Russell rode Unicorn Polly through the dense swamp forest at breakneck speed, so fast that the scenery around them blurred beyond recognition.
Partly, he was venting the boiling excitement of his advancement. Partly, he was using flight to experience his brand-new essence breath.
The name essence breath came from Dragon Breath.
Dragons could breathe, and the Dragon Breath they exhaled possessed immense power. Though essence breath could not compare to Dragon Breath, it was still tremendously powerful.
Most importantly, essence breath could cast essence breath spells—in other words, magic.
Phantom Beasts themselves could cast essence-force spells. After becoming a Contract Phantom Beast Knight, their essence force fused into essence breath, which could likewise cast essence breath spells. It also allowed the contracted knight to gain the ability to cast essence breath spells.
In other words, after advancing to Phantom Beast Knight, a knight became a part-time mage.
However, most magic was innate, fixed magic possessed by Phantom Beasts, usually just one or two spells.
Unicorn Polly had two fixed spells—Wind Walk and Dream Walk.
Some Phantom Beast Knights could develop new magic from this foundation, but most could not.
There's no rush to develop new magic, Polly. Let's try the fixed spells first! Russell thought.
The next moment, Polly's voice echoed in his mind. "All right, Russell."
After advancing to Phantom Beast Knight, he had gained not only essence breath, but also mental communication between knight and Phantom Beast. It was clearer than the mental communication he had with contracted sprites or Amber Bugs, almost like a real conversation.
Of course.
The higher a Phantom Beast's intelligence, the clearer the mental communication.
The closer they were to each other, the clearer it was. The farther apart they were, the fuzzier it became. Beyond a certain range, only a vague sensation