Chapter 247 Feisty Little Thing
Translator: ASB Editor: _Lunaelle /EndlessFantasy Translation
"Cheep, cheep…"
Poochie obviously couldn"t answer Qin Ruo"s questions about its exact species, nor could it understand his confusion over the appearance of its form and fur. It was an affectionate little thing, though—seeing Qin Ruo"s troubled expression, it cooed softly and stroked its bushy tail over his head, as though trying to console him.
Observing Poochie"s movements through his Elemental Perception, Qin Ruo was amazed. It had barely just been hatched—could it be so intelligent already?
As though Poochie could hear his thoughts, it stood upright upon his shoulder, short little paws upon its hips, and cheeped in a happy, adorable way, its tail wagging gently to and fro.
Qin Ruo"s feelings were indescribable. For a pet to be able to sense its owner"s thoughts… it was a closer connection than he had ever imagined.
Of course, this could be very useful for directly issuing all kinds of instructions during battle.
As he ventured down this line of thought, Poochie became restless and hopped around, bouncing all over his head and shoulders. Though Qin Ruo"s body was still in Aquamorph form, Poochie could tread upon him as though on flat, solid ground—it was truly wondrous.
Qin Ruo allowed the tops of his head and shoulders to be made into its personal playground. Gradually, he was coming to believe in this little creature"s abilities—it seemed to be able to move about as quickly as a Shadowfox, and at these speeds, it cast the same distinct sort of shadow.
The only disappointment was, ah… where was that golden fur? He and Xiaoxiao had been counting on it! Bright golden fur, delightful and pretty…
Well, certainly it was adorable… it just was not quite the same as that creature which had caused two Tier 4 champions to break out into applause, wondering if it might be a Boss; if anything, it more resembled a common squirrel…
"Cheep, cheep!"
This time, Poochie made a response. Although it had no idea what he had meant about its species, upon noticing his thoughts about squirrels, it immediately began squeaking in protest. Standing upon his shoulder, it brandished delicate little fists on short, slender arms, apparently offended that its owner would compare it with a squirrel.
Seeing his pet"s cute little mannerisms, Qin Ruo let out a laugh, but at the same time a cold sweat of worry broke out upon his forehead. It looked like Poochie was more of an amusing type of pet—with such a frail body and slender frame, what harm could it really do to a monster?
Full of doubt, Qin Ruo raised this matter with Poochie. Prying open its little fists, he saw that its skin was soft and pink, like a newborn baby—it did not even have any claws.
"Bah!"
Refusing to give up, Qin Ruo had Poochie open its mouth and say "Ah", so he could inspect how its teeth were growing, but this ordeal seemed to have made the little creature furious, and it disobediently turned its head to the side instead, throwing a tantrum.
Suddenly, Poochie"s entire body tensed, as an animal might when it sensed danger. With a sharp cry, it arched its body towards the entrance to the nearby mine, where a Tier 2 Goblin Warrior had just sp.a.w.ned.
Without waiting for Qin Ruo"s command, Poochie sprang forth like an arrow from a bow, faster than a shot from a Bowmaster with full Agility.
All Qin Ruo saw was a sudden streak of brown flying out, and only after that did he notice the Goblin Warrior"s presence.
Oh no, that was a Tier 2 monster!
"The little creature has incredible guts. Does it really think it was the same as that golden Shadowfox from the WarG.o.d"s Canyon of Trials? It is only Level 0, and already it is picking a fight with a Tier 2 monster—be careful it doesn"t instant-kill you!"
Qin Ruo was frantic! But before he could order Poochie to return, the fight had already broken out. Like a high-speed bullet train, Poochie slammed into the Goblin Warrior"s gut before anyone could react.
Qin Ruo"s expression changed as he s.h.i.+fted into combat mode, drawing out a ma.s.s of water above the Goblin Warrior"s head, ready to either instant-kill the Goblin, or to draw its attention onto himself.
And then there was another surprise!
The Level 23 Goblin Warrior, freshly sp.a.w.ned into the world and still getting its bearings, took this attack from the Level 0 Shadowfox as though it had been a direct hit from a Tier 3 Berserker. Its shrivelled little body was sent flying like a rag-doll, too surprised even to scream.
Qin Ruo could not believe his eyes.
Poochie: Target Hit: Goblin Warrior takes 7 damage!
Effect: Goblin Warrior is Stunned for 3 seconds!
These System Notifications only caused Qin Ruo"s expression to contort further with disbelief. What sort of joke was this?
