When Cranberry and Mary returned to the area where the apprising took place they've met with a rather unexpected sight.

"Graough? (Who's a good boy? Who?)"

Zombie was petting the wolf monster.

The blue boy was scratching behind the wolf's ears and along his large body and the monster was wagging his tail so fast that it was causing a small cloud of dust to rise from the ground.

"Graough! (You are! Oh, yes you are!) Graough! (Shake!)"

Zombie offered his left hand and the wolf monster put his paw on it.

"Graough! (Ah! You are such a smart boy!)"

Zombie was on cloud nine.

"Graough. (Alright, now, give it back.)"

The blue boy put his left hand under the monster's jaws and the beast gently dropped the boy's right arm on it.

"Oh my God, Arion what have you done to lady Pride's familiar?!"

Mary started freaking out and wanted to run to her tamed monster.

"Ah, don't worry about it."

But Cranberry blocked her with her hand.

"Zombie's right hand just isn't properly attached, it's nothing. I expected them to go at each other's throat and that my Zombie would end up obliterating your mutt, so this is better, I guess..."

She explained.

"Eh...? Umm... aren't you a bit overconfident in your undead? My Arion isn't just any wolf, you know?"

Mary responded a bit hurt, and pulled out a piece of paper with all of their stats and skills listed.

"See? His attack and health points are in three digits already and he's only level two! And look at those skills!"

The brown-haired girl suddenly became very animated, fueled by the sudden burst of competitiveness.

"Ha ha! Good one. "

Cranberry laughed and shook her head.

"No, but seriously, just wait until the two of us will get appraised. I don't really want to put you down, but your dog stands no chance."

"Hey! Arion isn't a dog! He's a wolf!"

Mary frowned and puffed out her chest.

"Graough! (Good boy! Now fetch!)"

Zombie picked that exact moment to throw his right hand, and the so-called wolf ran after it and fetched it back, and returned it to him like a good boy, all while wagging his tail all excited.

"..."

"..."

The two girls looked at each other awkwardly.

"Ah... um... at least they're not fighting...?"

Mary tried to smile but was too embarrassed.

"Haa... this is so much worse..."

Cranberry sighed and started massaging her forehead.

Zombie was petting Arion again and the wolf rolled onto its back showing his white stomach, so Zombie could start scratching it too, in a show of complete submission.

"...oh, dear heavens, you're right..."

Mary covered her eyes.

"Excuse me, lady Pride, I need to have a talk with my wolf."

She bowed to Cranberry and briskly walked towards the playing familiars.

"Zombie! That's enough! It's almost our turn to get apprised!"

"Graough! (Ah! That's right!)"

Cranberry loudly called out and Zombie instantly stood up and rushed towards her.

"Graough...! (Bye, doggy...!)"

He turned around and waved at the wolf.

Arion raised his head confused, his tail stopped wagging and it was slowly getting lower and lower the farther Zombie went.

"Arion! What happened to your pride as a wolf?!"

Mary furrowed her brows and asked her tamed monster.

But Arion just looked at her with his big sad eyes, turned his head towards Zombie, then back at Mary, and whimpered.

"No, you can't go after him! He and his master need to be appraised by the mage over there so you shouldn't bother them!"

Mary shook her head.

At which Arion responded by putting his head on the ground and whimpering, longingly looking after Zombie.

Mary looked at him with a sour expression but ended up sighing and shaking her head again.

"Fine, after they'll be done I'll ask her if we could come over sometime, alright?"

She said and Arion instantly perked up and started wagging his tail.

"Graough! (I'm back!)"

Zombie reported to his master groaning happily.

Cranberry looked at him critically from top to bottom.

"Haa..."

She breathed out, raised her hand, and poked him in the forehead.

"You should always be mindful of how you act in public, rotten brain, you're my servant, remember?"

She said in a dissatisfied voice.

"...!"

Zombie took a step back and became sad.

"...graough... (...I-I'm sorry...)"

He lowered his head and apologized.

"As long as you understand."

Cranberry shrugged and went towards the appraiser with Zombie obediently following behind her.

"Lord Lust, I must say that your status looks amazing for someone at level 9."

The appraiser was finished with writing down the androgynous boy's stats.

"I dare say that you're the one who put the most effort into training amongst all of your peers. Even with the status modifiers of the avatar of lust title, you must have worked really hard."

It seemed that the appraiser was the one who was putting in the hard work, of buttering up to the young head of the Lust house that is.

"Ah, why, thank you for such kind words."

