As Sora sprihrough the wilderness, his mi cirg back to the mana threads he had been experimenting with. He was sure they were meant for binding, but something was missing.

  'Maybe they couldn't be used on inanimate objects?' He thought to himself

  Curious, he decided to test his theory on a living creature. It didn't take long before he spotted a small green bird flitting around nearby. Tiny, weak, barely worth notig. It hovered in the air, its delicate wings fluttering rapidly. Was it an animal or a beast?

  Squinting, Sora activated his i skill, the name h over the bird: Piou. It was level 1.

  A chuckle escaped his lips. Pulling out a pair of gsses he had bought in Cordoba, Sora smirked. The gsses had one green lens, remi of an old anime he oched. They allowed him to i monsters and dispy their power levels.

  As expected, the Piou was incredibly ossibly the weakest creature oh. But that made it perfect for his experiment.

  "e over here" he said to the little bird, reag his hand out.

  Sora focused, pulling mana from the air. Slowly, he extracted the binding power he had learhrough his work as a [Human Resource Assistant]. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he carefully maniputed the threads, guiding them toward the bird.

  The Piou froze, its wide, terrified eyes staring up at him. So scared it defecated right there on the ground, unsure whether this giant human would eat it or not. Despite its weakness, the bird, like all evolved monsters, had a basic level of intelligence sihe Earth's upgrade. It wasn't very smart, but it was smart enough to know it was in trouble.

  As the mana thread touched the bird, something magnifit happened. From Sora's perspective, the mana swirled with purpose, f into a glowing square of light above them. The swirling energy morphed and ged, taking the shape of a tract.

  Sora blinked, surprised as a notification appeared before him, prompting him to defihe terms of the tract. Would he offer the bird a job, or did he want to be employed by it?

  [Would you like to offer a Job tract to the opposing party or ask for employment?]

  On the Piou's side, the same thing occurred. Despite its low intelligehe bird uood the words perfectly, thanks to the magic of the tract. It hesitated, unsure of what was happening. It knew, instinctively, that with humans as, there were only a few options: kill, be killed, or flee. This, however, was airely new possibility—an offer of employment.

  The bird, pletely fused, opted for the "be employed" option.

  Sora, for his part, chose the employer option. The terms appeared before him.

  [Sary: Food.Limit: Will perform any task asked.]

  A bance appeared, showing the terms:

  [Bahe bird will take all your XP until it reaches your level. It will also take a portion of your prestige power and revive with you. Si is infinitely weaker than you, this doesn't affect your innate skill. The bird will bee your familiar.]

  [Do you accept these terms, or do you want to add ditions aris?]

  Sora's eyes widened in disbelief. He hadn't expected to end up with a familiar. A familiar was a rare boween pyer a, granting both parties shared abilities and growth.

  Without thinking too much, Sora accepted the tract. After all, he could always release the bird once he was doing his new power.

  The moment he firmed the tract, the magic sealed it with an intense fre. The mana threads between him and the bird burst into life. From Sora's perspective, with his [Mana Eyes], he saw the true beauty of the binding. Mana swirled in intricate, delicate patterns, log them together in a way that was beyond ordinary sight. The thread that ected them pulsed with raw energy, and in that moment, Sora caught a glimpse of something deeper.

  He focused his gaze, sharpening his tration. The mana thread wasn't just a line of energy—it held something more. It held emotion. As he ied more of his own mana into the thread, he began to feel the essence of what bound him and the bird. It was as if the thread was a bridge for their emotions and iions.

  On the bird's side, the mana carried a mixture of hope, hunger, and awe. It was incredibly i, fragile, and weak, its dreams of survival stantly at risk. It looked up at him as though he were a god—an ultimate protector, a figure of power and safety in a dangerous world. The Piou had spent its short life being hunted, scared, and starving. Now, for the first time, it felt safe. It was eager for food, craving sustenance, and hoping to live without fear of death.

  From Sora's side, the mana carried unrivaled curiosity and ambition. He wao uand, to learn, to grow stronger. His thirst for knowledge iwined with the Piou's dreams of survival. They weren't equals in strength, but in this moment, their feelings bleogether. There was a strange exge of uanding, a bond deeper than just a tract of words.

