Chapter 79: Let’s Go, Baby!

"Wait!"

He had already helped Ollie farther onto the sofa so the boy would not get caught between them if Skyforge shook again. Zishan rose afterward and approached the window, watching the Wyverns circle through the clouds.

"Could you at least let me defeat all these Wyverns?" he asked.

Elinox stared at him.

Zishan pointed outside. "I know you’re strong, and this Skyforge Vessel is durable, but I want to kill at least 30 of them."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Why thirty?"

Zishan shrugged. "Personal reasons."

And before she could ask what kind of personal reason required 30 dead Wyverns, Zishan continued, "Also, I want to level up more so I can catch up to you!"

Elinox stopped thinking about the number. ’He wants to catch up to me?’

Her eyes moved across him. Zishan was Level 86, while she was Level 1,510. More than fourteen hundred Levels stood between them.

Elinox had spent almost her entire life training under conditions most people could never access. Her family had resources, instructors, artifacts, military connections, and enough knowledge to guide her development from the time she was old enough to understand what Mana was.

She had also been born at Level 50.

Even with all of that, reaching Level 1,510 at eighteen had required years of training and enough combat experience to place her above people several times her age.

Zishan had just told her he wanted to catch up with the same confidence someone might use when promising to arrive at a destination before sunset.

’Is he an idiot?’ She studied his face again, but all she found was excitement without even a hint of hesitation. ’Or is there something that makes him this confident?’

That possibility stayed in her thoughts. His growth had already become absurd.

The military records surrounding him had been checked repeatedly because several officers assumed someone had entered the wrong information. A young man at his Level should not have possessed so many Mana Affinities, Skills, strange abilities, and combat results that did not fit what his status should allow.

Yet Elinox had seen enough herself. The records were not exaggerating anything; Zishan really had climbed Levels at a rate that would have been ridiculous even among prodigies, and there were already too many strange things about him for her to dismiss that confidence as simple stupidity.

Elinox lowered her hand. "Alright."

Zishan’s entire face brightened.

"I’ll reinforce the barrier around Skyforge while you fight them," she continued.

"Nice!"

Elinox turned toward the nearest window. "Skyforge can withstand attacks from Wyverns at this Level, so there isn’t much danger of them breaching the vessel."

Another creature swooped past them.

Its talons struck the defensive field and dragged across it before the Wyvern pulled away.

Elinox’s brows drew together. "However, they can still scrape against the exterior whenever the barrier compresses. Some have already left marks, and one of them smeared blood across part of the hull."

Zishan slowly turned his head.

Elinox continued with complete seriousness. "I like things when they’re clean and pleasing."

He stared at her. "Okay?"

She glanced toward him.

"I don’t need that explanation, but thanks for the treat anyway!" Zishan laughed as he rolled one shoulder. "HAHAHAHA! Let’s go, baby! Let’s kill some Wyverns! I’m getting fired up right now!"

Elinox’s hand stopped halfway toward the window as her eyes moved toward him. ’Baby?’

Zishan had already turned away, leaving her standing there for a second as she wondered who exactly he had been talking to. Ollie was sitting behind them, which left only one other possibility.

Her gaze returned to Zishan. He had even been smiling when he said it.

’Me?’

Elinox became unusually quiet.

She had received more compliments than she cared to remember, along with gifts from princes, ridiculously long letters from noble heirs, and confessions from young men who had barely spoken to her before deciding they were in love. Yet none of those experiences had prepared her for Zishan casually calling her baby before announcing that he wanted to kill some Wyverns.

She was still wondering whether she should correct him when the person responsible for her confusion had already forgotten about her completely.

’You heard that, baby?!’

Zishan’s consciousness had entered the Tamed Beast Space, where the Dragon Egg remained exactly where he had left it.

’Papa finally found out what you eat!’

All he needed was the blood of 30 Wyverns, and there were already more than enough of them flying around outside. Zishan’s grin widened as he stared at the egg.

There were plenty of things he had wanted to experience after realizing he had been thrown into another world. Getting stronger and learning Magic were already happening. He definitely wanted to fly someday, and meeting different races had turned out to be far more normal than he expected.

But a dragon?

A real dragon belonged near the top of his list.

He had played enough games and read enough fantasy stories to know what kind of opportunity this was. If a fantasy world handed someone a Dragon Egg and that person decided to be patient and reasonable about hatching it, they did not deserve the Dragon Egg.

Zishan wanted to hatch it and raise it himself.

Then, once the creature became large enough, he wanted to climb onto its back and fly somewhere for no reason beyond the fact that he could.

He could already imagine arriving above some city on a dragon while everyone below stared upward. ’Now that’s protagonist treatment!’

The Precedence System had made things even easier. He did not need to kill the 30 Wyverns first. That was the entire point of the Precedence System!

Complete Quest and receive reward?

For other people, yes!

Zishan then focused on the System panel.

[Claim Rewards Before Completion?]

[YES / NO]

’YES!’

The green panel flashed.

[ADVANCE CLAIM CONFIRMED]

[Processing Quest Rewards...]

Mana stirred inside Zishan. He went silent as something unfamiliar joined the collection of Affinities already within him. The sensation was unpleasant in a way he found strangely fascinating.

Fire Mana had always carried an aggressive heat, while Wind felt lighter and Lightning seemed almost impatient whenever he drew on it. Poison was different. There was something about it that felt wrong in a way he couldn’t quite explain.

His instincts seemed to understand what Poison Mana wanted to do once it entered another body: spread through it, remain there, and cause harm. It was unsettling.

A faint green shade appeared around his fingertips before sinking back into his skin.

[Poison Mana Affinity Acquired]

Zishan flexed his hand.

’Damn...’

He could already imagine what kinds of Skills Poison Mana might eventually give him, from clouds of poison and coated weapons to attacks that could leave the Mana lingering long after he had moved on.

Another message appeared.

[+10 PER]

The change settled through him.

His vision sharpened enough for him to notice fine scratches across the outer defensive field whenever another Wyvern passed close to Skyforge. He could separate the vibration of the vessel’s Mana pathways from the heavier impacts striking the hull, and the beating wings outside became easier to follow through the surrounding noise.

Zishan smiled.

Then came the reward he had been waiting to examine more closely.

[Absolute Beast Claim ×1 Acquired]

He turned toward the window as a Wyvern flew alongside Skyforge, its long neck twisting as it prepared another attack. Zishan pointed at it. ’Maybe you.’

Another one swept above it, larger than the first and covered in darker scales, and his finger shifted almost at once. ’Actually, maybe you.’

A third Wyvern passed behind them before he could decide. ’Shit! I’ll just choose later!’

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Author’s Note: Thanks for reading until this Chapter. I will be releasing more Chapters soon for another privilege tier. Stay tuned and give me some golden tickets or power stones (Kidding. Wahaha!). :P