Chapter 500: Urushi’s Feeling

It’s been a few days since Fenrir came back inside me.

Today, Fran and Urushi are still busy with their training, stalking, and fighting magic beasts. Well, I’m still stuck on this pedestal, so I used my skills to sense their presence.

It seems that the skill-sharing had grown along with my growth, extending its effective range even further than before. Now, she can go as far as the entrance of Area 4 without the sharing being cancelled. Or maybe it’s the effect of these plains and the pedestal?

Oh, the areas are the ones that I divided into according to the strength of the magical beasts that appeared when I was alone in this plain.

However, in the current Plains of the Demon Wolf, the previous point seemed to be completely meaningless.

『The strength of the monsters has gone up a lot after all. Area 1 is no exception』

In the past, Area 1 would only have small fry like goblins. Areas 2 and 3 used to have monsters with a threat level of F, and area 4 had monsters with a threat level of E, but now the threat level of the monsters that appear has gone up by one or two ranks.

Rank D magic beast seems to have appeared around the border of areas 3 and 4. In the past, it would not be surprising if one had reigned as an area boss in Area 5, the outer perimeter.

The reason why the magic beasts have become so strong is because of me. No, rather than getting stronger, it seems to be more correct to say that it has now returned to its original state.

It takes a tremendous amount of magic to summon my soul, seal it in a sword, and fix it. Of course, it is the Gods who took the lead, so they could handle most of the process. However, the pedestal and other facilities required a supply of magic power from the plains.

Well, it seems that the Gods of this world have set many restrictions, which means I can’t rely on them for everything, I guess.

To make up for the lack of magic power, they temporarily activated the magic power absorption barrier to its maximum. Because of this, the magic power of the entire Plains of the Demon Wolf had temporarily decreased, and the magic beasts that appeared became weaker.

It helped me a lot, though. It has helped me to survive and become stronger.

If the magic beast had been stronger, I would have been destroyed sooner. Even if it was safe, it would have taken me much longer to escape the Plains of the Demon Wolf. If it had been as strong as it was now, I would have been trapped in this plains for years.

I would never have met Fran in that case.

The Goddess of Chaos once told me that there is no fate in this world. But is it because I’m a former human that I feel something like fate in my encounter with Fran?

『…Looks like they took it down huh?』

Fran and Urushi had been fighting for a long time, and after storing the magic beast materials, they returned to the pedestal. They looked pretty tired.

『Good job, how was it?』

「Nn, it was pretty strong」

『Is that so?』

As usual, I didn’t give my help for them to take it down, her weapon was also not as strong as me, and she was fighting in an unfamiliar way, focusing only on martial arts. It must be hard to fight a rank D magic beast like that.

She seemed to have healed herself a little, but there were obvious signs of bleeding marks and tears on her equipment, which showed that she must have taken a lot of damage.

Urushi’s condition is also quite serious. No, it may even worse than Fran’s. These days, he tends to challenge himself to close combat, which is clearly not suited for him.

In Urushi’s case, although his evasion ability is high to begin with, his melee attack power is not so great. As a result, he can’t deal much damage to a magic beast that specialized in defense and close combat.

Fenrir’s story about his evolution path seems to be influenced by his reckless behavior.

Urushi has two paths for evolution. Being a Gehenna Wolf or a Dark Knight Wolf. He also said that both of them were a very similar evolution, except that the Gehenna Wolf has deadly poison magic, and the Dark Night Wolf has extended dark magic.

It is an evolution in which the individual status does not increase much, but the command skills such as command, leadership, bird’s eye view, and eagle’s eye view were greatly improved.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that his status won’t increase at all. He’ll become a Lord-class magic beast with a threat level of B after all. However, it’s quite weak compared to wolf-type magic beast’s evolution into an Inferno Wolf or a Valkyrie Wolf, which both specialize in close combat.

Fran would have to fight much stronger enemies in the future. At that time, it might be difficult to even cover for her from behind if he continued as he was now.

Perhaps, that’s what Urushi felt when we were in the Royal Capital.

That’s why he wanted to become even stronger.

I guess Fran can understand how Urushi feels. If she had been told, 『You won’t get stronger even if you evolve, but you will gain the ability to command other black cats』 she would never consent to it.

That’s why she decided to watch over him and not saying anything to Urushi who had become reckless.

『Fran, how was Urushi?』

「Doing his best」

『I know that, but it seems like you had a hard time huh?』

「Nn… The opponent was quite strong」

When Fran told me the details of the battle, it seemed that Urushi had made a few mistakes. Their opponent was a magic beast with hard scales like a lizard and a body like a gorilla.

Fran stalled it with her sword techniques and magic, and Urushi bit it on the neck from behind, but even that blow didn’t kill the magic beast. And Urushi was almost caught by it.

It was a typical brutish enemy that specialized in strength and defense. Urushi would have been able to defeat it without taking any damage by wearing it down with magic from a distance, but it would take a lot of time. It was better for him to support Fran and let her give the finishing blow. However, Urushi wanted to put a stop to it by himself.

Maybe, he has hope for his predatory absorption skills. But he has become too reckless this time.

『Urushi…』

「Woof…」

Don’t look so dejected. I could see the frustration all over Urushi’s face. This is the first time this easygoing wolf has ever been this depressed, isn’t it?

「Master, Urushi will become stronger. So please wait a little longer」

「Woof!」

『… Haah, I understand, so don’t look at me like that. I also understand Urushi’s feelings』

I can only stay on this pedestal and watch over them. Now that I’m in this state, I can understand how Urushi feels. I want to fight alongside Fran too. I’m sure it’s the same for me and Urushi.

『… However, don’t be too reckless okay?』

「Nn. I understand」

「Woof!」

That’s a good answer.

『Ah――』

《Analysis is complete. Proceeding with the repairs. Until the restoration is complete, the main personality will go into a dormant state, and all contact with the outside world will be cut off》

『What?』

Oioi, I haven’t heard anything about this! I mean, oh jeez, the pedestal is starting to glow!

〈The repair is expected to be completed in approximately 150 days〉

『F-fran! It looks like I’ll be leaving you for a while!』

「Master?」

「Woof?」

『During the repair, I will not be able to speak with you! It’s supposed to be done in about 150 days! Sorry! I didn’t expect it to be this soon!』

「Master!」

「Woof woof!」

『Good luck with your training! But be careful! Don’t be reckless! Get along with Urushi! Also, listen carefully to what Amanda says――』

And that’s when I lost consciousness.