Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Magical Pet "Hidden Dragon Black Stone Castle, Courtyard. Sunan stood before the banyan tree, staring intently at the trunk. To the naked eye of others, there was nothing in front of the tree trunk, and even with careful observation, nothing could be seen. Only Sunan could sense that there was indeed something there. "Charge," Sunan suddenly spoke. At the moment his voice fell, a piercing whistle suddenly sounded in the void. Clearly, there was nothing in front, yet a rustling sound could be heard, as if some creature was rapidly crawling along the ground. At this moment, in the seemingly empty void in front, a faint, almost unnoticeable distortion finally appeared. "Enough," Sunan said. The next moment, on the ground over ten meters away, the figure of the Giant Lizard appeared out of thin air. Its amber-colored vertical pupils displayed a human-like eagerness to please, whimpering lowly, seemingly seeking Sunan’s approval. Sunan chuckled, and had to praise, "Well done." After more than half a month of experiments, with over ten failures in between, he finally succeeded in transferring the color-changing ability of the Green Chameleon to the Giant Lizard, and further enhanced its effect. The Giant Lizard, with its newly acquired color-changing ability, could now instantaneously change its form with the environment, achieving an almost invisible effect. Only during rapid sprints would there be a slight lag in form transformation, leaving a faint trace. Of course, unless one was a wizard apprentice or a highly perceptive knight, an ordinary person wouldn’t notice this trace. However, this ability wasn’t without its flaws. It’s fine when staying still, but once it starts moving, the sound of footsteps and the friction of the body against objects can reveal its position. Sunan didn’t have a good solution for this. After all, even the real [Invisibility Skill] has the same flaw. "If it has flaws, so be it, anyway, the color-changing ability is just a foundation for transforming a magical pet." "I hope you can awaken even more powerful abilities based on the color-changing ability." The Giant Lizard didn’t quite understand Sunan’s words, but only cautiously whimpered once. Sunan wasn’t concerned, using the Mage’s Hand to scoop up the Giant Lizard and then entering the laboratory. This was a temporarily cleared laboratory. The floor had already been pre-drawn with a contract array composed of countless intricate lines, shining with a faint dark color under the candlelight, giving off an inexplicable miraculous feeling. After placing the Giant Lizard in the center of the array, Sunan then cast a Sleep Spell, causing the slightly uneasy Giant Lizard to immediately fall asleep. Sunan then used a small knife to cut the pad of his thumb, pressing it against the edge of the array. As the blood spread along the lines, the array suddenly shone brightly. Countless black and red interwoven mists appeared out of thin air, dispersing to envelop and cover the Giant Lizard’s massive body, continuously penetrating its rough, thick skin. Crack! Crack! A sound of subtle cracking suddenly arose, the Giant Lizard’s bones expanded violently, piercing through its thick skin, gleaming white in the air. In no time, the Giant Lizard had become like a massive skeleton nearly ten meters long, draped with ragged flesh, curling up on the ground, almost filling the entire laboratory floor. Sunan had to retreat to the doorway, but his eyes were fixed on the Giant Lizard, holding a plant rune gemstone in hand, ready to activate it to heal the Giant Lizard at any time. The transformation process of a magical pet isn’t 100% successful. The stronger a creature, the lower the success rate of transforming it into a magical pet. For an aberration like the Giant Lizard, which contained Dragon Lizard’s blood, the failure rate of transformation was at least over 50%. Even with the aid of rune gemstones, it only increased the success rate by one or two percentage points at most. The Giant Lizard’s bones continued to grow rapidly, soon exceeding fifteen meters, but there were no signs of flesh proliferation, looking just like a skeletal Giant Lizard. Seeing this, Sunan decisively activated the rune gemstone, and a gentle green glow instantly enveloped the Giant Lizard’s entire body. Yet the Giant Lizard remained motionless, unchanged. "Did it fail?" Sunan furrowed his brow, sighing slightly. But in the next second, an abrupt change occurred. The once tattered skin of the Giant Lizard suddenly sprouted numerous black oval scales, each about the size of an adult’s palm, rapidly spreading over its body at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly covering the exposed bones. Once the scales formed, their sleek surfaces glimmered under the candlelight, gradually blending perfectly with the surrounding environment, ultimately concealing the Giant Lizard’s massive body entirely. "Camouflage ability? No, that’s not it, it seems somewhat different!" As Sunan hesitated in uncertainty, the ’disappeared’ Giant Lizard once again appeared out of thin air, its shape drastically transformed compared to before. Originally, the Giant Lizard’s body length was already seven or eight meters, qualifying as a giant beast, but after transformation, its body had expanded more than twice over, resembling a small mountain. However, despite its massive form, it appeared quite svelte compared to its length, making it seem extremely swift and agile instead of bulky. It quickly rushed in front of Sunan, curling its flexible body into a circle, its enormous pupils fixed unwaveringly on him. Despite its fearsome appearance, through an inexplicable connection, Sunan could sense the admiration and closeness the Giant Lizard transmitted. Within a certain distance, a magical pet and its owner can sense each other’s emotions, akin to telepathy, a phenomenon wizards call an emotional bond. As the wizard’s spiritual power increases, this can evolve into abilities like shared vision, shared magic, and more spell-like capabilities. Aside from this, the life of a magical pet is also bound to its owner. If an owner perishes, the magical pet’s body, along with its soul, will also vanish into dust. So in the magical pet’s perception, its owner is the closest and most deserving of loyalty in the world. "Thanks for your hard work." Sunan reached out to touch the Giant Lizard’s head, which let out a low whimper and carefully rubbed its huge head against his hand, showing an endearing intimacy. The contrast with its massive size created an inexplicable sense of irony. "Let’s go outside to test your abilities." The man and the lizard quickly moved to the courtyard. The process of transforming the magical pet took quite a bit of time, and outside, night had already fallen. At Sunan’s command, the Giant Lizard dashed forward with extreme lightness, soaring four or five meters into the air, and in the moonlight, its long body vanished entirely from head to tail. Then, a mysterious crack sounded from the banyan tree not far away, and the huge branches crashed to the ground. "Both power and physical strength have significantly increased; physically speaking, it’s likely no less than a great knight now, though it still needs testing." The Giant Lizard’s physical strength and camouflage abilities had both undergone distinctive enhancements; however, these were both pre-existing powers and clearly not newly awakened abilities. Sunan looked on with hopeful anticipation. After charging a certain distance, the Giant Lizard reappeared, turning around to ram at the stump once more. This time, however, its body suddenly transformed into nothingness mid-path, passing through the stump like an illusion. "That’s the ability to switch between reality and illusion!" Sunan’s face lit up with surprise. Judging from the Giant Lizard’s previous behavior, it seemed able to instantaneously turn its body into a virtual form, allowing it to traverse obstacles. Bear in mind, the transformed Giant Lizard itself already possesses formidable destructive power and agility, and along with its camouflage ability and its void traversal ability to pass through barriers, it’s practically a perfect assassin! Its combat strength instantly soared several tiers! "What a perfect combination of abilities!" Sunan couldn’t help but admire. The ability to switch between reality and illusion quickly filled the gap that the camouflage ability couldn’t cover in terms of sound, granting the Giant Lizard a truly perfect invisibility capability. Hearing Sunan’s words, the Giant Lizard let out an excited and proud roar. Sunan smiled slightly, "We can’t keep calling you just Giant Lizard anymore; you need a new name." After pondering for a moment, he quickly came up with a solution. "We’ll call you Hidden Dragon from now on."