Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 130: The Black Dragon Mavros (2)

Han-Yeol stayed home for three days, playing with Mavros to his heart’s content.

“Kyu! Kyu!”

Mavros was quite a lively and active baby dragon. He was quite smart as well; he would get teary-eyed and bite Han-Yeol’s pants in an attempt to prevent him from leaving his house. In the end, his efforts paid off with Han-Yeol deciding to stay home for three days and completely focus on him.

“Hmm… I wonder if it will be alright to take you outside with me…”

“Kyu?”

Han-Yeol pondered while looking at Mavros, who tilted his head in confusion at him.

Han-Yeol hid some of his abilities. Still, he did not particularly care about what other people thought of him, so he had started broadcasting online for everyone to see some of his abilities. When it came to the baby dragon, however, he was scared of what could happen if Mavros’ existence was exposed to the world.

It went without saying that Han-Yeol was not considered strong in South Korea. There were a lot of S Rank Hunters and six Master Rank Hunters as of now, and he had no way to retaliate if any of them decided to pick a fight with him.

Mavros’ existence was bound to kick up a frenzy if the world knew of his existence.

‘Who would have known that a monster could be tamed as a pet? The whole world is going to talk about this for days if word gets out…’?

Han-Yeol agreed that the ability to tame a monster as a pet was indeed shocking. He had worked for years as a Porter, so he had accumulated enough information regarding the Hunter industry from an outsider’s point of view.

The world had quite a lot of awakened beings, and there were Hunters who had awakened with three abilities but used more skills than that. There was one European Hunter who had awakened as a vampire and possessed three skills, but that Hunter was able to use up to ten skills thanks to their racial traits.

Of course, most still considered what the European Vampire Hunter could do to be skills despite them being a little bit different from the skills that most Hunters used. As for most scholars and experts, they labeled those as innate abilities instead of skills.

One of the reasons that Han-Yeol did not garner as much attention overseas despite being South Korea’s first-ever Hunter to possess multiple skills was due to that European Vampire Hunter.

The Vampire Hunter was world-renowned thanks to being a Master Rank Hunter. However, the even bigger reason that the whole world was paying attention to them was because of their racial trait as a vampire. After all, the racial trait of a vampire bestowed the European Hunter with the innate ability ‘Contaminate’.

Contaminate gave the Vampire Hunter the ability to bite a Hunter’s neck and turn them into vampires with skills equal to their rank. Also, these Hunters would become weak against sunlight once they were converted into vampires. It was just like what mainstream media portrayed.

Of course, they did not burn away or disintegrate like seen in the movies, but they suffered the penalty of having their stats and abilities take a massive hit. However, these could be offset as long as they traveled together with the Master Rank Vampire Hunter, who granted them immunity to sunlight and a 120% buff on top of that.

The guild that this Master Rank Vampire Hunter ruled was composed of such Hunters, who had been contaminated and converted into vampires.

There were quite a lot of such unique Hunters, so Han-Yeol was considered a slight anomaly but nothing too amazing. To be precise, in the eyes of the world, he was just someone who had gotten lucky and had awakened with a few more skills compared to others.

‘However, Mavros is a whole different story… The whole world will come after him…’?Han-Yeol knew very well that there had been no previous instances of a monster turning into a pet.

He looked down at Mavros, who was happily munching on a fresh piece of steak that he had given him.

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!?

Han-Yeol had no idea if the baby dragon was aware of his concerns or not. Regardless, he could not help but feel better after seeing the baby dragon’s carefree attitude.

Of course, after thinking that he would have to leave the baby dragon at home whenever he had to go out, his head started to hurt once again. ‘Hmm… I can’t stop broadcasting, and his existence will be made known soon enough… Ah, this is complicated… Tsk… I guess I don’t have a choice but to ask for help.’?

He pondered for a while before deciding that he was not going anywhere with this alone. He finally decided to call for help.

Ring… Ring… Ring… Ring…?

Han-Yeol called the one place he thought of, and someone soon answered the call.

[Hello?]

***

[Is… Is this really a monster pet?]

[Yeah, what do you think? It’s cute, right?]

