Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Gaga didn't move.

It only when the chieftain's beak was an inch away from its eyes did it slightly turn its head and deftly avoid it, while seemingly casually flapping its wings at the same time.

"Snapped!"

The clan chief was sent flying like a stone, screaming as he crashed into a tree trunk with a thud, then slid to the ground, where he collapsed and couldn't get up for a long time.

The crows were deathly silent.

All the ravens were stunned, looking at their chieftain groaning on the ground, and then at the ravens who remained motionless, cawing.

Just then, the chieftain's daughter, a young female crow with particularly glossy feathers, suddenly shrieked.

"How dare it hit the chieftain! It's a traitor, a monster! Throw it out, croak...!"

Like lighting a powder keg, the other ravens joined in the clamor.

"Yes, chase it away!"

"It's been acting strange lately, something's definitely wrong!"

"Get out of our territory, quack!"

Not a single raven stood up for Caw Caw, even though it had just displayed power far exceeding that of the chieftain.

They just huddled together, staring at it with fear and disgust, spewing vicious curses from their beaks.

Gaga stood in the open space, looking at those familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

It suddenly realized that they weren't stupid, but afraid of being different.

Anyone who is different from the group is considered an outsider and will be ostracized.

It said nothing more, spread its wings, and silently flew away from the ancient tree.

Behind them, the curses gradually faded into the distance.

Gaga is very sad.

It wasn't anger, but a kind of emptiness and aimless sadness in my heart.

It flew for a long time, and finally found a crevice in the rocks on the top of a solitary peak deep in the Dead Silent Mountains to build its nest.

From then on, he lived alone.

Lonely, but free.

It began to explore more distant places, even occasionally flying to the edge of human settlements.

It learned to hide in the treetops or under the eaves to eavesdrop on human conversations. Although it couldn't understand many of the words, it gradually figured out the general meaning by combining their actions and expressions.

It even gave itself a name, "Gaga".

It discovered that humans are actually very weak; they can't run fast, jump high, or fly, and they only use clumsy tools when fighting.

But humans are also very clever; they can use fire, build houses, and make all sorts of ingenious gadgets.

The crow grew bolder and bolder, sometimes even daring to fly low over human villages during the day, watching them cry out in panic, "What a big crow!" It felt a little proud of itself.

Until that day, it encountered a human dressed in a black robe.

It was on the edge of a swamp. Gaga was about to catch a fat fish for dinner when the man in black robes suddenly emerged from the mist, as if he had appeared out of thin air.

Gaga sensed the danger immediately, not from strength or speed, but from a deeper, more fundamental sense of oppression, as if the entire sky had pressed down on it.

The aura emanating from that person was more terrifying than any magical beast it had ever seen, and even as terrifying as the giant bear deep in the Dead Silence Mountains!

It was so frightened that its feathers stood on end, and without thinking, it soared into the sky.

Almost simultaneously, the man in black robes also moved; he too took to the air!

It didn't rely on wings, but rather on a rolling black cloud beneath its feet, moving at an extremely high speed.

Gaga had never flown so fast in her life; her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode.

It flapped its wings frantically, urging on the mysterious power it had gained after eating the red berries, its body whistling through the air, the edges of its feathers even getting slightly hot from the friction.

After flying for an unknown amount of time, until the terrifying aura was completely gone, Gaga dared to slow down.

It landed in an unfamiliar forest, collapsed under a tree, and trembled like a leaf in the wind.

From that day on, Gaga never dared to approach human settlements again, and would even immediately hide away from any human walking alone.

It retreated back into the depths of the desolate mountains, living a cautious and solitary life.

Time passed day by day.

That day, Gaga encountered a giant bird she had never seen before. It was even larger than when it had grown bigger, with colorful feathers, but its eyes were fierce and crazy, and its beak and claws gleamed with a cold metallic light.

The giant bird clearly mistook it for prey and pounced on it without saying a word.

A life-or-death struggle.

Gaga exerted all its strength, enlarged its body, launched wind blades, and shot gray light from its eyes... The giant bird was equally ferocious, spewing scorching flames, its feathers as hard as iron armor.

Finally, Gaga used a wind blade to slice open the base of the giant bird's wing, and the giant bird screamed as it fled into the clouds.

Gaga herself was also seriously injured, with three deep, bone-revealing gashes on her chest, a broken left wing, and most of her feathers missing. She was also exhausted.

Its body shrank and its vision went black as it plummeted straight down from the sky.

"Thump!"

It fell onto a soft patch of grass, and the pain almost made it faint.

In its hazy state, it heard footsteps approaching.

A human with black hair and a dark gray robe, who looked young but had a calm gaze.

He didn't exude that terrifying sense of oppression; on the contrary... he was very peaceful.

Ian crouched down, moving slowly, and did not immediately touch the badly injured raven.

Instead, it first took out a healing potion from its dimensional bag and carefully dripped the liquid onto the deepest wound on its chest.

When the medicine touches the skin, it makes a slight "sizzling" sound, stopping the bleeding and beginning to promote healing.

Then, a soft, icy blue light emanated from his fingertips as he gently stroked Ga Ga's fractured left wing, using the low temperature to temporarily numb the pain and suppress any possible swelling.

Ga Ga was unable to move and could only stare at him warily, letting him do as he pleased, while constantly plotting in her mind.

"If he tries anything funny, will I still be able to unleash that final wind blade? Probably not..."

After Ian finished the simple treatment, his gaze was calm as he looked into the raven's wary eyes.

"Little one, would you like to be my partner?"

Her voice was gentle, like a spring breeze blowing through new leaves.

But Gaga was too clever; it detected something different in that human voice—loneliness.

It's not a pretense; it's genuine loneliness.

It looks a lot like it!

Moreover, certain ancient fragments of memory within its bloodline have been awakened.

This is an invitation for it to become a "familiar," a partnership based on shared souls.

Not master and servant, more like... allies who accompany each other.

Gaga looked into the human's eyes.

There was no greed, no scheming, only calm questioning and a hint of expectation.

It recalled the days of living alone, when no one would watch over it while hunting, when it was injured it could only lick its wounds on its own, and when it encountered a powerful enemy it had no companion to warn it of...

"...Gah."

It let out a soft cry and nodded its head.

A hint of a smile flashed in Ian's eyes.

He stretched out his hand, his fingertips hovering in front of Gaga's forehead, and began to chant some strange incantation in a low voice.

The voice was not loud, but each syllable carried a peculiar rhythm, like invisible ripples in the air.

Gaga felt a heat on her forehead, followed by a surge of warm energy into her mind.

It wasn't uncomfortable at all; on the contrary, it felt like soaking in warm water, so comfortable that it almost hummed out loud.

Deep within my consciousness, something was established, faint yet clear and solid.

Then, it "heard" a voice that resonated directly in its heart, with a relaxed smile.

"From now on, when no one's around, I'll call you Eighth Brother."

Ian recalled a clever and agile bird from his past life that resembled it.

quack:"……"

Its eyes widened: "A myna? What's that? Sounds like some kind of smaller bird? I'm such a big raven..."

"Protest denied." A voice inside her chuckled. "It's settled then, Myna."

quack:"……"

Fine, considering he saved my life and the soul fluctuations felt quite comfortable.

It barely managed to raise its uninjured right wing and gently touched Ian's hand.

Transaction.