On the dorm bed, Du Yu lay flat, enduring waves of dizziness, also looking helplessly at the female demon by his bedside.
Li Mengnan had one leg crossed over the other, sitting on a chair by the bed, hugging Xiaoyan in her arms. She'd been playing with her for nearly two hours and still wasn't tired of it.
"You're so beautiful." Li Mengnan sighed softly, sometimes rubbing Xiaoyan's fiery red ears, sometimes pinching her big bushy red tail.
The killer power of Heterochromatic Demon Pets toward people is seriously a bit much.
"Eee~" Xiaoyan let out a soft whimper, her whole heart focused on Du Yu. She kept struggling, trying to escape the demon girl's arms to check on her master's injuries.
This was really rare.
You know, usually if there's a pretty girl around, Xiaoyan barely pays attention to Du Yu.
Xiaoyan had it all planned out, but how could Li Mengnan possibly let her get away?
Li Mengnan's eyes were a bit hazy. She hugged Xiaoyan tightly, pressing her against her face, nuzzling into that fluffy red fur while inhaling deeply: "Ah, I'm dead~"
This scene—she looked no different from a severe cat-addict.
"Psycho." Du Yu couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
But Li Mengnan couldn't be bothered with Du Yu. She snuggled even closer to Xiaoyan's delicate body, face buried in the soft fur, and took another deep breath: "Heh."
"Woo~" Xiaoyan glared at Li Mengnan, her face full of grievance.
You can please me, but you can't harass me...
Did we swap scripts or something?
At last, unable to endure the humiliation, Xiaoyan crumbled, turning into sparks of starlight that floated toward Du Yu's forehead.
"Huh?" Li Mengnan grabbed at empty air, finally snapping out of it as she looked at Du Yu.
Du Yu also had a pair of beautiful eyes—too bad they were full of disdain right now.
Li Mengnan instantly got annoyed, raising an eyebrow: "What're you looking at! Never seen a pet slave?"
"Pet slave" is a nickname for Demon Tamers who are crazy about their Demon Pets, and there's even a running joke about Demon Tamers treating their pets as their own masters.
Kind of like cat slaves in the normal world.
Huff~
Another swirl of sparks. Xiaoyan floated out of Du Yu's body again.
She put her little paws on either side of Du Yu's cheeks, lowered her head, and her golden-brown fox eyes studied him—looked left, looked right...
"I'm fine now, don't worry." Du Yu patted Xiaoyan's head, smiling. "Congrats, you've finally pulled off the dye-job successfully."
As he spoke, Du Yu also said in his mind: "Thank you, Little Fen Yang."
"Mmm, Xiaoyan's really awesome too, I just helped guide her."
Du Yu nodded to himself, though he had another conclusion: So, is the guide part more important?
Feeling left out, Li Mengnan was a bit unhappy, but then she suddenly remembered something and quickly stood up.
"What's up?"
"I'm off to buy some Demon Pet Food. Xiaoyan needs an energy boost for sure." Li Mengnan bustled out of the dorm, acting like she'd found the perfect way to win her master's favor back.
Du Yu sighed softly in his heart and rubbed Xiaoyan's fiery red head. "Once the assessment's over tomorrow, we'll start doing missions and earn some money."
"Eee!"
Looking at the newly energized Xiaoyan, Du Yu felt pure joy, gently stroking her fiery fur.
"By the way, Xiaoyan. Now that you've successfully evolved into a Heterochromatic, do you feel like you've gotten stronger somewhere?" Du Yu asked.
With their contract, Xiaoyan could vaguely sense Du Yu's intentions.
She seemed to think seriously about it, then looked up and quickly gathered a fireball in her mouth.
Heroic Bronze·Spark Splash!
"That fireball's huge?" Du Yu's eyes lit up. The little fireball in front of Xiaoyan's mouth wasn't spat out—it just hung there, so Du Yu could see its size clearly.
At the Copper Level, a Spark Splash fireball is only ever about 10cm in diameter, max.
And even then, the Little Fire Fox has to reach the Peak of Mortal Level to spit out a full 10cm diameter fireball.
But Xiaoyan right now was just at Mortal Level·Initial Stage, and her fireball had hit a shocking 15 centimeters!
Bigger than a shot put!
"Not bad." Suddenly, a low booming voice sounded from outside the window.
Du Yu quickly got up and looked over. Xiaoyan was even blunter—she whipped her head around and spat the fireball right out the window.
Gong Cheng just casually raised his hand and smacked the fireball down into the ground?
With a "bang," the fireball exploded at Gong Cheng's feet.
"Woo!" Xiaoyan's big tail shot straight up, going on guard. Her golden-brown fox eyes were full-on hostile mode.
"Easy, easy." Du Yu quickly hugged Xiaoyan, turning his back to the window and gently soothing the little critter in his arms.
Gong Cheng rested his elbow on the window sill and started teaching, "There's no fixed answer to what Heterochromatic Demon Pets' talents can be.
Du Yu, usually, what 6 attributes do we use to evaluate a Demon Pet?"
Du Yu kept his back to the window, not daring to turn around: "Constitution, Power, Intelligence, Demon Power, Endurance, Agility?"
"Yep." Gong Cheng leaned against the wall, turning to watch the students training on the field. "From what I see, your Little Fire Fox has really solid Demon Power and Intelligence attributes."
Demon Power is a general term.
It covers things like the Demon Beast's internal Demon Breath reserve, the purity of the Demon Breath, how much damage its Demon Skills do, etc.
