Blackstone Castle, courtyard.
Su Nan stood before the banyan tree,
his eyes fixed on the trunk. To the naked eye, there was nothing in front of the trunk; even careful observation revealed nothing.
Only Su Nan could sense that something was indeed there.
"Charge!" Su Nan suddenly spoke.
The moment his words fell, a whooshing sound echoed through the void.
Although there was nothing in front of him, a rustling sound could be clearly heard, as if some creature was crawling swiftly along the ground.
At this moment, a barely perceptible distortion finally appeared in the previously empty void.
"Alright," Su Nan said.
The next moment, the giant lizard appeared out of thin air on the ground more than ten meters ahead. A
human-like fawning expression appeared in its amber vertical pupils, and it whimpered softly, seemingly seeking praise from Su Nan.
Su Nan chuckled and could only praise, "Well done."
After more than half a month of experimentation, during which he failed more than ten times, he finally succeeded in transferring the chameleon's color-changing ability to the giant lizard and further enhanced its effect.
The giant lizard, now possessing the color-changing ability, can instantly change its form to match its environment, achieving near-invisibility.
Only during high-speed sprints will it leave a trace due to the lag in form transformation.
Of course, unless one is a wizard apprentice or a high-level knight with exceptional eyesight, a normal person would not notice this trace at all.
However, this ability is not without its flaws.
When stationary, it's fine, but once it begins to move, the sound of footsteps and the friction of its body against objects will reveal its location.
Su Nan didn't have a good solution for this.
After all, even true [invisibility] has the same flaw.
"Flaws are flaws, anyway, the color-changing ability is just to lay the foundation for transforming magical pets."
"I hope you can awaken even more powerful abilities based on the color-changing ability."
The giant lizard didn't quite understand Su Nan's meaning and only cautiously let out a low growl.
Unconcerned, Su Nan used his Mage's Hand to scoop up the giant lizard and entered the laboratory.
This was a laboratory that had been temporarily cleared out.
A contract magic circle, composed of countless intricate patterns, had already been drawn on the floor, shimmering with a faint, eerie black hue under the candlelight, possessing an indescribable, mysterious quality.
Placing the giant lizard in the center of the circle, Su Nan then cast a sleeping spell, instantly putting the somewhat uneasy lizard to sleep.
Su Nan then used a small knife to cut the pad of his thumb and pressed it against the edge of the magic circle.
As the blood spread along the patterns, the magic circle suddenly shone brightly.
Countless black and red interwoven mists appeared out of thin air, spreading out to envelop and cover the giant lizard's massive body, the mist continuously seeping into its rough, thick skin.
*Crack! Crack!*
A series of soft cracking sounds suddenly rang out as the giant lizard's bones swelled, piercing through its thick skin, revealing their white, gleaming forms in the air.
In no time, the giant lizard had transformed into a massive skeleton nearly ten meters long, covered in tattered flesh, curled up on the ground, almost filling the entire laboratory floor.
Su Nan had to retreat to the doorway, his gaze fixed intently on the lizard, a plant-based rune gem clutched in his hand, ready to activate and heal it at any moment.
The transformation into a magical pet wasn't 100% successful.
The more powerful the creature, the lower the success rate.
For a species like the giant lizard, possessing dragon lizard blood, the failure rate was at least 50%.
Even with rune gems, the success rate could only be increased by a few percent.
The lizard's skeleton continued to grow, quickly exceeding fifteen meters, but its flesh showed no signs of proliferation, making it look like a skeletal giant lizard.
Seeing this, Su Nan decisively activated the rune gem, a soft, pale green light instantly enveloping the lizard's entire body.
However, the lizard remained motionless, unchanged.
"It failed?"
Su Nan frowned and sighed.
But in the next second, a sudden change occurred.
Countless black oval scales, each the size of an adult's palm, suddenly sprouted from the lizard's tattered skin, spreading rapidly throughout its body at a visible speed, instantly covering its exposed bones.
After the scales took shape, their smooth surface shimmered in the candlelight, gradually blending into the surrounding environment, eventually completely concealing the lizard's massive body.
"A color-changing ability? No, something's not right!"
Just as Su Nan was filled with doubt, the 'disappeared' lizard reappeared out of thin air, its appearance drastically different from before the transformation.
The original lizard was already seven or eight meters long, a true behemoth, but after the transformation, its body had more than doubled in size, resembling a small mountain.
However, despite its enormous size, its body was relatively slender compared to its length, not appearing bulky, but rather extremely swift and agile.
It rushed to Su Nan, bending its body into a soft circle, its enormous pupils fixed on him.
Although its appearance was ferocious, through an unseen connection, Su Nan could feel the giant lizard's admiration and affection.
Pets and their masters can sense each other's emotions within a certain distance, a kind of telepathy, which wizards call emotional connection.
As a wizard's mental strength increases, abilities such as shared vision and shared spells will evolve, and even more types of magical abilities.
Furthermore, a pet's life is bound to its master.
Once the master dies, the pet's body and soul will vanish.
Therefore, in a pet's mind, its master is the closest and most loyal being in the world.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Su Nan reached out and stroked the giant lizard's head. The lizard whimpered softly, its massive head gently rubbing against his hand, showing affection.
The contrast between their enormous size and the lizard's appearance was strangely striking.
"Go outside and test your abilities."
The two quickly moved to the courtyard.
The transformation into a magical pet took considerable time, and night had already fallen.
At Su Nan's command, the giant lizard leaped forward with incredible agility, soaring four or five meters into the air. Bathed in moonlight, its slender body vanished from head to toe.
Then, a banyan tree nearby snapped inexplicably with a crack, its massive branches crashing to the ground.
"Its strength and physical resilience have noticeably improved. In terms of physique alone, it's probably no less than a Grand Knight, but we'll need to test it further."
The giant lizard's physical strength and color-changing ability had both been enhanced, but these were pre-existing abilities, clearly not newly awakened ones.
Su Nan watched expectantly.
After charging a distance, the giant lizard reappeared, turning back to crash into the tree stump again.
But this time, its body suddenly vanished mid-air, passing through the stump like a phantom.
"This is the ability to transform between reality and illusion!"
Su Nan exclaimed in surprise.
Judging from the giant lizard's earlier performance, it seemed to be able to instantly transform its body into a phantom, thus traversing obstacles.
The transformed giant lizard already possessed formidable killing power and agile speed. Combined with its color-changing ability and the ability to traverse obstacles through space, it was practically the perfect assassin!
Its combat power increased several levels!
"What a perfect combination of abilities!"
Su Nan couldn't help but exclaim.
The ability to switch between reality and illusion completely compensated for the color-changing ability's inability to conceal its sound, giving the giant lizard genuine, perfect stealth.
Hearing Su Nan's words, the giant lizard let out an excited and triumphant cry.
Su Nan smiled slightly: "I can't keep calling you 'Giant Lizard,' I need to give you a new name."
After a moment's thought, he quickly came up with an idea.
"I'll call you Hidden Dragon."