SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will-Chapter 324: Mirage is Awake!

Moon immediately brought the Direhorse to a halt, his excitement palpable as he prepared to reunite with his partner.

Moon activated his Beastmaster skill and summoned Mirage from the Beast Taming Space.

The moment Mirage materialized, the Direhorse immediately bolted in terror, seeking cover behind Moon.

The stark difference in aura between the two creatures was unmistakable. In fact, it wasn’t even comparable.

Moon couldn’t help but smile at the amusing scene. Mirage’s presence was clearly too intimidating for the Direhorse, which had never encountered Mirage before.

It naturally assumed this fearsome horse was a threat rather than an ally.

"Welcome back, partner. I missed you," Moon said warmly, running his fingers through Mirage’s mane, which had grown even more magnificent during his sleep.

Mirage rubbed his head against Moon’s hand with obvious affection, their bond stronger than ever.

<Missed...>

The telepathic word formed clearly in Moon’s mind, causing his eyes to widen with shock and delight.

"Mirage... you can actually communicate telepathically now?" Moon asked in amazement, leaning back to study his companion with wonder.

<...Speak.> 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Moon’s initial excitement faltered slightly as he realized Mirage wasn’t quite capable of independent speech yet—the horse was simply echoing words Moon had spoken. Still, this represented a massive advancement in their communication abilities.

Despite the limitation of Mirage’s new ability, Moon felt more than satisfied. His connection with Mirage had improved significantly. He could sense his emotions and intentions far more vividly than before, and currently, the dominant sensation was... overwhelming hunger.

"Here, eat this," Moon said, retrieving an A-rank beast corpse he’d collected during his travels and placing it before his starving partner.

Mirage didn’t need further encouragement. Within a single minute, the entire beast had been completely devoured under Mirage’s increased appetite.

"You were absolutely starving, weren’t you?"

<Starving...> Mirage repeated, then turned his attention toward the cowering Direhorse with obvious interest.

Moon immediately felt his companion’s intention through their bond. Mirage was considering whether the Direhorse might make an acceptable secondary meal.

The Direhorse nearly fainted from terror as those hungry eyes focused on it.

"Hey, I have plenty more food for you," Moon quickly intervened, retrieving additional beast corpses to appease Mirage’s appetite away from his secondary mount. "No need to eat my ride, haha."

Hearing Moon’s words, Mirage ignored the direhorse and began to feed on the various beast corpses that Moon continued to supply it.

After eating around twenty beast corpses, Mirage’s hunger had been almost fully satiated, Moon provided him with more to fully satisfy him, but Mirage no longer ate.

Moon did not force him, and turned his attention to something important.

"Tell me, aside from the telepathic communication, did you develop any new abilities? Anything that will significantly enhance your power?" Moon asked with obvious curiosity.

Mirage had remained in evolutionary slumber for a long period of time, and Moon expected some big improvements from such a prolonged transformation.

Mirage didn’t respond verbally—he didn’t need to. Instead, something extraordinary began happening to his appearance.

Suddenly and without warning, Mirage’s right eye began shifting color, transforming into a deep, mesmerizing purple—one that Moon was very familiar with.

Moon’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Mirage... those eyes! That’s identical to the Supreme-ranked fox’s eyes!" Moon exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement.

His companion had somehow absorbed one of the fox’s power. ’Wait, I may be jumping to conclusions too soon. Maybe it’s purely cosmetic and has no real power behind it.’

Before Moon could process this revelation further, Mirage suddenly began galloping away from their position at incredible speed.

As Mirage ran, his body seemed to split—a perfect duplicate peeled away from his original body and sprinted in a completely different direction with identical speed. The illusion was flawlessly convincing, matching every detail of Mirage’s gait and bearing.

Most remarkably, the duplicate even carried faint traces of Mirage’s scent and magical signature, making it virtually indistinguishable from the real horse to most forms of detection.

Moon watched in absolute amazement as both versions of his companion moved at once, the illusion maintaining its convincing reality for approximately fifteen seconds before finally dissipating.

"That’s absolutely incredible! Do you have any other abilities? Can you cast illusions on other targets?" Moon asked eagerly, immediately turning his attention to the Direhorse. "Try using it on our mount here, but keep the effect mild."

The Direhorse visibly jolted with terror as it felt Moon’s predatory gaze boring into its soul. That particular smile spreading across his rider’s face was disturbingly familiar—an expression that invariably meant something unpleasant was about to happen to whoever had earned it.

The creature stepped back instinctively but didn’t dare attempt to flee. Understanding its rider’s capabilities all too well, it knew escape would be futile. The Direhorse could only resign itself to whatever fate awaited it in silence.

Fortunately for the terrified mount, Mirage appeared to lack such versatile illusion abilities. After several moments of concentration with his purple eye glowing, nothing occurred.

"I see... so besides your improved physical constitution, limited telepathic communication, and that doppelganger technique, you haven’t developed additional powers," Moon observed with satisfaction rather than disappointment. "That’s perfectly acceptable—you’re already significantly stronger than before."

He reached out to stroke Mirage’s mane to show his appreciation.

"With you fighting alongside me, I’m far more confident about our chances against a Supreme-rank creature," Moon declared, grinning in anticipation.

The possibilities offered by Mirage’s new illusion ability were many. The doppelganger technique could provide crucial misdirection during combat, create opportunities for flanking attacks, or serve as an escape mechanism when facing a powerful opponent.

Combined with Mirage’s strengthened physical prowess and new skill, they now possessed advantages that could help Moon in hunting down a Supreme-Rank creature with a good safety net in place.

Moon’s final evolution requirement suddenly seemed far more achievable with his transformed partner ready to face whatever threats awaited them in the depths of the First Sanctuary.

Moon turned his gaze towards the Direhorse, unsure of what to do with it. He no longer needed it, but leaving it in the wild would mean its death, and that wasn’t something Moon wanted to do for a mount that had helped him during the past few weeks.

He gave his map a quick glance, noting a base on the way to his next destination. It wasn’t far, and he could drop off the direhorse there, and perhaps copy a new skill on the way.