"CHEE CHEE CHEE~ (Shiny, huh... I guess I can kind of accept this name.)"
"CHEE CHEE CHEE! (But I feel like my name could be a bit more imposing!)"
"MEW~ (You should be content.)"
"MEW MEW~ (Keep talking, and watch the Master change your name to Little Yellow or Little Gold!)"
Silver rolled her eyes at the little snub-nosed monkey.
As Shiayar's earliest Pet Beast, Silver had a rather deep impression of Shiayar's naming abilities.
One should know that the initial names Shiayar suggested for her were lackluster abstract notions like "Prosper," "Big White," and "Pretty Fefe."
In the end, being able to choose a name like "Silver" from a bunch of color-descriptive nouns was the best outcome she could fight for, even if it meant threatening to literally tear down the house.
"CHEE CHEE! (I don't want anything like that!)"
The little snub-nosed monkey nodded in retrospective fear.
It was lucky Big Sis Silver reminded it, or it would have really suffered. It was a member of the rare and powerful Sealed Stone Monkey race; if it really had to carry the name Little Yellow or Little Gold, how could it face anyone in the future?
...
On the other hand, although Shiayar noticed, he didn't pay much attention to the two little creatures whispering about him behind his back.
He was a transmigrator, after all. It was quite normal for his naming aesthetic to be ahead of its time, misunderstood by the people of this world and even his own Pet Beasts. As the saying goes, a genius is half a step ahead of their time, while a madman is a full step ahead. Perhaps this sense of being too lofty to be popular was a unique lament of transmigrators.
Compared to his earlier tension, Shiayar's mood was much more cheerful now.
This was not only because the little snub-nosed monkey's appearance was pleasing to him, just like Silver's, but also because of the new line of text that had just appeared on the light screen in his mind.
[Name: Shiny]
[Species Name: Sealed Stone Monkey (Unnamed Evolved Type)]
[Soul Pact Status: Second Soul Pact (Master-Subordinate Contract: Shiayar Egutt)]
[Combat Level: 11 (1st Order)]
[Species Rank: Low-Level Sovereign]
[Pet Beast Skills: Falling Rocks (Beginner), Flash (Beginner), Spatial Pocket (Beginner)]
First, its Species Rank had jumped from low-level Extraordinary directly up two major levels, skipping the "Commander" rank to reach "Low-Level Sovereign."
And Shiny's Combat Level, befitting the stats of a Low-Level Sovereign, had reached 1st Order upon completion of its evolution.
Of course, these changes were within Shiayar's expectations.
The materials he had Shiny absorb were, on their own, so valuable due to the rarity of the spatial attribute that their total worth could have bought a juvenile of an intermediate Sovereign species.
What's more, Shiayar had spent a considerable portion of the Classless Experience Points awarded for completing stage tasks to raise Shiny's "Nurture" skill to the "Perfection" stage.
Given the Sealed Stone Monkey's state during its infancy, raising any skill proficiency was incredibly difficult. To achieve "Perfection" in "Nurture" was an extremely challenging task, even for the most powerful individuals.
Shiny's elevation in pure rank this time was, therefore, within expectations.
What surprised and delighted Shiayar the most were Shiny's completely transformed skill slots.
The disappearance of "Nurture" was normal. "Falling Rocks" also needn't much mention; the Sealed Stone Monkey species naturally possessed some earth affinity, and most evolved types would learn this somewhat mediocre earth-type skill.
Most important were the rather unassuming skills: "Flash" and "Spatial Pocket."
As Shiayar focused his attention on the names in the skill slots, lines of new information surfaced.
[Spatial Pocket]
[Attribute: Space]
[Rank: High Order]
[Proficiency: Beginner (0/100)]
[Skill Description: Opens a tiny sub-dimension and can extract or store items from the Main Material Plane into this sub-dimension.]
...
[Flash]
[Attribute: Space, Time]
[Rank: High Order]
[Proficiency: Beginner (0/100)]
[Skill Description: Instantaneous movement.]
The functionality of "Spatial Pocket" was easy to understand; it was roughly equivalent to classic devices like the "Storage Ring" and "Spatial Soul Guiding Device" found in web novels from Shiayar's previous world.
