A sound ripped through the peaceful forest air—a piercing, familiar shriek of pure terror.
Thiago's body moved before his mind fully processed it. He was already a black streak, crashing through ferns and underbrush toward the source.
The scene that greeted him ignited a cold, clarifying fury.
The small tiger—his tiger—was backed against a mossy boulder, trembling. A deep, bloody gash scored its flank, painting its white stripes crimson. Standing over it, lips peeled back from yellowed fangs, was a grey wolf, its hackles raised.
[Wolf]
[Cultivation: 1st Tier of the Novice Realm]
The tiger hadn't even begun to cultivate. It was utterly helpless.
The rage was instantaneous, a volcano erupting in Thiago's chest. He didn't roar. He simply exploded forward from the tree line. The wolf barely had time to turn its head before Thiago's claws, fueled by the 8th Tier's power, tore through its side in a brutal, disemboweling arc. The wolf crumpled, dead before it hit the forest floor.
He turned. The little tiger had collapsed, unconscious from pain and blood loss. The wound was deep, fatal if left untreated.
Guilt, sharp and unwelcome, pricked him. It must have come looking for me. It followed my scent into dangerous territory.
He pushed the emotion aside. Action. He opened the System Shop. General Search: Healing.
He scrolled past talismans for minor cuts and bruises. Then he found it.
[Middle Grade Basic Healing Pill - 40 Points]
[Can heal fatal injuries from beings under the Novice Realm]
Expensive. It would nearly clean him out. He didn't hesitate.
[Received: Middle Grade Basic Healing Pill]
The pill materialized in the air before him. He caught it gently between his teeth, careful not to crush it. He padded to the tiger, used a careful paw to pry its jaws open, and let the pill drop onto its tongue.
A soft, emerald-green glow immediately enveloped the small body. The gruesome wound began to knit together with a speed visible to the naked eye, flesh weaving and skin smoothing over until only clean, damp fur remained. The process took about ten minutes. The tiger slept on, breathing evenly now.
Thiago turned to the wolf corpse.
[Received: 10 System Points]
He then gently, carefully, took the scruff of the unconscious tiger's neck in his mouth and lifted. He needed a safe place. He marched for twenty minutes, senses on high alert, until he found a well-concealed cave entrance. It was empty. He laid the tiger down on a bed of dry leaves in the deepest corner.
Exhaustion, more mental than physical, claimed him. He slept.
Morning. A familiar, wet, rasping sensation on his muzzle.
He opened his eyes. The tiger—alert, healthy, and with eyes full of unmistakable gratitude—was licking his face.
It understands. At least on some level.
When he rose and headed out to resume his hunt, the tiger immediately fell into step behind him. He considered shooing it away, but stopped. It'll just follow anyway. And it might be useful. Or at least, not a hindrance.
I should give it a cultivation technique, he mused as they walked. We're linked by fate, it seems. But that requires points. And it needs a name. I need to know its gender for that… and I need to be able to speak.
They hadn't gone far when they encountered another goblin, this one at the 6th Tier of the Novice Realm. Still no threat. A swift kill.