Chapter 88
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You defeated the Field Boss, Poison Flame Turtle Dragon (Tarasque).
You are the first party to defeat the Field Boss, Poison Flame Turtle Dragon (Tarasque).
All party members receive special rewards and 6 SP.
From next time onward, you may choose whether to fight the Field Boss.
Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your familiar's Race level has increased.
Your familiar's Job level has increased.
Your familiar, Karnagtul, acquired 【Horn】.
Your familiar, Karnagtul, has reached the required Race level. Evolution is possible.
Karnagtul's master, Izam, please initiate the evolution.
Your familiar, Karnagtul, has reached the required Job level. Job Change is possible.
Karnagtul's master, Izam, please initiate the Job Change.
Your 【Divine Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new spell, 【Holy Ring】.
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The battle against the Poison Flame Turtle Dragon (Tarasque) was long and grueling. But at the same time, it was incredibly fun! Everyone gave the battle everything they had. The sense of accomplishment from winning was beyond compare. Well, I would be at a loss if someone told me to do it all over again.
There were plenty of things to do, such as checking our rewards and the new magic I had learned, but one thing took priority above all else. Naturally, that was Kar's evolution and Job Change!
"Kyukyukyu!"
"Oh, there, there. Kar, you were the star of that battle!"
"Kyu!"
Even though he had lost one of his wings, Kar was full of energy as he flew into my arms. I praised him while stroking his head. Kar seemed delighted to be praised and petted, rubbing his body against me with half-closed eyes as he cuddled up to me. What was this adorable creature?
"Kar. You have finally reached level 10... the point where you can evolve and change Jobs."
"Kyu?"
"In short, you can become stronger. Now, shall we evolve?"
"Kyu!"
It seemed that I, Kar's master, had to operate his evolution and Job Change myself. I opened my Status from the menu and touched the blinking name 'Karnagtul' in the familiar section. Kar's Status appeared, and it was as follows.
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Name: Karnagtul
Race: Dragon Puppy Lv10 max!
Job: Dragon Puppy Lv10 max!
Skill: 【Claw】
【Fangs】
【Horn】
【Tail Strike】
【Vitality Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Defense Enhancement】
【Intelligence Enhancement】
【Mental Enhancement】
【Fire Magic】
【Dark Magic】
【Void Magic】
【Flight】
【Dragon Scales】
【Dragon Breath】
【Please add a selectable Skill】
【Please add a selectable Skill】
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Oh! Here it is! I knew what the words 'Please add a selectable Skill' meant. Just in case, I had researched on the forums beforehand what would happen when Kar became eligible for evolution.
According to what I found, when a familiar evolves, its player master can add Skills of their choosing. However, it is not possible to choose just anything. As the display says, they must be 'selectable.'
Apparently, testing had not yet determined what could and could not be chosen during evolution. However, there was a rough theory. The selectable Skills were supposedly related to the familiar's innate potential and the Skills its master could use.
In FSW, the Job for players who use familiars is called Tamer. An interesting feature of this Job is that, when selecting it, you can choose whether to receive level-up bonuses to warrior-type or mage-type stats. Apparently, both front-line Tamers who raise warrior-type stats and back-line Tamers who raise mage-type stats exist.
Apparently, someone had raised Goblins with a warrior-type Tamer and a mage-type Tamer at the same time, then compared the Skills they could select when the Goblins evolved. Most of the Skills were shared, but there were apparently several that differed.
The shared Skills were mostly stat-enhancement Skills such as 【Strength Enhancement】 and weapon Skills such as 【Swordsmanship】. A Goblin raised by a warrior-type Tamer could apparently select the 【Shieldsmanship】 Skill its master possessed, while a Goblin raised by a mage-type Tamer could select the 【Fire Magic】 and 【Light Magic】 Skills its master possessed.
From this, they concluded that the Skills available when a familiar evolved were based on both its innate potential and its master's Skills.
"But having two selectable Skill slots... As expected of a dragon."
However, according to the forum information, every monster reported so far had only one selectable Skill slot. Dragons must receive preferential treatment in this area as well.
Having more slots was certainly helpful, but the problem was which Skills to choose. It was an extremely difficult decision. Kar was a dragon, so his racial potential was excellent. As a result, almost every stat-enhancement Skill was available to him. And since I was his master and had acquired magic of every kind indiscriminately, he had an equally broad selection of magic.
I had already decided on the first Skill: 【Regeneration】. This was not a Skill like 【Increased Vitality Recovery Speed】, which accelerated vitality recovery over time. It was a Skill that consumed mana to heal wounds and restore missing limbs.
Kar had lost a wing in this battle. If he had 【Regeneration】, he should be able to restore it.
But the problem was the other Skill. No, what should I choose? Hmm...
"Kyukyuk. Kyu!"
"Hm? What is it, Kar?"
As I stroked Kar while pondering, he began repeatedly patting my mask. Had something upset him?
"Kyukyukyu! Kyukyu!"
"...Could it be that there is a Skill you want to acquire?"
"Kyu!"
Kar nodded energetically. Apparently, there was a Skill he wanted to acquire. In that case, I would respect his wishes. There was just one thing I wanted to ask him first.
"Kar, would you choose 【Regeneration】 as one of your Skills?"
"Kyu!"
Kar answered with the nuance of 'Of course!' He must have truly felt the inconvenience of losing a wing. Such an intelligent boy. Now, what would he choose for the other Skill?
"What would you like? A stat-enhancement Skill? A martial-arts Skill?"
