บท 25: Chapter 24 - Worry

Chapter 24 - Worry

Fury ate the pill and his body shone. Lucas looked in awed but then, something else happened. A notification from the system appeared.

[Evolution. Choose evolution. 1. Normal Element. 2. Fur Element. 3. Ball Element. 4. Random Element]

"What?" Lucas was shocked.

[Whoa! Fury is indeed lucky. He gets the 10% chance evolution. With this evolution, he will go straight to Tier 3! Master, you need to choose what you want to evolve] said Sery. He was excited too and his conclusion of Fury's luck was spot on. Fury was indeed lucky.

"What should I choose?" Lucas had no idea. "What happens if I choose the normal, fur, ball, or random element?" Lucas asked.

[If you choose the already existing element evolution, that element will be strengthened in Fury's body. There will be a suffix '2' next to the element in the status. Due to the strengthening of the element, the skill by that element will be twice stronger too] Sery explained.

[If you choose a random element evolution, Fury will get a new random element. Even so, there is a risk. If Fury gets an element that is not suitable for him, his power will decrease considerably. So, choose wisely] said Sery.

Lucas thought for a bit and made his decision. "I choose Fur Element evolution," Lucas gave his answer and Fury shone once again. This time, the light covered Fury and turned solid. Fury had turned into a shining white cocoon.

"… How long will the evolution be?" Lucas asked. Evolution was rare… super rare. He had no idea how long it would take for a pet or monster to go through evolution.

[It will take a few hours. You can do something else in the meantime] said Sery. Lucas decided to read something. He opened the laptop and started reading something.

Four hours later.

The cocoon started pulsating and it slightly twitched. Lucas, who was focused on reading the material on the laptop, stopped and went to see Fury. The cocoon twitched more and more. After more than 20 twitches, a small crack was formed on the cocoon. Slowly, the crack spread and became bigger and white fur could be seen coming out of the cocoon.

Slowly but steadily, the cocoon broke and more white fur was seen coming out of the cocoon. A few seconds later, a white furball the size of a football appeared. It was Fury but with a bigger size. Not only that, but he was also fluffier with thicker white fur.

Lucas stared at Fury. "He looks soft…" said Lucas.

[It will be nice if I can hug him] Sery added.

Fury stared at Lucas and blinking a few times before it jumped to hug Lucas. Lucas caught Fury and he felt like he was holding a super soft, super comfortable furball plushies. "Your body felt nice," said Lucas while smiling at Fury.

[Tch! I want to create a body for myself and hug Fury too] Sery was jealous.

While holding Fury, Lucas checked Fury's stats.

Name: Fury

Species: White Furry Ball

Tier: 3

Stage: 1 – Newborn

Rank: 2

Potential: D

Element

1. Normal (90% talent)

2. Ball (60% talent)

3. Fur 2 (70% talent)

Status

Health: 40 (Max 120)

Energy: 20 (Max 60)

Attack: 10 (Max 30)

Defense: 5 (Max 30)

Speed: 10 (Max 60)

Looking at Fury's stat, Lucas was happy. Fury's Tier had increased from 1 to 3 and not only that, his potential had increased from E to D too. Due to the increase of tier, Fury's stat had a significant increase. Lucas did not need to worry about being the weakest anymore using the Tier 1 pet.

Fury's species had changed too. From White Furball to White Furry Ball. The change was insignificant but Fury was the first-ever Furball evolution. There was nothing changed with the skills but since the element was now Fur 2, Fury's fur element skill would be twice stronger than before.

Looking at his happy master, Fury was happy too. As Fury had finished the evolution, Lucas let it roam around the house. He also told Sery to notify Katheryn and Hailey about Fury's evolution. He was afraid that they would get shocked.

After Fury left the room, Lucas remembered something. "Sery, what happened to the arena you built earlier?" Lucas was referring to the arena where he fought Qin Yun's Seven Stripes Cat.

[That arena? It is still there. Why are you asking, Master?] Sery asked.

"We can let that be one of our services. If any of our customers want to test their pets or have a spar with another customer, we can let them use the arena for a small fee. Letting it sit there doing nothing is a waste," suggested Lucas.

[Oh! That is a good idea] Sery liked that idea.

"How much do you need to make that same arena?" Lucas asked. He planned to have more once people started using it.

[Hmm… That will depend on the type of shield covering the arena. That arena I make can only hold on the attack from the Newborn Stage monster. It cost me about 50 000 Peto for that arena. Well, the cost can be lowered if we make a smaller arena. The one I make is quite big for a Newborn Stage battle] said Sery.

"Oh… Once we have more money, let's build a few of the arena. Since we will only accept Newborn Stage pets at this moment, there is no need to build a big one. Three to four small fields in an arena will do," said Lucas.

[Ok. Let's do it once we have more money and customers] Sery agreed. [Anyway, will you need that watch? The one that can be used inside and outside the dungeon?] Sery was referring to the watch Lucas wanted so that he could keep on time in both real-time and dungeon time.

"How much?" Lucas asked.

[5000 Peto] said Sery.

"Ok," Lucas agreed. 5000 Peto disappeared from the cash register. There was nothing else for Lucas to do and thus, he continued reading something on the laptop.

While Lucas was busy doing his thing, Hailey was in the living room watching cartoons. Since the family had been living poorly before, Hailey did not have the luxury to watch television. Their family did have a television but she was busy helping with the farm that she had no time to watch the television.

