Start With Contracting Sprites

Su Hao expanded for a while and then contracted again.

The moment he saw the exorbitant prices listed underneath several product listings, it was as though he had been doused with cold water.

He couldn't even be arrogant anymore.

At the bottom of it all, Improved Charging was just a basic unique skill. It could only bring him a bit of money.

There was also an innumerable number of improved unique skills for sale in the marketplace.

There were dozens of improved versions for just Charging alone, just that the direction of the improvements was different.

The unique skill training method he provided was very all-rounded—this was a merit.

However, other Sprite Trainers becoming astounded the moment they took a look and clambering to buy it… This existed only in his dreams.

"The passive income from Improved Charging alone should be enough to cover my expenses before the college entrance examination."

Money came too easily.

This thought even flashed in Su Hao's mind for a moment.

Should he improve a few more unique skills and upload them to the Union marketplace?

After thinking about it, he gave up on the thought.

Money was vulgar and in bad taste.

He was not the least bit interested in it!

Intelligence Points was his true love instead!

"Hmm, but if I just so happen to need to improve a unique skill, then I might as well sell it."

…

November 4, Monday.

Su Hao: Sprite Trainer Intern

Intelligence Points: 163

Soul Power: 10.14 (7.51 + 2.13)

Contracted Sprite(s): Silkworm Baby (pre-entry-level, Spiritual Force: 93), Little Fire Crow (pre-entry-level, Spiritual Force: 26)

Unlocked Cultivation Plan(s): Omitted

Unlocked Unique Skill(s): Feather Needles (Little Fire Crow, yet to be learned), Fire Ball (Little Fire Crow, yet to be learned), Flaming Claw (Little Fire Crow, yet to be learned)…

Currently, it was the morning reading period.

In the classroom, some of the students were quietly reading their textbooks, some were in a discussion about sprites, some were dealing with their breakfast, and some were doing handstands at the wall to train their physique…

Sprites banded in groups and made full use of the time they had to play for a while longer before the Marionette appeared.

Silkworm Baby and Little Fire Crow weren't around.

Su Hao didn't bring them to the classroom. He had already applied for permission to allow his sprites to do self-training, other than during some of the important classes. Thanks to the Sprite Cultivator effect, the teachers had agreed to it.

At this point, at his seat next to the window, Su Hao was scribbling away at full speed on a piece of paper in his hand.

Next to him, a pancake face craned his neck.

On the table a short distance away, there was also a Little Charcoal Tortoise similarly craning its neck.

What Su Hao was currently writing was Little Charcoal Tortoise's cultivation plan.

This was a full-fledged cultivation plan, not the casual tips that Su Hao gave his classmates usually.

As a buddy, Su Hao naturally wouldn't decline Liu Ren's request.

It didn't inconvenience him.

Nor did he ask for any money.

Was he, Su Hao, someone who lacked even that bit of money?

"100,000 yuan!" Liu Ren said, "This sum of money is from my father. He said that you must accept it. If you don't, it means that you're looking down on… My father."

Su Hao was bewildered.

Liu Ren chuckled sneakily as he went on. "My father has already told me—all of the ten-odd orders that you completed in the Sprite Care House have received positive feedback, so your consultation fee has already risen from 3,000 to 5,000 yuan.

"My father said that 100,000 yuan is a reasonable price for the full-fledged cultivation plan that I'm asking for… Besides…"

Liu Ren lowered his voice. "If you draw up a cultivation plan for me for free, what if other students ask you to do it for them in the future too?

"In any case, you just need to be more detailed in the plan, and this sum of money will be well-spent."

He transferred 100,000 yuan to him without any hesitation.

Su Hao had declined it initially.

He was already a big boss who could earn 50,000 to 60,000 yuan per day.

But the money that Liu Ren was giving him was honestly…

"Don't worry. Your father has always been someone whom I respect very much."

Su Hao thought for a moment. The only thing he could do was to insert more unnecessary… um, include more details, and try his best to match the value of the 100,000 yuan consultation fee.

Su Hao wrote a few hundred words. After rubbing his somewhat weary palm, he asked Liu Ren, "You've been whaling all this time, so you must have approached a Sprite Cultivator for consultation before in the past too?"

"I did approach them before, but even after spending so much, my Master Tortoise is still lagging so far behind your Silkworm God. Doesn't this indicate that there's a problem?"

