2 Wang Tao
As he stepped out of the car and set foot on the school grounds, Ye Qin stood still and stared at the building for a long time. It wasn't until people started talking about him for being a weirdo that he finally moved from his spot and walked inside without saying a thing or even so much as to glance at anyone.
Tap! Tap!
Ye Qin walked along the same corridors towards his classroom, from behind he could hear the sounds of a female student walking. Ignoring this he kept walking as if he didn't hear a thing, then as he turned to the right.
Crash!
"Ouch." a female shouted quietly only enough for the two of them to hear.
Ye Qin opened his eyes and noticed that he didn't feel any pain from the impact of crashing into someone. Looking across from him, the Class Representative, Li Yutong rubs her nose in pain. Ye Qin stands up to dust his clothes and waits for her to notice him before putting out his hand, "Are you okay? Sorry about that." he apologized.
Seeing a familiar face in front of her, Li Yutong grabs his hand to help herself up before seemingly dusting off her clothes, then looks up at Ye Qin and replies with a slightly flushed face "Yes, I'm okay. I'm also at fault for not paying attention."
"..."
After helping Li Yutong up, the two of them walk into the classroom together. Upon arriving in the classroom, Ye Qin looked up to see if there were any buckets of liquid or chalk above him before calmly entering the classroom.
"Oh? What's this Class Rep, came in together with the trash?" a young male student teased.
"..."
Ye Qin ignored the students as he walks up to his seat quietly as per usual whilst Li Yutong says with a red face "We just met in the corridor! You're thinking too much! Also, Ye Qin isn't trash!"
"Hahahaha, fine he isn't trash. He's an embarrassment to humanity! Even the people who live in the slums have stronger monsters than he does! What use is a Koi that has next to zero offensive or defensive abilities?" the male student shouted as other students around him laugh along with him.
"You!" Li Yutong says with a frown.
Ye Qin sitting in his seat looks up and says "It's fine, let them say what they want. The final exam should be your priority."
"Puahahahahaha"
"Ye Qin, you may be good at theory but in battle, you're completely useless! A waste even! If you can defeat even one person during the battle exam, I will kowtow and call you grandpa three times!"
"..."
The Final Exams, it is a turning point for all students throughout the ages. The exam determines the future pathway of all students, those who do well may head to the major Universities and become the future leaders of their country. The exam is judged by professors and famous tamers all around the country and no matter how small and rural the area, it will have many judges regardless.
The exam was split into two parts, namely the Theory exam which consists of basic monster knowledge including how monsters may be trained, evolved or upgraded. This particular exam is important for students who wish to be Monster Breeders who use their knowledge to do so. Though they do not fight on the frontlines, they are even more respected than tamers, due to their abilities to strengthen monsters.
Even Frontliners must maintain a positive relationship with Monster Breeders if they wish to continue fighting. The second exam is the Battle Exam, students are placed to fight against each other in a tournament-style whilst being judged and given an end score. The higher one places, the greater the chance to be recruited into the major Universities. This exam is important for tamers who fight on the frontline along with their monsters and peers, hence the name Frontliners.
Ye Qin ignored them as he continued sitting in his seat without worries whilst Li Yutong could only quietly sit in her seat and occasionally steal a glance at Ye Qin when nobody is paying attention.
Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong!
Tok! Tok! Tok!
The sound of high heels echoes across the classroom as their beautiful homeroom teacher Mo Qiu, who wore a white blouse that barely hides her undergarments along with long black pants that show off her curves walks into the classroom. Placing her books on her desk, the teacher says loudly "Class will now begin."
…
During the lecture by their homeroom teacher, Mo Qiu asks the students "Who can tell me the basic characteristics of a Blackwing Falcon?"
"..."
Seeing that no one could answer her question, Mo Qiu turns to face Ye Qin who is reading a book quietly. She frowns slightly before it became a smile and says "Ye Qin, please answer my question."
Hearing this, Ye Qin who sat with his legs crossed whilst reading looks up before responding to her question "A Blackwing Falcon, is a bird that stays in the darkness and has appeared since the beginning. They have a red body whilst their wings are pitch black hence the name. They have large wings, that span up to 20 meters in length allowing them to fly at speeds of up to 300 km an hour. They are also packed with a beak as tough as diamonds and talons that can crush steel as if it were tofu."
"A Blackwing Falcon if possessed by a tamer since birth is classified as an Uncommon Grade monster. They have two possible evolution paths, one being a Flamewing Falcon focusing on fire and dark element attacks whilst the other being a Blacksteel Falcon which gives it scale-like feathers allowing it to have extraordinary defense without weakening its attacks from its previous form" he continued.
After finishing his sentence, Ye Qin asked, "Do I need to explain the ways in which it can be evolved as well?". Mo Qiu stared at him blankly for a moment before regaining her focus and replied: "No that's enough. Thank you for your answer"
Since Ye Qin didn't need to explain further he continued reading his book as if nothing had happened while the rest of the class looked at him strangely. The way he had explained it in detail was as if he was reciting a textbook answer, what shocked them more was that he even knew how they could be evolved, leaving their mouths wide open.
After class ended, Ye Qin left the classroom without anyone noticing as if he were a shadow. On the way out he hears "Boss! Boss! Wait up.." from a young plump man who is about 180 cm in height.
After catching up to Ye Qin, the plump young man catches his breath as the two of them walk to the cafeteria together. "Wang Tao, I've told you not to call me boss, am I a thug or something?" Ye Qin asks looking at his plump friend.
"Of course not, boss!" Ops I mean Ye Qin." Wang Tao replies.
"Good, now let's go get something to eat." Ye Qin says.
