Rowan emerged from the tent with her familiar mischievous smile. She hugged a towering stack of books, each volume thick as ten fingers.

  Seeing the heavy book stack, Theo immediately came to help. He took the five heaviest volumes, leaving only two light ones for her. They brought them to a rotten log beside the campfire, where he estimated it would take about two hours to copy everything.

  Of course Rowan wouldn't sit idle. Theo gently called Al, who was lightly circling high tree branches, digesting a delicious dinner. Theo asked Al to cooperate with Rowan. Although it didn't understand her language, with Pokémon's inherent intelligence, Al still easily grasped most human actions—a superior advantage over other Monster Beasts when interacting with humans.

  After that, the two scholars established absolute silence. They found a secluded corner to focus completely on this work demanding quietude.

  Theo began copying Rowan's book stack. The document scanning process proceeded smoothly, but he felt a growing sense of disappointment. These books were too advanced; like the volume "Fireball and Variations to Note" he was copying, it was all about formulas—magical formulas.

  Magic, he bitterly realized, wasn’t something one could grasp blindly but a specialized scientific discipline requiring solid academic foundation. Even with G, the strongest artificial intelligence, decoding this civilization couldn't rely on just a few books.

  He sighed, admitting he needed to start from the most basic books for apprentices—everything indeed had to be built from the ground up. Shaking his head to not waste time on pointless thoughts, Theo began focusing on copying.

  Time passed slowly in the sound of Theo's careful page-turning, occasionally interrupted by Rowan's soft gasps of amazement. Two hours thirty minutes had passed—longer than expected—because with complex magical formulas, Theo had to turn pages much slower, afraid of missing any content to read later.

  When he finished the last volume, he looked toward Rowan. She was still diligently researching. Now she no longer used mental force but was examining each of Al's feathers. This calm, intellectual appearance made her look exactly like a professor engrossed in her project, full of professionalism.

  But of course, She didn’t notice at all Al's impatient gaze. For a Pidgey, standing still on a log for over two and a half hours was torture. If not for the master's instructions, it probably would have fanned her with a gust of wind then flown up to high branches to enjoy freedom.

  Seeing Al's discomfort, to prevent tragedy, Theo had to break the necessary silence: "Hey, time's up Rowan. Let Al rest. Tomorrow it still has to scout and guard—very tiring."

  Rowan straightened up, slowly removing her azure glasses. A regretful sigh escaped, but then she quickly regained her excited look. She silently calculated: such a thick book stack would take at least a week to read completely. Her usual cunning gleam sparkled again in her eyes.

  However, she froze seeing Theo hugging the book stack to return it. under Rowan’s unconcealed questioning gaze, Theo was honest: "Too difficult, I can't understand it."

  The truth struck Rowan hard. She suddenly remembered: Theo was a nomadic Mage; he didn't have a solid academic foundation like herself. Grasping at one last thread of hope, she still asked: "Have you read 'Mental Force Guidance'?"

  Theo shook his head: "I skimmed it, but it needs magic to coordinate. I haven't learned magic yet."

  Rowan's eyes suddenly became desolate. She was utterly disappointed realizing the failure of the "knowledge exchanges knowledge" principle she'd always respected. If the knowledge she could offer couldn't exchange for anything Theo could provide, then this transaction was meaningless.

  Seeing Rowan's troubled eyes, Theo understood clearly. He immediately offered a remedy: "Can you tell me about your research process on Al and explain what I don't understand yet? In exchange, I'll let Al continue cooperating with you tomorrow."

  Rowan's eyes brightened. She was curious: "Why do you want to know about my research? It's dry and boring."

  Theo replied very directly: "I want to understand Al clearly to know how to train it in the next phase. Currently, it's stagnating—though its body grows larger daily, its strength only progresses very little."

  Rowan nodded, silently pondering. Her voice shifted to a solemn tone, somewhat hesitant: "Though saying this is a bit early since it's only the first day of research, I'll present today's results." She put on her glasses again, beginning a focused lecture:

  "After observing your little bird, I've summarized several points. First, Al has astonishing physical development. Skeleton, feathers, muscles, organs... everything shows excellent activity, no significant damage whatsoever."

  Pausing a bit so Theo could digest the necessary information coming next, Rowan continued:

  "Its spirit—that surprised me most. GS-type Monster Beasts rarely have such a good mental state. Perhaps because you don't use chains or spells to tame it, it's preserved its original pride and confidence. This combination of intelligence and wild instinct is unique. It's intelligent to the point I feel like interacting with a child—can guess my intent despite not understanding human language.

  Additionally, its perception of the Wind Element is very keen. Though Al doesn't know magic, I believe the literature describing GS Monster Beasts' unique energy source suggests great potential here.

