Wild Animal Rescue Center,
"Awo~"
Cola, who had evolved into a Gale Hunting Dog, lay at Chen Yuan's feet, wagging its tail energetically and occasionally casting a proud sideways glance at Spark.
"Chirp....."
Spark looked at Cola expressionlessly, but felt an inexplicable sense of urgency inside.
Something's off, something's off!
Chen Yuan paid no attention to the interaction between the two little ones and silently analyzed Cola's data panel.
"Gale Hunting Dog, Attribute: Wind, currently the only skill mastered is Wind Blade, quality is ordinary."
"The power of this Wind Blade doesn't seem too great."
Chen Yuan recalled the scene of Spark spitting out sparks yesterday and wasn't optimistic about the current proficiency of the Wind Blade.
Nevertheless, to test his hypothesis, Chen Yuan led the two little ones to the yard.
"Use Wind Blade on that large tree," Chen Yuan pointed to the towering Camphor Tree ahead, tens of meters high.
"Awo!"
An enthusiastic Cola responded, round eyes fixed on the target, tail wagging side to side, a gentle breeze rising around it.
In the next moment, a substantial Wind Blade formed on Cola's left side, resembling a transparent crescent moon, spinning fiercely toward the front!
There's potential!
Witnessing this, Chen Yuan's eyes lit up, filled with a hint of anticipation.
Almost instantly, the Wind Blade drew closer to the tree, seemingly about to hit the target.
In that moment, Cola's eyes were full of expectation, imagining being praised by its owner.
However, the next second, the Wind Blade brushed past the tree trunk, vanishing into the air.
Cola's face froze.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
Spark, previously tense, suddenly laughed, causing its body to tremble with laughter.
"Awo..."
Cola first glared fiercely at Spark, then looked up at the slightly pursed Chen Yuan, felt a tremor inside, lowered its head, and let out a sad whimper.
Sure enough, it still disappointed the owner.
"It's okay, you've already done great." However, in the next moment, Chen Yuan's gentle voice sounded beside it, Cola quickly raised its head to look at the smiling face.
"To execute Wind Blade successfully on the first try, you're already very clever."
"Right now, we don't need to pursue anything else. As long as we can execute it successfully and hit the target as accurately as possible, that's enough."
Chen Yuan's eyes reflected the rapidly changing expressions of Cola, and his clear voice continued: "Cola, let's keep working hard."
"Awo awo awo!"
Cola suddenly pounced on Chen Yuan, its huge weight almost causing him to fall backward.
Chen Yuan steadied himself, allowing Cola's front limbs to rest on his shoulders, its tongue licking his cheeks.
He took out a tissue from his pocket, expressionlessly wiped Cola's drool, and looked at the dog's head: "In any case, let's start training now."
"Awo!" Cola responded.
"And you, Spark." Chen Yuan slightly raised his head to look at the orange-yellow figure flying in mid-air.
He smiled slightly: "Let's work hard together."
...
The sun was setting,
three figures walked along the road home, shadows lengthened by the sunset as the clear chirping of birds echoed.
"You both did great today. Keep up the good work tomorrow."
"Awo!" Cola jumped excitedly in response.
"Chirp." Spark nodded slightly.
The afternoon passed without interruption from the villagers, allowing the two little ones to focus on training all afternoon.
Due to having limited knowledge of Pet Beast training, Chen Yuan couldn't devise a scientifically efficient plan and could only repeatedly practice skills, discovering shortcomings through repeated use and making progress.
Fortunately, with the data panel, Chen Yuan could clearly perceive the positive feedback from training.
As long as proficiency increases, it means his training method is correct.
After a diligent afternoon of training, Spark's Flame Surge skill proficiency increased to 1.3, while Cola's Wind Blade skill proficiency climbed to 0.3, now able to strike targets more accurately.
Thoughts swirling, they stepped into their family farm, fields stretched out before them.
"Awo awo awo!"
Cola suddenly barked repeatedly, turned to stare at the left front, tail raised high.
Chen Yuan glanced at the alert state of Cola, then raised his gaze to look forward to the left. There was a wasteland.
This wasteland was located on the west side of the farm, previously used to grow grapes in the earlier years, left abandoned in recent years due to his grandfather's declining health.
Yet at this very moment, his grandfather was holding a hoe, confronting a strange creature almost as tall as a person.
This creature was entirely dark grey, somewhat bloated in stature, with several sharp extensions from its forehead and claws, resembling artificial drills with a steel-like metallic sheen.
Its short tail seemed glued to its backside, and its equally short hind legs were pitiful, its body covered with irregular red stripes.
Clearly, this was a successfully evolved Extraordinary Creature.
However, Chen Yuan couldn't immediately identify what type of wild animal it corresponded to, only vaguely feeling it was a rodent-like animal.
Thoughts passed in a flash, and Chen Yuan quickly walked to Chen Weiyi's side and asked: "Grandpa, what's going on?"
Upon hearing Chen Yuan's voice, Chen Weiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief, put down the hoe, and looked at the strange creature with irritation: "Look at the mess it's caused!"
Chen Yuan looked down and saw this small piece of wasteland was full of upheaved marks, fresh soil exposed.
In the corner was a large, dark hole.
Chen Yuan's eyes lit up, muttering: "Innate Earth-Flipping Saint Body!"
Anyone who's done farm work knows the laborious task of plowing the land, often drenched in sweat and worn down.
Small-scale planting in mountainous areas can't use machinery, only relying on people to carry hoes and gradually plow the land, which is very inefficient.
If only there was a Pet Beast to help with plowing...
Thinking of this, Chen Yuan looked at the Extraordinary Creature opposite him with a few more fiery glances.
Grandpa was right, it really did some good!
With this thought, Chen Yuan was filled with enthusiasm, saying: "Let's have a good talk."
"Thud?"
The mole-like Extraordinary Creature raised its eyes to look at Chen Yuan, its semi-circular orange eyes conveying thought. It first tilted its head, actions resembling a low-intelligence robot, then picked up a stone and threw it at Chen Yuan!
The creature refused your greeting and threw a stone!
Chen Yuan instinctively wanted to sidestep, but the stone landed a meter in front of him, making him mutter: "Seems like there's no hostility."
This behavior mostly demonstrates resistance to communication.
"Awo awo awo!"
But when Cola saw the opponent daringly initiate an attack, it couldn't help itself, eyes fierce, muscles tense as if ready to charge out.
Chen Yuan stopped Cola's actions: "Hold on."
Cola had just evolved today and wasn't fully adapted to its evolved body, plus its skill proficiency remained low. Facing an unknown opponent could be dangerous.
"Spark, go."
"Chirp!"
Spark unhesitatingly flew upward, gently fluttering its wings, feathers blazing intensely.
Now Spark's level was 2, skill proficiency 1.3, overall battle power much greater than Cola.
But to be safe, Chen Yuan used the Source Point initially reserved for unlocking advancement methods on skill proficiency, instantly raising Flame Surge proficiency to 2.3!
And so, Spark's first battle was about to begin!