Chapter 159: Tempest

"Wait!! Is that an S-Rank Mount?!!" Denise yelled in shock, his hands gripping his sword hilt tightly.

​"Can you stop yelling?" Asher flew downward, hovering directly before the massive Harpy Eagle, and calmly placed his palm against the creature’s broad beak.

​"He is the fastest thing we have now... We need to leave the forest before more things attack us," he said, turning his gaze toward the surrounding treeline. Due to the Eagle’s explosive arrival, he could see the distant, heavy branches already starting to twitch and shift.

​"Wow, what’s its name?" Marianne asked, descending gently toward him with her glowing red sword held at her side.

​"I don’t refer to my things as ’it’... As for his name." Asher went silent, while Marianne stared at him with a confused expression.

​’Your things? Weird,’ she thought, eyeing his cold demeanor.

​"Tempest. From now on, that is your name." Asher named him with a small, rare smile, while the colossal Harpy Eagle blinked its golden eyes in clear understanding.

​{Name: Tempest.}

​{Rank: S-Rank.}

​{Species: Harpy Eagle.}

​{Agility: 200,000.}

​{Energy: 300,000.}

​{Defense: 100,000.}

​{Health Points: 500,000.}

​{Physical Attack: 150,000.}

​{Magical Attack: 150,000.}

​{Skills: [Stealth]. [Talon Clutch]. [Apex Screech]. [Predator Vision]. [Feather Shield]. [Macabre Feast]. [Sonic Flight].}

​"I am confused, how is he faster than us? As an SSS-RANK, my Agility stats are all 600,000, mainly because I am of the warrior class, attuned with light elements... My Agility is also that high because of my energy purity." Marianne said, crossing her arms as she rationalized her standing.

​’She seems so proud of her Agility stats, when Viper is a hundred thousand points above hers... Seems those with rare Physiques do have far more of an advantage. At this stage, any of my personal knights could easily match her,’ Asher thought silently, analyzing her numbers without a word.

​"Why are you staring? Speechless, right?"

​"Not at all, just wondering if you’re really this stupid," he said bluntly. He glided upward, landing gracefully atop Tempest’s head, sitting down and resting one arm over his raised knee as he stared at them:

"You--"

​"--Tempest has a passive ability that boosts his agility and flight speed by 500%... Although at my absolute fastest speed, I am still faster than him, but using him saves me the trouble of wasting my own energy." He explained smoothly.

​"Wait! Even with Tempest’s boosted speed, you’re still faster?!" Marianne and Denise were completely stunned, their eyes wide.

​A 500% increase on an S-Rank mount’s base stat would push that ability’s calculated speed to one million. For Asher to claim he was faster meant his own Agility stat was well above one million—maybe even hovering near two million.

​’My precious stats, why do they sound so useless now?’ Marianne thought, her proud mood instantly dropping to the floor.

​"Tempest, fastest speed. Locate a way out."

​The giant Eagle gave a low, resonant nod and spread his massive wings. Asher blinked as a transparent, glowing barrier descended from Tempest’s three-meter-tall feathered crest right behind his head, locking into place around him to form an airtight protective shield against the violent wind shear and potential incoming attacks.

​’Wow, impressive.’ Asher thought, pleasantly surprised as he tested the shield with his energy.

​’If I eventually advance Tempest to SSS-RANK, how big will he get, and how terrifyingly powerful will his abilities become?’ a subtle, dark smile formed on his lips at the prospect.

​WHOOSH!!

​The Eagle surged into the air, flapping his heavy wings vigorously and unleashing a tempestuous gust that sent crushed leaves and entire young trees flying backward.

​"Guild Leader!! What about us?!!" Denise yelled, raising his gauntlets to cover his face from the blinding dust storm and fierce gale.

​"How the hell would I—"

​Marianne froze mid-sentence as massive, razor-sharp talons shot down toward her. Before she could react or raise her blade, Tempest scooped both her and Denise up in his colossal claws and blasted forward through the forest canopy at incredible speed, instantly shattering the sound barrier with an explosive sonic boom.

​{Sonic Flight - Activated.}

​"AHHHHHHH!!!!"

​Both she and Denise screamed in pure horror, disbelief, and shock as Tempest shot like a white missile through the dense forest, weaving, banking, and maneuvering smoothly from side to side to dodge the towering trunks blocking their path.

​Asher sat comfortably inside the crest’s windproof barrier, completely ignoring the two SSS-Rank screaming below him as his gaze focused inward.

​’System, is there a way to advance Tempest? I can’t leave him stuck at S-Rank.’ He inquired mentally.

​{There are two ways, Master.}

​’Two? Come on, tell me.’

​{One: Feed him the Heart of Special and Primordial stage Demons.}

​{Two: Search for Supreme-Tier Herbs or Treasures and feed them to the Mount.}

​’Wait!! Did you just say Supreme-Tier?!! Are there herbs and treasures that exist above the Divine-Tier?!!!’ Asher yelled inwardly in shock, his black eyes opening wide.

​{.....}

​’You just exposed a massive tier above the known system limit, and now you’re keeping quiet... Alright, how can I unlock more information regarding this?’

​{With each wife Master cures, the System upgrades.}

​’You are only ever thinking about my wives! Don’t tell me you are after them!!’

​{....}

​Before Asher could yell at the system interface again, a flicker of movement caught the corner of his vision. He quickly turned his head, looking over his shoulder at a massive, ancient tree Tempest had just zipped past.

​’Was I seeing things, or did that tree just have eyes?’ he thought. Driven by dark curiosity, he brought up the blue system screen and scanned a colossal tree looming directly ahead of their flight path.

​{Name: Abomination Tree.}

​{Rank: SS-Rank.}

​{Species: Tree.}

​{Class: Normal Boss.}

​{Agility: 0.}

​{Energy: 0.}

​{Defense: 5,000,000.}

​{Health Points: 5,000,000.}

​{Physical Attack: 500,000.}

​{Magical Attack: 0.}

​{Skills: [First Stage]: Tentacles: Uses its branches and vines as tentacles to attack and suck the life force directly from any target caught. Immune to Magical Attacks.}

​{Note: Abomination Trees instantly wake up when touched.}

​"....?!"

​Asher blinked, turning his gaze rapidly across the sprawling forest horizon. Every single ancient tree lining the floor shared the exact same terrifying stats and hidden boss classification. If they all woke up simultaneously and lashed out with millions of life-draining tentacles, would anyone trapped on the ground even stand a sliver of a chance?