Chapter 43: Repairing the Feather

Floating island.

Somewhere in a secluded dense forest.

A dark red Abyss Spider was carefully making its way through.

For some time prior, it had been resting in its lair, but now, with the breeding season upon it, it had ventured out to find a suitable mate of its own kind.

Yet, after wandering around for quite a while, it hadn't encountered a single member of its species.

Even the variously colored, slippery, and sweet-tasting food it usually bumped into when luck was on its side had been completely absent lately.

Although it felt somewhat strange, its barren brain still failed to realize the severity of the situation.

Just as it was preparing to retrace its steps back to the lair.

Suddenly, magical brilliance blossomed on one side.

Immediately following, a large cluster of fiery red butterflies rapidly flew in its direction.

Sensing a strong threat, the Abyss Spider immediately sidestepped, preparing to dodge.

Yet, before it had taken a few steps,

a crystalline ice-blue wall suddenly erected itself out of thin air directly in front of it, blocking its path.

Logically speaking, the flight speed of this spell was not particularly fast, and a nimble Abyss Spider, having already widened the distance by several meters, should normally have remained unhitched.

Unexpectedly, however, this cluster of fire butterflies suddenly made a sharp turn mid-air, tracing a fiery red arc and violently slamming into the spider's body.

The roaring sounds triggered by the explosion rang out one after another.

[Prompt: You have killed an Abyss Spider (LV4) via "Fire Butterfly"...]

Hearing the system prompt ring out in his mind, Qin Yuan inspected the scene.

The Abyss Spider currently looked exceptionally miserable, its body riddled with explosion-induced craters of varying sizes.

Thick, disgusting green fluids spilled all over the ground.

That's right. Because Feather was still undergoing repairs, Qin Yuan, having nothing better to do, had come to the island to test the newly learned spells through actual combat.

This particular application of the Frost Wall was also something he had just figured out.

Because its casting range was relatively long, aside from placing it in front of oneself to ward off skills, it could even be placed directly behind an opponent to cut off their escape route.

The power of the Fire Butterfly was also quite impressive.

Coupled with the enhancement of the golden skill frame, its casting speed was remarkably fast.

Comparatively, its mana consumption was not low either, so Qin Yuan felt he could keep the Lesser Fireball spell instead of replacing it, using them in a high-low combination.

After all, when dealing with some low-level monsters, the Lesser Fireball spell still came in handy.

Before coming here, he had casually paid a visit to the Slime Village, temporarily leaving the Nightmare Slime inside.

Its condition was currently quite good; at least it had returned to normal.

Although they couldn't communicate through language, it could still understand some simple gestures, so for the time being, he wasn't worried about it harming other slimes.

He would have to go pick it back up tonight and take it to Ironstone Village for a little feast.

Wait... why do I feel like I'm raising a child, dropping it off at kindergarten in the morning and picking it back up at night...

Qin Yuan muttered inwardly, feeling a strange sense of irony.

At this stage, entering the Abyss Pustule area still required Feather to be present. Having its aerial reconnaissance provide timely warnings at the first sign of trouble made it convenient for him to make a getaway using a teleportation crystal.

Therefore, Qin Yuan continued to sweep the outer perimeter.

Mainly clearing out those remaining stragglers of the Abyss Spiders.

By now, after an entire day, it was rare to encounter even a few Abyss Spiders on the outer fringes.

...

Until the afternoon, when a tired Qin Yuan was resting on a patch of grass,

movement suddenly came from his player backpack.

Upon checking, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

Feather's repair work was finally complete.

Taking out the bottle containing the spiritual liquid, the small remaining half-bottle of nourishing spiritual liquid was now completely depleted.

Meanwhile, the Owl Whistle placed within it was quietly radiating the purple magical glow unique to special items.

He picked it up and inspected it.

While the large cracks had not been completely repaired, some of the minor fissures had vanished.

"As expected, the tier of the nourishing spiritual liquid is still too low," the Whispering Grimoire said. "Purely in terms of tier, special items are no less inferior to some three- or four-star magical materials, after all, they are imbued with the aura of a soul."

Qin Yuan blew the whistle, summoning Feather out.

He could hardly wait to see what changes the owl had undergone.

As soon as the snow-white-feathered owl appeared, it also curiously lowered its head to examine itself.

First of all, judging from its appearance, there seemed to be no changes.

Its level had only increased to level seven.

"Hmm?"

Qin Yuan suddenly furrowed his brow.

Whether it was his imagination or not, he always felt that the exact moment he summoned the owl, he could faintly see some white flames winding around Feather's body.

Yet, when he looked again, they had suddenly vanished.

Was it an illusion?

No way...

I'm not blind, how could I missee it!

His inner thought was quickly dismissed by his own reasoning.

Qin Yuan held the whistle in his hand and gently touched Feather.

This allowed him to view the changes in its skill set.

Combined with the system prompts and the information provided by the Eye of Revelation, Qin Yuan made a discovery.

The original Feather possessed two skills:

[Wind Blade (Active): Favored by the wind, Feather can release sharp cutting blades to deal damage.]

[Eagle Eye (Passive): Innate ability that significantly enhances Feather's reconnaissance capabilities while allowing it to notice minute details.]

Yet now, not only had the number become four, but the skill descriptions had also completely changed.

[Soul Blade (Active): Kazaker releases a blade capable of striking both the enemy's soul and flesh simultaneously, triggering a certain degree of stiffness against creatures with fragile souls.]

[Ghost Vision (Passive): In addition to granting Kazaker meticulous visual capabilities, the bloodline also allows it to perceive phantom entities invisible to ordinary people.]

[Soul Devour (Active): Kazaker can recover energy by devouring souls, incidentally intercepting fragments of memory from them. Can only be used once a week.]

[Information Sharing (Active): Kazaker can transmit some of the imagery or information it sees to others, though this consumes a massive amount of energy.]

...

"Kazaker... what is that?"

He murmured, "Is this some name belonging to you, Feather?"

"What are you talking about?" The owl blinked its large eyes, looking at him with a puzzled expression: "What Kazaker?"

Qin Yuan was equally bewildered, so he recounted everything he had just seen, including all the changes compared to its original state.

He had originally thought that after his narration, Feather might recall a few fragments, but the owl listened for a long time only to shake its head, indicating that there were no memories related to this in its mind whatsoever.

Failing to get an answer, Qin Yuan then turned to the Whispering Grimoire: "Have you ever heard of this name?"

The magic book floating in mid-air also shook its head.

"I suppose it's still because there was too little nourishing spiritual liquid, and the degree of repair wasn't enough..."

Qin Yuan guessed.

However, he was already quite satisfied.