The new information that popped up in front of him left him bewildered.
Soul Bond incomplete? Taming failed? Xavier was not even trying to tame the Ember Sparrow. He tried to rescue it! And why was there an Error message? Xavier was getting tired of those!
He ignored the messages, seeing that none of them could help him save the Sparrow. The only relief was that he had managed to integrate Soul Essences into the Ember Sparrow.
Incomplete Soul Bound detected. Status Board of Ember Sparrow has been unlocked – partially.
One of Xavier’s eyebrows rose as the new notification popped up in front of him, but he dispelled the doubts that started to surface in his mind and summoned the Status Board.
Unnamed(Male)
Common Monster
Ember Sparrow
Dying
15
It is a dying Ember Sparrow and is considered a ‘Common’. That probably indicates how strong it is compared to other monsters, or how rare maybe. Maybe, monsters are ranked just like Cards. If they follow the same grading system that makes sense..but that is not important right now. What does this 15 mean? Is that its combat prowess, the number of Soul Essences it has, or some sort of other parameter? This information is so useless…
Xavier rubbed the back of his head with one hand while staring at the Ember Sparrow that continued to twitch in pain in his other hand.
“Whatever,” He grumbled, integrating one more Soul Essence into the Ember Sparrow.
Integrate one Soul Essence into Ember Sparrow(Dying)?
“Yes.”
The accumulated Soul Essences decreased by one. In response, the number on the Ember Sparrow’s status board increased by one. It reached 16.
Okay, it shows how many Soul Essences it possesses. Now that this mystery was solved, it was time to continue to integrate more Soul Essences into the Ember Sparrow.
Xavier didn’t hesitate to invest heavily in the Ember Sparrow. It had saved his life, so he owed it a big favor.
Once the Ember Sparrow consumed 15 Soul Essences the status board was updated to include the recent changes.
Unnamed (Male)
Common Monster
Ember Sparrow
Heavily Injured(Recuperating)
30(Overflow)
It was good that the Ember Sparrow was not dying anymore, and it felt even better to see that the Ember Sparrow was recuperating fast, but the ‘Overflow’ concerned him a little bit. Was it overflowing with Soul Essences now that Xavier doubled the number of Soul Essences within the monster in such a short amount of time? That was probably the case. It was better not to invest more Soul Essences into the Ember Sparrow when the notification clearly stated that it was already in excess.
Warning! Soul bounds will be harder to maintain if the bound monster’s foundation increases significantly.
Increase your Foundation or strengthen the soul bond of your companion.
Gain its trust, loyalty, and favorability to do so!
“Thanks for the warning,” Xavier mumbled, grateful for the remarks and warnings he obtained whenever something confused him.
The appearance of the messages set the chaos in motion on earth, but it was a good thing that they were not left alone to die miserably. The messages provided everybody with the Classless Deck and they acted like a helpful guide.
Are the messages at fault for the chaos, or did that come from something different? It spoke about an Origin Branch. How is that related to everything…and what is this Origin Branch, in the first place?
Xavier wanted to hate these messages but they helped him too often to loathe them. In fact, the amount of help he received via information, special privileges, and the drops of Card Shards and Soul Essences was something that confused him a lot. It made him wonder who caused the apocalypse and what exactly did he or she want.
Xavier was dragged out of his train of thought as a high-pitched chirping sound reached his ears. It was the Ember Sparrow that was trying to get his attention.
Looking down at his palm, Xavier noticed the way the small Sparrow with red plumage was staring straight into his eyes. Its twisted wing began to crack loudly all of a sudden, and the Ember Sparrow began to chirp loudly in pain.
However, the shrill cries of agony were quickly replaced by happiness. The twisted wing returned to its original shape as if it was mended and moved back to the place it belonged to by invisible hands.
Xavier observed in rapt attention as the dried blood making the feathers stick together slowly disappeared. The little fellow shook itself and unfurled its now partially healed wing as if to proudly showcase its wingspan. Xavier stared at it as he spotted varying shades of red from dark crimson to pale red on the inside of the plumage.
He could also see the wounds and scars littered over the Sparrow’s underbelly as it wriggled around as if to ask him to admire itself. A slow smile appeared on Xavier’s face when he saw the way the Sparrow was demanding his attention.
The Sparrow chirped happily and slowly rose on its little feet to hop on his palm. It was still in pain and not completely healed but the joy coursing through its entire being seemed to overshadow most of its pain.
After a few seconds of chirping happily the Ember Sparrow lowered its head and rubbed it against Xavier’s palm. It then lay down on its back, exposing its little belly, and began to roll on its back like a pet.
“Are you a dog confined in a Sparrow’s body, or what?” Xavier asked, shaking his head, but he couldn’t suppress a chuckle that escaped his lips.
