It wasn't that Asher didn't want to store them in the Spiritual Sea Beast Space, but he had a strong feeling—it was best not to do that. Otherwise, something unpredictable might happen.
'A Storm is Brewing!', Asher sighed.
There had already been so many unexpected incidents. If there were any more… he couldn't take it. He really couldn't take it.
So, he decided to just be honest with himself.
"Little Raven, why don't you carry Cat-Worm and fly?", After walking a little longer, Asher felt like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.
He once again turned his gaze to his two big cubs.
A light bulb flickered on in his head.
Right.
He couldn't put them away.
But he could have Little Raven carry Cat-Worm and fly!
Little Raven: ×
His entire body screamed a big, bold rejection.
Asher stared at Little Raven.
Little Raven stared at Asher.
Golden-red eyes met amber-brown ones.
In the end, it was Little Raven who gave in.
Little Raven: o(^｀）o
'What else can I do?'
'Isn't it just because I am a bird?'
'Ah!'
'What will this family do without the bird?'
Seeing Little Raven compromise, Asher grinned and reached out to rub the silly little tuft of feathers on Little Raven's head… and then, the tuft that had been standing tall ever since Little Raven was a little Oriental Peacock trembled.
It quivered twice on Little Raven's head.
And in the end, it couldn't hold on and fell.
Instantly, an awkward atmosphere filled the air.
Asher: "…"
Little Raven: "…"
"My bad! My bad! Don't peck me, don't peck me!"
Asher quickly hugged Little Raven, preventing the disaster that was about to befall him.
Little Raven was furious.
Even though Asher had already grabbed him, his wings were still flapping wildly.
'Unforgivable!'
'The bird's feather!'
'My precious, cutest feather!'
'IT FELLLLL!!!'
Little Raven's big round eyes glared fiercely at Asher.
"Well… if we think about it positively, maybe this is… this is…"
Asher attempted to sound serious as he tried to fool Little Raven.
Tried and tried.
Even he started to lose confidence in his own words.
'Wait.'
'Isn't this amount of shedding a bit extreme?'
Asher glanced down sneakily.
'Hmm.'
'It doesn't sound great to say it out loud, but Little Raven have shed so much that some of her skin is exposed.'
Little Raven, who had never fallen for Asher's nonsense, became even more furious the moment he noticed Asher's impolite gaze.
Little Raven: (へ╬)
'Ahhh!'
Even if Asher was holding him, Little Raven was about to lose it.
He instantly turned into a woodpecker.
Cat-Worm had already scrambled onto Asher's shoulder in fright.
Little White Snake and Little Jellyfish were seeing such a scene for the first time.
They had to say it—shedding was absolutely terrifying.
Luckily, they didn't have fur to shed.
Little Raven: "…"
He noticed the looks in his three little brothers' eyes and…
'Furious!'
'Awakened!'
'It is hunting time!'
Little Raven's golden-red eyes burned even hotter, glaring at Asher as if he could kill with a stare.
And then…
"Wait, wait, wait! Calm down, Little Raven! You're literally on fire!"
No joke.
Flames shot out of Little Raven's golden-red eyes.
The moment Asher realized something was wrong, he quickly turned Little Raven's head in another direction. Little Raven also seemed to realize it and cooperated with Asher, so the flames didn't land on him.
That was close.
The fire was aimed directly at a boulder as tall as a person not far away.
The next second—
The massive boulder silently, quietly, turned to ash.
Asher slowly turned his head to look at Little Raven, his eyes dark.
Little Raven, who had been so confident in his anger just now, suddenly looked guilty and started shifting his gaze around.
'Ah…'
'Well…'
'Is there a possibility… that the bird didn't do it on purpose?'
Little Raven blinked his big, watery eyes, trying to play cute and make Asher forget what just happened.
But Asher wasn't moved at all.
"I have a heart of stone, got it?", As he spoke, he manually turned Little Raven's head away again.
"You need to have a clear understanding of your own power."
"That fire of yours—I can't handle even a little bit of it."
Hearing this, Little Raven instinctively wanted to look at Asher again. But then he remembered his exaggerated flames and had no choice but to stare blankly into the distance.
Green mountains, clear waters—everything was beautiful.
But Little Raven was very depressed.
Who would've thought?
'It was an accident!'
'An accident!'
Asher sighed.
He knew it was an accident.
But Little Raven suddenly shooting fire from his eyes had scared him out of his wits.
Not to mention, the power of that fire was absolutely ridiculous.
Even though it was just a thin stream, Asher had paid close attention. That human-sized boulder hadn't been burned down over time.
