Mutant Six-Eyed Crow, Baha

The moment the rune touched the chick's body, it trembled slightly but did not resist.

It instinctively sensed the warmth and protective intent, utterly free of malice, coming from Luo Lin's mind.

The contract rune smoothly entered its body.

In an instant, a spiritual connection far clearer and countless times closer than before formed between Luo Lin and the chick.

Not only could he more clearly sense the chick's weakness and exhaustion, but he could also feel its longing for warmth and its newborn confusion and curiosity.

At the same time, a faint stream of energy feedback carrying the attributes of darkness and insight flowed through the connection into Luo Lin's sea of consciousness.

Though extremely slight, it refreshed his mind, and even his senses seemed to sharpen a little.

This was the feedback brought by a contracted magical pet!

It had worked. The equal contract had been completed!

An indescribable joy and a weighty sense of responsibility surged within Luo Lin.

He carefully extended a finger and gently stroked the chick's damp down, sending through their spiritual connection:

"Welcome... little one."

The chick seemed to sense his feelings. It lightly rubbed its beak against his finger, sending back emotions of dependence and reassurance.

In the days that followed, Luo Lin's life gained another focus.

Caring for this newborn Mutant Six-Eyed Crow chick.

Luo Lin named it Baha. There was no particular reason; the name simply rolled off the tongue.

Baha was currently extremely weak and required careful care.

Luo Lin carefully cleaned its body with warm water and used a soft brush to groom its gradually drying, fluffing down.

He prepared a mild potion rich in life energy, suitable for a chick's absorption and digestion, and fed it to Baha one drop at a time.

Every day, Luo Lin spent a great deal of time communicating with Baha through their spiritual connection, stabilizing the contract and nourishing its fragile origin with his own gentle spiritual power.

Baha grew far more slowly than ordinary birds, clearly due to its mutation and long period of dormancy.

It was not until half a month later that it could barely stand and make faint chirping sounds.

Its eyes did not slowly open their first pair until a month had passed.

They were as pure as obsidian, yet seemed capable of piercing through mist.

After opening its first pair of eyes, Baha seemed to have opened another window through which to perceive the world.

Those obsidian eyes could not only see physical forms, but also vaguely catch the flow of energy and the strength of living auras.

Even with its other two pairs of eye slits still tightly closed, its insight into its surroundings already far surpassed that of ordinary creatures.

Luo Lin quickly discovered Baha's talent.

Whenever he practiced spells inside the stone house, Baha would quietly stay nearby, tilting its little head and watching the energy light dancing at his fingertips with those pure black eyes.

Through their spiritual connection, Luo Lin could vaguely sense the information Baha conveyed.

Where the energy flow was not smooth enough, and which node structures seemed capable of becoming more stable.

This unique perspective from an "observer" provided unexpected references for optimizing his spell models.

Luo Lin began deliberately making use of this ability.

When drawing simple wizard arrays, he would have Baha "watch" from the side.

Through their connection, he could sense whether the array's energy flow was smooth and harmonious.

When processing materials with complex energy properties, he would also refer to Baha's vague feedback regarding the stability of the energy within them.

Though this cooperation was still in its exploratory stage, it had already shown enormous potential.

Baha's body still grew slowly, but its mind became increasingly active.

It was no longer satisfied with the mild potions Luo Lin prepared, conveying through their spiritual connection a craving for food with "more energy."

Luo Lin tried mincing the flesh of some low-level magical creatures into an extremely fine paste, mixing it with energy-rich plant juice, and feeding it to Baha.

Baha showed great interest in it. After eating, its spirit was noticeably invigorated, and the body beneath its down seemed to become a little sturdier.

A month later, under Luo Lin's continued spiritual nourishment and plentiful energy supply, Baha's second pair of eye slits finally slowly opened.

This pair of eyes was a muted silver. Whenever it focused on a spot, Luo Lin could feel a faint sense of "seeing through" things through their connection, as though it could pierce simple visual disguises or energy concealment.

Luo Lin tested it and found that Baha could indeed more easily spot insects camouflaged with their surroundings. It could even detect the subtle energy produced by the most basic visual concealment spell that Luo Lin deliberately maintained.

The opening of those silver eyes seemed to further stimulate Baha's growth.

Its body had visibly grown larger. Its once sparse down was gradually replaced by glossy black feathers, healthy in their sheen. Only the roots of its wings and the tips of its tail feathers retained faint gray markings.

Baha's cries also changed from its initial weak chirps to become somewhat clearer, carrying a unique rhythm.

