Step. Crunch. Step. Crunch.

Rocks parted under Novus’ feet as he slowly approached the distracted Lou. Meanwhile, Lou was still sensing the air for scents with its tongue when its head perked and jutted its body deeper into the ravine.

The moment Lou’s head jerked, Novus was already springing into action. At a spot between Lou and the deeper ravine areas, an object drifted from Novus' hand into the air. The object looked like pink cotton candy but was much more powerful and only edible to people with particular tastes.

In Angrean terms, it was called Candy Spider Silk and tasted overly sweet.

However, Novus was interested in its practical application.

The Candy Spider Silk sailed in the air and landed on the ground right as Lou tried to flee towards the deeper areas of the ravine. The silk contacted Lou’s moist scales and hardened faster than Lou could escape.

Lou tried to writhe out as its body finally stopped dashing, and its speed harshly decreased as the tendrils of silk clenched onto its body.

HISS!!!

Novus calmly approached where Lou was violently slithering against the Candy Spider Silk. The silk weighed down the snake enough that it was moving at a snail's pace.

Hisss!

Lou’s head violently jerked at Novus as he got close, but the silky restraint made it difficult for Lou to bite anything, let alone Novus.

Rest in peace, and become my strength.

As Novus’ sword was drawn into the air and sliced at Lou, a final push of strength left its body.

Split.

Suddenly, beneath Novus’ lethal edge, Lou shot out of the Candy Spider Silk and escaped towards the ravine depths.

“Ah!”

Novus glanced at the layer of shed skin still trapped by the rapidly dissolving Candy Spider Silk and blinked.

Of course, it can shed. It's a damn snake!

Now running after the escaping Lou, Novus grumbled about the lesser forms of dragons along the way.

“Get back here!”

 

---

 

“Get. Back. Here!”

Even iron-ranked endurance couldn’t enable Novus to run full-speed for more than a few minutes before feeling a physical strain. But, of course, a little running would hardly push Novus to his limits.

Thankfully, whatever Lou had done to shed its skin had significantly lowered its speed. Soon, Novus caught up with Lou and saw it slip into a hidden den beneath a large boulder. Novus hurriedly brushed away the boulder in a show of strength and was greeted by the defensively slithering Lou and a few peculiar eggs.

Many of the eggs were already withering shells. However, two had recently split open to reveal two half-eaten baby pythons - the result of a long-fled prey. The only remaining snake egg had a weak vibration of mana around it. Should it hatch, it would follow Lou in possessing some form of mana mutation. However, based on the weakening life energy inside the egg, the baby snake wouldn’t last long enough to hatch.

Based on her protective behaviour, Novus guessed it was Lou’s clutch. Unfortunately, things didn't seem to be going well.

Hiss!

But telling any of that to Lou wouldn’t be possible. In her eyes, an enemy had intruded into the den that held her last remaining child.

Hiss! Hiss!

Lou’s scales were discoloured, and she didn’t have a shred of defensive capabilities, but she would still defend this last egg to her last breath. That was the will of a mother.

Sigh.

Novus’ eyes grew dense as he looked at the mother defending its eggs. It took a significant amount of thought before he spoke out.

“I... I can help you and the egg.”

Lou’s eyes remained rooted in defence as she faced Novus.

Novus waited a moment, unsure if Lou could understand him enough to realize he wanted to help. He tried more flowery words, but a threatening snap of Lou’s fangs caused Novus to restrain himself.

It wasn’t until the remaining egg shook that Lou's attention drew away from Novus. Lou’s flickering tongue licked outside the egg as it shook. Unfortunately, the shaking wasn’t a prosperous sign. With each shake, the life inside the egg lost a good portion of its limited strength and seemed unable to break through the shell.

Novus spoke to Lou.

“It’s dying.”

Finally, Lou looked towards Novus, then back to the egg. With what little intelligence Lou possessed, it understood its child was dying. But, it refused to let the human near her egg.

Suddenly, Lou slithered, wrapped around her last egg, and the discoloured scales on Lou’s body began to glow. The mana around Lou flickered and gathered along her scales like fireflies. Soon, the fireflies became a torrent of mana that wrapped around Lou and her egg.

