Ch-335. **On a Different Level**
—
The *pet* system that existed in Pangaenia.
Yet almost no one properly raised pets.
The reason was simple.
*They’re weak, and a pain to raise.*
To begin with, the monsters that could be tamed were limited.
That was due to Pangaenia’s very nature.
Floating in the sky, with every map connected by warps—
as a result, the world was fundamentally closed off.
And being closed off meant it rejected outsiders.
Taming a monster that had already grown to a certain extent was practically impossible,
and at best, one had to steal a hatchling or an egg and try from there.
*The moment the environment changes, nine out of ten die.*
The problem, in the end, was still the environment.
Monsters that had evolved over long years in a specific location—
the moment they crossed a warp into another continent, everything changed.
They reacted sensitively even to minor differences, such as mana density,
and most of them eventually died.
Even if they survived, it was hard to expect proper growth afterward.
That was why.
Compared to the effort and care invested, the results were abysmal,
so almost no gamers raised their characters with *taming* as their core focus.
Of course, there were a few who succeeded in taming and then radically changing a species through breeding,
but even then, it was limited to lower-tier races.
Taming and breeding higher races—
let alone mythic species?
That was simply impossible.
Thus, people began to focus not on taming, but on **Souls**.
*A primal monster summoned through a Soul can be evolved.*
A Soul—
an item that appeared at an extremely brutal drop rate through hunting.
It could be mounted or summoned to assist in combat,
but due to its rarity, it rarely even appeared on the market.
And Souls weren’t used only for summoning.
They could be materials for Unique-grade equipment,
or be required to clear special quests.
As a result, almost no one used Souls as they were.
Using them as materials to craft Unique-grade equipment was far more profitable.
*Until I tried it, there wasn’t even a concept of evolving Souls.*
A monster summoned from a Soul had no conventional growth system.
Instead, it underwent evolution—or mutation.
Just because it appeared as a baby didn’t mean it would become the adult form of the same species.
Depending on evolution, there was even a small chance it would transform into an entirely different species.
I was the one who first uncovered this.
Because of that, more people began attempting to evolve Souls,
and it was said that a few even succeeded in evolving mythic species—
but even so, I was confident that no one understood Soul evolution as thoroughly as I did.
*It was essentially the only way for humans to tame mythic species.*
—*was.*
Past tense.
That was back when I was still a gamer.
Now that I had become a player, the Golden Scale Shop even sold mythic-species eggs,
but it was still far from easy.
If this competition had been about hatching eggs rather than Souls,
I wouldn’t have been so confident.
But when it came solely to the growth and competition of Souls—
I was a specialist.
That said—
*But a Soul that can grow by raising its grade…*
…This was my first time seeing something like that.
A Soul was, by definition, a summoning medium engraved with the spirit of a dead monster.
It wasn’t a proper living being, so it shouldn’t grow at all.
Aside from increasing its rank to trigger mutation or evolution,
there shouldn’t have been any other way for it to become stronger.
But perhaps because this was a trial given by the World Tree’s dungeon?
Considering that the theme itself involved confronting forgotten gods of primordial ages,
looking at it from an ordinary perspective would only lead to disaster.
*I should assume both growth and evolution are possible.*
…If that’s the case—
this *Soul* must be an extraordinarily special medium.
One that had never appeared in the world before.
If it could grow by increasing its grade, and even evolve beyond that—
*It’s more than worth raising.*
Its value was beyond estimation.
The reason I hadn’t been particularly greedy about raising the Hydragon’s Soul in the past
was because, compared to the effort required, investing in Randolph had far better returns.
Relatively speaking, the Hydragon’s Soul simply wasn’t worth as much.
But this Soul was different.
It was worth pouring everything into.
More than anything—
*…You can even form a bond with it.*
A Soul was a summon.
Nothing more than the manifested spirit of a slain monster.
It followed its summoner, but forming a bond should have been impossible.
And yet—
Kiiing!
Kyaeeng!
Woof-woof-woof!
After finishing the hunt, the Baby Hydragon wagged its tail in front of me.
Could I really call this thing just a Soul? A summon?
To anyone’s eyes, it was clearly a living being.
“Well done.”
I gently patted each of its nine heads.
《Bonding successful.》
《‘Baby Hydragon’ affection has increased.》
《After a 3-hour life-or-death battle, ‘Baby Hydragon’ has successfully hunted the ‘Ironhorn Mountain Goat Boss.’》
《Mysterious Achievement ‘Impossible Hunt’ achieved.》
《Mysterious Achievement ‘Fight on the Brink of Death’ achieved.》
《Total EXP gain +500%.》
《‘Baby Hydragon’ grade has increased to Grade 6.》
《Proficiency efficiency +2,100%.》
《Skill ‘Bite and Tear’ has reached Max Level.》
<Status Window>
Name: Baby Hydragon (Grade 6)
<Stats>
Strength: 37
Vitality: 55
Agility: 31
Intelligence: 29
Mana: 33
Skill: Bite and Tear (Max)
As expected, its grade skyrocketed all at once.
The Ironhorn Mountain Goat Boss was a mid-tier boss monster—
high defense, low offense, no longer part of a beginner hunting ground.
And after a three-hour death match, it had finally brought it down.
*Vitality rose particularly high.*
Probably because it fought recklessly, trusting its natural regeneration.
Compared to other stats, its vitality was noticeably higher.
Which meant—
the way it fought directly affected how it grew and what kind of results it produced.
I patted the Baby Hydragon’s heads even more enthusiastically.
Of course, it wasn’t only the Baby Hydragon that suffered.
