Chapter 16

: (5). Ly’s Improvement-2
‘Great!’
Bear of Darkness was a Unique rank monster that was very hard to come by. Unlike other Unique
rank monsters, it looked a lot like ordinary bears nearby, therefore, it was also hard to recognize.
Ian first checked if he could capture it. As long as the Leadership was enough, the Capturing skill
could be activated even before exhausting its strength or raising their Friendship.

Capture!

However, soon a disappointing message came up.
– Your Leadership isn’t enough. You cannot capture more monsters.
Ian checked his pet list, however, he had already released the bears he had captured. He could not
capture the Bear of Darkness because its rank and level were higher than any other ordinary bears’.
Ian felt bad about it.
‘Hu, when I go back to the village, I will most certainly get myself a bunch of Scrolls of Binding.’
Ian then lifted his bow again and aimed at the Bear of Darkness.
Piiiiing-!
Ly understood it as its hint and attacked the bear.
Kaaaaa-!
The Bear of Darkness was a Unique rank monster of Lv. 38, however, Ian didn’t think it would be a
hard fight.
‘Ly is almost as capable as me now, so fighting a Lv. 38 should be easy…’
As Ian expected, the bear did not last for long.
Thud-!
After 10 minutes of a fierce fight, the bear fell and turned grey.
– You have killed the Bear of Darkness. You gained 1,045 EP.
At the same moment, Ly glowed in white.
– Your pet, Ly has leveled-up. It has reached Lv. 20.
Ian was excited to kill the bear and see Ly’s level go up.
Ly’s level-up message felt almost as good as his own.
Additionally, Lv. 20 was quite meaningful in Kailan.
The moment a character reached Lv. 20, a lot of new contents would be opened like joining a guild,
entering instant dungeons and empire quests. That would also be the time where you would get rid of
the newbie title.
Lv. 20 was nothing to Ian, however, it took two months for people who weren’t talented in gaming to
reach it.
‘Shall I check the items?’
It was the first Unique rank monster he had hunted after resetting his character. Unique rank monsters
would sometime drop decent items, hence, Ian was quite excited.
– You have obtained 75 Gold from [Bear of Darkness].
– You have obtained [Meat] of the Asiatic Black Bear.
– You obtained [Bear Hunter’s Battle Hammer].
– You obtained [Necklace of Everlasting Darkness].
‘Oh…’
Ian knew about the Bear Hunter’s Battle Hammer, it wasn’t a good item. However, the Necklace of
Everlasting Darkness drew his attention.
He used an Appraisal Scroll.

Appraise!

[Necklace of Everlasting Darkness]
Category: necklace
Rank: Unique
Usage Limit: 35 or higher Intelligence
Durability: 124/124
Option: Health +15%
Reduce cooldown time of all skills: 20%
Its origin is unknown. The necklace is made of obsidian that contains the darkness in the abyss. It is
very rare.
…
Ian’s face brightened.
The current necklace that he was wearing was a good item that he bought at an auction, however, the
Necklace of Everlasting Darkness seems even better.
‘I will have to give up about 10 stat points, but there are more advantages with higher Health and
reduced cooldown time… so this one is better.’
Among Ian’s skills, Basic Training was the only one that had a cooldown time.
He would be able to use that skill more often, therefore, he thought it was a good option.
‘This is the first good item I got after resetting.’
Ian smiled as he was very pleased.

Receiving good items is quite satisfying… now, let’s see how much Ly’s stats have gone up!

Ian took out a notebook. On it, there were numbers that only he could make sense of.

Attack Force is up by 4, Defense Force is up by 2, and Speed…

Ian was writing Ly’s stats.
As a ‘game researcher’, Ian had been recording Ly’s stats every time its level went up.
‘Now, Ly is at Lv. 20, so it’s time for some analysis.’
If ordinary users saw him do this, they would be astonished. However, this kind of research and
analyzing were one of Ian’s favorite thing to do in the game.

Ly, sit down and take some rest. Here, eat this.

Ian threw Ly the meat he had gotten from a bear.
Growl-. Growl-.
Ly felt good. It shook its tail like a dog and started to devour the meat.
Meanwhile, Ian focused on his notebook.
About five minutes later, Ian’s eyes widened.
‘What’s this? Do monsters get more stat points as their level get higher?’
To his surprise, Ly was getting more stat points with each level-up. It was something that Ian would
never have been able to find out if he played like others.
Ian wanted to find out why the margin of increase was getting bigger, therefore, he continued to
compare the numbers he had written in his notebook.
He found out that the margin wasn’t always bigger; there were times where it didn’t get bigger.
Ian got confused.
‘Uh… what’s the reason? Why do Ly’s stats go up irregularly? It cannot be random…’
As it was already known, in case of a user’s character, 5~6 stat points were given with each level-up.
They were distributed according to the player’s class and his playing style, however, on average, 5.5
stat points were given in total.
After getting a class, additional stat points were given with every level-up depending on the class’s
unique skill, however, apart from that, the average was always 5.5.
Therefore, Ian had assumed that it was the same with monsters. However, contrary to his
expectations, Ly’s stats growth was irregular.
‘I need to find out the reason.’
At first, he only compared the main stats like Attack force, Defense Force and Speed, however, he
couldn’t find the answer. Hence, Ian started to consider the detailed stats as well.

Hmm…

30 minutes passed by while Ian stared at his notebook. Ly had finished eating his meat and dozed off
next to Ian.
However then, Ian realized something and abruptly stood up.
‘Potential! The answer is Potential!’