If not for the strange connection that formed after the bonding, Draven would never have believed any of this was real.

  It wasn't until the contract was complete that he learned the truth—the terrifying-looking Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent was, in fact, merely a mid-tier intermediate-level magical beast. Its rank was just slightly above his own. If it had been even a little stronger… The thought alone sent chills down Draven's spine.

  Shaken, he collapsed to the ground, staring wide-eyed at the short, thick serpent lazily sprawled out before him.

  It looked utterly unthreatening, even a bit lazy—its coiled body relaxed, its small tail flicking gently, as if it were enjoying a rare moment of peace.

  Suddenly, Draven scowled and reached out to smack it on the head.

  The serpent tilted its head slightly, a flicker of almost human-like bewilderment flashing through its eyes.

  "What are you looking at?!" Draven grumbled.

  "You scared the hell out of me!"

  He gave it a few more harmless slaps, like a man venting nervous tension. But as he kept slapping, a smile slowly crept across his face. "Alright, no point holding a grudge against you."

  The Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent probably had no idea what was going on. If it could speak, it would probably groan, "What's wrong with this guy?"

  Once the contract was successful, a magical beast couldn't harm its master.

  With that assurance, Draven dropped his guard completely. Curiosity piqued, he picked up the serpent and examined it closely.

  He pried open its mouth—and was stunned to discover it had no teeth.

  After a long inspection, he realized that while its oral structure wasn't much different from that of a normal snake, the complete lack of sharp fangs was surprising.

  What puzzled him even more was—how had this snake managed to swallow a python many times its size? It seemed downright magical.

  Then he recalled the glowing arrow it had swallowed earlier. "It even swallowed a light arrow. Damn impressive," he muttered to himself.

  Draven then pointed toward a watermelon-sized rock nearby and gave the serpent a command.

  The Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent slowly slithered toward the stone. Its movements were lazy but steady.

  Still, there was not the faintest hint of magical aura coming from its body—it truly looked like an ordinary snake.

  Then it opened its mouth, revealing a circular black void.

  This black hole had powerful suction. Leaves nearby were pulled in, and the stone vanished into it without a trace.

  Draven stared, dumbfounded. It felt like he was watching some kind of magical performance.

  He picked the serpent up again and found that even after swallowing the stone, its weight hadn't increased and its body hadn't changed at all.

  Then Draven began testing its speed and hunting abilities.

  After a flurry of trials, he had to admit—the serpent was every bit worthy of its "king" title.

  It might look lazy and unmotivated most of the time, but once it moved, it was unbelievably fast—so fast that Draven couldn't keep up.

  Despite their level gap being relatively small, Draven was well aware that even if he advanced to a mid-tier leader class, he'd still lag behind the serpent in speed.

  Next, he tested its hunting techniques. When stationary, the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent used the mysterious black hole inside its body to consume prey.

  But when it moved, its hunting method changed entirely. The serpent would open its jaws wide, causing the red dots along its neck to glow.

  The wider its jaws stretched, the brighter the red glow became—until its mouth resembled a pouch that could instantly envelop its prey.

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  Once prey was captured, the serpent would return to its calm state without affecting its mobility at all. Even more astonishingly—it could regurgitate its prey intact!

  Out of curiosity, Draven ordered it to capture a small bird. The serpent lunged and swallowed the bird whole. A few minutes later, it opened its mouth and spit the bird back out.

  The little bird, covered in slimy mucus and dazed, eventually shook itself awake and flew away.

  Draven was too stunned to speak.

  A single thought flashed through his mind: This thing… is incredibly useful!

  It was the perfect tool for capturing people—able to conceal its aura, move swiftly, swallow a target and regurgitate it unharmed, without taking up space or slowing down.

  Draven was well aware of one thing: he had no idea how long the small animals swallowed by the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent could survive inside its body.

  He would have to find time to test it properly—understanding this would be crucial for the beast's practical use. If it could store prey in its belly without harming them, that would be a tremendous advantage.

  However, now wasn't the time to get bogged down in such details. After the forced contract was completed, there was still one key skill he hadn't yet claimed.

