Chapter 489: Fire, Rats, and Screams

“I’ll have to explain a few things about where we are,” Luke continued. “By the way, you once said you grow stronger with beast cores, right? I have a few.”

The wyvern hatchling studied the tent with open curiosity.

“It’s bigger than the one you have in your lair.”

“The one in my bedroom? Yeah. It’s definitely bigger. And it’s not pink.”

“This one doesn’t have the nice decorations your sister used to add. Those corpses, to make it look more imposing.”

“The dolls…? Yeah, I don’t really walk around with dolls.”

“You still have much to learn from her, human.”

Luke began updating Franky on their location and his objective here. Now that he had reached where he needed to be and figured out what he was looking for, he could technically let the hatchling go.

“I thought this would be the moment you’d leave,” Franky said.

“Our partnership needs to last a bit longer. Unless, of course, you want to stay here. I wouldn’t recommend it. This is a dimension. It’s nowhere near the size of a real world.”

“I… I’ll stay a little longer,” the hatchling replied.

“And for a moment I thought we were finally getting rid of the baby,” Artemis commented.

“Alright, no more stalling. Time for the cores,” Luke said, pulling several of them out.

“I don’t want to absorb a core from a beast I didn’t kill,” Franky protested.

“You don’t have the strength to kill a level fifty beast. You’re basically level one.”

Luke placed a core directly in front of him.

“I refuse. I am a powerful monster.”

“You accepted the wyvern core back in the tutorial,” Luke pointed out.

“T-that was different. I was influenced by a humiliating defeat and didn’t want to give that other human the satisfaction,” Franky muttered.

Luke sighed. “If you fight a level fifty beast right now, you die. Just absorb these cores, and a few more after that. Once you can kill one on your own, you won’t need me feeding you cores anymore.”

Franky clicked his tongue.

“The faster you do this, the faster our partnership ends. Isn’t that what you want?” Luke asked.

“O-of course,” Franky replied.

“All that time hibernating scrambled your brain, snake. The sooner you absorb cores, the sooner we go our separate ways.”

The wyvern hatchling placed a claw on one of the cores. After a few seconds, cracks spread across its surface until it shattered completely.

[Your familiar Frankzaroth has successfully absorbed a Rank E Mana Core.]
[Rank E Cores (1/100)]

Luke set down more cores.

[Your familiar Frankzaroth has successfully absorbed a Rank E Mana Core.]
[Rank E Cores (2/100)]

[Your familiar Frankzaroth has successfully absorbed a Rank E Mana Core.]
[Rank E Cores (3/100)]

Luke opened the familiar interface.

[Familiar: Frankzaroth
Race: Ancient Wyvern
Rank: F

Familiar Skills: [Accelerated Flight (Rare)], [Fireball (Common)], [Wyvern Roar (Epic)]

[Evolution to Rank E]: To evolve from Rank F to Rank E, the familiar must consume Rank E Magical Beast Cores.
Rank E Cores (3/100)]

Nothing had changed except the core counter.

Franky glowed faintly for a moment. When the light faded, he looked down at his own body.

“I think I got a little taller,” Franky said.

The size was mostly the same. Maybe just a bit thicker. Less fragile than before.

“I hope I turn back into a snake when I evolve,” Franky added.

“I’m not sure Darwin would agree with you on that,” Luke replied.

Franky snorted, then went back to absorbing the cores.

[Your familiar Frankzaroth has successfully absorbed an E-Rank Mana Core.]
[E-Rank Cores (6/100)]
[E-Rank Cores (7/100)]
[E-Rank Cores (8/100)]
…
[E-Rank Cores (24/100)]
[E-Rank Cores (25/100)]
[Your familiar Frankzaroth has awakened a new skill.]
[E-Rank Cores (26/100)]

“S-something happened, human,” Franky said.

“I saw it,” Luke replied.

All the cores had been absorbed. Luke opened the familiar interface.

[Familiar: Frankzaroth
Race: Ancient Wyvern
Rank: F

Familiar Skills: [Accelerated Flight (Rare)], [Fireball (Common)], [Wyvern Roar (Epic)], [Wyvern Bite (Epic)]

[Evolution to Rank E]: To evolve from Rank F to Rank E, the familiar must consume E-Rank Magical Beast Cores.
E-Rank Cores (26/100)]

“You get new skills too?” Luke asked. “I thought that only happened when you ranked up.”

“Of course I do. I am a powerful sna—” Franky stopped himself. “I mean… I was a powerful snake.”

Do weak familiars not get skills at Rank F? I should’ve asked Evangeline more questions.

Luke had skimmed a few materials about familiars after leaving the tutorial, but never cared enough to dig into paid resources. His only real concern back then had been whether it was possible to break the bond he had with Franky. With most familiars, it was. With rune-born familiars, it wasn’t. That didn’t stop the familiar from leaving, but the bond itself would remain.

Luke tapped the new skill.

[Wyvern Bite (Epic)]: The wyvern delivers a devastating bite, concentrating enough force in its jaws to crush flesh, bone, and metal. The impact is violent enough to tear through light armor and hurl smaller enemies to the ground. The brutality of the strike leaves deep wounds and causes continuous bleeding, gradually weakening those who survive. The bite’s power scales with the wyvern’s strength, becoming increasingly destructive as the creature evolves.

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Luke was impressed. A wyvern’s true weapon was its bite, so it made sense that it scaled this aggressively.

“Maybe you’ll unlock more,” he said. “Either way, cores aren’t exactly easy to come by. At least not where I am. There aren’t many beasts around.”

“At least Mr. Shitpants is slowly growing to the size of a chicken,” Artemis commented.

“A chicken? What is a chicken?” Franky asked.

“A chicken is an animal from my world,” Luke explained. “It survived a massive extinction event and is descended from gigantic beasts that once ruled the land.”

“That sounds very powerful,” Franky said thoughtfully. “Maybe I am a chicken. It suits me.”

“No, you’re not a chicken,” Luke replied. “Only extremely powerful creatures are chickens.”

“Then I am a chicken,” Franky declared proudly. “I survived not one world, but two. My old one, the place where you found me, and now this one. See? I am the greatest of chickens.”

“Of course you are,” Luke said dryly. “If you say you’re one, who am I to argue with a mighty chicken?”

“At last you recognize my value, human,” Franky said, puffing out his chest.

Footsteps approached.

“Bastard, at this pace we’ll reach the forest in—”

Layla opened the tent and froze. “Ah! A rat!”

“A rat? Who are you calling a rat, you human rat!” Franky snapped.

She blinked. “A talking rat?”

“I am not a rat! Human, may I throw a fireball at her? Who is she?” Franky asked.

Luke sighed. “Layla, why are you in my tent at night?”

“The gray woman asked me to call you for dinner. Don’t get any ideas, you bastard.”

“I’m not thinking anything, Layla.”

“And what is that?” she asked, pointing. “Where did you even get that thing?”

“That’s a talking creature I made a deal with some time ago.”

“Every day you show up with something new,” Layla said. “Two beautiful women following you for mysterious reasons, which I assume is blackmail. A talking necklace. And now this.”

“Welcome to Arkham Asylum,” Luke replied.

***