n

n

n‘Great!’

nBear of Darkness was a Unique rank monster that was very hard to come by. Unlike other Unique

nrank monsters, it looked a lot like ordinary bears nearby, therefore, it was also hard to recognize.

nIan first checked if he could capture it. As long as the Leadership was enough, the Capturing skill

ncould be activated even before exhausting its strength or raising their Friendship.

n“Capture!”

nHowever, soon a disappointing message came up.

n– Your Leadership isn’t enough. You cannot capture more monsters.

nIan checked his pet list, however, he had already released the bears he had captured. He could not

ncapture the Bear of Darkness because its rank and level were higher than any other ordinary bears’.

nIan felt bad about it.

n‘Hu, when I go back to the village, I will most certainly get myself a bunch of Scrolls of Binding.’

nIan then lifted his bow again and aimed at the Bear of Darkness.

nPiiiiing-!

nLy understood it as its hint and attacked the bear.

nKaaaaa-!

nThe Bear of Darkness was a Unique rank monster of Lv. 38, however, Ian didn’t think it would be a

nhard fight.

n‘Ly is almost as capable as me now, so fighting a Lv. 38 should be easy…’

nAs Ian expected, the bear did not last for long.

nThud-!

nAfter 10 minutes of a fierce fight, the bear fell and turned grey.

n– You have killed the Bear of Darkness. You gained 1,045 EP.

nAt the same moment, Ly glowed in white.

n– Your pet, Ly has leveled-up. It has reached Lv. 20.

nIan was excited to kill the bear and see Ly’s level go up.

nLy’s level-up message felt almost as good as his own.

nAdditionally, Lv. 20 was quite meaningful in Kailan.

nThe moment a character reached Lv. 20, a lot of new contents would be opened like joining a guild,

nentering instant dungeons and empire quests. That would also be the time where you would get rid of

nthe newbie title.

nLv. 20 was nothing to Ian, however, it took two months for people who weren’t talented in gaming to

nreach it.

n‘Shall I check the items?’

nIt was the first Unique rank monster he had hunted after resetting his character. Unique rank monsters

nwould sometime drop decent items, hence, Ian was quite excited.

n– You have obtained 75 Gold from Bear of Darkness.

n– You have obtained Meat of the Asiatic Black Bear.

n– You obtained Bear Hunter’s Battle Hammer.

n– You obtained Necklace of Everlasting Darkness.

n‘Oh…’

nIan knew about the Bear Hunter’s Battle Hammer, it wasn’t a good item. However, the Necklace of

nEverlasting Darkness drew his attention.

nHe used an Appraisal Scroll.

n“Appraise!”

nNecklace of Everlasting Darkness

nCategory: necklace

nRank: Unique

nUsage Limit: 35 or higher Intelligence

nDurability: 124

/124

nOption: Health 15%

nReduce cooldown time of all skills: 20%

nIts origin is unknown. The necklace is made of obsidian that contains the darkness in the abyss. It is

nvery rare.

n…

nIan’s face brightened.

nThe current necklace that he was wearing was a good item that he bought at an auction, however, the

nNecklace of Everlasting Darkness seems even better.

n‘I will have to give up about 10 stat points, but there are more advantages with higher Health and

nreduced cooldown time… so this one is better.’

nAmong Ian’s skills, Basic Training was the only one that had a cooldown time.

nHe would be able to use that skill more often, therefore, he thought it was a good option.

n‘This is the first good item I got after resetting.’

nIan smiled as he was very pleased.

n“Receiving good items is quite satisfying… now, let’s see how much Ly’s stats have gone up!”

nIan took out a notebook. On it, there were numbers that only he could make sense of.

n“Attack Force is up by 4, Defense Force is up by 2, and Speed…”

nIan was writing Ly’s stats.

nAs a ‘game researcher’, Ian had been recording Ly’s stats every time its level went up.

n‘Now, Ly is at Lv. 20, so it’s time for some analysis.’

nIf ordinary users saw him do this, they would be astonished. However, this kind of research and

nanalyzing were one of Ian’s favorite thing to do in the game.

n“Ly, sit down and take some rest. Here, eat this.”

nIan threw Ly the meat he had gotten from a bear.

nGrowl-. Growl-.

nLy felt good. It shook its tail like a dog and started to devour the meat.

nMeanwhile, Ian focused on his notebook.

nAbout five minutes later, Ian’s eyes widened.

n‘What’s this? Do monsters get more stat points as their level get higher?’

nTo his surprise, Ly was getting more stat points with each level-up. It was something that Ian would

nnever have been able to find out if he played like others.

nIan wanted to find out why the margin of increase was getting bigger, therefore, he continued to

ncompare the numbers he had written in his notebook.

nHe found out that the margin wasn’t always bigger; there were times where it didn’t get bigger.

nIan got confused.

n‘Uh… what’s the reason? Why do Ly’s stats go up irregularly? It cannot be random…’

nAs it was already known, in case of a user’s character, 5~6 stat points were given with each level-up.

nThey were distributed according to the player’s class and his playing style, however, on average, 5.5

nstat points were given in total.

nAfter getting a class, additional stat points were given with every level-up depending on the class’s

nunique skill, however, apart from that, the average was always 5.5.

nTherefore, Ian had assumed that it was the same with monsters. However, contrary to his

nexpectations, Ly’s stats growth was irregular.

n‘I need to find out the reason.’

nAt first, he only compared the main stats like Attack force, Defense Force and Speed, however, he

ncouldn’t find the answer. Hence, Ian started to consider the detailed stats as well.

n“Hmm…”

n30 minutes passed by while Ian stared at his notebook. Ly had finished eating his meat and dozed off

nnext to Ian.

nHowever then, Ian realized something and abruptly stood up.

n‘Potential! The answer is Potential!’

n