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Truly, Eldrian wasn't sure what to do about the situation. Still, even with his hopes for an easy answer dashed, it wasn't like he had lost anything.

Sure, it had cost him plenty of funds and time to make the Magic Crystal. But Eldrian didn't mind it going to Vriski without immediate returns. After all, Vriski was simply too cute.

He was an adorable pup which Eldrian and all his friends were extremely fond of. Having the pup be stronger, if even just slightly—and this evolution had brought more than a slight increase in strength—was most welcome.

Wanting to test how much strength Vriski had gotten, Eldrian suggested they go and play outside. Much to Vriski's excitement.

...

Eldrian stood, confused and stunned. Vriski had darted for the gate as fast as a lightning bolt. Causing more than a few passersby to stumble from the gale that followed the pup.

Apologizing in Vriski's stead, Eldrian followed as quickly as he could—without disturbing the peace even more. Outside, he found Vriski leaping from tree to tree. Something that was not easy around Fort Phoenix. After all, there wasn't a forest nearby.

A few kilometers away, yes. But not right next to the fort. That would simply allow easy hiding spots for enemies. The area around the fort was thus well maintained.

Thus, with each leap, Vriski needed to cover hundreds of meters. Yet the pup soared through the air as if he could fly—which he couldn't. Not before his evolution. And he wasn't using magic to fly now either. At least not wind magic.

Analyzing the sight, Eldrian let Vriski blow off some steam. Which took about three hours.

Covered in dust, the pup finally trotted over to Eldrian. Several trees that had once been his perch stood now snapped in half, and a bunch of craters were dotting the area. The area was a mess. As if a massive battle had just occurred.

'This won't do...' Eldrian thought with a sigh. Starting to repair the damage. Luckily, this wasn't too big a task for him. But it was still a hassle. The trees, he couldn't save them all. That would require Ceph's talents.

"Was that fun?" Eldrian asked, trying his best to keep his tone encouraging and friendly.

Honestly, he was stunned. He didn't know what to make of what had just occurred. He couldn't believe that such a massive increase in strength had occurred in Vriski—and yet he had failed to notice it.

Heck, even now, Eldrian couldn't understand how what had transpired had occurred. Vriski's stats had increased, sure. But only by 40%.

That was a massive increase, no doubt. But it still only brought Vriski to around the 500 mark in his strongest stats. And around 400 for his weaker ones. After all, he was still only Tier 3.

His stats were insane for his Tier. But it wasn't enough to explain what had just happened.

Now, it was certainly possible to decimate trees with a strength level of around 500. But not so casually. And not doing so seemingly by accident.

After all, when the trees had snapped, Vriski had yelped in shock as he lost his footing. Barely managing to recover... No, the dust covering him proved that he hadn't always recovered.

'So, then, where does his strength come from?' Eldrian asked himself. It wasn't mana; that wouldn't have escaped his senses. But it also didn't feel like it was an aura.

'No, wait. I'm not approaching this right.' Realizing his mistake, Eldrian looked at Vriski again. The pup was now happily chasing his three tails. 'Now he's doing it?!'

Calming himself, Eldrian once again used Mana Sense to prove Vriski's status. This time, however, his focus wasn't on the normal stats and the standard lot. No, he was looking for something very specific.

The typical evolution path for monsters. Becoming an Alpha.

That should also give Vriski a massive stat boost. But perhaps because he was still just a pup, that had been delayed. Giving instead boundless energy and stats higher than perceivable.

[Vriski (Orthrus), Tier 3, Level 8]

[Evolution (In Progress)] This bit hadn't shown with a semi-serious examination through mana sense. It only appeared now as Eldrian willed for this information to appear. As he continued to probe deeper, Eldrian could feel himself actually slowly sending his will into Vriski's body.

Truly analyzing this as he would a magic item. Something that he wouldn't dare do without express permission.

Without it, most creatures and people would turn hostile. After all, the feeling was extremely strange. Like an ickiness spreading through the body. Causing everything to feel off.

Not quite ticklishness, and not quite painful. More like a feeling at the boundary of these feelings. Causing a sense of unfamiliarity and simple unease.

But, perhaps because of their bond, or because of Vriski's carefree nature, or because Eldrian had asked for permission. The pup wasn't bothered too much.

He did stop chasing his own tails and turned his head to the side. Looking at Eldrian for a moment before becoming distracted by Little P flying by.

That being much more interesting, the pup gave chase. Hopping onto the Phoenix's back with a yip of pure excitement. As they soared into the sky, Eldrian managed to gather the rest of the information hidden from normal inspection.

[Hidden Status:]

[Evolving Alpha]

[Eater of Mana]

[Boundless One]

The first thing to pop up was simple enough to deduce. Since Vriski was still growing, his status as an Alpha was being put on hold. Or so Eldrian believed.

The second seemed rather simple too. He had swallowed an entire Magic Crystal. And that also kind of made sense for the third. And why the pup didn't seem to tire.

"Right, that makes sense." Eldrian thought with a laugh. Magic Crystals were insanely dense collections of mana. And mana could be turned into energy. He wasn't sure how exactly it worked for Vriski. But the pup surely had a near-infinite store of mana now inside of him.

Especially considering how mana was constantly being attracted to him. His mana recovery was easily twice as fast as normal.

"Yoowwlll!" A howl of fright brought Eldrian out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Vriski falling from the sky. His legs flailing about. The pup was completely forgetting that he could use wind magic to slow his descent.

Summoning a gentle gust, Eldrian helped him to a soft landing. Where Vriski sniffed at the air curiously. Then produced the same spell.

And then launched himself right back into the air.

"Howlllew?!" The pup shouted as he tumbled, stars in his eyes.

With a sigh, Eldrian saved him once again. And this time Vriski didn't do anything else. He seemed quite dizzy. Too dizzy. Stumbling a few steps, he collapsed on the ground. Nearly rolling over even.

'Well, he did just cause himself to spin like a tumble dryer.' Eldrian thought, a smile winning its way to his lips. At least no day would be boring with Vriski by his side.

However, his research was sure to slow down if he had to save the pup so often.

'I'm sure he'll settle down once he gets used to his new self.' Eldrian convinced himself. If not, he was sure his friends wouldn't mind helping cover for him every now and then.

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