Chapter 56: Communication

"You have something against me?" Linton looked at the Fire-Swallowing Beast slowly approaching him, wondering if it was here for revenge. However, Linton wasn't afraid of it now; it had already lost to him before. Plus, he had recently leveled up, so why worry?

The Fire-Swallowing Beast seemed to notice that Linton had spotted it. However, after glancing at Linton for a moment, it didn't run away but continued to approach him slowly. Soon, it stepped out of the forest and stood right in front of Linton.

"What's up, little deer? Here for revenge?" Linton didn't know if the beast could understand him, but he spoke to it anyway.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast suddenly lowered its head and spat out something from its mouth. Linton was a bit stunned as he looked at the object—it was a purple, fist-sized ball that emitted a faint purple glow.

"What's this?" Linton had no idea what it was, but since it was glowing, it seemed valuable—maybe a gem, like a luminous pearl or something similar?

"You're giving this to me?" Linton asked, puzzled.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast looked at Linton, then pointed with its hoof at the purple orb on the ground and then at an empty space nearby. Linton was confused at first, but when he saw the cleared ground nearby, it clicked—wasn't that the patch he'd just burned? So, the beast wanted fire?

"Are we trading?" Linton asked, "You want my fire?"

The Fire-Swallowing Beast nodded, proving its intelligence.

"Wow, you're pretty smart, huh?" Linton thought he understood now—the Fire-Swallowing Beast must've been injured and was trying to recover. Regular people would heal with medicine or food, but the Fire-Swallowing Beast's food was fire. It was likely risking coming to Linton to make this trade because it needed fire to heal.

"Amaterasu!" Linton didn't waste time and shot an Amaterasu flame toward the empty space nearby. He had plenty of magic power now, so throwing out a few Amaterasu flames was no big deal. The flames were more accurate compared to the unpredictable fire spells he used before.

The black flames immediately ignited the ground, burning steadily. Seeing this, the Fire-Swallowing Beast ran over and started absorbing the flames like it was slurping up jelly.

Linton picked up the purple orb the beast had given him. He still didn't know what it was, but it felt like a gem. After some thought, he decided to stash it in his bag for later.

Not long after, the Fire-Swallowing Beast finished absorbing the Amaterasu flames, looking quite satisfied. Linton noticed that the purple glow around the beast had grown stronger, and the horn that had been broken earlier seemed to have grown back a bit. Was it really recovering?

After its meal, the Fire-Swallowing Beast glanced at Linton before turning and running back into the forest, disappearing from sight within seconds. Linton didn't think much of it and lay down to sleep.

But to his surprise, a few minutes later, he heard noises again. He got up and saw the Fire-Swallowing Beast had returned. This time, it wasn't as cautious—it walked right up to Linton and spat out a large blue gemstone from its mouth.

The blue gem was much bigger than the purple orb, about twice the size of a fist. Linton inspected it—it looked like a crystal and seemed very hard, possibly another valuable item. It was clear the Fire-Swallowing Beast was collecting treasures to trade with Linton for more fire.

"I get it, but can you stop doing this in the middle of the night? I need to sleep," Linton said, feeling a bit exasperated. The beast looked at him with a hopeful expression, like a puppy begging for food.

"Amaterasu! Amaterasu! Amaterasu..." Linton fired several Amaterasu flames in all directions and then lay back down. "Go ahead, eat all you want, but don't wake me up again, or you'll get a beating."

The Fire-Swallowing Beast seemed very happy, immediately running off to devour the flames. Linton went back to sleep, not worried at all about the beast. After all, he had his battle maid nearby for protection.

The next morning, Linton woke up feeling refreshed. To his surprise, the Fire-Swallowing Beast was still nearby, seemingly asleep as well. It hadn't left?

Linton noticed some changes in the beast. Last night, its horns had been broken, but now they had grown back significantly, although not as large as when he first saw them. It seemed that the fire had indeed helped it heal.

Strangely, the beast's color had also changed. It had been a translucent purple before, almost see-through, but now it was a deeper shade of purple, almost black, with what looked like black liquid flowing inside its body. Even the newly grown horns appeared to have turned black.

"Did it get a new paint job?" Linton wondered if this change was due to the Amaterasu flames. He didn't fully understand the properties of the flames or if they had something to do with Yin-Yang chakra, but it seemed likely they caused the transformation.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast, although still sleeping, sensed Linton's gaze and woke up, looking back at him. It showed no intention of leaving.

Linton noticed several more gems near him, including three or four blue ones like the one from before, and a few brown, rock-like objects with shiny particles—possibly some kind of ore.

The beast must have brought them later, continuing its trade. Linton silently put the gems into his bag and looked at the Fire-Swallowing Beast. "Want more fire?"

The beast nodded.

"Well, it is breakfast time," Linton agreed, "But I'm hungry too. How about this—you go catch me something to eat first."

The Fire-Swallowing Beast stared at Linton, looking completely confused. Its eyes seemed to say, "Are you serious? I'm a deer, and you want me to hunt?"

"You want breakfast or not? Go catch something, or I can't feed you," Linton insisted, waving his hand dismissively.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast looked exasperated but, after thinking it over, stood up and darted into the forest.

A few minutes later, it returned with a blue rabbit in its mouth. It seemed to have reluctantly complied with Linton's request. Linton couldn't help but laugh—having a deer hunt a rabbit was pretty amusing.

"Is this thing even edible?" Linton examined the rabbit, its blue fur making him wonder if it was poisonous.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast simply stared at Linton, its eyes saying, "How would I know? I don't eat this stuff."

Linton shrugged and decided to give it a try. If it was poisonous, he could always heal himself with some points. He prepared the rabbit and, as a reward for the beast, gave it another Amaterasu flame. It was all part of the training, after all.

After breakfast, Linton found the rabbit meat surprisingly delicious, even better than he expected. Inside the rabbit, he discovered a magic crystal, similar in size to the one he found in the third-level wild boar. This rabbit must have been a high-level magical creature, which explained the exceptional quality of its meat.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast had finished its meal as well and was now eyeing Linton expectantly. It seemed to be addicted to the flames, and judging by its appearance, the fire had done wonders for its recovery.

"If you want more, you'll have to work for it. Got it?" Linton said to the beast.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast nodded, seemingly understanding the deal.

"Remember the people I was with before? I need to find them. Try sniffing around and see if you can track them down."

The Fire-Swallowing Beast looked at Linton in disbelief. Its expression seemed to say, "Dude, I'm a deer, not a dog. What are you asking?"

Linton wasn't sure how long his companions had been gone or if they had already left the forest, but he hoped to catch up with them. With the beast's help, he figured it might be possible.

"Stop staring and start sniffing," Linton ordered. "I don't keep freeloaders—if you're useless, get lost."

The Fire-Swallowing Beast seemed annoyed but reluctantly started sniffing around.

After a while, it seemed to pick up a scent, stood up, and pointed with its hoof in a direction.

"You sure?" Even though Linton had told it to sniff, he was still a bit uncertain.

The Fire-Swallowing Beast just stared at Linton, clearly exasperated.

"Alright, let's go check it out." Linton thought for a moment. "Lower yourself a bit."

It seemed like Linton was planning to ride the beast. The Fire-Swallowing Beast hesitated for a moment, but eventually lowered itself so Linton could climb on.

"Let's move out," Linton said, waving his hand.

(End of the chapter)