"It's a bit chilly."
A soft touch enveloped her body.
"Karl, it's you."
Wrapped in Karl's embrace, Cecilia looked up at him. Unlike his usual self, Karl's wolf form had grown significantly, his gray fur now a shimmering silver-white under the moonlight.
Divine, handsome, and holy.
But his silver-white wolf eyes were unusually gentle.
A mid-level species, the Moon Wolf.
This was his original bloodline.
Karl's bloodline had awakened very late. With his gray fur, he was abandoned by his contractors in the academy's garbage dump before he even opened his eyes.
It was under these circumstances that Cecilia found him and took him in.
Even though his eyes were closed, Karl's powerful bloodline allowed him to sense everything happening around him.
"Oom~"
Karl nuzzled Cecilia's cheek gently.
Enjoying Karl's affection, Cecilia ran her hand over his head, her eyes flickering.
Wolves seemed to have a keen sense of smell.
"Karl, shall we go find him?"
"Oom."
The wolf head that had been nuzzling against the girl's cheek stopped instantly.
"Karl, you see, that little one has just hatched and doesn't know much about the world yet. I'm not going to bring him back, I just want to go and tell him not to stray too far."
"You know, Karl, the forest perimeter is safe because adventurers clear it regularly, so there are basically no demons. But that little one doesn't know that."
"If that little one encounters..."
Seeing the anxiety and worry in Cecilia's azure eyes, Karl slowly raised his wolf body.
"Oomph!"
"Hehehe, Karl is the best."
Cecilia decisively pounced forward and hugged Karl's neck, furry and comfortable as always.
She rolled over onto Karl's back. With Karl's current size, there was enough space for her to lie down like a bed.
"Let's go, Karl."
"Oom~"
With a low chirp, Karl's claws exerted force, and he leaped straight off the second-floor balcony.
Swift as the wind, he headed towards the pitch-black forest.
The scent of the little one hadn't completely dissipated yet. Following the scent in the air for about ten minutes, Karl stopped in front of a small stream.
"Karl, are we there yet?"
"Oom~"
Karl responded to the figure on his back.
Noticing Karl's gaze fixed on the tree across the river, Cecilia felt an instant understanding.
Her magic staff appeared in her hand.
Magic power gathered into a blue spell-casting ring at the top of the staff.
[Elemental Vision]
A blue glow covered Cecilia's eyes.
Her world changed as many more colorful points of light floated in the sky.
No matter how many times Cecilia used Elemental Vision, she always felt that the world was beautiful when seen through this magic.
But she hadn't forgotten that she was here to find Sethe.
Her gaze shifted to the large tree on the opposite bank, but there was nothing on the tree.
Underneath it, however, was a different story.
Beneath the soil in her line of sight lay a quietly coiled figure, its body a fiery red.
There was no doubt from its size that it was Sethe, the round, large-headed lizard.
"Phew."
Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief.
This little guy wasn't stupid; he knew not to run far.
"Karl, let's go back."
"Oom~"
The eyelids covered in fine, fiery red scales slowly lifted, and the pink eye membranes opened.
Opening his eyes, Sethe found himself in the pitch darkness of the cave.
Following his instincts, Sethe began to retreat from the cave.
Exiting the cave, it was already daytime outside.
Hungry.
Very hungry.
The intense hunger drove Sethe without any hesitation straight into the creek.
He clearly remembered that there were many small fish and shrimp in the stream.
[Splashing~]
Entering the shallow stream and stopping, with all four paws on the ground, Sethe carefully watched the stream.
Soon, a small fish leisurely swam in front of him. Without any hesitation, his right paw sliced through the air, leaving a red residual shadow.
[Splash~]
Water splashed up high.
Feeling the struggling fish in his claws, Sethe happily stood upright.
First hunt, big success!
No skill, all instinct.
Standing upright, Sethe looked at his right paw.
In the right paw, a small white fish the size of a palm was threaded in the paw.
The fish was still struggling, its tail swinging, but its body was pierced too deeply by the sharp claw, and trying to break free was impossible.
Lifting his left paw to grab the fish, Sethe drew out the fish stuck in the sharp claw.
Ripping open the belly and removing the internal organs, then opening the mouth.
[Awww~!]
Sethe: o(￣ヘ￣o#)
The fish had a light fishy smell on it, more of a fresh taste. Sethe wasn't sure if it was because turning into a lizard changed the taste or what, but it didn't matter.
Sethe ate the first fish, his stomach getting some reprieve from the hunger.
His eyes went to his two paws.
Both paws were chubby, but unlike the left paw, the sharp claws on the right paw were dark, as black as ink, and the sharp tips of the claws glowed with a faintly cold aura in the sunlight.
At a glance, they looked very dangerous.
In contrast, the left claw not only looked dull, but the inside of the claw was still white and pink.
After checking the claws, Sethe continued to start hunting.
After all, his stomach was not yet full.
After hunting a dozen or so small fish and shrimp in a row, his stomach began to bulge slightly.
With a full stomach, Sethe walked up to the bank with satisfaction.
The golden threads in his body had grown to about half a meter.
As long as one did things that would make them feel satisfied, the golden threads would grow quickly.
Strength, sharpness, this was the strengthened right claw.
Far stronger than the left claw by an unknown amount.
It wasn't a big problem though; when the golden threads were saved up, he would evolve his left claw as well.
He walked to the big tree and stopped.
Raising his big round head to look at the thick trunk of the large tree in front of him.
For now, let's dig out the home first.
Although he could adapt to the environment underground, that dark feeling Sethe didn't like. After all, he wasn't exactly just a big-headed lizard.
He crawled along the thick roots of the giant tree to the trunk.
Sethe raised his right claw and scratched at the rough bark, this claw directly tore off a piece of bark revealing the smooth trunk inside.
Looking at the trunk, he continued to reach out experimentally and pulled out a claw.
It felt like grabbing a semi-hard steamed bun, a bit hard but able to pull it out.
Since it was possible, there was nothing more to say.
Moving, moving.
After digging one after another from noon until dark, a five-meter-wide tree hole was pulled out.
Lying in the tree hole that he had hollowed out, looking at the top of the tree hole, a sense of satisfaction rose in his heart.
From today onwards this was his home.
Although he was humble, he believed that he would slowly make this place better in the future.
The paws were a bit sore after continuously digging for an afternoon.
At this time his stomach was a bit hungry, after all, he had worked all day.
Sethe carefully felt the claws; they were just a little sore. The rest of this moment of effort has eased most; just catching some small fish should not have any effect.