Chapter 60: Chapter 59 - Private (2)

Flying through the sky while riding the salamander had an incredible feeling.

He wanted to continue flying like this forever.

But it was obvious that the salamander was tiring.

It simply wasn't used to flying yet and the evolution process itself had used up a lot of its stamina.

The salamander lowered itself and returned to the dungeon entrance and rather than being selfish, Yong-Ho decided to let the salamander rest for a while.

The salamander landed on the ground. Since it didn't have any experience flying, it landed quite roughly, but no one really cared.

The Orcs were the first ones to clap and then some of the spirits followed and clapped as well.

The salamander must've felt embarrassed because it groaned and then shook its head.

Yong-Ho patted the salamander on the back and then got off. Since a handle was already there, if he could get a nice saddle from somewhere, then it would be perfect.

'But.'

Because of his excitement, there was something that he missed.

Was it too much?

He wasn't referring to the salamander's evolution. He was talking about the fact that he had evolved the salamander outside of the dungeon.

Because she observed around the House of Mammon's dungeon, she realized that Yong-Ho was the owner.

The fact that Ophelia knew what Catalina looked like was a big hint.

The other owners and the pub's information agents closely observed Foras's dungeon, so they knew that Foras wasn't coming back.

Yong-Ho turned around.

Ophelia said that other than her, there wasn't anyone else that was watching around the House of Mammon's dungeon.

She was able to watch them through the artifact that her father left. He left it in an alleyway within the House of Mammon in case Kaiwan returned.

Since the dungeon entrance and the area around it were protected by mana, installing a monitoring magic or artifact was difficult. Those that monitored the area were usually spirits, like the Dungeon Meerkat, that monitor and sense the surroundings.

'I don't think there was anyone that saw it, but...'

But it was a bit overboard. It was something he had to refrain from doing next time.

'I need to be more careful'

When Yong-Ho turned back around, he noticed that the spirits were looking at him, so he smiled awkwardly.

Their eyes were really sparkling.

Catalina was looking at the salamander with an uncomfortable expression and it seemed like she wanted to ride it, but was stopping herself from asking. The way her tail and ears were drooping looked cute, but at the same time, he felt bad.

The Orcs excitedly talked about how everything that the Goblins said were true and the Goblins and Kobold were busy jumping around. Skull also cheered while waving around his hammer.

But among them, the Treant was the most excited.

The Treant was more excited than the salamander and it looked at Yong-Ho as its branches started to shake around. A human's face was visible on the tree's body, so Yong-Ho was able to see its excited expression.

'The Treant is aware of it.'

The fact that it was next.

Yong-Ho turned around again. And he thought that using the power again wouldn't hurt since he'd already done it once, so he approached the Treant.

When Yong-Ho got closer to the Treant, the other spirits closed their mouths and looked at the both of them. The spirits looked like spectators watching a magic show.

Yong-Ho slightly glanced over. The Princess Ant, who was standing next to the Kobold, was blinking her eyes. Even though it had only been a couple of days, it seemed like she had developed emotions.

He couldn't push back on registering her as a spirit. But today would end with Treant's evolution.

"Okay. Don't be nervous and just relax."

As it relaxed, the Treant's branches stopped shaking. Yong-Ho raised his left hand again so that the spirits could see it clearly. Yong-Ho used the Power of Evolution to look at the Treant's stats.

[Race: Treant (M)]

[Type: Monster Spirit (Low Rank)]

[Element: Earth Level 1]

[Individual Trait]

[Naive]

[Individual Skill]

[Vines / Stamina]

[Development Rate: 100/100]

[Vines (Tentacles) Level 1 | ★★ (2)] -> Advancement route revealed upon development

[Stamina Level 0 | ★★ (2)]

[Agility Level 0 | ★ (1)]

Since it was originally a Rank Two spirit and had only evolved once, it was a lot weaker than the salamander in many ways.

Yong-Ho had already thought about the Treant's development route, so he chose Vines without hesitation.

Light enveloped the Treant this time too. The Treant's silhouette transformed within the light and the other spirits stopped breathing and focused on the Treant.

The light disappeared. Yong-Ho released a long sigh and pulled back his hand that was on top of the Treant's body. He took a few steps back and examined its entire body.

Its body grew bigger and the number of vines increased. It was safe to say that there was around twice as many.

The spirits excitedly clapped this time too.

But after evolving, the Treant looked at itself for a moment and with a sad face, its vines fell to the floor.

It seemed like it was expecting to obtain wings too.

'I'm sorry. That's impossible.'

Even though the salamander had obtained wings it previously didn't have, he thought that change was possible because it was within an acceptable range.

But he couldn't imagine wings appearing on a tree and giving it the ability to fly.

Yong-Ho tapped the Treant's vines as if he was telling it to cheer up and then looked at the advancement route.

[Treant - Assault Type] | [Treant - Defensive Type]

Both of them looked slow as usual, but the assault type had pine cones along with the vines and also thorns. For the defensive type, the leaves were bigger and thicker.

After checking the advancement route, Yong-Ho looked back at Eligor. He walked into the House of Mammon's dungeon along with the spirits.

***

"Seriously! Why didn't you come in when you arrived?!"

"Did you do that to worry me?"

