5:04 a.m.
Whistle! Whistles!
Fan Yumei whistled for her three beasts using two short bursts. All three gathered around her, ready for any command.
Fan Yumei glanced at the dispirited four and their wandering beasts, shaking her head.
"CLAP!"
She clapped her hands loudly, the sound breaking through the quiet surroundings. Everyone — including Fan Yumei's beasts — jumped from surprise and fright.
"Why is she… so… so… you know, like this?" Zhou Qian waved his hand around wildly, trying to find the right words to describe the current Fan Yumei.
"The term you're looking for is maniac, I think," Kai Shi muttered, dragging his feet under the strain of the weights.
"I want food. I wish I had dumplings… Oh, Peking duck, and mapo tofu with pickled veggies… mmm, I'm hungry," Jin Minhe whined, squatting by a tree and drawing circles in the dirt with a stick. His panda was no different — practically comatose.
"We are now heading to our actual location of practice," Fan Yumei announced, doing light stretches, loosening her muscles as Mystic, Lufei, and Maxius followed her lead.
"Though you might want to warm up, drink some water, and eat something — the place we're going is deeper into the Wild Zone. It only has non-star beasts running around," she continued, starting to jog in place. Her three beasts immediately formed up in sync.
"Why did I agree to come last night?" Zhou Qian whimpered, starting warm-ups with his beast.
Min Zhao nodded in agreement while feeding her puppies qi energy beast treats. "I know. But her mom's food — plus her father's no-nonsense attitude? That was a crucial blow."
Jin Minhe, now standing on a rock and eating an energy bar, spoke with his cheeks full: "Weh gof plafed sumple aff thaf."
("We got played, simple as that.")
Everyone finished warming up, and Fan Yumei took the lead, walking deeper into a thicket of trees before reaching a steep slope.
"Everyone watch your step, pace yourselves, and weapons out," Fan Yumei ordered. "We're hiking this slope to our destination, which is just ahead. I want you — and your beasts — to hold your standard formation handling forms. Keep your steps steady and don't slide."
She paused in front of the slope and gave them one last warning.
"Ugh…" they all groaned collectively, following her up. They kept their footing, drew their weapons, paced their breathing, and worked on movement and forms as they climbed.
Halfway up, Min Zhao was practicing her forms when she noticed a pair of two-star butterflies hovering over a wildflower bush. She stepped toward them, enchanted — only to trip over a thicket sticking out from the trail.
Before she could fall, Kai Shi caught her.
"Be careful. You have to watch your steps," he scolded gently as he steadied her.
"Watch yourself," she muttered as she regained her footing and rushed ahead to join the others — doing her best to hide the redness blooming at the tips of her ears.
They soon arrived at a natural cul-de-sac — a forested circle enclosed by towering trees and jagged rocks, midway between a grassy meadow and a shaded grove. A narrow river sliced through the middle. This place was darker, with cliffs and thick canopy blocking the early sunlight.
Fan Yumei called out to Mystic.
"Hey, big girl — we need some mist. I want it thick and low. Cover the whole terrain."
Mystic dove low, spreading mist from her blowhole in slow, tide-like waves. The fog rolled across the training grounds until it blanketed everything.
"Gather up!" Fan Yumei shouted, waiting for them to form a circle.
"We're doing three-minute snap battles. We'll run team ops — one versus two, one versus three, one versus four, and so on. Beasts and humans will participate in rotation."
She prepped her OmniBand to track time and set up her phone nearby to record each match for later review.
First match: Min Zhao, Jin Minhe, and Fan Yumei.
Min Zhao and Jin Minhe exchanged a look — silent communication — and attacked together: one high, one low. They closed in from both sides. Fan Yumei readied her stance. They exchanged blows for a while until Min Zhao was pushed back. Fan Yumei pivoted to follow up—
—only to be tapped on the shoulder from behind.
Next match: Zhou Qian, Panda 🐼, and Maxius.
Zhou attacked first, clashing against Maxius's wind blades. But before he could strike Panda, Jin Minhe's panda suddenly grew, lit on fire, and rolled into a flaming dumpling — steamrolling Zhou and Maxius both before flopping down on top of them like a steaming boulder.
"…That was his own teammate," Kai Shi gasped, jumping in fright.
"Oooh no. Poor Maxius. Not so poor Zhou Qian," Min Zhao gasped, covering her mouth.
"Hahahahaha! What a silly panda! Doesn't it know the bird's on its side?" Min Hao laughed. "Oww — why'd you hit me?" he yelped after Kai Shi elbowed him and nodded at Fan Yumei's direction.
Reading the room, Kai Shi shut up.
"Why did it do that?" Everyone turned to Jin Minhe.
He was staring up at the morning sky, hands in prayer position.
"Panda… it's been great. I wish you peace in the afterlife. I promise to eat your snacks and never waste a crumb."
Fan Yumei's beastmaster aura erupted — sudden, cold, and heavy.
She loomed over the panda. "Get. Up. Now." Her tone was flat, annoyed.
The panda shrank into a mini backpack-size version of itself in a blink — trembling — and accidentally tinkled a little on Zhou Qian.
"Ooooohhh…" Everyone flinched.
The battles continued all the way until the final rotation:
Everyone vs. Mystic.
She dominated.
Mocked. Ducked. Dazzled. Controlled the entire field with laughter in her thundercloud eyes.
"Get back here, you big fluffy whale cloud!" Kai Shi and Zhou Qian shouted, chasing after her.
Mystic summoned a cloud wall. The two ran straight into it and bounced off hard, landing on their butts with a thud.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Fan Yumei, Min Zhao, and Jin Minhe howled with laughter from the sideline.
Mystic, of course, looked smug.
Around 6 a.m., they wrapped up, boarded Mystic, and left the Wild Zone. She dropped them off in front of the dorms.
"All right. I'll see you guys later," Fan Yumei said as they hopped down one by one. "I've got things to do before class. Review your battles. Mark what you need to work on. Rest. Eat something."
"Bye!" Kai Shi was the first to bolt, running off without looking back.
"See ya." Min Zhao waved and dragged herself toward her dorm.
"Later." Zhou Qian took off in the same direction as Kai Shi.
"…Am I really that scary?" Fan Yumei wondered out loud.
She turned—and saw an outstretched hand.
"Give me food."
Jin Minhe stood there, cheeks puffed, flushed pink from the morning drills.
Fan Yumei sighed fondly, patted his head, handed him a snack pack, and waved once.
Then she ripped a teleport scroll, gave Mystic a gentle pat—
And flew off toward Denmark City (Outer Sector Theta-4) to see Master Sun.