“Squish.”
「First, go hunt a monster. It needs to be strong enough.」
「I'll supervise from the sidelines this time, but after this, you'll have to hunt on your own.」
「This is your homework. From now on, just finish your hunt every morning and bring the prey to me.」
Zoe coaxed Vera as if she were a kindergartener.
Vera nodded excitedly, seemingly unable to wait to begin her evil deeds.
“Why go through the trouble of hunting every single morning? Why not just hunt enough all at once?”
Vera seemed like the kind of white dragon who wanted to finish all her vacation homework in one go so she could play to her heart's content.
“Squish.”
「Foolish. If you hunt them all at once, who will spread the fear of your evil?」
「You must hunt them down one by one, letting them slowly notice the silence of the forest. Let them watch as their neighbors grow fewer and fewer until the entire forest falls dead silent.」
「Only then will they remember your wickedness in terror.」
Staring at the dialogue box popping up from Zoe with her head tilted, Vera felt a shiver run from her spine all the way to the tip of her tail.
In her innocent dragon eyes, it was as if she could already see that scene, imagining herself reigning supreme with her evil majesty.
She imagined other monsters fleeing in panic at the sight of her, and how they would whisper in fear, calling her the evil white dragon.
“T-T-Too evil!”
“Zoe, you are so rotten-to-the-core evil!”
I just don't want to eat carrion; I want to eat fresh food every day.
“Squish.”
「Let the hunt begin. I will only accompany you today; after this, you must hunt on your own.」
「If you encounter a monster you can't beat, run back in time and I will handle it.」
Upon hearing the word “run,” Vera reacted as if triggered, shaking her head vigorously.
“How could a great white dragon run away!”
She really had a child's mind. Though her childish attitude was somewhat endearing, being too stubborn in this forest was an easy way to get killed.
“Squish.”
「This is called being devious. Doesn't that sound rotten-to-the-core evil?」
“Devious! That is indeed evil!”
Vera instantly accepted the condition of running away if she couldn't win.
For her first hunt, they targeted a giant bearman.
A giant bearman occupied a similar ecological niche to a four-armed ape demon, making it a top-tier existence among Low-tier Monsters.
Zoe did not intervene, instead observing the white dragon's combat capability.
Vera had clearly not mastered any dragon magic. After all, her intelligence was only that of a seven-year-old, so she obviously couldn't comprehend the inherited knowledge in her head.
However, the kid was incredibly strong and could fly. Using these advantages, she quickly overwhelmed the giant bearman, defeating it in no time.
With her relatively tough dragon scales, Vera's strength firmly put her at the peak of Low-tier Monsters.
But once her ability to fly was stripped, she would just be a grounded chicken.
“How did Vera do!”
“Squish.”
「Excellent. From now on, just hand in your homework to me every morning. In less than three months, people will be calling you the evil white dragon.」
Looking at Zoe's dialogue box, Vera flapped her dragon wings excitedly.
“Splendid!”
“Squish.”
「Now, transport this corpse back to the cave. Can you fly while carrying it?」
“Yes! I can carry many things on my back!”
‘What kind of mount-like declaration is that?’
Zoe found a cave on the low hill from earlier.
Since Zoe was now at the very top of the local monster food chain, there was no need to look for a hidden cave; he could openly choose any cave to live in.
Meanwhile, Vera found a slightly smaller cave on the other side of the hill, and so began her evil white dragon project.
Vera had no idea that her life as a working dragon had just begun.
She simply hunted every morning and transported her prey to Zoe's cave, all in exchange for a single compliment.
「You are one step closer to becoming the evil white dragon.」
「I can feel your evil drawing closer to mine.」
Just this kind of praise was enough to make Vera incredibly happy; as long as someone praised her for being evil, they were Vera's best friend.
With Vera helping with the hunts, Zoe could free up his mornings to grind skill mastery, greatly accelerating his progress.
Just like that, a week passed.
