Beast Tamer: I Can See Evolution Paths

"Huh?" Vicky stared dumbfounded at Asher.

Asher closed his eyes briefly, unsure how to explain to Vicky that—not only was the dragon lizard perfectly healthy—it seemed to be in heat.

Moments ago, he'd thought this long and robust creature looked like a mythical dragon. But add a voice-over in his head, and—oh boy—the mental image instantly shattered.

Without giving Vicky or the dragon lizard time to react, Asher bent down and swiftly ran his hand over the dragon lizard's belly.

Dragon Lizard: "?"

Vicky: "?"

'What just happened?'

Something popped out with a "whoosh" and then retracted just as quickly.

"The stomach feels distended—not just full, but overstuffed," Asher explained as the dragon lizard instinctively wriggled under his touch.

The movement was all too familiar to Asher. Little Raven always did the same thing when overeating and wanting him to rub its belly.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Vicky's eyes were as wide as saucers, practically glowing with denial. "Before leaving, I fed Little Drogo, but it didn't take a single bite."

Asher maintained a blank expression. "Clearly, it snuck food behind your back."

Vicky hesitated, his gaze wavering as he turned toward the dragon lizard on the ground. Asher had no reason to lie. So... the problem could only lie with his own pet.

Vicky's eyes grew sharp.

The dragon lizard, lying prone, began to stiffen, its soft body turning rigid. Yet it kept up the act, playing weak and pitiful with a "woe-is-me" expression.

Vicky's resolve faltered again.

"But… if Little Drogo was faking it, what's the point?" he asked, turning to Asher, baffled.

If it wasn't really unwell and just pretending to starve itself, it had to have a reason, right?

The dragon lizard had been feeble, listless, and mopey for over a month. Vicky couldn't think of any reason it would need to deceive him.

Unable to figure it out, he turned to Asher for help. "Ash, what's going on?"

Vicky's brain was on the verge of shutting down.

Asher stared at the dragon lizard, silent, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table.

'Hmm...'

Asher's innate skill, Eye of Insight, could reveal what a pet wanted to say, but he had never used it to communicate with one before. It wasn't that he didn't want to—it was just that the skill didn't reflect a pet's fleeting thoughts.

Instead, it displayed the pet's most dominant desire from the past three to five minutes.

For example, after being exposed and glared at by Vicky for a while, the dragon lizard's thoughts shifted, and the skill revealed:

[Deceive...? But Little Beauty Dragon said... hic—hic, hic]

The dragon lizard seemed a little frightened.

Asher sighed inwardly, 'Do I seem like a bad person?'

Still, he was somewhat relieved.

While the exact situation wasn't clear yet, one thing was certain: Vicky's dragon lizard wasn't sick. At most, it was experiencing some psychological issues.

Asher thought for a moment and picked up Little Raven.

The little bird tilted its head in confusion, as if asking why Asher was holding it at this moment.

Vicky also turned his gaze toward Little Raven.

"What are you doing? Trying to get your little princess to reform my son?" he asked.

Asher rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming."

He added, "I want Little Raven to spar with your dragon lizard and see what happens."

Sparring?

At the mention of the word, Little Raven's tiny black eyes instantly lit up.

'A fight? Terrific!'

Ever since its bout with the fox, Little Raven hadn't found a worthy opponent. None of the avian beast in Aspengrove Village were remotely a challenge—they'd all fled the area.

This left Little Raven utterly dissatisfied, 'Why is it so hard to find a decent opponent?'

Upon hearing that it could face off against this big guy, Little Raven's eyes practically sparkled.

'Yes, yes, yes! I can take flight and pummel this oversized worm right now.'

"Huh?" Vicky's face was a picture of shock.

He looked at the dragon lizard, nearly a meter long even while slouched on the ground, with a body as thick as a thigh and covered in intricate blue-green scales.

Then he turned to Little Raven, hopping energetically in Asher's palm, its round, black body so tiny it could easily fit into Asher's cupped hands like a sesame dumpling.

Vicky's mouth opened slightly, his gaze shifting back to Asher, full of silent reproach.

"So, you're into the dark father route?"

Before Asher could pull a "what nonsense are you spouting" face, Vicky pointed at the dragon lizard and then at Little Raven. "Look at the size difference. I'm not kidding; Little Drogo could swallow ten birds like that in one gulp."

On the ground, the dragon lizard trembled.

'Eep... Why does it suddenly feel so cold?'

The dragon lizard coiled itself tighter, trying to form a defensive ball, its large, expressive eyes darting around nervously.

