The Glorious Evolution

”I don’t want to say I told you so, but... I...”

”Shut it!”

Levi was already in deep shit as he could feel that the wyvern was taking him to the high heavens, piercing through the clouds like a lightning bolt. He had no time for Ash’Kral’s assholeness.

”She is so damn fast!”

Levi was barely holding on for his dear life; his body was already separated from the wyvern, flailing all over the place. When compared to Shia’s nightmount speed, it could easily blow it off in a split second.

Yet what terrified him most wasn’t getting thrown off her, but the fact that she could lose consciousness from the tightness of his chains around her neck. He could feel them growing tighter and tighter.

”Damn it, I have to use it now... but how...?”

Levi hadn’t summoned his feisty mount without preparing to tame her aggression. He was planning to use a technique he’d read about in his mother’s textbook. It required a specific type of totem, and he had purchased two of them during his shopping spree.

But he wanted to use it only when he found no other alternative to tame her aggression, since the totem was pretty expensive.

Who would have known that the wyvern was crazy enough to fight the chains and take him on a death trip that would most definitely get them both killed unless he did something...?

After all, nightmounts are executed the moment their owner dies... and they were still alive.

Now Levi wanted to pull the totem out of his backpack, but he knew that the moment he tried, he would experience his first... and last... skydive.

”Think, think, think...”

Levi zoned out the wyvern’s faint groans and the thundering wind, leaving his mind free to work at peace. As he started analyzing his options, he found he had only one viable... very, very risky... strategy.

But instead of committing to it at once, Levi tried getting the totem out of his backpack the standard way.

He tightened his grasp on his staff with one hand to the best of his ability. Then he let go with the other, intending to pull the totem free while hugging his staff with his elbow. He knew that once his elbow was locked in, it would be much easier to remove the totem.

Alas, the reason he hadn’t tried before was that he knew deep down he wouldn’t be able to pull it off... not because he lacked strength, but because the wyvern’s speed was simply too overwhelming, nearing the speed of sound!

Thus, the instant Levi let go with one hand, the wind knocked him off the wyvern before he could even think of pulling himself!

”Divine chains!”

Levi summoned the divine chains again, having been forced to remove them the moment he’d been taken airborne... knowing that the agony from both chains would make it incredibly difficult for the wyvern to stay aloft.

But he had to summon them to survive and carry on with his plan, since the divine chains were soul-bound... leaving him dangling a couple of meters away from the wyvern.

As expected, the moment the divine chains appeared, the wyvern let out a painful cry... her eyes were on the verge of losing their light.

Sensing her faint heartbeat, Levi wasted no time and reached into his backpack, pulling out a green wooden totem in the shape of a leaf.

This was a grade-C recovery totem called Leaf of Verdant Solace... one of the few known low-grade totems with the power to heal the mind, emotional instability, mental fatigue, and even some disorders...but not a guaranteed permanent cure.

Levi had bought them, hoping not to permanently cure his nightmount’s genetic aggression, but to relieve it, if only for a day or less. For normal nightcrawlers, even this gentle light was deadly... but when used on nightmounts, only the healing effect applied!

He activated it with an incantation, causing the leaf to release a halo of gentle, relaxing green light.

The halo covered a couple of meters around him, but it wasn’t enough to reach the wyvern.

”Shorten!”

He commanded the divine chains to contract, pulling him closer and closer to the wyvern’s neck.

Smash!

The moment his body slammed against her upper neck, Levi caught his staff with both hands and swiftly removed the divine chains!

Alas, the damage was already done...

Given everything the wyvern had endured, it was a miracle she was still conscious. Usually, most tier-2 nightcrawlers behave after less than a minute of pain from the divine chains, but she had lasted many minutes while also being choked by Levi’s staff chains.

Now, Levi was about to pay the consequences as her consciousness finally gave in before the green light could do its work.

In an instant, Levi felt the world turn upside down as the wyvern nosedived toward the ground, her body spinning all over the place!

”You have done it now...” Ash’Kral said.

”Either help me or shut it...!”

”You told me to watch and learn... I’m still waiting to be enlightened...” Ash’Kral chuckled.

Levi’s eyebrows twitched, but he remained silent, taking accountability for the mess he’d made. He already knew the safer option had been to use the totem at the beginning to calm the wyvern before taming her... but he didn’t want to set a bad precedent on their first meeting.

He’d rather purchase a new nightmount than endure this hassle and drain his bank every time.

Still, he didn’t want to give up on her so soon...

”The Judgment’s chainstaff is cutting circulation to her brain... It’s the first to go...” Levi thought, already forming a countermeasure.

He switched from holding the staff to gripping her horns, knowing she couldn’t fight him off while unconscious.

