright, Chen Shu, call back your slime."
Shen Wushuang stepped in to stop him. Otherwise, with Chen Shu's Talk no Jutsu, he could have roasted Sun Ziyang to tears on the spot.[1]
The class had twenty-four students total. Paired battles over four rounds would determine the rankings.
"Second match! Xu Xiaoyu versus Liu Ming!"
Chen Shu and his two roommates moved to another section, eating breakfast while watching the matches.
Xu Xiaoyu was still a Level 7 Beast Tamer. Her Fire Bird's combat strength was extraordinarily powerful—she won with overwhelming dominance.
Shen Wushuang sighed. Every student in the class was at least a Level 6 Beast Tamer now. Over the course of summer break, all the former Level 5 Beast Tamers had successfully advanced. These days, every industry was caught up in the rat race.
He'd originally expected evenly matched battles—after all, a single level difference wasn't that significant. He hadn't anticipated this outcome.
Clearly, the contract spirits had the strength, but the students still lacked combat awareness.
Several more matches flew by.
Among them, Tang Lie, Wang Qinghan, and Du Long all demonstrated formidable strength, winning with overwhelming advantages.
Though this was their first competition, clear strength gaps had already emerged among the students.
"Next match! Xu Xingxing versus Hong Ming!"
The moment those words landed, Hong Ming's expression turned grave. He hadn't expected to face Xu Xingxing.
Unlike Xie Sunan's B-rank contract spirit, Xu Xingxing had an A-rank Mutant Thunderbird. It was probably incredibly powerful.
What's more, his own contract spirit was land-based. Against a Thunderbird, he'd be at a natural disadvantage.
Xu Xingxing strode forward with his head held high. Anyone who didn't know better would genuinely think he was some kind of powerhouse.
"Let's finish this quickly."
Xu Xingxing summoned his Mutant Thunderbird.
The Thunderbird's body was massive, lightning crackling in its eyes. Its appearance alone radiated power.
Hong Ming stepped forward and summoned his own contract spirit.
A black ape appeared, standing a full two meters tall. It was the B-rank Raging Ape!
Hong Ming's going to get destroyed...
Everyone thought the same thing. One was a flying type, one was ground-based—this would basically be a one-sided beatdown.
The two contract spirits faced each other. Battle was imminent.
Then the Mutant Thunderbird remained completely unmoved, simply preening its feathers over and over. It looked utterly elegant.
The Raging Ape could only roar from the ground, unable to reach the Thunderbird.
Before the battle even began, both sides had fallen into a bizarre stalemate.
Shen Wushuang's gaze shifted to Xu Xingxing. As the homeroom teacher, he knew about the Mutant Thunderbird.
Besides speed, it was completely useless in every other aspect—probably only equivalent to a D-rank contract spirit's strength.
Time ticked by, second by second.
More than a few people in the audience started yawning. They'd expected a spectacular fight. Who knew it would be this boring?
"Are you gonna fucking fight or not?"
Even Hong Ming was getting bored.
Xu Xingxing declared, "My contract spirit is a Mutant Thunderbird! Do you understand what 'Mutant' means?! You're no match for me. Just surrender!"
"Surrender my ass! At least throw a punch!"
"You asked for it. Once the Thunderbird attacks, you'll be beaten like a dog!"
Lightning crackled in the Thunderbird's eyes as its aura suddenly exploded outward.
The next moment, the Thunderbird's beak snapped wide open. Everyone assumed it was about to launch a thunderball.
Splat!
A glob of liquid landed directly on the Raging Ape's head.
The scene left everyone frozen in shock.
"Uh..."
"Was that supposed to be a skill? Did the Mutant Thunderbird turn into a water-type?"
"Why do I feel like that did zero damage? It looked like... saliva..."
Hong Ming was equally dumbfounded. He had no idea what kind of skill that was supposed to be.
Chen Shu watched the Mutant Thunderbird on stage with great interest. He wanted to see how Xu Xingxing was going to win this.
From what he knew, the Mutant Thunderbird shouldn't be able to break through the Raging Ape's defense.
The next moment, the Thunderbird lowered its flight altitude after spitting, hovering almost level with the Raging Ape.
"Don't act rashly!" The cautious Hong Ming didn't rush in. He wanted to see what tricks the opponent had.
"Nyeh nyeh nyeh~~"
The Thunderbird actually stuck out its tongue and made taunting sounds.
Then it turned around and frantically wiggled its butt at the Raging Ape.
The scene left everyone in the audience completely dumbfounded.
What kind of move was THAT?!
Fury instantly blazed in the Raging Ape's eyes. It beat its chest with both fists and charged at the Mutant Thunderbird.
Such blatant provocation was unbearable for the hot-tempered beast.
The Thunderbird flapped its wings. Its speed really was like lightning—unbelievably fast.
The Raging Ape could only eat its dust from behind.
More importantly, every few seconds the Thunderbird would stop to wiggle its butt again.
This thing was absolutely begging for a beating!
The Mutant Thunderbird completely shattered everyone's stereotypical image of contract spirits.
"Stop chasing!"
Hong Ming's reaction was quick. He figured it out immediately.
The Mutant Thunderbird only had speed, no real attack power. That's why it was deliberately provoking his contract spirit.
The Raging Ape slowly came to a halt, temporarily suppressing its rage.
Xu Xingxing grinned. "Let's see how long your monkey can hold out!"
The Thunderbird flapped its wings and instantly appeared directly above the Raging Ape's head.
It started wiggling its butt again—literally running wild while sitting on someone's head!
ROAR!
The Raging Ape couldn't take it anymore. It swung both palms upward, but the Thunderbird easily dodged.
The Mutant Thunderbird kept provoking, stoking the Raging Ape's fury.
The Raging Ape's eyes gradually turned red. It had autonomously activated its innate skill, "Berserk Fury."
The stronger its rage, the more terrifying the skill's power boost became.
The Raging Ape stomped down hard and charged after the Mutant Thunderbird. Its speed had at least doubled.
Yet it still could only eat dust behind the Thunderbird.
"Don't move!"
Hong Ming's expression was anxious. The Raging Ape had a fierce temper and naturally low obedience.
Consumed by rage, the Raging Ape had completely lost control!
The Thunderbird flew to the edge of the arena. Its right wing gestured like a human crooking their finger, practically saying "Come at me!"
Could the Raging Ape possibly endure that?!
ROAR!
The Raging Ape leaped, then dove straight at the Thunderbird.
Sure enough, it tumbled off the arena platform in one smooth, flowing motion.
Meanwhile, the Mutant Thunderbird continued calmly preening its feathers.
Elegance. Never goes out of style.[2]
Hong Ming roared, "Damn it! You cheated!"
"Xu Xingxing wins!"
Shen Wushuang stepped forward and shook his head. "Your contract spirit's obedience rating is too low."
If the Raging Ape had better obedience, how could such a ridiculous outcome have occurred?
Everyone stared in disbelief. You can actually WIN like this?!
Chen Shu was equally shocked. The Mutant Thunderbird's lightning attribute was probably just its second attribute. Its first attribute was definitely... being a brat!
Shen Wushuang continued recording each student's strengths and weaknesses, preparing for targeted instruction.
At the same time, he announced, "Next match! Xie Sunan versus Wang Yun!"