Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 250 Following

When he heard Marin, Rocky turned around and asked, "Anything else?"

"Well... Th-thank you!" Marin stammered, an awkward expression on his face.

"Since I just finished the operation, it's too early to tell whether Verdanim is out of danger. Take careof it for the next few days. Don't thank me yet. What if Verdanim relapses? You'd definitely kill methen." Rocky chuckled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on! I'm not that unreasonable.” Knowing that Rocky said that on purpose, Marin feltwronged and frowned.

With a faint smile, Rocky turned to leave. Though he said nothing, Marin understood what he thinkof her.

"That annoying guy..." Marin murmured angrily, staring at Rocky's back. But she was glad Rocky hadsaved Verdanim, even if she didn't know a way to express it with the other emotions at war withinher, chief among them being worry.

As Rocky was walking back to his place, he felt that a pair of eyes were staring at him. He turnedaround abruptly, but there was no one there.

Frowning, he studied the area but saw nothing out of the ordinary. As he turned away, a pair ofdeer-like eyes flashed in the darkness.

After returning to his room, Rocky shoveled bags of soil to feed the three Dark Heaven Insects.When the Dark Heaven Insects were full, he checked them by the Stroking Evaluation Skill. Theexamination revealed they were in good health. When he was done, he put them back into the nest.Rocky turned to Uriah and Little Rubygon. "We're all set here. I think it's time for us to go for a littlehunt."

They left and headed into the nearby forest. They'd gone a good way when Uriah stopped, spun tothe left, and roared.

"What's wrong, Uriah?" Rocky crouched beside Uriah and stroked the beast's head. Ready to sendUriah after whatever bothered the beast, Rocky followed Uriah's gaze, but he saw only shadowswithin the deeper darkness of the trees.

"All right now! Let's go!" Thinking Uriah was simply in a bad mood, Rocky stood and directed thetwo beasts to continue on.

As they walked, Uriah still shot looks over its shoulder. Or it would stop and turn to peer into thedarkness.

Uriah's constant vigilance disturbed Rocky. This was not like Uriah at all.

When they reached the area where wild spirit-manipulated beasts frequently appeared, Rocky chosea suitable spot for a trap. He set a bottle with a drop of magical saliva down in the middle of thespace. Satisfied with the trap, Rocky led Uriah and Little Rubygon to a clump of trees and brush thatwould provide adequate cover. Rocky leaped up among the branches. He settled down to wait forhis prey.

Hunting was a good way to train a spirit-manipulated beast, to build its strength or to gain fightingexperience. It also improved the coordination between a spirit-manipulated beast and its master.However, most spirit manipulators wouldn't dare to take their spirit-manipulated beasts to such adangerous place for a hunt. For ordinary spirit manipulators, entering this place meant meetingtheir death. Rocky cared for none of that. He wanted to push the limits, to make certain he had thebest spirit-manipulated beasts, and that his control of them was flawless.

Rocky was broken from his thoughts by the appearance of a wild spirit-manipulated beast at thefirst grade of the two-star level. The beast followed the trail of the magical saliva.

Rocky let out a low whistle. Understanding the signal, Little Rubygon dashed from the hiding place.In a flash, Rubygon had closed the distance and bit into the wild beasts neck.

The wild spirit-manipulated beast, however, was equal to the task. It whipped around and shookitself violently, dislodging Rubygon from its neck. Roaring in defiance, the wild beast facedRubygon, claws out. Its claws could tear through flesh and bone. Undaunted, Rubygon charged thewild spirit-manipulated beast again. The beast swiped its claw at Rubygon's head. At the lastmoment, Rubygon ducked under the blow, snatched the wild beast by its upper arm, and shook thebeast like a rag doll. The beast yowled. Desperate, the beast struck with its other claw. The blowswiped Rubygon's side. With a pain-filled cry, Rubygon released its hold on the beasts arm. The twobacked off, circling each other before charging again.

The fight continued for a few moments longer, ebbing and flowing to either side. But eventually thewild beast's superior strength won out. Though exhausted and badly injured, Rubygon did notsurrender. Rubygon still bared its teeth and showed its claws.

But the threat did little to dissuade the wild spirit-manipulated beast. It had recognized Rubygon'sdire situation. The beast's lips curved wider than before. It threw its head back and let out a howl oftriumph. The cry had barely ended before the beast leaped toward Rubygon. The wild beast was stillin midair when a great shadow appeared beside Rubygon. A blast of flames shot up at the beast.Twisting in the air, the wild beast managed to avoid the flames. When the beast landed, it took onelook at Uriah beside Rubygon and turned tail to flee. Uriah's second flame blast struck the beast asits back turned, setting the beast afire. In moments the beast crumpled to the ground. Dead.

Uriah turned and licked Little Rubygon's wounds to heal them.

Rocky leaped down from the tree. He strode past the smoking carcass toward the bottle of magicalsaliva. The bottle shook before Rocky reached it. Rocky froze. The bottle raised from the ground.With a fearful cry, Rocky leaped after the bottle, but it flew up in the air above his fingertips.

With a roar, Uriah leaped above Rocky and swiped at the bottle. But the bottle spun away fromUriah's outstretched paw and darted away toward the trees on the left.

Rocky could only stare as the bottle flew seemingly of its own accord.

But he knew there was another reason. A reason he wished was not true.

Seeing the bottle fly away, Uriah shot up flames. The two fire balls roared past the bottle toward thedarkness.

As the fire grew, it silhouetted a giant spiritual beast. It had long slender limbs that glinted withrainbow colors.

"The Rainbow Glow Unicorn!" Rocky yelled even as he dodged the flames.

But before Rocky could react the beast had disappeared. The bottle of saliva, however, still zippedthrough the air, trailing the beast. Uriah gave chase. "Stop, Uriah! Let it go!" Rocky yelled.

Uriah let out a frustrated roar but stopped. With a groan, it followed Rocky. Uriah looked at Rockywith a concerned expression, one of doubt, one that said it wondered why Rocky had stopped it.The bottle drew to a halt in the midair. Then it, too, was gone from sight.

The encounter brought Rocky to a conclusion. It wasn't the magical saliva that had drawn theRainbow Glow Unicorn. Its attack had been too precise, too measured. Too planned.

"It seems that the Rainbow Glow Unicorn has been following us along the way," he murmured tohimself. Stunned, he thought back to the day's events, staring at the space that once held theUnicorn.