start with contracting sprites
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The illustrated guide published by the Union of Sprite Trainers contained hundreds of types of sprites.
Nevertheless, sprites were still a rare thing for the ordinary person. Su Hao had never managed to see a sprite with his own eyes, partly due to him spending most of his time at home.
Sprites of rare elements such as thunder, light, or darkness weren’t less in variety than those of wood, earth, and water elements, but only less in numbers. The environments for breeding those sprites were harsh. Not to mention ordinary people, even real Sprite Trainers, may not have seen really rare sprites.
It was Sunday. The weather is sunny and suitable for going out.
Su Hao’s parents were going to accompany him to the Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center.
Su Hao couldn’t conceal his excitement—he would finally see real sprites!
He actually wanted to go there earlier himself, but how would his parents let him, a “third-year-high-schooler-to-be” to go alone for such an important matter.
Father Su started the car, turned on the navigation system, and drove toward the Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center with Su Hao and Mother Su.
The destination was built on the outskirts of Yunhua City, about two hours’ drive away.
It was the time for third-year-high-schooler-to-be to contract sprites, and the main road near the Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center was already lined up with cars on the far right side, going all the way to the intersection, taking up a large part of the road. Undoubtedly, the parking lot in front of the Free-Range Center had been full since long ago.
They parked the car at another parking lot around one kilometer away and walked to the Free-Range Center.
Lush trees lined the two sides of the road. Cars came slowly from the opposite direction once a while.
Most people were like them, walking over in groups of two or three. Some had already bought sprites, and the parents rushed back with the students with sprites in their arms.
Su Hao’s eyes widened.
A bit different from what he had searched online, the sprites in their arms looked even younger. Presently, even a Little Stone Elephant, which was pretty heavy, was only the size of a school bag. It was carried in the arms of a petite girl.
However, Su Hao felt the heaviness by just looking at it.
Little Stone Elephants were not for him, indeed. It was definitely not because of reasons like not being able to afford it.
He also saw round Fluffy Balls, Mini Pigs only the size of a palm—it was said that its evolved form, Rumbling Pig, was a type of huge, muscular pig—Bubbling Turtles with bubbles coming out of their mouths, Penguin Xs with a mark of “X” on the stomach, and Little Peas with a large head, a small body, and a pouty mouth…
There was also the Fire-Element Little Charcoal Tortoise, one of the Union-recognized Five-Element Sprites for beginners, with high potential. It was actually sold at the Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center of Yunhua City!
Su Hao looked and felt dazzled. He also looked forward to it more and more.
The Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center was a huge dome building with a vast area. Inside, there was a water environment, forest environment, rugged hills, and neatly trimmed grasslands, just like a small ecosphere.
…
“Hello, please register.”
After entering the Free-Range Sprite Breeding Center, a staff member greeted them. There were no ordinary salesmen chattering on to sell items, but over here, the first thing to do was identity verification.
Su Hao took out that document of proof for soul power, then signed his name at the front desk, before following that young man inside.
After going past a gate, a green lawn appeared in front of them, along with many running, leaping sprites.
As they walked, the young man made introductions.
“Does Mr. Su already know about the types of sprites we sell here? Do you have sprites that you like?”
“Let the child choose himself.”
“Yes, yes.”
Su Hao’s parents didn’t have many opportunities to see sprites on ordinary days as well, and they had long been enchanted.
Of course, they actually couldn’t name many sprites, and they didn’t make random decisions. They were only responsible for swiping the card in the end.
“I’ll look a bit more,” said Su Hao.
The staff member smiled. “It’s a starter sprite, after all. It has to be chosen carefully.”
Currently, Su Hao’s attention was completely focused on the game interface that appeared in front of his eyes.
At first, after he looked at many sprites, suddenly, a cue tone of “Intelligence Point +1” sounded, which made Su Hao open up the interface. Unexpectedly, he saw that their surroundings were no longer empty street blocks. Instead, there were sprites scattered in twos and threes.
There were sprites everywhere!
