The Bronthil's ethereal teeth shuddered around Adam's neck. This guttural, commanding tone shouldn't have come from a human child, but from a Dreadthil—one of the rare alphas born into its species. Somehow, it understood the human's words as if he had howled their meaning.

The wrathful wrinkles around its snout eased, and for a moment, it sniffed Adam's scent. Not human—not entirely. Bestial, weaker species untouched by magic, thousands of them in a single being. And... something else that chilled its blood.

How?

Its golden eyes widened as the anomaly struck it like a blow on the muzzle. It stepped back onto the stone table, glaring at Adam. But it wasn't smart, only an apprentice-tier beast, unable to hide the fear gripping its legs.

Adam gazed back without any hostility. He didn't need it. And since he was free to choose his method of subduing the Bronthil, he wouldn't change his ways of doing things. No fear nor forced compulsion, just civilised negotiation that would benefit both parties.

"The deal's simple, Bronthil. Behave when summoned, and I'll free your soul in a land of nature and peace—a place in which no one would ever disturb you." He stretched his hand toward the beast before lifting his eyes to the sky, remembering something. "There is just one place you shouldn't approach: a charred island ringed by a lake of liquid fire."

He scratched his head, grinning. "Look at me. I'm already talking about details before you've even agreed. So, what do you say?"

The Bronthil shifted uneasily. This seemed like a good deal. That's why it wouldn't trust such an offer in any other circumstances. But that human child... he spoke its language, felt like one of them.

For a moment, it gazed to the sides, only for its ears to lower, and a crushing fear to press against its heart. All around it, other beasts, other human children. A handful were like the blue-haired one, offering terms, but others... They used threats and spells to make their captured beasts howl in soul-tearing agony.

This was not a deal, but a chance. It understood it now. With a cracking whimper, it lowered its head in submission.

Standing in front of it, Adam felt its fear and insecurity, but also understood the meaning. "I trust your bestial side, the one that would never accept being enslaved nor wish it upon anyone."

Reaching for its snout, Adam nodded. "Sorry for killing you. Wrong place at the wrong time. You're a ghost now, but is it the end? No." He shook his head, locks of sky-blue hair dancing. "Whether you choose peace or self-improvement, I'll help you. You have my word."

The Bronthil let Adam's hand close until it passed through its illusory snout. Luck... should it feel lucky that this human murdered it instead of the other children, or continue to hate him? It didn't know. But it wanted to trust his promise.

It growled, louder this time. "We have a deal."

"Good." Adam removed the talisman from the table's groove, and the Bronthil faded.

Beside him, Desmond's lips curled into a grin. "You don't have to simulate a conversation with a beast to act cool. It looked submissive by the end. So, what's the secret? A discharge of mana? An illusion of pure horror?"

"An illusion, yeah." Adam rolled his eyes. "I showed him how your lavender's flesh would taste. Believe it or not, it hated it so much that it submitted without resistance."

"Haha. Keep your secret to yourself, blue bastard," Desmond snickered and placed his talisman in the groove. "Look how it's done."

The massive table released a pulse of humming mana that condensed into a miniaturised version of the hulking Oozebloom Abomination.

The sylvan beast's countless eyes wriggled in every direction, confusion reflecting in its sickly yellow irises. When one locked on Desmond, the others followed like snakes. It shrieked, expelling a cloud of rancid air and expecting its hundreds of venomous tendrils to torment the human's nerves as his lightning had scorched its bark. Simultaneously, it hurled its roots, dozens cleaving the air with wrathful force.

An icy shiver ran down Desmond's spine. "Hah!" He stepped back, gasping, and, as the lethal strike he had no chance of surviving simply passed through him, he scratched his head with an embarrassed grimace

"Submit!" he proclaimed as if the Oozebloom had no other choice.

But it was far different from the Bronthil—an archmage beast more clever than most humans. It glared at Desmond, realising its strike wouldn't work. The children around completed the puzzle. They were trying to bind it to their bidding. It? Impossible.

Its answer came as a spit of dark-purple saliva that passed through Desmond's white shirt.

"You piece of rotten log!" Desmond reached for it, purple lightning arcs snaking around his fingers. "What else can you do but submit?"

The Oozebloom didn't move. Even when lightning touched its soul, it glared at Desmond, a vicious smirk carved in the bark of its giant mouth.

"So?" Adam patted Desmond from behind, his voice dripping with amusement. "Are you sure you're showing me how it should be done or an example of what I shouldn't do?"

Desmond's brow twitched, and he commanded the Oozebloom to submit in a blinding spectacle of lightning. Yet, it refused to bend.

Adam eventually sighed and moved into the sylvan beast's field of view. The effect was immediate. Its roots trembled in rage. But when he made a lightning snake crackle around his finger and narrowed his eyes into glowing slits that whispered of pain beyond anything it could imagine, the rage faded into horror. The monstrous human who had killed it while sitting on his lightning throne.

If it were him... No! The useless one who could barely wound it was better than this monster.

Its roots snapped up like hands raised in surrender. "I submit," it said in human language, its voice like the trembling strings of a broken harp.

"That easy?!" Desmond's eyes widened for a heartbeat. Then, he coughed to his own surprise. "I mean, I hope you took notes because that's how it's done."

"Wow!" Adam clapped in feigned celebration. "Actually, not bad. Well done."

"Hmm." Nose raised in pride, Desmond turned to address the Oozebloom one last time. "Don't worry. I'll free you after learning the technique, as long as you behave." He winked at Adam as he removed the talisman, and the beast faded. "My own strength."

Grinning, Adam slapped his back playfully. "Guess we're already done. I'll go check on Quintella."

Then, he moved toward Quintella, who nodded in front of Haldris' raised finger.

"Pandaroks' hatred of horned rabbits has been carved into their bloodlines. One feeds on the other's defenseless babies, while the other returns grown up to avenge its fallen brethren. That's why Bao struck the image without a second thought." Haldris explained with gentle care before adding. "That, and she might have felt jealous when you called its nemesis cute."

On Quintella's shoulder, Bao nodded and tapped her friend's cheek as if trying to say, "Don't call these monsters cute!"

Quintella tightened her lips into a guilty line. "S-sorry, Bao. You're the cutest in the entire realm."

Pleased by the genuine words and slightly reddening beneath her white-and-dark fur, Bao licked Quintella's cheek.

Haldris watched with a gentle smile before continuing his lesson. Adam heard him talk about how wild Pandaroks' feeding habits clashed with their development, how they needed seven years to reach maturity, and how they reached their peak at the mage level under the right conditions.

"Only mages?" Adam murmured, frowning in mild disappointment.

Haldris caught it, chuckling without looking back. "That's if it's not meant to take the hardest step on a beast's path. The weakest ones are bound to their fate, never to rise, but there are exceptions. Perfect nurturing, extraordinary innate talent, and an iron will. That's what Bao will need to evolve past the shackles of her birth."

Adam raised a brow. "Is it time to become the best beast nurturer?" A confident smirk split his face. "Let's do it!"

The chime of the bell resounded a moment later. Like last lesson, Haldris stored the students' talismans in the square pouch at his belt. Before he could teleport everyone on the plain below, Adam whispered, his earlier grin replaced by a solemn frown. "Could I have a word with you, teacher? In private."

Haldris paused for a heartbeat, then smiled as he teleported everyone but Adam. "Of course."

Would Adam learn more about the golem, or would Haldris deflect his questions? This was the moment of truth.

---

I said I'd take a day off. Instead, I wrote an extra-long chapter for my dear readers .