After a minute passed.
The mother's voice was a few degrees louder than normal, though her expression remained calm. "I'm going to the restroom."
The staff member said, "Go straight ahead, turn left at the end, then turn right and you'll see it."
The mother nodded and lifted her leg, walking toward the right.
"Ma'am, it's to the left," the staff member reminded her.
The mother's back stiffened for a moment, then she turned left as if nothing had happened.
This left Qiao Sang feeling both amused and helpless. She forced herself to suppress the upward curve of her lips.
Mom, your strong, independent woman persona just collapsed.
She turned her head back toward the Firefang Dogs, refocusing her attention on them.
Qiao Sang noticed that Firefang Dogs were lively and brimming with energy—there wasn't a single one quietly staying still.
There really was a reason newbie beast tamers chose Little Chubby Dove and the like as their first pet beasts…
She couldn't help but ask, "Is there a Firefang Dog with a calmer personality?"
The staff member replied tactfully, "Actually, our base has many other types of pet beasts as well."
Qiao Sang instantly understood.
After all, her soul was that of an adult. Even without beast-taming experience, she didn't believe she'd be as helpless as a fifteen-year-old when dealing with a temperamental pet beast.
Since that was the case, she might as well ignore temperament and choose a Firefang Dog she felt drawn to.
"Can I take a look at that one?"
She had noticed that particular Firefang Dog repeatedly ramming itself into a tree—not recklessly, but after deliberately gathering strength each time.
She felt its target wasn't the tree, but itself.
After all, who would foolishly smash into a tree without a purpose?
"Of course," the staff member replied.
"Duu—!"
She lifted the metal whistle hanging from her chest, placed it to her lips, and blew out a piercing sound.
All the Firefang Dogs immediately stopped what they were doing, turning their gazes toward her and ceasing their destruction.
A few of them tilted their heads.
"Ya?"
Is it mealtime?
With the flames no longer obstructing her, the staff member entered the Firefang Dog enclosure and picked up the chosen one.
"Ya?"
The Firefang Dog blinked its confused eyes, its flame-like wind-catching ears twitching slightly.
It was placed in front of Qiao Sang.
Firefang Dogs were small canine-type pet beasts, with blazing red fur streaked by several black stripes, and a tuft of orange hair atop their heads.
The one before her stood about sixty centimeters tall, noticeably smaller than the others. There was a fresh wound on its forehead from the earlier collisions. Its black pupils were moist as it looked at her, giving off an irresistible urge to pet it.
Unlike the other Firefang Dogs, it didn't seem irritable—rather, it looked a bit pitiful.
In Qiao Sang's mind, an entire tragic backstory automatically formed: a weak Firefang Dog bullied by others, having its food stolen, growing malnourished, and finally training desperately on its own.
That tree撞 earlier must have been practice for some powerful move.
Something like Flame Charge, perhaps.
The staff member introduced, "This is the youngest Firefang Dog we currently have here. It was born less than one month ago."
So it wasn't weak—it was just young…
But young was good. Many beast tamers preferred raising pet beasts from the egg stage, since it made forming bonds and tacit understanding much easier.
Qiao Sang had also briefly considered buying a juvenile beast egg, but quickly dismissed the idea.
She still had to attend school. Bringing an egg with her would be eye-catching and unsafe.
Leaving it at home wasn't reassuring either—her mother had to work, and there'd be no one to look after it.
Qiao Sang crouched down and reached out to stroke the Firefang Dog's head.
The Firefang Dog narrowed its eyes in comfort, its red tail swaying unconsciously.
It looked quite obedient.
Feeling the soft fur beneath her hand, Qiao Sang grew even more satisfied.
She looked straight into the Firefang Dog's eyes and smiled. "Are you willing to come with me?"
The staff member's expression turned a bit strange.
This Firefang Dog didn't actually have a good temper. Relying on its young age, it was reckless and constantly picking fights with other Firefang Dogs.
The older ones, seeing that it had only just been born, couldn't even use Ember, and didn't yet have sharp claws, found fighting it painless and harmless, so they let it mess around.
Sometimes they even played along, pretending to be defeated. The little one thought it was unbeatable and grew more and more arrogant.
As a professional receptionist, she had a good eye for customers' needs.
This girl was clearly looking for a calm-tempered Firefang Dog.
Should she warn her…?
But there were no truly mild-mannered Firefang Dogs in this base.
She thought about the commission from selling a Firefang Dog, then about her son's school-district apartment.
In the end, she said nothing.
Go?
The Firefang Dog naturally understood what that meant.
Go or not?
Of course it would go. It had no rivals left here, and this human's hands felt really comfortable…
It seemed like time to head out and find new opponents!
"Ya!"
The Firefang Dog nodded solemnly and extended its chubby paw.
Qiao Sang was briefly stunned, then reached out and grasped it.
This was far smoother than she had imagined…
Just like that, one human and one dog reached an agreement.
…
The contract between humans and extraordinary creatures was established through the power of the Beast Codex.
The Beast Codex acted as a medium, tightly linking the two. Generally speaking, a successful contract required mutual consent.
However, it was also possible to forcibly form a contract after completely defeating an extraordinary creature while it was off guard.
That method carried many hidden dangers. Without sufficient intimacy, a pet beast was likely to disobey, and only high-level beast tamers dared to use it.
As long as a beast tamer's brain domain was developed enough, and their Beast Codex strong enough, even backlash wouldn't allow the pet beast to break the contract.
At this moment, Qiao Sang was connecting her consciousness to her brain domain.
Inside it, her Beast Codex lay quietly without movement. Despite its name, it was ultra-thin—like an envelope—with only a single blank page inside.
From books, Qiao Sang knew that when the Beast Codex first awakened, it was white, containing only one contract space.
Once the brain domain reached 10% development, the Beast Codex would awaken again, turning gray, and the number of contract spaces would increase to two.
Following the activation gesture she remembered, Qiao Sang formed a seal in front of her.
Soon, the Beast Codex activated within her brain domain, slowly flipping open to its only page.
A faint white glow gathered from all directions above the Firefang Dog's head, gradually forming a small circular star array.
In fact, there was a simple way to identify a beast tamer's rank.
Whether contracting or summoning, one only needed to look at the color of the light appearing on the pet beast.
Just like the Beast Codex—whatever color it was, the star array summoned would be the same.
Of course, this was only a reference. Even if the Beast Codex awakened again, without a pet beast of corresponding strength, one still couldn't pass the Beast Tamer Alliance's rank assessment.
As the star array's light descended over the Firefang Dog's head, it curiously looked up at it.
There was no resistance at all.