“Alright. All we’ve got left now is the Crimson Wolf!”
We hurried over to Urushi after defeating the Adamantite Beetle and the Demon in hopes of providing backup, only to discover that our help was completely unneeded.
The battle was practically over.
Urushi’s offenses weren’t as great as the Crimson Wolf’s. In fact, he was notably weaker from a physical standpoint, period. However, he had still managed to do his foe harm by slowly using poison to shave away at its health.
The large red dog’s eyes were filled with purple specks. Its fur had fallen off in patches; bald spots were visible all over its body. Its breathing was shallow and it would even cough every once in a while. It was obvious that its insides had been heavily damaged with a fast acting poison.
Urushi was injured too. The entire right half of his body was covered in burns. In fact, his right eye had vanished altogether.
Despite their injuries, both wolves were glaring at each other and snarling. It was clear that each still wished to kill the other.
Although Urushi looked closer to death, he was in fact faring much better than the Crimson Wolf. The latter vomiting blood was a sign that it was already too late to treat him. The poison had won. Urushi had won.
The black wolf made use of the red one’s weakness. He cast a spell that led the shadows to bind the other wolf’s feet before lunging at it and tearing out its throat.
And so ended the battle. The crimson wolf wheezed one last time before falling over on its side.
Urushi placed his paws atop his enemy’s corpse and howled to declare himself the victor before also collapsing on the spot.
I hurried over to the wolf in panic and began to heal him. I managed to fix most of his wounds, eye aside. He had the ability to regenerate, so he was sure to get it back in time, but we were on too tight a schedule to sit around and wait until it did.
And since it was probably best to have him in peak condition, I used one of the high grade potions we had on hand and sprinkled it over his eye, which promptly regenerated over the course of ten odd seconds. Man, are we lucky we managed to get our hands on these.
“There, all better. How are you feeling, Urushi?”
“Ruff.”
“Whew. Good to hear.”
“Good boy.”
“Woof!”
Truth be told, I would have liked to give both Fran and Urushi some time to rest, but we just didn’t have any to spare. Thus, I decided to do to Fran as I did to Urushi and had her drink a potion. It wasn’t going to help with her mental fatigue, which in fact was much worse than her physical fatigue, but we were going to have to make do for the time being.
“Alright. That took a good bit. We’ll have to hit the gas if we want to catch up to that army.”
“Nn!”
“But first, I should probably absorb this monster’s core. Assuming you don’t mind, Urushi.”
“Woof!”
It was technically his prey, so I made sure to get his permission before jabbing my blade into the mana-filled stone within the Crimson Wolf’s heart.
Being a C ranked monster, the wolf was worth a wealth of core points. And with me being close to a level as I was…
Self evolution has occurred.
“Boooyaaah!” Woo! I called it! Man, that’s lucky. Now, I’ve not only got all my mana back, but I’ve also even got a couple self evolution points to work with. This’ll hopefully make all the upcoming battles a lot easier.
***
Name: Master
Wielder: Fran (Bound)
Race: Intelligent Weapon
ATK: 726
MP: 5500/5500
Durability: 5300/5300
Magical Conductivity: A+
Self Evolution – Rank 14
Core Points: 9133/10500
Memory: 138
Self Evolution Points: 70
***
“Master? What happened?” Fran asked me curiously in response to my sudden shout. Oops. Let myself get a little bit too excited there.
“I ranked up!,” I said excitedly. “My MP is all the way back up to full, and I’ve also got us a whole 70 self evolution points. Just in case.”
“Wooooow,” said Fran, extending the word to demonstrate that she was impressed.
“Oh and by the way, you’ve both leveled up three times.”
We’d defeated a number of enemies, especially powerful ones, so I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be complaining that they’d only gain three each, or rejoicing given that levels weren’t all that easy to come by to begin with. I was leaning towards the latter, given that many adventurers found it hard to make their way all the way up to level 40, even in their middle ages.
Besides, levels weren’t all we gained. Fran had gotten a new title: Annihilator of Monsters. Its description read as follows.
***
Annihilator of Monsters
A title granted to one that has defeated over a thousand monsters belonging to at least 100 distinct species. This title increases the title bearer’s stats when in battle with one or more monsters. The bonus is proportional to the number of monsters and their strength.
***
“Hmmm… now what do I put points in? Oh wait, this isn’t the time for that. Let’s chase after that army. I’ll figure all this point stuff out along the way.”
“Nn.”
I put the Crimson Wolf’s corpse into my inventory as Fran mounted Urushi.
“Alright boy, chase!”
“Woof!”
We pursued the army, which had already gained quite a bit of distance on us. We talked about my newfound points and the manner in which we would use them along the way.
“Anything you want in particular, Fran?”
“Magic Mastery?”
“Hmmm, yeah, that’s a good one.”
Turning Vigour Manipulation into Vigour Mastery had drastically boosted the power of all our physical skills while shortening their cast times.
It only made sense for Magic Mastery to provide a similar effect. It was sure to be extremely useful if it worked exactly as we expected.
“Master? Want to point anything?”
“I, for one, want mana absorption.”