Of course, Su Hao couldn’t find an option for catching.
He felt it to be a bit of a pity. But when he focused on a certain sprite, suddenly, an information box appeared.
[Sprite: Big-Eared Rabbit]
[Basic information: Earth-Element, Juvenile Stage]
[Introduction: When the Big-Eared Rabbit is sad, it wraps its whole body with its ears to bring warmth. When it is happy, its ears dance. It also likes to use its ears as its weapon.]
[Detailed information: (Unlock with 1 Intelligence Point)]
[Breeding Method: (Unlocking conditions not met)]
[Evolution (Click):]
Big-Eared Rabbit → “a dark silhouette” (Unlock with 3 Intelligence Points) → “a dark silhouette” (Unlocking conditions not met)]
This is it! I finally found out how to use the Intelligence Points!
Su Hao had known about the evolved forms of the Big-Eared Rabbit from previous research. Its first evolution was Whirlwind Bunny and Rabbit Tuzki the second. He had also seen their pictures, and the looks matched the black silhouettes in the information boxes. However, it didn’t seem very useful to him.
Su Hao suppressed the urge to use Intelligence Points and just walked and looked, but in fact, he clicked on the information boxes of the sprites.
“That’s a Wood Mantis, right?”
“Yes. Wood Mantis is a pretty good kind of sprite. Although it only has one level of evolution, both the original form and the evolved Killer Mantis are considered rather powerful sprites. Few sprites can match Killer Mantis in short-range outbursts.”
Su Hao knew that, as the Wood Mantis was also one of the popular sprites for beginners.
The first-level evolved Killer Mantis had a growth potential no less than the second-level evolution. Most importantly, it was powerful at an early stage, giving one a better chance at Sprite Universities in the future.
As a result, although Wood Mantis was common, the price was quite high.
It was a bit difficult for the Su family to buy the Wood Mantis.
But all those were not the reason Su Hao was surprised.
In his eyes, the Wood Mantis actually had two evolutionary pathways. The first evolved into a state with an outline of wings and a narrow tibia, probably the Killer Mantis. The other pathway had a second-grade evolution, with an outline that he couldn’t figure out.
“It’s very likely an undiscovered evolutionary pathway!”
It was a bit more expensive to unlock the first-level evolution of the Wood Mantis’ second pathway than that of the Big-Eared Rabbit.
Su Hao hesitated for a moment, but he still used 5 Intelligence Points to unlock the first-level evolved state.
Now, he was left with 21 Intelligence Points.
One forearm was soon lifted, and the image of a mantis that looked like it was praying appeared.
[Prayer Mantis (Changeable)]
At the same time, the Prayer Mantis’ basic information appeared, as well as the method to evolve the Wood Mantis into a Prayer Mantis!
[Cultivate for three months or more with Light-Element Essence (replaceable<click to view>), then grow the Wood Mantis to a mature stage and learn more than one Light-Element unique skill, in the meantime the strength of Spirit Power and Spiritual Force must reach a certain standard<click to view>…]
It was very easy for a Wood Mantis to evolve into a Killer Mantis. The trainer should cultivate it to a mature stage and assist it with some Wood-Element Essence to successfully evolve it. In comparison, the Prayer Mantis’ evolution was much more difficult.
No wonder it was never discovered.
Nevertheless, the evolution method Su Hao obtained with 5 Intelligence Points was very detailed. He was confident in cultivating a sprite unseen by the world with the methods there.
The real issue was money. Not only that, but the conditions for the Prayer Mantis’ evolution were also more difficult. Correspondingly, the evolved sprites had greater potential. It might be comparable to those rare sprites that couldn’t even be bought with money!
Su Hao could only express his mood at this moment with a Sh*t!
The second-level evolution required 20 Intelligence Points, and Su Hao wasn’t willing to pay that.
The price of 300,000 yuan for the Wood Mantis was still pretty high. He hoped to choose a sprite that did not burden his family so much. If he really had no other choice, he would consider the Wood Mantis again.