Currently, Shiny's "Spatial Pocket" had opened up a micro sub-dimension less than half a cubic meter in size. It was quite obvious that the size of the sub-dimension would increase as Shiny's proficiency with the "Spatial Pocket" skill increased.
As for the other new skill—
"Shiny, try out your newly learned Flash."
"SQUEAK!"
The little snub-nosed monkey, in perfect sync with Shiayar, had already lightly hopped off Shiayar's shoulder and wobbled to the other side of the secret chamber.
Then, in a certain instant.
Shiny's form suddenly vanished from its spot and quickly reappeared three meters away on the other side.
Though similar in appearance to acceleration-based sprinting skills, it was indeed true teleportation.
"I can't throw kunai, but doesn't this skill seem kind of like Flying Thunder God?" Shiayar mused aloud, slightly startled, a wave of delight washing over him.
He could sense that Shiny's "Flash" still had significant limitations.
For example, each Flash could not exceed three meters, had a cooldown period, and required a certain casting lead time, among other things.
But this was merely the effect of the "Beginner" skill proficiency level.
Moreover, "Flash" was undoubtedly a skill with Space and Time attributes.
For Shiayar at that moment, if he wanted to increase his own spatial affinity and enter the "Echo of History," this was the only way.
"Allocate all remaining Classless Experience Points to 'Flash'."
Fortunately, he had saved this last bit of Classless Experience Points.
As for "Spatial Pocket," it was purely an auxiliary skill. Its current half-cubic-meter size was already sufficient for Shiayar's use, so the priority of allocating points to it could naturally be deferred.
[You are about to allocate all 12,103 remaining Classless Experience Points to the skill "Flash." Would you like to confirm?]
"Confirm."
[You have spent 12,103 Classless Experience Points. Your current Classless Experience Pool is 0 points.]
[Shiny's Space-type skill "Flash" proficiency has achieved a breakthrough, upgrading from "Beginner" to "In Control."]
[...upgraded from "In Control" to "Proficient."]
[...upgraded from "Proficient" to "Expert."]
[Shiny's Space-type skill "Flash" is currently at "Expert (8503/10000)" proficiency level.]
[Shiny's Combat Level has increased. Current Combat Level is 23 (Extraordinary Order).]
There were no superfluous special effects.
Shiny, who was exploring the secret chamber trying out its new skill, suddenly paused.
Then, Shiayar felt a weight on his shoulder. The little snub-nosed monkey had crossed the tens of meters separating the ends of the secret room in a single Flash, appearing right beside him.
"SQUEAK SQUEAK!"
Shiny appeared on Shiayar's shoulder, a look of both wonder and disbelief on its face.
"SQUEAK! (Is this the power of deep blue allocation?)"
Shiny had actually heard about its owner's ability to allocate points long ago.
When Shiayar had privately allocated points to Silver in the past, Shiny had been silently watching from within a large stone, green with envy.
After all, at that time it was just a stone. Although Shiayar had allocated "Nurture" to it, it couldn't feel any substantial changes itself.
But today, for the first time, it truly felt the magical power of allocation that Big Sis Silver had described.
For a moment, Shiny recalled the miserable conditions it had witnessed other people's Pet Beasts enduring while training their skills, back when it was staying in Shiayar's soul pet space with him. Each one was sweating profusely, some even training until they were covered in bruises. There was even a bovine Pet Beast that, to train a physical skill called 'Ram,' had to continuously use its head to ram a meter-thick granite block for an entire afternoon. The sight was heartbreaking to hear about and tear-inducing to witness. To think that its own skill proficiency could increase so easily, without laying any foundation or training step-by-step... Compared to those Pet Beasts that had truly shed blood and sweat, its own method of 'cheating' was just—so awesome!
"SQUEAK SQUEAK! (Master, I want more allocation!)"
"Alright." Shiayar said, a trace of a smile playing on his lips as he looked at the excited Shiny. "Although proficiency can be directly elevated, the actual experience of using the skill and mastering its timing will still depend on you to familiarize yourself and gain control."
Because he could clearly sense that...
At the moment Shiny completed the allocation.
The distorted gate on the distant stone platform had completely lost its original feeling of rejection and separation from him.
The spatial affinity requirement for the "Echo of History" had finally been met.