"But you're back safe and sound."

Lucia greeted Yong-Ho by making a fuss in the beginning and then talking softly afterwards.

The way she acted was pretty cute, so after he chuckled like Skull, he looked around the dungeon entrance room. Even though they had reorganized a large part of the dungeon, there wasn't a big change to the entrance room.

"We've finished reorganizing the inside passageway, like you've instructed. We're currently reinstalling the traps and building the workshop."

Eligor explained after reading Yong-Ho's mind. Yong-Ho nodded his head and looked at the ceiling. He spoke as he waved his finger into the air.

"Lucia, is it possible to register the Princess Ant as a spirit now?"

"It's possible."

"From the way you acted outside, it seems like you're in a hurry today, Master."

"I'm not done. I have a present for you too."

Lucia didn't reply right away. If she was a human, she would probably be blinking her eyes in excitement.

"A present for me?"

"You brought me a present?"

"Let's start the registration. Support me."

Yong-Ho spoke slowly as if he was trying to change the subject and then looked at the Kobold and the Princess Ant. When Yong-Ho lightly waved his hand, the Kobold understood and immediately brought the Princess Ant in front of him.

Yong-Ho imagined Lucia pouting with an unsatisfied look. That's what she must've been doing because she spoke in a slightly sulky tone.

"Preparations are complete. Please begin."

"Like I've mentioned before, registering the Princess Ant as a spirit will take a lot more mana than usual."

"Please keep that in mind."

She must've created a line between public and private matters because her voice was calm again.

After nodding his head, he placed his hand on top of the Princess Ant's head.

Because she saw what happened outside, she slightly flinched, but then closed her eyes and didn't push back his hand.

Like Lucia warned earlier, the amount of mana that it took to register them was similar to when he evolved the salamander.

The Princess Ant groaned and a white magic circle appeared on her forehead.

"The registration is complete. The Princess Ant is now the House of Mammon's spirit."

"Whew."

When looking at the amount of mana he had consumed, it was like he had evolved a spirit three times, so he let out a deep sigh and pulled his hand back. The Princess Ant then opened her eyes and after looking at herself, a disappointed look appeared on her face as her shoulders dropped. She probably thought she was going to transform.

Yong-Ho patted her head. Maybe it's because she had now been registered, but he felt closer to her.

And it was the same for the Princess Ant. She was like an inanimate object before and now was starting to show a bit of emotion.

'Let me push my limit a bit more.'

The spirit registration felt like an annual event.

Yong-Ho activated the Power of Evolution.

[Race: Crazy Ant (F)]

[Position: Princess Ant]

[Type: Monster Spirit (Low Rank)]

[Element: Coldness - Level 0]

[Individual Trait]

[Innocent]

[Individual Skill]

[Charm / Mana]

[Evolution Rate : 0/100]

[Charm Level 0 | ★★ (2)]

[Emotion Level 0 | ★☆ (1.5)]

[Mana Level 0 | ★★ (2)]

[Stamina Level 0 | ★ (1)]

[Attribute Strengthening Level 0 | ★☆ (1.5)]

'Good.'

Yong-Ho touched the window of light that displayed the evolution route. There was a faint silhouette above the Princess Ant's body, but none of them showed any dramatic changes. It just felt like when a 10 year old turned a year older.

'Will there be a Queen Ant advancement when she becomes an adult?'

"Usually, the Princess Ant needs anywhere from a few years to over a decade in order to become a Queen Ant."

"Since she's lost her colony, there's a possibility that she might choose to grow quickly in order to create a new one."

'I wonder.'

Yong-Ho nodded his head and looked at the Princess Ant again. After lowering himself so that he could be on the same level as her, he spoke.

"I look forward to working with you. Starting today, your name is Yuria."

Maybe it's the effects of the spirit registration, but it felt like the Princess Ant actually understood what he said. Even in the spirit list, Yuria was added to it.

The Kobold, who was always accompanying the Princess Ant, barked as he jumped around. It seemed like he was congratulating her, but at the same time, it was like he was signaling Yong-Ho to give him a name as well.

'How about Spot or Puppy?'

It might be too much to name all the spirits that he was going to register from now on, but he felt that he should at least give the Treant and the salamander a name.

'For the salamander, maybe Lamborghini, Diablo or Porsche...no, that's a bit too much. Maybe Salami?'

Anyways, he decided to think about it later. He had to discuss with Eligor regarding the things that happened at the free city and he had to understand the new dungeon layout.

After Eligor dismissed the spirits, Yong-Ho spoke with a relaxed expression.

"I know it's a bit late, but it worked out great."

"It seems that way."

Eligor smiled warmly. Yong-Ho gathered Eligor, Catalina and Skull and walked towards the inner part of the dungeon. After checking how the passageways have been reorganized on the dungeon map, he asked a question.

"Where's the Dwarf now?"

Only

The Dwarf had manufacturing skills and in the future they would be in charge of the workshop.

Eligor answered Yong-Ho's question with a warm smile.

"Of course they're in the prison."

Why did he say "of course" in the beginning?

Yong-Ho asked again with a confused look.

"Just out of curiosity, you didn't torture them, right?"

A sulky expression appeared on Eligor's face and Yong-Ho released a sigh of relief.