7 Chapter 7: Lack of Funds

On the bus back to school, Mr. Job was softly comforting the students who were feeling down due to the failure of their contracts.

David Jones heard that there were about a hundred students from Waterland High School who applied to go to the Water Mountain Breeding Base this time. This bus alone had fifty students, with only about ten successfully contracting their pets, making the success rate of contracts about 25%, which is similar to the previous batch.

The students who failed to contract this time are expected to be transferred to Trainer Class III or IV.

The atmosphere on the bus was somewhat oppressive, even the students who initially boarded the bus with smiles on their faces, gazing at their Star Rings, were now mostly sitting quietly without deliberately showing off their pets.

Perhaps disappointment and failure are always a part of life. Looking at the majority of students in front of him who were disheartened or even shedding silent tears, David Jones tapped his fingers on the armrest of his seat with his right hand, feeling very upset.

Originally, he had estimated 1.5 million Star coins, but now it had become 2.5 million, while the inheritance left by his parents and the subsidy from the Flowery Kingdom only amounted to 1.5 million.

It was thanks to his father being an elite trainer that he had so much money. Otherwise, ordinary orphans wouldn't have access to such funds.

David had previously estimated that he would have 750k Star coins left after the loan to cultivate his pet, but now he only had 250k left.

The most crucial thing was that the loan amount had increased from 750k for ten years to 1.25 million for ten years, which is equivalent to about 10k per month.

It's important to note that the current monthly salary of an ordinary Junior Trainer in the market is only about 10k.

Considering the cost of Rainbow's food, it's quite an expense. Even at the minimum, a month's ice-type Arcane Crystals and fish meat would cost several thousand Star coins.

Furthermore, David didn't want to mistreat his pet. Rainbow was his treasure, so the expenses would be even greater.

With this in mind, David's eyes dimmed. His plans had changed faster than expected, and the lack of funds put a lot of pressure on him. It seemed like he would have to start working hard to provide for his family from tomorrow.

If he continued to focus on cultivating his pet as originally planned, he might starve himself to death.

Fortunately, he was now in his senior year. The courses in the first two years mainly covered various knowledge about training pets. In the third year, classroom time focused on practical application and summarization of the knowledge learned in the first two years.

Except for the first two days of school, the school wouldn't force senior students to attend classes. Instead, they would open the school's training facilities to allow students to apply their knowledge flexibly in cultivating their pets. They even allowed students to work during class time to earn money to cultivate their pets.

David could use this school year to cultivate Rainbow and earn money to support the household.

...

Returning to his slightly rundown apartment, David sat on his bed and eagerly summoned little Rainbow from his Star Ring, taking the food he had received during the contract process out of his bag.

As soon as she emerged from the Star Ring, a sleepy little Rainbow glared at David with some anger in her big eyes, clearly annoyed by him disturbing her sleep.

David's mouth curled into a slight smile, a hint of amusement in his eyes, "You can't always sleep; you need to eat something too."

Seeing her trainer's gentle smile devoid of any apology, little Rainbow lifted her head trying to look down on David, but found she was still looking up at him. Annoyed, she shook her head then lay down to sleep, ignoring her trainer altogether.

David, feeling little Rainbow's displeasure and disregard, was charmed by her proud and aloof appearance.

Shaking his head vigorously, David laughed helplessly. This little fellow was something else. She couldn't possibly be using Infatuation on her own trainer, could she? That would be against the rules.

"We're going to grow up together as partners. If you listen to me, I'll add one more massage session every night."

Hearing the word "massage", little Rainbow's eyes opened wide, and she turned back to David, making a few chirping sounds.

"Three times a day in total; I can't do it any more than that." David chuckled and then gently stroked Rainbow's head with his left hand, starting tonight's Dragon Force massage.

Only after seeing little Rainbow's contented expression did David hold a junior ice-type Arcane Crystal up to her mouth, smiling as he watched her slowly eat.

Now David felt like he had a daughter of his own, and his heart was absolutely smitten.

Once Rainbow had absorbed enough energy, David placed her on the bed to rest for a while. Then he got up and fed Goldy the fish some food, as it was eagerly watching from the fish tank.

Turning his head to see Goldy swimming around in the fish tank, Rainbow's mouth curled slightly, and she glanced at David, making a crisp sound: "Yi!"

"That's not the food I prepared for you. It's your partner, and you can't eat it. Just absorb some more Arcane Crystals for now, and there will be meat tomorrow." David gently reminded her.

Hearing that her trainer said she couldn't eat the fish, little Rainbow curled up on the bed and continued to sleep, obviously uninterested.

David took out his phone, logged onto the app for the Trainer's Market, and spent 5000 Star coins to directly place an order for 3kg of fresh fish and 1kg of junior ice-type Arcane Crystals.

"These ingredients should be enough for little Rainbow for now. After all, using Dragon Force to speed up her growth also requires the right nutrients. I mustn't let her go hungry like I did with Goldy during our last experiment," David thought to himself.

If he wanted to keep up with Rainbow's nutritional needs, the expenses would be quite high. Coupled with the loan he had to repay, he needed to think of a way to make money!

"It's a pity that Mr. Dell from the reservoir won't let me fish anymore, otherwise I could make some extra money to relieve my stress," David thought regretfully.

Left with no choice, David opened the job search app on his phone, selected a few pet stores near Rivergate District that offered decent pay, submitted his resume, and then began to familiarize himself with and cultivate his Class II Arcane Star.

When an Arcane Star reaches Class II, it can contract a second pet. If the pet's strength is cultivated to Class II, it can apply to the Trainer Guild to become a Junior Trainer.

However, David currently has no plans to contract a second pet. Quality over quantity is the focus for now — raising little Rainbow well is his top priority.

...

The next day, the senior year Trainer Class began, and as per tradition, each student had to register and report in.

Entering the Senior Year Trainer Class 2 classroom, David scanned the room for a suitable seat, but found that there were quite a few unfamiliar students.

The classroom was noisy; some students in the back row were excitedly communicating with each other, and some even summoned their pets.

Not used to the noisy environment, David chose a quieter seat near the front row.

John, in the midst of a heated argument with his classmates, accidentally caught sight of David. Pointing at him, he said loudly, "I'm not lying to you guys; the one who contracted a Coldjade Snake is David Jones."

John's shout caught the attention of everyone in the classroom, even interrupting David's thoughts of how to make money as he looked up at the mention of his name.

Feeling all eyes on him, David could only awkwardly smile and reply, "If there wasn't a second person who successfully contracted a Coldjade Snake yesterday, then I suppose that person must have been me."