Intelligence is a somewhat special attribute.
The other five are basically "hardware" stats, you could say, but Intelligence is the "software."
Little Fire Fox is so spiritual. Her Intelligence obviously got a huge boost, which means her understanding of Demon Skills can surpass her own kind!
Gong Cheng: "Your Little Fire Fox's smart as hell, but brains alone aren't enough. Only if her Demon Power talent is just as exceptional, and the two go hand in hand, can she pull off a fireball of that scale.
You should know, once a fireball's diameter breaks 10cm, that's already in Silver Level·Spark Splash territory."
Du Yu nodded again and again, adding, "And she only learned Spark Splash a few days ago."
Gong Cheng was impressed, too: "This is the scary part of Heterochromatic Demon Pets."
"Nope~" Suddenly, Little Fen Yang's voice sounded in Du Yu's head.
Du Yu stayed calm and asked mentally, "What's up, Little Fen Yang? What's off?"
"Xiaoyan's Spark Splash is still Copper Level, not Silver.
Her talent's great, but my aura's boosting the strength of her Demon Skill too."
Du Yu: "Oh?"
Looks Silver Level, but actually still Copper?
So if Xiaoyan truly masters Silver Level·Spark Splash, its size and power would be heading for Glory Gold?
Du Yu tried to suppress his excitement, then asked in his mind, "Little Fen Yang, you can boost Demon Skill strength?"
"Mhm... Whether it's you, a Fire-element type, or a Fire-type Demon Pet, as long as it's fire-based, I can help you all so, so much."
Holy crap, Little Fen Yang might be the Fire God incarnate?
Well... makes sense! She's the Golden Crow after all!
She could scatter Thousand Paper Cranes all over half of Great Xia and help millions awaken. With that sort of scale and those powers, there's no doubt about her strength.
So apparently, Little Fen Yang's probably more of a support role for the Demon Pet team?
"Thank you, Little Fen Yang." Du Yu said in his head, also noticing the wary Xiaoyan in his arms.
He couldn't help but lower his head, pressing his lips lightly to her forehead.
Little Fen Yang's aggrieved voice suddenly rang out: "Du Yu, Du Yu, you kissed the wrong person~"
Du Yu: "..."
"Eee~" Xiaoyan blinked her eyes, and with that gentle kiss, she really did chill out a lot.
Gong Cheng suddenly shouted: "Zhang Qiming! When I say self-training, do I mean napping?"
Forget Zhang Qiming being singled out for a scolding on the field— even Du Yu in the dorm was startled by that sudden roar.
Gong Cheng scowled fiercely and glared at Zhang Qiming for a while before finally turning to look through the window: "Don't get too cocky! Your Little Fire Fox is smart, but that's about it.
It still hasn't figured out that I'm here to teach you, not to be your enemy."
"Who says she can't tell?" Du Yu's excitement obviously hadn't worn off; he mumbled back, "Maybe she just wants to beat you up?"
Gong Cheng: "What was that?"
"Uh, Instructor Gong, I didn't say anything." Du Yu turned his head away, stammering.
From outside the window, Gong Cheng looked at Du Yu sitting in the dorm—almost laughing from rage: "Kid, got guts, huh?"
Du Yu shook his head intensely: "Wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare."
"Snacks!" Li Mengnan came in with a bowl of Demon Pet Food, clearly in a pretty good mood.
As soon as she stepped in, Li Mengnan just froze on the spot.
Right in front of her was Du Yu, holding the Little Fire Fox in his arms.
And behind Du Yu, outside the open window, was a big dark face peering in.
Gong Cheng looked pissed. Seeing Squad Leader Du's little assistant back, he snorted: "Big exam's tomorrow. If you wanna get your Demon Soldier customized, don't screw it up."
"Yes, Instructor Gong." Du Yu finally turned around and nodded hard.
Gong Cheng nodded, satisfied, then turned away and left.
Only when Gong Cheng was far away did Li Mengnan finally let out a relieved sigh, stepping inside and whispering, "Old Demon Gong is seriously scary."
"Assessment's tomorrow, Li Mengnan."
Li Mengnan snatched Xiaoyan from Du Yu's arms: "Call me Big Sis."
Du Yu looked miserable: "We'll act together tomorrow, see what the assessment is, then decide."
Li Mengnan plopped into a chair, feeding Xiaoyan as she went: "Call me Big Sis and I'll team up with you."
Du Yu said irritably, "I'm the one who'll carry you. You saw me and Xiaoyan's strength."
"Yeah, right!" Li Mengnan crossed her legs again. "Right now you're the center of all the gossip—everyone's jealous of you."
Du Yu: "I won't deny that, but surely someone with taste wants to befriend me. If you don't wanna team up, fine. I'll go ask Lin Shiyi."
Li Mengnan raised her eyebrow, hugging Xiaoyan tighter: "Don't you dare!"
Du Yu muttered in a low voice: "She's way gentler than you."
Li Mengnan's pretty eyes widened, not conceding: "I—I'm better looking than her!"
Du Yu eyed her suspiciously: "Eh, both have their charms, I guess?"
Li Mengnan suddenly got confident: "My legs are longer than hers!"
Du Yu: "What's the point, they're not mine."
Li Mengnan leapt up with a "thump": "You've really grown some wings, huh, daring to tease Big Sis now?"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She covered Xiaoyan's eyes with one hand and kicked right at him!
Du Yu was quick, grabbing her ankle: "So what, you really gonna give me your leg?"
"Du Yu! I! Will! Kill! You!"