The energy coursing through Aeris' body felt like a fire burning from within. Hia eyes, which had turned golden, radiated a light that caused several goblins to retreat in fear. The Hobgoblin Shaman in the distance stopped his spell and stared at Aeris with narrowed eyes.
"Umbra, attack their formation from the left flank," Aeris ordered, his voice trembling with newfound power.
"Ready, Master!" The Shadow Wolf immediately charged at an unnatural speed, its Shadow Step now faster and deadlier.
The system interface displayed real-time information:
[PROBABILITY CONTROL ACTIVE]
[GOBLIN ATTACK SUCCESS RATE: 15% → 3%]
[ALLY SURVIVAL RATE: 23% → 78%]
[LUCKY ENCOUNTER CHANCE: +500%]
Aeris didn't fully understand what the numbers meant, but the effect was immediate. Every goblin attack that was supposed to hit the students missed. Every move of Umbra always found the perfect opening.
Professor Aldred who was fighting suddenly shouted, "Aeris! What are you doing? This energy—"
Before the professor could finish his sentence, Hobgoblin Shaman threw a large fireball at them. Aeris instinctively raised her hand, and something surprising happened.
The fireball suddenly turned and hit a tree beside them, missing them completely.
"Probability Control," Aeris whispered with wide eyes. "I can change the probability of events."
The battle lasted for twenty minutes that felt like an eternity. With the combination of Luck Manipulation abilities and Umbra's help, they managed to push back the goblin army.
Hobgoblin Shaman, having lost more than half of his troops in an unreasonable manner, finally retreated while staring at Aeris with hateful eyes.
"This isn't over, Anomaly," a low growl came from Hobgoblin Shaman's mouth before he disappeared along with the rest of his troops.
After the battle, Aeris felt weak. His hidden ability automatically deactivated, and his eyes returned to their normal brown color. Umbra approached with faltering steps, also exhausted from the intense battle.
"Aeris!" Lyra ran to her. "Are you okay? And... is that your Shadow Wolf?"
Before Aeris could answer, Professor Aldred approached with a questioning look on his face. "Aeris Draemor, we need to talk. Now."
Three days after the goblin attack, the academy was still under repair. Aeris was called into Director Thorne's office for a thorough investigation into his sudden emergence of abilities. he managed to explain Umbra's presence as an emergency contract he had made in a pinch, but there were still many unanswered questions.
"You will be excused from regular classes for the time being," Director Thorne said. "We will be developing a special curriculum for you. Your abilities are... unusual."
Now, Aeris sat on the edge of the academy forest with Umbra beside him. The system interface was still active, displaying new statistics:
[EXP GAINED FROM GOBLIN BATTLE: 2,847]
[LEVEL UP! RANK E → RANK D]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: MONSTER EMPATHY]
[MONSTER BOND SLOTS: 3/3 → 3/5]
"Up to D rank?" Aeris was surprised. "It should have taken years to go from E to D."
"Master is indeed unusual," Umbra commented as he lay down on the grass. "I can even feel the power flowing from you getting stronger."
Aeris stood up and stretched. "I need to practice. And maybe find another monster to contract. The system said I can bind up to five monsters now."
he decided to go hunt the weak goblins that were still roaming around the academy. Not to kill, but to practice and maybe get some small Magic Crystals. In the forest east of the academy, Aeris found a small goblin nest abandoned after yesterday's attack. Only three weak goblins were guarding the remains of their supplies.
"Umbra, let's practice coordination," Aeris said. "Don't let anyone die. I just want them to be knocked out."
The practice battle went smoothly. With his new abilities, Aeris could sense the goblins' emotions and intentions, making it easier to predict their movements. Once all the goblins were knocked out, she began searching their nest.
[LUCK ACTIVATION TRIGGERED]
[RARE DISCOVERY CHANCE: +800%]
"What now?" Aeris muttered as he looked at the notification.
In the corner of the nest, hidden behind a pile of bones and trash, he found something gleaming. A bright blue crystal the size of a chicken egg.
[ITEM DISCOVERED: AZURE RESONANCE CRYSTAL]
[RARITY: LEGENDARY]
[EFFECT: PERMANENTLY INCREASES TAMER BOND CAPACITY +2]
[VALUE: 50,000 GOLD COINS]
"Fifty thousand gold coins?!" Aeris nearly dropped the crystal. "This is enough to pay off all my family's debts!"
Umbra approached and sniffed the crystal. "Master, this crystal... is very powerful. I can feel the pure energy coming from it."
