It all began with the project Ash had applied for that day.
At the time, Ash wrote up a research proposal, planning to study the breeding of polluted creatures.
Theus hadn't thought much of it. He only assumed she was upset after raising the wolf to death and was preparing to go... raise other pets and cause trouble.
As long as she didn't catch a person or a Banshee to keep as a pet, he was fine with whatever made her happy. Besides, this was the first research application Ash had submitted. To encourage her, Theus approved it without even reading it.
So when Ash told him a few months later that she had achieved results—and enormous results at that—Theus was utterly stunned.
As it turned out, he had been stunned too soon.
Theus immediately went to Ash's residence, where a huge black wolf pounced on him and thoroughly washed his face with its tongue.
Ash grabbed the coyote by the scruff of its neck, lifted it up, and casually tossed it aside before leading Theus inside.
"Th-this wolf is still alive?"
"Mm."
"Didn't you go a month without feeding it?"
"Wolves don't need feeding."
Theus scratched his head in confusion. "Ash, listen to me. Every pet needs to be fed, even that one—"
He pointed at the black wolf, then suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
That wolf had just knocked him over.
Theus wasn't a Transcendent, and the Symbiotic Pact hadn't enhanced his strength or physique. Still, he was an adult human male.
Wolves weren't particularly large animals, and coyotes were even smaller among them. A thin coyote could weigh about as much as a house cat.
For it to knock him down so smoothly, and with nothing more than playful force, this wolf...
For the first time,