  Draven steadied his breathing, gave a mental command, and sent the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent off to catch a few more small animals on its own.

  The serpent slithered off lazily, creeping slowly and silently into a nearby bush. Meanwhile, Draven sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to enter his consciousness.

  As soon as he touched the glowing circle representing his link to the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent, a strange sensation surged through him—an odd sense of insight began to take root in his mind.

  He knew that the serpent's most powerful ability was undoubtedly devouring, and that was the skill he most wanted. If not that, then speed would also be acceptable.

  But to his surprise, the skill he received this time was actually Conceal Aura.

  At first, Draven thought he'd be disappointed—after all, devouring was a trump card, and speed was also extremely useful—but this new skill turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

  Soon, a smile spread across his face. This skill was perfect for playing it cool and keeping a low profile!

  To his amazement, as soon as Conceal Aura was activated, his presence dropped dramatically.

  Unless someone was a full tier higher than him, they would be completely unable to detect his true strength.

  In other words, now that he was at the early Leader rank, unless he ran into a Lord-tier opponent, no one would be able to see through him.

  Just like the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent—despite sitting right in front of you, it gave off no magical signature whatsoever. Its lazy appearance completely masked its true power.

  Draven did some quick mental math. If he wanted, others would see him as just an ordinary werebeast hybrid, not even a proper bloodline warrior.

  That meant he could easily hide his true identity. Stealth missions, silent approaches—everything would become much easier.

  Thinking of this, Draven couldn't help but let out a few weird chuckles, the sound light and slightly sinister.

  Afterward, he double-checked with the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent about the surrounding forest to make sure no other serpents of its kind were nearby.

  After all, the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent was too powerful. If they appeared in groups, things would become extremely troublesome.

  Once he confirmed the area was safe, Draven didn't delay and prepared to complete his survey of the forest's final sector.

  Just as he was about to move on, he suddenly remembered the small green snake that had been swallowed earlier by the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent.

  He suspected it might also be a Leader-tier beast, so he ordered the serpent to spit it out.

  From a puddle of slime, the little green snake lay coiled, looking extremely weak.

  Maybe it had passed out when it was swallowed—it couldn't even hide its aura. The level it revealed was just that of a low-tier beast.

  Draven was a bit disappointed but kept his cool. He removed the beast core from the small snake and discarded the body.

  Then, he had the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent swallow the remains again.

  At the same time, the Ghost-faced Owl that had been circling nearby suddenly became active.

  It flapped its wings and flew ahead to scout. Sometimes, magical beasts had sharper instincts than humans.

  The owl could sense the oppressive danger radiating from the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent.

  As natural enemies of snakes, owls were especially sensitive to that kind of threat.

  Draven cast a dismissive glance at the owl soaring overhead.

  "Low-tier beast," he thought.

  After all, he had now bonded with a mid-tier beast—his standards had naturally risen. But then again, the Ghost-faced Owl wasn't entirely useless.

  It wasn't realistic to expect every contracted beast to be as powerful as the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent. As long as they were skilled enough to get the job done, that was good enough.

  A short while later, Draven finally finished his inspection of the forest's last area. Although the process had been a bit rushed, he was fairly confident that there were no major threats remaining.

  He pulled a wooden board from his backpack, on which a piece of beast hide was laid. Rough sketches of the forest's terrain were drawn on it.

  Not only that—he'd also used simple symbols to mark where magical beasts had been spotted and where prey was abundant.

  Of course, these markings were still quite rough—he hadn't had the time or energy to make them detailed. Over the past few days, he'd been surveying and mapping at the same time, with little room for perfection.

  Draven picked up a thin wooden stylus and began drawing and writing on the hide, finishing the last section of the map.

  The stylus was something he'd picked up in the underground chamber. He had to admit—the blood elves' research into blood was truly astonishing.

  This pen only needed a drop of blood to convert into bright red ink for writing.

  Draven didn't fully understand how it worked, but knowing how to use it was good enough.

  Compared to ordinary charcoal, the vivid red ink was clearer and far more convenient.