Chapter 31: The Gyrfalcon
On the familiar screen for choosing a new familiar, three options once again appeared—but Xu Zhi immediately locked eyes with the one she most wanted.
[Falcon: Gyrfalcon Lv10]
“Among the 360 feathered birds, the most divine and majestic is the gyrfalcon.”
Xu Zhi had seen it before on TV—truly majestic.
She remembered a science show explaining that the gyrfalcon, also known as the spear falcon, was extremely fast, stronger than other falcons, and hailed as the king of the skies. Some even called it the “God of Ten Thousand Eagles.”
But Xu Zhi preferred another nickname: The Messenger of the Gods.
She immediately disregarded the other two options—a bull and a deer. She already had two land-based familiars. Even if this wasn’t a top-tier gyrfalcon but just a regular falcon, she would still have chosen the one that could fly.
After confirming her choice, the gyrfalcon appeared on the pixelated game screen, revealing its elegant form.
Pure white feathers, its back and wings dotted with brown spots, and a sharply curved beak and talons—razor-sharp and clearly deadly. One look was enough to know how dangerous it was.
“Beautiful.”
Xu Zhi couldn’t help but praise it aloud, and as if it heard her, the gyrfalcon tilted its head slightly.
[Your familiar has reached Lv10 and gained intelligence. You can now name it.]
A familiar prompt appeared. Xu Zhi thought for about three minutes but couldn’t come up with a good name. Then, she glanced at a book on her desk and declared, “Since you’re my third familiar and you’re Level 10, your name will be the first character on page 30 of this book!”
Genius idea!
She flipped to page 30—the first character she saw was “Zhen” – Truth.
“Alright, it’s decided! Your name is Zhen!”
After naming it, Xu Zhi opened the gyrfalcon’s stat page:
[Familiar: Falcon Lv10]
Spirit: 200
Body: 600
Element: Winter
Traits: Sharp Lv3, Agility Lv7, Endurance Lv4, Strength Lv2
Special Abilities: None]
“…7 points of Agility at Level 10?”
Xu Zhi was a little shocked, but it made sense. Agility likely encompassed both flight speed and reaction time. Considering possible mutations or enhancements, 7 points wasn’t unreasonable.
Though its physical stats weren’t as high as Gouzi at Level 10, its spirit stat far surpassed both Gouzi and Yi.
And it was her first non-[Blade] type familiar.
Its strength and sharpness weren’t especially high—probably because falcons rely more on speed and momentum to hunt, striking prey down in one blow before they even react.
With this new addition, Xu Zhi could finally get a glimpse of what the city looked like from above.
She had always been curious about the fog-covered sky over the city, so she directed Zhen to fly as high as possible.
Through the game screen, she noticed that Zhen’s vision was unusually sharp, able to see far and clearly—something Xu Zhi genuinely envied. But even with such extraordinary vision, the fog above the city remained impenetrable.
When the pure-white falcon reached a certain altitude, a line of narration appeared:
[Your familiar senses danger—something untouchable is blocking further ascent.]
[Do you wish to continue ascending?]
Xu Zhi chose No.
She wasn’t stupid. She had just acquired a flying familiar; of course, she had to be cautious.
“Looks like we can’t escape from the sky either.”
What really puzzled her was that even through Zhen’s keen eyes, the mist above remained opaque.
“Whatever, then.”
It seemed the city really was sealed off—with no way up or out.
Still, having the gyrfalcon let one of Xu Zhi’s ideas come to life.
Its speed and vision meant she could observe any part of the city, except the city center, which she still avoided due to unknown dangers—some of which might even fly.
But she had always been curious about the Nanshan Villa District—now she could finally investigate.
Also, thanks to Zhen, she didn’t have to waste the two hours before midnight sending Yi or Gouzi to look for black fruits anymore. When it came to ground reconnaissance, one Zhen was better than both of them combined.
“What a godsend.”
The more she thought about it, the more Xu Zhi felt that the game had an eerie knack for fulfilling her needs exactly when she needed them.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on how strange it all was. She directed the gyrfalcon to fly toward the Nanshan Villas to scout the terrain. Seeing other people would be even better.
Before long, Zhen arrived at the location and began circling above per Xu Zhi’s instructions.
Since the game was pixel-based, it couldn’t fully replicate Zhen’s perspective. Plus, the bird moved so fast that most scenes flashed by, making Xu Zhi dizzy. She could only instruct the falcon to fix its gaze on any humans it spotted.
Soon enough, during a high-speed sweep, Zhen found people—more than one.
When it focused on them, the screen zoomed in for clarity: three pixel characters—two men and one woman.
The two men dragged a mutant beast’s corpse. The woman held a knife, her movements swift and efficient. The group moved with coordination and mutual awareness—the woman scanned the surroundings on alert.
The three carried the beast’s body into a large villa with an expansive garden. Just before they entered, a shadow appeared from inside—likely a sentry who, upon recognizing them, granted entry.
“A gathering point.”
Most likely the same base as that father-daughter duo.
The garden villa was huge with many rooms, but most windows were sealed. Zhen couldn’t see inside, and Xu Zhi didn’t ask it to linger. She had it go off to hunt and withdrew her view.
She only needed to confirm the location of the gathering.
Now that time limits were gone, she had all three familiars finish hunting and return before midnight.
With Zhen, Xu Zhi would soon have three different elemental cores.
But she hesitated. When it came to the spiritual body system, she had two strategies:
- Use minimal cores to randomly log various locations within Cloud City for future access, and seek out other Awakened and survivor groups.
- Use more cores to try and randomly access areas outside the city to understand the broader situation.
After thinking it over, Xu Zhi decided not to rush. She would stockpile cores for a week and see how many the three familiars could bring her daily on average—excluding any [Moth] type cores.
If she had enough, she could try both strategies.
