Excuses

The next morning.

Nathan and Fenrir escaped from the shelter, telling Risa that they just wanted to discuss their strategy against the juvenile class alien. 

"Alright. We're far enough." Fenrir signaled Nathan to stop. 

Nathan opened his palm as a scroll appeared. "Let's do it right away, Soul Contract. We couldn't do it yesterday, but this is necessary to take down the juvenile class alien.

"Yeah." Fenrir nodded. "I've stated the terms."

"I know."

Words started to form on the scroll.

[In exchange for 160 Ena, Fenrir will help Nathan for seven days.]

Fenrir immediately cut both his paw and Nathan's thumb with his claws before signing it with her blood. Nathan did the same, which finalized the contract. 

The moment the contract disappeared, the agreement took effect. 

Nathan felt his Ena being drained out of his body before flowing into Fenrir.

Fenrir closed his eyes, feeling the change in his body. He didn't see it, but his body actually grew bigger.

Nathan was quite surprised by the transformation. Fenrir was originally as small as a wolf cub. However, after getting enough essence, he grew five times in size. If Fenrir stood up, he would reach his thighs.

'Well, he is supposed to be a monstrous wolf. His size varies in the records, but most state that he is around four or five times taller than a human.' 

Nathan checked Fenrir's status. 

Name: Fenrir

Level: 30

Race: Celestial Wolf

Quality: Basic (High)

'He is only level 30? Nah, never mind. He would definitely need more Ena, the higher his levels are. And I feel like researching the amount of Ena he requires for each level sounds like too much of a hassle. This is enough for me to understand his strength.' 

Nathan smiled. He knew that his level must have dropped, but it didn't really matter. The fact Fenrir had grown in size meant he must have unlocked some of his abilities.

The proof was that Fenrir took a bit longer to absorb his Ena.

After several minutes, Fenrir couldn't help but smile. "This is going to be interesting."

"What did you get?" Nathan asked, curious.

"I got two new abilities. A strength enhancement and super durability." Fenrir made a smug smile.

"Now that I think about it, in the legend, you are described to be the embodiment of destructive force since your power is strong enough to kill a god." Nathan thought for a moment. 

"This Strength Enhancement is what I had during my childhood. They are nothing compared to what I have at my peak, but this is pretty powerful. If I use this to slap that brat, his neck will break and his jaws will shatter. In fact, I don't even need your help to crush that mutant."

"How about super durability?"

"It's not at the level of my Supernatural Durability, but it's probably enough to defend myself if that juvenile class alien hits me with the tree."

"Alright. That makes things easier. I suppose I don't need to ask, 'How confident are you in defeating the alien?' right?" 

"Heh! It's obviously 100%." Fenrir grinned. "I'll show you the strength of Fenrir."

Both of them returned to the camp, finding Selena and Risa getting ready for the fight. 

They were quite surprised by Fenrir's transformation. With this size, Fenrir wouldn't be able to hop on top of Nathan's head anymore.

"You grow?" Selena asked, her eyes kept glancing back and forth between Nathan and Fenrir. 

"Yeah. With this, we'll be able to win against the enemy." Nathan nodded.

Selena knew that the familiar could get stronger, but having transformation was like an evolution. It only occurred when one evolved to a higher race.

Fenrir, of course, didn't evolve. He simply regained his former strength.

"Just hurry up and have breakfast. I'm getting tired of waiting. I want to rip that alien apart." 

While walking back to the camp, Selena couldn't help but ask, "Still, you grow stronger so quickly. Just like when you entered the forest before anyone else since I couldn't find you at that time."

"Huh? I entered the forest last." 

"Last?" Selena was taken aback. "But I didn't see you."

"Of course. I ran to the village and ate first before entering the forest. The tavern's aunty was kind enough to give me dinner and told me that there was an entrance on the north. She told me this place was good for camping. That was why I was able to make all this." Nathan shrugged, explaining everything. It wouldn't matter if Selena knew about it anyway.

"You what?" Selena was speechless. 

"What? I just followed the teacher's advice. They told us to enter the forest at our own pace, so I did. Besides, isn't gathering information the first thing you need to do in a new place? What will you do if you get a mission from the academy to do something in a foreign place? Just charge in without knowing anything?"

Selena couldn't refute any of those questions. That was true. "So there was such an option."

"Something like that. I believe this is what the teacher wants us to learn. Teacher Jason will probably lecture the whole class about it after this trip." Nathan shrugged.

Selena let out a long sigh. "It seems that even though I've been doing my best, I can't even do everything right."

"Blaming yourself doesn't really matter. What truly matters is the fact that we are learning from our mistakes. Even if I manage to do it right now, I might make a lot of mistakes in the future." Nathan shrugged. 

"Future…" Selena looked down, falling into deep thought. "Do you think fate can be changed?"

Nathan tilted his head in confusion. He didn't know why she asked that question, but it simply reminded him of his abusive family back on Earth.

There was only one answer in his mind. "No one can change fate because every fate is destined. It's just that there are numerous possibilities in our future. People often use fate as a way to comfort themselves of their wrong choice, saying, 'It's my fate to fail,' or something along those lines.

"We can't change fate, but we can choose our fate. If I end up dying as a businessman, I can say I'm fated to be a businessman. If I end up dead as a beggar, I can say I'm fated to fail. The only difference between them are the choices I make in my life. In the end, fate is just an excuse. The only thing we can't choose is who will give birth to us."