“Today, you are going to learn how to fight spirit beasts! Before we start, Private Stevan, please tell us the classification of the spirit beast realm,” Layla told them the next day on the yard.

“On the same rank as the deviation realm is Spirit Animal, followed by Spirit Beast, Spirit Monster, Spirit Behemoth, and Beast King,” Stevan listed.

“There is one more rank beyond Beast King. We call them Beast Monarch, and there are rumors about immortal beasts as well, which are said to be of a higher rank than Beast Monarch,” Layla informed.

“We are going to train on how to fight against Spirit Animals. While Spirit Animals have Qi, they cannot use special abilities. Instead, the Qi gives them increased physical strength and speed. You will fight with your bond for now, but by the end of this month, I expect each of you and your bond to be able to handle a Spirit animal alone!”

“Ma'am, are we going outside the city?” Simon asked nervously. Most people never step out of the wall after the apocalypse, so it was understandable that he would get nervous.

“Unless you want to die, you should not step out of the city before you finish your training,” she sternly said.

“For this training, we will have Karina helping you guys,” her tone changed once she talked about her bond.

Arthur and Simon looked horrified, while the others got interested when Layla mentioned Karina since Arthur and Simon praised Karina over and over the day before.

“Sergeant, is Lady Karina going to bring some spirit beasts for our training?” Stevan asked with a raised hand.

“Huh? Why would she? She is the one you are going to train with,” Layla got confused when Stevan called Karina a Lady.

“Since you called her Lady, you seem to be very excited to train with her, so I will let you go first. Here, catch!” She threw a training sword for Stevan before summoning the white tiger.

Karina materialized behind Layla, towering over the Sergeant, “Here is your Lady Karina. My bond,” she introduced.

Stevan’s eyes grew wide. He looked at Arthur and Simon for confirmation before he finally realized they tricked him.

“Karina will fight you while adjusting her strength to 1st tier Spirit Animal. She won’t use Qi actively, just like Spirit Animals. You don’t need to hold back; none of you can hurt her!” Layla sadistically smiled.

“Serg...“ Stevan was about to ask the sergeant if he would be fine, but the sergeant cut him.

“START!” she announced, and Karina rushed at Stevan, ready to pounce on him.

The boy tried to outrun the incoming threat, but his speed was slower than the beast!

“Raptor, help!” Stevan called his bond for reinforcement while readying his sword to fight.

The eagle bond flew high before diving toward the tiger’s face. Karina opened her maw while looking at the incoming bird, ready to welcome it into her mouth.

Raptor barely managed to abort the suicidal dive, but that caused him to stray from the fight. Karina did not let the chance go and finished the fight right there and then.

The tiger pounced at Stevan, batting his sword aside before pushing him to the ground with its paw.

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“You lasted 30 seconds,” Layla pointed while Karina still had the boy under her feet, pressing on his chest. The tiger playfully licked his face, which horrified Stevan to no end. So much sharp teeth just a few inches away were traumatizing.

“Karina, let the poor boy go.” The sergeant beckoned her bond, and the tiger came to her, asking for a head pat.

“Now, let's talk about what went wrong in this fight. Stevan, what do you think you did wrong?” She asked while patting the bond.

“I panicked,” he said in embarrassment.

“That's an oversimplification! You tried to run from a Spirit Animal! While your body is enhanced by your bond, unless you have higher cultivation or a Martial Technique for it, there is no way for you to outrun a Spirit Animal multiple times your size!” She fumed.

“Then you sent your bond without direction! Unless your bond is very smart, it could not make a plan yet in its current realm! Are you an idiot? You almost got your bond killed if that was a real fight!”

“In that situation, you clearly had a disadvantage in physical attributes, but you had one advantage! You had numbers on your side! If you can’t capitalize on that, then you are a failure!”

“And lastly, why are you afraid? Why do you let your fear take over? Then you lose the fight before it even starts! And this is only a training; I can't imagine what you will do outside the wall if you act like this! I suggest you resign if you can't overcome your fear; you will get your team killed at this rate!” Layla did not hold back and roasted the poor boy.

The following fights got better, but no one could win. Kale and Bumble danced around the giant tiger, trying to find blind spots, but in the end, Kale ran out of stamina before he could land a hit. The tiger pounced at him the moment he slowed down.

Tamara and Tony tried to attack the tiger from different directions. She noticed that the tiger always prioritized going after the cultivator instead of the bond, so they focused on dodging with their footwork while Tony aimed to attack the tiger.

They almost hit it a few times, but the tiger seemed to be able to see behind its back and dodge the attack every time. After a while, it caught its prey after swiping her feet, forcing the girl to jump and create an opening for the tiger to get her.

‘I thought Simon is the weakest among them, but it seems it's a matter of compatibility,’ Arthur thought.

Simon and Little Orange lasted the longest against Karina. With its size, Little Orange, the giant panda, tried to hold the tiger down while Simon attacked with his spear.

Little Orange's physical strength was a bit lower than the apex predator, but it made up for it with its body weight. Simon was not a slouch either; he could block Karina’s paw with his spear, if only briefly.

Even though he only had a fraction of Little Orange’s strength, the spear was a sufficient force multiplier for Simon to stand a chance against Karina in direct confrontation!

Karina was pushed back a few times, and it ended up changing its tactic. Instead of direct confrontation, it went with a hunting method, circling around its prey a few times, looking for an opening, then pouncing at Little Orange's back, mounting it, and biting its neck.

At that point, Layla stopped the fight. Simon panicked for his bond, but it turned out to be okay. Karina only playfully bit the panda without drawing any blood.

On the other hand, Aroon and Athena did not last as long but had a better result, in Arthur's opinion.

‘Martial Techniques are so strong!’ he thought as Aroon's technique allowed him to deliver a few direct hits, while none of them were fatal strikes. Being able to score a clear hit on Karina is a feat in itself in his eyes.

‘Athena is strong as well even without a Martial Technique.’ Arthur looked back at Athena and Selena’s fight against Karina.

Both of them worked in perfect sync, delivering a few hits at Karina with their teamwork. Despite Selena being small, its movement was nimble, and they forced the bigger predator to switch its target multiple times, to create an opening.

“Good job, Private Athena, you did an amazing job using your numerical advantage, and you also commanded your bond with clear direction,” Layla praised her, which was a very rare occurrence. Not even Aroon got such praise.

“Private Arthur, your turn. If you can’t deliver a clean hit, you will be punished!” Layla said seriously.

“What? Why? The others did not get punished!” He couldn't help but protest, which earned him a glare from Stevan, Kale, and Simon.

“You could hit me when we fought, so you should be able to hit Karina. If you can’t hit her, then you are not trying hard enough!” She told him with a frown.

“You mean that bite? How can you consider that a hit!” Arthur did not relent, which earned him a deathly glare from Layla.

“What bite? You mention bite again, and you won't see tomorrow!” Layla got heated in anger and embarrassment, her face turning red. “Karina, bite him for me!” She told the big cat.

‘Fuck! She knows I’m not a spy, and she still bullies me!’ Arthur cursed inside before raising his training sword.