Chapter 655 - 546: Partner, Natural Covenant

Chapter 655: Chapter 546: Partner, Natural Covenant

Then there were its unique talents—traveling through the Shadow, briefly stepping into the Spirit Realm, and emitting Spiritual Suppression—which offered uncanny tactical depth. Plus, its potential natural resistance to certain Energy Barriers and harsh environments...

For Roland, both emotionally and practically, there was no choice more perfect than the Black Wind before him.

At this thought, he took a deep breath to quell the surge of emotion within him. He patted Black Wind’s sturdy neck, and a genuine, wistful smile finally graced his lips.

"Although your appearance has changed a lot..."

His voice was low and clear, meant for Black Wind as much as for Holland and Ellis at his side.

"But welcome back, Black Wind. With you as my partner, the road ahead... will surely be much smoother."

Seeing that Roland’s attitude toward it hadn’t changed in the slightest—that he still treated it with the same familiar intimacy and trust—the ghostly flames in Black Wind’s eyes flared brightly. Its previous anxiety and sense of being wronged vanished in an instant.

It let out a joyful snort and affectionately nuzzled its massive head against Roland’s arm, conveying feelings of relief and delight.

Holland and Ellis took in the scene from the side, sharing a look. The expressions on their faces were priceless.

Holland’s jaw dropped into a wide, toothy grin. He silently mouthed the word "Wow," his brown eyes wide with a look that clearly said, ’Is that even possible?’

He then nudged Ellis with his elbow and lowered his voice, but given his booming vocal cords, his attempt at whispering was still perfectly audible.

"Would you look at that, Ellis? The Chief isn’t just a hell of a fighter; his ’Beast Taming’ skills... tsk tsk. He managed to tame a legendary creature like a Nightmare and turn it into a house-trained puppy. And he gave it such a... plain name? ’Black Wind’? Hahaha!"

He shook his head in amusement as he spoke.

He clearly found the stark contrast between the name and the Nightmare’s imposing, otherworldly appearance to be hilarious.

Ellis was less outwardly expressive than Holland, but his gray-blue eyes also glinted with intense interest and contemplation.

"Holland, I don’t think ’taming’ is the key here. Didn’t you notice? Their interaction... it’s not that of a master and a mount. It’s more like... partners, reunited after a long time."

"This completely subverts the description of a Nightmare’s basic intelligence in the *Extraterritorial Creatures General Theory - Lower Plane Volume*..."

Holland didn’t seem to care much for the specifics, just shrugging his shoulders.

"Who cares how it changed? As long as it’s on our side, that’s all that matters! Having a big fella that can fight, run, and—SWOOSH—zip through shadows is going to make this trip to the Broken Star Sea a lot more interesting! Don’t you think, Ellis?"

Ellis shot Holland a look, a bit exasperated by his pragmatic, results-over-reasons attitude. Still, he ultimately gave a small nod, his gaze returning to Roland and Black Wind as he murmured to himself.

’It’s true... from a tactical and survival standpoint, this is without a doubt a massive asset.’

Roland didn’t respond to Holland and Ellis’s quiet conversation. His gaze drifted past the edge of the stone platform toward the colossal shadow in the distance, still churning up the sea and sky.

In his line of sight, the Legendary Creature known as the Reef-Backed Dragon Turtle was slowly turning toward the Deep Sea.

Each movement of its mountainous limbs triggered tsunamis and earthquakes that, though diminishing in scale, remained terrifying.

Murky waves radiated outward from its body. The formations on its back, once mistaken for the rocks of the Screaming Cape, now bobbed in the water, revealing the clearer, ancient-looking patterns of its carapace.

Its enormous head would occasionally lift, exhaling a breath of steam and ancient air that produced a low rumble, like a primeval horn.

Then it would slowly submerge again, continuing its seemingly clumsy but terrifyingly powerful advance. It gradually moved away from the coastline, leaving behind a devastated bay and raging waves that were only just beginning to subside.

As Roland stared at the receding silhouette—a veritable moving natural disaster—a question quietly surfaced in his mind.

’This Dragon Turtle...’

’Is it the same one I encountered back in the Wailing Gorge? The one that caused me to end up stranded in the Land of Mist?’

’The landscapes of the two locations are strikingly similar, and the catalyst for its awakening in both cases was a fierce Extraordinary conflict...’

’Is this merely a coincidence, or does it hint at some pattern I don’t yet understand about the distribution or habits of these ancient creatures?’

Just as he was lost in thought, Holland’s gruff suggestion pulled him back to reality.

"Chief! This rock platform seems sturdy enough for the time being, and that big fella down there is long gone. How about we catch our breath here, get ourselves sorted, and figure out how to get down once everything outside has completely settled? What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Ellis immediately nodded in agreement and, with little regard for his composure, plopped right down on the ground.

He leaned back against the cold rock wall and let out a long, deep breath.

For a Mage who wasn’t known for his physical stamina, continuously Casting spells to escape the earth-shattering, perilous environment had taken a serious toll. His face was still pale.

Roland, of course, had no objection.

He walked over to Holland and got a few pieces of hardtack, then led Black Wind by its cool, shadowy mane to a relatively quiet, sheltered corner of the platform.

He gently patted Black Wind’s solid frame, motioning for it to lie down.

Black Wind obediently lowered itself to the ground, its ghostly, fiery eyes watching him quietly.

Just as he had always done back when it was an ordinary horse, Roland sat on the ground beside it, broke the hardtack into smaller pieces, and held them out to Black Wind’s muzzle.