Start With Contracting Sprites

After the class meeting was the collection of textbooks.

By the end of all the procedures, it was already noon. It was now time for lunch and an afternoon nap.

When it reached afternoon, the school bell rang. All the students were instructed to assemble at the sports field, together with their sprites.

The students formed a gym class formation with some difficulty, while their sprites capered and frolicked about noisily.

Su Hao picked up his Silkworm Baby and placed it on top of his head.

The little fellow looked rather miserable but gave in to Su Hao’s imposing might nevertheless.

Fatty Ren and Su Hao were in the same class. Su Hao looked at the other classes and quickly found Chen Qi, Zhou Yuze, and Ma Ruo-something.

“Eh?”

He spied a familiar figure in the row of Class 1 students.

“That’s Gu Lingyao, the genius with the highest chance of enrolling in a prestigious sprite-related school in our batch.”

Su Hao sensed dialogue coming from the side. After turning around, he realized that Chatterbox Liu had popped up again at some point.

However…

“How did you know that?”

“This is known as gathering intel about your competitors in advance. It’s only when you know your competitors and yourself inside out that you can… What was it again?” Liu Ren cleared his throat and added, “Gu Lingyao was already a star student during Year 1 and Year 2, and she has never dropped out of the top three positions of the level.”

“But that’s not the main point.” He changed the topic and said, “Gu Lingyao’s uncle is a mid-level Sprite Cultivator, and her father is even an honorary member of the Association of Sprite Trainers of An City. Get it?”

Su Hao understood.

This was an even higher-class existence than a whale¹.

Completely crushed and defeated, Liu Ren’s rationality was all gone.

Liu Ren: “???”

During their conversation, Old Chen, their form teacher, walked over to them.

Her sharp gaze swept across everyone. Several students who were whispering to each other straightened their backs at once, finding Old Chen even more fearsome than the headmaster.

“Today is the first day of school. Therefore, the school has decided to give you all an evaluation test.”

All the students were confused.

Was there any clear correlation between the start of school and an evaluation test?

Excuse me, the sprite training hadn’t even started!

The facial expressions of students who hadn’t heard the news beforehand changed. Their mouths hung slightly ajar. However, intimidated by Old Chen’s aura, they ultimately didn’t dare to raise any questions.

Old Chen added, “It’s a very simple test—run ten rounds about the field with your sprite.”

Ten rounds, four kilometers!

It was doable for people who worked out regularly, but many high school students lacked exercise in the first place. Even if their goal was to become a Sprite Trainer, shouldn’t they be commanding their sprites to battle instead?

Why was this happening? The Sprite stream was supposed to be a happy one!

Su Hao opened and closed his mouth before he looked at Liu Ren. Both of them looked miserable.

Liu Ren’s condition didn’t need further explanation. The standard of his physical condition was obvious from his little belly.

Su Hao himself had never run ten rounds before in the past. The most he had ever done was six to seven rounds.

The female students moaned and groaned. They actually had to run the same distance as the boys?!

Old Chen’s response was that Sprite Trainers didn’t differentiate between males and females. Neither did they differentiate between the strong and muscular and the small and feeble.

For a moment, it was as if dark gray clouds had enveloped the land. There was only pure darkness before them.

Eh, it has really turned dark?

Oh, it’s Silkworm Baby’s short little legs that are blocking my vision.

Old Chen continued to speak. “The school will reward the top ten students of this evaluation test with a month’s worth of Sprite Jade Powder. The top three will receive three months’ worth…”

Su Hao straightened his back all at once.

In his mind, he did the math with the sixth-grade mental calculation skills he had learned before.

If a month’s worth of jade powder cost 2,250 yuan, how much did three months’ worth come up to again…?

Well, in any case, it’s a lot!

Even if all the students in the four Sprite stream classes were to be added up, there were only a total of 100-odd students. Top ten? Su Hao felt that it was worth a try. What if he succeeded?

The rewards in no time attracted most students from regular families. Only whales like Tycoon Liu didn’t care for it.

As they were raring to go, their eyes gave off light as they rubbed their palms together in anticipation.

All the students from the four Sprite stream classes went over to the running track. Under the cajoling of their trainers, the sprites sat by their sides with much difficulty.

As there were quite a lot of people, the students were separated into several rows. White lines were drawn with chalk on the running track.

