Chapter 26: Click

Mu Huiyue smiled as she listened to the little skeleton in her shadow share its plans for evolution.

Healthy competition among companions is a good thing; knowing how to strike the right balance is the task of a Beastmaster.

Both of her companions were of the Dark type, clearly influenced by their emotions and remarkably sensitive to her own mood changes. Initially, Mu Huiyue worried that having an additional companion might unsettle Ellen. However, after two months, the little skeleton remained healthy and full of spirit, feeling secure and valued by its Beastmaster. It showed no signs of discomfort.

In fact, Ellen’s training had intensified due to Baiya’s presence. The little skeleton spent less time nestled in Mu Huiyue’s shadow compared to when it was the only pet. Ellen often complained that the white dog was a reckless overachiever.

Despite these grumbles, Ellen couldn’t afford to fall behind Baiya.

Another significant change in Ellen was its adaptability to biting skills. Ever since Baiya learned Ice Fang, Ellen found itself on the receiving end of frequent nibbles during training exercises. Initially frozen in place, Ellen had to come up with ways to dodge Baiya’s attacks. The desensitization exercises proved futile against the little skeleton’s instincts, but Ellen found another path—if Baiya couldn’t hit it, it wouldn’t get bitten!

Mu Huiyue believed that Ellen’s newfound ghostly agility was largely thanks to the Ice Fang skill.

However, there was another aspect that required Mu Huiyue’s attention: Ellen’s impending evolution.

Now at Stage Nine of its juvenile phase, Ellen was very close to the threshold of evolution. Although theoretically, elite species had a cap at the growth stage, most records indicated that little skeletons evolved into Bone Soldiers during the juvenile phase.

Low-tier species typically did not require external assistance for evolution. As long as Ellen maintained healthy bones and could form weapons from bone during its downtime, it would signal an upcoming evolution.

Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ellen evolved at any moment.

Though lacking the theoretical knowledge for raising a little skeleton, Mu Huiyue analyzed conventional evolution patterns. It was undoubtedly beneficial to solidify the foundations of its juvenile phase before evolution.

The evolution process represented a leap in the life forms of extraordinary beings. At the moment of evolution, the energy contained within, the proficiency of the skills mastered, and the resources absorbed all played crucial roles.

Ellen, however, was quite confident. It planned to fully absorb the Ghostly Blue Eternal Flower from its shadow before evolving. The instincts of a Dark-type creature told it that this would maximize its potential during the transformation.

Ellen believed that maximizing its potential during evolution was crucial, so it intended to suppress any signs of evolution until it could fully absorb the Ghostly Blue Eternal Flower.

Mu Huiyue, resembling a worried parent sending a child into an exam hall, did her best to support Ellen. She made sure to prepare plenty of nourishing milk every day, and her emotional attention toward Ellen helped the little skeleton maintain a positive state.

Additionally, Mu Huiyue had prepared her Beastmaster space for her pets’ evolution.

Only a Level 3 Beastmaster could contract pets in the growth stage. Thanks to the system from Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, her Beastmaster space had more slots than usual, but she couldn’t unlock the growth stage limit just yet.

Fortunately, Mu Huiyue had drawn space fruits during her two recent ten-draws. After fully meditating and absorbing their energy, she was just a step away from becoming a Level 3 Beastmaster. She was determined to break through before Ellen’s evolution.

Back in her dorm, Mu Huiyue followed her routine of cooking dinner for herself and her pets. Ellen seemed to savor the emotions infused into the food, while Baiya, as long as there was meat, happily devoured whatever she made.

The two little creatures polished off Mu Huiyue’s creations as usual, leaving nothing behind.

After dinner, Ellen took the initiative to help clear the table, while Baiya, limited by its size, obediently sat on the bench, acting like a mascot and making sure not to cause any chaos for its Beastmaster.

In the evening, Mu Huiyue prepared to summarize her recent training achievements.

