Chapter 138: Working up from the ground

“Chirp?”

Nyx forced himself out of his bond mark when he felt the strange chaos of emotions his master was feeling at the moment.

He looked around himself and found them in a familiar place that he had helped design himself.

It seems like he just passed through the first test area and experienced something unexpected.

“Chirp…”

When he redesigned the first test parameters, he limited himself from going overboard with his creativity.

The system is now able to test people at multiple levels of their minds and can handle it, but it is also dangerous.

Just like this time, stubborn people like his master could push themselves to an unhealthy limit.

The headmaster had expected a situation like this, so she set a safety mechanism to prevent anything too bad from happening.

-Ooooooooooooooooooong.

Through a special healing process, his mind was being mended by the system right now.

It would interfere with his surface consciousness and guide it through the process of repairing itself.

This would happen on a level that’s much lower than what can harm him as a limited human being.

“Chirp.”

The chances of this mechanism activating were extremely low already but here was his dumb master, flat on the ground, his mind a total mess.

“Ugh…”

There was no need for him to push himself so far. He would have passed the test even if he had stopped at level one.

But no.

What do we do? We risk our lives and we endanger ourselves once again.

-Zuuup!

“Haaaa… haaaa…”

Like he predicted, as if a surge of electricity jolted him awake, he sat back up with airless lungs and utter confusion in his eyes.

Gasping, he looked around himself, finding Nyx looking back at him with a disappointed look in his sharp eyes.

There was a strange fear in the red eyes that had not even shaken in the presence of divinities… but they were utterly scared right now.

“Nyx…”

The moment he saw his little friend, he jumped forward and grabbed him.

“I’m sorry…”

Tears streamed down his eyes as he continued hugging the little creature, almost making him uncomfortable.

“Chirp!”

After a moment of doing that, he called out his other two partners as well.

“Thank you… thanks, I’m sorry.”

He didn’t seem to be in the right state of mind right now.

“I’m…”

“Chirp!”

His crying was a little too excessive. After one point, Nyx couldn’t take it anymore and got out of his master’s grasp.

He then jumped onto his head and started hitting his master’s forehead with his beak.

This time, it wasn’t the gentle tap that he used to wake him from a deep sleep, but something that expressed his discomfort towards his actions right now.

He was not sure why exactly his master was behaving like this but whatever the case may be, none of them liked what was happening to him right now.

“Chirp!”

Blood flowed out of the mark that was hit with a great force.

It may have brought the boy to his senses but it also made him a little dizzy for a moment.

“Meow…”

Felix stood up on her hind legs and licked the area with blood coming out of it while Art, understanding the situation, used her flames to precisely seal off the wound.

All three of them loved their master.

Seeing him stand strong even in the face of adversity was always something they admired.

And they were smart enough to understand that this right here was their master’s break point.

[ “It’s alright, Sammy.” ]

Art was always in a small lizard form but she took on a bigger form to hug her master.

{ “We know it’s difficult, master. We know…” }

Felix hugged him as well.

His tears had finally stopped at this point, but the two creatures were still looking, glaring at the third one.

{ “Come here.” }

Felix wasn’t going to entertain his behavior when her master needed them. So, right as she shot the deadly glare at him, Nyx came running and hugged his master’s leg reluctantly.

He felt very awkward doing that. It almost seemed like the little creature was blushing right now.

But, the warmth of all three of his beast friends spread across his body.

The salamander hugging him from behind, the big kitten in his arms, and the little phoenix on his legs… it was a sight that overwhelmed him tremendously.

Seeing them being so caring when he was always pushing himself towards something that hurt them so much was a life lesson for him.

This wasn’t just an interaction between a master and a beast but friends, family, and companions that meant more to him than any bond in this world.

“I love you… all of you.”

He hugged them all back, a gentle smile present on his face.

“I promise I’ll try to save myself from trouble a little more.”

It was a difficult promise to keep knowing the kind of person he was, but his words alone meant a lot more to these creatures than the reality.

They were well aware that if there’s a moment when he must sacrifice himself, then he would do it without hesitation.

He had taken upon himself the safety of the masses since he still did not accept the fact that he was given a second chance above all the other people on that island.

The previous test certainly did something to him and his so-called ‘hero’ complex. But, that was a good thing.

“I know I’ll have to be better with you all so just let me know if you want anything from me.”

Now that they were done with the first test and the stage for the second test was present right before them, they needed to go on with it.

“Chirp~.”

“Mii~.”

“Meow~!”

The three of them had many complaints about a lot of things. That’s exactly what they told him. But those things could wait for the time being.

“Then let’s go play in this game zone.”

Now that they are done mourning what wasn’t even lost, they needed to get on with the test.

And the room was already filled with all kinds of new test machines that he knew the loopholes of, so instead of focusing on them, his eyes went first to the newer machines…