"You''re doing great. We''re almost there," Orion whispered after noticing that they were approaching the final stretch of the tunnel.


    The phoenix bird noticed the end of the tunnel as well and the mes on her body surged higher, allowing them to easily see the exit.


    With a burst of speed, Orion and his phoenix emerged from the tunnel to feel the sunlight bathing their skin.


    "One section down, four more to go," Orion informed the phoenix and she was ready for their next challenge.


    The first section might have looked easy toplete, but it wasn''t. The sharp turns and unexpected changes in the tunnel caught them by surprise but the phoenix was able to easily adapt to the task due to the trust she had in Orion.


    She still didn''t like humans, or anyone for that matter, but her view of Orion had taken a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.


    She didn''t hate him anymore and was willing to help him win this tournament.


    Even Orion was a bit surprised by how her attitude towards him had changed.


    It wasn''t easy to tame a transcendent beast, especially a beast whose strength was simr to a rank fifteen mage, but Orion never backed down. Instead, he continued to press on with his original ns.


    As a rank fifteen beast, the phoenix bird was definitely one of the strongest beasts in the tournament, and this meant that its strength and agility were far greater than that of the other beasts in the tournament.


    Initially, he hadn''t wanted to use force to tame the beast, but he''d had no other choice but to do what he did because he needed the phoenix to win the race.


    When taming a beast, not only did a tamer need to have empathy and an understanding of the beast they wanted to tame, but they also needed to show respect and trust towards the beast.


    Before today, Orion had been watching the phoenix closely on the beast scroll Daisy had given to everyone during their first beast-taming ss.


    It was the same beast scroll that had summoned everyone to the magical forest where the beasts had almost killed them all, but it was a necessary evil for Daisy because she had wanted all of them to see how dangerous and menacing a transcendent beast could be.


    However, she had also wanted them to see how docile and friendly they could be if they were tamed, and this pushed everyone to take their time in studying the beasts through the scroll.


    This was also how Orion began to study the phoenix very closely.


    During the time he watched and studied her, Orion noticed a lot of things about the phoenix that were different from the other beasts in the magical forest.


    ''It seems that she frequently moves from one branch to another,'' He uttered internally.


    He also noticed how she never really settled on one branch as well the fact that her aggressive behavior wasn''t only aimed at him but at other beasts in the forest as well.''


    ''There were times when she would even fluff her feathers in a way that would ward off other beasts that were nearby.''


    ''She also picked fights with other beasts for no apparent reason and there were times when she would set the trees around her on fire.''


    ''These were just a few of the things that made me realize that the phoenix didn''t like the forest. However, it still didn''t exin why she hated me.''


    ''In the end, I concluded that she didn''t like anyone and that seems like a high probability, but I can''t be certain about this for now because I haven''t seen her with anyone else aside from me.''


    ''Although, there was one more thing I noticed about the phoenix, and that is the fact that she liked to gaze longingly at the sky.''


    ''This made me realize that she wanted to escape and fly freely.''


    ''Freedom is what she wants and that''s what I''ll give to her, but for me to be able to do this, I''ll  need her to help me win this tournament.''


    ''Anyways, it feels really nice to be able to tame a rank fifteen beast.''


    ''Bute to think of it, there was one more beast within the forest that was in the same rank as the phoenix.''


    ''Hmm, I believe it was a shadow panther.'' Stay tuned to mvl


    ''I wonder who will be the one to tame the shadow panther.''


    ''Could it be An or Arthur?''


    ''Well, it could also be Adrian or… '' Orion halted his train of thought when he thought of Lilith taming a rank fifteen beast like him.


    ''Anyways, I guess I''ll find out in the next round,'' Orion decided to stop thinking about trivial things and focus on the race instead. So, he lowered his gaze to the phoenix and was d to see that he had sessfully tamed the strongest beast in the forest.


    "I think, I''ll call you Aurora," Orion said as he patted Aurora''s neck.


    Aurora slowly leaned towards him so he could pat her more and seeing this, Orion couldn''t help but smile. "I guess this means that you like your new name."


    "Anyway, let''s focus on what''s important right now," Orion refocused on the task at hand and his mind went to the image of the map he had seen while using his smart bracelet a few minutes ago.


    The moment he recalled where they were meant to go next, he swiftly leaned towards his right and Aurora changed direction as well.


    "That''s our next target," Orion informed Aurora as the two of them noticed what was in front of them.


    Their next target was the second section of the tournament''s first round which happened to be a slope.


    The slope in this world was simr to ces where skiing and hiking weremonly done in Orion''s previous world. Thus, this meant that it wouldn''t be easy for the two of them to progress to the next section, but they weren''t bothered by this and they couldn''t wait to get started.


    Orion leaned forward, and Aurora unleashed her strength, which propelled them to the first incline.


    The mes on Aurora''s body intensified and she sped towards the top of the slope.