Mia stretched her arms and looked around the apartment. It was quiet—eerily quiet. A rare thing in her life these days. Professor Hootsworth was off at the Alchemy Guild, buried in scrolls and potion formulas, probably scaring some poor intern with his passion for obscure beast-lore. Nutmeg, on the other hand, had taken to independent training with the intensity of a squirrel possessed. He was either sprinting laps through the woods, doing push-ups on tree branches, or experimenting with how much weight he could bench-press with his tail.
And Mia? She had free time.
It had been a while since she'd had this much of it. After her short-lived stint as a beast taxi driver ended in dramatic fashion—with multiple near mid-air collisions, three screaming children, and a woman who tried to pay her in coupons—she had decided that the flying transport business simply wasn't her path.
So now, with no teaching obligations and beasts too busy for her attention, she finally turned her focus inward.
"I guess it's time," Mia murmured to herself, adjusting the cushion beneath her. She had prepared her modest cultivation room—really just a closet she'd cleared and lined with calming runes and a single incense burner. She sat cross-legged, the door cracked for airflow, her eyes shut.
She could feel the steady thrum of her spiritual energy pulsing beneath the surface. Her current cultivation level—Bronze Tier, Fifth Rank—was good enough for one beast contract. But the upcoming City-Level Beast Tamer Competition wasn't going to be forgiving. If she wanted to make any sort of impact, especially now that she was technically a "runner-up celebrity," she'd need more than just Hootsworth and Nutmeg. She needed a new companion. A surprise card. A trump beast.
But for that, she had to break through.
For two straight weeks, Mia fell into a routine. Morning classes, afternoons at the lab with Nutmeg while Professor Hootsworth dabbled in alchemical theory, and evenings spent in meditation. She pushed herself harder each night, drawing upon her knowledge from the Royal Beast Taming Academy, using every technique she had studied but never had time to truly apply.
One night, just past midnight, as rain tapped lightly against the windows and incense smoke swirled around her like a soft cloud, it happened. Her breath caught as energy surged through her body, not painful, but powerful—like liquid sunlight rushing through every cell.
She opened her eyes. The runes on the walls flickered. The incense flared for a second before fading.
She had done it.
Silver Tier, First Rank.
She let out a soft whoop of joy, but quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, laughing silently in the dark. She wasn't about to wake her neighbors over a personal power-up.
The next morning, she met up with Hootsworth over breakfast and told him the good news. The owl was perched atop a stool at their tiny kitchen table, wearing a pair of scholar's reading glasses he absolutely did not need but insisted made him look more "academically authoritative."
"Excellent news, my dear!" he hooted, flapping his wings in applause. "With your new cultivation level, you're ready to expand your team. Three is the ideal number for tactical harmony."
"Three would be perfect," Mia agreed. "One brain, one brawn, and one wild card."
Hootsworth nodded thoughtfully. "We should begin the selection process immediately. I've already drafted a list of compatible species, arranged by rarity, temperament, and synergy with our current lineup."
Mia sipped her tea and glanced at the scroll he unrolled. "…Do all of these cost a year's worth of groceries?"
Hootsworth looked sheepish. "…Possibly two."
Mia sighed. "Even with your new research stipend, and my teaching salary, we'd have to live off instant noodles for the foreseeable future."
Nutmeg wandered in from his morning jog—his fur gleaming with sweat and possibly dew—and helped himself to a banana. "You talkin' 'bout getting a new teammate?"
"Yeah," Mia said, ruffling his head fur. "I'm strong enough now to contract another beast."
Nutmeg grinned and flexed. "Nice! What kind you want? Big scary lizard? Fire-spitting fox? Summon-a-thunderstorm turtle?"
"We don't exactly have the gold for any of those," she said, patting the coin pouch on her belt. It jangled sadly.
"Then we catch one," Nutmeg said simply, peeling the banana with flair.
"Exactly my thought," Hootsworth agreed. "There are a few safe wilderness zones within a day's flight. If we schedule our expeditions for weekends, we can optimize our chances without disrupting your work schedule, Mia."
Mia chewed on her toast and thought. She'd already taken two rare and wonderful beasts under her wing purely by chance. The universe had been generous. Maybe it would be again.
"Alright," she said at last. "We'll try it. Wilderness scouting, weekends only. But no one goes running off chasing shadows, and we don't poke anything that looks like it could eat us in one bite."
Nutmeg gave a thumbs-up with one paw. "Scout's honor."
"Very well," Hootsworth said, puffing his chest with pride. "Shall we begin this weekend?"
Mia nodded. "Let's pack food and basic gear. A few healing potions. And Nut, we're not bringing your entire boulder collection this time."
"They're lucky," Nutmeg pouted.
"They're heavy," she replied.
The next few days passed in a blur. Mia handled her teaching responsibilities with her usual energy—handing out summer reading assignments and worksheets in the form of fun beast trivia quizzes. The children adored them, and more than a few begged for plushies of "Muscle Nutmeg," which made Nut so smug his ears practically floated off his head.
In the afternoons, she accompanied Nutmeg to the lab for more studies. Lira continued to poke and prod at his evolutionary markers, still convinced she was on the verge of publishing the next great beast evolution thesis. Thankfully, she never asked any probing questions about how the evolution occurred. Mia suspected Hootsworth might be subtly distracting her with discussions about mana instability curves and ancient owl symbology.
On Friday night, Mia packed their travel bags with rations, compass stones, a small tent, and a field guide of regional beasts. She even brought along a few empty beast contract scrolls—old, faded things she'd inherited from the academy that were only good for a basic wild catch.
Saturday morning dawned bright and clear. Professor Hootsworth arrived dressed in a tiny leather satchel harness filled with alchemy samples, feathers perfectly preened. Nutmeg, meanwhile, looked like he was about to enter a cage match, wearing his signature headband and chewing on a protein bar like it owed him money.
"Ready?" Mia asked, heart thudding with anticipation.
"Always," Hootsworth replied.
"Let's go bag us a mystery friend," Nutmeg added, cracking his knuckles.
As they rose into the sky on Hootsworth's powerful wings, the city shrank behind them, giving way to green hills, dense woods, and sparkling rivers. Somewhere out there, Mia knew, was her next partner. Another strange, wonderful creature just waiting to join her odd little family.
She didn't know who it would be. She didn't even know what it would look like.
But she had a good feeling.
And her gut feelings? They rarely let her down.