"I have two water-type pet beasts, one at Tier 6, and one at Tier 5," Asher said with a smile. Freya and Felter once again fell silent.
'…No way?'
The two looked at Asher with an expression that carried a hint of reproach and disbelief.
Asher: "It's not like you don't know."
Asher said this while looking at Freya.
Unlike Felter, who had reunited with Asher after a long time, Freya had seen all of Asher's pet beasts and had a rough idea of them.
"Oh oh oh!", After hearing Asher's words, Freya's face suddenly lit up with a look of realization, "If you hadn't said it, I would've forgotten it completely!"
Freya recalled the little white snake and the little jellyfish she had seen before.
'Hmm…', Freya suddenly realized something again.
Clearly, when they had just entered the folded space, Asher had released the little jellyfish, just yesterday when they were roasting rabbits on the island.
But afterward...
Ever since they arrived on this island, Freya had only seen a few of Asher's pet beasts during breakfast today, and the little jellyfish wasn't among them.
'Is it because the little jellyfish doesn't need to eat?'
'Maybe not.'
Freya didn't think so.
She once again remembered what Asher had said yesterday, that the box jellyfish might have chased them because of him.
At the time, Freya didn't think much of it or realize anything.
But now...
Asher smiled and nodded at Freya.
Freya revealed a pained expression, like she had a toothache.
Hiss—
Why did she feel like Asher's awesomeness had exceeded her imagination?
While Felter was still in shock, Freya spoke, "Alright."
"Then we'll leave it to you."
Asher made an OK gesture.
Throughout Asher and their discussion, the unicorn and the pony didn't voice any opinion or suggestion.
They simply watched the discussion quietly.
Once the decision was made, and Asher looked over, the unicorn blinked its large, dreamy, watery eyes at Asher.
"How deep is the place where the Mirage Pearl is stored, is there a specific location?", Asher asked with a smile.
His tone was very serious.
"You've seen our situation too."
"The current situation is unexpected. We didn't bring any diving equipment. Even with the help of water-type pet beasts, the depth and duration of diving will still be limited."
["Please rest assured, Pioneer."]
["The Mirage Pearl is not far from the island."]
["Once you approach the Mirage Pearl, a special bubble membrane will envelop you, ensuring your safety."]
Asher nodded: "That sounds pretty thoughtful."
But no matter how considerate the Mirage Pearl's operation seemed, that didn't stop Asher from eyeing it with fierce ambition, already planning to turn it into food for the little jellyfish.
Led by the unicorn, the group arrived at the center of the island.
Maybe to make diving convenient, there was a small magical lake here.
'In an oceanic environment, this should be considered a tiny inland sea?', Asher couldn't help but think.
"Be careful," At the side, Freya didn't realize Asher's attention was drifting into the clouds; she was still carefully reminding him.
She felt like the unicorn wasn't anything good.
Freya still looked like she was itching to take Asher's place and go herself.
Asher waved his hand.
He really had a plan, trust him.
Freya and Asher locked eyes, their encrypted channel activated again.
In the end, Freya still agreed to let Asher proceed with his plan.
"Trust me," Asher smiled and released the little white snake; none of the other pet beasts were released.
The unicorn, unaware that Asher had another water-type pet beast, didn't notice anything wrong.
And Felter, whose brain still wasn't on the same wavelength as Asher and the others, finally realized something seemed off at this moment?
Didn't Asher have another water-type pet beast?
Why didn't he release it too?
Freya glanced at Felter and gave him a warning look, 'Shut up, got it?'
Felter: "…"
Actually, he didn't quite get it.
But Felter still chose to quietly shut his mouth.
Since he couldn't help, he might as well not make trouble at this point.
He watched as Asher placed his backpack on the ground, took off his excess clothing and shoes, wore only a tight-fitting undershirt, the little white snake wrapped around his waist, and leapt down.
Felter couldn't help but start speculating wildly.
'From Asher and Freya's behavior, it seems like they are guarding against something?'
'But what can they be guarding against?'
Felter's gaze involuntarily landed on the nearby unicorn.
Unicorn: *Quiet, alone and beautiful*
The unicorn lay quietly on the grass, staring unblinkingly at the calm water surface, giving off a soothing feeling just from looking at it.
Felter: *Suspecting the unicorn, suspecting himself, suspecting life*
But don't ask. Ask, and he'll tell you, he doesn't doubt Asher.
Seeing Felter's confused state, Freya smacked her lips a few times in her heart.
Now she could understand what Asher said earlier.
If they'd really tried to discuss with Felter in advance… sigh!
Looks like the only reliable teammate she had was Asher.
———
Asher took a deep breath and plunged into the sea.
The situation… was slightly better than he had imagined.
Faintly, Asher saw a black shadow on the sea floor.
'The distance…', Asher squinted.
Because it was underwater, visual estimation wasn't accurate, and his sight was affected.
Asher took two more breaths, then dived hard. Directly rushed toward the shadow.
Just as he was about to run out of breath, there was still a bit of distance to go.
Asher decisively summoned his pet beasts, Little White Snake & Little Jellyfish.
Water sphere!
Bubble breath!
Helping Asher relieve some pressure.
The little white snake tightly coiled around Asher's waist with its tail, and the little jellyfish also waved its long tentacles, wrapping around Asher forcefully.
Then they exerted strength together.
Flinging Asher toward that black shadowy area.
Asher: "!"
The moment he neared the shadow.
A flash passed before Asher's eyes.
A special pink bubble wrapped Asher, and he felt like he had crossed through a folded space again, his entire body appearing in a completely different space.
