Chapter 28

Chapter 28: A Reliable Friend (5)

Many questions, you say?

That was an understatement.

“Yes.”

From the time he defeated the Commander, Collie had always acted as if he knew the situation Artier was in.

“How do you know all that?”

“It’s simple. It is because you, Sir Artier, are my master.”

When Artier tilted his head, Collie nodded.

“A dog must protect its master. So it is only natural to know the master’s situation, is it not?”

“But I’m not your master.”

“I asked to be with you, and did you not permit it, Sir Artier? The contract was formed from that moment.”

“In that way…?”

Isn’t that a fraudulent contract?

As if reading Artier’s dumbfounded expression, Collie chuckled.

“I apologize. But I had my own circumstances.”

“What do you mean?”

“To become a Spirit Creature, one must live more than half of their given life in a place full of pure mana. But I became a Spirit Creature through a different method.”

Collie had been trapped in the ruins’ mana absorption device.

And those years were much longer than Artier had thought.

“What? But that doesn’t make sense. If you were inside the device, all your mana would have been absorbed.”

“That was due to a mistake the administrator didn’t foresee.”

“What?”

“That absorption device is designed for living beings that possess mana.”

Therefore, if a human were trapped, their mana would be drained until they died.

But Collie was not a human, but a dog.

“Mana is the power of thought. But back when I was not a Spirit Creature, I was just a beast living by instinct. I had no mana to be taken in the first place.”

But the absorption device, regardless, continued to try to absorb Collie’s mana.

Then, something beyond imagination happened.

“At some point, mana began to flow into me in reverse.”

“Huh?”

“The administrators did not notice. Because the amount of mana that could be stored in the device was very small.”

The tool, designed for humans, eventually broke down.

Thanks to that, Collie’s body was continuously exposed to fresh mana.

Beyond half his lifespan, until he became a Spirit Creature.

“You… were an artificially created Spirit Creature through an accident.”

At Artier’s words, Collie smiled brightly and nodded.

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes looked strangely sad.

“Then, a problem arose after I escaped with Sir Artier’s help.”

“Why?”

“A Spirit Creature must continuously consume pure mana to not lose its reason.”

“Ah…”

“Usually, this is naturally resolved by staying in the place where one became a Spirit Creature.

But that is not possible for me, is it? I had to find another way to replenish my mana.”

“So you forced a contract with me? To receive pure mana.”

“That is correct.”

“But I’ve never felt my mana being taken.”

“That is because I am still a low-grade Spirit Creature.”

An amount of mana so small that Artier would find it hard to notice.

He said that at this point, absorbing just that much was enough for Collie to live without any problems.

“However, as I grow and become a stronger Spirit Creature, the amount of mana absorption will increase. From then on, Sir Artier might also be able to feel his mana being consumed.”

“What?”

“I am sorry.”

Collie’s ears drooped.

“I cannot stop this. It is like breathing.”

“Then did you come to ask me a favor? To find a way to replenish your mana somehow?”

“That is correct.”

Artier scratched the back of his neck with a bothered expression.

‘The summoner build wasn’t in my plan.’

The summoner in <Cross Destiny> belongs to a multi-class that combines physical attacks and magic.

Due to the constant mana consumption, one had to invest stats in Intelligence, and at the same time, physical abilities had to be developed so the summoner themselves wouldn't die or get injured.

And according to Artier’s experience with numerous job builds.

‘Versatile, but not my cup of tea.’

The summoner’s own physical ability is inevitably lower than that of a pure warrior.

This characteristic didn't sit well with Artier, who preferred to defeat enemies directly.

‘Wait a minute…. Could it be that the reason I suddenly got a buff skill is?’

One of the ways to obtain Wild Protection is to contract with a beast-type summon.

Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

If he maintained the contract with Collie, the skills he would obtain in the future would, whether he liked it or not, likely be related to a summoner.

“If the goal is simply to replenish mana, isn’t there a way to contract with someone else besides me?”

“That… is not easy.”

“Why?”

“To contract with a Spirit Creature, the mana wavelengths must match. But among humans, such a person appears maybe once in 100 years.”

It was only because Artier was the protagonist that he received special treatment.

The summoner itself was a rare job that was very difficult to appear in the game's world.

“Right… I understand.”

In the end, it meant that to continue being with Collie in the future, he had to maintain the contract.

Sighing, Artier checked the information window.

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t invest any stats since becoming level 10.’

Artier put 4 of his 12 Bonus Stat Points into Intelligence.

Lv.13 Artier

Title: Supreme-Grade Mercenary

Class: None

Strength: 25

Agility: 24(+1)

Intelligence: 10

Available Skills: Perfect Counter(Lv.1), Avatar of Counterattack(Lv.1), Tactical Command(Lv.1), Wild Protection(Lv.1), Flame Cleave(Lv.1)

“What did you do?”

“Hmm?”

Closing the information window and lowering his gaze, Collie was tilting his head and looking at him.

“The mana flowing out has suddenly increased.”

“Ah, that’s…”

From Collie’s perspective of receiving mana, it seemed the stat investment was immediately noticeable.

As he was thinking of an excuse, an unexpected word came from Collie’s mouth.

“Is it because you are the protagonist, after all?”

“…What?”

The world seemed to freeze for a moment.

He quickly took a breath, but the shock didn't subside.

“You, how do you know that?”