Unlike the dragon lizard, Little Raven was thoroughly enraged after catching the gist of Vicky's words.

Little Raven: '(╬ಠ益ಠ) No one—NO ONE— can looked down on me.'

It had to teach this guy a lesson, make him understand why flowers bloom so red.

If Asher hadn't stopped it in time, Little Raven would have launched an assault on Vicky right then and there, splattering blood in three steps flat.

"Don't get mad or hold grudges if people underestimate you," Asher gently patted Little Raven's little head feather, his tone soft. "After all, people are biased. Just like he thinks Little Drogo is the strongest, I think Little Raven is stronger."

Vicky, startled by Little Raven's sudden flurry, was about to apologize when Asher continued.

"We can settle it on the spot. It's uncivilized and possibly illegal to hit a Beastmaster, but attacking their pet? That's totally fine."

Little Raven bobbed its head furiously.

Little Raven: '(°◡°♡) Absolutely right. Forget the weakling human—let's aim straight for that big guy lying there.'

Dragon Lizard (Big Guy, Little Drogo): "?"

Little Drogo was stunned.

'What is happening? I haven't even opened my mouth or provoked anyone since showing up. Why am I suddenly the target?'

[Drogo doesn't understand, Drogo is shocked, but Drogo is an obedient little cub. Drogo agreed with Pretty Little Dragon. I won't fight—anyway, this bird can't beat me.]

Asher raised an eyebrow.

'Huh?'

'Interesting.'

The reason Asher suggested letting Little Raven and the dragon lizard fight was to stall for time and see if he could observe any changes in the dragon lizard's behavior.

But unexpectedly… they hadn't even started fighting yet, and he'd already noticed something intriguing.

Earlier, he'd seen the phrase "Pretty Little Dragon."

Asher hadn't thought much of it, assuming it was just the dragon lizard pining for a mate.

Even though, logically, a dragon lizard less than a year old should still be a cub, it was, after all, somewhat related to the mythical "dragon."

'Dragons by nature… ahem.'

'It isn't entirely impossible for a dragon lizard to have romantic yearnings, right?'

However, when the dragon lizard brought up "Pretty Little Dragon" again, Asher finally sensed something was off.

'Could Little Drogo's changes be related to this Pretty Little Dragon?'

More importantly—

For something to make the dragon lizard yearn and be called "Pretty Little Dragon," even if it wasn't another dragon lizard, it had to be an Beast related to dragons.

Here's the problem.

Even a dragon lizard, which isn't a true dragon, costs tens of millions.

Ordinary people couldn't afford such an expensive beast companion.

And the chances of encountering a dragon-related Beast in a forbidden zone were practically zero.

If you do encounter one—

A forbidden zone. The wilderness. A wild dragon-type.

What would a normal person think of this combination? Extreme danger!

Encountering one could mean not coming back alive.

'So, where exactly have Little Drogo met this Pretty Little Dragon, and how?'

"Did you encounter any danger while taking Little Drogo to the forbidden zone?" Asher asked.

Vicky was momentarily stunned. "Danger? What danger? I only wandered around the perimeter and didn't go deep."

"It was pretty big, though. It took me a whole day and night to loop back to the city gate."

"Luckily, I hired an expedition team before setting out; otherwise, I wouldn't have dared spend the night in the forbidden zone with Little Drogo."

Asher frowned. "You didn't go to our city's forbidden zone, did you?"

If he remembered correctly—

In NY City, it was forbidden to stay overnight in the zone from June to October.

Otherwise, June wouldn't have to spend so much time commuting to and from the mines daily.

"No, it was the forbidden zone in neighboring Bluestone City. Their restricted period is different—it's from November to May each year."

Asher nodded.

He seemed to have an idea, but a crucial piece of information was still missing.

"Alright." Asher patted Little Raven. "Let's get ready for the battle, then."

Vicky: "Wait, you're serious, Asher?"

"What else? Did you think I was joking? It's not funny at all." Asher gave him a puzzled look.

Vicky: "..."

Vicky rubbed his face.

"If you really want Little Raven to fight Little Drogo, I have no objections."

Respecting others. Understanding others.

Vicky couldn't interfere with how Asher trained his beasts.

If Asher truly wanted the two beasts to fight, Vicky naturally wouldn't object.

"But Little Drogo might not agree." Vicky put on a pained expression.

This was the second thing troubling him.

First, Little Drogo had been refusing to eat, though now it seemed to be sneaking food when he wasn't looking.

Vicky was torn between anger and amusement.

