The four finished eating. Sofia patted her belly while licking her lips as she was reminiscing the crispy texture and rich taste of the pork.

p *Blurp*

Of the four of them, Voli unsurprisingly finished first, he always devours his food like it was the end of the World. Fein didn't even see traces of leftovers in Voli's banana plating.

"I like that food, it seems the people in your community are good cooks" Sofia smiled praising Fein's hometown dish.

Hearing Sofia compliment the food from their country. Fein felt proud, who won't be proud when seeing someone enjoy their province specialty? Because sisig and adobo are most known in the province of Pampanga.

Fein smiled at her. "Thank you, I knew you would like it."

"As long as you're the one who cooks it, even if it doesn't taste good, I would still eat it," Sofia said with a smile and hurriedly made a strategical retreat.

"Eh?" Fein was caught off guard at Sofia's sudden attack.

He looked at her leaving back still stunned. He didn't expect that there would be a day when she was going to make a strong offensive like this. Fein quickly regained his composure. As a man, being caught like this is embarrassing. He quietly formed a plan in his head to get back at her when the time comes.

Aoi who was lying on the ground when Sofia suddenly appeared and caressed her feathers.

"Aoi what are you doing?" Sofia muttered.

She doesn't know if her companion understands her, but she still wants to talk like this because she just felt like it. And she saw how Fein interacts with Voli so she at least knew that high-level beasts have the capacity to understand humans.

The Blue Eagle looked at her new master with love. Her master has a friend that knew how to cook tasty food. This is the first time Aoi tasted good food. She decided to protect the guy named "Fein" when she can. After, the guy was her master's friend. It's just reasonable, right?

Seeing her master talk to her, Aoi's random thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

Just like this, Sofia and Aoi kept interacting. Sofia would talk about some things while Aoi would just listen to her master's stories and complaints. Their relationship as a master and beast companion was gradually deepening.

Monster and beast are fairly loyal when they acknowledged someone as their master. They have a pure mind with simple thoughts. Unlike humans who have a lot of twists and turns in their minds and complicated heart. Monsters and beasts won't turn against their masters, unlike humans who can even betray their families in exchange for benefits. This is why Beast tamer is a prestigious yet difficult profession. They have their mind and feelings. The way to deepen one's bond with them is by having strength, respect, and the most important one, affinity.

Affinity is an invisible thing, it can't be seen but it exists. It was what human's called charm. When you think about this. Sofia and Fein both have their own charms, and combining the three other factors with it was why they can tame a beast relatively easily. Just like how Fein beat up Voli during their initial interaction and nurtured Voli with his efforts.historical

"Well, fellas you still have 30 minutes to rest. Then we will resume our journey" Fein reminded the three who were resting from fullness after eating.

...

-Lower Realm-

-Desert-

30 minutes later, the four of them resumed their walk. Now, Sofia was the one leading because she was the one who was familiar with the place.

"Is the place where you were attacked that far?" Fein complained.

Sofia rolled her eyes at him, she ignored him because she knew that he has a habit of complaining. He was a person that would complain for the sake of complaining.

Fein who was ignored felt his heartache. He sighed and said loudly "Hayyy... I thought that no one could resist my charm and ignore me. This is the first time..."

Hearing his bragging, A black line appeared on Sofia's expressionless face.

Seeing her unresponsiveness, Fein began to shut up. And focus on the beautiful scenery of the desert... The fine grain of sand and endless sand is a sight to behold even for him. Just kidding, this shit is too plain and boring.

"We are here!" Sofia said loudly.

Fein's useless thoughts ended. He takes a glance at the place where there's... Nothing.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked.

Sofia nodded, her eyes were glued to the area. She knew that those abnormal monsters were hiding underneath the peaceful sand.

"Yes, these monsters just like what I said can move under the sand. And there's multiple of them."

After Sofia's confirmation, Fein went to the desolate area. As he stepped on the sand, the ground vibrate. Just like that, the whole area started shaking.

Seeing this Sofia shouted. "Be careful!"

Multiple brown claws emerged underneath the sand. As time passes, Fein finally saw their whole bodies emerge. They are as big as a mansion. They are shaped like a mix of crabs and scorpions. Fein was disgusted by this combination. Because he was allergic to crabs in his past life, he particularly dislikes the appearance of scorpions.

'Probe'

Race: Mutated Abomination

Type: Golden Beasts

Degu Amount: A

STR: A

AGI: A

END: A

Abilities: Poisonous Bite, Whirling Stroke, Sand Wall, Sand Spear, Tunnel Dig, Poisonous Claws.

Fein entered "Chess Perception" instantly. As he gripped the abyssal blade on his sheath. He was confident about his damage after his sword art was improved. Even Voli who has a monstrous would lose his limbs with Fein's current offensive lethality. You have to know that he only scratched Voli last time with his strongest attack.

The sand critters looked at their prey with cruelty. As black liquid began to seep out of their claws. Fein knew that it was their poison. The poison that fell from the claws melted the ground showing how lethal the poison was.

But for Fein, what is poison? for him poison is the same as food. In front of his poison resistance, no poison can make him afraid.

The Sand Critters lunged at him simultaneously at the speed of lightning.

In Fein's eye, the Sand Critter was moving like a snail, he yawned slightly before unsheathing his sword. The atmosphere became black and white. As a white light flashed and disappeared at the same time. Suddenly nine heads flew in the air, as green blood spurted like a fountain.

'What happened!?'

Sofia looked at the scene with wide eyes. She only saw that Fein touched his scabbard. And she was sure that he didn't move his hands. But a white light flashed and Sand Critters suddenly became headless.