It was late May, and the professional assessment in June was fast approaching, with less than a month left until the subsequent national ranking tournament.

The school had begun preparations for students to sign up for the professional assessments, and the internal selection tournament that would determine the ranking slots was nearing its conclusion.

Tomorrow was the last day of the free challenge phase of the internal selection tournament.

Many students, who had been pushing themselves hard during this time, would seize the opportunity to challenge their target rankings on that day.

Mu Huiyue was currently ranked fifth. Regardless of the outcome, she should secure a guaranteed spot in the national ranking assessments.

However, she didn’t want to lose.

Over the past two months, she had accepted countless challenges and issued challenges to higher-ranked opponents, but she had never faced the top-ranked Lin Fei.

After observing Lin Fei’s battles, Mu Huiyue realized that the gap between them couldn’t simply be bridged by effort and strategy; what she lacked was time.

To compete against a Beastmaster like him, she needed to train her pets to a level where they wouldn’t be easily overwhelmed by attribute differences and hidden energy values.

No matter who her opponent was tomorrow, Mu Huiyue was determined to give it her all.

With thoughts of her upcoming challenges swirling in her mind, she felt a fire ignite within her, ready to push through whatever lay ahead.

At that moment, Mu Huiyue’s phone buzzed with a new message notification: the match arrangements for the internal selection tournament were announced in the group chat.

She spotted her name.

14:00 Second Match

Mu Yixia (7) vs. Mu Huiyue (5)

Her gaze lingered on the familiar name she hadn’t seen in a long time, and Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Mu Yixia, ranked seventh, had challenged her, ranked fifth.

Did Mu Yixia really believe that two months of effort could surpass her? Or was she aiming for a last-ditch effort to break into the top five on the final day of the selection tournament?

After all, the top five students in the internal selection tournament would receive school resources as a reward, giving them a crucial boost before the national ranking tournament.

On this last day…

There were certainly other students who wanted to challenge her for that fifth rank, but the committee ultimately assigned Mu Yixia to her.

No matter. Mu Huiyue put down her phone.

It didn’t matter who her opponent was; she needed a formally competitive match to test the progress she’d made over the past two months.

…

The next day at the Longning First Beastmaster High School’s arena.

The stands were packed with spectators, buzzing with excitement. With the professional assessments approaching, the senior students had finished their theoretical classes and were focused on practical training, fine-tuning their pets’ combat readiness.

Even students who hadn’t awakened were eager to watch the formal battles, hoping to enhance their understanding of beast mastery.

In this match, the fifth-ranked Mu Huiyue would face the seventh-ranked Mu Yixia.

From the rankings, it appeared that their strengths were closely matched, promising an exhilarating and evenly matched battle.

Adding to the intrigue, both were daughters of the legendary Mu Tong from Longning City. Mu Huiyue, often occupying the top spot at Longning No. 1 High School, had a well-known rivalry with Mu Yixia that was a hot topic among their peers.

A few months ago, Mu Yixia had awakened first, and many had lamented that Mu Huiyue had wasted her excellent written exam results. To everyone’s surprise, Mu Huiyue had also awakened before turning eighteen, and in just over two months, she had fought several battles and climbed to the fifth position in the selection tournament.

Before the battle even began, the atmosphere in the arena was electric, with spectators eagerly discussing the backgrounds of the two competitors.

“I remember Mu Yixia contracted a Little Cloud Dog, right? That Blazing Flame—wow! They say it’s a C-level skill, but its destructive power is on par with a B-level…”

“I heard that it’s one of the only two Little Cloud Dogs with the Blazing Flame talent core at the breeding facility this year. Of course, Mu Tong would ensure his daughter gets that!”

“My family was originally planning to—”

“Even if we planned to reserve a Little Cloud Dog, those with the potential of a Flame Sun Wolf are practically priceless. Regular folks, no matter how much money they have, don’t have any channels to acquire one…”

“So, does that mean Mu Huiyue has contracted the other Blazing Flame Little Cloud Dog?”