The moment the flames touched it, it instantly ignited.
The only thing that comforted Asher was that as soon as the rock was burned away, Little Raven's fire also went out.
Otherwise…
S̶t̶a̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ a̶ f̶o̶r̶e̶s̶t̶ f̶i̶r̶e̶?̶ S̶t̶r̶a̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ t̶o̶ j̶a̶i̶l̶.
Asher didn't even want to imagine how bad it could get.
That was terrifying.
Asher opened his talent skill and checked on Little Raven. He suspected something in the environment had affected him.
However, his talent skill showed no differences from before.
Asher: *Tiny head, big question mark.*
Asher rubbed his forehead.
He felt like all the exhaustion in his body and mind couldn't compare to the sudden, overwhelming shock of Little Raven's flames.
One careless mistake, and he'd die at the hands of his own.
["Little Raven's flames are undergoing purification,"] Just as Asher was trying to figure out what was happening, Angel spoke again.
Asher: "…"
"Great. At least now I know what's going on."
Asher sighed helplessly. As for questioning Angel… Sorry, he had long given up on that idea.
After spending so much time with Angel, Asher had learned one thing about its personality.
If Angel knew something and could say it, it wouldn't hide it from him.
If it didn't say something, it was either because it didn't know or it couldn't say. Asking was pointless.
It was either a waste of time or doubled frustration.
"Purification…", Asher muttered the word, his expression growing strange.
'Not evolution.'
'Not strengthening.'
'Purification.'
Asher pondered for a moment and made a mental note of it.
He no longer forced Little Raven to move on his own.
Yep.
Absolutely not because he was afraid Little Raven might suddenly hit him with another fireball.
He was genuinely concerned about Little Raven.
Little Raven, being held by Asher, felt uncomfortable.
Little Raven: QAQ
Even though being hugged by his Beast Tamer was nice…
She wanted to look at his Beast Tamer.
Face to face.
Could they change positions?
Asher: )
He thought not.
Little Raven was sad.
Little Raven didn't dare say it.
Little Raven was also well aware that the power of that flame was simply too terrifying.
Taking a deep breath, Asher, who had been busy all this time, not only didn't feel any relaxation but instead felt even more exhausted as he continued forward.
The great mountain was right in front of him, yet the distance between him and the mountain seemed infinitely far.
Just thinking about it made Asher feel like his vision was going dark.
"Come on, believe in yourself, I can do this," If he treated this as a special kind of training for both body and mind, it seemed to make him feel a little better?
Asher: 'Self-comfort, self-hypnosis, self-motivation—learning to deceive oneself is also a kind of happiness.'
*Tired*
———
The atmosphere in Red Soil City was now also quite heavy.
After receiving a call from Elder Cavendish, both Madam Henrietta and Peter had separate conversations with him for nearly five minutes.
Because they were already Tier 8 Ace Beast Tamers, their identities had been repeatedly confirmed without issue. Elder Cavendish also revealed, to some extent, the importance of Asher.
The two of them could also access information related to that level.
They never expected that Asher would actually…
Immediately, the two of them frowned.
After hanging up the call.
The other Tier 7 Beast Tamers, who hadn't heard anything, looked bewildered.
'…Why did a single phone call make the expressions of two Ace Beast Tamers so serious?'
'Could it be that… the situation in Red Soil City have really deteriorated to this extent?'
A vague sense of unease arose in their hearts as well.
Madam Henrietta glanced at their expressions, then spoke as gently as possible, "Everyone, please don't worry. The situation in Red Soil City and Crimson City is still within a controllable range."
"What we were discussing earlier… is an issue within the Red Soil Forbidden Zone, which may be rather tricky."
It was impossible to completely conceal the truth, so Madam Henrietta chose to downplay the severity while also diverting their attention away from Asher.
Only Jasmine and Nia were not easily distracted from the topic.
The former had a deep understanding of Asher.
The latter… was simply observant enough.
Nia had noticed the exchanged glances between Madam Henrietta and Peter, as well as the unspoken urgency and anxiety in their expressions.
It was definitely not something that could be summed up as merely "concern over the Red Soil Forbidden Zone", there had to be a deeper reason behind it.
Moreover, for Elder Cavendish to personally call and inquire…
Nia connected the dots with recent events, and her gaze instantly locked onto Asher.
It was undoubtedly related to Asher.
And indeed, that was the case.
"Then next…", After some thought, Nia still asked in a soft voice.
No matter what, she owed Professor Asher a favor. Although to him, the evolutionary path of the Rainbow Scales Koi was something he had casually researched.