"Kyukyu."
Kar shook his head. Huh? Neither of those?
"Then, magic?"
"Kyu!"
Oh, apparently Kar wanted to learn magic. Just what I would expect from my familiar. Now, which one would he want?
"Can you choose Compound Magic? There are eleven types besides the three you already know..."
"Kyukyu!"
Oh? Elemental magic was not what he wanted. Perhaps he preferred something a little different?
"Then there are 【Summoning】, 【Enchantment】, 【Talisman Arts】, and 【Magic Circles】..."
"Kyukyu!"
That was not it either? Then all that remained was...
"Don't tell me you want to learn Abyssal Magic?"
"Kyu!"
W-what?! Kar apparently wanted to become a user of Abyssal Magic, which humanity considered a collection of evil forbidden arts.
That... was perfectly fine! He was my familiar, and I wanted to become an expert in Abyssal Magic myself, so it was only natural that he could use it. In fact, it seemed downright fitting!
"Then which one would you like? There are 【Necromancy】, 【Curse Arts】, 【Trap Magic】, and 【Spirit Summoning】, among others."
"Kyu!"
"Huh? Don't tell me you want 【Evil Arts】?"
"Kyu!"
Good grief! Of all things, he wanted 【Evil Arts】? It was a parade of exceptionally dangerous techniques... Well, the dragon himself said he wanted it, so I would choose it for him! Whatever happened next was not my responsibility!
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Your familiar, Karnagtul, acquired 【Regeneration】.
Your familiar, Karnagtul, acquired 【Evil Arts】.
Your familiar, Karnagtul, has begun evolving.
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"Kyuooooooooo!!!"
As the announcement rang in my head, Kar let out a roar. At the same time, his body suddenly began growing larger, accompanied by pattering and cracking sounds.
"Kyuooo... Gwoooooon!!!"
Kar's voice changed from its former adorable sound to something fierce and resonant, rumbling from the depths of his belly. His evolution must have finished successfully.
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Your familiar, Karnagtul, evolved into Lesser Dragon.
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Apparently, Kar had evolved into a Lesser Dragon. I had expected him to gain some kind of attribute, but that did not seem to have happened.
Other than becoming larger, there were no particular changes in his appearance. Well, he had become large enough for me to ride. He had grown from the size of a small dog to the size of a horse all at once. Wasn't that a little too much!?
Still, considering the massive body of Agnasrerim-sama, the Dragon Lord, it seemed reasonable. Perhaps Kar could become that large after gaining another seventy levels or so. I wanted him to keep growing stronger without limit.
"Grrrrrr♪"
"Oh, there, there. You're still a spoiled little darling, aren't you, Kar?"
Apparently, while his body had grown larger, his inner self had not matured so quickly. As usual, Kar rubbed his body against me and cuddled up to me. He had suddenly become larger than I was, but I still found him adorable. Was that because I was an overindulgent parent?
"Hm, then shall we have you change Jobs as well?"
I continued by touching Kar's Job section. Surprisingly, there was only one possible Job Change candidate.
"The only Job you can choose is Lesser Dragon...? Come to think of it, Agnasrerim-sama's Job was Dragon Lord too."
I could not say for certain, but perhaps a Dragon's Job was the same as its Race. There was probably some reason for it, but I would leave that analysis for later. For now, I would have Kar change Jobs!
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Your familiar, Karnagtul, changed Jobs to Lesser Dragon.
As a result of changing Jobs, Karnagtul acquired 【Roar】.
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Oh? So he could acquire a new Skill through Job Change separately from evolution. And 【Roar】 was a Skill Jigoro had evolved from 【Intimidation】, wasn't it? He really was receiving preferential treatment.
"Grrrrrrr♪"
"Wha—!? Whoa!"
Having finished changing Jobs, Kar suddenly thrust his head between my legs and raised his neck. Perhaps he was happy that he had grown large enough to carry me!
It was startling to have him do that without warning, and I wanted him to stop, but when I saw his innocent, joyful excitement, I could not bring myself to scold him right away. Ah, I was definitely spoiling Kar now...
"Hey, brother. So Kar evolved too."
"Yeah, that's right."
The way Jigoro said 'too' made it clear that he had evolved as well. Jigoro and I were usually about one level apart, so I had suspected as much when I reached level 39 during the battle just now.
While straddling the base of Kar's neck, I looked at Jigoro, who had evolved. There did not seem to be any major changes in his appearance, but his horns looked slightly thicker, and his skin seemed a little darker. What kind of Race had he become?
"Kar evolved into a Lesser Dragon. What about you?"
"I'm an Enrai no Akki now. Kind of a Japanese-style name, huh?"
An akki, huh... Well, after killing so many players and monsters, he could hardly complain about being called that.
Still, just as Jigoro said, the name felt more like something out of a yokai legend than a monster. Its pronunciation was Japanese too, so perhaps there was a region where yokai ran rampant.
If such a place existed, there was a good chance it contained other akki like Jigoro. If there really was somewhere like that, I would absolutely have to visit it.
"Hm? Is it this late already? Shall we head back to the base and log out?"
I had been lost in thoughts of regions I had yet to see, but Genjuro's comment brought me back to reality. I had nearly forgotten in the excitement of the fierce battle, but I had normal work tomorrow! I needed to get to bed!
"Everyone, let's get back quickly! ...Base Teleport!"
Thus, our all-male adventure came to an end. Things got hectic at the end, but it was fun!