"What am I doing here?"
Daniel opened his eyes and stared at the dark forest around him, completely stunned.
"Didn't I get an S-grade elemental mage talent? The mayor was giving me a party, right?"
"Howl~~"
A wolf's howl came from behind him, scaring Daniel so much that he forgot about the pain in his leg and ran as fast as he could into the dark forest. Then, a big black shadow crashed through the bushes, making a loud noise.
"Dylan! I will kill you!" Daniel remembered the details of the betrayal and growled under his breath.
Now he finally understood: he had been in Dylan Howard's trap all along. Dylan's kindness and care were fake, all to take Daniel's talent.
When Daniel crossed into this world called "Elden," the original owner's mind had already disappeared before the talent awakened.
In this world ruled by nobles and mages, commoners had no rights or freedom at all. They either became noble serfs or mage servants.
Dylan, the nobleman, had called Daniel "good friend" for eight years because he knew, when he was eight, that he had no magic talent, while Daniel had a very high one.
Talent crystals could check if someone had magic talent, but their high cost and the information barriers created by nobles made commoners never know about them.
Commoners had to take the free awakening ceremony held by the mage tower at the age of sixteen to find out if they had magic talent.
At the awakening ceremony in the mage tower — he awakened a rare S-grade talent called "Element Control."
But during the celebration banquet the mayor held for him, his "good friend" Dylan put poison in his drink, pretending he was drunk.
Then, under the excuse of escorting him, Dylan not only stole his talent, but also left him in the dangerous black forest.
All of this happened because Dylan's brother-in-law was the mayor, and Daniel was just a commoner with no family. If he died, no one would come to his aid.
Now, the one chasing him was a "shadow wolf," a second-level beast known for speed and trickery. The deep wound on his leg was from this beast.
Daniel's strength was quickly fading. Losing too much blood made him feel dizzy, and he started to hear ringing in his ears.
"Roar!"
A fierce roar filled with killing intent exploded behind him, and a smelly wind blew in his face.
With a glance, Daniel saw the shadow wolf, as big as a lion, jump high into the air. Its green, narrow eyes were full of cruelty and mockery, and its white teeth shone coldly under the moonlight.
There was no way to escape!
Death's shadow quickly surrounded him. Daniel's pupils shrank, and a deep sense of despair and anger filled his heart.
Was this the end?
No! I can't die! Dylan! I must live and come back to kill you with my own hands!
[Ding——]
[Host's strong unwillingness and firm desire for revenge have activated the Daily Golden Phrase System completely.]
[The Daily Golden Phrase is being refreshed...]
[Phrase One: The Dwarf Forging God. Effect: You will instantly understand all the forging skills of the dwarves, and any ordinary iron in your hands can be turned into a divine artifact.]
[Phrase Two: The Elf Archer God. Effect: From a hundred miles away, your arrows will never miss, and you can even shoot down stars.]
[Phrase Three: God-Level Affinity. Effect: All non-human intelligent beings will instantly have their respect for you increased to worship.
Note: Can be used twice per day.]
Daniel didn't hesitate at all: "I choose the third one!"
[Golden Phrase "God-Level Affinity" has been loaded. Remaining uses today: 2.]
[Detecting that the host is facing a life-threatening attack. Will you use God-Level Affinity on the "second-level shadow wolf"?]
"Yes!"
As soon as Daniel said the word, the shadow wolf that had already lunged at him and opened its mouth wide froze in place, then crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
Daniel's ears were ringing, his mind went blank, and he just stared at the shadow wolf on the ground with its mouth open.
Shadow Wolf locked eyes with Daniel. In an instant, the glowing green pupils in its eyes lost their fierce look. Its wolf eyes first showed confusion and confusion, then turned into something affectionate, and finally became a kind of almost fanatical worship.
"Howl!" A deep growl suddenly turned into a soft whimper in its throat, like a Pomeranian seeing its owner.
Daniel: "..."
Then, Shadow Wolf kept making "howl" sounds, trying to be cute. When Daniel didn't react, Shadow Wolf started to approach him carefully, rubbing its head against the bottom of his pants.
Just a moment ago, it was playing with Daniel and full of aggression. Now, it completely changed, acting like a total sycophant.
This sudden change made Daniel's brain shut down for a moment.
This is... God-Level Affinity?
This is way too broken!
