When Leone appeared in the Hidden Valley, Runa and Porkchop were the first to see him.

"Leone!" Runa waved with a smile on her face.

*Oink!* Porkchop gave Leone a brief nod of acknowledgement before lying on the ground once more.

It had just played with the children a few minutes ago, so it was somewhat exhausted.

"Why are you here?" Runa asked with great curiosity. "And why don’t you have guards following you?"

"They are guarding Boris and the Raptors at the moment," Leone replied. "Besides, the underground tunnels are heavily guarded. I can roam around safely even without bodyguards."

"If you say so." Runa nodded.

Leone smiled faintly because the children of the Aslan Tribe treated him like a playmate and a friend instead of a chieftain.

The adults tried telling them to always call Leone their Great Chieftain. However, the young man said that he was giving the children special permission to call him Leone.

This made the children very happy. Plus, it made them admire the young man more.

In their eyes, Leone was the best Big Brother in the Aslan Tribe. Someone they could count on at any time.

"Runa, I will let you see something amazing!" Leone rested his hands on his waist as he puffed his chest out in arrogance.

"Oh?" Runa blinked. "What will you show me?"

Leone smiled mischievously as he looked down at Porkchop, who was lying right beside Runa.

Then, he took out a Rare Mount Ticket and bought a Giant Crocodile, which he summoned right beside the resting boar.

When the Giant Crocodile appeared, Porkchop found itself staring at a monster looking at it like it had found its lunch.

Leone then gave the Giant Crocodile a silent command to open its mouth to scare off Porkchop.

Just as he expected, the Boar squealed and shot up from the ground, frantic and panicking. It then ran away, squealing like a pig being slaughtered, making everyone in the Hidden Valley wonder about what was happening.

Runa was just as shocked as her pet. However, she instinctively knew that Leone wouldn’t do anything to harm her.

"So? How is it?" Leone asked. "It looks strong, right?"

As if its Master was referring to itself, the Crocodile closed its mouth and raised its head in arrogance.

It was truly an intimidating monster, spanning seven meters long.

No sane person would wish to swim in the same river with this dangerous monster.

Leone then summoned a Giant Otter next. Though it was smaller than the Giant Crocodile, it was still three meters long.

He then bought a simple monster saddle from the Arcane Shop and placed it on the Giant Otter.

"How about you give it a ride, Runa?" Leone encouraged the girl to test how fast the otter could swim.

The Giant Otter even turned its body around, as if urging Runa to ride on its back.

Runa was among the bravest children in the Aslan Tribe. Since the Giant Otter was something that Leone summoned, she did not hesitate to jump on its back and hold onto the saddle horn firmly.

The Otter then moved toward the river. As soon as it hit the water, it began to swim gracefully.

It was worried that Runa might get thrown off its back, so it didn’t swim very fast. Instead, it only swam fast enough to make the girl on its back enjoy the ride.

However, Runa had other plans.

"Faster!" Runa urged the Giant Otter, to which the latter obeyed.

It swam a little faster, pushing past the river currents as if trying to prove its swimming ability.

Soon, the other children also appeared. They stood by the riverside, happily cheering on Runa.

Since Leone was in a good mood, he summoned nine more Giant Otters, bought a saddle for all of them, and let the children mount them one by one.

Though it didn’t stop there. He summoned more Giant Crocodiles, as well as Water Lizards after that.

Soon, several children could be seen riding on these monsters’ backs.

A Giant Crocodile could easily have three riders on its back without a problem, so three kids shared a crocodile.

The Giant Water Lizard, on the other hand, was four meters long and could only take one rider on its back.

Since most of the children who could swim were riding the crocodiles and the otters, Leone ordered the Giant Water Lizards to just walk on land while letting three-year-old to five-year-old kids ride on their backs.

Truth be told, several children were envious of Runa because she had Porkchop as a mount.

So, when Leone allowed them to ride the new mounts he summoned, all of them were thrilled.

Porkchop, who realized that it had been tricked by Leone, nudged the side of the young man’s body as if to vent its frustration.

"I’m sorry, Porkchop." Leone decided to appease the Great Pudge by giving it the bread that he had stored inside his storage ring. "I won’t do it again."

*Oink!* Porkchop didn’t want to forgive the young man readily. Though after Leone took out a few sweet berries, the boar reluctantly forgave him.

*Oink!*

"Yes, yes. I promise I won’t do it again."

*Oink!*

"Okay. I’ll give you my share of bread during dinner."

Satisfied with the compromise, Porkchop nodded in satisfaction as it began to eat the bread that was given to it.

Leone then shifted his attention back to the happy children, who were giggling, cheering, and urging their mounts to swim a little faster.

The adults watched this from the side with smiles on their faces.

They knew that their chieftain was very fond of the children, and they were very fond of him as well.

"That looks fun," Aria, who had just arrived at the Hidden Valley, said softly.

"Do you want to ride one as well?" Leone asked. "I can summon one if you like."

Aria shook her head. "I don’t want to get wet. I just took a bath an hour ago."

Leone nodded in understanding. Since he couldn’t bear to tell the children that play time was over, he decided to summon another Giant Crocodile and a Giant Water Lizard.

Since he planned to experiment a bit, he decided to proceed with his plan to use Beast Synthesis.

With that, he activated the Beast Synthesis Menu and added a few drops of Bronze Dragon Blood as a key ingredient.

When the Synthesis Button turned green, he knew that both monsters had received enough blood to undergo a mutation.

A few moments later, both monsters were covered in a flesh-like cocoon.

"Aria, watch over these two for a while," Leone said. "I’ll order some warriors to look after them soon."

"Understood." Aria nodded.

The young man then gave the playing children one last glance before returning inside the underground tunnel.

He was looking forward to the result of his experiment. Not to mention, according to Daedalus, whenever a new variant of monster appeared, they would also be unlocked in the Mount Catalogue.

’I’m looking forward to the result of this experiment,’ Daedalus said.

’Me too, Daedalus,’ Leone replied. ’Me too.’

The grimoire didn’t tell Leone that Beast Synthesis was one of the taboo abilities that it could unlock after meeting certain conditions.

After all, combining monsters forcefully went against the natural order of things. Some mutations could transform the monsters into chimeras.

Hybrid monsters that looked different from other creatures.

Depending on how you look at it, a Manticore and a Gryphon could also be called chimeras since they were hybrid monsters that were formed from two or more beasts, creating a brand new species.

Monster evolutions did happen, sure.

However, these evolutions didn’t happen overnight.

They happened in the span of centuries, sometimes even thousands of years.

With that in mind, what Leone was doing was considered taboo. Not to mention, there was always a chance that he would accidentally create abominations...

Abominations that once threatened the Gods in an age long forgotten due to the great power they possessed, rivaling those of the Gods.

’I just need to make sure that Leone doesn’t create a Hecatoncheires by accident,’ Daedalus thought. ’It would be dangerous if the Gods sent someone to punish him.’

However, the grimoire had forgotten something very important.

Leone was someone who attracted trouble by merely existing.

Daedalus didn’t want to admit it, but after spending time with Leone, he understood one truth.

The young man possessed an almost supernatural talent for... accidentally turning the impossible into "Oh sh*t!" situations.

If there was a forbidden technique...

Leone would somehow stumble upon it. By accident, of course.

And if there was a one-in-a-billion chance of creating an abomination...

Daedalus had absolutely no confidence that the young man would not hit those odds.

’Perhaps I should start preparing an apology letter to the Gods in advance,’ Daedalus thought with a sigh. ’Just in case.’

Then again, knowing Leone...

He would probably end up befriending the abomination before the Gods of the world could even notice its existence.