SL:R

Chapter 20

[I understand now.]

Beru had realized.

[The pet system seems to be a kind of war captive.]

The Shadow Extraction skill was the ability to extract shadow soldiers from the bodies of enemies. On the other hand, the pet system allowed enslaving enemies without killing them. The difference between the two was the presence or absence of ‘growth’.

[If you kill Growler right now and extract him as a shadow soldier, he will be a wolf cub forever.]

Gray’s situation differed from Beru, who had temporarily shrunk due to a lack of mana. If he became a shadow soldier, he would be extracted in his current weak and young form.

[Of course, there will be some influences as your level increases, but there will be clear limits. On the other hand, if we keep him alive and raise him…]

“He could become a huge wolf like Broki in the future.”

[Yes. By then, he could also be of help to you, Little King.]

“When will that be?” Sooho chuckled at the idea that the cub would be helpful to him and looked at Gray.
[Gray Lv.2]

Canine Wolf

“Kooong…”

Gray returned to being a wobbly little puppy as the effect madness of ‘Skill: Cruel Command’ disappeared.

Although he seemed like he could die at any moment at first, his condition seemed much better, thanks to the level-up. However, he still huddled in a corner and stared at them, making Sooho slightly uncomfortable.

Sooho sighed. “When will we ever be able to use that guy?”

[Well, even though he’s worthless now, he could be helpful if he grows bigger. You’ll earn experience points automatically, so to speak.]

“It feels like an automatic hunting game.”

However, the problem was that the game was currently at a mini-game level.

“Okay. Let’s keep raising Gray here from now on.”

– I agree. Since we have to feed him magic beasts for three meals a day anyway, this environment couldn’t be better.”

“Mm?”

[Mm?]

– Wh-what? Aren’t we on the same side now?

“…”

It was Rakan’s Fang that had chimed in from the side. By the way, Rakan’s Fang had been floating around Sooho by Ruler’s Authority since earlier.

Snap.

Sooho snatched its handle and said, “Okay, then should I start leveling up too?” His coming into the Shadow Dungeon wasn’t just for Gray.

Even after completing the four-hour survival quest last time, wild goblins still wandered around the Shadow Dungeon. Even without a quest, he would still gain experience by hunting them.

‘Last time, I was too weak and just ran away, but now the situation is much different.’

Indeed, it was worth leveling up then. Most of the goblins’ name tags had turned white. At this level, Sooho was confident enough to face them no matter how many of them there were.

However, there was no way he could go around looking for the creatures hiding in the darkness one by one.

“Inventory.” Sooho took out an item that dropped from the goblins when they were killed during the last survival quest from his inventory.