"That's enough," I said, or rather, roared.
The sound rumbled through the air, but surprisingly, the creature in front of me understood and stopped in its tracks, staring up at me.
The bird stood over five metres long, its wings stretching twice that in span. Feathers of deep brown shimmered under the light, while its beak gleamed white like polished bone.
It was none other than the eagle monster I'd fought the other day.
Who would've thought he'd end up following me?
Yes, he's following my orders now. Though, to be honest, it's not like we can actually communicate properly. I tried using Thought Communication, but he doesn't seem capable of responding, at least not in words. Sometimes he chirps back, sometimes he doesn't. I have no idea what those sounds mean, but… well, it's something.
Still, I can tell his behaviour isn't just instinct. After I healed him and left, he came to my cave on his own, and since then, he's been following me wherever I go.
He might not be as intelligent as a human, or even as good as a Direwolf or a Goblin rimuru meet, but… there's something there. A flicker of understanding.
At first, I was pretty sceptical about keeping him around. But that doubt didn't last long. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want a monster as a pet? Or better yet, a flying mount? Though honestly, considering my size, fifty metres from head to tail, it's hard to say which one of us counts as the "monster" here.
Communication was another story. We couldn't exactly talk, but over time, we managed to develop a sort of basic understanding. Well, more like I figured out how to make him follow my commands.
It wasn't easy at first. I started using Thought Communication to send him images, though I wasn't even sure if he could receive them properly. For all I knew, I might've just been spamming pictures into the void.
But as the days went by, things started to click. I'd project the image of a target, say, a giant bat, and add a low growl or a roar for emphasis. He'd take off immediately and return later, dropping the corpse right in front of me like some kind of feathered delivery service.
Then came the training. I wasn't about to let him stay weak. Not because I was overly attached or anything, let's be clear, it was mostly about pride. If someone's going to serve under me, then they should at least be strong enough to survive on their own. Well, maybe there's a bit of attachment in there too. Just a little.
Before all this, I was an introvert, someone who could stay indoors for days without talking to another human being. Even in an apocalypse scenario, I probably would've been fine as long as I had my smartphone. So yeah, I'm not exactly desperate for company. But even so, I don't want him to die. He's the only one who actually sticks around and listens to me, even if he doesn't understand a single word.
Our "training sessions" are basically one-sided beatdowns most of the time, but he's improving. His reaction speed's sharper now, his movements more precise. It's subtle, but I can tell.
Right now, we're holed up in a new cave. It used to belong to a colony of bats, but we cleared them out two days ago and decided to take over. Honestly, it wasn't a bad deal. The old cave was starting to feel cramped anyway, especially since my size kept increasing as the Assimilation progressed. At some point, I couldn't even stretch my wings without bumping into the ceiling.
But today… things finally changed. The Assimilation process has finally completed.
Which means one thing, it's time to spin the wheel again.
I'd been holding off until now for a reason. With only one Assimilation slot available, getting another template earlier would've been a waste since I wouldn't have been able to merge with it. So I waited. Endured that mental torture for weeks.
If not for the bird's company, I might've gone insane from sheer boredom.
[Points: 53]
Hmm, I could get seventeen cards and still have two points left. I could wait till tomorrow and save up for a bigger pull, but no. I've waited long enough. I can't stand another second of staring at that damn number. Let's do it.
As the points dropped, the cards appeared one by one in front of me.
Alright, let's see what we've got this time.
Teddy (Mr. Bean)
Kakashi's Secret Book Collection (Naruto)
100 Galleons (Harry Potter)
Fire dragon King (From Goblin to Goblin God)
Kamish's Wrath (Solo Leveling)
Anime/Manga Setting Travel Ticket (1 Month / Low Tier)
Dodge Charger (Fast & Furious)
Thousand Sunny (One Piece)
Recruitment card x8
Peashooter (Plants vs. Zombies)
Spirit Hall Token (Soul Land)
Fierce Wings (My Hero Academia)
Spider-Man Web Shooter (Marvel)
Character Assimilation Slot ×1
Terracotta Spears ×30 (Spare Me, Great Lord!)
Thunder Stone (Pokémon)
Ryu Han-Bin (Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World)
…Not bad. Actually, pretty damn good.
Fire Dragon template, huh. If I remember right, she was a leader of a group of dragons and powerful too. Not exactly top-tier strength-wise, though. Also, the destruction level of the story most of the time was just city level.
Still, I'm not expecting much besides one thing, a more humanoid form.
Because, honestly, at my current size, not just humans, even monsters instinctively keep their distance. It's like walking around with a permanent "Do Not Approach" sign strapped to my back.
But the real prize here isn't the new form. It's Aura.
If this works like in the story, that means I can finally start learning it, and that's huge.
Then there's Ryu Han-Bin's experience. His survival instincts, his combat knowledge… that's going to help me immensely. Though I'm not sure if the template is from before his transportation or after. Hopefully, it's the latter.
And that extra Assimilation Slot card? Perfect timing. Now I don't have to worry about stacking templates, I can fit both without issue.
As for the Peashooter… yeah, I'm not assimilating that. Maybe I'll summon it later just to see how it reacts.
I want to check the rest but before let's put the template on Assimilation slot.
[Ferbis: 29%]
What?! Twenty-nine percent already? That's almost one-third!
Is it because I'm a wyvern, part of the same dragon lineage or something?
Wait, why do I suddenly feel—
My thoughts started to blur. A wave of heaviness hit me like someone dropped a boulder on my head.
"Ugh… what the hell…? Why am I…so sleepy all of a sudden…"
My wings twitched weakly as my body tilted, heat rolling off my scales. Even my vision was starting to swim, edges of the cave melting together like watercolours.
I tried to keep my eyes open, tried to think, to understand, but my mind was slipping, the words in my head starting to stretch and fade.
"…I… really wish I had… something like… Great Sage right now… to figure out… what's… happening…"
My body slumped down with a low thud.
The last thing I remember was the faint glow of the system window flickering above me before everything faded into black.
....
🜂 [Voice of the World]
> ―――"Notice"―――
Individual has initiated species transformation.
Reason... searching... found increase in ....UNKNOWN Factor.
....Searching again.....
Failed....
.... Searching again....
Failed....
Alternate path selected.
Searching for similar factor instead of specific origin.....
Match found.
Detected resemblance to Dragon Factor.
Searching origin ....
....Searching failed...
Origin... Unknown.
...
...Searching for error....
...No error found...
Proceeding with transformation sequence.
―――Evolution Path Identified―――
Wyvern → Dragon
Elemental Affinity detected: Fire
Aligning species attribute to Affinity.
Individual evolved to Fire Dragon.
Recalibrating species data.
Reconstructing physique, mana structure, and aura alignment...
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
🜂 [Skills Acquired]
Haki
Dragon Body
Flame Breath
Dragon Scales
Pain Resistance
Physical Attack Resistance
Magic Resistance
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Detecting dormant individual wish...
Responding to wish...
Sage acquired.
Evolution detected...
Upgrading...
Great Sage not available...
Searching alternate path...
Found compatible construct
Granting skill...
―――Acquisition Complete―――
Unique Skill: Maharishi obtained.
**************
Analysis vs Analytical Appraisal