Chapter 28: The Hidden Dragon

Chapter 28: The Hidden Dragon

In the courtyard of the Blackstone Castle, Su Nan stood in front of a banyan tree, his eyes fixed on the trunk.

To the naked eye, there was nothing in front of the tree, even upon close inspection. However, Su Nan could sense that something was indeed there.

"Charge," Su Nan commanded suddenly.

The moment the words left his lips, a sharp whistling sound echoed through the air. Despite the apparent emptiness before him, a clear rustling noise could be heard, as if some creature was swiftly crawling along the ground.

Then, in the previously empty space, a faint, almost imperceptible distortion appeared.

"Alright," Su Nan said.

In the next instant, a massive lizard materialized on the ground about ten meters ahead. Its amber eyes, vertical and human-like, gleamed with a pleading expression, and it emitted a low, whining sound, as if trying to claim credit from Su Nan.

Su Nan chuckled and praised it, "Well done."

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

With this new ability, the giant lizard could now instantly adapt to its environment, achieving a near-invisible state. The only time it revealed a trace of its presence was during high-speed charges, when the lag in its form transformation created a slight distortion.

Of course, unless someone was a wizard's apprentice or a highly skilled knight with exceptional eyesight, a normal person would never notice this faint trace.

However, this ability was not without its drawbacks. While it was effective when the lizard was stationary, any movement would cause the sound of its footsteps and the friction of its body against objects to give away its position.

Su Nan had no perfect solution for this, as even the true "Invisibility Spell" had similar flaws.

"Let it be. The color-changing ability is just a foundation for transforming it into a magical pet."

"I hope you can develop more powerful abilities based on this."

The giant lizard didn't fully understand Su Nan's words but let out a cautious low whine.

Su Nan didn't mind. He used the Mage's Hand to scoop up the lizard and carried it into the laboratory.

This was a temporary laboratory that had been cleared out. The floor was already adorned with a complex contract array, composed of countless intricate runes. Under the candlelight, the array glowed with a faint, dark hue, exuding a mysterious and indescribable aura.

Placing the giant lizard in the center of the array, Su Nan cast a Sleep Spell, and the anxious lizard immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Next, Su Nan cut open the flesh of his thumb with a small knife and pressed it against the edge of the array. As his blood spread along the runes, the array lit up brilliantly.

A mass of black and red mist appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the giant lizard's massive body. The mist seeped into its rough, thick skin.

Crack! Crack!

A series of sharp sounds echoed as the lizard's bones rapidly grew, piercing through its thick skin and protruding into the air. In no time, the giant lizard's body had transformed into a massive skeleton nearly ten meters tall, with flesh hanging like tattered rags, nearly filling the entire laboratory.

Su Nan had to step back to the doorway, his eyes never leaving the giant lizard. He held a plant rune gem in his hand, ready to activate it to heal the lizard if necessary.

The process of transforming a creature into a magical pet was not always successful. The more powerful the creature, the lower the success rate. For a creature like the giant lizard, with dragon lizard blood, the failure rate was at least 50%.

Even with the assistance of a rune gem, the success rate could only be increased by 10% to 20%.

The giant lizard's bones continued to grow, soon exceeding fifteen meters, but its flesh showed no signs of regenerating, making it look like a giant skeletal lizard.

Seeing this, Su Nan decisively activated the rune gem, and a soft, pale green light enveloped the giant lizard.

However, the giant lizard remained motionless, showing no change.

"Did it fail?"

Su Nan frowned, sighing deeply.

But in the very next moment, something unexpected happened.

The torn, ragged skin of the giant lizard suddenly sprouted countless black, oval-shaped scales, each the size of an adult's palm. They spread rapidly over its body, quickly covering the exposed bones.

Once the scales formed, their smooth surfaces gleamed under the candlelight, gradually blending in with the surroundings. In no time, the giant lizard's massive body was completely hidden from view.

"Color-changing ability? No, that's not quite right! It seems different!"

Just as Su Nan was puzzled, the 'vanished' giant lizard reappeared, its appearance drastically transformed from before.

Originally, the giant lizard was already a formidable creature, stretching seven to eight meters in length. After the transformation, its body had more than doubled in size, resembling a small mountain.

Despite its enormous size, its body was relatively slender, not appearing bulky. Instead, it looked incredibly swift and agile.

It quickly rushed to Su Nan, curling its body into a circle and staring at him with its large eyes.

Though its appearance was fearsome, through their mystical connection, Su Nan could feel the giant lizard's admiration and affection.

A magical pet and its owner can sense each other's emotions within a certain distance, a phenomenon similar to telepathy, known as an emotional bond among wizards.

As the wizard's mental power increases, this bond will evolve into shared vision, spell sharing, and even more spell-like abilities.

Moreover, the life of a magical pet is bound to its owner. If the owner dies, the pet's body and soul will also be annihilated.

Thus, in the pet's perception, the owner is the closest and most loyal presence in the world.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Su Nan reached out and stroked the giant lizard's head. The giant lizard let out a low, affectionate whine, gently nuzzling his hand in return.

The contrast between its massive size and its tender actions was striking.

"Go outside and test your abilities."

Soon, Su Nan and the giant lizard moved to the courtyard.

The transformation process had taken a significant amount of time, and it was now nighttime.

At Su Nan's command, the giant lizard sprang forward with incredible agility, leaping four to five meters high under the moonlight. Its long, slender body vanished from head to toe in an instant.

Then, a nearby banyan tree snapped mysteriously, and the massive branch crashed to the ground.

"Both its strength and physical resilience have significantly improved. In terms of physical attributes, it's likely on par with a great knight, though further testing is needed."

The giant lizard's physical strength and color-changing ability had both been enhanced, but these were not new abilities.

Su Nan watched with anticipation.

After charging for a distance, the giant lizard reappeared and turned to charge at the tree stump again.

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

"This is a solid-to-ethereal transformation ability!"

Su Nan's face lit up with joy.

From the giant lizard's performance, it seemed capable of instantly transforming its body into an ethereal form, allowing it to pass through obstacles.

Considering its already formidable physical strength and speed, combined with the color-changing and ethereal traversal abilities, it was the perfect assassin! Its combat power had skyrocketed!

"Truly a perfect combination of abilities!"

Su Nan couldn't help but exclaim.

The solid-to-ethereal transformation ability compensated for the color-changing ability's inability to mask sound, making the giant lizard a truly perfect stealth creature.

Hearing Su Nan's praise, the giant lizard let out an excited, triumphant roar.

Su Nan smiled. "We can't keep calling you 'giant lizard' all the time. I need to give you a new name."

After a moment of thought, he had an idea.

"I'll call you Hidden Dragon."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end