Chapter 165: Extra Chap— Temple Energy Toad

At the camp, Scarlett finally had time to relax. The monsters outside may sense the presence of the Apocalypse Glyph, but cannot enter.

As Scarlett wandered around, she noticed something half-buried in the ground near the edge of the camp.

She bent down and pulled it out.

It was a curved tusk from a dead monster, about the length of her forearm, rough-edged, with dark stains still clinging to its base.

"Neo, let’s play a game," she said. "Let us see what you can do now as the Temple Energy Toad."

She held up the tusk and explained the rules.

One person had to throw it as far as possible, and the other had to catch it. The person with the shortest time and shortest distance scored the most.

Neo agreed to play, and Scarlett threw the tusk.

Immediately it left her hand, Neo shot out his tongue.

*Snap!*

The tongue caught the tusk in mid-air, leaving Scarlett stupefied.

"Time: 0.8 seconds. Distance: 3 meters," Scarlett said unenthusiastically while taking the tusk out of Neo’s proud mouth. "I was just testing you. I didn’t throw very well."

She took a step back, adjusted her stance, and then threw it again with force to give Neo a challenge.

This time, Neo squinted, staring at the tusk and calculating.

Later, his body jerked, and his tongue came out at a walloping speed.

*Snap!*

"2.5 seconds. 33 meters."

At that speed, if Neo’s tongue struck a person’s body instead of a tusk, the impact can cause serious internal injury that may result in death.

Neo’s evolved physique and skills surpass anything Scarlett had ever seen before in other beasts.

She did not need Eye of Potential to see his Potential.

Meanwhile, Neo complimented Scarlett’s throwing, calling it impressive.

Throwing a tusk over thirty meters with such force that it took Neo two and a half seconds to catch it was equally extraordinary.

They continued practicing.

On the third attempt, Neo caught the tusk from 29 meters away in 2.1 seconds.

The fourth attempt: Catched the tusk from 37 meters away in 2.8 seconds.

The fifth attempt: Catched the tusk from 26 meters away in 1.7 seconds.

The sixth attempt: Catched the tusk from 41 meters away in 3.1 seconds.

The seventh attempt: Catched the tusk from 31 meters away in 1.9 seconds.

The eighth attempt: Catched the tusk from 45 meters away in 3.0 seconds.

Ninth attempt: Caught the tusk 18 meters away in 1.5 seconds.

Tenth attempt: 30 meters, in 1.8 seconds.

Neo’s best performance was on his ninth attempt.

At his ninth attempt, his tongue leaped forty-five meters and got the tusk back in just three seconds.

"Very good. Now it is my turn to try," Scarlett said. "I don’t have a tongue like yours, but I have wings. Let us see which one is faster."

She activated Echo, and a pair of red-orange wings unfurled from her back.

Sixty percent of her wings is plasma, thirty percent is real feathers, and ten percent is energy and aura dancing around the plasma and feathers.

The heat emanating from the wings was enough to make the surrounding air tremble too.

Neo glanced at Scarlett’s transformation, then placed the tusk on his tongue.

Meanwhile, Scarlett narrowed her eyes, said, "Don’t tell me you’re cheating."

Neo croaked, sounding suspiciously like a laugh.

He curled the "Tongue of a Thousand Miles" backward until it dug a well in his mouth. The tongue curled deeper and deeper until Scarlett realized what he was doing.

He was loading!

And eventually, he released the tension.

KA-WHOOSH!

The tusk blasted out like a cannonball, too fast!

This made Scarlett’s praise of her throwing skills pale in comparison!

However, Scarlett wasn’t discouraged. She flew out like an orange meteor to retrieve the tusk, but when she returned, her score was negligible compared to Neo’s impressive score.

"I have conceded. I can’t beat you in this game. Obviously, you are an expert," Scarlett said as she walked to the middle of the camp. "By the way, if you’re theoretically my summon, why can’t I borrow your abilities using Echo?"

〖You’re right to spot the difference. Then it means I’m not 100% your summon〗Neo said. 〖After all, we don’t share the same soul. The Origin Realm is what’s acting as the bond between us〗

Scarlett accepted this explanation, took some human food from her inventory, and sat down to eat, while Neo sat down in front of her.

"Before me, who were you closest to?" she asked. "I guess you had someone you cared about in the Old Village."

〖Yes. But I cared about the entire village, not just one person.〗Neo said.

The people of the Old Village ate together, worked together, argued over trivial matters, celebrated festivals, and protected each other.

These things, when Neo experienced them firsthand, did not have value.

Only after losing everything he realized how much those moments were his life.

After a while, Neo remembered Scarlett’s true summon and asked her, 〖And what about you and your rebellious phoenix? Are you actively deducing a way to tame her again?〗

〖We’re entering a more dangerous area now of the Black Sun Origin Realm, and we also have an Apocalypse Glyph, making us an indefinite target. If something stronger than us comes for the glyph, we need a beast as strong as a Phoenix on our side.〗

"Neo, I understand," Scarlett said, "but you also need to understand one thing. Taming a mythic phoenix is a preposterous attempt. Believe me, the only reason Nymeria sometimes listens to me is that she knows—if I die, she dies too. But if she dies, I won’t."

Scarlett sighed. "To be honest, I think that makes her envious. That phoenix has an insanely great pride."

Neo stared at her for a long time.

He almost snapped at the thought of a girl complaining about how difficult her mythic phoenix was to manage!

〖So, if anyone can tame her, it can only be you!〗he said. 〖You’re the summoner, you have the advantage! Come, let me teach you a few beast-taming techniques. These are what distinguish a ’beast master’ from a ’summoner’〗