Chapter 92: The Big Cat

"Yo, Big Cat, long time no see." In the spacious arena, Muria, in his dragon form, was circling and facing off against the wing-backed white tiger, Troilus.

"Roar, I've told you before, I'm not a cat." Troilus growled lowly, a semi-transparent hurricane forming and swirling around him as it became angry. But just as the white tiger started to get worked up, it suddenly remembered something and displayed its snowy white teeth in a grin, "Muria, I heard you got a good beating from those wolves yesterday, haha. Recovered so quickly? Looks like the sap from the Elf Tree really does wonders."

"Yep." Muria narrowed his eyes, "Big Cat, you seem quite familiar with those wolves. How are they recovering now?"

"..." At Muria's words, the hurricane swirling around Troilus momentarily faltered. It remembered the sorry state of the three Howling Moon Wolves from yesterday; injuries that would have been fatal several times over for a normal wolf.

"Heh." Seeing the apprehensive look in Troilus's eyes, Muria couldn't help but smile smugly, "Big Cat, just agree to let me pet you a few times, and I promise I'll go easy on you during our fight, how about that?"

"Not a chance." Troilus roared back, its twin wings flapping as the pure white tiger body lunged straight at the golden dragon...

After their bout, the flat training ground was now marked with smoking pits and cracks. Muria in his dragon form had the snow-white Troilus pinned under his paw, smirking triumphantly.

"Big Cat, you couldn't beat me when I first arrived, and you definitely can't now. Just admit defeat!"

"Let me go." Troilus, its furry head firmly held down by one of Muria's golden dragon claws, struggled to turn its head, one eye glaring at him angrily.

"Hmm, I can let you go, but you have to promise to let me pet you calmly afterward."

"Pet me?" The pure white giant tiger's pupils shrank slightly, suddenly showing a hint of malice, "You mean like last time, continuously stroking my fur from head to tail?"

"That's right."

"Muria, you bastard, I'm not your pet." Troilus struggled mightily, trying to overturn the golden dragon pressing down on it.

Even though it had indeed felt quite comfortable being petted by Muria last time, that wasn't a reason for it to just lie down and let Muria do it again, because it was a White Tiger, born to be the king of all beasts.

"Unwilling, then we'll fight until you are." Feeling Troilus's strong struggle under his paw, Muria spread his dragon wings and soared into the sky, releasing his hold on the white tiger.

"Roar!" The moment it was free from Muria's restraint, Troilus, filled with rage, lunged at the dragon in the air, but was immediately struck down to the ground by Muria's long dragon tail, creating a deep tiger-shaped crater.

...

"Comfortable!" As night fell, Muria was soaking comfortably in the Pool of Life, even though he hadn't been injured today. Still, taking a bath after a fight had almost become a habit for him.

"Big Cat, heh." Soaking in the pale green pool, Muria thought about today's fight and couldn't help but smile. Troilus was willing to admit defeat but refused to submit and let Muria pet it, so they fought from start to finish.

But in the end, Muria still managed to give Troilus a thorough petting, as after a prolonged fight, the white tiger was worn out completely, powerless to resist.

"Muria, what are you laughing about?" Seeing Muria laughing foolishly alone in the pool, Cassiel frowned and asked.

"Nothing much, just thinking about what happened today." Muria dismissed it casually.

"Muria, Troilus hasn't signed a contract with you, it's not your battle companion. You shouldn't treat it like you did today."

"Does it have a Titan partner?" Muria looked at Cassiel, a bit surprised.

"No."

"Then it's fine." Muria stood up from the pool, draped a robe over himself, and headed towards his resting quarters, "I was just petting it, not doing anything else. It's fine."

"But..." Cassiel, hearing Muria's words, frowned deeply, trying to explain further but saw that Muria had already entered a meditative state and had to let it be.

Muria's days had transitioned from urgency to a more leisurely pace after Heloise declared the end of his special training. Numerous golden-level Titans and legendary creature cubs had lined up to challenge him.

Driven by curiosity and a bit of a show-off spirit, Muria accepted every challenge, whether from Titans or mythical beasts, and fought them one by one.

After some time, Muria started to fight less frequently because he learned to refuse. Many Titans and mythical creatures, curious about Muria's unique Titan-dragon hybrid existence, had fought with him a few times and got thoroughly overpowered by his superior physical strength and combat skills comparable to his peers. These battle-hungry Titans and creature cubs became even more eager.

They challenged Muria again and again each day, which annoyed him greatly, much like what the fifth-tier Titan Celest had said on his first challenge; he had no interest in being a sparring partner.

Fighting the weak, apart from fostering arrogance, brought no benefits. Only by battling peers or stronger beings could one improve.

