After learning that Jasper's ability to teleport came from absorbing an Enderkin bloodline, Skyhawk immediately started itching to "try it too."But the crimson sigil only appeared after signing a beast contract—and even then, it wasn't guaranteed to become a Blood Contract. Besides, a severely injured Enderman wasn't exactly something you could casually run into. If a real one showed up in good condition, it could wipe them out in seconds.
Teleportation also had limits.
Jasper's range depended on willpower precision, not simply how far Eagle Eye could see. Right now:
200 meters: accurate teleport
400 meters: possible, but the landing point could drift
600 meters: the limit of Eagle Eye's scan… and still too far to teleport
Teleporting barely consumed willpower—willpower was mostly for locking coordinates. The real cost was battle qi.In other words, you needed three things: Ender bloodline, enough battle qi, and precise willpower.
A normal Bronze Tier Rank 6 might manage twenty 100-meter teleports before bottoming out. Jasper estimated he could do around eighty.
With the night deepening, Sable Kestrel and Skyhawk leaned against the trunk and fell asleep. The tree was thick enough that Jasper could roll around on the branch without worrying about slipping.
He pulled Shadefang out of the beast space.
After absorbing the other cubs' blood, Shadefang had been in a long sleep. Now the little wolf opened its violet eyes, glowing faintly in the dark. It wriggled into Jasper's assassin outfit, rummaging around as if searching for something, then poked its head back out and let out a small, pitiful whine.
Jasper rubbed its head.It was hungry.
But he wasn't a mother wolf. Where was he supposed to find milk? And who even knew whether Shadefang could drink other animals' milk?
With a sigh, Jasper returned it to the beast space and opened the Beast Companion System.
Beast Companion: Shadefang
Realm: Bronze Tier Rank 5
Age: cub
Race: Enderkin
Bloodline: Ancient Ender Bloodline
Master: Jasper
Affinity: 80
Status: Hungry (overall strength -30%)
Food: Meat or medicinal herbs (currently can drink milk)
So it didn't have to be milk—anything meat-based would work too.
Jasper checked his system inventory. Only bread and water remained. The meat had been eaten on the road. And after wiping out Tomas Trell's gang, the village was short on supplies—he couldn't exactly shamelessly ask Garrick Forge for meat.
He glanced at Shadefang sleeping in the beast space, curled on bare soil in the empty ten-meter room.
"Hang in there," he murmured. "Tomorrow I'll get you something good."
That night Jasper stood watch. Near midnight he swapped shifts with Sable. Skyhawk, of course, slept like a rock until sunrise.
Bluehaze City
A squad in uniform iron armor rode out from the city toward the forest. Two men were mounted on armored warhorses.
One of them wore a familiar leering grin.
If Jasper saw him, he'd recognize him instantly—Cassian Zhang.
Riding beside him was likely the cousin Cassian always bragged about: Zhang Zhixin, a man who did nothing but train. He was already Bronze Tier Rank 7, hovering at the edge of Arcane Tier Rank 1—the Zhang clan's top prodigy.
The Zhang family Jasper met in Windcloud City was only a branch. Their true base of power was in Bluehaze City, which was exactly why they were retreating in that direction. With Windcloud City fallen, the Zhangs would become the strongest house in Bluehaze City.
House Lin also held influence there—but had long been suppressed by House Zhang. House Wu and House Zhuang, Zhang's usual followers, gathered in the west as well.
House Lin, together with House Yao, settled in the east—considered the worst district.The north belonged to the government.The west and south were effectively Zhang territory.
The government mostly looked the other way.
But with Windcloud City just suffering a disaster, if Bluehaze City descended into open family warfare and then the skeleton horde arrived… the city would collapse. That was the only reason officials stepped in to "mediate." It worked on the surface. What happened in the shadows was another story.
Not long after the Zhang team entered the woods, a second force left the city.
Sable would recognize these people immediately—they were the very guards who once hunted him.
Behind them walked a figure in a black cloak. The hood was wide and low, hiding the face. The outfit resembled Jasper's, except it lacked the pointed ridges on the hood.
Only the badge gave him away—
A Mercenary Guild mercenary.
Based on Jasper's route, he was almost guaranteed to run into that group. Friction was inevitable. Casualties, too.
Hunting milk
Jasper told the others about Shadefang. Sable immediately said, "Easy. I can shoot down prey in seconds."
Skyhawk snorted. "Your arrows are poisonous. You want to poison the cub to death? Leave this to the great knight—I'll bring back a mountain of game."
Jasper ignored their bickering and used Eagle Eye to scan. Dozens of animals moved in range. Only a handful were females, and most were weak. Still—if possible, Jasper wanted milk.
Then a doe stepped into his scan.
He'd read about it in House Lin's books.
A Cham Deer—usually Bronze Tier Rank 5, rare, and notoriously skittish. You'd barely get close before it bolted. Its real value wasn't the meat—it was the milk.
Cham milk carried a faint tea-like fragrance. One bottle cleared the mind. Two made you feel energized. Three… and you'd regret it.
Jasper slipped into Stealth. While Sable and Skyhawk were still arguing, he was already gone.
He crept above the Cham Deer on a branch. The deer grazed, lifting its head now and then—but never once looked up.
Jasper wrapped vine in his hand and dropped.
The deer finally sensed movement and—stupidly—tilted its head to see what it was, instead of sprinting.
That hesitation cost it everything.
Bronze Tier Rank 6 Jasper pinned it down easily, bound it with vine, then pulled Shadefang from the beast space.
The cub smelled milk and scrambled beneath the deer, drinking greedily.
Only then did Sable and Skyhawk find Jasper—using the system's team tracking. (If Jasper didn't allow it, they couldn't locate him. His system held the highest authority.)
Shadefang finished, then wriggled back into Jasper's assassin outfit. There was a pocket in the suit that fit the cub perfectly. Shadefang settled in, leaving only its little head outside, already snoring.
Skyhawk stared at the deer, eyes gleaming. "Boss… can we drink some too? I've never had deer milk."
Sable nodded. Jasper pulled out three bottles from his inventory and tossed them over.
"One each. We save some for Shadefang. Cham Deer don't come around often."
All three of them grinned like villains and approached the helpless deer.
Cham milk tasted oddly similar to bubble tea Jasper remembered from Earth—except richer, cleaner, and more fragrant. After drinking, he felt his mind sharpen, like a fog lifting.
"Alright," Jasper said, corking his bottle. "We keep moving."
Sable looked at Skyhawk. "You carry the deer."
Skyhawk grimaced. "Why me?"
Sable added calmly, "Because you drank the most. You were about to spill it."
Skyhawk had no comeback. He hoisted the bound Cham Deer onto his back, grumbling—while secretly thinking the milk was absolutely worth it.