Chapter 185 - Different Scenario (15)

Although Deacon had ripped apart the neck of the Minotaur Warrior, he didn't have any bloodstain on his fur; not even a trace of Demon blood could be spotted on his teeth. Despite so, his wide smile still made him look intimidating.

Due to Basil's influence on him, Deacon had also developed a habit of keeping himself clean. Therefore, he always covered his body parts that would be potentially dirtied with Mana. This way, he could keep himself clean all the time.

"Psst! Is this King Saberwolf a friend? His look screams anything but friendliness!" Jocelyn muttered lowly but audible enough for the people around her to hear.

"Well, this guy is Basil's ... Summon. So, he's definitely our friend."

Whitney had hesitated because telling what Deacon actually was would reveal Basil's another identity. Since revealing a secret of a Mage—his friend at that—without said Mage's consent was unethical, he wisely kept it a secret.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Jocelyn's eyes lit up. Turning to Deacon, she shouted. "Hello, Mr. Summon! My name is Jocelyn. What is yours?"

Whitney turned his slightly baffled gaze to Robert, and Robert shrugged nonchalantly upon receiving it. 'What can I do? She was born that way,' was what Robert's face conveyed.

Deacon, who was the subject in which the question was directed to, lost his wide and bright smile as turned his head to Jocelyn. Looking at her weirdly, he snorted coldly.

[Mind your own business, lady. You have no right to know my name yet.]

"What?! That was so cold of you!"

One would normally think Jocelyn was playing around judging by her words alone. If one were to see her gesture and hear her tone however, one wouldn't think that way. Therefore, Deacon was a little bit bewildered by the strange female human.

Though he acted uncaring toward most of the people around his Master, Deacon was actually a softhearted Saberwolf. It is also because of this reason that he didn't outrightly kill Basil when they had first met at Vyres Forest, despite of having the chance to.

Therefore, he felt bad upon looking at Jocelyn's disappointed expression. He was about to open his mouth and "reluctantly" tell her his name, when Jocelyn spoke again.

"Oh! I know! I have a treat for you, so tell me your name!"

Deacon wisely erased any sympathy he had over her. Snorting coldly, he turned his head away from her.

[Hmph! What do you think I am? A dog?]

"Uhh... Aren't you? I mean, dogs and wolves are the same, aren't they?"

'Mages were naturally brighter than the rest of the population,' was what everyone believed; it seems today, the stereotype was broken. Even the overly bright and enthusiastic Cray couldn't help but facepalm at Jocelyn's outrageous remark.

"This is the type of person who will say tigers and cats are the same animals." Cray also didn't forget to comment sarcastically.

Turning to Cray with genuine puzzlement, Jocelyn asked, "Aren't they? The only difference is their size, after all."

"Huh..." Cray was so dumbfounded, a humourless chuckle escaped out of his mouth. Pulling on Whitney's sleeve, he whispered, "This girl is dumb. Let's stay far away from her; she might get us killed one day." He was uncaring of Jocelyn's eyes that were still planted on him.

Whitney could only smile wryly, and knocked Cray's head in response. "Next time when you whisper, make sure you don't say it out loud, idiot!" He was amused and annoyed at the same time at the scene that could be perfectly described as kettle calling the pot black.

"Have you gained a perfect control over your body size?" At the question that Basil directed at Deacon, everyone's attention turned to Basil.

[It's not flawless yet, but I can turn myself into the stronger version of my past self, instead of a pup.]

Prior to his second evolution, Deacon had turned himself into a small pup not because he had wanted it, but because he didn't have any control over the size he wanted his body to be.

After undergoing an evolution however, Deacon could assume the form of a 2 meters tall Saberwolf that was significantly bigger than his previously small form. He could actually assume a bigger form, but it would defeat the purpose of mastering the ability to change his size freely.

[When I assume my Third Grade Saberwolf form, I can run three times faster than when I am in my original size!]

Aside for convenience reasons, Deacon also changed his size to minimize the usage of Mana—his presence—and increase his agility. Although doing so would decrease his physical prowess quite significantly, there were many times where he only needed to be agile.

"Show me."