Su Hao was in the center. Next to him was Liu Fatty Ren.

Silkworm Baby and Little Charcoal Tortoise followed their owners and stayed at their feet.

Su Hao lowered his head slightly and saw a large number of sprites that had only just entered their growth stage. They weren’t any larger than his Silkworm Baby.

It was a little crowded.

Su Hao was afraid that he would step on a sprite accidentally. That would be awful.

But then, he thought of how nimble Silkworm Baby was when jumping about in the trees… He probably wouldn’t be able to step on the sprites since they were this nimble, right?

The form teacher of Class 1, a balding teacher whom he didn’t know the name of, picked up a whistle and suddenly blew it loudly.

The students in the very first row dashed out with great vigor.

However…

“Little Ground Wolf, where are you going!”

“Mini Pig, Mini Pig, where are you?”

“Salted Fish King, move! Hurry and move!”

The commotion created by the loud and clear whistle and students abruptly dashing out caused a furor among the group of young baby sprites.

Those that were slightly bolder dashed about happily on the running track, while the slightly more timid ones clung onto their trainers’ legs, trembling as they did so.

There were even sprites that ran onto the field and started chewing the grass.

Su Hao cast a glance at one of them—it was a Grass Sheep… Nothing wrong with its actions, it seemed.

The ten-round marathon could be said to be a large-scale car crash scene. It was already a huge mess before it had even begun.

The group of newbie Sprite Trainers was at a loss as to what to do. They didn’t know whether to continue running or to chase after their sprites first. Should they chase after the sprites, would they be able to catch up to them? And if they did, they didn’t know whether they could get the sprites to listen to their commands and run with them either…

The form teachers of the few classes stood at a distance and observed them with detachment.

“This batch of students is terrible. How are they supposed to become Sprite Trainers if they can’t even keep their own sprites in control?” said the male teacher of Class 3.

The female teacher of Class 4 rebutted him. “You speak as if the previous batch was any much better. Don’t forget that you were thrown into a tizzy all the time back when you had just contracted your first sprite.”

“Cough, cough, cough.” The male teacher chuckled in embarrassment.

“There are a few with pretty good potential nevertheless,” said the form teacher of Class 1 as he looked towards the sports field.

At this point, after the initial chaos, there were already some students who were running ahead with their sprites.

Gradually, they formed a few distinct tiers.

The third tier was made up of students who managed to barely assuage their sprites but needed to shout as they ran. The moment they took their eye off their sprites, they would run off right away.

The second tier consisted of students whose sprites were more obedient. However, their sprites couldn’t keep up with their speed, leading to the students having to slow down their pace.

The first tier comprised students who moved at a speed that was close to their usual running speed.

“As expected, Gu Lingyao from your class is an important seedling. Her sprite is nurtured pretty well,” said Old Chen of Class 2.

“That’s to be expected. It’s a few other good seedlings that are giving me a pleasant surprise, however. They are much more outstanding than the previous batch of students.”

The last name of Class 1’s form teacher was Gu. Compared to the other three, he had an obvious characteristic—he was old.

He was already a middle-aged man and had a sparse amount of hair. However, even without cradling a thermos cup in his hands, he was in good spirits.

He was the teacher with the longest record of service in the Sprite stream.

Mr. Old Gu looked toward the field and said, “Kungfu Pup, Silkworm Baby, Vine Snake… What are the names of their Sprite Trainers?”

“Wait.” He suddenly frowned. “What’s going on with the Mini Pig’s Sprite Trainer?”

A male student in the first tier was carrying a Mini Pig in his arms. He was running rather fast.

He was big and tall and looked like someone who frequently worked out. The Mini Pig was small in size as well, so carrying it in his arms didn’t affect his running speed much. He gradually got nearer to the first few students in front.

However, the teachers were frowning.

The young form teacher of Class 4 said, “He seems like a student from my class. Hmph, what an embarrassment. I’m going to record his name in my little notebook later.”

“The purpose of this evaluation test is to put the intimacy level between a Sprite Trainer and their sprite, as well as their ability to command their sprite, to the test in the first place. You’ve got to hand it to him to be able to think of something like running while forcibly carrying his sprite. Can’t he see that even the Mini Pig is feeling unwell?”