*I never imagined ‘sensory sharing’ literally meant sharing sensations.*
Whenever it was attacked, the pain was transmitted to me as well—
at double intensity.
In exchange, I could subtly correct its movements through my will,
especially in dangerous situations or when striking vital points.
*If it dies, I’m in danger too.*
The problem was that, due to doubled sensory sharing, my own life was at risk.
But that also meant we understood each other that much better.
That was why the sense of closeness felt so strong.
I hesitated.
Normally, it would be safer to continue hunting here.
Woof-woof!
Srrrk—
The Baby Hydragon, seemingly gaining confidence,
was already eyeing the surrounding Ironhorn Mountain Goats like prey.
Looking past them, I spoke.
“Next… the Desert Wolf Boss, I suppose.”
…Kiiing?
Shraaak!
The Baby Hydragon cried out in shock.
Next was the territory of carnivores.
Monsters with attack power incomparable to mountain goats.
Even so, I had no intention of hunting ordinary Desert Wolves there.
I had only one goal.
*Only hunt boss monsters.*
One boss monster per zone.
I planned to relentlessly beat down only that single target.
There was a reason for this.
*The Soul’s rank only increases when you hunt monsters of higher rank.*
I had no intention of raising only the visible grade.
If I wanted to raise the invisible *rank of the Soul* as well,
hardship and adversity were necessary.
“Trust me. I won’t let you die.”
At that, the Baby Hydragon looked up at me, its eyes trembling violently with emotion.
*
*
Desert Wolf Boss.
A two-meter-tall wolf with grayish fur.
Against a monster twice its size, the Baby Hydragon had no apparent means of victory.
Naturally, I would have to help—
“Hang in there! You can do it!”
I cheered enthusiastically from a distance.
Not letting it die didn’t mean I’d help whenever it was in danger.
“Believe in yourself as much as you believe in me!”
Kraaah!
Ssssh! Ssssh!
Kyaeng!
The Baby Hydragon shrank back in terror.
Its expression screamed that it had been betrayed by the axe it trusted.
Hell couldn’t have been worse than this.
Still, the cheering wasn’t completely ineffective.
Two of the Hydragon’s heads began to counterattack.
《High-level bonding has occurred due to the hidden trait ‘Beast Lord.’》
《Cheering effect: All stats increased by 5% for 5 minutes.》
《Sensory Sharing! ‘Baby Hydragon’ bites the vital point of the ‘Desert Wolf Boss.’》
《Skill ‘Bite and Tear’ evolves into ‘Vital Bite and Tear.’》
The Desert Wolf Boss’s attacks were fierce.
Each slash and bite brought pain to me as well.
But not enough to instantly kill the Hydragon.
It repeatedly recovered through overwhelming natural regeneration,
relentlessly targeting the Desert Wolf Boss’s vital points.
The situation remained perilous—
yet I never moved a single step.
*The second way to raise a Soul’s rank is to never help.*
The summoned Soul had to hunt entirely on its own.
By default, Souls existed to support the character.
Fighting together was the norm.
But if you wanted to raise the Soul’s rank, you must never fight alongside it.
You had to let it resolve everything alone.
That was why no one had ever uncovered Soul evolution.
Because the summon had to hunt a higher-ranked monster *by itself*.
Only play that defied common sense could evolve a Soul.
…After several more hours of battle—
《After a 5-hour life-or-death battle, ‘Baby Hydragon’ has successfully hunted the ‘Desert Wolf Boss.’》
《Mysterious Achievement ‘Hunting Only Boss Monsters in Succession’ achieved.》
《Mysterious Achievement ‘On a Different Level’ achieved.》
《Total EXP gain +500%.》
《‘Baby Hydragon’ grade has increased to Grade 10.》
《Proficiency efficiency +2,100%.》
《Skill ‘Vital Bite and Tear’ has reached Max Level.》
Phew!
I let out a breath of relief and looked at the Baby Hydragon.
Pant… pant…
The Baby Hydragon was breathing just as heavily.
Then—
Whoooosh! Whoooosh!
A brilliant blue light began to radiate from its entire body.
Its size increased, and its form began to change.
Was this mutation?
Or perhaps it was stepping into adulthood.
Either way, it would become incomparably stronger than before.
Proof that my method was working.
I focused intently, watching its transformation.
And then—
《The ‘Soul Rank’ has surpassed a certain threshold.》
《‘Baby Hydragon’ begins evolution.》
《The ruler of an underground mine composed of the rarest gemstones.》
《Evolution complete: ‘Dianax (Grade 10, Mineral, Earth Attribute, Boss).’》
《Skill ‘Vital Bite and Tear (Max)’ can be used.》
《Unique Skill ‘Gem Beam (Lv.1)’ acquired.》
“…Huh.”
I let out a small exclamation as I looked at its evolved form.
It wasn’t a Hydragon anymore—it had become an entirely different species.
And not just a different species, but one of a far higher tier.
**Dianax.**
A monster whose very existence was scarcely known.
Even I had never seen one—only heard the name, a legendary species.
Which meant it was far harder to obtain than even the Hydragon’s Soul,
which was already said to be nearly impossible to acquire.
I stared blankly at Dianax.
*Just like the legends said.*
Dianax was said to be a being composed of the hardest-to-obtain minerals in the world.
Minerals considered more valuable than dragon scales.
And the legends were true.
The material composing Dianax—
was—
*…Orichalcum, the supermetal.*
An essential material for Unique-grade equipment that was said to be impossible to craft.
bro don’ you dare to use him to make unique grade weapons, you already have too many of those
With that regeneration, his Danax is a living mine of orichalcum