With a simple instruction from Basil, Deacon shrunk his size to that of a 2 meters tall Saberwolf; it took him only two seconds to assume the form. Although he still looked mighty in the form, he was less intimidating than before.

[Is it up to your expectation, Master?] Deacon sat himself, and bowed his head at Basil.

Basil hummed to himself, and put his hand on top of Deacon's head. "Not yet... However, you got my approval."

As a small smile decorated his face, Basil unconsciously channeled his Mana to his hand. His hand faintly glowed in white for a brief moment, but it was enough to surprise everyone including himself.

Quickly taking his hand off Deacon's head, the white light that was covering his hand slowly disappeared as he retracted his Mana.

[Master, what was that feeling?]

"Sil, that was..."

"Basil, what was that?!"

"Mr. Pacifer, are you perhaps by any chance...?"

Ignoring the barrage of questions the people around him gave him, Basil took a look at his hand and frowned lightly. 'I wasn't in a trance; I was conscious, but I don't know why I did that.' He was even puzzled by what he had done.

Turning his gaze to Deacon, he asked Deacon thorough their [Link]. 'What did you feel when I did that to you?'

Being an intelligent Saberwolf, Deacon quickly got that Basil didn't want anyone to hear their conversation. Thinking about the right answer for a while, Deacon answered him after a few seconds.

'I felt warm, and comfortable; it was as if I was caressed by the warm sunlight. Also... I can feel my bond with you is getting stronger, Master ... I felt blessed.'

At Deacon's choice of word, Basil hummed to himself, and stared at him silently. He was reminded of what Caesar had also said to him right before Caesar died.

The others, who had been looking at the Master and Companion duo staring at each other silently, were really curious of what was actually happening; of course, they knew not to stick their nose to where it doesn't belong to. Thus, they opted to keep quiet.

A few seconds after, Basil put his hand on top of Deacon's head again, and channeled Mana to the hand. He had thought he wouldn't be able to imitate the same thing since he was doing it consciously, but it just happened naturally much to his surprise.

Since he was conscious during the process, he could see the different way his Mana was utilized. At that moment, he knew he wasn't utilizing his Mana for an Art or a Chantless Spell; it was something else—something he wasn't quite sure about.

His hand that was on top of Deacon's head glowed in white, and Deacon was assaulted with the unique feeling again. Like Deacon had said, Basil also felt more connected with Deacon; not through their [Link], but spiritually connected.

Iliana, who noticed the abnormality of the phenomenon, quickly turned to the other students. Gesturing her hand at them, she lowly said, "This is the process of [Assimilation] between a Summon and a Summoner."

[Assimilation] was a special trait a Summoner had that was developed overtime with their Magical Beast. It didn't only allow said Summoner to posses the Summon's ability and vice versa, but also allowed them to merge into one being.

Upon merging with their Summon, said Summoner would have an appearance that resembled a Demi-Human but possessed a prowess that outclassed any ordinary High Ranked Demi-Human.

Although that wasn't what was actually happening to Basil, the others didn't need to know; Iliana would rather mislead them than letting them know of what was actually happening that she knew of.

Uncaring toward the surprised and disbelieving gaze the students were giving her, Iliana warned them. "You know how highly sought after the people who have [Assimilation] are, don't you?"

The students nodded their head upon receiving Iliana's cold gaze. "You know how Mages keep their secret. If someone other than you got a whiff of today's matter..."

Iliana didn't need to finish her word as they were all aware of what she would say next. Every Mage hated exposure to their very core. Basil, who had such a mouthwatering "gift," would naturally be no different.

If he got exposed, many troubles would await him. There would be even many lunatics whose heart was filled with an unending envy who target Basil's life, when they got to know of Basil's "gift."

The five students, who were witnessing the scene, naturally didn't want that to happen to their fellow student. Therefore, they wisely sealed their mouth tightly.

Upon seeing that, Iliana hummed to herself in satisfaction; her face was as cold as ever, completely hiding her relief at the success of her lie.

Turning her gaze to Basil, her eyes were filled with an incomprehensible emotion. 'So you are not only Pacifer in name—you are a true Pacifer. I have finally found you, my....'