Chapter 17: Begging You to Be My Student

Ivy pressed her lips together, smiling shyly as she lowered her gaze, 'But… Asher wouldn't lie to me.'

'He saved Nene—Asher is truly a good person. Hum..'

June, catching on immediately to Ivy's thoughts, rolled her eyes so hard they almost stayed back there.

"Hmph!"

"I'm not giving up that easily."

She hugged Little Fire Fox, marching into the grooming shop ahead. With a wave of her hand, she declared, "Give my Little Fire Fox the full work. I want her looking as stunning as ever."

Once her Little Fire Fox was back to its best, she'd be ready for Round Two with Asher.

———

"Achoo!—"

Asher let out a huge sneeze, startling Little Raven on his shoulder into hopping back and forth in a fluster.

"Easy there, easy there," he reassured the little bird, soothing it with a pat.

Seeing Little Raven still a bit skittish, hopping nervously from one foot to the other, Asher brought out some extra food for it.

"Alright, alright. How about a snack?"

Little Raven raised its head, beak already nibbling at Asher's fingers in eagerness.

'Hurry! hurry!'

Amused, Asher held up a piece of the red mud worm for Little Raven, who devoured it with such relish that it seemed like the best meal in the world.

Next, he offered it the mixed fresh fruits. Little Raven took a few quick bites, finishing each piece in three or four pecks.

A few bites of worm, a few bites of fruit. Little Raven was clearly in heaven.

Watching Little Raven enjoy its snack so much, Asher felt his own mouth start to water.

He glanced down at the fruit in his hand and hesitated a moment.

'Alright, fine.' He admitted it—'I am curious.'

After all, who with a pet hadn't at least wondered what their pet's food tasted like?

He popped half a piece of the mixed fruit in his mouth, and the taste hit him.

'It is delicious!'

Eyes wide, he quickly finished off the other half.

And then…

Asher looked down to find Little Raven staring at him in shock.

Little Raven: (ΩДΩ)

Its little yellow beak hung open in disbelief.

"Cough, cough." Asher cleared his throat, cheeks faintly red as he felt a stab of guilt.

'Alright, maybe I shouldn't have done that…'

He reached out to gently pat Little Raven's head, speaking softly to comfort it.

"When I go to the city, I'll buy you some special fruit. How about that?"

But to Asher's surprise, Little Raven's gaze only grew more complex.

Then, as if suddenly understanding something, Little Raven pushed the worms and fruit toward Asher with its wings, giving him gentle pats on the hand.

It didn't take long for Asher to realize what was happening.

"… Little Raven, do you think I don't have enough to eat, so I'm taking your food?"

The fact that his own pet thought he was so poor he had to steal its food… left Asher speechless.

He sighed deeply.

'Alright, making money definitely needs to be a top priority now.'

'Otherwise, Little Raven really might think I am a broke Beast Master who could only afford to mooch snacks from his pet.'

By the time Asher clocked out of work and headed home, Little Raven still didn't look convinced that he wasn't starving.

He sighed again, giving in. "Well, we'll have plenty of time to work on this," he muttered, reaching out to pat the little feather tuft on Little Raven's head.

After clocking out, Asher pickes up a package and head home.

Because Little Raven needed plenty of sunlight and moonlight exposure, Asher planned not to keep it in his Beast Space too often.

After they both had dinner, Little Raven finally stopped trying to share its food with him once it saw that he had a hearty meal.

Asher exhaled in relief.

"Alright, let's get your new stuff set up. Everything I ordered for you just arrived."

Sitting down on the floor, he started unpacking the boxes with Little Raven beside him.

Bird-friendly shampoo, a few pieces of bird-specific furniture… they soon had the whole floor covered in supplies.

He was just about to give Little Raven a nice, thorough bath when his phone buzzed unexpectedly.

"Hm?"

To his surprise, it was a message from Professor Iris.

[Iris: I heard you contracted a mutated Oriental Peacock? What's going on up there?]

