Elder Delia’s home had not changed a bit since Siu last visited, which, of course, wasn't even that long ago. Walking up the mountain, this time he arrived from a different stone path, yet he still ended up at the same grounds. Looking around, examining the stone obelisks as he walked past them, he couldn't help but start wondering if he would have to sit before one of them once again.

  “Marly? Arya?” he said softly, pulling himself out of his imagination and looking around after noticing that neither of them was hanging off his body, but frolicking around the tall grass.

  The flying squirrel immediately jumped up after being called, gliding forward on the wind, grabbing onto his forearm, twitching, her tail for balance. Of course, Arya wasn't going to let her take away his attention, jumping straight onto his head, claiming her usual place a moment later.

  "Don't wander around," Siu continued his walk, telling them seriously, "This is an Elder's domain, and we are her guests. The last thing I would need is you two breaking something or trampling over one of her herbs... I can't afford that."

  "I wouldn't!" Arya protested, "Who eats things that grow out of the ground? Yuck!"

  "I didn't say anything about eating them... I said... trampling." He explained, sighing and rolling his eyes, speaking out loud.

  "I am not a tramp!"

  "Someone is noise already," Elder Delia's voice interrupted them as she walked out of her house, smiling amicably as she surveyed the trio, her eyes mostly staying on the squirrel, now latched onto Siu's arm. "I didn't expect you to be back here,” she said after a pause, putting a finger to her lips, gently rubbing them, her eyes sparkling a little, "Huh. How interesting."

  “I don't know if that is bad or good, Elder Delia,” Siu answered, cupping his hands, “And I don't know if what I brought over… is a problem or not.”

  Hearing that, Arya snorted, holding back a laugh, while Marly looked defeated, squeaking about something, looking up at Siu pleadingly.

  “We will see, but... Come! Do come in,” she said, stepping aside, waving at him, “Before you collect a third... That would indeed be a problem.”

  "Would it be?" Siu asked, a bit shocked, hurrying his steps, because he didn't really mean it that way.

  "Oh yes," Delia nodded seriously, "I'll have to explain it to you, it seems, because apparently your aura is blessed with great attraction when it comes to critters."

  "Hey!" Arya flinched, but Delia simply ignored her indignation for being called a critter, closing the door behind them.

  "You had a rough few days, hm?" The Elder asked, walking them over to her small table, letting them sit, putting her hands on Siu's shoulders, gently massaging them a few times, "Oh my, you had one of a battle!"

  "Y-yes." Siu nodded, feeling weird for being massaged like that, but... it felt incredible.

  "M-master... I... Can't... brea... breasts... breath!" Arya groaned, asking for help, because, indeed, while Delia was examining Siu's body, enveloping him with her aura, the woman's chest landed on the top of his head, crushing the poor fox sitting on it.

  “Well,” Delia continued, letting Siu go and beginning to serve some tea, ignoring Arya and her spinning eyes, gasping for air after the release. "What did you fight? Although the injury is gone, there are some residual marks that are not yours... Those are still within you; it will need a week or so to get expelled with your current cultivation."

  "A Red-eyed Squirrel," Siu answered, taking her words seriously, even if he felt completely fine... Not to mention, after the massage, he could swear he felt a bit of tingling where his wound had been, "Apparently, it was an alpha, whatever that means."

  "It means it was an aberration; it happens when a beast takes in too much energy, too quickly." Elder Delia explained candidly, "It's the same reason you humans don't start cultivating early: it ruins the body. The same is true for us, beasts, but in a different way. No wonder you got injured, good job on surviving!"

  "T-thank you, Elder." Siu bowed a little, feeling his face flushing, "It was thanks to Arya and then Marly here.

  "Teehee!" Arya puffed herself up proudly, no longer looking like a flattened pancake, along with Marly's constant chattering.

  "I see," Delia nodded, mostly listening to Marly, who kept squeaking, recounting all that happened, “Haaah... So, you got into a second mutual contract...”

  “Apparently so.” Siu answered, still a bit unsure, "If you help me properly establish it. I remember the main sequence but..."

  "I know," She raised a hand, "I will, of course, assist with it, but..."

  “But?” he asked, seeing the Elder's expression turn serious, once again lost in her thoughts.

  "But..." Delia studied him for a long moment, finally smiling reassuringly, "Well, before we proceed, you’re going to listen to an explanation I didn't expect to give to an outer disciple. This lesson is usually for advanced courses, and I don't need to explain it this early, but seeing your situation... I will have to bend my own rules.” That caught his attention at once, of course. “You already know,” Delia continued, “what these contracts bring around, but do you know what the dangers that lie within them?”

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  "I think, I do," Siu nodded, recalling her previous lesson, “I’ve felt that with Arya. Because our minds are connected, even if I don't focus on it, I know what you meant when a beast could overwhelm someone. It's a very much... open connection.”

  “Yes, Mutual Contracts are like that. So you understand this, which is good." She smiled again, watching them, “Also, there is no theoretical limit to how many beasts a cultivator can contract. So, imagine how it would feel when you have, let's say... four such creatures contracted to you, all of them with Mutual Contracts! Just ask yourself, how would it feel to have five doors open to your mind and every thought you have?

  "Would it be that much different than just having Arya?" Siu asked, as it was hard to imagine it, as it wasn't anything dangerous... or hard. But then again... Siu knew that was just the now, so he was taking her words to heart.

  “One beast is manageable. Two is… delicate." Delia warned him, seeing he didn't really see the issues yet, "But then you have three, and that is where it becomes crowded. And beyond that...” She shook her head. “Siu, contracting them is not as simple as an addition, it is not like getting one, then two, then three... It's more like getting one, two... four... eight... sixteen. Do you understand me?”

