Magical Pet ‘Hidden Dragon’

Blackstone Castle, courtyard.

Su Nan stood in front of the banyan tree, staring intently at the trunk.

To an outsider, there seemed to be nothing in front of the tree trunk, even upon closer inspection.

Only Su Nan could sense that something indeed existed there.

“Charge,” Su Nan suddenly commanded.

At the moment his words fell, a whistling sound pierced through the void.

Even though there was nothing visible in front, the rustling sounds were distinct, as if some creature was swiftly crawling along the ground.

At that moment, a barely perceptible distortion appeared in the previously empty void.

“Enough,” Su Nan said.

In the next moment, a giant lizard appeared out of nowhere on the ground more than ten meters ahead.

Its amber vertical pupils showed a trace of human-like flattery, and it whimpered, seemingly seeking praise from Su Nan.

Su Nan chuckled, praising, “Well done.”

After more than half a month’s experiments, with numerous failures, he finally succeeded in transferring the chameleon’s color-changing ability to the giant lizard, further enhancing the effect.

With its new color-changing ability, the giant lizard could now instantly adapt its form to the environment, nearly achieving invisibility.

Only during rapid sprinting would a slight lag in its transformation reveal the faintest trace.

Of course, unless one was a wizard apprentice or a very keen-eyed great knight, an ordinary person would not notice this trace.

However, this ability isn’t without flaws.

It’s fine when stationary, but once it begins moving, the sound of footsteps and the friction of its body against objects reveal its position.

Su Nan didn’t have a good solution for this.

After all, even true “Invisibility Techniques” have similar drawbacks.

“If it has flaws, so be it. After all, the color-changing ability is only meant to lay a foundation for transforming a magical pet.”

“I hope you awaken a more powerful ability based on the color-changing capability.”

The giant lizard didn’t quite understand Su Nan’s meaning, merely letting out a cautious whimper.

Su Nan didn’t mind, using Mage Hand to lift the giant lizard, then walked into the laboratory.

This was a laboratory temporarily cleared out.

On the floor, a contract magic array composed of countless complex runes was already drawn, glowing with a faint dark sheen in the candlelight, possessing an indescribable mysteriousness.

Placing the giant lizard in the center of the array, Su Nan then cast a Sleep Curse, and the somewhat anxious giant lizard immediately fell asleep.

Su Nan then used a small knife to cut the pad of his thumb, pressing it against the edge of the array.

As the blood spread along the lines, the array suddenly shone brightly.

Countless black and red interwoven mists appeared out of thin air, dispersing to completely envelop and cover the giant lizard’s massive body, continuously permeating its rough, thick skin.

Crack! Crack!
A sudden sound of brittle cracking arose, the giant lizard’s bones enlarging, piercing through its thick skin, stark and white in the air.

In no time, the giant lizard had transformed into what looked like an enormous skeleton nearly ten meters long, draped with tattered flesh, curled on the ground, almost filling the entire laboratory floor.

Su Nan had to retreat to the doorway, yet his gaze never left the giant lizard, his hand clutching a plant rune gem, ready to activate it at any moment to heal the giant lizard.

The process of transforming into a magical pet is not guaranteed to be successful.

The stronger the creature, the lower the success rate of transforming it into a magical pet.

For a variant like the giant lizard, which carries dragon lizard blood, the failure rate exceeds 50%.

Even with rune gem assistance, it only slightly increases the success rate by one or two percent.

The giant lizard’s bones kept growing, soon exceeding fifteen meters, yet the flesh showed no signs of proliferation, resembling a skeletal giant lizard.

Seeing this, Su Nan decisively activated the rune gem, a gentle light green glow enveloping the giant lizard completely.

Yet the giant lizard remained unmoving, unchanged.
“Did it fail.”

Su Nan furrowed his brows and sighed.

But in the next second, a sudden change occurred.

Countless black, oval scales the size of an adult’s palm sprouted from the previously tattered skin of the giant lizard, spreading rapidly across its entire body at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly covering the exposed skeleton anew.

Once the scales formed, their smooth surface caught a glimmer in the candlelight, gradually blending completely with the surrounding environment, eventually hiding the giant lizard’s massive body entirely.

“Chameleon ability? No, that’s not right, it’s somewhat different!”

As Su Nan was caught in a state of doubt and surprise, the ‘vanished’ giant lizard reappeared out of thin air, its form undergoing a tremendous transformation compared to before the change.

The original giant lizard was already seven to eight meters long, deserving of the title ‘giant beast,’ but after transformation, its body swelled to more than twice its size, resembling a small mountain.

Despite its large build, its frame remained slender compared to its length, looking anything but bulky, instead appearing extremely swift and agile.

It quickly dashed in front of Su Nan, bending its supple body into a circle, its huge pupils fixed unwaveringly on him.

Though its appearance was fierce, through their mysterious bond, Su Nan could sense the admiration and closeness the giant lizard felt towards him.

Within a certain distance, a magical pet and its master can perceive each other’s emotions, akin to telepathy, which wizards call an emotional connection.

As a wizard’s spiritual power increases, it will evolve into shared vision, spell sharing, and more magical abilities in the future.

Moreover, the life of the magical pet is bound to that of its master.

Should the master die, the magical pet’s body and soul will also be annihilated.

So in the magical pet’s perception, the master is the closest and most loyal existence in the world.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Su Nan reached out his hand to touch the giant lizard’s head, which uttered a low whine, its huge head cautiously nuzzling against his hand, expressing intimacy.

Against its massive size, there was inexplicably a sense of contrast.

“Go outside and test your abilities.”

Man and lizard quickly moved to the courtyard.

The process of transforming the magical pet took quite some time, and it was already night outside.

Under Su Nan’s command, the giant lizard sprang forward lightly, soaring four or five meters high. In the moonlight, its elongated body suddenly vanished.

Then, with a ‘crack,’ a nearby banyan tree inexplicably broke, its enormous branches crashing to the ground.

“Both its strength and body toughness have noticeably increased. In terms of physical constitution alone, it could already rival that of a grand knight, but we need further tests to confirm.”

The giant lizard’s physical strength and chameleon ability had undergone different enhancements; however, these were its original abilities and clearly not newly awakened powers.

Su Nan watched with anticipation.

After advancing a certain distance, the giant lizard revealed itself again, turning back and charging toward the stump.

But this time, its body suddenly turned into a void halfway, passing through the stump like a phantom.

“This is a phase-shifting ability!”

Su Nan looked delighted.

Judging from the giant lizard’s recent performance, it seemed to be able to instantly shift its body to a phantom state, thus passing through obstacles.

Bear in mind, the transformed giant lizard already possessed formidable destructive power and agile speed, combined with its chameleon ability and newfound phase-shifting skill, making it the perfect assassin!

Its combat capabilities had instantly advanced several tiers!

“Truly a perfect ability combination!”

Su Nan couldn’t help but exclaim.

The phase-shifting ability had immediately compensated for the chameleon ability’s inability to mask sound, giving the giant lizard a genuinely perfect invisibility power.

Hearing Su Nan’s words, the giant lizard let out an excited, proud cry.

Su Nan smiled slightly: “I can’t just keep calling you giant lizard all the time; I need to give you a new name.”

After a moment’s thought, he quickly made up his mind.

“I’ll call you Hidden Dragon.”