Chapter 11: Gacha Pet

Kael wondered if this was the same familiar he used to have when he played Eclipse Heart.

Quinn, as far as he could tell, was a demonic beast. However, unlike the commonly known demonic beasts that were naturally hostile toward other races, especially humans, Quinn was different. In the game, Quinn was classified as a special familiar that players had a small chance of obtaining through the gacha system.

It was not a creature that players had to hunt or defeat.

It was a limited pet. And an extraordinarily rare one at that. The chance of obtaining Quinn from the gacha was only 0.01%. Kael remembered how ridiculous the odds had been.

Even among the players who had spent enormous amounts of money trying to obtain rare familiars, Quinn had become something of a legend. Some players had spent months pulling gacha after gacha without ever seeing it. Kael had been one of the few lucky players who had managed to obtain Quinn.

Of course, back then, he had never imagined that one day he would encounter the same creature in this world. Kael carefully lifted Quinn from the top of his head and held the little spider in front of his face.

The creature was surprisingly light. Its eight tiny legs moved restlessly as it stared back at him. Its appearance was very identical to the Quinn he remembered from the game.

The white body. The blue light markings on its legs and stomach. Even those strange blue eyes were the same.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"Quinn, is it really you?"

"Qiu!"

The little spider responded enthusiastically. Its front legs waved excitedly.

Kael stared at it. There was no mistaking that reaction. Quinn had always made that strange chirping sound in the game. More importantly, it had reacted exactly the same way Kael remembered it.

A strange feeling settled inside Kael’s chest. Could it really be the same Quinn? If so, how?

There were too many questions. Why did Quinn appear from the cave? Why did it recognize him?

Kael opened his mouth. However, before he could ask anything else, the academy’s emergency teleportation circle suddenly activated beneath their feet.

Golden light erupted across the valley. Everyone instinctively stepped backward. The magical formation spread outward in a perfect circle, covering the entire group.

Kael barely had time to look down before the teleportation magic activated. At that exact moment, Quinn suddenly moved. A thin strand of web shot from the spider’s abdomen. It flew through the air and connected to the websack that Quinn had been dragging earlier. The sack immediately disappeared into the magical light along with them.

Then Professor Magnus’s voice echoed through the valley.

"Training exercise terminated."

The world blurred.

Kael felt the familiar sensation of his body being pulled through space.

A moment later...

His feet touched solid ground. The golden light faded.

Team Thirty-Seven had returned to the academy’s central training grounds.

Dozens of professors were already waiting. Several healers immediately hurried forward. Students from other teams were being escorted away from the area, while instructors moved around the training grounds, checking everyone’s condition. The atmosphere was noticeably more tense than usual.

This was supposed to be a simple training exercise. Yet something had gone terribly wrong.

Professor Magnus approached Team 37. His sharp eyes swept across the four students.

"Are any of you injured?"

Darius shook his head.

"No."

Magnus examined him for several seconds before turning toward the others. One by one, the students confirmed that they were unharmed.

Finally, Magnus’s gaze stopped on Kael.

"You."

Kael shook his head.

"No. We are fine."

Professor Magnus nodded.

"Good."

He appeared relieved. However, that relief lasted only a moment. His expression suddenly froze. His eyes moved downward. More specifically, toward the creature currently sitting comfortably in Kael’s arms.

Quinn tilted its head.

"Qiu?"

Magnus stared. The professor’s expression became increasingly serious.

"Come with me."

Darius, Elias, and Mira were about to follow but Magnus glanced toward them and said...

"Alone."

The three exchanged curious looks before stepping back.

Kael followed Professor Magnus.

A few minutes later, Kael found himself inside the academy’s command office overlooking the central training grounds. The spacious room was filled with magical equipment.

Several floating maps displayed different sections of the academy grounds, while other magical screens showed the surrounding forest and the valley where the training exercise had taken place.

Several instructors had initially remained in the room. However, after Professor Magnus gave them a subtle gesture, they quietly excused themselves.

The door closed and silence followed.

Magnus walked toward his desk. He did not sit down. Instead, he folded his arms and studied the monster in Kael’s arms.

Quinn, completely unconcerned by the situation, climbed onto Kael’s shoulder. It then settled comfortably against his neck.

