This conversation is impossible to continue.
The instructors, their faces dark with displeasure, dispersed in a huff.
Meanwhile, Li Miao gazed at the husky on the stage with pure delight: "Erha! Mommy loves you!"
Erha perked up its ears, raising its head high with an air of pride.
But for the defeated side—
"Ah Yu, what's wrong with you, Ah Yu!?"
Xiao Chen's heart ached as he scooped up Ah Yu's doggy head. "Don't be sad. If it comes down to it, we'll just find someone else to play with next time."
Ah Yu: "Woo woo woo..."
It won't play with me—it even *hit* me!
Ah Yu was devastated: "Ow ow ow!"
My heart hurts.
Xiao Chen quickly patted its chest. "No pain, no pain, good boy. Later, I'll ask Instructor Chen Bin to treat you, okay? Soon."
Ah Yu paid no mind. Instead, its gaze drifted back to Erha.
The ache in its chest—the spot where it had been kicked—grew worse.
Could it be… that this was the legendary… *love at first sight*!?
Ah Yu staggered back to its feet, then stole a bashful glance at Erha.
H-hey… Erha is, uh, kinda… kinda *handsome*, isn't it?
Maybe… maybe I'll just surrender to it?
Ah Yu wiggled its butt shyly.
By the time Xiao Chen called Teng Zai over, he turned to find his own precious beast circling Erha with ingratiating enthusiasm—and worse, flopping onto its back to flash its belly in a shameless display of affection!
It—it was *flirting* with another beast!
Xiao Chen gaped. "Ah Yu! Do you even remember you're a *male* dog!?"
Ah Yu shot an annoyed glance at its master.
What's wrong with being male? Don't male dogs deserve love too?
It wagged its tail frantically at Erha, even attempting to cozy up.
Erha, dead-eyed and unamused, rejected the advance with sheer ugliness before leaping back to Li Miao's side.
"Bark bark bark bark!"
*Master, do you see that!? That's a perverted dog over there!*
*This is terrifying, my god!*
Li Miao's smile stiffened slightly.
Her gaze shifted toward their patron, Xiao Chen—and sure enough, he was holding a furious Ah Yu, clearly on the verge of a meltdown.
"Ah Yu, don't be mad, don't be mad! It wasn't talking about you! Really, it wasn't!"
"Right, right, you're not a pervert—you're just in love! I get it, I get it!"
"Please, you little rascal, come back!"
"If need be, we'll train day and night to *crush* that heartless bastard dog until, one day, you can take it on solo!"
Erha: ?
Li Miao: ?
*Help.*
Is this… what normal relationships between beastmasters and their beasts look like?
And what's this about a "heartless bastard dog"?
Erha isn't even *adult* yet!
Li Miao was speechless.
So was Erha.
Master and beast were eerily synchronized.
As the battlefield grew increasingly chaotic, Chen Bin decisively stepped in to rescue the flustered Xiao Chen. "Take your beast somewhere else and calm it down first."
"You—Li Miao, come with me."
Li Miao hurried after Chen Bin, grabbing Erha on the way out.
Dangling from her arm, Erha didn't struggle—it even seemed a little accustomed to it.
"Instructor, what's this about?"
Chen Bin glanced at the husky in her hands.
"I want to talk to you."
He motioned for her to sit, then lowered himself onto the steps beside her.
"Given everything you've observed these past few days, you should have some idea about the state of bonded beasts."
"What do *you* think bonded beasts are?"
Li Miao hesitated. After a few seconds, she fired back: "Are you quizzing me, Instructor?"
"Not entirely."
"Oh."
"Then I have the right not to answer."
Chen Bin choked.
"*Answer and you get credit.*"
Li Miao's eyes sparkled instantly.
*Credit!* This could mean bonus points for her college entrance exams!
"Thank you, boss, thank you! I'll just—uh—let me search—no, *think* for a second, I'll answer right away!"
Chen Bin scowled. "Be serious. I'm asking *you*—answer right now. To you, what are these bonded beasts?"
Li Miao straightened. "Companions?"
Chen Bin sighed. "...Look over there. Do you *really* think bonded beasts can function as companions in the early stages?"
Following his gaze, Li Miao took in the spectacle—dogs barking, some whining, others slacking, and *one even taking a dump*!
*Un-freaking-believable.*
She sank into silence.
"...No."
The young girl admitted sheepishly, "I feel like early-stage bonded beasts are mostly unruly. They seem less like 'companions' and more like *children*."
"And as for us beastmasters..."
She paused before answering, "We're more like full-time poop-scooping nannies."
Chen Bin chuckled. "A good assessment. Early-stage beasts *are* difficult to manage, which is one of the reasons your school partnered with us."
Li Miao blinked. "You mean..."
"Because bonded beasts are hard to discipline, and natural predator-prey dynamics between them can still surface. Granted, the effect is weakened, but instances of weaker beasts getting bullied by stronger ones happen *way* too often."
The man sighed again. "Most importantly, each beast species has its own unique abilities and skills. Relying solely on your school's teachers and their beasts? Impossible to control completely."
"Plus, this year's enrollment tripled compared to last year. That's why your school split students into groups based on beast types—then assigned instructors like us to teach them."
Li Miao frowned.
"Instructor, why are you telling me all this?"
Chen Bin glared. "You dense? Because I *believe in you*!"
"Just because my Erha used a skill?"
Suddenly mentioned, Erha lifted its head in confusion: "Bark?"
"Not you."
Li Miao shoved it back into her arms.
"Instructor, be straight with me. Surely it's not because my Erha became some *prodigy* by using a skill, so you're buttering me up to ride my coattails when I make it big?"
"What nonsense are you spouting!?"
Chen Bin *laugh-coughed* in exasperation. "I'm telling you this not *just* because I believe in you, but also because your beast—being one of the first to use a skill—has already *caught certain people's attention*!"
"Or do you think I *want* to waste time chatting with a little loudmouth like you?"
Li Miao: "..."
She silently mimed zipping her lips. "Go on, Instructor."
Chen Bin rolled his eyes. After steadying himself, he asked, "Ever heard of *Celestial Order*?"
Li Miao dug deep into her memory, finally recalling—
"That cult that kidnaps bonded or wild beasts for grotesque experiments? The one classified as a *terrorist organization*?"
"They're after *me*? Why?"
She didn't think her Erha was anything special.
Yet Chen Bin shattered yet another illusion she held about bonded beasts—
"Because your beast is *one of the first in this facility* to demonstrate skill use."
Li Miao: *Blank stare.* "That's it?"
"Yes, *that's it*."
Chen Bin clicked his tongue. "Don't tell me you thought beasts just *naturally* knew how to use skills?"
"…Don't they?"
The man fished out a cigarette, lighting it with a heavy exhale.
"Don't be naive."
"You *yourself* said early-stage beasts are like children. A child might be born with abilities, but does that mean they instinctively *know* how to use them?"
"It's like how humans are born with the *capacity* for language—but you still have to learn and practice step by step before truly mastering it."
Li Miao froze, then flashed back to the intel she'd read in the *Beast Codex.*
Every skill had a *"Beginner"* tag next to it.
What did that mean?
It meant the beast *had* the skill—but it was just *starting* to grasp it, barely even able to *use* it properly yet!