At least Little Drogo wouldn't starve itself, so he let it be for now.

The other issue was Little Drogo's refusal to fight.

"I'm not exactly a battle maniac, but Little Drogo not fighting is a big problem for me." Vicky sighed, glancing at the dragon lizard sprawled on the ground.

Little Drogo stiffly turned its body, presenting its smooth tail tip to Vicky, refusing to meet his eyes.

Vicky sighed again.

This scene didn't escape Asher's notice.

He nodded.

'Hmm.'

'Not bad.'

'The dragon lizard looks at least a little guilty.'

'If it feels guilty, there was a chance to resolve its inner conflict.'

If it acted selfish, Asher would have had no solution.

After all, a person—or beast—dead set on pretending to sleep couldn't be awakened by external forces.

The dragon lizard was currently in a Schrödinger's sleep-like state.

On one side was the mysterious "Pretty Little Dragon," and on the other was its dutiful caretaker, Vicky.

What Asher needed to do was make Little Drogo open its eyes and truly see its father figure, who was stressing so much over it that he was balding faster.

Baldness was only a matter of time.

With a confident expression, Asher said, "As long as you don't mind Little Raven attacking Little Drogo one-sidedly."

Vicky got the hint.

Little Drogo wouldn't fight, so let it act as a target?

Vicky hesitated, feeling this might not be fair.

But then he glanced at Little Raven's petite form.

And all his doubts disappeared.

"No problem." Vicky waved dismissively. "Even if Little Drogo doesn't fight back, its defense is solid. It won't be easily broken."

Looking at Little Raven again, he didn't say aloud his concern—

In Vicky's eyes, the innate differences between Little Raven and the dragon lizard couldn't be easily overcome.

What's more, Little Raven seemed to be a suboptimal variant of the Oriental Peacock species, according to Asher.

Vicky even worried that even if the dragon lizard just stood there, Little Raven might not leave a mark on it.

The more he thought, the more likely it seemed.

His gaze toward Little Raven became kinder.

"Go ahead, go ahead. Hit as hard as you can. Breaking the defense would be great." Vicky smiled benevolently at Little Raven.

Asher shuddered.

Little Raven, flying mid-air, also shuddered.

"Tone it down, or I'll have Little Raven attack you too," Asher said disdainfully.

Vicky chuckled. "Your daughter's my granddaughter. Can't I admire my own family?"

He turned to Little Raven. "Go, Little Raven! You've got this~"

Little Raven puffed up its chest mid-air, exuding confidence.

"Little Raven, show them the aura of a king."

As soon as Asher finished speaking—

A powerful aura erupted from Little Raven, spreading explosively in all directions.

Even though humans weren't easily affected by Beasts' auras—

Asher and Vicky could physically feel the intense air pressure.

Their minds were filled with awe.

Having experienced Little Raven's skills before, Asher was relatively calm. But Vicky's mind went blank, unable to process what had just happened.

Even more shocking to Vicky—

Moisture filled the air, and wisps of mist began gathering around the dragon lizard.

Seeing the mist and sensing the moisture, Vicky's sluggish brain finally started working again.

'Isn't Little Drogo's skill, Cloud and Mist Breathing?'

'Little Drogo wasn't supposed to fight. When did he activate its skill?'

Vicky felt like his brain wasn't functioning.

"Kid, can I borrow your brain for a sec...?" He turned to Asher.

Asher smacked his forehead, snapping him back to reality.

The first thing Vicky blurted out was, "Aura of a king? Are you sure Little Raven can use that skill?"

He scrutinized Little Raven from head to toe but couldn't find any trace of "king" attributes.

Beasts with king attributes naturally exuded an undeniable aura.

The kind that made you think, "This is a king!" at first glance.

Little Raven didn't have that aura.

When snuggled beside Asher, it was just a cute, harmless little bird.

Vicky wanted to ask more but noticed the mist thickening around the battlefield.

Instead of being pleased that Little Drogo had regained its fighting spirit, he spotted a problem.

"Wait a minute. Why is Little Drogo attacking itself?" Vicky exclaimed, stunned.

'What is going on?'

Even if Little Drogo wanted to counter Asher's words or make Little Raven happy, self-inflicted damage didn't make sense.

"How do you know Little Drogo's doing this on purpose?" Asher gave Vicky a look.

He couldn't understand why Vicky was so convinced the dragon lizard was holding back.

Little Raven had already used Aura of a King—'does't Vicky realize that Little Raven is much stronger than he'd assumed?'

