Jasper Cole and his group left Riverside Village, heading toward the nearest city to Windcloud City—Bluehaze City.
Sable Kestrel had originally come from Bluehaze City. He'd also mentioned before that a local family power there had him in their sights.
Back then, Sable went to buy a bow… only to run into the spoiled young master of that family—a useless pretty-boy who spent his days loafing around, pretending to be an archer so he could flirt with girls. His cultivation was only Bronze Tier, Rank 3.
The problem was, the two of them wanted the same bow.
Someone like Sable would never give up a good weapon to a wastrel like that. If the other guy had real strength, maybe it would've been negotiable—yet not only was he weak, he also mocked Sable and cursed him until Sable's ears rang.
Sable snapped.
He beat the brat badly. The brat's guards tried to intervene—only to get flattened as well.
When the family learned what happened, they sent a squad of Bronze Tier, Rank 6 guards to hunt Sable down. Sable barely escaped—though he never did get that bow.
After that, he knew he'd made a huge enemy, so he fled in a hurry. But now that he had the Elf Archer class, the system had gifted him a Bronze Tier, Rank 7 bow—enough to carry him for quite a while.
Jasper walked in front, using Eagle Eye to scout the path.
Then, inside his Eagle Eye range, an opening appeared.
Normally, a random hole wouldn't interest him.
But this one carried a faint ripple of spatial battle qi—you could call it spatial attribute, or spatial energy.
Jasper halted and raised a hand. "You two wait here."
He activated Stealth and moved carefully toward the opening.
If it's a spatial storage item, I'm rich.If it's a spatial-attribute monster… I can still escape—eight out of ten.
Judging from the energy fluctuations, if it was a spatial monster, there were only two possibilities:
It was severely injured.
It was a low-grade monster that had awakened spatial power by sheer luck.
Jasper leaned toward the second.
The opening was small—whatever lived inside was likely small too, at least by monster standards. And if it were a truly terrifying spatial beast, it would've noticed Jasper's group long ago. It wouldn't stay quiet until now.
Five meters… four… three… two… one…
Jasper used Eagle Eye to probe downward.
As the scouting range expanded, the underground world unfolded layer by layer.
At roughly two hundred meters below, a cluster of tiny shapes finally came into view.
Cubs.
Spatial-attribute cubs.
Rare. Extremely rare.
Their mother was nowhere to be seen—likely out hunting.
Jasper slipped into the hole. It was wider than it looked, and Jasper was lean. He crawled down the twisting tunnel and reached the bottom.
Several cubs huddled together.
They were… wolf pups.
Newborns—so fresh that blood still clung to their fur, not yet licked clean.
Jasper scooped them up and retraced his route back to the surface.
Warm. Soft. Surprisingly pleasant to hold.
Skyhawk and Sable rushed over, eyes shining with curiosity.
Skyhawk poked one pup gently. "Whoa… Boss, you're insane. I've never seen pups like this in my life."
Sable narrowed his eyes. "Not right. Big brother, look—some are already dead. Some are wounded. Their mother gave birth and got attacked immediately."
Jasper noticed it too. While separating the dead pups from the living ones, he muttered, "This hole must be the mother's backup den. Hurry. Don't leave scent trails. If the mother catches our smell, she'll track us down. Wolves hold grudges."
Then—
A system chime rang out.
"Ding. Conditions met. Beast Companion System unlocked.""You may currently tame: 1 companion.""Sub-system may currently tame: 0 companions."
Skyhawk and Sable both heard it.
Skyhawk sighed dramatically. "So the pups aren't for us. Boss, pick one already."
Sable's expression was tense. "If you don't want one, we leave now. I keep feeling like something's watching."
Jasper didn't argue. This place was dangerous.
He scanned the pups with his willpower. Two of them had especially strong spatial signatures—but one was dead, and the other was badly injured. Two others were more ordinary.
Except…
One pup was strange.
Its spatial attribute flickered—appearing and disappearing like a faulty lantern.
Jasper frowned, then reached out and tapped that pup lightly.
The pup snapped up and bit his finger.
Blood beaded instantly.
The next second, two crimson magic circles flared—one beneath Jasper, one beneath the pup.
"Ding. Beast companion contract completed.""Blood Contract: Loyalty will not fall below 80%.""Ding. First beast companion acquired. Please name your companion."
Jasper's face went stiff.
He almost wanted to slap himself.
He'd meant to choose the strongest pup… and instead got dragged into a contract with the weirdest one.
And what the hell was a Blood Contract? It sounded terrifyingly serious.
But regret was useless.
Jasper exhaled slowly, then rubbed the pup's head. "Alright… your name is Shadefang."
"Ding. Companion naming successful."
The crimson circle beneath Shadefang suddenly expanded—
and swallowed the other pups.
A scarlet glow wrapped them like cocoons. Then—
their blood was ripped out.
The pups' blood wasn't red.
It was pale violet.
All of that violet blood streamed into Shadefang's body like smoke pulled into a whirlpool.
Shadefang's unstable spatial attribute stabilized instantly.
Not only that—its spatial power surged, becoming sharper, denser, stronger.
A spatial ripple burst outward.
A full kilometer of air trembled—so obvious that even ordinary creatures could sense it.
Jasper's scalp went cold.
Damn it.
Even if only common monsters roamed nearby, if the parents returned…
And worse, there was still an unknown enemy in the area.
Jasper grabbed Shadefang and shouted, "Move! Now!"
But it was already too late.
A piercing screech tore through the forest.
And right after it—
two furious wolf howls answered from different directions.
Jasper didn't need to guess.
Shadefang's spatial surge had exposed them.
The parents… and the enemy… had both locked onto this spot.
The closer you were, the more obvious it became—purple energy was practically visible in the air, shimmering like mist.
Jasper barked at the others, "You two run. If things go bad, don't stay near me. I'm going into Stealth."
Sable and Skyhawk retreated to a tree line roughly a hundred meters away, hiding among thick branches.
Jasper slipped into a patch of grass several dozen meters from the den entrance, activated Stealth, and waited—silent as a ghost.
A flash of purple light snapped into existence—
then two towering shadows arrived.
Both were large.
Both were battered.
Jasper's eyes narrowed.
So that screech…
It wasn't a normal monster.
It had moved by spatial flicker—short-range displacement.
Good. If it's just a wandering one, its strength shouldn't be outrageous.
Jasper slid Shadefang into his Companion Space.
His left wrist blade—Piercer—snapped out with a metallic whisper.
His right hand drew the Altair Longsword from his back.
He steadied his breathing, eyes cold.
This wasn't just danger.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.