It was a very important skill, one that would let me sustain myself as I cut through the horde of monsters we were about to face. We had left it at level 9 because we didn’t have the points to push it any further. I was certain that level 10 would come with a boost in functionality worth the expenditure.
Thinking about Mana Absorption sparked a related thought that ultimately led to interest in one of the skills we had just gained in our recent rampage amongst the enemy’s ranks: Life Absorption. It sounded like a skill that would allow Fran to use Brilliant Lightning Rush more frequently and for longer periods of time with greater ease. It seemed like a skill we could put to great use, especially combined with Mana Absorption.
“Alright, we’re running out of time to think about stuff, so I’ll just point everything I just mentioned for now, since we’re pretty much guaranteed to use them as soon as we make contact with the enemy.”
“Got it.”
The first thing I did was dump five points into Magic Manipulation. The skill only evolved a single time, but the effect gained from the change was incredible.
“Amazing!”
“I know, right?”
Fran’s eyes widened as she felt a change occur in the skill’s effects. It not only bolstered our magical offenses, but also increased our ability to perceive magical energy. Drastically, at that. It was almost as if our eyes had finally been opened, or like someone had pulled the plugs out of our ears. The world itself seemed to have become a different, more vivid place altogether. Magic Mastery’s effects exceeded Vigour Mastery’s by far.
“Okay. Next, Mana Absorption.”
Mana Absorption has reached its maximum level. You have obtained the Mana Thief skill.
Oh nice, a new skill. I’ll figure out how to use it later. After I finish pointing stuff.
Life Absorption has reached its maximum level. You have obtained the Life Thief skill.
Huh. So that one got upgraded too. I wonder what it does. Maybe just boost the amount of stuff I drain?
Magic Manipulation had eaten five points, Mana Absorption two, and Life Absorption eighteen, for a total of twenty five points consumed. In other words, I had forty five remaining.
“Now, what do I do with the rest…?”
“Magic to restrain enemies?”
“Hmmm….”
Yeah, that sounds like it’d be pretty useful. But which element should I focus on…?
****
General Information
Name: Fran
Age: 12
Race: Beastkin//Black Catkin//Black Heavenly Tigerkin
Class: Magic Warrior
State: Contracted
Level: 46->49/99
HP: 557->579
MP: 437->450
STR: 311 -> 324
VIT: 244 -> 256
AGI: 302-316
INT: 215->221
MGC: 256->265
DEX: 214->222
Skills
Espionage: Lv 5
Wind Magic: Lv 4
Court Etiquette: Lv 4
Presence Detection: Lv 7
Sword Techniques: Lv 8
Sword Arts: Lv 9
Resistance to Evil Energies: Lv 1
Blink: Lv 7
Fire Magic: Lv 7
Lightning Magic: Lv 4
Cooking: Lv 2
Disarm Traps: Lv 2
Trap Detection: Lv 2
Undead Killer
Evil Killer
Insect Killer
Vigour Mastery
Goblin Killer
Mental Stability
Demon Killer
Skilled Skinner
Resolute
Sense of Direction
Magic Mastery
Night Vision
Innate Skills
Awakening
Brilliant Lightning Rush
Magical Convergence
Special Skills
Black Cat’s Divine Protection
Titles
Undead Killer
One Man Army [1]
Insect Killer
Evil Killer
Lord of Dismantling
Recovery Mage
Sword Lord
Goblin Killer
One Who Slaughters
Skill Collector
Skill Maniac
Dungeon Conqueror
Big Game Eater
Demon Killer
Earth Mage
Fire Mage
Wind Mage
Lightning Mage
Lord of Cooking
(New) Monster Annihilator
Equipment
Black Cat Set
*****
General Information
Name: Urushi
Species: Darkness Wolf (Wolf-type Monster)
State: Normal
Level: 33/50
HP: 764
MP: 875
STR: 416
VIT: 346
AGI: 519
INT: 320
MGC: 549
DEX: 274
Skills
Darkness Resistance: Lv 9
Darkness Magic: Lv 4
Keen Sense of Smell: MAX
Espionage: Lv 7
Fang Techniques: Lv 6
Fang Arts: Lv 7
Shadowdive: MAX
Shadowstalk: Lv 6
Sky Leap: Lv 8
Fear: Lv 4
Vigilance: Lv 8
Presence Isolation: Lv 6
Regeneration: Lv 5
Deadly Poison Magic: Lv 2
Evil Perception: Lv 1
Evil Resistance: Lv 1
Blink: Lv 5
Covert Action: Lv 6
Necromancy: Lv 5
Detect Life: Lv 8
Sound Mind: Lv 6
Claw Arts: Lv 2
Poison Magic: MAX
Echolocation: Lv 8
Roar: Lv 8
Shadowblend: MAX
Dark Magic: MAX
Night Vision
Sovereign Poison Fang
Passive HP Recovery
Passive MP Recovery
Poison Nullification
Shapeshifting
Magic Manipulation
Unique Skills
Predatory Absorption
Titles
Kin to the Sword
Kin to the Wolf God
Equipment
Claw of Capture
