Start With Contracting Sprites

Su Hao scribbled down the improvement plan of Charging on draft paper.

First, he drew an oval to represent Silkworm Baby and then drew an arrow to represent Charging.

The improved plan was instilled in his mind, so he was full of ideas and wrote extra smoothly.

Within a few minutes, he drew out a picture of Silkworm Baby Charging.

It showed when to accumulate energy when to accelerate, when to release the momentum, and when to accelerate again…

More than a dozen threads intertwined, looking slightly complex.

Silkworm Baby came to Su Hao.

Silkworm Baby stared at this picture and slowly made a “?”.

Su Hao understood. It must be that Silkworm Baby’s education level was too low, and that’s why it couldn’t understand the drawings he made.

It seems that it’s time to put the study of language, mathematics, and the sciences on the agenda. It should be a cultured sprite!

“???”

Silkworm Baby stared at him and made two unhappy calls before slipping back into the living room.

Hmph! Wasting my TV time!

“Hao Hao, Hao Hao¹…” Mom Su’s voice came from the living room.

Silkworm Baby didn’t report on him, right?

Su Hao’s drawing hand froze. He thought about it and realized it couldn’t be.

Mom shouldn’t be able to understand what Silkworm Baby is saying.

Su Hao headed to the living room. His parents were sitting on the sofa watching TV, with a Silkworm Baby squatting between them.

Mom Su said, “Don’t go to the Lake East Hill area anymore.”

“What happened?”

Mom Su pointed at the TV, showing the nighttime news broadcast of An City Channel.

“…Recently, two wanted Sprite Trainer criminals on the run committed crimes in An City.

“One of them is about 1.8 meters tall, with a burn scar on his right cheek, and he brings with him a Wood Mantis.

“The other wanted criminal is a bit more than 1.6 meters, with a short and fat statue, bringing with him a Little Ground Wolf.

“Both wanted criminals are Sprite Trainers who contracted sprites, with a high-danger level. Citizens, please be careful when you are out. If you have any clues, please call…”

The pictures of the wanted criminals, Chen and Wang, were shown on the screen.

Su Hao gave them several glances. “They are actually Sprite Trainer criminals.”

Ordinary criminals were common, but not Sprite Trainer criminals.

Sprite Trainers were rare figures, to begin with. Compared with ordinary people, bringing a sprite was more eye-catching, making it harder to hide.

Su Hao estimated that it was unlikely that those two wanted criminals would enter the city. And being both Sprite Trainers, they were a great threat to society. The Sprite Trainer Association of An City was sure to invest forces into the search, and they would be able to capture them in a short time.

Thus, he didn’t care too much about it. He didn’t plan on going to remote areas like the back side of Lake East Hill again.

There were thousands of rules for being a Sprite Trainer, and safety was the most important.

Life mattered more than anything!

Silkworm Baby had already learned the unique skill Charging. The next step was to master Charging and learn the improved-version Charging.

It made little difference whether they went to Lake East Hill or not.

“I see. I will travel to school and nowhere else during this period. You two don’t need to worry. The society is stable now. It’s not the era when sprites first appeared anymore. Those two wanted Sprite Trainer won’t be out there for long.”

Su Hao had looked at the history textbook. He had also checked up some resources.

In the era when the Sprite Trainers had first appeared, because individuals had obtained powers capable of fighting against guns, society had been in turmoil for a long time.

Every country had been madly piling up resources, wanting to cultivate top Sprite Trainers who could turn the tide of war.

In particular, the two superpowers at that time had constantly been competing in Sprite Training powers.

One day, one of them would discover one new sprite species, the next day, the other would discover two.

When one cultivated a Heavenly King level Sprite Trainer, the other would not be content falling behind.

They had been crossing swords both on the surface and in secret.

The tension had been immense, and it had almost triggered World War III.

Afterward, the tension between the two superpowers was reduced a lot.

What’s more, the supranational organization, Union of Sprite Trainers, had suddenly been established, controlling all certified Sprite Trainers in the world.

In the specifics, each country still managed its affairs and occupied a certain number of seats in the Union according to its national strength and strength of its Sprite Trainers.

The three countries with the most number of seats were Golden Eagle Federation, White Bear Nation, and Dragon Nation, which became increasingly powerful with its resurgence in recent decades.

…

Time passed fast, and October approached. It was National Day¹.

Surprisingly, Su Hao didn’t particularly look forward to the National Day this year.

Isn’t it just a holiday?

Isn’t it just a week of holidays?

I don’t care.

Oh, the Arts and Science stream students next door seemed to only have three days of holiday. Those guys in the Class Eight groupchat were already as wild as beasts let loose. On the other hand, in the third-grade class chat, the classmates were completely calm.

Did they dare not to train during the holiday?

No!

Whoever dared to idle would have to face the deadly gaze of the form teacher after returning to school.

Suddenly, the mobile phone he put on the table vibrated again.

Su Hao swiped to unlock the screen and saw that someone was tagging him.

Liu Ren: “@Su Hao wanna go to Sandbank Island for a barbecue party during National Day?”

Classmate A: “You have to go!”

Classmate B: “Yeah, you must go!”

Classmate C: “must go!”

Classmate X: “yes, you must go!”

Since when did I become so popular?

Su Hao touched his chin with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

“If Old Su doesn’t come, we can’t see Silkworm Baby.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s alright if Old Su doesn’t come, just let Silkworm Baby come.”

Su Hao was bewildered.

What is this? We are not friends anymore!

He typed rapidly on the phone and was decisively going to refuse.

I am a diligent young man of the new age, fighting to become a Sprite Trainer! How can I waste my precious training time?

Party… Not worth it!

“Gurgle!”

“Gurgle, gur… gle…!”

Silkworm Baby gripped his hand with its mouth, preventing him from pressing “Send”.

Su Hao tried to tug at it. Alright, he had no strength to pull it off.

“What’s the matter?”

“Gurgle, gurgle~”

“What? You want to eat barbecue? You actually know the word barbecue?”

“Ugh… Let me think about it. Alright, alright. As your reward for learning Charging and Roaring, I’ll bring you.”

Silkworm Baby nodded, satisfied. But it felt that something was wrong.

Su Hao deleted the words he was about to send out and slowly typed, “I’m going”.

He added, “My buddies invited me so enthusiastically, of course, I’m going. I have to go… hey, yes I know, Silkworm Baby will go too!”

…

1st of October. Cloudy.

Su Hao rode a shared bike toward Green Peak Mountain Park.

That was the agreed meeting point, but it was a bit far, three times the distance to Lake East Hill.

He was going to take a taxi there, but looking at his mere hundreds of yuan remaining, he still quietly clicked open the bike-sharing app.

“Old Chen said that we have to remember our Sprite Trainer identity at any time, and can’t be idle. Riding a bike is a way of exercise. It’s good as well.”

As for Silkworm Baby? Naturally, it followed with its short little legs.

It was a pity that… Even when Su Hao pedaled as fast as a spinning wheel, Silkworm Baby still followed behind easily.

The look of Silkworm Baby cutely struggling to catch up couldn’t be seen anymore.