Through the experiment, Ethan discovered quite a few advantages to having a mutated hen around.

  For one thing, her feathers were incredibly soft. The space beneath her wings was warm too, which explained why baby chicks loved curling up under their mothers' wings the moment they hatched.

  The only downside was that mutated Chloe was heavy.

  With her sprawled across his chest, Ethan was starting to have trouble breathing.

  "You can tell she likes you a lot."

  Ivy's face stayed perfectly blank, and she made no move to help. The little tuft of blond hair on top of her head, meanwhile, looked like it was laughing itself sick.

  She kept writing as she gave her commentary.

  "This matches my theory. The collar most likely causes the wearer to develop unusual feelings toward the person holding it. It may even make them obey that person's commands."

  "Chloe, get off me first."

  Ethan gave the order to the "little" hen, who was still enthusiastically rubbing her face against his.

  She climbed off him immediately, then stood proudly by his feet like a loyal hound standing guard.

  "What else do you feel?" Ivy asked.

  "My chest hurts, and Chloe got heavier."

  Ethan braced a hand against his lower back and took several deep breaths.

  At a moment like this, the weak body of a mage was on full display. At the same time, he kept one important detail to himself. The reason he had not cast a spell when Chloe tackled him was that some strange spiritual link had formed between them. He had known with perfect clarity that the hen had pounced on him out of excitement, not aggression.

  Ivy absolutely could not learn that.

  If she did, he would become her next research subject on the spot.

  But right now, Ethan had another problem to deal with.

  "So what exactly is she now?"

  Before Ivy could ask the question first, Ethan beat her to it.

  The current Chloe did not match any species he knew. Her feathers had turned a vivid, eye-catching red. Her beak had grown longer and sharper, giving her a far more feral look. The biggest change, though, was in her tail feathers. What had once been a small cluster of feathers had become three beautiful forked tails.

  "A wolf-chicken."

  That question did not stump a follower of the Society of Enlightenment for even a second.

  "The logic is simple. If a human puts on the cursed object and becomes a werewolf, then a chicken becomes a wolf-chicken."

  As she spoke, Ivy calmly wrote her newly invented species down on the page.

  Ethan fell into thought.

  Even though Chloe now looked nothing like a wolf, she had already begun to show a number of wolf-like, or perhaps dog-like, traits. Ivy, meanwhile, somehow produced a chunk of raw meat from nowhere and tossed it toward Chloe. The palm-sized piece never even got the chance to hit the ground before Chloe intercepted it in midair and swallowed it whole.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  If Chloe ever pecked a person now, it would not be the kind of thing you could just shrug off after a sting.

  "Don't just stand there," Ivy reminded him. "We still have a lot of tests left."

  They started with the basics, height, weight, then moved on to destructive power.

  Ethan had to admit, when he saw Chloe crush a piece of granite with one claw, he was genuinely shaken.

  After that came the most important test.

  Ethan and Ivy each spent half an hour alone with Chloe, and the results were exactly what they had expected. Once the cursed object had fully activated, its irresistible allure disappeared.

  By the time Ivy wrapped up the last of her tests, night had fallen.

  Smoke was rising from the chimneys in the distant town. She packed up her pen and papers, looked toward the faint glow of lights at the far end of the road, then said, "If we bring the wolf-chicken back into town, it'll cause panic and endless gossip. I'll bring you some food. Until the Bureau of Containment arrives, you'll have to stay here for the time being. With her nearby, you won't have to worry about wild animals either."

  That suited Ethan just fine.

  He had been trying to come up with an excuse to leave town anyway. Living out here alone would let him train Ice Arrow as much as he pleased.

  Besides, compared with someone like Ivy, a diehard follower of the Society of Enlightenment, Ethan still preferred the company of animals.

  Man and chicken stood by the roadside and watched Ivy disappear into the distance.

  Then Chloe walked up to him, rose onto her toes, and rubbed her head against his chest.

  "Want to go hunting?"

  The idea struck Ethan on the spot.

  Ever since arriving in this world, animals had seemed unusually fond of him. Too bad there was no Beastmaster class here. If there had been, he probably would not have spent two whole years hiding in town grinding Fireball.

  Chloe nodded, then happily ran off toward the woods.

  A wolf-chicken could understand human speech.

  And Ethan could sense her emotions.

  Right now, she was excited.

  She darted into the thick underbrush. When Ethan got closer, she mischievously poked her head back out as though she were trying to startle him.

  Without even noticing it, Ethan found himself quickening his pace.

  Elsewhere, though, not everyone was in such a good mood.

  On the mountain summit, inside a vast crater, stood a figure wrapped from head to toe in a black cloak. Bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the scorched earth that had been left behind.

  The people following her were trembling so hard they could barely stand still. None of them dared make the slightest sound.

  A suffocating fear spread through the group.

  After what felt like an eternity, someone finally worked up the courage to break the silence.

  "Priestess, if you ask me... maybe we should adjust our target for strategic reasons. I think there's something wrong with that town."

  The others said nothing, but many of them stole nervous glances at the figure standing in the crater and silently agreed with the brave soul's suggestion.

  According to their investigation, the sheriff of Willowbrook was nothing more than a Tier Two bookworm from the Society of Truth. The town should have been destroyed last night by the monster tide unleashed by the ritual.

  Instead, a meteor had fallen from the sky and the people of Willowbrook had somehow survived by sheer luck.

  Worse still, the pet the Priestess had raised so carefully had been reduced to nothing in that heavenly disaster, and the token was nowhere to be found.

  An omen like that was never a good sign.

  "I'm sure the Mother Goddess would understand..."

  The man's voice cut off abruptly.

  His eyes went wide. It was as if something had lodged in his throat. He clutched at his chest in agony and dropped to his knees, cold sweat soaking through his clothes.

  The next moment, blood burst from his mouth.

  Along with it came something squirming.

  It was a heart, still beating, and he had just coughed it out through his own throat.

  It landed in his hands.

  The man could feel his life draining away bit by bit, but he could no longer speak. All he could do was look desperately at the others behind him, begging for help with his eyes.

  Every last one of them lowered their heads in terror.

  Someone stepped forward and hurried to declare, "Please don't worry, Priestess. Willowbrook will be destroyed without fail. When the time comes, the entire Empire will fear us."

  Thud.

  Everyone heard the heavy sound of a body hitting the ground.

  The man collapsed with that same look of disbelief still frozen on his face. The heart that had still been beating fell with him, rolled into the black ash, twitched a few times, and finally went still.

  "Begin the summoning ritual at the southwest corner."

  The cloaked figure gave the order in a tone that allowed no room for argument.

  "I want to watch this place burn with my own eyes."