[ Your pet (Obsidian) has evolved from F-rank to E-rank. Proficiency in all available skills has increased. ]

[ Your pet (Obsidian) has unlocked a new skill: Magniform ]

[ Magniform: Grants the pet the ability to alter its size ]

Only a few minutes after he sent his pet into the beast domain, he was greeted with three new notifications, one of them including a new skill.

’It had grown so much in only such a short time and even awakened a skill,’ he was clearly intrigued.

Despite the effect of [Grower], he did not truly expect his pet to grow that fast.

Sadly, he did not get enough time to examine Obsidian further, as the golden spaceship came to a halt midair, indicating their arrival at their destination. Orion also alerted everyone on the main attack team that it was time to move.

Nonetheless, their arrival had already been recognised by the beasts in the danger zones below.

Before they could even begin to prepare properly, a barrage of long-range magic attacks was fired at the ship, resulting in loud explosions that echoed thunderously and caused a slight shaking of the vessel.

The ship had an inbuilt defensive barrier which was triggered immediately by the attacks. As a result, it did not suffer any real damage.

Marlon got down from the bed and went to meet the rest.

He saw that Solan had changed from his robe into a sleek black battlesuit with orange designs. The battlesuit looked similar to the one Liora was putting on, the only difference being that his looked more masculine and had orange designs instead of plain black like Liora’s.

In this battle, Liora had decided to go with guns. Two unique-looking revolvers were held stylishly in her grasp, and there were two more stacked in the utility belt around her slim waist.

Nox had not bothered to change his attire and was still adorning his black robes.

They were the main attack force.

They all looked settled and prepared, which was a sharp contrast to the explosions that were steadily occurring outside.

The thunderous collisions and the slight shaking of the ship were what it took to wake Selena from her slumber.

The beautiful white-haired young lady lifted her upper torso slowly, scanning the strange environment and the faces around her.

Marlon, who was standing with the Vereenas, coincidentally scanned the interior, and his eyes landed on Selena.

Seeing her white hair and her face, which held the same beauty as Lyra but with a more mature variation, reminded him of her deeply at that moment, as though he was staring at her alive instead of dead like the last time he saw her.

At that instant, his heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head away before she could spot him.

Nonetheless, while she had not spotted him, someone else had.

Draven shot up from his position the moment his eyes landed on Marlon. He moved swiftly as he closed the distance between them.

However, Marlon was much swifter. The effect of his danger sense and his improved ability to perceive his surroundings had become much stronger thanks to his new level.

As a result, he caught Draven before he could reach him.

Once his eyes landed firmly on Draven, he activated [Fear].

Before, [Fear]’s effect had been weak, especially against certain foes like Draven. But just like his other skills, its effects had now become more potent.

Draven froze on the spot, the only expression on his face being that of anger.

Marlon knew the exact cause.

"Your sister is alive..." he mouthed as lowly as he could so Draven would hear him. He was trying his best not to draw Selena’s attention. He did not have the mental strength to explain the death of her sister to her now.

Draven was still somewhat protesting against the pressure of fear.

Seeing this, Orion used his mental powers to make him sleep on the spot.

Norian, who had just finished bonding with his son, stood up and joined them, ready to assist if necessary.

He had known the Vereenas for a long time, and the Vereenas were somewhat acquainted with him as well.

The Vereenas had no issues. Marlon had none either. He was even glad that Norian was still alive, though he was not entirely sure about Crimson.

Orion opened the hatch of the ship, and the five of them strolled toward the exit.

It was a few hours past midnight. Though it was still technically nighttime, the sky had begun to gain a faint blueness, gradually pushing back the dark clouds.

As always, Solan was the first to jump down.

He did not even bother to scan the scene beneath him before launching himself down and flaring toward a group of beasts that caught his interest.

Nox and Liora descended after him, leaving only Marlon and Norian momentarily.

"You’ve grown much stronger than I expected," Norian turned and said with a small smile.

"I am sorry I wasn’t able to play my part well as your protector," he added, the smile on his face turning slightly sour.

"You don’t have to be sorry, and it wasn’t really your fault," replied Marlon calmly.

"You might say that, but if only I was as strong as Axel Storm, I could’ve helped you more instead of relying on you."

Marlon nodded briefly. He wanted to ask about Axel Storm, but now was not the time. Norian was already emitting his red energy around him, ready to descend into the chaos beneath.

With a nod, Marlon launched himself down as well.

There was a barrage of sharp rock spikes darting toward the ship. They were in the hundreds and moved rapidly. Nonetheless, with a simple wave of energy from Norian, the attacks were thwarted, clearing the view for Marlon as he observed their new battle zone.

The place was a mountainous area that stretched for quite a long distance, surrounded by dense forests. There were no signs of civilisation nearby as the place was far away from the city.

’So this is the famous Stonehold? The landmark of Weststone Nation,’ thought Marlon as he scanned the vicinity carefully. The explosions, attacks, and the monsters beneath were not of immediate concern to him as he observed the environment.

Then, after he finished taking in the surroundings, his eyes zoned in on the chaos below.

He scanned the scene, using inspection on the monsters within sight.

There were mostly A- and B-rank monsters present. But he spotted a few F- and E-rank monsters lurking in another zone. They were mostly normal beasts that had evolved, such as demonic rats and wild dogs.

"Obsidian... How would you like to experience real combat?"

He contacted Obsidian in the beast domain.

There was no immediate response.

After a few seconds, a response came. The elemental war eagle was ready for combat.

Marlon summoned it from the beast domain.

Obsidian was still the same size as a mature pigeon. But he knew that would not be much of a problem thanks to its new skill [Magniform].

Obsidian hovered beside Marlon, observing the chaos below with its usual calm temperament, which seemed far more mature for its age.

Marlon could feel the eagerness in his pet, and without wasting further time, he gave it a signal. Together, the two of them flew toward the battlefield.

Obsidian used Magniform without Marlon having to instruct it.

A dense white aura was emitted from its body, and afterwards it visibly began to double in size, first reaching the size of an adult chicken, then the size of a turkey, and finally the size of an adult golden eagle.

Its body now carried a faint glow. Its feathers were jet-black, and it could easily camouflage if the surroundings were any darker.

In its new size, its flight speed increased significantly as it descended toward the area where the lower-ranked monsters were lurking.

At the same time, Marlon clashed into a group of Graniteback Behemoths, B-rank monsters with heights of up to thirty feet and almost the same length.

They were a popular type of monster known for their extremely dense defenses, mostly impenetrable by weapons and certain elemental attacks.

Marlon used Aetheric Punch, channeling a bulk amount of aether into a single attack as he struck their middle, causing a powerful shockwave of energy that spread across the battlefield.

Like objects made of sand, the group of Graniteback Behemoths disintegrated. Only a handful survived, but they were left with ghastly wounds, most even missing several limbs.

Marlon gained an influx of experience points in nine digits and leveled up twice.

[ Level up ]

[ Level up ]

[ Level 298 ---- 299 ]

He was finally at the edge of A-rank, just two levels remaining to ascend and become an S-rank guardian.

He shut the window quickly as some nearby B-rank trolls ganged up on him. Instead of dealing with them personally, he summoned his death clone to handle them while he focused his attention on the notifications being triggered by Obsidian, as it was already dealing with its opponents quite fiercely.