'Oh G.o.d, what do you eat?' he mentally panicked.

'Mmm, I eat meat!' she replied back.

Looking at her for a second, he took out one of the Tranner bodies he had stored inside his [Inventory] and offered it to her. She gobbled it up like it was the first meal she's ever had.

'Well it IS your first meal ever. G.o.ds I'm so stupid sometimes,' he sighed mentally.

Not quite sure what to make of it, Donis did theorize that maybe when Soul Contracts evolve they stop being just pa.s.sive beings, but start taking on more realistic functions, such as eating. He started wondering if Etheria would need sleep too, or will the [System] take care of that.

He knew she was a real being, but since he never had to feed her, nor her ever asking for any food made him think that she was s.h.i.+elded by the [System]. Clearly evolving has pushed her past what the [System] could provide.

After watching her happily gobble up the pieces of the Tranner she had slain herself, Donis set out on his journey back. He didn't want to bring her back using the skill anymore, he wanted her to experience everything alongside him now. She was strong enough to a.s.sist him and he didn't want to diminish her excitement.

'Oh what's that!' she would ask every few seconds, pointing with her beak at any random object.

He'd happily explain to her everything around them, almost acting like a mentor. He knew how exciting it is to not only be in a new place, but have someone explain all of your questions. The increased intelligence definitely has given her more life. If not for the telepathic link with her, he'd never know how excited the little b.u.g.g.e.r would get!

***

At the headquarters.

"So you're telling me the two of you got the job done in a single day, evolved your pet, and collected nearly every body in tact?" said Striga as she rubbed the bridge of her nose once again.

"Yup! She was super helpful. Her evolution made her a really good ally when fighting lots of them at once!" beamed back Donis.

"I mean, I can see that. The two of you barely have a scratch on you, yet there are 49 corpses of the Tranners here. Where DID the last one go though?" she asked, her eyes locked on the soft looking feathers of Etheria.

"Uh, Etheria got hungry?" he replied with a questioning tone.

"Oh yeah, sure. I keep forgetting pets get hungry when they evolve. Funny thing that is," she smirked.

"Why do they get hungry though? Before all of this she never needed to eat, or sleep," Donis wondered out loud.

"Well, I mean, don't you know? When a monster gets tamed using the [Soul Contract] skill they regress to their base forms, and the [System] keeps them at peak form until their first evolution. Afterwards they're real creatures once again. It's all a little complicated when it comes to the reasons as to why, but it's basically because the [System] makes them real, if you get me?" Striga replied with a slight questioning tone of her own.

"I ... think I do?" shrugged Donis.

"Look, I may be a [Monster Specialist], but I don't know pets okay? You'd need to talk to a [Beastmaster], and there are none around these parts sadly," she said.

"Hmm, I'll keep it in mind. Anyway, here's my report..." said Donis, handing her the paperwork required for the jobs completion.

The two then continued an amicable conversation about how cute Etheria looks, and how soft her feathers were. Striga held on for dear life, trying to not ask Donis if she could cuddle the beautiful bird, but Donis didn't even allow her to show face in the situation. He told Etheria to tackle Striga and cuddle up to her.

From the soft gasps, and weirdly cute noises coming from his captain, Donis knew that she was enjoying it. Though, not to embarra.s.s her for too long, Donis recalled Etheria and went back on his merry way.

Left a little fl.u.s.tered, Striga sat up and pretended like nothing happened. She took out a pen and some paper, and continued her work. Though she looked serious right now, her mind was totally encapsulated with the feeling Etherias feathers gave. Soft, luxurious, impossibly comfortable.

'Concentrate Striga, concentrate!' she pumped herself up mentally.

Back in his room, Donis didn't feel like talking to Jimmy, or paying a visit to Yyrthrub. He'd missed his parents and felt horribly guilty for not sending them a message. He even wondered where his sisters were right now, how the business was doing, and just wanted to vent to them about everything that's happened.

Sitting down at the table he bought, he took out some [Pigeon Paper] and wrote a message to his father, Korrin.