To Nia, it was precisely because of Asher's discovery of this new evolutionary route that she was able to step into the ranks of Tier 7 Beast Tamers.
More or less, she paid extra attention to Asher.
"A new Tier 8 Beast Tamer will be arriving soon to lead the team. You all just need to hold the line at Red Soil City and Crimson City and ensure nothing goes wrong."
"Peter and I will enter the Red Soil Forbidden Zone together."
The others had no objections, nodding in agreement with this decision.
However…
A new Tier 8 Beast Tamer was coming?
Everyone exchanged glances, still sensing the feeling of an impending storm.
———
Asher was completely unaware that things outside were nearly turning upside down because of him.
He was struggling to move forward.
Ten meters.
A hundred meters.
A thousand meters… Alright, he hadn't even reached a thousand meters yet.
Knowing that his senses and perception were distorted, Asher used the distance he traveled to gauge time. Just as Angel had said, time was passing far shorter than he had imagined.
"This is really…", Asher grinned, his tone carrying helplessness.
But as long as he didn't give up and kept moving forward, treating this erroneous perception as a form of endurance training, after a while, he vaguely felt his body adapting somewhat.
Ten minutes… half an hour… an hour…
In Asher's distorted perception, time may have felt like more than a day had passed, but he still held on.
Feeling exhausted?
Tell yourself: Fake! It's all fake!
Feeling hungry?
Silently remind yourself: Half an hour, an hour! There's no way he could be hungry in such a short time.
If he actually ate now, stuffing himself with three meals' worth in an hour, he'd surely burst.
He was completely different from that gluttonous little jellyfish.
The little jellyfish being mentioned: "?"
The little jellyfish wiggled its tentacles but remained hidden in Asher's hair.
Not that it was very useful.
It was mostly psychological comfort.
Just like how the Little White Snake hid its head inside Asher's clothes.
Little white snake and little jellyfish: 'As long as we don't show our heads, we can pretend we're not scared!'
Asher: "…"
Forget it, forget it.
Spoiling his own little ones—was that even a problem?
That wasn't a problem at all.
It was the most natural thing to do.
After walking for over an hour, Asher was drenched in sweat, but he had finally arrived at the foot of the mountain.
"Huff—", Asher casually found a shady spot, sat down to rest for a bit, and adjusted his state.
Although he had been suddenly relocated, thankfully, the supplies he had carried before entering were still with him.
Water.
Rations.
A multi-purpose entrenching tool.
Asher drank some water and ate a little food, not much, just enough to take the edge off his hunger before stopping.
With his distorted perception, he had to be even more cautious in monitoring his body's sensations.
Any abnormalities had to be noticed.
Unlike when he was moving and every second felt endlessly prolonged…
The time during his rest seemed to return to normal.
Resting for ten minutes, checking the time, and indeed, ten minutes had passed.
Asher smirked, "What kind of ridiculous logic is this?"
"Shouldn't it make me feel like I've rested for a whole day when only an hour has passed?"
'If that was the case, that would be amazing!'
Unfortunately.
It wasn't.
This place really knew how to squeeze people dry.
Asher stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and was just about to continue forward when he noticed something in the nearby grass—it looked like a piece of fabric.
Asher paused.
He quickly walked over to that spot.
Bent down.
Picked it up.
It was a torn piece of clothing.
There were traces of blood on it.
But those weren't the important parts.
The most important part was the marking on the outside of the fabric, which looked somewhat familiar to Asher.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out a bandana from his bag.
Comparing the two side by side, the markings were identical.
If there was any difference, it was that the marking on the bandana was clearer and cleaner, whereas the one on the fabric was much more faded.
But the level of craftsmanship was the same.
It was obviously not a counterfeit.
"So… members of the Red Soil Exploration Team were around here?", Asher murmured as he stared at the Red Soil Exploration Team's emblem.
Then, he recalled the distorted sensory perception of this place.
And the fact that the Red Soil Exploration Team had been missing for over twelve hours.
If they were experiencing the same phenomenon he was…
'Hiss—'
Asher sucked in a sharp breath.
'If that is the case…'
'Their sense of time might have made it feel like half a month have passed.'
'The Red Soil Exploration Team members might all be doomed!'
[T/N: Ahoy~ brothers and sisters, check out my latest novel, "One Piece: The Living Devil", an EVIL MC on the Grand Line with devil fruits, danger, and lust. If you're hooked, don't forget to drop a Powerstone and add it to your Collection—every bit of support keeps the journey alive and the story blazing forward]
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