Daniel cautiously reached out his hand, trembling as he touched the top of Shadow Wolf's head. Shadow Wolf closed its eyes in pleasure and licked his hand with its long tongue. A strange mental connection was formed between the man and the wolf.
Daniel could clearly feel the emotions the wolf was sending: closeness, dependence, worship, and even a bit of flattery.
"From now on, you'll be called Abraham." Daniel said.
"Howl~" The shadow wolf let out an excited sound and rubbed its head harder against Daniel's hand.
The danger was gone. Daniel sighed in relief and sat down on the ground. A sharp pain shot up from his leg. He looked down and saw the wound on his leg, with the skin and flesh torn open and bleeding heavily.
"Howl..." Abraham came closer and growled softly at Daniel's wound, sending a worried feeling.
Then, it seemed to remember something, turned around and ran into the nearby forest. A moment later, Abraham came back with a plant that smelled slightly fragrant, and carefully placed it in front of Daniel.
Daniel recognized it — it was exactly the "Clotting Grass" he had seen on the herb list. It was a low-level healing herb. Daniel felt warm inside, then grabbed the clotting grass, chewed it up, and pressed it on his wound. The cool feeling immediately eased the pain.
Even though he was hurt, now he had the boss of the outer area of the Beast Mountains as his pet. He could walk around the outer area freely.
Daniel checked the phrases and found that he still had one use left for God-Level Affinity today, so he decided to use it.
"Abraham, are there any other strong beasts around here?" Daniel asked through the mental link.
Abraham nodded, and there was a look of understanding in its eyes.
It looked toward the east of the forest, then licked Daniel's shoe and growled softly a few times.
Through the mental link, Daniel roughly understood what it meant: "East... strong creature..."
At this moment, Abraham bit Daniel's pants and pulled, then lowered its body to show that he should ride on its back. Daniel didn't hesitate and jumped on Abraham's back.
Abraham immediately stood up and ran quickly, as if afraid Daniel would change his mind. Along the way, other beasts saw Abraham and quickly backed away. Soon, the two of them reached a cave.
After getting off, Abraham started barking wildly at the cave entrance. Right, it was barking just like a guard dog. Not long after, a huge creature came out — a third-level silverback bear.
The silverback bear only roared once, and then it immediately became Daniel's second follower. Daniel named it Alexander. Abraham leaned against Alexander's leg and looked at it with a sideways glance. Alexander waved its hand and pushed Abraham away.
At this moment, the forest suddenly became quiet. Even the sound of insects disappeared.
"Roar~~"
Suddenly, a loud, deep, and powerful roar filled the air, full of wild and threatening power!
Abraham was so scared it immediately lay on the ground and whined softly. Alexander curled up into a ball, with its front paws covering its head and trembling.
Daniel's heart shook, and a wave of excitement surged inside him. Could it be...?
He had tried many times to build a mental link with the two beasts, but it had never worked. It wasn't until the roar disappeared that the mental link suddenly formed. From the two beasts' minds, he got a few descriptions of the creature that had roared — mysterious, powerful, and flying.
Daniel really wanted to go deep into the Beast Mountains to explore, but with just himself and the two beasts, it was basically suicide.
As for finding a flying beast to carry them in — that was just a daydream. Even a ninth-level archmage wouldn't dare to cross the Beast Mountains openly.
The Beast Mountains had different levels. The outer area was filled with one to third-level beasts. The middle was fourth to sixth-level. And the core area started at seventh-level, with even ninth-level beasts appearing sometimes.
Daniel pushed away the unrealistic thoughts in his heart, but he was about to get revenge on Dylan!
Tomorrow was the day when the noble youths would go through their practical training after awakening their talents.
If a small beast storm just happened to break out in the outer area, and just happened to meet those high-and-mighty noble elites, would they still be so elegant and calm?
Daniel lay on Abraham's back and went ahead to the noble training area to make plans.
Alexander drove nearby beasts to the set location. For the ones that didn't listen or were too dumb, it just slapped them to death.
After the three of them met up, under Daniel's command, they did a practice battle. Soon, the area was in chaos. Once the practice battle was barely acceptable, Daniel stopped messing around. There was no point in continuing. Low-level beasts didn't have much intelligence, and they couldn't be controlled like an arm and a finger.
Night fell again. The Beast Mountains remained lively, but the area where the noble youths were training was completely silent.