Speed Is King

[Affirmative. Please consume the beast core of a Mythical Mammoth.]

"WHAT? I can do that?!" Elliot was truly surprised.

[Affirmative. You will be able to raise the grades of your summons if you consume a related beast core.]

"What about levels? Each time I level up my Giant Armored Mammoth skill, what you did was to increase the number by one. How do I summon higher levelled Giant Armored Mammoths?"

[Each summon skill you learn automatically summons a level 10 beast. You will be able to divert a portion of your XP to your skills once you reach level 100 to level them up.]

Elliot nodded. This was excellent news for him. If he could level up his strongest summons, then they will never be obsolete! The only question was if it was worth it in terms of XP allocation. But it was a question to be answered when he reached level 100.

"What about the skills that my Apostles have? Can they divert a portion of their XP to level up their skills too?"

[No. Skills gifted to Apostles are treated the same way as their own skills. The skills will level up the more they use it, and they will not be able to level up their beast summon level.]

"Ah, although giving Wu Kong my Summon Giant Armored Mammoth skill was a great move for lower levels and it helped me survive the 5-legendary-beast crisis, it was not a move that would scale well as I grow stronger. Pity.

In that case I cannot make the same mistake and give Frosty that skill. I need to pick a skill that will be effective even when I am at a high level." Elliot thought to himself.

"I choose Lightning Slash!" Elliot finally said.

[Ice Apostle Frosty has received [Lightning Slash].]

"Hmmm? I'm getting stronger." Frosty remarked with a pleased voice.

"You're getting bonus stats due to my levels." Elliot explained.

"Yes. It's in the contract. Very good, thank you Master." Frosty smiled at Elliot warmly.

"No worries. Our lives are now intertwined. Let's make sure we do well by helping each other out." Elliot smiled back at her happily.

Frosty nodded and then snuggled closer to Elliot.

Elliot smiled and put his arm around the cute little Frost Dragon, feeling the coolness of her body seeping into his.

Just like that, Elliot and his future flying mount that would terrorize the entire world fell asleep in their first night together as Master and Apostle.

Day 1 of the Apocalypse had ended for Elliot.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Jessica panted heavily as she burst out of the trees and immediately took to the skies in a great hurry.

Once in the air, she turned her head around and saw the ferocious lizard-like beasts spreading their thin-but-still-functional-wings and leaping off into the sky as well!

The ferocious flying lizards were around three meters long and one and a half meters tall. They were not very big, but they were extremely ferocious, and they hunted in packs. Sharp quills of some sort lined their backs and their bodies were covered with thick black and red scales which were, very unfortunately for Jessica, completely flame-resistant.

"Damn it!" Jessica cursed vehemently. She flapped her flame wings as hard as she could and streaked across the beautiful evening sky like a comet.

Screee!!! Screeeeakhhh!!! Screeaaaaakhhhhhhh!!!

Tens of the ferocious flying lizards chased after her with excited cries. They weren't able to fly very fast, and were slowly being left behind by Jessica.

However, Jessica only had 2 minutes of flight time, and even if she managed to outdistance the lizards, they knew exactly where she would land because of how bright she was. The chase was definitely not over!

"How on earth did I run into a bloody bunch of fire-resistant lizards on my first day out as a Phoenix? What dog-shit luck I have!" Jessica let out all the curse words she knew very liberally as she strained with all her might to fly faster and faster.

Very soon, she streaked past a mountain and entered a huge valley. Within it was a huge lake that was the gathering point of many rivers. A giant river flowed out of the lake at its far end.

It was definitely a lake brimming with life. And in the apocalypse, a lake brimming with monsters.

Jessica glanced back at the screeching flying lizards still hot on her trail and immediately made a decision.

"If you're resistant to fire, let's see if you're resistant to water as well!" Jessica muttered as she dived down towards the side of the lake.

She had no choice but to risk entering the lake. In her mind, it shouldn't be too dangerous for her. She was, afterall, a thin and stringy little girl with very little meat. If there were hungry beasts in the lake, they should be more interested in eating tens of fat lizards with lots of meat in them, right?

She quickly retracted her wings and dived into the lake's crystal clear waters with a tiny splash.

There was a little lake near where they lived, and Jessica had always been an excellent swimmer since she was very young, so she had no fear of the water.

With her enhanced body, her arms swept back and forth strongly, powering her through the water like a fish.

"Maybe the lizards would think I drowned and disperse." She thought to herself.

However, when she turned around to check the surface, she was absolutely exasperated to see them hovering above the water where she was and screeching loudly at each other!

They could see her!

"Damn the clear waters!" Jessica thought to herself.

"Let's see how good your eyesight is." Jessica steeled her heart and began to dive deeper into the lake. She had no trouble holding her breath for a few more minutes due to her vastly improved physique.

She intended to make the remaining few minutes count by diving as deep as she could before repositioning and then surfacing in a place without the damned lizards.