At first, Novus thought it was another hallucination, but it became clear to Novus that starting with Lou’s tail, Lou’s body was disappearing into the pure mana torrent.

Is it really...?

Novus recognized the ability and guessed it was the mystery ability from Lou's status window. It was as powerful as it was pitiful. Novus had only seen the abilitiy once, but it left such a deep memory that he wouldn’t ever forget it.

It was a unique ability called Renewal Sacrifice.

Novus watched as Lou curled tighter around her egg. Particularly eye-catching against the ravine wall's darkness, the ambient mana flow into the egg was lighting up Novus’ eyes.

At this moment, Novus would have to kill Lou quickly if he wanted to gain the appropriate rewards from the system. A unique monster would surely drop something that would propel Novus to greater power, and any greedy player wouldn’t hesitate to slash their sword when the mother python was at its weakest point.

However, Novus couldn’t do it.

Memories flooded in against Novus’ will that caused the grip on his sword to loosen. A little girl holding up an injured baby animal, showing it with concern to her older brother. A mother's warm gaze as it let the recovered creature back into the forest.

As if noticing Novus' lost intention, Lou’s body faded faster as the quivering of the lone egg intensified.

Hiss.

A final hiss escaped into the air as both of Lou’s heads dissolved.

Pew!

At Mino’s excited cry, the last of the ambient mana fused into the egg, and a glow that forced Novus to shield his eyes happened simultaneously.

Crack!

When Novus looked again, the glittering python egg had a crack the size of a fingernail’s width. Within moments, that crack widened, and the head of a baby python ventured outside of the egg.

Novus extended his hand out of an instinct he didn’t realize he still possessed.

The baby python’s head poked out of the shell and smelt the air using a tiny, forked tongue. Then, the baby python slithered out onto Novus’ hand and curled into a ball, having exhausted the last of its remaining strength.

It really just climbed right onto my hand.

Novus brought the baby snake closer and attempted to read its status window.

Ding!

The status window didn’t pop up as expected, but Novus read the message that came in its stead.

That’s a first.

Novus pondered while he inspected the baby python.

Pale blue scales showed that the python’s final scale colour would likely be a deeper blue. The python didn’t inherit its mother’s double-headed feature, but Novus found something equally interesting.

Wings.

They were tiny, delicate wings, likely unable to hold any weight, but they were wings, nonetheless.

Unfortunately, the baby python would never be able to use them.

Lou's mana was keeping its health going, but now it’s disappearing.

The glowing shell was losing its lustre at the same rate that Novus sensed the python losing its remaining strength. Soon, its tiny heart would cease to beat, and its life would peacefully end before it had ever really begun.

As he looked at the python, Novus’ eyes shined with a complicated gaze. As if sensing his watching eyes, the baby python revealed white eyes that blinked once at Novus before shutting.

Novus’ brows furrowed, and the last shred of caution in his heart caved away as he called out to Solace in his mind.

Solace, this creature will be another Soul Partner.

Solace’s monotone voice echoed in Novus' mind with a reminder.

《 The player, Novus, only has two remaining spots for a Soul Partner. Would you like to make this creature a Soul Partner? 》

However, Novus’ brows relaxed. He had already branded his decision into his heart.

Do it.

Solace accepted Novus’ response and prompted his following action.

《 To activate the Soul Partner Ritual, please create a link to the creature. 》

Novus bit the skin of his free hand, and a drop of blood oozed out of his thumb. The drop of blood wasn’t ordinary. Numerous glittering lights and intersecting lines glowed within as Novus dropped it onto the baby python’s head. This was soul power-infused blood from Novus' mana core area and would generally take years to replenish naturally.

The blood landed on the python with a light impact and began to run alongside its immature scales. Suddenly, the blood let out a low hum as it seeped into the creature.

Heat flowed through Novus’ body as he felt something within him activate. At the same time, the baby python in Novus’ hand squirmed against the sudden heat encompassing its body and slithered into Novus’ chest armour.

The squirming was soft and uncomfortably ticklish. However, Novus hardly noticed it as he felt his consciousness slipping away.

Pew!

Mino’s shout echoed as Solace’s voice battled against the last shred of Novus’ remaining consciousness.

《 Soul Partner Ritual initiated. 》