Chapter 163 - Depart (1/2)

Su Lingyue showed an uncertain look when reuniting with her pet, which looked completely different from how she remembered. Just like the other customers, she would have believed that Su Ping s.n.a.t.c.hed it away and gave her another pet if not for the pet contract still in place.

The Phantom Flame Beast had remained lethargic in the shop since morning. As soon as it saw Su Lingyue coming, it shook free from Su Ping’s hand and bounced into Su Lingyue’s arms, leaving two streams of tears behind.

“Miaaa!”

Su Lingyue gently stroked its head. She almost asked “what have you done to my pet,” but managed to change that phrase into something more proper.

“Why does it look so… odd?”

Su Ping maintained a poker face. “Your pet gained three new skills. Flooding Illusion, Fire Chain and Fire Tornado. Find somewhere vacant and test them out later so you can get familiarized with the new moves in time. That thing is now good enough to fend off a moderate sixth-rank enemy, as long as it stays at top condition. If you can’t tell the rank of a monster, you should just run away.”

Su Lingyue’s mouth slowly dropped open while listening

“But those are—”.

As she remembered from books, both Flooding Illusion and Fire Tornado were only available to high-rank pets. More importantly, Fire Tornado was a pretty famous skill with unlimited potential. With enough training and effort, a pet could improve it all the way to the ninth rank. By that point, Fire Tornado would have a new name, which was Fire Storm. It was a ruinous, large-scale move that could wreak havoc as chaotically as a real storm.

Su Lingyue checked Su Ping’s plain look and couldn’t believe her pet could have gained so much experience in a day. But something told her that her brother was not lying.

More importantly, her Phantom Flame Beast used to be at the fourth rank. It could fight something two ranks higher? Was that even possible?

Su Ping made quick work of his delivered dinner and returned the empty boxes to Su Lingyue. “Go home if you don’t have anything else to say. Sleep well tonight. You’ll need a lot of strength.”

“What-but-was that—was everything true??”

“Do you think I would tell such a dangerous joke just before you left for the battlefield?”

Su Lingyue frowned.

He was right. This wasn’t a good time for humor. Giving her false information about her pet on such an occasion was pretty much equal to murder. She didn’t believe his brother would do such a thing.

But this meant the improvement of her pet was as true as it could be. Such efficient training was unheard of. This Phantom Flame Beast was probably good enough to defeat a senior champion in the academy at this moment.

“Hey, um, brother?”

“Yeah?” “I mean—it’s nothing. Anyway, thanks.”

“There’s no need. You paid.”

II

11

Su Lingyue had already done her research, talking to her cla.s.smates and learning that a training session would grant a pet a new skill most of the time, or two skills when the pet was extremely lucky. It was obvious that her brother had put a lot of extra effort in honing her pet.

And she felt grateful from the bottom of her heart.

That hateful image of her brother suddenly became a lot more adorable in her eyes.

Without another word, she picked up the meal boxes and turned away.

“Wait, I have a message for mom,” Su Ping said and stopped her, “I need to go on a field trip tomorrow, so don’t worry about getting me fed. I’ll find places to eat myself. There’s no need to wait for me to come back. The business is on the rise, so I’ll probably spend a few more days there.”

“Huh? You’re also going somewhere?”

“Yeah.” Su Ping took out some cash and handed it over. “Give this to her and tell her that we have a stable income now.”

That was 100,000 Federation Coins. Su Ping meant to show his mother the prosperity of the business without raising too much suspicion. Su Lingyue, however, wasn’t easily convinced when she had already witnessed how many customers the shop could get in a day. She knew her brother was lying, though she had no reason to point that out.

Then she thought about the same amount of money she had just spent and suddenly felt a heartache. But the sadness went away as soon as she saw the new look of her Phantom Flame Beast. The money was completely worth it. Three powerful skills? She was willing to pay ten times the price if she did have that kind of money.