"Unless it encountered an awakened realm beast.'
Thinking of it, Naib didn't immediately rush toward the direction of the mutated water salamander; instead, he cast his gaze toward its unconscious body, eyes flickering with a bizarre aura as its information soon lay bare in front of his eyes.
Ding!
[ Mutated Water Salamander
Realm: Mid-Stage of the Mortal Realm
Bloodline: Low - Elite
Talent: Exceptional regenerative (Rare), Toxic Secretion (Elite), Water Affinity (Elite), Tail Lashing (Uncommon).
Life Span: 4.1/65
State: Dying
...
Overall Potential: 25.2
(Further information omitted) ]
...
"Not good, it looks like it was about to die.'
Finally sure that the salamander wasn't acting unconscious, Naib hurriedly rushed to its side. Then, without further ado, he stretched his two palms above the salamander's body, mumbling incoherently as a hexagon, glowing with serene light, slowly materialized between the water surface and the body of the salamander.
If he wanted to save this mutated water salamander from certain death, Naib could only think of forming a contract with it before hiding it in his beast space.
(A space where the beast master hid their bound beast. Not only does the beast space hasten the growth of a beast and nurture them, but it also has the ability to slow down the deterioration of a beast's health and heal them at the same time!)
Of course, solely relying on the beast space wouldn't fix the dying state of the mutated water salamander; instead, Naib's main goal was to complete the first quest of the system, hoping that he could find something useful from the rewards that he would receive!
"Come on, be bound already!"
However, due to his unstable emotions — anxious yet with a mixture of anticipation — the hexagon light beneath the unconscious salamander began to flicker with instability; their edges started to become uneven as if about to break at any second.
"Shit, shit, I am too rushed. F*ck, calm down a little bit, can you? If you failed this, you will surely receive a backlash.'
Biting his lower lip to the point of bleeding to calm himself down, Naib then took a long, deep breath, deactivating the potential seeing eyes to entirely focus his attention on the unconscious mutated water salamander in front of him as he began manipulating the star force out of his body.
After that short, yet exhausting process, Naib then guided his star force meticulously toward the body of the beast.
His crude star force first entered through the salamander's wounds before climbing up to its head, planning to invade its consciousness before imprinting a contract in it.
Fortunately, since the mutated water salamander was on its deathbed, Naib hadn't encountered any obstructions; instead, he managed to smoothly place a seal to the depths of the salamander's consciousness, finally binding it.
"Huff~ Success!"
Boom!
At the same time, after he had just placed the seal in the depths of the salamander's consciousness, a soft flow of energy, coming from the connection between him and the salamander, abruptly coursed through his being.
Star Force, equivalent to when he had just stepped into the mid-stage of the beast apprentice realm, rampaged through his physique, immediately tempering it before vanishing in an instant, again increasing his physical strength by a substantial amount.
Ding!
Having no time to marvel about the feedback that he gets from contracting the beast, the sound of countless notifications continuously rang inside his consciousness, deafening his senses momentarily.
However, despite that, understanding his priority, Naib forced himself to retract the hexagon light beneath the unconscious body of the mutated water salamander.
With the vanishing of the serene light, the grievously wounded body of the salamander also vanished. Turning incorporeal before entering the independent space within the depths of his consciousness, waiting to be summoned outside again.
...
Splash!
"Huff~ I haven't expected that forming a contract with a beast would be this exhausting.
"Moreover, the sudden increase of my strength and the depletion of my star force make my control over my body weak.'
Soon, feeling that everything inside him subsided, Naib exaggeratedly gasped for air, wiping the imaginary sweat on his forehead before walking to the stream bank with wobbly legs.
Returning to his hideout, Naib immediately closed the entrance of the place with dry grass and twigs, sealing it to the point that no light could seep inside, before collapsing to the ground.
In an instant, upon hitting the cold ground, Niab's heavy eyes immediately closed, head aching before instantly drifting into slumber.
...
Rustle~
Soon, time passed by...
Without even noticing it, Naib had already been sleeping for half a day.
Opening his groggy eyes, the first thing that greeted his sight was the moonlight coming outside — seeping through the gaps between the grasses that he crudely placed earlier — followed by the sight of his dim surroundings.
"Ugh, how long have I been sleeping?"
He thought while reaching the water he stored earlier using the thick leaves that he molded into a cup... Then, as if remembering something, Naib's action suddenly paused; his eyes widened before he hurriedly opened his character panel to ascertain his thoughts.
Ding!
[ Bound Beast: Mutated Water Salamander! (Click to open the beast character panel.) ]
"Indeed, I am not dreaming. I indeed formed a contract with this beast earlier!'
Hahaha! I finally accomplished the first quest of the system.
Without further ado, still remembering that the mutated water salamander's life was still in danger, Naib immediately checked the notification he received when he had contracted the beast.
Ding!
[ Congratulations on completing the first quest of the system. Due to that, you will receive the following rewards.
Rewards: 1 spiritual technique, opening the 1st feature of the fate points, and a Yellow-Grade skill, "Skin Tempering". ]
Ding!
[ Congratulations on unlocking the system shop features. ]
[ System Shop Features: Shop features show 10 different items every day, which refreshes the next day. There, you can buy goods based on your preferences using fate points. ]
Ding!
[ Congratulations on unlocking the Newbie Gift Pack. You can collect the rewards from the system's inventory. ]