Chapter 42: Bubu
Su Xiao had been asleep for over ten hours. He was extremely exhausted this time.
In a daze, Su Xiao felt something warm approaching his face, breathing hot air.
At first, Su Xiao thought he was dreaming. Even if he was asleep, he could immediately sense any danger.
A wet sensation appeared. Su Xiao's cheek twitched, and his eyes snapped open. It wasn't a dream!
A long face, resembling both a dog and a wolf, appeared before him. A pair of pitch-black eyes stared at Su Xiao, filled with curiosity.
Su Xiao's scalp tingled. He sprang up like a carp flipping over. A creature had approached, and he hadn't even noticed.
With full force, he kicked the "giant beast" on the bed—over a meter tall and three meters long—sending it flying. This thing was several times larger than a tiger.
The "giant beast" let out a pained howl as it was kicked away.
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand as Su Xiao sized up the unknown creature before him.
The creature had smooth, glossy fur, black and white in color. Its back was covered in black fur, while its chest was white. It bore a striking resemblance to the giant wolf Fenrir, looking quite majestic, with some canine features mixed in.
Awoo~.
The unknown creature raised its head and let out a long howl, as if feeling wronged after being kicked. It wanted to approach Su Xiao but seemed hesitant.
Su Xiao let out a sigh of relief. He was fully awake now and roughly understood what was happening. This unknown creature didn't feel dangerous.
"Sit."
Su Xiao tried giving a command. The unknown creature immediately sat on the ground, its fluffy tail wagging nonstop, as if being ordered by Su Xiao made it very happy.
"Lie down."
The unknown creature obeyed at once, its pitch-black eyes filled with joy. Its tongue hung out as it panted, ha~ ha~.
"Roll over."
The unknown creature rolled on the ground, heading toward Su Xiao's feet.
Su Xiao touched the unknown creature with his finger, and a prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. This Imperial Artifact was classified as a canine. Compared to being classified as a wolf, he preferred it as a dog.
A dog's loyalty is unmatched by any animal. Dogs are humanity's loyal companions, bar none.
For a person, raising a dog is just a part of life, but for that dog, its owner is the entire world.
**Rift-Rending Hound · Bubuteni (Imperial Artifact)**
- Health: 100%
- Mana: 260
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 15
- Stamina: 20
- Intelligence: 26
- Charm: 10
- Skill 1: Full-Speed Charge (Active): When activated, Bubuteni's movement speed increases by 100%, consuming 10 mana per minute. Can carry heavy loads.
- Skill 2: Snow Goddess's Blessing (Aura): Generates a Snow Goddess aura, restoring 1 health point per second to allies. No cost. Healing effect scales with Intelligence attribute.
- Skill 3: Loyal Protection (Active): Consumes 50% of mana to restore 50% of the owner's health within three seconds. Cooldown: 48 hours.
...
After reviewing Bubuteni's data, Su Xiao was somewhat stunned. Its Stamina and Intelligence attributes were even higher than his.
Even ignoring the attributes, Bubuteni was an exceptional support-type Imperial Artifact—a mount combined with a knockoff healer.
If he had had Bubuteni before, Su Xiao wouldn't have ended up so battered. How fast would a 100% movement speed increase be? Converting Bubuteni's Agility attribute gave the answer.
Bubuteni's Agility was 15 points. 100% meant doubling it, equivalent to the movement speed of 30 Agility.
Moreover, Bubuteni's Skill 2 and Skill 3 were both recovery skills. Skill 2 provided all-weather healing, while Skill 3 had an impressively high recovery amount.
Su Xiao was very satisfied with Bubuteni's abilities. Although its attributes weren't low, its combat capability was likely weak, given the lack of combat skills.
But Bubuteni's support abilities were strong, combining pursuit, escape, and recovery into one.
For a biological Imperial Artifact, Su Xiao didn't want it to have strong combat power. He was used to fighting alone, and suddenly having a helper would feel awkward.
During battle, Bubuteni could stand by. If things went poorly, Su Xiao could mount Bubuteni and flee.
Bubuteni's size was considerable, with a Strength attribute of 12 points, so riding it was definitely feasible.
Su Xiao ordered Bubuteni to stand in front of him, then swung a leg over its back.
Bubuteni showed no reaction, its body steady. This pleased Su Xiao.
"Charge forward."
Bubuteni immediately obeyed.
Bang.
Bubuteni, along with Su Xiao, crashed into the wall. A large crater formed in the wall, and dust billowed up.
Su Xiao patted the dust off his head.
"This dumb dog."
Su Xiao looked at Bubuteni in exasperation. The creature was shaking its head and rubbing against him.
Contrary to his expectations, Bubuteni seemed to have a bit of a fool's nature. When Su Xiao told it to charge forward, it was so straightforward that it crashed into the wall.
Perhaps even if Su Xiao told Bubuteni to die, it would obey without question.
Su Xiao observed Bubuteni's appearance, finding it increasingly familiar.
"Could it be..."
Su Xiao thought of a certain canine breed from the real world. Its black-and-white patterned head was roughly similar to a wolf's shape...
Bubuteni began circling Su Xiao, seemingly overjoyed just to see him.
Su Xiao patted Bubuteni's head, which delighted it immensely, making its tail wag even faster.
A problem arose: Bubuteni's size was not small. Having a biological Imperial Artifact by his side would arouse suspicion from others in the Imperial Capital.
After some study, Su Xiao found this wasn't an issue. Bubuteni's core was a fist-sized sphere.
He tried to retract Bubuteni. Its body gradually shrank until it turned into an ice-blue sphere that fell to the ground.
Su Xiao picked up the ice-blue sphere. This was the original form of Rift-Rending Hound · Bubuteni. The item also had a description.
**Origin:** *Akame ga Kill!*
**Quality:** Purple
**Category:** Biological Imperial Artifact
**Effect:** Activates into 'Rift-Rending Hound · Bubuteni'
**Rating:** 130 (Note: Purple items have a rating range of 71 to 150.)
**Description:** An extremely rare support-type Imperial Artifact.
**Price:** 36,000 Paradise Coins
...
Tossing the core in his hand, Su Xiao felt a slight surprise. Such a portable biological Imperial Artifact was rare—at least, it had never appeared in the original work.
Disabling the window's alarm device, Su Xiao jumped out through the window. The innkeeper was about to pound the door down, and going through the front would cause unnecessary trouble.
Leaving the town, Su Xiao summoned Bubuteni and mounted its back.
Bubuteni's fur was soft, a natural cushion.
"That direction."
Receiving Su Xiao's command, Bubuteni began to sprint, looking dutiful and uncomplaining.
A strong wind brushed past his face. Bubuteni's running speed was faster than expected. With four legs, its speed doubled when the skill was activated.
Riding Bubuteni was different from riding a horse; the jolting was much less.
Moreover, being near Bubuteni gave a vibrant, lively feeling—the effect of the Snow Goddess's Blessing aura's health regeneration.
One thing puzzled Su Xiao: Bubuteni's full name was 'Rift-Rending Hound · Bubuteni.' The 'Hound' part seemed exaggerated.
He glanced at Bubuteni's silly expression and couldn't connect it with a hound at all.
Not long after, Su Xiao would understand the meaning of 'Hound.' Although Bubuteni acted a bit foolish around him, it would tear apart any creature daring to approach Su Xiao.