His heart warmed up at the sight unfolding in front of him, and he could imagine himself staring at the Ember Sparrow for hours.
Xavier was glad that he rescued the Ember Sparrow.
He chose to abandon his mindless massacre of Goblins and Infected for a few minutes. Enchanted by the playfulness of the little fellow in his palm, Xavier began to play around a little.
He caressed the Ember Sparrow with the tip of his index finger, gently stroking its fur. The Ember Sparrow responded with wild movements. It even released some flares of Ember when Xavier tickled it.
Upon seeing the Ember spark through the surroundings, the Ember Sparrow was surprised. It looked at the Embers, its eyes gleaming brightly.
“You like your Embers, don’t you… I just realized that you don’t even have a name, little one. Do you want me to call you Ember Sparrow, or do you want another name?” Xavier asked.
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Even though he was not sure why that was the case, Xavier couldn’t think of the Ember Sparrow as a less intelligent monster. The Ember Sparrow didn’t act like a typical monster. If anything, it acted like a newborn puppy. The Ember Sparrow was definitely intelligent.
It chirped a few times as if it was trying to answer. If that was not odd enough, Xavier felt like he could understand what it was trying to convey.
“You want a name? Not something extraordinary, but something simple?” He asked, feeling a little bit stupid to be talking to the little Sparrow.
However, the Ember Sparrow answered him by chirping for four seconds in quick succession.
“Something that has to do with Ember? A translation then, I guess…” Xavier mumbled, the corners of his lips curling upward. He was actually conversing with the Sparrow. That was creepy, yet extraordinarily amazing!
“Translations to Ember…what do I know? How about…Braise, Braciere, Gloed…or Ugol…? I think Ramad also means Ember…or Glut?”
Xavier was not the best when it came to studying foreign languages, but he watched way too many videos about blacksmithing till late at night to not know the word Ember and some of its translations.
Receiving a single chirp in response to his suggestion, Xavier caressed the little fella a little bit more.
“You like Glut? Glut. That suits you quite well. You seem to have some taste!”
The Ember Sparrow – no, Glut – chirped in agreement, resulting in a light burst of laughter to escape Xaiver’s lips.
I think I will enjoy this much more with Glut by my side. If Grandma could raise a bunch of Sparrows and train them to fight our enemies…how about I try the same? Glut has a pretty good Foundation thanks to my Soul Essences as well. It should be worth a try!
After fooling around with Glut it was about time to return home. His previous fight against the group of Goblins attracted some attention in the surroundings and the only reason he had been able to tend to Glut and play with him was that a group of Infected and some Goblins collided on their way to hunt Xavier.
He was not sure if he would have enjoyed witnessing the carnage as both the Infected and the Goblins lay on the ground in puddles of blood. Some were missing a limb, others had their intestines ripped out and flung over the nearby trees and bushes.
A handful of Goblins were still alive, but they were heavily injured and would probably die soon.
Xavier approached the survivors of the fight and conjured one Air Bullet after another. His body moved through the cracked street with slow strides as the Air Bullets coalesced around him.
Once he was in the Goblins’ range their focus returned to him once again. Glut chirped loudly and flapped his wings to warn Xavier, but Xavier didn’t retreat. He stared at the grotesque remnants of his enemies and released the Air Bullets.
The first Air Bullet pierced through the missing eye of a Goblin, penetrating the monster’s brain in one go. The remaining Air Bullets finished the rest of the Goblins, leaving only a single survivor.
Glut chirped loudly and gathered sparks in its beak. An ember slowly formed as the last Goblin charged at Xavier with bloodlust. But in its rage, the Goblin ignored the bright radiance of the ember and simply charged at Xavier. The Goblin raised its weapon right before Glut released the ember.
It flew through the air, smacking the Goblin in the face. Its hair caught fire and before the Goblin knew it, the ember had burned down its hair and reached its scalp. The Goblin let out a screech as the fire slowly began to melt its skin and continued to burn it alive.
The penetrative force of Glut’s ember was not as high as Air Bullet. However, it was highly destructive.
Grandma’s sparrows are not as powerful as Glut. Are they a different kind? That should be the case since Glut releases ember, and Grandma’s sparrows release fireballs.
Glut’s foundation should also play a major role in the difference of power between his grandmother’s sparrows and Glut. Nonetheless, Xavier was glad to have a partner like Glut. The little Sparrow was a good companion with considerable combat prowess.
I always wondered why Tamers were considered a weak class in games. Aren’t they the strongest as long as they take care of their companions?
Xavier grinned like a fool as he stared at the burned-down corpse. Glut's ember attack was small but mighty. It was perfect to combine with Air Bullet and Dash.
Now that he had fooled around with Glut, Xavier's mood improved significantly. The tension all over his body dispersed, his hunting spirit returned, and his excitement soared.