Aeris carefully put the crystal into his bag. he would decide what to do with it later.
On his way back, he heard a whimper coming from the bushes. Curiosity made his approach, and he found a badly injured wolf. But this was no ordinary wolf.
Its fur was silvery white with small wings on its back that were damaged. Its blue eyes stared at Aeris with a mixture of pain and fear.
"Sky Wolf," Aeris whispered, his eyes wide. "But this is impossible."
[RARE MONSTER DETECTED: INJURED SKY WOLF]
[SPECIES: CELESTIAL WIND WOLF]
[RANK: B]
[STATUS: CRITICALLY INJURED]
[BOND COMPATIBILITY: 89%]
[NOTE: SKY WOLVES ARE LEGENDARY CREATURES THAT CANNOT BE TAMED BY NORMAL MEANS]
Sky Wolves are legendary monsters that only appear once in the novels, and even then as opponents that the protagonist must defeat. They are known to be very proud monsters and will never make contracts with humans.
"Hey, are you okay?" Aeris approached the Sky Wolf carefully.
The wolf tried to move its wings but failed. There was a large wound on its side, probably from an attack by a larger predator.
Aeris activated his newly acquired Monster Empathy ability. Suddenly, he could feel the Sky Wolf's emotions—pain, fear, but also... deep loneliness.
"You're lonely, aren't you?" Aeris said softly. "Just like I was."
Se pulled a bandage from his bag and began to bandage the Sky Wolf's wound. The legendary beast didn't resist, instead seeming to calm down under Aeris' touch.
"Master," Umbra whispered, "this is very unusual. Sky Wolves never let humans touch them."
After he finished bandaging the wound, Aeris sat down next to the Sky Wolf. "I won't force you to form a contract with me. But if you need a place to recover, you can come with me."
The Sky Wolf stared into Aeris' eyes for a long moment. There was something between them, a connection that couldn't be explained with words.
[SKY WOLF "ZEPHYR" WISHES TO FORM CONTRACT]
[ACCEPT? YES/NO]
"Zephyr?" Aeris smiled. "That's a beautiful name."
he pressed YES, and a soft blue light enveloped them both. The contract was formed, and Aeris felt a new energy flowing through his body—a fresh, powerful wind energy.
[CONTRACT ESTABLISHED]
[RANK UPDATED: D → C]
[NEW ABILITIES: WIND MANIPULATION, ENHANCED SPEED]
As they prepared to return home, Aeris heard a commotion coming from the main street. An old merchant was being attacked by a group of bandits. His horse-drawn carriage was overturned, and goods were strewn everywhere.
"Help! Can someone help!" the merchant shouted.
Aeris turned to Umbra and Zephyr. "Are you ready for more action?"
The fight with the bandits was not difficult. With the combination of Umbra's Shadow Step ability and the new speed he had gained from Zephyr, Aeris managed to defeat five bandits in a matter of minutes.
"Thank you, young man!" the merchant said with tears in his eyes. "You saved my life!"
"It's okay," Aeris replied as he helped the merchant to his feet. "Is anyone hurt?"
The merchant shook his head, then gave Aeris a strange look. "May I ask your name?"
"Aeris. Aeris Draemor."
The merchant's eyes widened. "Draemor? Of House Draemor?"
"Yes, but our family is already—"
"Wait here," the merchant opened a small chest from his cart and pulled out a gold medallion.
"My name is Marcus Vel. I am a Royal Intelligence Agent. You have just rescued a royal spy on a secret mission."
Aeris was shocked. In the novels, there was never any mention of a royal spy being rescued by anyone.
"As a token of gratitude," Marcus handed the gold medallion to Aeris, "this is a Royal Commendation. And this." He handed her a bag of gold coins. "Five thousand gold coins as a reward."
[QUEST COMPLETED: RESCUE ROYAL AGENT]
[REWARD: ROYAL COMMENDATION + 5,000 GOLD]
[SPECIAL EFFECT: ROYAL FAVOR +50]
[LUCK STAT BONUS ACTIVATED]
As Aeris returned to the academy with Zephyr who was able to walk but still weak, se didn't realize that there was a pair of eyes watching him from afar.
Leon Ashford, the protagonist of the novel "Tamer Chronicles", stood on the rooftop of the academy building with a curious expression.
"Aeris Draemor," Leon muttered as he squinted. "This strange Extra... he's starting to attract attention."
Beside him, the red Phoenix—his main contract monster—made a small sound.
"Yes, Ignis," Leon said to his Phoenix. "Looks like we need to keep a closer eye on him."