Thus, Muria outright refused challenges from below third-tier gold, only agreeing to those from third-tier gold and above. This significantly reduced the number of Titans and mythical beasts challenging him.

Third and fourth-tier gold Titans combined were only five, and as for fifth-tier gold Titans, after fighting Muria out of curiosity once, they typically wouldn't challenge him again.

Because Muria's combat prowess was slightly above the average fourth-tier Titan and barely competitive with fifth-tier Titans, those at the fifth-tier naturally found no interest.

After a month, the Titans and mythical creature cubs challenging Muria daily had more or less settled down, and Muria's life in the Titan lands had stabilized into a routine.

"Muria, your challenge request to Troilus has been declined."

"Declined again." Muria, hearing Cassiel's words, was instantly irked, "It was pretty enthusiastic about challenging me before. Now that I'm challenging it, it declines. What a cowardly cat."

Cassiel, watching Muria vent, then calmly said, "The three Silver Moon Wolves have also declined your challenge request."

"They all declined?"

"Yes."

"Cowardly dogs, cowardly cat." Muria muttered a few curses under his breath, "Forget it, Cassiel, challenge Gerald for me."

"Gerald is currently in a battle with other Titans."

"This guy is also busy." Muria furrowed his brows, feeling a bit frustrated, "Cassiel, set up a teleportation array to Troilus's den. I'm going there directly."

"Muria." Cassiel called out, "Do you really like Troilus?"

"That cute Big

 Cat, of course, I like it!" Muria grinned at Cassiel, "I love petting its fur."

"Muria, don't you have any plans to sign a contract with Troilus, to make it your companion?"

"Make the Big Cat my companion." Muria stroked his chin, "Signing a contract, huh! That's a good idea."

"If you don't plan to make Troilus your companion, it's best not to act too intimately outside of battle."

"Why does it matter?"

"Your actions might make other Titans think you want to make a contract with Troilus. They'll avoid choosing it as a partner."

"I see." Muria clapped his hands together, "That's settled then. I'm going now to talk about signing a contract. Set up the teleportation array."

Cassiel, expressionless, glanced at Muria before quickly constructing the array...

Amidst towering ancient trees and widespread greenery beside a sparkling lake, Muria found himself in this paradise-like setting as the teleportation ended. There were no humans around, just a pure white giant tiger deep in slumber.

"Legendary." Muria was a bit stunned as the slumbering giant tiger exuded the aura of a legendary creature. He hadn't expected to bump straight into a legendary being. But then again, going to someone's home to play and running into their parents was a pretty normal occurrence, right?

"Titan, what are you doing here?" The legendary white tiger cracked open an eye, its blue pupils scrutinizing the young Titan who had abruptly entered.

"Sir." Muria, feeling a chill down his spine under the lazy gaze of the white tiger, responded, "I came looking for Troilus."

"Oh." Upon hearing Muria's answer, the legendary white tiger closed its eye again, "It's fishing in the lake."

"Thank you." Muria bowed to the legendary white tiger and then headed toward the glistening lake.

"Hey, Troilus." Just as Muria reached the lake, he saw the snowy "Big Cat" emerging from the water with a nearly ten-meter-long fish in its mouth, heading toward the shore.

The thoroughly drenched Troilus, its powerful paws submerged in the water, looked up at Muria's cheerful call from the shore. The struggling fish in its mouth suddenly fell back into the water, splashing: "Muria!"

"The fish got away." Muria pointed at the large fish that quickly swam away after falling back into the water.

Muria's kind reminder was ignored by Troilus, who glanced at its mother still sleeping on the shore and then at the smiling Muria, showing a hint of scorn in its eyes: "Muria, why do you call me by my name today? Weren't you always calling me Big Cat before? Why stop now?"

"Cough!" At Troilus's words, Muria stiffened, feeling a chill, and after a light cough, he turned to glance at the sleeping legendary beast before chuckling awkwardly: "Troilus, is this whole area yours? It's much bigger than where I live."

"Pfft," Troilus walked ashore, its tone dripping with disdain, "It's just big, that's all. How can it compare to your Titan residences? You even have sap from the Elf Tree of Life."

"You don't have it?" Muria was somewhat surprised.

"Just providing sap to you Titans is enough to upset the elves. If they had to supply us too, those pointy-eared ones would go mad."

"I see." Muria crossed his arms and stroked his chin while looking at Troilus, then extended an invitation: "How about coming to my place for a visit? There's plenty of sap from the Tree of Life at my residence."

"You're inviting me to your place?" Troilus looked at Muria with a hint of disbelief.

"Yes." Muria watched Troilus eagerly, seeing this as a small test. If Troilus agreed, then making a contract was almost certain, "Will you come?"

"I will." After a moment of silence, Troilus nodded.