The Periphery of the Rotten Forest
Two days later.
Qin Fu casually flung the poisonous snake he had just killed into the air.
A massive shadow swept overhead, and the viper vanished in an instant.
"Coo! Gollak! Stop playing around, it's time to move!"
The moment he called out, the enormous shadow dove from the sky. Its bones crackled as its gigantic form rapidly shrank, landing neatly on Qin Fu's shoulder.
Qin Fu looked at the cooing creature with clear satisfaction.
After two days of training, Gollak's attributes and skills had transformed completely.
Name: Night Owl Gollak (Young)Health: 100%Mana: 110Strength: 6Agility: 7Stamina: 5Intelligence: 11Charm: 1Luck: 1
Skill 1: Divine Bird Slam (Active) – When activated, Gollak's movement speed increases by 102%, consuming 10 mana per minute.
Skill 2: Dream Eating (Active) – Gollak can devour the target's dream and store it. It can then consume 50% mana to forcibly pull the target into that dream when encountered.
Skill 3: Size Control (Active) – Empowered by the Void, Gollak can freely alter its body size. The maximum scale depends on its stamina attribute.
"Not bad," Qin Fu murmured. "The effects of the Void's power are far beyond what I expected."
He glanced at his quest timer and sighed. "Better hurry. Once the story moves into the second arc, catching the prince of St. Ley will be a nightmare."
He lifted a foot and teleported forward.
At that instant, Gollak's expression twisted into a feral grimace. Its talons clamped onto Qin Fu's shoulder, almost tearing through his [New Technique Robe]. Only the robe's quality saved it from being shredded.
Before nightfall, Qin Fu finally arrived at Baiye Village.
Gollak's eyes had turned into dizzy spirals, its tongue lolling out as it hung limply on his shoulder. Clearly dead—well, not dead, but unconscious for quite some time.
Qin Fu ignored the pitiful bird and walked into the village.
At the entrance, several elderly women eyed him curiously. After all, with his unusually high charm stat, it was difficult for anyone to feel hostile toward him.
"This way!"
A wiry old man stepped forward, a long smoking pipe in his mouth.
"You're the assassin sent by the League of Assassins, aren't you? Come with me."
A short while later, Qin Fu sat inside the man's home, glancing uneasily out the window at the watching villagers.
The village chief puffed silently on his pipe. After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"You should go back. The dragon isn't something you can handle."
"With that small body of yours, you'd barely fill its teeth. Go tell your League to send someone stronger."
He stood, muttering, "Always sending people to die for nothing… I'll never understand what they're thinking."
Just as the old man turned to leave, Qin Fu raised an eyebrow. Giving up on a main quest was not an option.
He sighed softly.
A wave of killing intent exploded outward.
The village chief spun on his heel, two kitchen knives appearing in his hands as if by magic. The air thickened with tension. Even the villagers outside struggled to breathe.
Qin Fu smiled faintly.
"Village chief, what do you think? Is this enough strength to convince you?"
"I'm not exactly weak."
Gollak stirred awake the moment Qin Fu's aura surged. Its eyes sharpened, locking onto the village chief. One command, and it would strike without hesitation.
Seeing this, the village chief's face paled. He quickly raised a trembling hand.
"Enough. Put away that aura, you are frightening my villagers."
The village chief watched Qin Fu calm himself, wiping beads of sweat from his brow as his fear ebbed.
"Times are tough for the young these days.""You will stay at my house tonight. Tomorrow morning I will take you up to Juling Mountain.""Kill the dragon and leave as soon as you can."
The chief's impatience suited Qin Fu well. He smiled and nodded. He had already completed one task anyway.
After a short while the village chief tidied the room. Qin Fu glanced around, surprised to find a neat, simple chamber prepared for him. He had expected to sleep on a bench. To his relief he had a proper bed.
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he sighed.
"No wonder Su Xiao prefers force. It is the easiest way to resolve things. Hard bargaining is tiring. Use strength and settle it."
Simple, fast, effective.
He took out his notebook and wrote down the ideas the day had sparked. Notes on his new spell pattern, observations about the energetic properties of void power and the possibility of integrating it into living tissue. He made a list of instruments he needed. Without gear to detect elements and record data, many experiments would be impossible.
He closed the notebook and looked at Gugu. The void in the little owl's body had reached a safe limit. Forcibly injecting more carried an irreversible risk. Void energy and dream energy did not mix cleanly. He needed a device to capture and regulate those energies.
"Gugu," he said, "you do not need to stand guard tonight. Go into the village. If someone dreams, you may eat their dream."
"Remember to keep it proportional. Do not kill."
Gugu's eyes brightened at the permission. He stretched his small wings and thumped his breast proudly as if to show he understood measured restraint. Then he flapped into the air and shot away.
Qin Fu watched his back with a soft smile. "Fine. Go then."
He settled cross legged on the bed and began his evening meditation.
The next morning the sky was only just brightening when a soft fluttering woke him. He opened his eyes and found Gugu sprawled on the table, round and groggy. Qin Fu walked over and poked him. Gugu belched loudly, then floated up like a half deflated balloon, wobbling through the room.
Qin Fu narrowed his eyes and released a thread of silver gray void energy to hold Gugu steady in midair. The bird blinked big innocent eyes at him.
"I told you to be careful about what you eat. Look at you. You flap like a drum and make a racket."
"If a dragon shows up I will throw you off and hold you while I try to kill it."
Footsteps sounded outside. Qin Fu withdrew the hold. With a soft thud Gugu dropped to the floor and bounced twice before landing on Qin Fu's shoulder.
A voice called from the door. "Dong dong dong. Mr Assassin, are you awake?"
Qin Fu shouldered Gugu, opened the door, and smiled at the village chief. "I am ready. Let us go."
The chief studied the composed young man with the round bird on his shoulder and muttered to himself. Can this one really handle a dragon?