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"Cronch, crunch, cronch…"
Frank saw with a smile as Ruby ate all the Otherworldly Magic Crystals, which he had collected a total of 237. He ended giving her a whopping fifty all for herself, which ended filling her body with a lot of Otherworldly Mana.
These crystals were dropped by monsters once he slain them, specifically the powerful black slime-like monsters. His System allowed him to obtain dropped items from monsters even though that wasn't possible normally.
Sometimes, the items wouldn't even be things the monsters could naturally have, and they were just a manifestation of his powers.
This was part of his own System, which was very game-like, a unique superpower that none in the Clan of the Sun could understand how it even worked.
Matsuo, their youngest, kind of did mostly because of the Dragon Quest games he once played when he was younger, and this was also one of the reasons why he was assigned to be Frank's protegee and somewhat of a "teacher" figure, or well, a "senpai" in Japanese terms.
It wasn't just a title of course, as Matsuo was obligated to guide, help, teach, and protect Frank, this was a whole mission assigned to him by the Elders and the Great Ancestor.
To fail the mission, it would mean that Frank would have to die, but he had managed to keep him alive, despite all the odds.
FLUOSH!
"Oh, looks like you've gotten stronger?"
Frank saw Ruby's Aura grow larger and fiery red, as he felt her Mana Core inside of her chest grow slightly bigger and so did her body to accommodate to it.
"Raaawwrr!"
As she roared cutely, spreading her wings, her Magical Aura of Fire overflowed her surroundings, and her own body as well.
"Amazing, I can feel the heat… You've become really strong with just that?"
Ding!
[Your Contracted Familiar Monster: Ruby has digested over fifty Otherworldly Magic Crystals!]
[Her Mana Core has absorbed all of the magic energy from another world, becoming stronger.]
[Ruby's [Mana Core Cultivation]: [Rank 1 (Initial Stage)] has Ranked Up to [Rank 2: Initial Stage]!]
[Ruby's Mana Points have increased by +5.000!]
[Ruby's Magic Stat has increased by +2.500!]
[Ruby has learned the new Skill: [Mana Connection: Level 1]!]
"Mana Connection? Ruby, try using that!"
"Raaawwrrr!"
Ruby nodded cutely, as she unleashed her Magic Aura, shaping into threads that then connected with Frank.
"Huh?!"
Suddenly, he felt like his Magic Power and total Mana increased a lot!
"What the…?"
Ding!
[Your Contracted Familiar Monster: Ruby has activated the [Mana Connection: Level 1] Skill and connected her Mana with you, her beloved Master.]
[You and Ruby now share your Mana Points and Magic Stats!]
[As the Skill Level increases, the amount of Mana Points and Magic Stats you two share will increase by 25% on top of all the total Stats you already share.]
"Wait, so we're already sharing all our stats?! And then with each level, another 25%! So that's just a buff, a bonus? No way, it's a crazy Skill, Ruby! Well done!"
This practically doubled Frank's Mana Reserves and his own Magical Power, although it will be hard to keep their Mana without overusing it because they now shared the same pool, the extra Magic Power was amazing.
"Gyaaah!" Ruby wagged her tail adorably, flying towards Frank and giving him a few licks on the face.
"Hahah, enough with that…" He sighed. "Alright, time for you to evolve already. Let's see…"
Ding!
[Your Contracted Familiar Monster: [Ruby] is about to evolve!]
[Because she has met the conditions, [Ruby] has more than one Evolution Path.]
[Please show which Evolution Path you want [Ruby] to take.]
<Evolution Paths for [Ruby]>
[Cursed Flame Dragonewt]
[Adult Magma Salamander]
[Young Holy Flame Dragon]
There were three options just like before, and they seemed slightly similar as well, although things have changed here and there too.
"Huh, this is not too easy to choose…"
Back then Frank had chosen the Wyvern Evolution, but that wasn't here anymore. It seemed that Ruby was forced to step out from being just a Wyvern now.
She could turn into a Dragonewt, a species of little dragons that wield cursed flames, capable of weakening foes.
Go back to her original roots and become an Adult Magma Salamander, which would be a bulky, yet slow and powerful attacker.
And lastly, embrace a new path, mostly thanks to her Little Healer and Healing Fire Skills allowing her to become a Young Holy Flame Dragon!
Of course, her skills would remain too, so it wasn't as if she would lose her previous evolution powers or something.
"Huh, this is a tough choice, but… the cursed flames would come really handy for weakening foes maybe…" Frank wondered. "But it would be stupid not to take the obviously dragon path."
"Raawwr?" Ruby sat down in between Frank's legs, she was big, barely fitting there, her face was too close to his own and Frank could feel her warm breath over his head, he feared that if she sneezed, he might end up losing all his hair as it burned.
"C-Come on, don't get too close, you're already way too big… Okay, let's pick this choice, I guess it's the best one," I said. "I'll reinforce the barrier in my room…"
Frank quickly touched the barrier, infusing it with more Mana and then reinforcing it so it won't break if something crazy happens.
"And this…"
He placed a paper talisman in the walls, which was an Anti-Fire Talisman Matsuo gave to him after he asked him if he had something so Ruby wouldn't end up burning his whole house by accident.
It would simply prevent strong magic-fueled flames from consuming anything within a small perimeter around the talisman, only protecting his room for now.
But combined with the barrier, it was enough.
"Alright, let's begin."
As Frank nodded, he moved his fingers and tapped into the third option.
Ding!
[You have chosen the [Young Holy Flame Dragon] Evolution Path for your Contracted Familiar Monster: Ruby!]
[Ruby will now begin to evolve, please be careful and stand back.]
"Raaawr?"
FLAAASH!
And in that moment, Ruby glowed incredibly brightly, almost blinding Frank.
"Agh!"
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