Once all the students had gathered, Ruan Shu stole a quick glance around and did a headcount. Including herself, there were only twelve students in the whole class.
Aside from her, almost everyone else was in their star beast form.
But their star beast forms were all much larger than hers.
Despite their massive size, they still looked adorably round and cute.
However, whenever they walked, the ground seemed to shake a little.
As the class began, the teacher, perhaps understanding her personality, didn’t ask her to stand up and introduce herself. Instead, they briefly introduced her at the front of the class.
It seemed that all eleven of her classmates simultaneously turned their attention to her.
Ruan Shu sat upright, her ears—hidden beneath her hair—turned slightly red as she pursed her lips, trying her best not to look too nervous.
“Alright, let’s start class.”
Thankfully, the teacher quickly redirected everyone’s attention to the lesson, allowing Ruan Shu to breathe a small sigh of relief and focus on listening intently.
Even though she’d already learned the material, she still listened seriously.
Her classmates, however, weren’t nearly as disciplined.
They were at an age where staying still and listening to a lesson was quite the challenge.
And then…
Some of them outright curled up and fell asleep, lying flat on the floor.
For instance, there was one large black-and-white ball in the corner that particularly caught Ruan Shu’s attention.
Yes, it was a panda!
Enormous, yet adorably round like a little rice ball!
Compared to the quiet, massive panda, some others were far less calm.
For example, the terror bird sitting in front of her.
She’d lost count of how many times the teacher had called on it for causing a ruckus.
The teacher seemed used to this behavior, swiftly keeping these rowdy little ones in check.
However, by the latter half of the class, the classroom was in total chaos. Some were gnawing at their desks or scratching them with their claws.
But the desks were clearly made of a special material that resisted their attempts.
Others started munching on snacks in secret, the crunching sounds filling the air.
And there sat Ruan Shu, quietly observing: ………
She couldn’t help but feel a bit out of place in this classroom.
“Everyone, quiet down!”
Yet, if they could obey that easily, they wouldn’t be little troublemakers.
In the end, Ruan Shu watched wide-eyed as the teacher, smiling warmly at her rowdy students, transformed on the spot.
A… a massive dinosaur… and a carnivorous one at that!
Ruan Shu: “!!!”
“Roar!”
With that, the once playful and mischievous “little cuties” instantly fell silent, huddling back to their seats, shivering in fear.
Ruan Shu was shivering too.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt like the teacher’s gaze lingered on her for a bit longer, and… they bared a row of sharp teeth in a grin.
Ruan Shu: … Is… is she going to eat me?
But in reality, the teacher was just smiling at her, admiring how obedient she was. This kid was such a breath of fresh air!
The teacher even wondered if they could ask Marshal Ruan for some parenting tips. How did he manage to raise such a well-behaved child?
Once the students were quiet, the teacher leisurely shifted back into human form, casually fixing their hair and resuming the lesson.
After that, Ruan Shu found it hard to even look directly at the teacher.
The rest of the class went by in a blur, and by the time it ended, she was still a bit dazed.
When she came back to her senses, she realized that she was surrounded by her classmates.
“Roar roar.”
“Chirp chirp~”
“Grrr.”
Ruan Shu, now surrounded: Small, pitiful, and helpless.
“How’s she supposed to understand you all like this?”
It was Dora who stepped in, placing herself between Ruan Shu and the other star-beast classmates, glaring at them.
“You need to transform like me so she can understand.”
The others grumbled, clearly reluctant, but eventually they complied.
But the transformations were… somewhat incomplete. One had ears that didn’t revert, another’s tail was still showing, and one of them hadn’t even fully transformed their face.
It was honestly a bit painful to look at.
But they didn’t seem to mind at all.
“What’s your name? Why do you stay in that weak-looking form all the time?”
In their eyes, the human form was extremely weak, so they didn’t like transforming into it unless necessary.
Only after they got older did they start to appreciate the convenience of the human form.
“Her name is Ruan Shu, and she’s four years old.”
“Dora, we weren’t asking you.”
“Move aside, don’t block her; we’re asking her.”
Dora stood her ground, taller than Ruan Shu, firmly shielding her from the others.
“You’ll scare her like this!”
“No way, we’re all herbivores.”
“Yeah, how could a herbivore scare anyone?”
Dora was about to argue further when she suddenly felt a soft, tiny hand grab hers.
She reflexively gave it a gentle squeeze—aww, it was so cute!
Turning around, Dora met Shushu’s beautiful, glassy eyes.
Dora puffed out her chest confidently, patting it with a loud thump: “Don’t be afraid; I’ll protect you!”
Ruan Shu’s eyes curved into a sweet, obedient smile.
“Mhm, I’m not scared. Thank you, Dora.”
Her soft voice, warm and gentle, seemed to melt everyone’s hearts.
The rowdy classmates, not used to such sweetness, were momentarily entranced, eyes shining as they stared at her.
“Hello, everyone,” Ruan Shu greeted them, her voice a little shaky with nerves, though the kids didn’t notice unless they listened very closely.
“My name is Ruan Shu. I don’t turn into my star beast form because… because it’s even smaller than I am like this.”
She paused, adding slowly, “I’m afraid you might accidentally step on me.”
Her classmates’ eyes went wide. “Smaller than you are now?”
Ruan Shu nodded. “Mhm.”
Immediately, the way they looked at her turned to one of sympathy.
“Are you… are you sick?”
Dora scratched her head, then hurried back to her seat, rummaging through her bag for snacks, which she piled in front of Ruan Shu.
“These are my favorite snacks! Eat more of them, so you won’t get sick and can grow big and strong!”
Ruan Shu blinked, looking at the pile of snacks on the desk, then glanced up at Dora. “Thank you, but I can’t eat so much.”
Dora waved it off. “No problem, you can keep them and eat them whenever you want!”
Inspired by this, the other classmates quickly brought over their own snacks, adding to the pile on her desk.
“Ours are for you too!”
Ruan Shu: …………
Although she was touched and grateful, Ruan Shu truly couldn’t eat that much.
“Dora, what do you like to eat?”
Ruan Shu took the initiative to talk to them.
“Me? I like eating leaves, especially fresh ones—they taste the best! Oh, and bananas and apples…”
As she spoke, Ruan Shu picked out some of the snacks from the pile on her desk and placed them in Dora’s hands.
“And you, Narnia?”
The terror bird classmate responded, “I like lots of different things too…”
As he was talking, he suddenly found his hands filled with snacks as well.
Then Ruan Shu looked eagerly at the other classmates, her delicate face turning slightly pink.
“I… I still don’t know your names.”