The tiger-like beast looked at Ning with a mocking smile.
"What the hell? I told you to return," Ning said, but the beast acted like it didn't hear him.
"Fighter! Handle your beast," the referee cried out.
"I'm trying to," Ning shouted. "What are you doing? You need to listen to me. Leave, right now."
'No!' a thought came back to Ning through their bond.
"What?" Ning was surprised and confused. Never had he had a beast refuse his orders before. Then, he got angry.
"Do what I say and go away," Ning commanded.
The beast slowly turned its head to look at Ning. 'You dare command me? You think you are safe just because you summoned me?'
Ning could see the hostility in its eyes as the spikes on its back started straightening and getting harder. He looked in the direction the spiker was pointed at and realized that if the beast let it loose, it would attack all the audience.
"Stand down, or I will be forced to—"
Before Ning could finish his words, the beast suddenly dashed toward him to attack him.
Ning took a step back and barely dodged the paws of the beast. The audience gasped in shock when they saw that.
The beast landed next to Ning and tried to strike at him with its spiky tail.
Anger flared in Ning's eyes and he punched the tail without any hesitation. The beast heard a crack and felt its tail break apart as blood dripped from the wounded tail.
It started whimpering like a small beast while the spikes on its back got ready to let loose.
Ning then moved next to the beast and took out a spear and hit the beast in the back, cutting through its entire spikes.
The force was so strong that the beast too skidded away as it went out of the stage.
"Did you think you can disobey me? Do I look like a pushover?" Ning asked with fury clear in his voice.
The beast was spooked. It had never fought a human this strong before. All the strong parts of its body were gone and it would take a long time to regrow the quills it lost today.
So, when it saw Ning walk toward it, it decided to leave immediately rather than take more damage.
A summoning circle appeared below it as it got ready to get unsummoned.
However, Ning wasn't going to let it go just like that. With just a single command to his system, the summoning circle was broken and the beast remained on this side.
The beast looked around with a confused look as it couldn't understand at all why it wasn't back in the forest where it lived.
Just at that time, Ning arrived in front of it and placed his palm on the beast's head. Suddenly, its mind went blank as a wave of power entered its head, overwhelming its consciousness and will.
Supreme Domination.
The beast's mind collapsed as it only recognized Ning as its master now. Finally, it would listen to his commands.
"You thought you could defy me and it wouldn't come back to haunt you, didn't you?" Ning asked. "Well, here's your final command."
"Leave and never get summoned again."
"Yes, master," the beast spoke in its own language and disappeared back to where it had come from.
Ning's anger faded once the beast was gone, and only then did he remember that he was still in the midst of the audience.
"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my beast in check," Ning said as he apologized and walked away.
As soon as he reached the waiting room, Saphandra was already there running toward him.
"What's going on? Are you alright? Did the beast leave?" she asked in a panicked voice.
"Yeah, it's fine. I managed to control him in the end," Ning said.
"Why did the beast even go rogue? Could you not control it?" she asked.
"No, it simply wouldn't listen to anything I had to say," Ning said.
"What did you do? Did you not make a proper bond?" She asked.
"No, i—" Ning stopped as he thought back to the bond he did make.
'I need a beast that is strong both physically and elementally. As long as you come with me, I am willing to give you all my spiritual energy.'
Those were the words of his bond, and nowhere in those words did he tell the beast that they had to be loyal to him.
"Ah, I might have made a mistake in a hurry," Ning said as he finally understood the reason behind the beast's actions.
"You didn't make a proper bond?" she asked.
"I forgot to put the 'loyalty' part of the bond because I was so focused on finding a strong beast that would come with me," Ning said.
"How could you?" Saphandra said. "Why would you make such a simple mistake? Do you know how much it could have cost you? Do you understand the threat that you could have been under if you weren't stronger than the beast?"
"I know," Ning said. "As I said, it was a simple mistake. It won't happen again."
"You need to understand what you did wrong and how badly it could've gone," Saphandra said.
"I understand," Ning said while giving a confused look towards her. "Why are you so mad anyway? Everything was fine in the end, and it won't happen again."
"You need to be careful. You… sigh, never mind. Yes, it was fine. Just make sure to always be careful with the words of your bond," Saphandra said.
"You sound like you've suffered from a wrongly worded bond before," Ning said.
Saphandra shook her head. "Not me," she said.
"Your friend?" Ning asked.
She kept quiet and didn't say anything. "Go get your earnings, I made a bit of a profit thanks to you today," she said.
"Oh, right. Forgot about that," Ning said and walked away.
Saphandra had a conflicted look on her face for a second before she too followed him and walked away.
