Ding!

[Stonehaven, the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle’s pet egg has been sealed. You cannot obtain this pet egg.]

Marcus blinked at the system message, momentarily stunned.

He stared at the floating egg, then at his own empty hand, realization arriving a second later.

Right. Liam Windrunner.

The old ranger had clearly told him that although the egg had been left inside the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave to recover, it had been sealed with a special skill. Only the Eagle’s Crest Marcus carried could release it.

In his excitement, he had completely forgotten.

Marcus let out an embarrassed chuckle and stepped back several paces from the raging wind column.

"Dancing Colorful Eagle."

Following Liam’s instructions exactly, he activated the skill bound to the Eagle’s Crest resting against his chest. Instantly, the crest awakened, glowing brilliantly before releasing a beam of radiant seven-colored light that shot straight into the black windstorm and struck the pet egg.

"Alright... let’s see this."

Marcus focused his full attention on the scene unfolding before him.

Under the illumination of the crest’s power, the pet egg began to rotate slowly. The seven-colored aura surrounding it spun along with the motion, growing brighter with every second. Soon the rotation intensified, pulling strands of the surrounding black windstorm into its orbit as well.

The effect was mesmerizing.

"So beautiful..."

The black wind and the rainbow light intertwined, spiraling together in perfect harmony. Color and darkness merged into a dazzling vortex that filled the chamber with shifting brilliance. Inside the violent wind column of the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave, the sight felt almost sacred.

As the rotation accelerated, streams of energy converged toward the egg.

White, yellow, orange, red, black, blue, and purple light surfaced repeatedly across its shell, each color shining vividly before blending into the next. Through the spinning seven-colored radiance, the egg began absorbing the immense wind energy pouring from the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave itself.

The process continued for nearly ten minutes.

Gradually, the rotation slowed. The egg seemed satisfied, as if it had taken all the energy it could contain. Then, in a sudden motion, every strand of seven-colored light collapsed inward and was absorbed back into the shell.

Marcus’s eyes widened.

"It’s hatching."

Fortunately, he had already activated recording. Moments like this were far too rare to miss.

Five seconds of complete stillness followed, then the egg exploded with light.

A brilliant eruption of seven-colored radiance illuminated the entire black wind column, turning the raging storm into a glowing pillar.

Crack!

The sharp sound echoed through the chamber as the egg split cleanly in half.

From within emerged a tiny eagle no larger than a housecat. Its feathers shimmered with all seven colors, white, yellow, orange, red, black, blue, and purple flowing seamlessly together. A soft halo of rainbow light surrounded its body, and its delicate wings shone with breathtaking beauty as they stretched outward for the first time.

The guardian of the eagle tribe; the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle.

"Absolutely gorgeous..."

Marcus spoke almost unconsciously. He had seen countless creatures in the game, powerful beasts and rare summons alike, but nothing compared to this. It was not just beautiful for an eagle. It was simply the most beautiful bird he had ever seen.

Cheep. Cheep cheep...

The newborn eagle chirped brightly, flapping its glowing wings as it floated within the black windstorm. Without hesitation, it pecked apart the two halves of its eggshell and devoured them quickly, clearly gaining nourishment from the remnants.

A moment later, it flew straight out of the storm toward Marcus.

Once free from the wind column, the small eagle began circling him playfully, dancing through the air with effortless grace. Its bright eyes studied him with unmistakable intelligence. There was curiosity there, awareness, even a hint of personality already forming.

"Hey there, little guy."

Marcus raised a hand gently, unable to resist reaching out to touch it.

Cheep cheep. Cheep.

The eagle avoided his hand at the last second and instead landed neatly on his shoulder. It chirped affectionately beside his ear, then rubbed its sharp beak against his cheek in a clear gesture of attachment.

At that exact moment, the system notification appeared.

Ding!

[Congratulations, player Stonehaven. You have successfully used the Eagle’s Crest to retrieve the Divine Beast Seven-Colored Divine Eagle. The Divine Beast acknowledges you and is willing to become your pet. It will reside within the Eagle’s Crest.]

Marcus froze.

’A Divine Beast.’

The Seven-Colored Divine Eagle, after ten years of recovery within the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave, had evolved into a true Divine Beast. Even hearing it confirmed by the system felt unreal.

The little eagle did not immediately enter the crest. Instead, it continued fluttering happily around him, occasionally returning to perch on his shoulder, clearly enjoying its newfound freedom.

Marcus’s thoughts raced.

Was this evolution caused by the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave’s energy... or by the mysterious Stone Milk Nectar Liam Windrunner had mentioned before?

An undeniable spark of greed rose in his chest.

If the cave could elevate the Divine Eagle to this level, then what about Goldie? His Shadow-Stained Gryphon King already possessed Dark, Wind, and Lightning attributes and stood at Grade 9, just one step below Mythic rank.

Could Goldie evolve here as well? Perhaps even become a Divine Beast?

The idea alone made his heart pound.

He was just about to summon Goldie to experiment and, at the same time, finally check the attribute panel of his brand-new Divine Beast companion when another system alert rang out.

Ding!. Stonehaven, because you have broken Liam Windrunner’s seal, the monsters of the Earth-Wind Spirit Cave are about to respawn.

Marcus’s expression instantly soured.

"Damn. Now?"

So that explained the empty chamber earlier. Liam’s seal had suppressed every monster here.

Apparently, removing it meant reopening the entire cave.

Before Marcus could even finish complaining, reality answered for him.

Two enormous figures began materializing within the black wind column exactly where the pet egg had once floated.

The first creature possessed four massive legs, an oversized head, and a long sweeping tail. Its body resembled a living tornado, pure white wind wrapped with black spiral patterns. The monster towered over the area, easily the size of eight grown men combined.

The second creature appeared vaguely humanoid, yet its form remained indistinct beneath layers of violently swirling black wind. Only a rough human outline could be seen. Nearly five men tall, it wielded two rotating swords formed from condensed white storm energy streaked with black light, weapons that looked unstable and terrifying.

Marcus did not need system confirmation to understand.

"Bosses."

He retreated immediately, instincts screaming danger.

"Dancing Colorful Eagle!"

Recalling the small Divine Beast back toward him, Marcus activated Insight at once, attempting to read the monsters’ information while creating distance.

The Earth-Wind Spirit Cave connected directly to the second level of the Mystic Turtle’s Tomb, and that level had strangely lacked any boss encounters. If these two were the missing bosses from that floor, then defeating them might actually be within reach.

If not...

Marcus tightened his grip on his weapon, eyes locked on the newly awakened guardians as the windstorm roared louder behind them.