It entailed his adventures in the last few months. Ranging from the day of his arrival, to the day he gained his Combat Job, the Dragonfury Mage. He continued on telling him about how he had lost an arm during one of the adventures with his captain and how it grew back using the potion [Greater Limb Restoration Potion]. He left very few details out, such as the nightmare with what he a.s.sumed was Variis.

It was long, far longer than he antic.i.p.ated. It detailed his newfound friends.h.i.+p with Striga and Jimmy, the long shared secret between them two and how much they've helped him. He shared Etherias growth too, over explaining her newfound beauty and softness. He knew this would rile up the girls but he didn't care, he wanted to share it all.

He asked many questions, like how the family was doing, what the business was like back in Vorinar, how the sisters were managing the business and if there were any new prospects in their romantic lives.

Now that Donis was older, and was more able to partake in their lives, he felt it was a necessary time to really get to know them too. They were far older than him, and while babies are cute, teens and young adults rarely would spend too much of their free time with them. He felt as if he barely even knew them, even though they were his family.

As Donis wrote, he didn't realise just how much he had missed his family. How much they mean to him, and how afraid he really was of losing them. As he wrote about the dangers he had faced, he imagined how his mother would react to him losing an arm, or how his father would react to the influence Jimmy definitely was having on Donis.

His cheeks were getting slightly wet, yet he didn't clean them off until he had finished the letter. It was long, so very long. Yet he felt far lighter than after any conversation with Jimmy or Striga. They were good people, but they didn't know him like his family, they didn't love him like they did. It felt refres.h.i.+ng yet so tiring to write the whole thing out.

He put down the pen, called over Etheria and went to sleep. His mind was unclouded and his heart was light. Tomorrow he'd read their response, and he'll tackle whatever adventure was waiting for him around the corner.

***

The next day, morning.

The sun was out, and the skies seemed to have parted. Not only within Donis, but even the town seemed to be livelier. He knew it was going to be a good day.

Getting out of bed he went over and looked at the [Pigeon Paper], though nothing had come through yet.

'They're probably taking their time in replying. I asked a lot of questions, and they probably need a moment to process the fact that I nearly died a few times. I'll give them some time,' he laughed mentally.

Sleeping with the new Etheria was like sleeping with heaven itself. Her new feathers seemed to have a temperature stabilizing feature or something, because Donis had never felt so comfortably warm, yet cool at the same time. He knew that no matter where they slept, he'd wake up bright and fresh if she was by his side.

Donis went downstairs to Striga as she was holding a meeting with some of the crew. There was no rush to her tone, yet Donis felt weird since he wasn't called down for any meeting.

"What's going on guys?" asked Donis, grabbing himself a snack that was placed haphazardly on one of the unbroken tables.

"Oh don't worry, just giving out this weeks missions to these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," Striga laughed.

"Oh, do I have anything?" he asked taking a bite of what looked liked a chicken thigh.

"Nah, you already did your weekly mission. These lazy c.u.n.ts saw how you completed a week long mission in a day and got really worked up, went out last night and finished everything, and now they're asking for more!" laughed Striga.

"Yeah kid, you can't make us look bad! What've you been here? 3 months? f.u.c.k you," grumbled one of the more dishevelled men.

"Sorry sorry! I was just way too eager to try out Etherias new evolution!" said Donis holding up his hands in an apologetic way, chicken thigh still held firmly.

"Hmph."

Donis walked out of the headquarters and decided to go for a stroll around Grimbay. It was actually a nice day for once, and even the ever gloomy townsfolk seemed to have a new lease on life.

The merchants were belting out their prices, the children were playing and even the old townswomen were trying to get whatever tan they were allowed to. Clearly the sun doesn't come out often.

'Etheria, why don't we let you try some of the food around here? Maybe you'll like something!' suddenly thought Donis.

'Food?! YES' chirped back Etheria with an intense buzz coming from the mindlink.

With that, the duo were off to raid all of the food stalls around Grimbay.