  Sora's eyes widened as he realized the potential. 'Mana carry emotions, thoughts, and even dreams?'

  He stared at the Piou, w if the bird had ged at all. Physically, it seemed the same—still tiny, still weak. But looking at it through his Mana Eyes, Sora could see the thread eg them, a stant flow of energy.

  A tiny trickle of mana came from the Piou, but in trast, a massive flow surged from him into the bird.

  Frowning, Sora iigated the thread. It held the full power of the tract they had signed. As he tried to tug at it, he realized it was iructible. He attempted to release the bird, only to be met with a notification:

  [Follow the tract, or face punishment!]

  Sora spped his forehead in frustration.

  'What did i just do?! Damn ! I should've added ditions aris. Now I'm responsible for this tiny bird!'

  Sihey were now bound together, the Piou would siphon off all his experience points until it leveled up. Sora sighed deeply. How long will it take to power-level this useless thing?

  His thoughts were interrupted by a pierg screech from the bird. As he had started jogging, the Piou took damage from the air pressure. Sora quickly scooped it up, shielding it with his clothes to protect it from the wind.

  "Useless," he muttered under his breath as he resumed his run, the tiny bird now tucked securely in his coat.

  As Sora ran, the weight of his newfound responsibility settled in. He wasn't just on a journey for himself anymore. Now, he had a familiar to take care of—and a lot of leveling up to do.

  After reag the level 30-39 zone, Sora came to a halt. He knew he could easily hunt in higher-level areas, but with the tiny Piou ging to life, he didn't dare risk it. As fragile as his new familiar was, Sora didn't want the bird to die in one of his reckless battles. He had to hold back, for now.

  He figured the best thing to do ower-level the little bird and see how quickly it would grow. Drawing out one of his monster radars, he activated it, ign the low-level creatures around him aing his sights on a group of level 38 panther-like beasts. These beasts would give a det amount of experience, hopefully enough to see the bird level up.

  The battle was short, Sora slig through the beasts with ease, his mana-irikes cutting them down as if they were made of paper. After the st beast fell, a notification blinked into view.

  [XP Transferred to Familiar]

  Sora raised an eyebrow. Curious, he checked the bird's status and was stuhe little Piou had shot up to level 30 in just that one fight. It was almost absurd. Too fast. Way too fast.

  "There's no way..." Sora muttered, staring at the bird.

  He realized that the Piou's potential was ughably low, so low that even a sliver of experience would force it to skyrocket through the levels. It probably required a hundred or even a thousand times less XP than normal creatures. But there roblem—bat power wasn't just about levels. Even though the Piou had reached level 30, its actual ability to fight robably ent. It could only rely on level suppression to damage weaker beasts, and even then, it might not be able to beat anything strohan a level 15 or 20 monster.

  "Just my luck," Sora sighed, recalling how some pyers had tamed weak creatures because it was easier, only to discover their limitations ter. He always kaming weak beasts was a bad idea, but he had hoped—hat his tract would be different. Most pyers could release their familiars whehey wanted, but his tract was binding. No easy out. No optimization.

  "Shit," he muttered under his breath.

  Still, there was a silver lining. He wouldn't waste much time grinding XP for the Piou si leveled up so quickly. If anything, he could just feed the bird, keep it around, a live a peaceful life. It wasn't like he needed any help in battle, anyway. The bird was at least cute, so why not keep it for pany?

  Anyone who knew Sora well enough would see right through his reasoning. Deep down, he was fuming. A wasted opportunity, ohat could've been so much more if he had thought things through.

  Sora shook his head, dismissing the frustration for now. He killed a few more beasts, and ohe Piou's level matched his own, he began regaining XP for himself. With his goal set, Sora resumed his journey, sprinti toward Bara.

  The clock was tig. Dodging high-level zones was slowing him down, and there wasn't any more time to waste in the wilderness. He o reach the city as soon as possible, and from there, his move awaited.