?


    When Eldrian returned to the de, he found Zamia and several other Alicorns rxing under the moon''s light.


    Honestly, if everyone were in their normal Alicorn forms, he wouldn''t have known how to identify Ceph''s mom from the rest. But she and a few others were currently in their elven forms.


    Seeing them all here made it clear that the battle had been won. And, most importantly, there didn''t appear to be too many wounded. Though, Eldrian didn''t know how many hadn''t made it back.


    Ceph, as always, was easy to spot. Every Alicorn, Unicorn, and Pegasus had a coat of white. Some had a hue of silver with some light coloring. But Ceph and his ck coat and green wings stood out like a sore thumb.


    "How did things go?" Eldrian asked, moving to Ceph''s side.


    "We won, at least," Ceph replied, shapeshifting to his elven form as he did.


    His tone made it clear it hadn''t been an overwhelming victory. The mood in the de told the same story. There was no celebration to be had—only mourning.


    "That''s good," Eldrian replied, and as insensitive as it sounded, he had to get going.


    He hade to help, and he did the best he could to that end. But he had other things he had to take care of.


    Virski, the Othrus pup he had adopted, couldn''t be left to his own devices for too long. If it was still around the fort, that is.


    Eldrian also wanted to look into the Artificial crystal; it was bound to be stable andplete by now. Enough that he could at least store it in his inventory instead of in hisb. It was about time he started experimenting with what was capable of it.


    Sure, theb was secure; besides, no one knew what he was hiding in it. But leaving the crystal without more security left Eldrian ill at ease.


    Even if he could make more, the effort and cost were tremendous. Too much for him to bear without some financial assistance. But the problem was that mana crystals weren''t infinite. And for now, Eldrian could only make one Magic Crystal at the cost of many mana crystals.


    ''Right, I also need to go hunting. I did promise Virski some good food...'' The thought of asking to take one of the dead didn''t even cross Eldrian''s mind.


    He nned to go scouting in the Choasnds. Since he could fly, it should be easy to stumble upon something.


    And, since he could fly, Terrors won''t be a problem even at night. Not that Eldrian felt many could be left. Not after the attack on Taurus'' north and now Avgi. Their numbers had to be low now.


    This also meant remaking a path between Taurus and Phallos would be possible. The kingdom had sent around a hundred thousand to support Taurus in the start (this was the army Eldrian hade along with), but that wasn''t near their limit. If they could lend around half a million, the situation would genuinely turn for the better.


    Saying his goodbyes, Eldrian left just as midnight arrived.


    As he took flight, he noted how he was probably in for another scolding. Which prompted him to take a quick catch. He didn''t know how a Vargr would taste; Eldrian didn''t think it would be nice. But it was a bloodline creature. So it met Vriski''s request.


    ''I''ll just buy some beef in Duron, in case. Luckily, they haven''t sustained much damage, so livestock should still exist there. Varan is also a choice if Duron doesn''t have anything, but... Who the heck will sell it to me at midnight?''


    In the end, Eldrian found an inn and bought ten tes of beef stew—one for himself, and nine for the pup.


    —<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Shockingly, Virski loved the Vargr. Apparently, its preference for food wasn''t even remotely simr to a human''s preference. Virski ate not just for sustenance but also growth.


    Eldrian didn''t know this, but to monsters, the world was a deadly ce. A peaceful environment where everyone could live peacefully and grow at their own pace was rare.


    Avgi was one of the few ces where this was possible. Such locations were fewer than there were empires on Gaia. That is to say, fewer than a hundred.


    To all the monsters in the outside world, they had to hunt and kill to grow stronger. The process was simr to how yers and, indeed, NPCs gained XP from their kills. Monsters simply gained more from eating their prey than the simple act of ying.


    Humans, sadly, couldn''t gain much from eating monsters. Some foods gave temporary buffs; the most exquisite might even provide permanent increases in stats. But that was a far cry from what monsters gained when eating one another.


    All this to say, Virski loved the Vargr, even though it reeked like the gamey-est meat Eldrian had ever smelled.


    The smell was so strong Eldrian was utterly put off from his own food. But that wasn''t something new. Luckily, he had eaten IRL after buying the beef stew in Duron. So his scolding wouldn''t be too bad.


    "Right, so..." Once Virski was done devouring nearly the entire Vargr, which was double his size. A feat that left Eldrian momentarily stunned. Eldrian had to ask what they were going to do going forward.


    "I can tame you, or we can continue as is, but..." Eldrian said. Honestly, he didn''t know what to do. To tame a Mythical grade creature was no easy task. Boran had rified as much.


    Sadly, Virski wasn''t great atmunication. Eldrian wasn''t sure whether it was the simple fact that he was still a pup or if Orthii were simply dumber than Alicorns.


    It was likely thetter, seeing as Eldrian had met Ceph when he, too, had been Tier 3. Yet Ceph had beenpletely capable of forming a mental link. To allow Virski any chance of talking, Eldrian had to form the link for the pup.


    Now, that didn''t mean the pup was dumb. It was capable of speech. Just not fluent. It was certainly smart enough to understand speech (once it learned to) and tomunicate. It would undoubtedly get more fluent with time too.


    ''The problem probably stems from his background more than his race.'' Eldrian thought. Virski''s upbringing had been vastly different from Ceph''s. And Eldrian also didn''t know how old either of them were.


    Ceph might be older than Eldrian and all his friendsbined, while Virski might be only a year or less. Eldrian had never asked Ceph how old he was, so he was clueless. And he felt Virski wouldn''t understand the question or have kept track of his age.


    Still, the pup had stayed near the fort as requested. The promise of receiving its own Magic Crystal once it reached adulthood had kept it obedient.


    And, if it understood that much, it should be capable of understanding the implications of its two choices.


    Still, Eldrianid out the details as simply and concisely as possible. Giving the pup time to ponder ande to its own decision. After all, Eldrian did feel partly to me for it suddenly being abandoned.


    Its parents had likely died when trying toe at Eldrian when he was Tiering up. Pros wasn''t a slouch, and as long as they weren''t over Tier 7, he could have dealt with them. Especially with all the prep they hadid out before things went down.


    Pros had still had the Tier 10 weapons from the capital, which would have made any fight rtively easy. The weapons could more than make up for the difference in raw stats.


    ''I wonder how the wyvern is doing.'' Eldrian pondered, his mind wandering as he waited for Virski''s reply.