Clayton froze in shock as the creature he had been searching for suddenly appeared at the most unexpected moment.
The bird looked dazed, its feathers wet and ruffled from the intense steam generated by the earlier magical clash. Clearly, it hadn't been able to withstand the chaos and had fallen as a result of the attack.
For a brief moment, Clayton questioned what he was seeing—was it even real? But after a closer look, he was certain. It was the pheasant he had been chasing all this time. And even more astonishingly, the Dragon blood Fruit it had stolen was still clenched in its beak.
A surge of joy swept over Clayton. He no longer had to struggle to track it down. Amidst his elation, a sense of awe crept in. Instead of fleeing with the stolen fruit during the chaos, the bird had lingered—ultimately leading to its own discovery.
He couldn't help but marvel at the pheasant's intelligence—and, at the same time, its sheer arrogance.
