Rowan scanned the skill description displayed on the character status of the Skyshifter and was immediately impressed by it. Moreover, the Skyshifter belonged to a far higher realm than Rowan had expected, it was considerably stronger than Blaze.
"This is great, it will be of enormous help in battle and transportation," he muttered with a smile on his face.
The look in the Skyshifter's eyes had already shifted from curiosity to familiarity, as though it had known Rowan before and held a favorable impression of him.
It was very different from Blaze when he had hatched the beast egg, back then, even after Rowan tamed him and named him, Blaze still acted stubborn and unfriendly toward him as though he was a stranger.
Recalling those moments made Rowan chuckle.
"I will name you Black Drifter," Rowan declared as he strolled toward the Skyshifter, patting his soft, feathery body while bestowing his name. The Skyshifter towered at more than twice Rowan's height in proximity, and he was impressively huge on the ground.
Rowan was only a little taller than his legs.
Noticing the height difference, Black Drifter lowered his head to invite a pat.
"I guessed correctly—it's much friendlier than that rascal," Rowan smiled as he patted his head.
Rowan then tried communicating with him telepathically, and it worked perfectly. Although Black Drifter had just arrived, he could communicate telepathically; the language of this world flowed fluidly, easing communication. He even understood the words coming from Rowan's mouth and responded telepathically, since he could not speak aloud.
"Alright, we're done with the introduction. My new pet, let us get to your first task—protect me," Rowan commanded.
Black Drifter nodded obediently, which caused Rowan to smile—Black Drifter was a lot more polite than Blaze.
Rowan briefly explained the process to Black Drifter; then, without wasting any time, he found a spot, opened his system, and attempted his evolution to D-rank.
[Spend 30,000,000 evolution points to Evolve? CONFIRM - YES/NO]
Spending thirty million evolution points at a go—especially for a worthy cause like evolution—was no big deal for Rowan, so he clicked Yes immediately.
Just like his two previous evolutions, his body was instantly blasted with uncontrollable and intolerable pain that knocked him to the ground.
The agony was unbearable and extreme. Though Rowan tried to control the pain, it was still too much, and he couldn't help but let out a loud, soul-wrenching cry that echoed through the dark, silent night.
The usual system prompts indicating the progress of his evolution also appeared; nevertheless, the pace of progress was extremely slow—about three times slower than the previous one.
Fortunately, he was in an area with no monsters surrounding them, since they had already been cleared off earlier, and he wasn't worried that his voice might drag them out of hiding, thus putting him in danger. Also, he was far away from his soldiers, so his voice wouldn't disturb their much-needed night rest.
His scream grew louder with each passing second as the pain escalated through different unbearable levels; he felt as though he were going to die.
Black Drifter observed Rowan with a calm expression on his face. Rowan had told him not to worry about the pain since it was expected, so he remained unbothered.
He flapped his huge black wings and ascended into the sky to get a proper look at the surroundings and to keep Rowan safe from danger.
Flying in circles around Rowan, his eyes scanned widely. His vision was exceptionally strong—even from a distance, he was able to spot the soldiers sleeping.
Monsters and divine beasts naturally possess night vision, so there was no trouble having a clear sight in the dark night.
While he wasn't familiar with the soldiers, Black Drifter did not see them as a threat to his master, so he let them be and instead scanned the other locations.
Minutes passed as Rowan remained on the ground, stretching and screaming uncontrollably.
Minutes turned into an hour, and the pain continued. Fortunately, according to the progress indicator, he was only a few minutes away from concluding his evolution.
[ Evolving... 97.5% ]
[ Evolving.... 97.6% ]
It kept increasing slowly, sometimes it even took more than thirty seconds to go up with just 0.1%.
[ Evolving.... 99.9% ]
[ Evolving.... 100% ]
[ Evolution successful! ]
Immediately, the pain in Rowan's body ceased as though it had never been there. The only evidence of his ordeal was the sweat dripping down his face, his robe stained with grass, dirt, and his own perspiration, as well as the dent he left on the ground from stretching uncontrollably.
"Ahh, that was an awful lot more painful than the last one; I really felt like I was going to die back there."
Rowan stood up and dusted the dirt off his body while the blissful sensation of newfound power settled in, driving away every trace of unease.
Not just physically, he also felt a bit relaxed mentally, his thoughts were more balanced and clearer than they had been before evolving.
While he was getting used to this feeling, Black Drifter flew down beside him, having scanned the surrounding.
[Congratulations master, you've grown stronger] he said telepathically.
"Thank you, Black Drifter. You're a better pet than Blaze—you'll get to meet him soon, and I hope you two get along very well," Rowan laughed as he patted Black Drifter.
Black Drifter's expression transformed slightly.
[You had a pet before me?]
Rowan could hear a tiny note of jealousy, betrayal, and dismay in his voice. The atmosphere around him also grew a little uneasy thanks to Black Drifter's sudden shift in emotion.
Using his customary sweet tongue, Rowan responded in a way that eased his feelings in mere seconds.
"You see, Blaze is kind of a stubborn brat..."
Rowan was still talking about Blaze to Black Drifter when several notifications suddenly popped up in front of him.
[Your pet and soldiers are in danger!]
[Your pet and soldiers are in danger!!]
"What is happening?" Rowan panicked.
[Master, come quickly!]