As I glanced at the withered away little treant and ultimately disregarded it, I checked Wight’s status who was coming up to me.
Species: Wight
Status: Cursed
Level: 2/5
HP: 4/8
MP: 1/3
Er, their level isn’t goin’ up like I thought it would… When I was doin’ this with Ball Rabbit, I had the experience doubling skill then as well and I was powerlevelin’ them, so what gives? What you’re showin’ me is that this is what we’re gonna get? Sorry, little treant. Your sacrifice is showing no signs of bein’ all that useful.
Either way, I suppose power-leveling is still the best way to go, …but whether I like it or not, there really aren’t any creatures in this forest that look too terribly strong, are there? For now, I guess I’ll have Partner use [[Fake Life (Soul Appendment)]] and put Wight’s fallen apart body back together again. I wonder if that’s how wights recover their HP… Could it be that if I were to use some kind of recovery magic on Wight that they would instead take damage or something?
When I tried checking Wight’s status after their body was put back to how it was thanks to Partner’s [[Fake Life (Soul Appendment)]], I saw that they had recovered without incident. I breathed a sigh of relief. It’d be best to not use recovery magic, huh? There’s no tellin’ how it would work in regards to an undead.
But I wonder then… How the hell am I supposed to raise their level? As I was worrying myself, Wight was pointing at a small tree while prodding at my foreleg with their bony hand as it made clacking sounds.
Er, no. That’s a bit, uh… How do I put this… I guess I’ll say that I’ve got something on my mind and I’m personally at an impasse. Wight let their head droop down, crestfallenly. What’s with this little one? Do they really want to raise their level that badly? If it’s as they are now, they’ll immediately fall apart again. In addition, they’ll get eaten by an abyss or something like that if I let my eyes off of them for even a second, so yes, I do want to make them level up, but it’s just… Hrmm…
“Gawgh, gawgh.”
Hm? What is it, Partner?
It almost felt as if ((I wanna drink water.)) was being called out inside my head. What was that just-…
[Level of characteristic skill [[Mutual Understanding]] has increased from level 1 to level 2.]
Ah, yes. Guess I should’ve known it was Partner’s voice. I’ve gotta wonder if, before long, Partner is going to in some way chatter away incessantly in my head with this. Yeah, I’m not really lookin’ forward to that.
Partner was looking at me and giving me puppy-dog eyes while sticking her tongue out—letting it hang—and heaving in a forced, raspy manner. lemme tell you, even if you didn’t play it up that much, I still would’ve gotten you…
“Gwogh.”
After calling out to Wight, they came up behind me and followed me as I walked.
Once we arrived at the river, Partner stuck her snout into it and sloppily chugged down the water. I had been feeling a little bit parched myself, so I decided to drink some water by plunging my head into the river, horns and all.
After having my fill of fluids, I lifted my head. Reflecting off the surface of the water was me dripping with water down my mane—now clung to my head. I cracked my mouth open a smidge and checked out my vicious fangs.
I’ve gotten completely used to being a dragon as well. No two ways about it. Well, that doesn’t mean that the way I’ve looked has been ferocious from the very beginning up until now, now does it? As I casually looked to my side as I thought about that, I could see Wight squatting down next to the bank of the river, peering down into the surface of the water.
Wight was doing so quietly, not even appearing to be especially upset. However, they seemed to be feeling blue about their appearance. Their body shakes when they’re scared, they poke someone else’s body when they want to get someone’s attention, …I’m not certain whether or not they have their memories from when they were alive, but there’s no mistaking that these gestures are those of a human child’s. To me, they appear to be so much more than just some monster that was conjured up with [[Fake Life (Soul Appendment)]].
“Gwuo…”
When I called out to Wight, they stood up while turning back in my direction.
It might be that Wight instinctively understands that they’ll be able to regain their flesh and blood if they raise their level, is that right? Assuming that to be the case, then that would certainly explain the reason behind why Wight had been so eager to raise their level.
That might just be sort of a pipe dream, though, kinda like how a zombie believes that it could possibly turn back into being a human if it continues to eat human flesh. Nevertheless, I know that feeling all too well precisely because of all the continued hardships I’ve been forced to experience when it comes to [[Humanization]]. When one suddenly realizes that they’ve become a literal monster, it’s to be expected that they’d want to get back to their human form. If we’re talking about a dragon, it’s a dragon. But a wight? It’s just some bones. A skeleton.
I firmly made up my mind and indicated with my head a sapling that was nearby.
Partner, if you could use [[Fake Life (Soul Appendment)]] on that. For now, hell or high water, I’m carryin’ Wight to their evolution before the day’s end.
“Gaw?”
((You serious?)), Partner questioned me. Yeah, of course I’m serious.
When Partner used [[Fake Life (Soul Appendment)]] on the sapling, its bark changed in quality and a face materialized on it, just as what happened a short while earlier. It had been transformed into a little treant.
“Squreeak!”
The little treant uprooted itself and started to move.
Wight looked up at me, seemingly delighted.
“Gawgh.”
At the same time as I let out a bark, Wight broke into a sprint, circled around the little treant, cut in behind it, and wrapped themself around it. The little treant wriggled and struggled, breaking some of Wight’s bones. Wight caught one of its broken bones before the piece could fall to the ground and planted a part that had a clean, sharply pointed break in it into the little treant’s back.
“Squrk- Squreak!”
With the chomping, snapping, the stiffening of joints, and the gnawing on broken bones, the fight was much more of a brawl than it was last time. With Wight’s shortage of MP, it might be that they can’t use any of their skills.
Nevertheless, Wight came out victorious. When it came to Wight and the little treant, the two were separated by a single level. If one were to take a simple look at their statuses, then by the average of their stats, Wight is the better of the two.
The little treant, covered in slashes and gouges, collapsed. Along with it went Wight who had been clinging to it as they once again tumbled to the ground.
Wight, propelling themself by crawling, came up to me all the while dragging along their body, which had been completely chipped and fractured. Lightly and gently, I stroked Wight’s head with my forefoot. After that, I turned toward the little treant, covered in slashes and gouges, and subtly bowed my head as I shut my eyes.
No. It’s still not enough. In order to carry Wight to their evolution, I’ll probably need at least five more little treants, if not more.