Some beasts possessed hidden traits—traits not classified by the system simply because they were obvious to the naked eye.

One such trait was Giant Body. Or in the Colossus's case, a Colossal Body once it reached the later stages.

This trait granted a beast extraordinary vitality and multiplied its raw strength by several coefficients, while also reducing agility(sharp, jerk-like movements). Another trait that any giant-type beast automatically acquired was known as Domineering Presence. Due to its sheer size alone, its existence imposed pressure upon all surrounding beings. Even if its rank was lower, it could still threaten higher-ranked creatures of smaller stature.

Size itself became a weapon.

HOOOOOONNNGGGGGGG!

Howl roared once more, but this time the sound carried a different power.

Its skill [Scream] activated.

The shockwave rippled through the air, rattling leaves and splitting the ground beneath. The Magic Scorpion froze mid-motion, its movements turning sluggish as its consciousness plunged into a dazed state.

Lily did not waste the opening.

She swiftly summoned thick chunks of vines, layering them one after another until the scorpion was completely bound. Already heavily injured, it struggled briefly before going still—officially taken out of the battle.

The Lion, on the other hand, remained comparatively unbothered. It continued fighting Shyra and Nyxa with steady dominance. It was obvious that, given enough time, the Lion would win.

But—

"Singham, stop," Leon commanded.

The Lion halted instantly, retreating a few steps and creating distance. Almost at the same moment, Shyra and Nyxa also stopped, having received Leo's intent.

The battlefield fell silent.

Leo, however, was no longer paying attention to the fight. For him, it was already over.

His gaze was fixed entirely on Howl.

"There's—" Leo exclaimed, staring upward. "Its body length increased by almost two hundred meters!"

His eyes then shifted to the massive structure growing along Howl's back.

"And what happened to the Titanbreath Lotus?" he muttered. "Damn… it looks like a whole tree."

The Titanbreath Lotus was the treasure Leo had acquired from the Tree Behemoth. Since the treasure generated an enormous amount of energy—and Howl was always starving for it—Leo had given it to him without hesitation.

But the moment the treasure acknowledged Howl as its new guardian, a structural transformation had begun.

The Lotus started growing, reshaping itself to accommodate Howl's immense energy consumption.

Now, it stood nearly twenty meters tall. Its vitality-rich bark was over three meters thick, and the number of sockets used to recharge heartstones had increased dramatically—from six to nearly thirty.

Even the heartstones it periodically produced had undergone a massive boost.

[Heartstone Generation Period]

Mid Blue-tier – 5 days → 1 → 5 (2 days charge time)

High Blue-tier – 10 days → 1 → 5 (3 days charge time)

Peak Blue-tier – 20 days → 1 → 5 (4 days charge time)

Low Purple-tier – 40 days → 1 → 5 (5 days charge time)

The charge time itself remained unchanged.

However, at the moment, heartstone production had slowed—most of the energy was being diverted to feed the Colossus.

And it was feeding well.

That much was obvious from its terrifying growth.

Howl now spanned nearly 400 to 450 meters in length, 200 to 250 meters in width, and stood 200 meters tall.

That was almost nine hectares.

Or roughly thirteen soccer fields.

"Whoa…" Leo muttered in awe. "This bastard is becoming a more and more suitable place to build a house on."

Then—an idea struck him.

"Wait!" His eyes lit up. "Why don't I build my territory over it?"

He paused, then nodded repeatedly, increasingly convinced.

"That way, when I leave the academy, I can just take my entire territory with me."

A genius plan.

Leo was still lost in his daydream when he noticed Leon unsummoning his beasts and walking away, bitterness etched clearly across his face.

"Ay—wait! Where are you going?" Leo shouted.

Leon turned back, irritation flickering in his eyes.

"What?" he snapped. "You think I can fight that Colossus? I don't even know how you managed to tame it."

Even my mana is running Low...

His gaze lingered on Howl before he muttered the rest under his breath.

"For a beast that large, you'd need a spiritual space vast enough to accommodate it… You must have some ridiculous technique to enhance it."

"Great techniques?" Leo echoed.

Leon scoffed.

"Don't act dumb. Or are you saying your soul rank is so absurdly high that your spiritual space naturally turned out to be so large?"

He paused, then frowned.

"That would mean you'd even surpass the bas—Emperor."

Leo felt as if his Mythical Soul had almost been exposed.

He laughed awkwardly and waved it off.

"Oh, haha… I guess that old man back in the city really taught me some good stuff."

Then Leo grinned and extended his hand.

"Anyway, since you can't fight anymore, why don't you join me? I promise—I treat my subordinates very nicely."

Leon stared at the offered hand for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

"No. I like solitude."

With that, he turned to leave again.

Leo noticed the blood still seeping through Leon's bandages.

"At least let my beast heal that wound," Leo said seriously. "I saw it, your beasts weren't trying to kill us. Otherwise, Nyxa or Shyra would've been sent back to the temple countless times."

Leon glanced at his arm and muttered, "It won't heal…"

Leo heard him.

"What?"

Leon clicked his tongue. "No thanks. I can manage."

Leo stared at him, baffled.

Is he a masochist?

Only then did Leo notice the countless scar marks covering Leon's body.

"…Or does he just like scars?"

There were many strange people in the world. Leon was probably one of them.

Leo sighed, then raised his voice again.

"At least get your beasts healed. Shyra's scratches aren't easy to deal with."

Leon paused. Slowly, he turned back, eyes narrowing.

After a moment, he summoned both his beasts again. This time, they showed no hostility.

Leon approached Singham and carefully examined the wounds, running his hand through them.

"…Poison. And spatial distortion," he murmured. "Yeah… healing this would cost a fortune."

He turned to Leo.

"Fine. Heal them. But I won't pay."

"I didn't even ask," Leo replied calmly, signaling Shyra and Niri forward.

Niri and Lily had already finished healing Shyra and Nyxa. Though Shyra and Singham clearly disliked one another—being the same species with drastically different fighting styles—they obeyed their masters' commands.

Leo saw that Singham could actually reduce its size to just over three meters, much like the druid, and concluded Shyra might also receive such size alteration skill later on.

Shyra removed the lingering spatial distortions caused by [Umbral Rift Pounce], after which Niri repeatedly cast [Nature's Heal] on both beasts.

Within minutes, Singham and Grivak were restored to peak condition.

Niri, however, collapsed from exhaustion, falling asleep atop Shyra's back.

"You really don't want healing for yourself?" Leo asked one last time.

"No. I'm leaving," Leon replied flatly.

He climbed onto Singham's back, and the beast sprinted off at terrifying speed. It seemed Singham possessed a Feline Agility trait similar to Shyra's.

Once Leon disappeared from sight, Leo finally turned back—

And froze.

The Druid was bowing to Howl...?

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