[Skill Digest Lv3 (D-grade) Mastery +1. Skill Digest mastery is full. Leveled up to Digest Lv4 (D-grade)]
[Digest Lv4 (D-grade) has affected your body. Constitution +1]
[Experience is full. Your level has increased to Lv20]
[Agility +1, Free Stat Point +1]
With the leveling up of the skill [Digest], Zoe's Experience was filled to the brim by the feedback energy from the skill, reaching the absolute limit of a Low-tier Monster.
Zoe hopped off the food he was eating and focused his mind to calm himself.
[Canon of Withered Life Lv2 (B-grade)] Mastery: 499/500
[Canon of Withered Life] had reached the limit of Lv2 long ago. Zoe had been waiting to reach Level 20 so that he could break through directly to Level 21 and promote to a Mid-tier Monster.
As he began to meditate, the mana in the atmosphere grew clear, and Zoe's lifespan began to slip away at four times its normal speed.
Until...
[Canon of Withered Life Lv2 (B-grade) Mastery +1]
[Canon of Withered Life Lv2 (B-grade) mastery is full. Leveled up to Canon of Withered Life Lv3 (B-grade)]
[Canon of Withered Life Lv3 (B-grade) has affected your body. Level +1]
In an instant, Zoe's remaining vast lifespan rushed out like a burst dam.
It did not stop until more than half of it had drained away.
Exactly as the description of [Canon of Withered Life] stated, one would consume their lifespan until withered to bear the most bountiful fruit.
Zoe's body began to expand, and his color also began to shift from deep blue to a profound, deep purple.
[Your class has changed. Promoted from Low-tier Monster to Mid-tier Monster]
[Strength +5, Agility +5, Constitution +5, Intelligence +10]
[Maximum Mana +1000]
[You may choose any one skill to receive Mastery +3000]
“To think there would be such a pleasant surprise.”
Zoe looked at his skill bar, and without any hesitation, poured all of the mastery into [High-speed Regeneration].
[Skill High-speed Regeneration Lv3 (C-grade) Mastery +3000. Mastery is full. Leveled up to High-speed Regeneration Lv4 (C-grade)]
[High-speed Regeneration Lv4 has affected your body. Constitution +3, Maximum Mana +300]
Zoe's body emitted a dazzling purple light as lifeforce welled up from his body like a spring.
[High-speed Regeneration Lv4 (C-grade)] Mastery: 2521/5000 (Expert)
Zoe felt his completely rejuvenated body and the new power flowing within him.
The change in his lifespan was the most dramatic of all.
He originally had 94 years of lifespan remaining. Upgrading [Canon of Withered Life] to Lv3 consumed 50 years.
Then, promoting to a Mid-tier Monster added 30 years to his lifespan, and leveling up [High-speed Regeneration] to Lv4 added another 30 years.
The vitality contained in the [High-speed Regeneration] skill was simply too powerful. If the previous incremental increases were factored in, [High-speed Regeneration Lv4] directly provided a 50-year increase to his physical lifespan.
“So...”
“I still have 104 years of lifespan left.”
“How is it that the more I burn my lifespan, the more I have? [Canon of Withered Life], are you even trying?”
Zoe looked at [Canon of Withered Life], which had been promoted to Lv3.
First was the lifespan required for the next skill upgrade: 200 years.
Upgrading [Canon of Withered Life] from Lv3 to Lv4 would directly consume 200 years of lifespan.
In addition, the Withered State, Fruit State, and Withered Fruit State had all been enhanced.
The talent boost of the Withered State was enhanced, and the Fruit State's mana boost increased from 3 times the total mana to 4 times.
The Withered Fruit State's all-attribute bonus increased from +7 to +10, and its duration was extended to one and a half minutes.
At this moment, his total mana was 3011.
Zoe activated the Withered State, overriding the previous Lv2 version. He felt that he had indeed become much smarter.
Rate on N.U.