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  And the last thing," her voice slowed, full of caution. "This completely contradicts the theorem recognized by authoritative Mages and Enchanters: 'GS Monster Beasts have no mana and bodies resist mana.' But I clearly sensed Al has a very small amount of mana when probing with mental force. It shows signs of the Monster Beast Transformation."

  Theo frowned, questioning: "GS Monster Beasts can't have mana?"

  Rowan firmly nodded: "No mistake. That's verified research."

  "Then what's the mana in Al's body?" Theo asked contemplatively, the question seemingly swallowed by the silent night air.

  Rowan also pondered: "Perhaps, after a millennium, some individuals have adapted to the environment, gained the ability to absorb mana and then transform into monster beasts. Anyway, life must find ways to evolve."

  A gleam appeared in Theo's eyes but immediately sank.

  "Exactly, life always finds a way out." Theo replied, voice strangely calm. But still deep in his eyes, a calculating cold gleam flickered faintly.

  After wishing Rowan good night, Theo walked toward the tent, but his mind had absolutely no intention of resting. He stopped behind the tent, silently observing Al sleeping peacefully on a nearby tree branch.

  His gaze was full of seriousness, a flash of light in his head—an answer he believed couldn't deviate anywhere. Theo asked G: "What are Al's current weight and height, G?"

  G replied with a doubtful voice: "Height 0.402 meters, weight 2.412 kg—significantly exceeding the Pokémon world average by 33%."

  Theo stood with crossed arms looking at Al. In his head, the Trainer and Breeder knowledge he'd read after extracting time reconnected, forming a tight system. He recalled Professor Oak's words: "Pokémon and Trainer are two separate individuals but connect through bonds. Though two, they are also one."

  This research revealed a common issue among trainers: the better the trainer, the stronger their bond with Pokémon, and precisely because this connection thread carried energy from Pokémon that also influenced the Trainer reversely, making them also change according to this Pokémon energy source—making them stronger, more resilient, or even granting psychic powers, Telepathy...

  This was more clearly evidenced by research into ancient times when humanity had no trainers—they were also much weaker and didn't have psychics like now, only some humans achieved extreme capability, not diverse and colorful like the modern era later on.

  He realized this connection wasn't simple at all. It was a two-way energy flow: Energy from Pokémon influenced Trainers reversely (making them stronger, developing psychic powers), and more importantly, energy from Trainers was also a powerful driving force helping Pokémon change. That was why Evolution like Espeon (requiring friendship) or Mega Evolution—the clearest evidence of Trainers using their willpower energy to force and promote Pokémon transformation—could occur.

  Thus, the conclusion was very clear: When he absorbed large amounts of Mana, a small portion of that new energy source was absorbed by Al through the Trainer-Pokémon connection thread. This bond thread had turned Mana into a catalyst, allowing Al's body to easily absorb this magical energy—a secondary absorption process—thereby creating a completely new form of evolution, what this world called Monster Beast Transformation.

  This wasn't random adaptation after 1000 years as Rowan speculated. This was a direct result of Theo's existence and his actions.

  In that moment, a gleam illuminated his eyes. Theo had found the path to surpass the Trainer system's limits.

  "Exactly, life always finds a way out," he repeated Rowan's words, but in his heart, those words carried completely different meaning: "And I will personally dig out that path."

  He once more gave orders, voice full of determination, cutting through the night's silence: "G, summarize the effectiveness of the Mana absorption process during this period."

  G's voice rang out, mechanical, cold but full of calculation: "Absorption efficiency increased 30% compared to the first time. Growth assessment comes from two key factors. First: Host's Mental Force has progressed significantly; mental force aptitude has been determined to be very high, far exceeding average threshold. Second: Body gradually adapted to sensing Mana—this is a common process verified from Night Hawk members Ronan, Boris, Torvin, Finn, and Liam's data."

  Theo slightly narrowed his eyes, probing deeper: "What about Mana quantity, compared to Liam's?"

  "Liam still absorbs larger total quantity than Host," G replied without emotion, "However, you're gradually closing the gap in absorption speed because Mental Force has caught up to the optimization threshold, boosting the body's Mana absorption capability."

  Theo nodded slightly. He knew clearly that providing Mana to Al to promote Monster Beast Transformation was a mandatory investment, in exchange for an explosion of strength and volume in the future. He asked the final, most crucial question: "G, predict the time for complete C7 vertebra crystallization."

  "Two months six days," G concluded, "if nothing changes."

  Theo wasn't surprised when the process was delayed six days. He'd anticipated the price to pay for this investment. But this delay was improvable.

  He thought silently: "Sacrifice is necessary, but I must find measures to increase Mana absorption efficiency immediately to compensate."

  An idea suddenly flashed in his head, but immediately, Theo suppressed it with iron will. "Not urgent right now."