Since they moved to Gyling City, Hailey had been glued to the television. She had nothing else to do. She was in a new place. She had no friends. Most of her friends died and the ones alive followed their family to another city.

She was also traumatized with monsters and thus, did not accept Blue. Not only that, but she was also scared of going out too. When she heard that the building her mother bought which had the nursery and her home was the safest place in the world, she was more reluctant to go out.

In the beginning, she doubted that the building would be the safest place in the world. In her mind, there was no such place. She used to think that her home was the safest and most comfortable place in the world. In the end, the home was destroyed, she lost her father and almost lost her brother too.

Even so, after she saw all the magical things that Sery had done, she believed that the building was the safest place in the world and thus, she had been cooped up at home since they moved there. Katheryn had once wanted to bring her sightseeing around the shopping district but she refused.

Hailey sat lazily on the sofa. Her hand held the remote control. At her side was a big bowl filled with snacks. "Hahaha~" Hailey laughed softly while watching her favorite cartoon. Her hand reached the bowl and grabbed a few snacks and stuffed it in her mouth.

[Miss Hailey, Master had evolved Fury. He is a bit bigger than usual. I hope you are not shocked when you see him] Sery told Hailey about Fury.

"O-" she wanted to say 'Oh, sure,' but stopped. She was silent for a few seconds before she asked, "How big?"

[Football size. You don't need to worry. He does not turn scary. He becomes cuter and fluffier. I am so jealous of my Master. Master can hug Fury many times but I cannot do that] said Sery. He sounded regretful.

"…" Hailey did not say anything after that. Suddenly, she saw a big, white, fluffy ball come out of Lucas's room. Hailey was stunned. She stared at Fury but Fury ignored her.

Fury knew that Hailey was scared of pets and thus, he did not try to get close to her. Fury rolled towards Red and Blue that was busy playing around. He joined them too. When Red and Blue saw Fury, they were surprised. Once Fury told them what happened in their language, they admired Fury's new look. After that, they continued playing around happily.

Hailey had gotten used to Red, Blue, and Fury but Fury's new size made her uncomfortable. Fury was not that big but he was still bigger than before. Hailey grabbed a small cushion and hugged it while staring at Fury. She was afraid that Fury would get closed to her.

While the trio was playing around, Blue accidentally saw Hailey. He saw that Hailey was staring at Fury with fear. Blue glanced at Fury that played happily with Red and looked back at Hailey. He kept looking at Hailey and then, Fury.

Then, Blue realized that Hailey was scared of Fury. He thought that this cannot do. Hailey had just recently got used to the presence of him and Red. If she got scared now, it would be bad. Blue took action and tackled Fury.

Fury was shocked. He stared at Blue with his eyes saying, 'Why did you tackle me???' Fury was confused. Blue gestured for them to play somewhere else. He made a signal with his eyes towards Hailey and they saw Hailey stared at Fury.

Once they saw Hailey, they knew what happened. Red and Fury left the living room and played in the other room. Blue followed them. Even so, before he followed them, he glanced at Hailey and nodded slightly.

Hailey was surprised to see Blue's gesture. She held her chest and felt guilty about what had happened. '… Just because of me, everyone is being careful,' thought Hailey. She looked sad. She saw the family picture and saw her father's picture. The memory of her father lying lifelessly on the cold metal table flashed in her mind.

***

Sarah was walking slowly by the road while playing with her phone. While playing on her phone, something white and soft flew towards her. She looked at the sky and saw that the snow was falling. "It will be hot tonight," said Sarah while she snickered.

"I wonder when my honey will come tonight? I should give him a call," said Sarah and she immediately called her boyfriend. She waited for a while and no one answered her call. "Is he busy?" Sarah gave another call.

"Hello?" A man's voice came from the other side. That was Sarah's boyfriend's voice.

"Honey~~" Sarah called her boyfriend sweetly.

"… Did you need more money…" Her boyfriend asked gloomily.

"What? No! I told you this afternoon that I found a super good nursery. The services are cheap and they are super effective. Saow was healed and I used the leftover money to send him for training there," said Sarah.

"Oh- That is good," said Sarah's boyfriend.

"Well, I call to ask when will you come tonight? I want to prepare myself properly tonight. It is snowing now. It will be cold tonight but I will make sure that it will be hot tonight!" said Sarah.

"I don't think I can come tonight," said her boyfriend.

"Can't come? Hmm? What is that sound? Are you not at your office?" Sarah asked. It sounded like there were a lot of people around her boyfriend.

"I am at Shenty City right now," said her boyfriend. He sounded serious. Shenty City was a D grade city with a 10 million population. It was located six cities away from Gyling City.

"Why are you there?" Sarah asked.

"I was called here. Not only me. There are many others here too. Three Veteran Stage (Stage 7) monsters and two Master Stage (Stage 8) monsters broke through a dungeon and are headed here," said Sarah's boyfriend. Sarah was shocked. "The truth is, we don't know if they broke from a dungeon because nothing happens to the Stage 7 and Stage 8 dungeon nearby."

"… Kyle! Why are you there then? You are a Stage 6 Tamer with only two Senior Stage (Stage 5) pets. You are not their match!" Sarah was worried.

"There is nothing we can do. Higher stage tamers are too far away from this city. They are also rushing here right now. All I and the others need to do is defending this city until they arrive- *ROAR!!!* -click-" While Kyle was talking, a powerful roar was heard and the call was cut.

"Kyle… Kyle!!!" Sarah panicked. She dialed the number again but it was pending. No one answered the call.