Magnus’s eyebrow twitched.

"That creature is unusually comfortable around you." Kael scratched Quinn’s head.

"It seems to like me."

"I noticed."

Magnus stared at the little spider for several seconds before finally asking the question he had been holding back.

"What happened inside the valley?"

His voice was calm.

"And what exactly is that monster in your arms?"

Kael had expected this question.

"The cave collapsed," he answered. "Afterward, this small spider came out."

Magnus nodded slowly.

"I see."

"Our monitoring crystals recorded the cave collapse."

His expression became more serious.

"They also recorded an enormous surge of demonic energy shortly before the emergency teleportation was activated."

Kael remained silent.

Magnus looked toward Quinn.

"I’m assuming you understand why I’m asking."

"I do."

Magnus walked closer.

"The academy has dealt with demonic beasts before. Their presence alone isn’t unusual. What concerns me is the amount of energy detected."

His gaze sharpened.

"That level of interference was enough to disrupt several monitoring devices."

Kael glanced at Quinn.

The little spider was still sitting quietly on his shoulder.

It did not look dangerous. In fact, it looked almost cute. Its tiny legs occasionally moved as if it were trying to find a comfortable position.

Magnus seemed to have the same thought. He stared at Quinn for several moments.

"Apart from you and that demonic beast spider, did you notice anything else?"

Kael thought carefully. He remembered the cave collapse. Then Quinn emerged from beneath the rubble.

But Kael did notice something strange. A strange feeling like someone was watching them, but he could not tell whether his intuition was correct or not.

"I did feel something strange."

"What kind?"

Kael frowned.

"It felt like something was watching us."

Magnus’s eyes narrowed.

"Watching you?"

Kael nodded.

The professor remained silent. After several seconds, he finally sighed.

"We’ll investigate the cave later."

His attention returned to Quinn.

"For now, I’d like to examine the creature."

Kael did not hesitate.

"Go ahead."

Magnus gestured toward a nearby table.

"Place it there."

Kael carefully put Quinn on the table. The little spider immediately looked around.

"Qiu?"

"Stay there."

"Qiu."

Quinn obediently remained still.

Magnus looked slightly surprised.

"Can you communicate with it?"

"Not exactly."

Kael shook his head.

"I just get the feeling that it understands me."

Magnus frowned.

"That is unusual."

He raised one hand. A faint blue light appeared around his fingers. Several magical runes formed in the air. A detection spell. The light slowly passed over Quinn’s body.

Nothing happened.

Magnus increased the spell’s intensity. Still nothing. He tried another detection spell. Then another. The result remained the same.

Quinn simply sat there. It did not resist, it did not become aggressive, and it did not even attempt to escape.

After several minutes, Magnus finally lowered his hand.

"There is no abnormality."

Kael blinked.

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing."

Magnus looked relieved.

"The creature possesses demonic energy, but that is expected. Its physical structure is consistent with a demonic beast. There are no signs of possession, corruption, magical parasites, curses, or external control."

He paused.

"Even its mana circulation is stable."

Kael looked at Quinn. The little spider stared back.

"Qiu."

Magnus sighed.

"The strangest thing about it is how friendly it is."

Kael smiled faintly.

"That sounds like Quinn."

Magnus looked at him.

"You gave it a name already?"

"I just decided to call it Quinn."

Magnus continued staring at him and thought how strange Kael was.

Kael remained expressionless.

A few seconds passed.

Finally, Magnus looked away.

"For now, I don’t consider it a threat."

Kael felt slightly relieved. However, Magnus wasn’t finished.

"But that doesn’t mean you can simply walk around the academy with an unknown demonic beast."

Kael nodded.

"I understand."

"You’ll need to register it."

"Of course."

"But if it displays any unusual behavior, you report it immediately."

Kael nodded.

"Understood."

Magnus stared at Quinn one last time. The little spider responded with another cheerful sound.

"Qiu!"

For the first time since returning from the valley, Magnus smiled.

It was a tired smile.

"Alright, you can leave now."

"Uh, wait."

"Yes, professor?"

"You did a good job in training."

A faint smiled appeared on Kael’s face.

"Thank you, sir."

After leaving the room, Kael reunited with the others.