[…]

Han-Yeol had called the Horus raid party for help. Well, to be precise, he had called Mariam.

Mariam was the only one Han-Yeol could think of to ask for help in such situations, since he did not have any friendly contacts among the Korean Hunters. With his personality, Han-Yeol only placed 49% of his trust in her, but he truly had no one else to call for help or advice.

[Oh, Tayarana is here as well?]

[…]

[???]

Han-Yeol had called Mariam directly, because he hadn’t wanted to bother the Leader of the raid party. After all, this matter was totally unrelated to hunting monsters. Still, Tayarana had tagged along with Mariam to come to Han-Yeol’s house nonetheless.

Tayarana did not seem to have heard Han-Yeol speaking, because she was fully engrossed in Mavros.

[T-Too… Too cute…!]

[Heh… Right?]

Mariam was always stoic, never expressing her emotions easily. However, her eyes turned into hearts the moment she laid eyes on Mavros.

Mavros seemed to be quite the charmer, quickly melting the ice-cold heart of Mariam.

“Kyu?”?

However, for some reason, Mariam did not reach out to touch Mavros.

As for the baby dragon, he just kept looking back at Mariam curiously. He was interested in the only other human it was meeting after Han-Yeol.

‘Hehe… Who knew that Mariam could make such faces?’?Han-Yeol laughed inwardly.

Mariam might be lower ranked than him, but he was always careful when dealing with her due to her rather charismatic and ice-cold demeanor. That was the reason he found her surprisingly cute after seeing her at a loss for what to do with the baby dragon.

Seuk…

Han-Yeol gently picked up Mavros with both hands and placed him right in front of Mariam’s face. He said, [Here, try holding it. He might be covered in scales, but the scales are quite soft.]

“Kyu?”?Mavros still curiously stared at Mariam with his big innocent eyes.

Seuk…

Before Mariam could hold Mavros, Tayarana suddenly made an incredibly fast movement to gently take him away. She then pressed the baby dragon against her chest.

“Kyu! Kyu!”?Mavros was shocked by Tayarana’s sudden appearance and movement of snatching him away, but he did not try to run away or attack Tayarana.

The baby dragon was just surprised by the sudden movement, but it got used to it soon enough.

[So soft…]

[R-Right?]

Han-Yeol was also surprised by Tayarana using her mana to move so quickly and hugging the baby dragon.

[Is this child really a monster?]

[Yeah, I incubated and hatched the egg I had obtained from the Queen Labyrinth Spider, and then this guy popped out.]

[Amazing…]

[Right? I find it truly amazing too, but I’m concerned about how other people might get obsessed with him if word gets out…]

[Yeah, I understand your concern.]

Tayarana was taken aback by the possessiveness welling up within her. There were not that many instances in her life when she had felt such strong desire. After all, she had grown up having everything handed to her; her parents showered her with love and bought her everything that she asked for.

There was no reason for her to feel any possessiveness or greed as she had always been handed everything at a young age. However, complicated feelings were starting to well up from deep within her the moment she laid eyes on Mavros…and this greatly surprised her.

‘This is strange… I want this child so badly…’?Tayarana thought.

“Kyu?”

Mavros might have initially been surprised, but it did not take him long to compose himself and get used to Tayarana’s touch.

[That sounds highly likely. Even Tayarana-nim and I cannot help but love this child, so I can guess just how the other guilds, raid parties, and even the Hunters’ Associations would react. This is an extremely rare chance to open a monster farm, after all.]

[Just thinking about it is already scaring me…]

Thinking of Mavros possibly being treated as a laboratory guinea pig somewhere, Han-Yeol grimaced and felt anger rising up within him.

Mariam and Han-Yeol continued their discussion, but Tayarana suddenly interrupted them and said, [I want a pet just like this child too.]

[H-Huh?]

Tayarana looked at Han-Yeol with a very serious gaze. [You were the one who brought this child to life, right? Can’t you make another one then?]

[Ah…]

Han-Yeol pondered after hearing Tayarana’s request. ‘Technically… I can do it as long as I have a monster egg and that fruit, right?’

