Night soon came upon the dry lands of the desert. Eugene finally stopped to rest after the long, tedious and mostly monotonous hours spent driving through the bare and empty scenery.
Over the past hours, the terrain had become much better and there were a few scant dry trees scattered about. Eugene parked the automobile by one of such trees.
Caw...
Sahar let out a low croon as he shuffled his feet, waiting for Eugene to feed him. The young Desert Eagle looked extremely cute and pitiful as it stared up at Eugene, opening its narrow eyes to the maximum to appear even more innocent.
"Here you go." Eugene served double of what he usually fed the young eagle since it started following him. Luckily, Sahar did not seem to eat too much. He only ate about half of Eugene's portion on a normal day, but this time, he ate the same amount Eugene usually ate.
With a happy sound, Sahar dug into the small mound of jerky, swallowing eagerly. Meanwhile, Eugene turned his attention to the plant that rested at his side. Despite the roots of this miraculous plant having been exposed to the dry and blistering weather of the desert, it still looked as vibrant and full of life as when Sahar had just uprooted it.
"I don't have the proper tools to process this as it should be, but boiling it should be okay, I guess?" Eugene said in doubt, his last words a question to himself. He had no choice, but to drop the plant into a pot of water that he had balanced over the fire.
Time ticked by slowly, and after ten minutes, a strange, strong smell that reminded Eugene of a medicinal herb that was often used to treat swellings and bruises when he trained with Gustavo, wafted through the air.
Eugene cautiously examined the contents of the pot, noting that the water had gained a light green coloration. He had to wait until it turned dark green before drinking its contents, as that would be the best that he could get from this crude extraction method.
Another twenty minutes passed before the water turned dark green. With butterflies in his belly, Eugene poured it into a cup and held it in his hands. From the herbal smell it had given off earlier, the smell of the ambrosia had turned into a intoxicating fragrance that made his head spin.
Not wasting any more time, Eugene tossed his head back and gulped down everything. At first, a simple lingering heat from the hot liquid was all he felt, but he was suddenly hit by an intense wave of dizziness. He lost control of his body and fell to the floor in a daze, his eyes spinning and his limbs splayed out in all directions.
Sahar noticed Eugene's sudden collapsed and abandoned his food to check on Eugene. The young Desert Eagle landed on Eugene's chest and prodded him with its beak, pulled his ears, and stomped on his forehead.
But its senses were sharp, and when it saw that Eugene's body seemed to be stable, it simply stopped and sat down to rest on Eugene's chest.
.
.
Time passed and morning soon came. Throughout the night, Sahar had kept his eyes open wide, watching for anything that might pose a threat to the human that he had claimed. When the sun rose, he let out a loud caw and jumped into the air, circling over the camp. Only after flying in circles a few times did he return to the ground below, landing some feet from Eugene's head.
At the same time, Eugene began to stir from his slumber. Little by little, his body twitched and Sahar turned to look at him with a tilted head, intrigued and awaiting.
"Ugh... I feel so nice, but so stiff at the same time..." Eugene groaned as he opened his eyes, only to shut them again at the light that poured into his eyes.
Caw!
Sahar cawed loudly and jumped over to him, nudging his head with its little head. The Desert Eagle showed a sense of dependence on Eugene even though the time they had spent was too little to be truly meaningful. It was strange and unprecedented.
"Sahar?" Eugene chuckled and reached over to pet the Desert Eagle. He slowly got up and blinked, adjusting to the bright desert morning light.
When he had sat up, he felt the changes that had occurred in his body overnight and was overjoyed.
"This is-! I'm at the Peak of the 3rd Star?!" Eugene was stunned. The Ambrosia he had taken the night before had greatly raised his strength. Although it was not mature, and had been processed in the crudest of manners, it had still been able to raise the level of his physical body to a large extent.
As for his magical capabilities, Eugene did not know how to accurately gauge his growth from before and after taking the Ambrosia, but he could at least feel that the flow of mana in his body was much smoother and natural than before. If Eugene had to guess, then he would guess that he was somewhere around the late stage of a 2nd Circle Mage.
"This is amazing! I wish... I wish father was here to see this... Gustavo too." Eugene sighed as the reality of his situation once again came to slam him in the face.