Did it realize the existence of the system because it became a player’s summon?

Or was it because the creature was a Spirit Creature?

“I knew from the beginning that Sir Artier was a special person.”

Collie said, wagging his tail.

“I never told you my name, yet you called me by my name as soon as you saw me, did you not?”

“Ah…”

When he first met Collie after escaping the ruins, Artier had said, ‘Could you be Collie?’

Even though Collie had never told him his name since he first spoke.

‘Come to think of it, that’s right…’

It was a clear mistake on his part.

What if the other party had been someone other than Collie?

Just thinking about it made cold sweat run down his back.

“And I heard the word ‘protagonist’ from my seniors.”

“Seniors?”

“Other Spirit Creatures. The reason I came out this far was to talk with them.”

Pat!

At the same time, the moonlight that had been circling around Collie scattered and disappeared.

Looking up at the sky, thick rain clouds were blocking the moonlight.

“The seniors said that the master will have more questions.”

Artier quietly nodded.

“They said that if I want to know what I’m curious about, I should come find them in the Gigas Mountain Range in the south later.”

“Gigas Mountain Range? You mean near Gigas Hall?”

“I do not know the name of the city, but if it is in the south, that is probably correct.”

Artier stared at him blankly.

He didn't know whether to call it a miracle or a coincidence.

‘The Fairy’s Eye happens to be there.’

The Fairy’s Eye was an essential item for Bow’s complete recruitment.

‘Since the defense battle was successful, the next main quest won’t happen for a while. Maybe I should get the Fairy’s Eye in the meantime.’

“Let’s ask the comrades first.”

“Understood.”

Poof!

Collie smiled brightly and returned to his boy form.

“But Collie.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of person was your former master?”

“Uh…”

Collie hesitated for a moment and then gave an awkward smile.

“He was an ordinary archaeologist. I was not a Spirit Creature back then, you see.”

“Don’t you miss him?”

“I do miss him. But a dead person will not return no matter what is done.”

Artier silently watched Collie walking alongside him.

Perhaps there was a mistake in his Shape Shift skill, as a fluffy dog tail was showing from behind the boy’s back.

That tail was hanging limply, without any strength.

“…Still, traces of my former master remain within me. Among the mana that made me a Spirit Creature, his must be there as well.”

Collie placed a hand on his chest.

For a very brief moment, Artier saw an illusion of an elderly man of venerable age walking by Collie’s side.

‘I see.’

The average lifespan of a dog in this world is about 6 years.

Collie must have endured at least 3 years in the ruins.

In a dog’s life, that would have been an eternity.

‘To be separated for such a long time, yet still remember that person.’

The weight of the name ‘master’ is heavy.

Artier wondered if he could bear that weight, if he was even qualified.

***

Returning to the inn, Artier and Collie told the party their next destination.

“Gigas Hall?”

“It’s a forest city at the southwestern tip of the continent.”

“To suddenly go from the northern tip to the southwestern tip, is there some reason for it?”

“Well, there are several reasons.”

First, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

The defense battle was won, but this place was now a front line.

It would become a military operation zone for a while, so there would be no requests for mercenaries to undertake.

“Besides, it’s a bit much to keep sticking with the Derth Mercenary Corps.”

“Right, at this rate, we’ll be found out eventually.”

Gerard massaged his brow and then looked up.

“Your plan is to put some distance between us and create a moderately sized group, right?”

“That’s right.”

Artier nodded.

The reason he had needlessly created the name ‘Destiny’ was, without need for excuses, because he planned to create a mercenary corps of the same name later.

“But that’s impossible, Artier.”

Gerard’s expression hardened as he shook his head.

“We have already undertaken two difficult requests in a row. Considering the money we’ve earned so far, there’s no reason to immediately proceed with the next request. In my opinion, it would be better to rest for a bit for now.”

“That’s right. To suddenly go to the southern tip, even for me, that’s a bit much, you know?”

“Um…”

Artier was at a loss for words.

‘It’s different from the game, after all.’

They were not NPCs who would silently follow wherever the protagonist went.

They were people before they were comrades, and being a mercenary was their profession. So forcing them to undertake consecutive requests was tantamount to forcing them to overwork.

“Okay. Then let’s head down moderately and rest for a while.”

In the original game, main quests would not proceed until the player chose to start them.

Of course, now that the game had become reality, the main quest probably wouldn’t wait for the player indefinitely, but couldn’t he take a little break?

‘I need to rest a bit too.’

Artier looked down at his hands.

These hands, full of calluses and rough, were not originally his own.

He had forgotten because he was so busy, but he was originally a person far removed from fighting.

“Do you know a good place?”

“Hmm… there’s a small city called Pons in the central region. Shall we go there?”

“What’s there?”

“Nothing special. Just that it’s called a resort for mercenaries.”

“A resort?”

Artier searched his memory, but there was no information about a region called Pons.

‘Well, it’s not a leveling area, so why would I go to a resort.’

From what he heard, there were no threatening monsters there, nor were there any elements that would invite a Hellmorph invasion.

The only stories coming out of there were light tales about the cheese being delicious or the lake being perfect for fishing.

“Okay. Let’s go there then.”

“Alright, I’ll guide you.”

And so, Artier’s next destination was decided to be Pons.

SomaRead | A Possessor’s Strategy Guide in a Trash Game - Chapter 28