With Glut by his side Xavier felt invincible – which was odd. Glut was not all that powerful. He had been thrashed by a bunch of Goblins and was still heavily injured after all.
Nonetheless, a weird sense of superiority spread through him like a tingling zap of an electric current. Taking a deep breath, Xavier turned to his left. He was about to continue walking when he noticed some movement from the corner of his eye.
On the far end of the street, he saw a few collapsed houses and destruction. While that was not new, he also heard some noises. He peered intently at the street and noticed a small round entrance to a forest.
However, there was something odd about the scene. A sense of gloom and foreboding seemed to blanket the area and the trees appeared black and the trunks dead to him. He was not sure if he was imagining things and took a step forward to get a better look.
No sooner had he done that, than he saw small green figures moving around in the forest. No, they were not simply moving. They were fighting the Infected.
The battle of supremacy of the Infected against the Goblins was still raging. It was an intriguing battle and something Xavier would be interested to watch to witness who was stronger of the two. But since he was tight on time, Xavier decided to join the battle of supremacy.
He rushed ahead and began his hunt from scratch – but he was no longer alone. A small Sparrow with red plumage made himself comfortable in the chest pocket of Xavier’s blood-soaked shirt.
He chirped loudly as if to cheer Xavier as he jumped into the middle of the fight, wreaking havoc with both Infected and Goblins.
The group he found consisted of 30ish Infected and just a little over 20 Goblins. However, the Goblins were at an advantage. One of the Goblins was larger than the rest.
Its entire body was covered in muscles, resulting in a physique that was twice as wide as the remaining Goblins. It brandished a large mace through the air before cleaving it down, shattering the cracked street and crushing the bones and skulls of the Infected along the way.
The Infected moved toward the Goblins like mindless puppets. There was nothing odd about them as they were drawn to the Goblin by the smell of blood. Only two Inferior Infected stood out of the group.
Their movements were subtly different compared to the rest of the group. They sensed the larger Goblin’s attacks and evaded them by a hair’s breadth. That was how it looked from the outside as Xavier first joined the battle.
A premonition resurfaced and his excitement turned into vigilance.
These two are not ordinary Inferior Infected anymore. Did they evolve? How? They must be able to consume Soul Essences as well! And what about this Goblin? Is that a superior version as well? Maybe a mutation? Or also an evolved version of the ordinary Goblin?
Xavier’s rational mind overwhelmed his excitement and his vigilance intensified. He didn’t use any of his Cards but since he had already joined the battle, he had to kill the enemies targeting him.
A few Inferior Infected took note of him, but they were quickly taken care of. A sweep of the ruby katana was all it took given Xavier’s Strength and Speed. His Foundation was much higher than the Inferior Infected and the ordinary Goblins. But the same couldn’t be said about their evolved version.
The two Infected facing the bulky Goblin possessed great perception. They evaded the mace of the bulky Goblin even though it looked like the Goblin was faster and stronger.
The Infected moved around the Goblin and scratched him. They tried to bite him and rip out large chunks of his flesh but the bulky Goblin used the Infected’s inability to infect itself with their virus to its advantage.
The GoblinIt allowed one of the Infected to get closer and scratch itself right before it smashed down the large mace. The mace was just about to crash down on the head of the Infected when its head moved to the side, narrowly missing getting squashed to a pulp.
The Infected’s shoulder was hit instead. Loud cracking noises reverberated through the battlefield as the Infected’s shoulder was shattered in one go. Its shoulder got dented inwardly and the mace was stuck in its flesh.
From Xavier’s point of view, it looked like the Goblin was about to face a tricky situation with the loss of its weapon, but his insight was proven wrong as the Goblin lifted the mace alongside the Infected high into the air.
The bulky Goblin’s arm was shaking violently due to the strain and injury but it succeeded in lifting the Infected before smashing it down onto the concrete street.
Xavier’s gaze sharpened and he accelerated to kill the Goblins and Inferior Infected around him faster. He expected to hear more bones breaking in the Infected’s body as the Goblin tried to smash it down to the street before lifting it again, but the sound of breaking bones never came.
Enormous Vitality and Great Perception. Am I strong enough to deal with one of these Infected? Two are definitely too much…and what is the matter with this bulky powerhouse? How fucking strong are you? You created cracks in the street!!! Xavier shouted in his mind. Simultaneously he began to transfer the remaining Soul Essences into his Foundation Stars.
Integrate 14 Soul Essence into the Star of Strength. Y/N?
Give me everything you can. I will need it! Xavier screamed in his heart when he realized how sturdy the bodies of both the bulky Goblin and the upgraded version of the Infected were. He might be faster than them from the looks of it, but his Strength was probably not high enough to inflict any harm to them. Well, not anymore. Now that his Star of Strength was more than twice as high as before, that might change.
****
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