"Cough, cough."
Su Hao sat up from the ground and checked the Silkworm Baby's condition.
Good, it wasn't too serious.
He himself wasn't badly hurt either, but he had been a bit reckless.
It was also fortunate that he had caught a Silkworm Baby—a light, soft, and fluffy spirit.
If it had been something as heavy as a Mini Stone Elephant, or as spiky as a Ground Hedgehog...
Su Hao shook his head violently. He didn't dare think about it, didn't dare.
The Silkworm Baby had sustained some injuries that couldn't be healed by the 'Revitalize' trait alone.
Su Hao took out some spirit healing spray from his backpack and sprayed a bit on it.
Training definitely couldn't continue. To be safe, Su Hao brought the Silkworm Baby to the Spirit Medical Center located in the Spirit Plaza.
...
"It's nothing serious, just a minor injury. We've already applied some medicinal liquid to the Silkworm Baby, and it'll recover soon."
The nurse carried a small bamboo basket, inside which a curled-up Silkworm Baby was sleeping.
"Gu nuo~"
The Silkworm Baby caught a familiar scent, woke from its slumber, opened its big, watery eyes, and pounced onto him.
"Gu nuo (ó﹏ò?)"
The little one seemed a bit down.
They were supposed to be training a move—how did it end up like this?
Su Hao scanned the QR code and paid the Silkworm Baby's medical fees.
Fifty.
It stung a bit.
But the original price was even higher, a full hundred.
His status as a high school spirit tamer had halved the cost. If he were a regular apprentice spirit tamer from society, he'd have to pay the full amount.
"No wonder most high-level spirit tamers come from spirit universities. If you don't work hard in high school, when you're old, you can only try being a spirit tamer on simulators.
"But as long as I pass the certified spirit tamer exam and become a glorious... junior spirit tamer, I can use many basic facilities for free."
Public battle arenas? Free to use.
Medical center treatment for spirits? Also free... unless the spirit is really badly hurt.
Su Hao felt a little excited just thinking about it.
If he became a junior spirit tamer, would he not have to worry so much about training his spirit?
That was still a ways off. Su Hao shook his head.
It didn't budge.
Oh, right, he forgot there was still a Silkworm Baby perched on top of his head.
"Gu nuo!"
...
"Silkworm Baby, use Charge!"
"Gu nuo gu nuo gu nuo gu nuo gu nuo—"
The Silkworm Baby's eight little stubby legs all paddled at once, its plump body gradually picking up speed.
At the same time,
more and more pale green light particles gathered around the Silkworm Baby, gradually draping it in a light film. Behind it trailed a tail formed by countless light particles, much like a comet's tail.
Ahead of it, a tree three or four meters tall appeared.
The Silkworm Baby didn't slow down. Instead, it let out a loud cry and leaped up like a cannonball.
"Gu nuo!"
"Boom!"
Su Hao's eyes widened.
With a crisp cracking sound, the Silkworm Baby, wrapped in pale green light, smashed straight through the tree trunk in one go.
The light particles around it thinned out considerably, and after landing, it slid a meter or two across the leaf-covered ground before stopping.
But the Silkworm Baby itself was completely unharmed.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Yet when using Charge, a protective film appeared on the Silkworm Baby's surface, taking the brunt of the impact for it.
You get hurt.
But I don't.
That's Charge.
"Gu nuo nuo!!"
The Silkworm Baby called out excitedly.
The Charge move—mastered!
The failure that day hadn't discouraged the Silkworm Baby; instead, it had become even more serious.
Rarely serious.
Even Su Hao was a bit surprised.
He had started learning Charge on September second, and today was only five days later. This result should be considered moderately good, right?
After all, the Silkworm Baby had no foundation in learning moves.
Of course,
at the end of the day, it was because he had provided a training plan that was detailed enough and had no detours.
He was still the one who was excellent!
"The learning of Growl, though, is lagging behind."
That move was inherently harder to practice than Charge.
Su Hao's requirement for the Silkworm Baby was to infuse spiritual energy into its everyday speech.
And to draw out the sound.
To sustain that "nuo" for several dozen seconds, and ideally, to make it sound fiercer, paired with a fierce expression.
"Gu nuo!"
The Silkworm Baby stood upright, staring with wide eyes.
—Super fierce!
Su Hao stared at it, snapped a photo with his phone, and casually made it into a sticker.
Then he pondered for three seconds.
He felt that if the Silkworm Baby were to use Growl against an enemy, it might as well use a Cute Dodge. Even if it couldn't charm the opposing spirit, charming the spirit tamer would be pretty good too.
That's called directly attacking the spirit tamer.
True damage √.
...
The Silkworm Baby learning Charge wasn't the end—it was just the beginning.
Mastering a move goes from beginner, to proficient, to expert...
The Silkworm Baby still had a lot of work to do.
But,
Su Hao felt like he was forgetting something.
Something related to the Silkworm Baby.
He glanced at the Silkworm Baby. The little one was diligently practicing Charge.
Striving to turn straight-line Charge into curved Charge, S-shaped Charge, looking very serious.
The Silkworm Baby wasn't complaining,
so maybe he hadn't forgotten anything after all.
Su Hao turned his head and put it out of his mind.
One night,
Su Hao was pondering the next training direction for the Silkworm Baby.
Learning Charge had given the Silkworm Baby a huge boost in combat power, but using Charge in battle was very rigid. If it were countered, it could still be easily defeated.
Unless it was paired with other moves to build a tactical system for the Silkworm Baby.
But...
that was for the future.
As it was now, even if the Silkworm Baby could learn other moves, it wouldn't have enough spiritual energy to use them all in one battle.
"I can only work on the Charge move itself."
Su Hao mused.
He went online to look up some information.
Being able to slightly turn while using Charge was a sign of proficient use.
Achieving a "Z"-shaped Charge meant the spirit's use of Charge was already very expert.
Improving further was difficult.
But Su Hao wasn't satisfied.
"Right now, the Silkworm Baby can only use Charge at full power twice. If the Charge misses, the Silkworm Baby will be in a very passive position...
"Can I modify Charge so it can be activated and deactivated at will? If it misses, we can cut our losses in time, reduce spiritual energy consumption, and retain the spiritual energy accumulated around the body after canceling, so when using Charge again, we can skip the 'charging up' process?"
The idea was nice.
But...
how to modify it?
Where to start?
Su Hao scratched his head.
"Experienced senior spirit tamers have the ability to modify moves, but... I'm just a newbie!"
A newbie who had contracted a spirit for a month and a half!
Su Hao looked at the Silkworm Baby and sighed.
Silkworm, why can't you learn to modify moves on your own!
The Silkworm Baby, watching TV in the living room with Su Hao's parents, shook its head, glanced confusedly at the bedroom, then turned back to stare at the TV.
Inside the bedroom, Su Hao twirled a ballpoint pen.
Racking his brains for a long time...
Smack!
He slapped the pen down, and Su Hao decisively opened the panel.
The training plan expanded.
The move learning expanded.
He saw...
Charge (Unlocked, click for details) → Modified Charge (Unlock with 2 Intelligence Points)
Su Hao checked the modification direction.
Sure enough,
the panel knew what he wanted.
"Unlock them all for me!"