Vicky didn't get it. "It can't be that this mist-breathing thing was also done by Little Raven, right? Little Raven can't possibly have this ability.'

Asher shook his head.

Reasoning wouldn't work. It was better to let Vicky see with his own eyes.

More and more mist and water vapor wrapped around the dragon lizard's thick, long body. The water vapor condensed into streams, slowly squeezing into the dragon lizard's fine scales. The mist, too, gradually seeped into the dragon lizard's body from the inside out.

The dragon lizard's expression became increasingly twisted and pained, its gaze carrying hints of shock and blankness.

'What is happening?'

The dragon lizard's brain was initially a mess of garbled thoughts.

Then suddenly...

[Ugh... it hurts, so scary... Drogo wants to cry.... But Pretty Dragon said no crying... Beastmaster would... can't hold it anymore. Dragon's gonna hit the bird. Bad bird. Drogo is good. Bird is bad.]

"ROAR—"

Amid the dragon lizard's repeated inner cries of "Can't hold it anymore" and "Bad bird," it let out a loud, piercing roar.

Its body and claws tried to exert strength, but they were limp, completely powerless.

This was the intimidating power brought by Little Raven's King's Aura on the dragon lizard.

Even though its innate bloodline advantage prevented it from fearing Little Raven as deeply as the avian beasts that fled Apsengrove Village, the dragon lizard wasn't a dragon, much less a king.

The King's Aura's immense intimidation still left the dragon lizard paralyzed for a brief moment, its body rigid and disconnected from its brain.

The dragon lizard's brain: 'I can do it. Gonna hit the bird, right now.'

The dragon lizard's body: 'Threatened by a powerful presence, physiological response taking over—shutdown, freeze, temporarily unable to move.'

As a result, the dragon lizard could only let out a pitiful and helpless angry roar.

Its thoughts started racing even faster.

[Hit the bird, bad bird, hit the bird, bad bird—Drogo is good, Beastmaster won't dislike Drogo—]

Asher frowned.

'Wait a minute... this inner thought...'

'Could the dragon lizard be thinking that if it fought, Vicky would dislike it?'

'Is it the dragon lizard's logic that was flawed, or was he misunderstanding something?'

"Did you ever say anything to Little Drogo that you shouldn't have? Like, abandoning it or not liking it?" Asher lowered his voice, speaking just loud enough for Vicky, who was standing next to him, to hear.

Vicky almost jumped on the spot.

He glared angrily at Asher but quickly realized that his good buddy was helping him solve a problem. Suppressing his rage, he gritted his teeth and whispered back.

"Do you really have so little faith in my character? How could I possibly say something like that to Little Drogo "

After calming his temper, Vicky glanced at the dragon lizard struggling in pain and Little Raven, which had temporarily stopped attacking without Asher's command.

Only then did he continue, "Little Drogo is still a cub. Converted to human age, it's still an infant. It wouldn't have the intelligence or comprehension of a teenager until at least two and a half years old. How could I say something like that to an infant?"

"Little Drogo would take it seriously."

"Then can you be sure no one else has said anything similar to Little Drogo?" Asher wasn't doubting Vicky's character.

But Asher believed the problem lay here.

The dragon lizard seemed to have truly developed this notion: fighting or eating would make its Beastmaster unhappy or dislike it.

If Vicky hadn't said it, then who could it be?

Vicky said, "Since forming the contract with Little Drogo, I've been the one caring for it. No matter where we go or who we meet, I'm always by its side. I can guarantee it hasn't heard anything like that."

Under Asher's persistent questioning, the usually slow-witted Vicky seemed to have realized something.

His expression turned serious and solemn.

He carefully recalled every person who had ever interacted or spoken with the dragon lizard and confirmed once again.

No problem.

"I can swear on it—absolutely not."

Asher stopped pressing.

If Vicky said so, then there really wasn't an issue. He wouldn't joke about Little Drogo.

And Asher also thought of one last suspect—

The "Pretty Dragon" that the dragon lizard kept mentioning.

It must have been the Pretty Dragon that passed some notion to the dragon lizard, causing it to act in ways that were so out of character.

Even though he had no idea what this Pretty Dragon was about.

Fortunately, they had pinpointed the crux of Little Drogo's problem.

Solving it would now be much easier.

"Alright, I got it. Let's just have Little Raven and Little Drogo finish this battle," Asher said with a relaxed expression, a hint of laughter in his tone.

"Little Drogo looks like it's itching to fight back anyway."

It definitely wasn't because Vicky belittled Little Raven's strength, and he wanted to prove a point.

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