Someone posed the question and immediately shrank back as all eyes turned to them.

“How long has it been since you watched the selection matches? Mu Huiyue has been dominating the competitions with a Little Skeleton—this has been all over school news!”

The questioner was taken aback. “A Little Skeleton? You mean the kind you see in haunted houses?”

“Exactly! And the look on her opponents’ faces after losing to that little bone bag? Priceless!”

“Is she really going to pit that skeleton against a Little Cloud Dog? That seems like a stretch…”

“You guys really haven’t been keeping up,” another student chimed in mysteriously, leaning closer. “Mu Huiyue was already a Level 2 Beastmaster two months ago. I saw her summon circle firsthand—it has two layers!”

Now, everyone was reeling from the revelation.

“If I remember correctly, Mu Huiyue has only been awakened for less than three months, right? And she was already Level 2 two months ago?”

While enhancing a Beastmaster’s space is relatively easy at lower levels, reaching Level 2 in under a month… That was hard for many of the awakened students around them, who were still stuck at Level 1, to believe.

A Beastmaster’s level is closely tied to the growth of their Beastmaster space. Each time they reach an even-numbered level, they gain an additional contract slot. An odd-numbered level increases the maximum growth level of the contracted beasts.

Most high school students who have recently awakened are typically Level 1 Beastmasters, meaning they can only contract one juvenile beast.

Once they reach Level 2, they can contract two juvenile beasts.

And only a select few high school students achieve Level 3, allowing them to contract two growth-stage beasts, providing a clear advantage in battles.

As one of the top Beastmaster high schools in the country, Changning No. 1 High School only has one student who has reached Level 3 by their senior year: the top-ranked Lin Fei.

But Lin Fei has been awakened for nearly a year, so in comparison, Mu Huiyue’s growth speed is astonishingly faster than that of the so-called “God of Lin.”

The first student to ask spoke up again: “So, that means Mu Huiyue has likely contracted a second beast already?”

Perhaps having already been shocked by the earlier news, they now thought that Mu Huiyue being a Level 2 Beastmaster was nothing compared to the idea of her Little Skeleton…

The Little Skeleton’s rampage in the selection matches was nothing short of terrifying. With certain beastmaster talents in play, rapidly upgrading one’s Beastmaster space was entirely possible.

He recalled Mu Tong’s legendary talent, which was rumored to be Beastmaster Space Enhancement, right?

“The match is about to begin!”

A shout rang out, silencing the surrounding chatter as everyone turned to watch the two girls walking toward the arena.

Mu Huiyue didn’t hear the murmurs around her; her focus was locked on her long-absent rival, Mu Yixia, and the Little Cloud Dog by her side.

After their last meeting at the breeding facility, they hadn’t spoken much, save for the occasional run-in at school. Mu Yixia lived at the dojo while Mu Huiyue stayed at the breeding base, each nurturing their Little Cloud Dogs in their own way.

In the two months since they last met, Mu Yixia’s Little Cloud Dog had become much sturdier. Its four powerful paws stood strong, chin held high, and its pure white fur sparkled under the arena lights like countless stars, reminiscent of the lingering glow of a sunset—truly beautiful.

Mu Huiyue shifted her gaze, confident that her White Fang had made equally impressive progress in those two months.

The shadow on the ground suddenly flickered; Ellen knew this was a battle the Little Skeleton had to face alone. It would cheer on White Fang from the shadows.

“White Fang.”

Mu Huiyue softly called out, and a double-layered summoning circle lit up in front of her. The dark-hued Little Cloud Dog materialized at the center of the summoning array, its white fur even thicker and fluffier than its opponent’s. Its golden eyes sparkled brilliantly, and its tail curled around itself like wisps of smoke under the moonlight.

White Fang raised its head, a battle cry echoing with fierce determination.

“Woof—!”