He started to think of ways that would make Tayarana happy without having to give Mavros up to her.

Meanwhile, he found it quite strange that he could simultaneously think of numerous business ideas whenever he saw an opportunity. It was probably a hidden talent that he was discovering for the first time in twenty-nine years.

[Ah, I think it’s possible. I can do it as long as I have the materials I need and the perfect environment for incubation.]

[R-Really?]

Tayarana stuttered for the first time in her life. She could not help but be extremely happy at the thought of being able to obtain a pet as cute as Mavros. Truly, this was probably the first time that she felt such joy as she had always had everything handed to her.

[Yeah, I already know what materials and methods are required to make the egg hatch, and I think I’m the only one who can do it, so… Yeah, I can do it for you.]

[H-How much? How much do you want in exchange for doing it for me?]

[Hmm?]

Han-Yeol was slightly taken aback by Tayarana’s question as he had initially planned to do it for free. Now, he wondered just how much a pet was worth.

‘I wonder how much a pet would go for…? Hmm… How much should I charge for my services?’

Just as Han-Yeol was deep in thought, Tayarana suddenly said, [Mariam.]

[Yes, Tayarana-nim?]

[How much cash can we use this instant?]

[We have about two trillion won in both cash and liquid assets.]

[Excellent. Hey, Han-Yeol.]

[Hmm?]

[The Horus raid party would like to officially request two pets from you. We are willing to pay one trillion won per pet, so the total for two pets would be two trillion won.]

[…Two trillion won?]

[Yes, two trillion won. I think a pet like Mavros is worth a trillion won. That is the value of a monster pet.]

‘Wow…’?Han-Yeol was stunned by Tayarana’s deep pockets. Then, he wondered, ‘Hold on… If word gets out that a monster pet was sold for one trillion won, then people will be aware that they can just buy monster pets instead of attacking me. This will reduce the risks of me being attacked, and I also get to reap a hefty profit!’

Han-Yeol’s eyes flashed with a golden light, but he composed himself, ‘Before that…’

[Okay, I accept your request.]

[Thank you! Han-Yeol!] Tayarana exclaimed in delight.

She would have grabbed Han-Yeol’s hands by now if she wasn’t busy holding Mavros.

[Hmm… I should probably go and get the materials that I need first.]

Han-Yeol wanted to just ask the Horus raid party members to go and get the materials, but that was not possible. The Horus raid party members did not possess any item appraisal skills.

[Do you need help?]

[Ah, I will need some help collecting one of the materials, which is the Queen Labyrinth Spider’s monster eggs. As for the other one, it is quite easy to get, so I can go and get it myself.]

[Alright.]

Tayarana and Mariam did not immediately leave despite finishing their discussion with Han-Yeol. They were hesitant to part ways with this little creature that was cuter than anything else they had seen in their lives.

[Oh right, the monster that will hatch from the monster egg will not exactly be like Mavros. It really depends on how the egg is handled during its incubation period and on the person who infuses mana into it. In short, even I don’t exactly know how it works with my current knowledge.]

[It’s alright.]

[I am fine with that as well.]

Tayarana and Mariam seemed to be fine with whatever the result was going to be, and their eyes just showed their impatience of wanting to get the pets right now.

‘Haha… These two…’?Han-Yeol awkwardly smiled as life had been quite interesting for him these days.

In the end, Tayarana and Mariam continued to stay even after their discussion. Looking quite restless as they tried to come up with an excuse to stay longer, they finally smiled when Han-Yeol invited them to stay for dinner.

They had dinner and even desserts while enjoying their time with Mavros. They finally went home past midnight, but they still seemed hesitant to part ways with Mavros… They looked at the baby dragon with a longing gaze.

It was only after Tayarana and Mariam had gone home that Han-Yeol finally got his turn to hold Mavros.

“Sigh…?You seem to be quite popular, Mavros.”

“Kyu!”

The baby dragon seemed to be happy as long as there was someone to play with him and feed him tasty snacks.

“Well, you don’t have to do anything as long as you grow up strong and happy,” Han-Yeol said with a smile while petting the baby dragon.

“Kyu?”