It began trying to flap its wings.

At first, it could only flutter a few times inside the wooden box lined with soft cloth, tumbling about in complete disarray.

Luo Lin did not interfere. He merely sent encouragement through their connection and used gentle energy to soothe its body whenever it grew tired.

A few days later, Baha could already wobble out of the wooden box and glide at low altitude for short distances within the stone house.

It seemed to possess an innate understanding of flight. Its sense of balance improved steadily, and the number of its clumsy tumbles rapidly decreased.

Luo Lin began taking Baha along on patrol missions with lower risks.

He placed Baha on a specially made soft pad on his shoulder, or had it perch on a nearby branch.

The little fellow quickly adapted to this rhythm.

It would vigilantly scan its surroundings with its two open pairs of eyes. Whenever it discovered anything unusual or a hidden living aura, it would warn Luo Lin through their connection.

During one routine patrol, Baha suddenly pecked Luo Lin's ear, while an urgent warning sensation came through their connection.

Luo Lin immediately signaled for the team to stop and warily looked toward the direction Baha indicated.

Moments later, a Deadleaf Venom Lizard, so well camouflaged that it had nearly blended into its surroundings, slowly crawled out from a pile of fallen leaves. Without the advance warning, such a close encounter could very likely have caused casualties.

The team members all gained a new respect for Luo Lin's newly acquired raven companion.

On another occasion, Baha discovered several rather rare Shadow Mushrooms growing within a rock crevice concealed by a faint energy field.

These mushrooms were important materials for preparing many advanced concealment and shadow-type potions.

This discovery brought Luo Lin considerable extra gains.

Baha's presence not only improved Luo Lin's safety and rewards during missions, but also gave him new thoughts regarding the use of his own abilities.

He began trying to combine Baha's insight feedback with his own spells.

For example, when casting Acid Spray, he would use Baha's perception of the target's energy weaknesses to strike with greater precision.

When maintaining Weak Force-Field Armor, he would fine-tune the armor's structure according to Baha's observations of energy flow, increasing its defensive efficiency.

This mode of fighting in coordination with his magical pet, mutually enhancing one another, steadily improved Luo Lin's overall strength without him even realizing it.

Time passed, and Luo Lin's term at Gray Tower Outpost entered its fifth year.

The brutal tempering of the Black Forest and the nourishment of relic knowledge, like two intertwined forces, continuously honed his mind and will.

Late one night, the stone house was completely silent.

The oil lamp had long since gone out, and only the distant sounds drifting in from outside occasionally broke the stillness.

Luo Lin sat cross-legged on the stone bed, carrying out his routine deep meditation.

Within his sea of consciousness, liquid spiritual power continuously stirred up ripples.

The perfect Basic Meditation Method operated at its limit, guiding that vast spiritual power along mysterious paths. With each cycle, the liquid spiritual power grew a little purer, and the boundary between it and mana began to blur.

Who knew how long had passed? When his meditation reached a certain critical point, an intensely swollen, bursting sensation suddenly arose from the most condensed core at the center of his sea of consciousness.

It was as if some invisible barrier had been filled to its limit and could hold no more.

Luo Lin abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam seeming to flash through the depths of his pupils.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, which condensed into a trail of white mist in the frigid air and lingered for a long while.

With a thought, a pale blue panel silently appeared.

[Host: Luo Lin]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Healthy (Mentally Refreshed)]

[Level: Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice (Progress 100%)]

[Attributes:

Constitution: 3.5

Spirit: 10

Mana: 100/100]

[Knowledge Mastered:

Basic Meditation Method (Perfect 100%)

Basic Rune Identification (Mastery 25%)

Basic Magical Botany (Mastery 80%)

Basic Potion Material Processing (Master 90%)

Analysis of Common Cantrip Model Structures (Mastery 70%)

Fundamental Configuration Theory of Elemental Particles (Mastery 55%)

Basic Wizard Array Analysis (Mastery 40%)

Ancient Rune Textual Research (Proficient 60%)

Magical Pet Contract and Cultivation (Proficient 75%)]

[Spells: Mage Hand (Mastery 80%), Acid Spray (Mastery 50%), Weak Force-Field Armor (Mastery 65%), Literacy (Mastery 10%), Breeze Dust-Cleansing (Proficient 85%), Acid Corrosion Orb (Beginner 95%)]

[Magical Pet: Mutant Six-Eyed Crow · Baha (Mid-Growth Stage)]

[Specialty: Efficient Scholar (Passive)]