[Asher: Just wanted to give it a shot, Professor Iris. By the way, how's your research going?]

Trying to dodge the question, Asher quickly changed the subject.

As expected, it worked like a charm.

[Iris: Tsk! Don't rub salt in the wound. That troublesome bug—who would have thought that even with the evolution conditions known, replicating it would be so hard.]

Once she got started on her research woes, Professor Iris couldn't stop herself from venting.

Asher chuckled softly.

Of course.

He had suspected this would happen the moment he heard the Alliance's rating of "Lower Extraordinary" for the Fairy Butterfly.

After all, Oriental Peacock evolution to the mid-tier wasn't easy, let alone for a Honeybug—one of the most ordinary of pet beasts.

While Asher's Insight skill had graded it as a Middle Extraordinary, the human evaluation had kept it lower. Why?

His ability's rating system wasn't influenced by human intervention. It was purely rational and far more precise.

So where did this discrepancy come from?

After some thought, Asher had figured it out.

There were countless Honey Bugs, and they bred to near pest-levels each spring.

However, a Honeybug that didn't fear danger, that wouldn't simply die off? Now that was rare.

In fact, the forest around Aspengrove Village was swarming with Honeybugs.

It wasn't an exaggeration—there were three or four on every tree.

Birds practically treated them as snacks.

Yet Asher hadn't found even one among them that met the evolution conditions.

So, could Professor Iris really hope to recreate such an evolution?

[Asher: Professor Iris, finding a fearless Honeybug might be nearly impossible. If this doesn't work, maybe broaden the search range. Or consider ordinary folks who might care for their Honeybugs as much as Ivy does?]

[Iris: Hmm… I actually tried a few Beast Masters with contracted Honey Bugs, but it didn't work. But, I hadn't thought about ordinary people keeping them as pets. That's an interesting angle. I'll tell Robb to look into it.]

[Asher: Glad I could help, Professor.]

[Iris: Don't get formal with me. So, come on—what made you contract that Oriental Peacock? I checked in with the Breeding Base—they said its mutation isn't promising. I may not know you well, but you don't strike me as the type to take on a Oriental Peacock without a reason.]

Asher was genuinely taken aback.

'Is Professor Iris actually that concerned about me?'

She had even gone as far as reaching out to the breeding base to confirm the situation?

Realizing he couldn't easily brush her off, Asher thought carefully before responding.

[Asher: Well… I won't hide it from you, Professor. I'm interested in studying Beast Evolution. I'd read plenty of papers on it before, and seeing Nene evolve only fueled my interest. Choosing this Oriental Peacock is a gamble, a thought that its mutation might just lead to an unknown evolution path. I wanted to see if it could be done.]

[Iris: I admire your ambition. But have you considered what'll happen if you fail?]

[Asher: Yes, Professor. If the evolution doesn't succeed, I'm confident I'll still get into the program I want on my own merit. I can handle failure. But if it works…]

[Iris: Then you'll be soaring to new heights. I might even beg you to be my student.]

[Iris: Alright, I'll look forward to your results. Who knows? Maybe new blood in the field is just what we need.]

Asher smiled faintly.

Yes, with high risk came high reward.

He had managed to set things up just right with Professor Iris, creating a foundation for his upcoming plans.

'Helping a few other beasts evolve before Little Raven took the leap wouldn't seem so unusual now, right?'

———

Three or four days went by.

Asher's bond with Little Raven had noticeably deepened, and he could feel the progress meditation had brought to his mental energy.

Though the improvement was slight, it was still impressive

After all, cultivating one's mental energy was a long journey.

Making progress in a short period like this? He suspected his strengthened soul from reincarnation was giving him an edge.

But one problem still pricked him.

He hadn't yet found a fire-type pet with suitable skills for Little Raven to learn.

"Fire-type pets are some of the most popular combat choices for Pre-licensed Beast Masters. How have I still not run into one?"

'Is it because Aspengrove Village is just too remote?'

'Well, I can always consider that Little Fire Fox…'

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