Su Hao thought about it. That made sense. His excellence was there for all to see.

Nevertheless, he replied, "That's because I'm familiar with Silkworm Baby and frequently observe its changes. That's why I'm able to draw up the best cultivation plan for it. But in the case of Little Charcoal Tortoise, I'm not going to have that kind of ability."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." Liu Ren waved dismissively. "You're clearly very outstanding, yet you're overly humble. This just ends up becoming humble-bragging, you know."

Su Hao spent nearly an hour before he finally finished the cultivation plan.

For the sake of 100,000 yuan, he could only let his hands suffer.

He said, "Big Face Liu, buy all the things on this list and bring them here tomorrow. I have to do some experiments and observe the results so that I can make the final adjustments for the plan."

By the time Su Hao was done, the Monday class meeting period was already over.

Shortly after, the bell rang, and it was time for the second period. It was still Old Chen who entered the classroom.

However, the strange thing was that Marionette, which always came along to "keep the novice sprites in check" was nowhere in sight.

Old Chen knocked on the blackboard. The classroom quickly quietened.

Worried that this was a trap, the novice sprites displayed a well-behaved and obedient disposition nonetheless.

"Class, the upcoming lessons for this week are very important. Whether you're down with the flu, having a fever, or intending to apply for a leave of absence, I hope all of you can try your best to show up for the lessons."

Old Chen paused for a moment before she went on. "As all of you know, sprites possess extraordinary power. Even though Sprite Trainers like us have a different body constitution from other people because of the sprites' feedback benefits, we are a far cry from the sprites.

"In that case, other than being a commander and observer, what else can we, Sprite Trainers, do?

"This student there, can you tell me the answer?"

Boy A In The Front Row stood up involuntarily.

With some nervousness and hesitation, he answered, "W-we can also provide <anno data-annotation-id="7e18d01a-5fc1-43d7-8ff3-64108d0dcd1a">buffs</anno> for the sprites t-through our soul power."

"That's correct. Good, take a seat."

Old Chen then said, "During the process of sprites providing feedback benefits, the indicator with the most obvious improvement is our soul power.

"Let me ask all of you this—has anyone had their soul power evaluated after you've contracted your sprite?"

Whale Liu raised his hand weakly.

"Liu Ren, when did you get it evaluated? What was your sprite's spiritual force at that point?"

"I got it evaluated two months ago, one and a half months ago, one month ago, half a month ago, and a week ago," replied Liu Ren.

Old Chen was rendered speechless.

"Tell us a bit about your evaluation result from a week ago."

"At that time, my soul power was 6.12, while my sprite's spiritual force was roughly 65 points."

Old Chen nodded and indicated to Liu Ren to take a seat.

"Before we contract sprites, the soul power value of most people is only slightly above 1.0. The very few rare ones with great talent are able to hit 2 to 3. But after the contract is formed, as the sprites improve and we receive feedback benefits, our soul power can also increase rapidly.

"However, in the contract, the portion of soul power occupied by the sprite will also increase correspondingly.

"Using a pre-contract Sprite Trainer with a soul power of 1.0 as an example, they probably need to bring their soul power up to at least 9.0 before they can contract their second sprite… That's roughly the point when an infant sprite reaches its limit before entering entry-level.

"However, even if you can't contract a new sprite, soul power is still a power that belongs to us.

"Through the contract link with the sprite, we, Sprite Trainers, can use this portion of power.

"For example, like this…"

Old Chen had a focused look on her face.

She reached her arm out and spread her fingers apart with her palm facing the front. Then, she said softly, "Sprite Commandeering: Summon!"

The next moment, Su Hao noticed a cursor-like light appearing right above Old Chen's middle finger.

Then, a second cursor-like light appeared at the spot 30 degrees to the right.

At this point, time-space seemed to warp a little in front of Old Chen's palm, and the familiar form of Marionette jumped out.

"This is the power of Sprite Commandeering. When all of you reach the level of an official Sprite Trainer, you'll even be able to learn some self-defense abilities, such as Sprite Commandeering: Protection, Sprite Commandeering: Damage Diversion, and so on.

"Right now, your soul power is still very weak. However, you can still learn a few of the most basic Sprite Commandeering moves."

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="7e18d01a-5fc1-43d7-8ff3-64108d0dcd1a">Game term that means to power up a unit</li></ol></annotations>",