Chapter 160: Mage Summons

Chuyun checked Paimon’s stats all the way as he walked toward the courtyard. This advancement represented a fundamental metamorphosis for the creature.

[Paimon Lv21 (Elite)]
Race: Wyvern (Fire, Female)
Bloodline: Dragon 58.72%, Lizard 21.09%, Bird 6.83%, …
Stats: Health 320, Physical Attack 32, Defense 30, Magic Attack 18, Magic Defense 20, Speed 40
Affinity: 103 points ❤️❤️♥
Abilities: Bite Lv15, Dragon Scale Armor Lv13, Claw Strike Lv13, Tail Strike Lv13, Flight Lv12, Burrowing Lv12, Draconic Language Lv8, Passenger Carrying Lv10, Cargo Hauling Lv8, Soil Troweling Lv8
Skills: Dragon Breath Lv3, Fireball Lv2, Tough Skin Lv2, Wind Blade Lv1, Quick Movement Lv1, Savage Charge Lv1

Paimon’s draconic bloodline had become its highest proportion, and its race had evolved from an Earth Dragon into a Wyvern. All its stats had increased with its level, and it had gained numerous new abilities.
Aside from improvements to its basic abilities, it had also acquired Dragon Scale Armor, Claw Strike, Flight, and other skills. These were inherited abilities and proved extremely convenient.
In terms of skills, it had finally mastered its signature ability, Dragon Breath, while Tough Skin had been upgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2. Paimon's original dual attributes had been so weak in wind that they were now completely negligible.
The most dramatic change, however, was its physical size. Paimon now stood over five meters tall, and its sturdy physique made it an elite existence even among Wyverns of the same tier.
A Tier 3 dragon-type magical pet, and an elite one at that—even though Paimon's level was still somewhat low and it looked rather youthful, this was the kind of pet countless people dreamed of having.
In truth, when it comes to large dragon-type mounts, warrior-class professionals could actually make very little use of them.
Given the size of Leoties's black dragon, there simply wasn't a dragon lance long enough to match it; once on the dragon's back, apart from shouting to boost morale, he had practically nothing to do. Unless he followed the path of an Eldritch Knight or a Paladin, in which case he might still be able to cast some magic.
Most of the time, dragon riders and their mounts fought separately, with the knight fighting on the ground and the dragon providing aerial support. Mere magical pet coordination could hardly be called true mounted combat.
Spells, however, were a different matter entirely. Casting spells required time and could not be interrupted by enemies. Pairing magic with a flying mount was like adding wings to a tiger. Most spells possessed long-range capabilities and would not create awkward situations due to the mount's massive size.
Of course, this demanded quite a high level of mental focus and perception from the mage. At the very least, they needed to achieve casting while in motion—meaning they had to fix the spell model in a position relatively stationary to themselves, while rapidly converting the surrounding elements to construct the model during high-speed movement.

If one could not manage this, they could only have the mount fly slower to reduce the difficulty.
Chuyun had already experimented with casting while moving when he used his flight wings, and for him, it was not particularly difficult; it merely increased the casting time a little.
Lost in thought, Chuyun left the house and entered the courtyard, where quite a crowd had already gathered. Everyone was immensely astonished by Paimon, especially Anna, who had already witnessed Paimon’s transformations several times.
"Chuyun, this time you can't possibly claim this is still your original pet and that it wasn't swapped out, right? I saw the entire evolution process with my own eyes," Anna said, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.
To be honest, had Paimon not maintained its consistent friendliness toward her, she might actually have believed Chuyun's words before.
Chuyun replied with a smile, "Isn't this a completely normal phenomenon? With the stars falling and monsters running amok, strength is soaring everywhere. My mount is also a monster, so naturally it's affected too. It's just that I used to feed it too many precious medicines, so it's improving a bit faster than ordinary monsters."
Although Chuyun’s explanation sounded somewhat plausible, Anna knew he was just making up stories again. Just as she was about to question him further, the bell of the Mage Academy suddenly rang out.
Soon after, the bell of the distant Mage Guild began to toll as well. Different rhythms of the bell signified different meanings, and this particular chime meant an emergency assembly.
All active personnel were required to drop whatever they were working on and gather immediately, and ordinary mages would usually rush over as quickly as possible.
"Could a war be breaking out?" Anna thought with a sense of unease. As an active staff member, she had to head to the guild at the very first moment.
"Hop on. I'll give you a ride. This is Paimon's first time flying, after all," Chuyun offered.
Thanks to the assistance of numerous God Berries and Healing Mantras, Paimon had already recovered fully.
Anna's face flushed slightly with embarrassment, especially with so many people watching around them, but she did not refuse.
Paimon obediently lowered itself to the ground. Chuyun climbed up onto the dragon's back by using its wings as steps, and when it was Anna's turn, he reached down and pulled her up to sit right behind him.
Paimon beat its powerful wings, and a gust of fierce wind swept through, knocking over all the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
Anna let out an involuntary cry of surprise and tightly embraced Chuyun.
Since it was Paimon's first flight, it was unaccustomed to the motion, making its movements erratic and unstable. To avoid being thrown off, Anna had no choice but to hold onto Chuyun for dear life. Chuyun himself had mastered flight techniques and possessed considerable riding skill, which, combined with his formidable strength, allowed him to maintain a very secure seat.
Fortunately, Paimon's flight proficiency was not low, and by the time the two reached the airspace above the Mage Guild, it had already grasped the technique of flight.

Since very few people had gathered yet, and landing meant waiting around for others, Chuyun simply had Paimon continue flying freely in the high altitude to practice for a while.
This terrified Anna to no end. It was her first time flying and her first time riding a wyvern, an experience completely incomparable to Chuyun's calm demeanor. Several times, when Paimon executed barrel rolls, she was certain she was about to plunge to her doom, though centrifugal force ultimately kept her from actually falling off.
"Chuyun, stop, please! I can't take much more of this," Anna pleaded in terror.
Only then did Chuyun notice that Anna's condition behind him was a bit abnormal; her limbs had gone limp and she could barely keep her grip on him anymore.
Chuyun hurriedly instructed Paimon to find a place to land.
The moment she dismounted the wyvern, Anna's stomach churned violently, and she nearly vomited on the spot. Fortunately, she fought desperately to hold it back, managing to avoid making a complete fool of herself in front of Chuyun.
"Are you alright?" Chuyun asked with a trace of sheepishness, realizing he had apparently forgotten there was another person on the dragon's back.
Anna felt aggrieved enough to cry, though she also knew it was simply because she was too weak and had no one else to blame.
"I'm fine, I'm totally fine," Anna insisted. She was a stubborn girl; beneath her seemingly delicate exterior lay an intensely unyielding spirit.
She resolved that whenever she had free time in the future, she would secretly bring delicious food to Paimon so she could ride it again.
Despite being frightened out of her wits just moments ago, once her senses returned, she actually felt a lingering thrill and wanted to experience it all over again.
Chuyun let Paimon play and practice in the air by itself. By this time, more and more mages were returning to the guild. It was Chuyun's first time seeing such a large gathering of mages; not even during the Mage Academy's student recruitment drives had he ever seen this many people show up.
"As expected, the Mage Guild is far too loose and casual. Most mages simply hold honorary titles and only show up when they need to buy something or look up research materials," Chuyun wondered curiously what exactly had happened this time.
If it were a war, surely the City Lord should be issuing the mobilization order rather than the Mage Guild initiating it first.