Claymore smiled weakly, but even barely lifting the corner of his mouth changed his face into an icon of beauty.

The boy took the paper off the appraiser's hands and turned around.

When he noticed Cranberry, his smile became much more friendly and the boy discreetly pointed at the appraiser and rolled his eyes.

Cranberry shrugged her shoulders and smiled back.

"Young lady Pride and her corpse puppet! Perfect timing!"

The appraiser managed to tear his eyes away from Claymore and noticed the waiting pair.

"Please, stand here. Perfect! Now, it might feel a bit strange but please bear with it."

He instructed while readying the writing utensils.

Then his eyes started glowing and he focused on the pair and...

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

The appraiser jumped out of his chair and fell on his back, causing quite the commotion.

"Ah! No, no, I'm fine, sorry for the trouble..."

The appraiser refused the help of people that saw him fall and apologized.

"I-it's just, well... I've never seen anything like that, it's insane..."

The appraiser stood up and got back to his chair.

"Lady Pride... What kind of hellish training have you and your servant been through to get to this level?"

He asked in a shaken voice.

"Haa...? What do you mean? Both of us were measured to be level one by you before the ceremony."

Cranberry raised her brow, getting slightly annoyed.

"I-I don't mean just your literal level! Your status points! And skills! And titles! Here, look for yourself!"

The appraiser's eyes started glowing again and he started furiously writing something while staring at Cranberry and Zombie without blinking.

"Here!"

He got up and walked over to hand Cranberry both notes.

Name: Zombie

Race: Eternal Servant (?)

Level: 14

HP: -

MP: 212

ATK: 203

DEF: 467

MAT: 324

MDF: 398

HIT: 199

EVA: 144

AGI: 189

LUC: 166

Skills:

Undead body ([max])

Bite (level 6)

Dragon corpse venom (level 1)

Blunt damage resistance (level 10[max])

Toughness (level 14)

Emergency dodge (level 5[max])

Strong kick (level 7)

Acrobatics (level 4)

Dragon rage (level 1)

Dragon power (level 1)

Stack (level 1)

Unlocked Affinities

Leg Power (level 2)

Title:

Eternal servant

Rotten brain

Dragonewt slayer

Dragonslayer

Name: Cranberry Pride

Race: Human

Level: 14

Class: Master of the eternal servant

Subclass: Berserk

HP: 627

MP: 472

ATK: 459

DEF: 167

MAT: 401

MDF: 156

HIT: 183

EVA: 164

AGI: 192

LUC: 212

Skills:

Fire immunity ([max])

Blunt weapon proficiency (level 9)

Charge (level 8)

Bash (level 10[max])

Thrash (level 3[max])

Magic bash (level 7)

Strong kick (level 7)

Dragon rage (level 1)

Dragon power (level 1)

Stack (level 1)

Title:

Child of pride

Master of the eternal servant

Hardworker

Dragonewt slayer

Dragonslayer

"Hmph. I thought I would be stronger than that."

Cranberry frowned and crossed her arms.

"Lady Pride... I think that you don't understand, those are not the stats and skill's that a child should have. Even considering that the dragonewt slayer title grants +20 to every stat and the dragonslayer title gets you +100, your attack and your servant's defense puts you in the same power level as early mid-level adventurers!"

The appraiser's eyes bulged out at Cranberry's comment and he started explaining hurriedly.

"Oh?"

Cranberry smiled and turned to Mary.

"Hey, did you hear that? I guess that means my Zombie is stronger than your puppy."

She smiled, waving her appraisal results.

The has ceremony finished and everyone was getting ready to leave.

On her way to the carriage, Cranberry spotted the brown-haired girl and her wolf monster so she walked over to them.

"Lady Pride! What can I help you with?"

Mary asked, glancing fearfully at the group beside her.

"Your family?"

Cranberry didn't even spare a glance for the people who started hurriedly bowing to her.

"Anyway, listen, once my mother will allow me to have guests come over, I want you to visit me, and we can train that puppy of yours."

Cranberry offered with a cheeky smile.

"I mean, only if you don't want to let it stay weak and cute. Your choice."

She shrugged her shoulders mockingly.

"...! Why you...!"

Mary furrowed her brows but ended up sighing and relaxed.

"It will be an honor, lady Pride... In truth, I was about to go look for you to ask if Arion and I can come to visit sometimes."

The brown-haired girl curtsied and ended up smiling back.

/Follower gained

/Quest completed

Reward granted

"It's okay, just call me Cranberry."

Cranberry grinned and left.