Pet System

Garen was walking leisurely through the Magical Beast Mountain Range when he suddenly spotted a massive ancient tree covered in red fruits.

"Phoenix Blood Fruit."

He had read about this fruit in books; legend had it that in ancient times, the blood of the divine beast Scarlet Flame Phoenix dripped onto a fruit tree, causing it to form. It takes a hundred years to blossom, a hundred years to bear fruit, and a hundred years to ripen.

After consuming it, one could strengthen their affinity for fire-type elements, and it possessed excellent healing properties. Furthermore, it tasted delicious, making it a rare and precious treasure.

But just as he approached the Phoenix Blood Fruit tree, this Mutated Golden Sun Eagle suddenly descended from the sky, preparing to ambush him.

Unfortunately, he possessed the system Map Function, so he had discovered the Golden Sun Eagle long before it could get close. Seeing its majestic and handsome appearance, Garen decided to capture it as a mount.

A normal Golden Sun Eagle is an eighth-rank magical beast, but this one had astonishing speed—the fastest magical beast he had ever seen.

Garen immediately transformed into a Tiger-Striped Warrior and cast Extreme Speed on himself.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

As the Golden Sun Eagle approached Garen, it instantly cast an eighth-rank wind-type magic.

"Wind Blade Soaring Dance."

Dozens of giant, two-meter-wide wind blades came from all directions in an irregular pattern.

Garen dodged as best he could, and after avoiding the wind blades aimed at his head, the Golden Sun Eagle was already right in front of him.

With a pair of claws shimmering with a metallic luster, it attempted to snatch Garen directly.

Garen threw a punch, a strike imbued with momentum, which instantly rendered the Golden Sun Eagle unable to move.

"Boom."

The Golden Sun Eagle was sent flying into a nearby mountain by the punch, causing rocks to shatter and dust to billow into the air.

Without waiting for the Golden Sun Eagle to react, Garen leaped onto its back.

The Golden Sun Eagle immediately erupted with flames, fire hot enough to burn an eighth-rank magical beast to death spreading across its body, intending to burn Garen.

Unfortunately, after transforming into a Tiger-Striped Warrior, Garen now possessed late-stage ninth-rank strength, and combined with the Tiger God Armor's superior magical protection, he remained completely unmoved.

As the Golden Sun Eagle flew toward the sky and prepared to attempt other magic, Garen gave it no chance; he dug one tiger claw into the eagle's flesh and slammed the other against its head, preventing it from releasing any other spells.

That led to the scene that occurred earlier.

He opened the system and looked at the pet tab.

Mutated Golden Sun Eagle: Ninth Rank, Wind and Fire Dual Element (927629/1000000 EXP)

Share monster kill EXP: Disabled

Holy crap, pets have experience bars too? Doesn't that mean it can be just like me? At this rate, reaching the Saint Realm shouldn't be a problem at all.

Garen thought to himself.

This Mutated Golden Sun Eagle was only a sliver of experience away from the Saint Realm; it was a true peak ninth-rank magical beast.

"Master, if you could give me some of these fruits, I could recover much faster."

At this moment, Xiao Pa suddenly spoke up.

"Why didn't you eat these fruits before?"

Garen asked, puzzled.

"I've eaten over a dozen of them over the past while, but eating too many at once makes them impossible to digest. The recent battle accelerated my consumption, and now that I'm injured, they are perfect for healing. The healing properties of these fruits are excellent."

Garen had thought these fruits weren't ripe yet, but he hadn't expected the Golden Sun Eagle to have already eaten over a dozen. He flew up to the tree and picked all the remaining fruits, counting forty-nine in total.

After tossing three to the Golden Sun Eagle and keeping one for himself, he put the rest into his storage ring.

Looking at the Phoenix Blood Fruit, which was about the size of an apple, Garen took a bite and immediately felt the fire-type magical energy in his body surge. After finishing it, he discovered his experience had increased by over 300 points—equivalent to the experience of killing a seventh-rank magical beast.

After eating the three fruits, the Golden Sun Eagle's body seemed to undergo a phoenix rebirth; its visible wounds all healed, and it became spirited and full of vitality.

Garen stepped onto the Golden Sun Eagle's back, feeling high-spirited.

After pointing out a direction, the Golden Sun Eagle flew rapidly, going faster and faster.

Just like someone who had just bought a new car, he had to take his newly captured mount out for a spin.

A thousand meters above the ground, from initial excitement to gradual calm, Garen looked at the vast sky above and the expansive forest below. As gusts of wind blew past, feeling the omnipresent wind, Garen entered a peculiar state.

He wasn't meditating, yet he sensed the countless wind elements around him. He tried to mobilize them, and those wind elements acted like joyful sprites, obeying his command.

Suddenly, he had a feeling that even without using wind-type magic, he could fly; it seemed to be his instinct.

Garen left the Golden Sun Eagle's back and hovered in the air, without using any magic or battle qi.

The Golden Sun Eagle stopped and stared blankly at Garen, unsure of what state he was in.

"Whoosh."

The wind elements enveloped Garen, and with just a single thought, he instantly appeared hundreds of meters away.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Like a child, Garen drifted unpredictably in the wind, immersed in the world of wind elements.

Half an hour later, he finally stopped and flew onto the back of the Golden Sun Eagle.

"Xiao Pa, I never expected that my first time riding you would allow me to gain an initial understanding of a Wind-style profound mystery. Haha, you really are my lucky star."

"Master, could it be that you just advanced to the Saint Realm?"

The Golden Sun Eagle asked curiously.

Magical beasts generally found it difficult to comprehend profound mysteries, and since he hadn't sensed any magical fluctuations, he assumed Garen had just entered the Saint Realm.

"No, it was just an initial understanding of a profound mystery. You are at the peak of the ninth rank now; try to sense the profound mysteries when you have time, otherwise, I won't be taking you along in the future."

"Yes, Master."

Having witnessed Garen's speed just moments ago, the Golden Sun Eagle was now completely convinced and submissive to him.

"Right, Xiao Pa, do you know where there are groups of eighth or ninth-rank magical beasts within the Magical Beast Mountain Range?"

"Master, you've asked the right person. When I soar through the sky, I can see the groups of gregarious magical beasts on the ground very clearly. About 300 kilometers to the north, there is a group of eighth-rank Earth Armor Dragons. Another 200-plus kilometers past that is a group of eighth-rank Thunder Lizards. 500 kilometers further is a group of Green-Eyed Lion Mastiffs, and 300-plus kilometers past that is a canyon containing a group of Red Dragons and Green Dragons, and..."

"Alright, alright, stop for a moment. I didn't realize there were so many high-rank magical beast groups. Tell me about the beast groups to our east instead. I need to head home this time and pass through the Yulan Empire, so tell me about the high-rank magical beast groups in that direction."

"Very well. 30 kilometers to the east, there is a group of eighth-rank Skin-Shattering Beasts. 100-plus kilometers past that is a group of ninth-rank Black Dragons, among which there is a Saint Realm Black Dragon King. 200 kilometers further is a group of ninth-rank Sword-Back Dragons, which also has a Saint Realm Sword-Back Dragon King. 100-plus kilometers past that is a group of ninth-rank Silver Dragons, and further on..."

"Fine, that's enough. Let's go, take me to the Skin-Shattering Beasts first."

Garen was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that by taking in a magical beast mount, not only would he comprehend a profound mystery, but he would also gain so much intelligence. If he had searched for the beast groups himself, his Map Function could only display a two-kilometer radius, and he would have missed out on so much experience. This was going to save him both time and effort.

(End of chapter)