  "I hate math..." Arya tilted her head, tuning out at once, and Siu almost repeated it...

  That was when the sudden thought struck him, revealing the real dangers... Exactly what Elder Delia was trying to warn him about. Yes, at the moment, he could easily separate his own thoughts from Arya's and tell which feeling came from whom; it posed only a quick thought for him. But if what Elder Delia is saying is true... It won't be that easy when one has multiple beasts under such a contract.

  “I'm glad you are getting it,” Delia answered, raising her cup, taking a sip, reading his expression, “Overlapping thoughts, yes?" She asked, watching him nod, "Now, with amplifying all those thoughts by four beasts, imagine they all come to you without filter and order... All it does is that it becomes noise and could easily drown out your own voice.” Reaching out, she tapped his temple lightly, making Siu's thoughts experience a kind of ripple that sharpened the separation between him and Arya for a brief moment. “Every beast brings their own instincts with themselves into a contract. This includes their fears, wants, hungers, or emotional biases. Even when they are loyal, even when they love you, especially if they love you, their desires will echo in your own mind. Mishandle it, and you will end up...”

  "As a slave to them..." Siu’s brow furrowed, remembering her teachings about contracts. “And if someone adds too many… the quicker it may happen.”

  “Yes," She continued, watching his eyes refocus, "Those cultivators lose the distinction between which thoughts are theirs, and which are borrowed. Many times, there is no coming back from that place, Siu.”

  "They go... mad?" He asked, trying to find the right words.

  “You could say that," She hummed, thinking about it. "It starts slowly, though. Some lose sleep, then their usual focus. Then they begin responding to threats that don’t exist, because one of their contracted beasts senses danger where there is none.” She added, glancing at Marly, knowing that her kind was indeed a skittish one. "But it always leads to the same place, when the holder of the contract forgets who they were before the voices.”

  "We wouldn't do anything like that!" Arya went very still, hearing the warnings, and even Marly hugged her own tail, nodding her head, "Not to our Master!"

  "I know," Delia answered them, trying to ease their worries with a bright, kind smile, "It is not about what we want, though; it is about how this works. This is why beast tamers who boast of high numbers don't do it via Mutual Contracts... Or they rarely live long,” She sighed, shaking her head. “Also, this is why many of them release their partners when they have grown powerful."

  “So it’s all about mental strength,” Siu said all of a sudden, crossing his arms, thinking. “It depends on one's own resilience.”

  “Yes, but it also depends on your discipline.” Delia looked pointedly at him, then moved his eyes onto Arya, then at Marly, “And hierarchy. Absolute order. If your mind becomes a crowd, you will be drowned out by it, so in such cases, the connected minds have to have a certain order that all parties agree to.”

  "Master first," Arya said at once, straightening herself, "Then me, then Marly!"

  Of course, the little squirrel squeaked something, apparently agreeing as she was nodding her head, making Elder Delia raise an eyebrow, glancing at them one more time, lost in thought.

  "How interesting..." She leaned back, scratching her chin, “The last time I had seen such fluent cooperation was when Grand Elder Yan took up her current mantle.”

  "Does the Grand Elder have a lot of contracts?" Siu asked, curious, making Delia nod, tilting her head.

  "I don't know the actual numbers, but when she became an Elder, she already had four mutually contracted beasts. For comparison, most Elders tap out at three, which is already rare... And when I say that, those include every contract, not only mutual ones! Thane, for example, has only two companions, and he never tried to contract a third. And neither of his beasts is mutually contracted... Do you understand it now?"

  "Oh..." Siu said simply, falling into thought, blinking rapidly, trying to put himself into the right shoes, but it was hard... suddenly, he didn't know what size would fit him.

  "Apparently, you have a pull around you; otherwise, you wouldn't have come back with another one."

  "Elder," He shrugged, smiling to himself, "The only pull I have is getting impaled by beasts. This one did it just like the Ironclaw did when I saved Arya. I don't think I want to improve that skill ever again!"

  "Most certainly not." Delia nodded, laughing to herself, covering her mouth while her body jiggled violently, "So... Are you ready for your second companion?"

  "I am." He answered with no hesitation, making Delia nod, appreciating the swiftness of his answer; otherwise, she may not have allowed it. Doubt was the first crack in someone's mental fortitude... Always.

  The ritual itself went even more smoothly than the first, and this time she didn't bring her to any stone statues, taking up the role of witness... Marly trembled as the connection formed, her instincts fluttering wildly at first, but this time, Arya was also there, guiding the flow with her Master, forming it with much more ease. When it was done, Siu could identify Marly's thoughts almost at once, as they were much lighter, faster than Arya's, coming along with almost a constant undercurrent of hunger... Huh.

  "Master!" Marly's voice echoed happily as the contract was finalized, watching her hold onto his shoulders. "You can finally hear me properly!"

  "It seems so." Siu chuckled, reaching out and rubbing her head.

  "Good, good! More! Rub more!"

  "Whoa, whoa!" Arya stepped in, well, not literally, as she was just looking down at them from his head, "Don't hog everything!"

  "I'm not." Marly answered, looking up at her, "Um, um... When will we have breakfast?"

  "Yeah! Breakfast!" Arya agreed, making Siu twitch his mouth...

  That part... he didn't think about. Arya was already a meat-crazed ball of hunger... Then Marly... Oh. With the sudden appetite that also began spreading within him, he suddenly wasn't as sure that this was indeed a good idea...

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