Relief rushed through Arthur as he chose "Yes."

He had feared that the rat would take his food, but the bonding would fail for some reason. However, his fear was unfounded.

"Rat is now your Bond! Choose your first Trait Deviation!"

Name: -

Rank: 1st Deviation

Species: Rat

Trait: Rodent, Night Vision, Omnivore, Social Animal, Lesser Predator

"First rank in animal cultivation is Deviation... there are 10 minor realms... each trait deviation might trigger a minor mutation..." Arthur tried to remember what he knew about Trait deviation.

"Other than the first minor realm, there should be only a very small chance of getting another trait deviation..."

"Since luck is not my thing, then I should assume I will never get another trait deviation," he decided to make the most of his first deviation.

Arthur concentrated on each trait to understand what they meant. His knowledge was anything but good, so it was better to read the system's explanations rather than guess.

Rodent: Bond's teeth are continuously growing.

Night Vision: Bonds are sensitive to light and able to see clearly in near-total darkness.

Omnivore: Bonds can eat any food.

Social Animal: Bonds live in groups and are adept in teamwork.

Lesser Predator: Bonds have naturally sharp teeth and a sharp sense for hunting.

"If a rat has the Predator or Major Predator trait, the obvious choice would be to deviate the trait to become an Apex Predator... but it's not optimal in this situation."

Arthur was one step behind others who had better bonds. If he deviated his rat from Lesser Predator to Minor Predator, it might only become as strong as a mundane cat or dog.

"Bonds exist to be stronger than their masters. I need to choose something that can make it stronger than me!"

Arthur mulled over his choice for an hour before a sudden epiphany struck him.

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"I will deviate Rodent!" he declared.

He made his intent clear to the system as he directed the deviation according to his will.

The rat glowed for a few seconds before the light's intensity died down. It looked at Arthur with intelligence as it stood on two feet, but overall, its body remained the same.

Arthur called on the system to check if the deviation succeeded, and to his delight, it did.

Name: -

Rank: 1st Deviation

Species: Rat

Trait: Ever Growing, Night Vision, Omnivore, Social Animal, Lesser Predator

He concentrated on the new changes in his bond's status as it displayed the deviated traits.

Ever Growing: Bond's body is continuously growing.

"Ha! I'm a genius! A rat is weak because it is small, but if it grows bigger than a house, it can even eat a tiger!" he grinned.

Growl

His stomach protested once more, reminding him of his current lack of nutrients.

"Right, we need to get some food," he mumbled before turning toward his new companion.

"Let's go out of the city and hunt for food, rat!" he said.

To which the rat shook its head in disapproval and looked at him as if he were a fool.

Arthur grew confused. "What's wrong?"

The rat used both hands to cover its face in defeat before turning toward a trash can to demonstrate its point. It rammed the trash can, kicked it, hit it, and clawed at it, but barely anything happened other than it moving a little from its previous location.

It took Arthur a dozen seconds to understand what his new companion was trying to convey.

"You are still barely stronger than a mundane rat!" he screamed in realization.

Arthur had thought that the moment he got a Bond, his life would change, but it was nowhere near the truth. It might be true if he had gotten a 2nd gen bond, which was already strong enough from the beginning to hunt weak spirit beasts. But he got a rat, a weak animal only stronger than insects or smaller animals, which was rare! Even insects were considered better than rats since they had better traits such as Poison or Exoskeleton.

Arthur grew depressed. His hunger hit him harder than ever. "How many days has it been since I ate something?" he wondered.

Before he could spiral deeper into depression, a squeaking sound pulled him back. His new companion patted his foot with its foreleg, trying to comfort him and get his attention. It patted its chest a few times while squeaking, as if saying it would help him before running out of the alley.

"Turns out it's not so bad after all. At least I'm not alone anymore," he thought as he waited for his companion to return.

Arthur didn't doubt that the rat would return. Their bond helped him understand its intentions, and he would have noticed if it wanted to run away.

"Now that I think about it, isn't it smarter than normal? Maybe my talent is not that bad," he thought as he waited for the rat to return.

Rats are quite smart to begin with. Combined with his talent, it became one of the smartest bonds in its current stage.

20 minutes later, the rat returned, bringing a freshly baked bread. Arthur could smell it from a few meters away. It was clearly freshly baked.

"I didn't know that bread could smell so good," he remarked.

The rat gave him the bread and looked at him as if to say that it did a great job.

"Thank you, Rat. You did great!" he praised the rat.

He took the bread, tore it into two, and gave one half to the rat before eating the other half. The rat nodded in approval before joining him, eating its share.

Arthur smiled as he ate the bread. It tasted like ambrosia to him since he hadn't eaten any fresh food in the last few years.

"Thank you, Rat. I'm glad to have you," he said.

Arthur had been alone for as long as he could remember. Finally having someone or something to depend on and care for him made him very happy.