"This really is…", Asher's feet didn't touch solid ground.
But the pink bubble enclosing him and the two pet beasts brought them into a completely pink area that seemed like the sea, and yet not.
Asher rubbed his forehead, "I knew those things had bad intentions."
As he passed through that sensory space layer, a flood of images appeared in Asher's mind.
It was like a huge story archive was compressed and stuffed into his brain, leaving him dizzy with only dizziness.
Fortunately, Asher was already used to intense mental activity. He quickly absorbed the contents of the compression archive and fully decoded them.
"Sea mirage, box jellyfish, Mirage Pearl, and aberration," Asher clicked his tongue. He hadn't expected to encounter something like this.
His gaze toward this fantastical pink-weapon-filled space grew strange.
"Little Jellyfish," Asher waved at the little jellyfish. The basketball-sized jellyfish waved its long tentacles and floated to Asher's side.
"Gulu?"
The little jellyfish let out a puzzled call.
Its tentacles curved like a question mark.
'What's wrong with the beastmaster?'
The little jellyfish was confused.
"Do you have a gut feeling pulling you forward?", Asher smiled as he looked at the little jellyfish.
The little jellyfish's body quivered like jelly, then wiggled its tentacles.
"Gulu!"
'Yes!'
Asher: "Just follow your instincts."
As he said that, Asher took a step back, giving the lead position to the little jellyfish.
Clearly, he was letting the little jellyfish lead the way.
Little Jellyfish: "!"
The little jellyfish wiggled its tentacles again, looking a bit worried.
But seeing Asher's trust, it still took action.
Though the little jellyfish had never been here before, it acted like it knew exactly how to navigate this foggy space, charging straight ahead without stopping.
Then… an area without pink mist appeared before Asher and his companions.
"That should be the Mirage Pearl, right?", Asher immediately spotted that soft pink, basketball-sized, glowing orb.
Mirage Pearl.
Asher instantly connected it with what they were searching for.
The moment the little jellyfish saw the Mirage Pearl, its eight tentacles sprang up as if electrified.
This was one way the little jellyfish expressed emotion.
Asher poked the little jellyfish, "Go on, do what you want."
What? Bring the Mirage Pearl back?
Sorry, Asher never planned to do that in the first place.
As for whether the unicorn above would notice anything suspicious…
Sigh, it already wanted their lives, so Asher didn't think he was kind enough to care anymore.
And that exchange of glances before coming down…
Whether it was Freya or Prince, both were highly wary of the unicorn.
Only Felter seemed a bit concerning.
Shouldn't be too big a problem?
Asher also felt a bit lucky, thank goodness it was him who came down. Otherwise, they might have suffered heavy losses in this folded space.
That was a situation he definitely didn't want to see.
Hearing Asher's words, the little jellyfish finally stopped hesitating.
It unhesitatingly floated toward the Mirage Pearl.
Its speed, Asher had only seen it move this fast while hunting.
Though to the little jellyfish, this situation wasn't too different from feeding.
As it neared the Mirage Pearl, the Mirage Pearl seemed equally excited.
Pink-golden mist sprayed from all directions.
And the little jellyfish devoured every bit clean.
Devour.
Nothing refused.
No matter how much pink-golden mist the Mirage Pearl spewed, the little jellyfish consumed it all.
While devouring the mist, the little jellyfish began to change.
Originally, it was a pale blue-white slime-like blob.
After absorbing divine creature energy earlier, its tentacles had become light, gem-like multicolors, and its main body was still a pale blue.
But now, with the endless pink-golden mist, its color turned toward pink-gold.
A light, translucent pink-golden jellyfish cap.
Transparent, gem-like rainbow tentacles.
With faint golden flower-like patterns on its body.
Asher: "…"
'Very girly.'
If he were female, he'd definitely be dazzled by such a jellyfish.
But… Asher rubbed his face and swore he didn't show a disgusted expression.
'It's fine, the pinker the color, the harder the hit.'
Asher nodded, this was an eternal truth.
———
Felter couldn't make sense of it.
He leaned toward his brother, opened his mouth, wanting to ask something.
But after thinking for a long time, he was shocked to realize, he didn't even know where to start asking.
Felter: 'How could it be like this?'
"Bro…", After the shock, Felter gathered his courage to ask again and understand the situation.
At that moment.
The unicorn, which had been lying on the ground, suddenly stood up.
Freya: "!"
Prince: "!"
Prince reached out and pulled the confused Felter behind him.
"Yeager!"
"Big Red! Little Green!"
Flame Dragon Yeager, Lightyear Dragon Knight, and Spring Ivy Velvet surrounded the three of them.
Lightyear Dragon Knight and Spring Ivy Velvet both shot their beast tamer a disdainful look.
'What kind of beastmaster is this!'
'Can't even remember our names!'
But what could they do?
It wasn't just a day or two of their beast tamer being unrelible.
Two Tier 8 pet beasts, one Tier 9 pet beast, guarded the three people behind them, vigilantly staring at the unicorn.
The unicorn's pair of originally beautiful eyes now revealed a furious emotion.
["Impossible!"]
["How could it be?"]
["The Mirage Pearl clearly... the altar clearly..."]
["Cannot approach... unable to approach... approaching would..."]
Freya realized something seemed wrong. She furrowed her brows and glared at the unicorn, "Huh? Why are you being all cryptic here?"
"What altar?"
"Didn't you say we were just retrieving the Mirage Pearl?"
"What exactly are you hiding from us?"
By the end, Freya's voice could be described as furious.
'Damn it!'
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