Riding on the tiger's back at full speed, Logan felt the wind tear through his hair, tugging it backward in long, chaotic streams.
He quickly recast wind magic, anchoring himself more securely. Without it, the sheer force might have thrown him off.
Then he activated Storm Shield.
The magic didn't just envelop him — it spread to the tiger beneath him. In response, the beast's next leap was so powerful it startled even itself. With less air resistance holding it back, it gained even more speed.
Logan just hoped it wouldn't slam into a tree.
Thankfully, the tiger's instincts had evolved as well. It zigzagged at breakneck pace, leaping left or right at exactly the right monts, avoiding roots, trunks, and sharp branches with effortless precision.
Logan wasn't even sure if his mount had a destination in mind. Maybe it was just running at random, relying on instinct to find prey.
He didn't care either way.
Riding a three-ter-long, light-charged saber tiger through the ancient woods at top speed was exhilarating.
Then, without warning, he felt a shift in the tiger's energy.
Its muscles tensed.
It jumped once—then again—and a third ti, each leap more urgent than the last.
Each ti it landed, Logan was jerked forward, caught off guard as the beast suddenly tried to stop.
[Ouch! Ouch! Don't be so rough with my fur!] the tiger yowled ntally.
Logan had reflexively grabbed fistfuls of its fur during the sudden braking, unintentionally pulling on it.
[Top braking so hard you will cause to die!]
Sensing sothing was about to go wrong, Logan acted fast.
He pulled a scalpel from his belt and threw it down toward the ground—triggering Kage Aruki the mont it struck.
In the next breath, he vanished into the shadows.
Logan was beginning to love this spell.
Kage Aruki had beco a new favorite—so fast, so precise and worked well with his dark elent. He seriously considered hotkeying it into his ntal reflexes for future battles.
Now all he needed were specialized throwing weapons—blades or needles infused with darkness magic. That way, he could fully chain into the ninja skillset.
He made a ntal note: when he returned, he'd personally train Yui to level 80. He was already looking forward to seeing what her new class would unlock.
Logan reappeared beside a tree, safely out of the path of the tiger's wild braking.
He figured the beast simply wasn't used to its new body yet. The added size and weight made it harder to stop—sothing it hadn't adjusted for.
"What did you find?" Logan asked quickly, scanning the area.
[Sll. I slled a beast. This... is—]
The tiger took a few deeper breaths before sharply turning its head.
Logan followed its gaze.
What he saw left him slightly surprised.
A creature erged from between the trees. At first glance, it resembled a horse. But the longer he looked, the more humanoid it beca—broad shoulders, toned arms, a tall, upright posture.
A centaur.
Or sothing very close to it, as the creature still had a horse-like face.
It reminded him of the Warks—creatures from the earth race that resembled bipedal pigs.
Each elental spirit seed to like experinting with an animal race and slowly humanizing them.
The earth spirit had the Warks.
The fire spirit gave rise to the Lizardfolk, adapted to survive extre heat—though Logan had yet to find one in the volcano, assuming they were in hiding.
The wind elent birthed the elusive harpies he hoped to et once he found the Wind Temple.
Darkness had goblins, giants, ogres, they were the most nurous of the mutated humans.
And water had the elegant rmaids, half-human, half-aquatic, the only one he did not know about was the electric spirits preference.
Right now though, this light-born centaur stood before him.
It made sense. The Light Spirit always favored creatures resembling noble beasts — Pegasi, unicorns, centaurs.
He even recalled reading about the hippogriff, and wondered if Orus might one day evolve into so mutated version of it under the Light Spirit's influence.
And yet, here one was—standing just at the edge of the clearing.
The boy though really could see that none of these strange creatures were perfectly human.
Logan had yet to encounter a truly humanoid race like elves or dwarves. So far, this world seed to offer only semi-human creatures — hybrids of beast and man, like the one now standing before him.
The centaur was clearly male.
Its upper half, though humanoid in shape, was covered in coarse brown fur, and its thick, burly arms were easily three tis the size of Logan's.
This one would definitely join Logan's humanoid collection.
He wanted it.
The centaur eyed them warily — and Logan caught the subtle flicker of fear behind that guarded gaze.
He didn't miss the opportunity.
He could use Kage Aruki again, the perfect skill to catch the creature off guard. And with Lucent nearby, the tiger could route the centaur into a trap.
Logan didn't even have to say it — Lucent moved on instinct, darting to the front and cutting off the centaur's path.
Logan took the rear, preparing his next move.
Just like before, he lined up his position and began setting his throws. He didn't have many scalpels left, so he pulled out other small items from his belt — unsharpened blades, even a few tal pens he hadn't used in weeks.
Each use of Kage Aruki cost mana, but the drain was minimal — a first-class skill from before Yui's class evolution.
He could use it dozens of tis if needed.
Realizing escape was impossible, the centaur chose to fight. It turned to face Lucent with a loud cry, trying to charge.
Lucent crouched low, ready to dodge, but didn't engage recklessly. The tiger rembered Logan's promise — light crystals and fresh at — and it wanted its reward.
[Keep at it, Lucent. I'll finish this soon.] Logan sent through their link.
He raised another object — a pen this ti — and hurled it with precision.
One… miss.
Two… wide.
Three—
Smacked aside by the centaur's thick, fur-covered hand.
Logan narrowed his eyes.
Logan had only four projectiles left.
He doubted the next throw would hit, so he canceled Kage Aruki and held his stance.
Three pens left.
He used one just to get closer—landing a short-range teleport that brought him within throwing distance.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, he launched another.
This one landed.
The pen flew perfectly against the centaur's back, right between the shoulder blades without piercing its skin.
The beast was too distracted — trying to land a brutal kick at Lucent with its rear hooves.
Logan grinned.
A second later, he appeared atop the centaur's back, crouched low.
Now ca the hard part.
Feeling the sudden weight, the centaur panicked and started bucking wildly, trying to throw Logan off.
But Logan was ready.
He inhaled sharply and channeled Ms. Claire's skill — the Arbiter's ability he had copied.
Voice of Authority.
He poured mana into a single, sharp command. One word. Simple. Effective.
"Stop!"
The power surged through his voice, striking the centaur's mind like a hamr.
It froze.
Its hind legs quivered, resisting — but Logan's level was more than double its own. There was no contest.
"Good, good... settle down."
Logan leaned in, placing a single drop of blood on the centaur's back, right in the center of its spine.
"We're done with the fighting. Now it's ti to battle with our minds."
And with that, the ntal struggle for taming began.
Reviews
All reviews (0)