"He did it!"
The old guardian’s voice rang out, full of shock and joy.
His Gleam Form began to fade back to normal. The bright light that had filled the cave slowly died away.
Sweat dripped from the old man’s forehead. It was clear that holding up such a huge magic circle had cost him a lot.
The moment he saw the situation, Kessel ran straight to the middle of the cave, right behind the old man.
As the light dimmed, Leo’s face came into view. Aside from being a little pale, nothing about his body had changed.
---
The moment his mind came back, Leo felt empty. Inside and out.
Almost all of his inner Spiritual Energy was gone. The energy that usually spun inside him had slowed down to almost nothing, and the glow of his Lodestar Stove had grown very dim.
Luckily, as a knight, he still had his outer Spiritual Energy. Even though he felt hollow inside, he could still walk around just fine.
Without even thinking, his eyes lifted toward the presence in front of him.
*This is it.* All those days of walking, climbing, searching, and failing. All that pain, body and mind. All for this.
He looked at the partner he had just bonded with.
And froze.
Kessel and the old guardian froze too.
---
It wasn’t because the partner was some terrifying beast.
It was because...
It was a lizard.
A little more than a meter long. Thin black scales covered its skin, shaped like trapezoids. Two arches on each side joined together, and the whole pattern looked like the tower shields used by heavy-armored knights.
Its head was nothing special, the same as any other lizard. Its tiny red eyes blinked up at Leo, full of a strange kind of warmth. Its tongue flicked in and out, as if it were smelling Leo’s scent near his feet.
If that was all, Leo wouldn’t have been so shocked. It was at most a second-rank Earth-type lizard, nothing special.
But this lizard had dozens of deep cuts all over its body. Blood leaked from every one of them. A big bump stuck up from its neck, almost as thick as the neck itself. Calling the scars on its body "ugly" didn’t even do them justice.
Leo had never imagined that after all those stumbles to find his partner, the result would be a hurt, sad little creature.
On top of that, it was a mutated second-rank lizard.
Ever since Leo started training, everything had gone so smoothly. This was the first real punch in the face life had given him.
---
"Wuu wuu..."
The lizard seemed to love Leo’s scent. It rubbed against his leg and looked up at him with its little red eyes, full of affection.
A helpless smile crossed Leo’s face.
Through the contract between them, he could feel exactly how weak this lizard was. Its strength was about second-rank.
*Starlight Unicorn King, did you trick me? You said you couldn’t be my partner because I’m a Dawnborn Vessel. So what is THIS? A second-rank lizard?*
Kessel quietly walked up and helped him to his feet.
He said reluctantly, "What you’ve been through is nothing compared to what I went through. You didn’t find a good partner in the Sacred Mountain, so in the future you’ll have to hunt a Magical Beast and find one on your own. If you reach the Divine Knight level, bowing a giant dragon to your will won’t be impossible."
*Clang!*
With the sound of metal, Kessel drew the heavy sword from his back. He got ready to strike.
---
The lizard seemed to sense that its life was in danger. Even though it was covered in wounds, it dived behind Leo’s back. It stuck out only its little round head and looked at Kessel with scared eyes.
"Master, what are you doing?!"
With a loud ring, Leo drew his sword and blocked Kessel’s strike with the handle.
Kessel hadn’t expected that.
"You little fool! Don’t tell me you want to keep this useless, helpless thing? You must know that if it isn’t killed, your contract with it counts as complete. And you’ll never be able to make an equal contract with another Magical Beast in your life."
Leo’s eyes held helplessness, sadness, and even a little anger. But not one bit of killing intent.
"Master, do you remember the story of you and your Stonefeather Roc?"
Kessel’s face went still.
"In your darkest hour, it chose you. And because of that, you treated it like your closest family. Don’t you know that this little guy also answered my call at the very last moment? Even though it isn’t strong, even though it’s hurt, at the very last second it accepted a contract with me."
"We’re partners. So I want to protect it, keep it safe, even if I never get a real mount in my whole life. I won’t give it up just because of how it looks. It isn’t because I’m afraid of bad luck. It’s because the moment we made the contract, it became my family."
---
As he spoke, Leo slowly knelt and gently stroked the lizard’s head.
He could feel its scales. They were covered with something like silk, and they weren’t thick or rough at all.
The lizard didn’t move. It stood perfectly still, like a statue. It just kept looking at Leo with its two red eyes.
"Don’t be scared, little partner. I won’t leave you. And I’ll never ask you to fight for me. I just want you to be my friend. Is that okay?"
New strength seemed to flow back into the lizard. It stuck out its tongue and gently licked Leo’s hand.
Kessel put his heavy sword back and let out a long breath.
"Kid, you really are a kind one. Your feelings run deep."
Leo gave his master an apologetic look.
"Master, trust me. I’ll train really hard. So even without a strong partner mount, I won’t lose to Kaelan Draike. Master, my inner energy is almost gone. Could you please help heal this partner’s wounds?"
What else could Kessel say? He just quietly nodded.
"Fine."
---
He raised his hands, gathering holy light to cast a healing skill.
But just then, the crippled old guardian, who had been quietly standing all this time, suddenly spoke up.
"Wait a moment."
"Hm?" Leo and Kessel both looked at him.
The old man’s voice was serious.
"If you don’t want to see it die, don’t heal it."
Leo stood up. "Senior, why is that?"
The old man looked at him carefully, and a warm smile crossed his face.
"You’re a good person. A truly good person. I see in you the qualities of a knight that we call kindness and compassion. It’s a shame that, as kind as you are, you’ll have to let this little creature go. I’m afraid you can’t take it with you. The reason is simple. Its body holds the power of the Dark attribute. If you use a holy-light skill to heal it, it won’t help it. It’ll hurt it even more."
"Dark attribute!" Leo gasped.
---
The old man nodded.
"When a Magical Beast is called through the magic array, some of them come from places like the underworld. Whatever their attribute, they are born with Dark attribute bodies. Any beast with the Dark attribute is killed by our great Holy Light Array the moment it leaves this cave."
"But here, you can’t send it back and cancel the contract. No Magical Beast could affect this magic circle that way."
"It surprises me that a Dark-attribute beast came toward you and even made a contract with you. But I have no choice but to tell you the truth. By answering your call, this little creature chose its own doom."
"What—?" Leo stood frozen.
It felt like the lizard understood every word. It trembled with fear, and its red eyes were wide and scared as it pressed itself against Leo’s leg.
Leo looked down at it. Looked at its tiny, shaking body, its scarred scales, the hope still shining in its eyes.
And he made a quiet decision.
*Then I’ll change the rules.*