Once the two of them arrive in the cafeteria which expanded in an area of over 200 meters square along with advanced interior design, they lined up and grabbed a tray and utensils as they wait in line for food. After getting the dishes they wanted, the two of them found an empty table and sat down to eat. As they ate, Wang Tao asks "Boss, I mean Ye Qin, what are you doing after school?".
Ye Qin swallowed the mouthful of food in his mouth before replying "Nothing, why?". Wang Tao coughs and says "Great, wanna go to the arcade my dad just opened nearby?".
Wang Tao's family the Wang's are a powerful and wealthy family comparable to the Ye Family which is how the two of them met and became friends when they were young. Back then Wang Tao didn't mind that Ye Qin had a trash monster, he too was ridiculed for being fat and ugly however he did have an Uncommon Grade Monster. The two of them facing the same situation naturally became friends with Ye Qin being the elder whilst Wang Tao the younger hence calling the former 'Boss'.
"Nah, how about we go to one of the fields outside and then bring out your monster for me to see." Ye Qin said.
"Sure, but I can't take it out for long right? The school rules state that we students cannot bring out our monsters without permission." Wang Tao replied.
"It's good that you remember the school rules, why can't you remember the theory?" Ye Qin said as he shook his head.
"..."
After the two of them finished their lunch, they put the tray and utensils back then walked out to one of the fields around the school grounds. The school that the two of them go to Qingshui High expands around a 10 km radius. The existence of monsters has caused activities such as baseball and other sports to become obsolete, however, they still exist as a pastime for students hence the massive land space.
As they arrive at an empty field filled with nothing but grass, Wang Tao called his monster out as a flash of green light appears next to his body.
Woosh!
Roar!
Ye Qin took a look at the monster before it stepped foot into their plane.
[Monster- Mutated Gold Winged Tiger]
[Level- 10]
[Element- Gold]
[Grade- Uncommon (upgradable)]
[Type- Beast (Cat) (Land and Air)]
[Evolution- Possible]
[Evolution Path- 1. Gold Armoured Tiger (Weakens future growth) - 1 kg of raw gold, 100 Dark Tortoise Shells and 1 Gold Element Monster Core. 2. Black Gold Python Tiger (Recommended)- 1kg of raw gold, 1L of any snake type monster blood, 1 Gold and 1 Poison-type Element Monster Core]
Looking at the stats, Ye Qin thought "From what I know, the Gold Armoured Tiger has great attack power and defense at a cost of its speed, most owners of a tiger type tamer aim for a similar kind of evolution. But this Black Gold Python Tiger… a new undiscovered evolution… It must be because it's a mutated species?"
Seeing his best friend looking at his monster strangely, Wang Tao asked: "Boss, what's wrong?". Ye Qin quickly focused before looking at Wang Tao before putting both hands on the shoulders of the former and said seriously "Fatty, do you trust me?".
"Of course I do! You're my boss!" Wang Tao replied with a few beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Really? Then how about we go upgrade your Gold Winged Tiger's grade to Rare?" Ye Qin smiled.
"Wha, WHAAAAT?!" Wang Tao shouted.
"Don't scream, didn't you say you trusted me?" Ye Qin asked.
"But, boss... Can you really?" Wang Tao continued.
"Yup, put your trust in your long-time buddy. Now let's go skip the rest of our classes and go buy the materials listed, but let me write it down first." Ye Qin replied.
…
After purchasing all the materials needed, the two boys went and bought a large pot that could fit a child inside. They then went to their hideout located in between both their houses that are camouflaged by large trees and caves.
Once they stepped foot inside and placed down the large pot, the boys wiped their sweat before taking a break.
"Hah, huff. Boss are you sure you can do this?" Wang Tao asked again.
"Absolutely." Ye Qin said.
"Now let's begin, call your monster and tell it to sit inside the pot." he continued.
With a flash of green light, the Gold Winged Tiger appeared next to the two and looked around curiously. Ye Qin then grabbed the necessary materials and threw them all into the pot at once before adding 20 L of water and started to boil the pot using a small flame.
Pop! Pop!
"Now! Inside the pot!" Ye Qin shouted.
Wang Tao nodded and said, "Go into the pot!"
The Gold Winged Tiger took another look at both the boys before jumping in without hesitation. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel any pain from the boiling of the materials and just stayed inside without moving.
"Strange, it's not feeling any pain from this heat?" Wang Tao asked.
"Yea, I don't know why either but for now let him stay in there for an hour or two with the lid closed." Ye Qin replied.
"Okay." Wang Tao nodded as he placed the lid over the pot and waited.
…
After an hour of waiting.
Woosh! Woosh!
With a flash of golden light, the cries of a beast shook the air and rocked the cave around them. The Gold Winged Tiger jumped out of the pot and roared before looking at its master and rubbed its head against his leg.
"Bo... Boss! You really did it!" Wang Tao cried.
Ye Qin nodded and looked at the newly upgraded monster, its small body of 1.30 meters in length has now expanded to almost 2m in length. Its golden wings glistened with a darker golden color whilst its four claws and teeth became sharper and displayed a tint of gold.
[Monster- Mutated Gold Winged Tiger]
[Level- 9]
[Type- Beast (Land and Air)]
[Element- Gold]
[Grade- Rare]
[Evolution- possible]
Nodding his head in satisfaction, Wang Tao couldn't contain his curiosity and looked to the bag of leftover materials and asked: "Boss, what're the leftovers for?"
"Oh, those, to evolve it of course." Ye Qin smiled.
"???"
"What?!" Wang Tao shouted once again.
"Calm down, if I can increase it's grade naturally I can evolve it too right?" Ye Qin said.
"..."
"Of course, how could I forget that increasing grade is considered a legendary feat. The evolution of monsters is easier than such a thing." Wang Tao said as he knocked his head.
