Fey Horse

Anse felt a jolt in his heart, filled with pleasant surprise.

"A rare wonder!"

Land didn't even have a mount of his own, yet he had gifted him a magic item capable of contracting a Planar Mount. He was truly thoughtful and generous—a total sweetheart.

"Wait, his own mount didn't die, did it?" Anse suddenly considered this possibility.

Following a paladin was indeed dangerous; perhaps his mount had died more than once. Extraplanar beings might be able to sense the traces of a soul contract, and it was possible they had already "blacklisted" him.

A Planar Mount was very similar to the second-circle paladin spell Find Steed, though Find Steed was compulsory, and the summoned creature was more like a specific magical entity whose strength was tied to the spell's circle.

Clutching the Holy Symbol, Anse couldn't wait a second longer. He stood up and walked behind the trees to avoid being seen by the refugees.

Brat and the others didn't know what he was doing, so they stayed to the side to keep watch.

Anse held the Holy Symbol against his chest, silently praying not to summon any strange or bizarre species, before pouring his innate magic into it to activate it.

The next moment, he felt his consciousness pulled into the Holy Symbol, and hazy planes appeared within his perception.

Dreamy, despairing, chaotic, wild, joyful, vibrant, warm, benevolent, malicious, insane...

Anse knew a thing or two about planar lore; the two planes closest to him were likely the Feywild and the Shadowfell, both located within the Material Plane.

"It seems I can't choose blindly. The evil-aligned ones might cause trouble, and the good-aligned ones might be too restrictive..."

He pondered for a moment and settled on the Feywild.

Following his intent, an invisible ripple quietly reached into the other plane, using the Holy Symbol as a medium.

He didn't fully understand the process, so he could only wait patiently.

About a few minutes later, a naive consciousness gently touched his mind through the Holy Symbol, carrying a sense of curiosity and probing.

Anse immediately learned its identity: a Strange Horse. It seemed the Holy Symbol only sent requests to species that met the criteria of a "mount."

After a while, a few more consciousnesses responded to the summons—deer, sheep—but their strength was mediocre, and they couldn't fly.

"In the animal kingdom, strength is king. Perhaps those powerful beings don't think much of me," he sighed inwardly.

The spell's effect was about to end, and Anse had to make a choice soon. Of course, he could also give up and try again tomorrow.

After a moment of thought, he decided not to wait any longer. Trusting his intuition, he chose the Strange Horse that felt more compatible with him and activated the Holy Symbol to establish a Magic Contract.

Threads of magic intertwined, forming a complex magical pattern that branded itself onto both their minds, binding them closely together.

"Come!" Anse summoned softly.

A few seconds later, a black steed emerged from the void without warning, galloping around the woodland twice as if frolicking.

Then, it trotted up to Anse, lowered its head, and locked its large, blue-black eyes with his.

"Hello, I'm Anse."

This was telepathy, ignoring language and race; they could communicate with a mere thought, with a maximum range of about two kilometers.

He stroked the horse's face. It felt tough and cool to the touch—not hair, but incredibly fine scales.

"Do you have a Dragon Bloodline?" he asked, surprised.

The black horse shook its head, sending a simple-minded telepathic wave: "Born this way."

"What is your name?"

The black horse tilted its head, thinking for a long time: "Noronos?"

"Haha, then I'll call you Noronos from now on." Anse felt its intelligence was a bit lacking, but for a horse, that wasn't the most important thing.

He circled Noronos and found it was excessively tall, with a shoulder height of nearly two meters and a head height of two and a half meters. Its ears were long and pointed, and its body was covered in black scales that were hard to see with the naked eye, shimmering with a faint, ghostly blue under the sunlight.

A row of thick, sword-like neck plates grew along its neck, which could fan out to protect its body.

There was a blunt protrusion on its forehead, like a ramming horn, only a few centimeters long but as hard as iron.

Its tail was slender, with a flat, conical tip that looked quite formidable.

At this moment, the dice turned gently, and Noronos's stats popped up.

[Name: Noronos]

"Race": Fey (Large)

"Level": 0

"Experience": 0

"Health": 35

"Alignment": Chaotic Neutral

[Strength: 18]

[Agility: 14]

[Constitution: 16]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Perception: 11]

[Charisma: 13]

"Life Link": When the master or the mount recovers health, the other party also recovers the same amount of health. Life Link breaks if the distance exceeds two meters.

[Fey Ancestry]: Noronos cannot be put to sleep by magical effects and has an advantage against charm or psychic spells.

"Mind Strike": Noronos's attacks deal an additional 2+1d8 (1-8) psychic damage.

"Fey Step": A Spell-like Ability. Once per day, Noronos can teleport himself and his master to any location within 120 feet (≥36 meters).

Unlike in the past, Noronos's Character Sheet was quite detailed.

Perhaps it has to do with the soul contract, Anse speculated.

He stroked Noronos's ram-like horn and said in surprise, "You're actually a Fey?"

He knew of Fey Dragons, but this was his first time seeing a Fey Horse. It looked strange, yet it was truly magnificent and imposing.

Fey Horses were Fey, and Fey Dragons were dragons; the creatures of this world were truly wondrous.

Noronos's stats were quite good. Aside from his intelligence being underwhelming and his perception being average, his other attributes were not low at all.

His traits and skills were also quite practical. Mind Strike was even more powerful than Anse's Sorcerous Burst, though its drawback was that it only worked in melee.

Fey Step could be called a divine skill for survival; even if one accidentally fell into an abyss, there would be a chance to teleport out.

Overall, Noronos's combat power was comparable to that of a novice professional.

Although he hadn't contracted the flying mount he had dreamed of, Anse was still very satisfied, circling around Noronos to touch and examine him.

Noronos thought Anse was playing a game with him and kicked his hooves back and forth in excitement.

Brat and Finn, standing to the side, were already dumbfounded.

Brat took two steps forward: "This is..."

"His name is Noronos, from the Feywild. He's my mount, hehe..." Anse's smile had not faded.

Seeing the two approach, Noronos snorted and pawed the ground with his hooves, showing some resistance.

Anse hurriedly soothed him: "They are my teammates. This is Brat, and this is Finn."

The two looked on with envy. Who could understand the value of having a mount in the wilderness, let alone a Fey Horse?

Brat exclaimed in wonder: "He's so tall, and truly beautiful."

"Impressive!" Finn said concisely.

Noronos could understand Common, so he tilted his head slightly, his gaze softening toward the two.

"Let's go for a run."

Anse waved at Brat and Finn, climbed onto Noronos's back, and carefully gripped his neck armor. With a thought, Noronos began to move, picking up speed.

Anse had never ridden a horse before, and without a saddle, he clamped his legs tightly and lay half-prone on the horse's back, trembling, his Somatic posture far from graceful.

Fortunately, the man and the horse were in tune, and with his decent balance and coordination, he slowly began to experience the joy of riding.

Noronos was very tall, providing a wide field of vision from above. As his body rose and fell with the horse's gait and the wind brushed against his face, it gave him the feeling of dancing freely and flying at a low altitude.

After riding for over half an hour, he returned to the clearing.

Brat approached, and this time he wasn't met with hostility from Noronos, though the horse still wouldn't allow him to touch him.

"Ah, why doesn't he like me either?" He felt both envious and dejected.

Anse tied up their backpacks and placed them on Noronos's back, comforting him: "He's just not familiar with you yet..."

"Alright."

The group set off again, but this time they were traveling light and felt much more relaxed.

Noronos was strong and sturdy; even while carrying Anse and over a hundred kilograms of luggage, his steps remained light and steady.