Chapter 26: Beginner’s Luck

"But what was that about Little Fire Fox's evolution?" Asher cut straight to the point, skipping over all the messy personal drama.

"Uh…" June's expression turned awkward.

"It's just that…"

"I've been curious about it from the start." Ignoring her hesitation, Asher continued, "You seemed to trust me way too much when it came to helping Little Fire Fox evolve. It didn't seem normal, and honestly, it didn't make sense."

It had actually made him wonder if his talent had somehow been exposed.

But after this little run-in today, Asher finally understood.

June didn't trust him at all; she just needed an excuse to shake off that guy Don.

"Cough, cough!" June scratched her nose in embarrassment, trying to cover up her sheepish look.

"I mean… I just didn't have any other options. Don's been an absolute pest."

The more she spoke, the more justified she felt. This wasn't her fault—this was all Don's problem.

But as she looked at Asher, June's face softened as she explained more sincerely, "His parents are professors specializing in the evolution of Little Fire Fox and Red Flame Hound. Since our parents are close, I ended up contracting Foxy, and he contracted Red Flame Hound."

Asher nodded in understanding.

Little Fire Fox and Red Flame Hound were both in the canine family with fire attributes. In terms of potential and rank, they were roughly on the same level. Researching their evolution together was actually a reasonable approach.

"My choice to evolve Foxy into Little Fire Fox was heavily influenced by his parents," June said with a slight frown, clearly not thrilled with the idea.

Asher could understand her frustration. He was also beginning to realize why she'd fed so many high-tier materials to her pet. Even if June had money to burn, she wouldn't spend it so carelessly on her own. This had to be her parents' doing.

Little Fire Fox had decent potential, and if Don's parents discovered a new evolution path, they'd likely test it with other Beastmasters who owned Little Fire Foxes. June would naturally get a foot in the door as a tester.

And if they never found anything, contracting Little Fire Fox still wasn't a loss.

"Don contracted a Red Flame Hound," Asher said, already guessing.

"Right," June replied, nodding. "So that's basically the story. I don't like hanging out with Don, but he uses this evolution research as an excuse to get close to me. Because of our families, I can't just brush him off without a reason."

Her expression darkened. "It's annoying."

Asher suddenly found himself appreciating his own solitude. Being a Beastmaster from a prominent family wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"And then Ivy's Nene evolved… Well…" June glanced at Asher apologetically.

'No need to say it. I got the picture.'

Thanks to that whole incident, June latched onto Asher as her escape.

So, was it true that June trusted him to help Little Fire Fox evolve? Not really. But using him as an excuse to dodge Don for a while? June couldn't have been happier.

Asher sighed. He understood her reasoning, but using him as a smokescreen was a bit much.

"Well, you're forgiven—if you provide compensation for my emotional damage," Asher said with a casual smile.

Just as June was about to look smug, she froze. "Wait, what? Are you really asking me for money? After all the bonding we've done these past few weeks?"

Asher shrugged, looking at her with mock seriousness. "Friends or not, compensation is compensation. That's how you keep friendships clean and unspoiled."

June huffed in frustration, and Ivy couldn't help but giggle softly. "Asher, you're impressive. It's rare to see June get outsmarted like this."

Holding Little Fire Fox close, June mumbled indignantly to herself.

Seeing her reaction, Asher decided to ease up and change the subject. "So, what are you planning for Little Fire Fox's evolution?" He raised an eyebrow. "From the sound of it, there might actually be some progress on that front."

Privately, Asher was rather interested in those professors researching Little Fire Fox and Red Flame Hound evolution, 'Have they discovered the Flame Queen Fox evolution path?' If he could, he'd love to hear about their findings and the steps they took.

Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly in a position to approach them.

"Don's parents have been studying Little Fire Fox and Red Flame Hound evolution for over six years now," June explained, frowning. "If he dared say all that, they've probably had a breakthrough. But they're still far from getting Little Fire Fox to fully evolve."

"And if they're anywhere near actual results, we're still probably at least another year away."

She didn't say it, but that was assuming things went smoothly.

"Reaching the stage where they're selecting Beastmasters with Little Fire Foxes to verify results? I'll probably be graduating college by then." June shook her head. "I don't have the patience to wait that long."

Asher blinked in surprise.

'Seriously? A proper evolution study took that long?'

He'd known it wasn't easy, but he hadn't expected the timeline to be so extensive.

June saw his reaction and chuckled. "Now do you get how insanely lucky you were to find out Nene could evolve? If it turns out that evolution method can be used more widely…"

She gave him a knowing look.

"The only downside is that Professor Iris will be the one publishing it, so even if it succeeds, the main credit won't go to you."

Asher just smiled.

He wasn't too worried about who got credit. What mattered was getting the evolution information out there, helping more Beastmasters understand the process.

After all, the increase in Nene's recognition would benefit him far more.

"So now you have to help my Little Fire Fox evolve. With your newbie luck, who knows? Maybe you'll pull it off, and this time the credit will be all yours." June's voice grew more enthusiastic. "No one could steal that from you."

Asher chuckled. "Well, here's hoping."

Whatever June's motives had been earlier didn't matter. Now that he knew about the progress Don's parents had made, she still chose him over her other options.

So he'd do his best to help her Little Fire Fox evolve.

And, of course, he'd get a few new skills out of it.

"If that's the case, then once you're back, keep training Little Fire Fox on the skills it knows and work on learning new ones. Little Fire Fox should have at least four to five skills under its belt to reach a solid standard."

Though he spoke with a smile, Asher's tone left no room for argument.

Both June and Little Fire Fox looked at him, wide-eyed with shock. "Excuse me? Did you really just say that with a straight face?"

'More training? Even more training?'

The past two weeks of relentless work to learn just one skill had drained all their summer energy. They were counting on some downtime now.

Recalling the constant struggle and countless skirmishes during training, both of them shuddered.

"With a whole month of summer vacation left, getting two new skills isn't impossible. If you push a little, three skills could even be within reach." Asher's tone was rock solid as he delivered the cold truth.

June and Little Fire Fox furiously shook their heads. "Nope, not happening. We're out. No more training."

Asher shifted his gaze to Ivy. "Ivy, can I trust you to keep an eye on them?"

"It's for their own good. If they don't work hard now, they'll regret it later." He looked Ivy right in the eye, sincerity pouring from his expression.

All for June's trust.

All for his future skill-siphoning plans.

This duo was headed for some intense training.

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