It was a Level-0 Pet.
The amount of damage was perfectly reasonable, but the additional effect… surely this was too much! Who had ever heard of a newborn infant knocking a pre-teen child senseless—and across the room? This was madness!
In his awe, Qin Ruo canceled his spell, and he did not recall Poochie. This was nothing at all like he had expected—he needed to watch closely, make sure it had not been just some trick of the light, or some lucky fluke.
When Qin Ruo gave his tacit permission to continue the attack, Poochie let out an excited little cry, folded its body into another high-speed dive, and crashed once more into the Goblin Warrior, now sprawled across the ground.
Poochie: Target Hit: Goblin Warrior takes 18 damage!
(With its current condition, the monster"s defenses were somewhat lowered.)
This time, Qin Ruo had been able to clearly observe Poochie"s attack.
That was a headb.u.t.t! The little scamp was smas.h.i.+ng its own skull against the Goblin Warrior!
It was kind of cool, and pretty brutal!
Qin Ruo rubbed his nose as he shook his head and laughed in disbelief. Truthfully, he was overjoyed. Never mind figuring out some trick to get Poochie to open its mouth and show him its teeth—he"d confirmed that his pet was not just for show.
Rather, it was a savage beast! Haha!
Poochie: Target Hit: Goblin Warrior takes 21 damage!
The system notifications continued to pour in. Every time Poochie scored another hit, it would immediately spring back a few meters to prepare the next attack. Back and forth like this, it had dealt four hits over the span of three seconds, removing almost a hundred HP in total.
When the Stunned condition had finally worn off on the Goblin Warrior, and as it was climbing to its feet in a fury, Poochie knocked it down once again before it could even do anything, and it was Stunned for another three seconds.
There was nothing for the Goblin Warrior to do but lie back down upon the icy ground. Qin Ruo was absolutely flabbergasted!
When he had made note of Poochie"s quick movements and attacks, he had already been considering its potential to take down Tier 1 monsters above its own level, allowing it to level-up very swiftly.
And yet, Poochie revealed another delightful surprise!
The Stunned condition had been applied once more, and the clumsy Goblin Warrior was helpless against it.
Qin Ruo watched in amazement for a moment, and then both hands clenched into fists, and he burst out laughing.
Haha! This was too good!
If Poochie could hold its own against a Tier 2 monster, things would go even more smoothly than he"d imagined. Although there were not many Goblin Warriors around here, and defeating one would take longer than a Tier 1 monster, it was good that he would not have to change locations.
They could just stay here in the mines, take their time figuring things out, and once Poochie had picked up a few more levels, everything would be smooth sailing from there.
Just as he was thinking this, the situation changed dramatically!
In this mine, there ought to be four Goblin Warriors in total. As the first one was put under the Stunned condition once more, the second and third Warriors sp.a.w.ned together on either side of it, and Poochie"s own attack brought it within reach of both these new enemies.
Thud!
One of the Goblin Warriors had incredibly good timing, for in that brief pause after the Shadowfox had just completed an attack, it swung its hand-axe and caught Poochie right across the middle.
"Cheep, cheep!" Poochie cried out in panic, as its tiny body was flung through the air, landing right in front of the other newly arrived Goblin Warrior. Qin Ruo hadn"t antic.i.p.ated such a level of coordination between Goblin Warriors—already, the other Warrior was bringing down its mace…
Whoomph!
Poochie was thrown across the battlefield, tumbling towards Qin Ruo.
Qin Ruo was white with terror, frantically reaching back out for the water magic he"d prepared earlier and freezing both Goblins, and then immediately recalling Poochie back to his side, a flow of Aquahealing magic already showering down upon it.
The little creature scrambled back onto its feet, unleas.h.i.+ng a tirade of furious squealing at the frozen Goblins, and then bounding back onto its perch upon Qin Ruo"s shoulder, which seemed to have already become its favorite location.
With Poochie safe on his shoulder, Qin Ruo unleashed a forceful detonation which shattered the monsters utterly.
Poochie held its head in both paws, eyes wide with fear. Seeing the little creature"s adorable surrender, Qin Ruo hadn"t the heart to scold it too badly. Instead, he patted it gently on the head, saying, "What good is being so quick if you don"t know to run when you"re beaten? Getting roughed up so badly by Tier 2 monsters, is this what a legendary Shadowfox looks like?"
"Cheep, cheep…" Deep in contrition, Poochie hid its face in its paws, its feet tracing circles upon Qin Ruo"s shoulder