After three weeks of traveling, the connection between the horse Atom and Luke became very strong. Regularly, Luke took breaks for the horse to rest, and when they came across a stream or lake, the half-wolf bathed himself and cleaned Atom.
One day, they had to go up the road of a large hill, because if they chose to ride around it, the journey that could only take one day, would take almost a week.
Since Atom would already have to work hard to climb the strenuous terrain of the mountain, Luke thought it would be cruel to ride on his back. For this reason, Luke took the horse's reins, and they climbed together leisurely.
During this trip, the half-wolf had a lot of time to think, something he never had, because of the hustle and bustle that had been his day-to-day life since he was a child.
This time he had with himself made him know himself better than ever. In life, sometimes, all a person needs is time to think and absorb.
Looking back, Luke almost couldn't believe that he was now a Champion of the Tournament of Legends, something he never dreamed of or longed for, not because he didn't want to, but because he thought it was all too far away.
Everything changed when he met Ayumi and her daughter. Nathalia's willingness to go to Dungeoneering made him feel like crap because he always knew he had the strength to face the monsters in Dungeons, so he could have helped his friends before to have the future they wanted.
However, now Luke was determined to never stay in his comfort zone again. He thought hard and came to the conclusion that for him to live in peace when he retired, he would need to kill everyone who ever threatened the people he loves. In addition, Luke didn't know if the mysterious boy, Lescar, was trustworthy, nor did he know if his former mistress, Yoelona, could be trusted, since she took his friends away without even trying to contact him and left Matthew behind, at the mercy of his own fate.
Despite knowing little, Luke decided that if Yoelona threatened the people he loves and admires, he would not hesitate to kill her, as well as any other great demon that appeared in front of him.
At dusk on the night, he decided to climb the hill; instead of continuing the journey, Luke stopped at a somewhat flat ground where some trees were covered. On the other side, Luke could already see the glow of the great Cardinal Kingdom in the distance, but small mountains covered the view of the city itself.
Since the night was dark, it would be hazardous to go down the mountain.
Before establishing his camp, Luke closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his sense of smell and hearing. He could find no sign of dangerous predators in the area, only birds in the trees and small land animals.
The half-wolf was quite eager to get to the Cardinal Realm because he wanted to see what skill he could get with his S-Class license. Besides, the work to find the fort that Lescar commented on would begin, and it would be a short time before Luke finally found his friends.
On that small flat part of the hill, Luke placed the thin mattress he had managed to store in his inventory and laid a cloth for Atom to sleep on. After some time looking up at the sky with so many stars, he could spend a lifetime counting; Luke felt his eyes heavy, and just as he was about to sleep, he heard a noise.
Craccc~
Luke got up in one leap. Since his consciousness was just now between the dream world and reality, he couldn't tell where the noise came from. A few moments later, the same noise could be heard.
Craccc~
Now Luke could tell where the sound was coming from: from his bag. Initially, Luke thought it might be a rodent looking for food, but he thought it's unlikely because Atom was still sleeping, and the horse was terrified of rats.
The half-beast opened his black bag and eventually discovered that the cracking noise was coming from the Black Egg. Over the past few weeks, Luke wondered countless times about what it would be like when the Summoning was born and had come to a conclusion alone that the most likely option would be for the Egg to transmute into the creature; however, that was not what was happening now. The Summoning was finally ready to leave.
Confused and not knowing how to react, Luke carefully removed the Black Egg from the pouch and placed it on the mattress.
'Should I do something? Maybe try to help break the shell?' Luke wondered as, cross-legged and with his right hand on his chin, he analyzed the Egg from a meter away. 'No... if I help, this Summoning might become lazy.'
Over the next few minutes, the strong shell of the Black Egg slowly succumbed from the inside. Luke did not expect that the birth of an Egg Invocation would be the same as that of an oviparous animal, so he was surprised. After some time of intense effort from the Summoning, the creature finally managed to get its head out of the Egg.
'Wait... is that really what I see?'
On the mattress was a creature that looked like a lion's cub, with metal claws and two huge metal fangs coming out of its mouth, like a sabertooth. When the Summoning successfully came out of the shell and saw Luke, it trotted over to Luke's lap. Luke opened his arms wide and welcomed that creature into his lap. The Summoning seemed happy to meet the half-wolf, and he didn't think it would be fair to be disappointed that it wasn't a huge Golem that came out of the Black Egg.
'Well... I guess I can't push my luck too far.' Luke thought as he stroked the soft fur of his new partner. "Ouch, that hurts partner, be careful with your claws..."
The little lion managed to easily cut through the half-wolf's overcoat, which was reinforced for high-level adventurers to wear in Dungeons.
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