The moment he was confident in his grip, he unsummoned the staff, letting it dissolve into crimson light petals. While it left a bruise on her neck, the damage wasn’t serious... still, there were no signs of her waking.

”Divine chains!”

He summoned the chains again...but this time he didn’t pull hard. Instead, he waved them forward gently, sending soft, painful jolts to restart her system.

Fortunately, the green halo also aided in restoring her mental health from the abuse she’d endured.

After a few seconds, which felt like years to Levi, the wyvern finally showed signs of regaining consciousness.

The moment he noticed, Levi removed the divine chains and patted her neck gently to comfort her.

”It’s all good now... It’s all good...”

Hearing his soothing voice while bathed in green light changed the wyvern’s demeanor for the first time. Her eyes, once clouded in murderous red, now revealed their true color.

They were soft and feminine, yet filled with an endless fog of confusion and helplessness.

It seemed the wyvern hated her constant aggression, but couldn’t control it... the Storm Dragon’s genes were too strong.

1000 m... 500 m... 200 m...

While she knew that Levi was the one clearing the deadly fog from her mind, it didn’t mean she became instantly comfortable with him sitting on top of her.

But she had a much more serious problem at hand... her survival.

The moment she was about to kiss the ground with merely less than fifty meters to go, she fixed her balance and expanded her wings to the limit!

Whoosh!

Then she pulled her head up and pierced through the gravity, leaving no less than five meters between her and the ground!

”What the hell is that...?”

”So fast! Is that a missile?!”

A couple of peaceful, cultivating Daywalkers were left shocked out of their wits at the sight of a white figure wheezing past their heads at explosive speed.

Before they could analyze what happened, the wyvern was already gone, appearing as a mere black dot in their line of sight.

Meanwhile, Levi was seen hugging the wyvern like his life depended on it; his heart was pounding out of his chest in dread.

While he couldn’t see anything, his echolocation fed him everything and made him realize that he was a mere second away from damnation.

Grrrr...

Alas, he wasn’t in the clear yet as the wyvern turned her head and gave him a nasty glare, seemingly warning him to get the f*ck off her back.

”Easy girl, I seek not to bind you, but to walk beside you... Put your trust in me and lend me your wings; I promise we shall soar as one to heights others could only dream of.” Levi spoke softly while gently caressing her leathery skin, but his tone carried undeniable conviction.

Grrrr....

The wyvern was still not convinced, but Levi kept on talking.

”Your murderous rage binds you as tightly as my blindness binds me... We are both cursed; your claws stained by a power you cannot control, my sight stolen by fate’s cruel hand.” Levi smiled softly. ”Together, we can break these chains... You guided by my voice; I guided by your wings.”

As he spoke, Levi reached into his backpack and pulled out some Luminos snacks. He placed them near the wyvern’s irritated eyes and added, ”I can handle your rage; I have been through worse... If you take my hand, I will never forsake you and will do everything in my power to help you through it.”

Levi paused for a short moment and then said with a bitter smile,

”For I know, no life is worth living dyed in red...”

Although Levi always appeared chill after he had grown up, when he was a child, he wasn’t like this... He was consumed with rage and hatred against every single nightcrawler for what had been done to him and his family.

While he had learned how to keep such emotions from showing in the open, it didn’t mean they were gone.

He simply channeled those energies into something that could help him move forward and stay on a straight line... What lay at the end of that line, only he knew.

As the wyvern listened to him and sensed his genuine sentiments, her slits widened a bit while her growls sounded a bit more tame. She kept glancing between the delicious snacks in front of her and Levi’s faint, welcoming smile.

Sensing her hesitation, Levi added, ”You don’t have to decide now; a contract was already established between us. I know I am asking you to take a leap of faith on me, and you can have a day to decide.”

”If you are still unconvinced, you are allowed to reject me.” Levi smiled. ”I will make sure to never summon you again, and you can enjoy an eternal slumber...”

Levi knew that taming a nightcrawler as aggressive as her could happen using only two options: either through constant abuse or mutual trust.

He had no interest in torturing her...

He, who used the same whip that was used upon him to whip others, deserved no sympathy or understanding.

Chomp!

Before Levi could react, the wyvern’s eyes softened as she whipped her mouth to the side and devoured his hand and the snacks simultaneously.

But Levi only chuckled after sensing her sharp fangs not coming in contact with his skin at all.

After eating the snacks, the wyvern pulled her mouth back, leaving Levi’s hand all wet with sticky saliva...Then she released a low-pitched chirp, as if she was laughing at his startled expression.

”A nod would have been sufficient...” Levi smiled wryly as he patted her head.