Chapter 282

Defense Specialization and the Ruins

They rode on Sally’s horse until they arrived at the ruins . While there were stone paving and the remains of houses, nearly everything had been swallowed up by nature . It was closer to a forest than a ruin .

“Well, I suppose we should start by searching through the place . ”

“Okay! I hope we find it soon . ”

They decided to split up and walk around the area where anything manmade remained . Ultimately, it did not take them long to find what they were looking for .

“Sally! Over here!”

Maple was standing in an area where stone fragments were scattered everywhere, and there was a single altar standing there .

There were three dents in it, and they quickly understood what that meant .

“Should I put them in?”

“Yeah, I think that’s fine . ”

After Maple put the gems into all three dents, the alter was enveloped in light . At the same time, Syrup and Oboro jumped out of the rings without warning .

“Syrup?”

“Oboro?”

As they watched uncomprehendingly, red, green, and white lights spread out at their feet . And then they felt the familiar sensation of being teleported .

When the lights died down, and they opened their eyes, they saw a town that was overflowing with animals .

However, there were no people to be seen . It seemed like a place where only monsters and animals lived together .

As the two of them watched, Oboro and Syrup started to walk away on their own .

“Wh-what happened?”

“I guess we should follow them . ”

While they had managed to reach this place, they had no idea what they were supposed to do . In that case, it seemed best to follow Syrup and Oboro, who were acting irregularly .

As they kept walking, they started to move away from the town . Syrup and Oboro then stopped at a watering-place made of stone .

“I don’t know . But it seems important?”

“Maybe? It doesn’t seem like ordinary water…”

Then Syrup and Oboro turned around to look at them . It looked like they wanted to go inside the water . Maple and Sally had no intention of stopping them . And so they picked them up and slowly let them down into the water .

“It seems fine? Are you okay?”

“I’m going to let you go now . It looks shallow enough . ”

The two of them let go so the monsters could play in the glowing water . Then the light enveloped them until their bodies were no longer visible .

“Waa! Was that a bad idea!?”

Maple frantically picked up Syrup again . Sally also moved Oboro away from the shining water .

They began to panic when it seemed that the light would not fade away, and then there was a sudden flash . And Syrup and Oboro returned to normal .

“What a relief… Hmm? Syrup?”

“Oboro?”

The pattern on Syrup’s shell was a little different, and grass and flowers were growing on the ground underneath them .

Oboro’s accessories were now fancier, and more than anything, there were now two tails instead of one .

“What?”

“What?”

But Syrup and Oboro were rubbing up against them like they always did . Maple and Sally picked them up and stared into their faces .

After a while, their brains started working again, and they carefully went over the changes .

“Syrup looks a little fancier now! And…maybe bigger?”

“I see . There’s a new tail…will they keep increasing?”

They hugged their monsters that had become even cuter . Just then, a message arrived .

“Evolution… I see . It looks like they can acquire new skills now . ”

“Ohh! Evolution . Evolution… Well, they did fight with us a lot . ”

“They started during the second event . So that’s quite a long time . ”

“They’ve grown so much… Ehehe . I’m so happy . ”

“Well, there’s still a long road ahead . ”

“Really?”

“Yes . The message said that monsters who gain a lot of experience can evolve . But it didn’t say that it was a one-time thing . ”

And then Sally continued . She apparently had an idea about how many tails a fox monster could gain .

“Though, I doubt it’s one at a time until you reach nine… Oboro . Do you want to evolve to that point?”

“It’s something to look forward to! I know, we should tell the others! If we help them, they can get the gemstones really easily!”

“That sounds good . Let’s do that . As they say, strike while the iron is hot . ”

And so the two proud owners picked up their monsters and returned to the guild home .