Lizardman 1, who originally stood over 2 meters tall, gradually grew larger as he absorbed his kin.
‘Uh… just how big is he going to get?’
It was fortunate that the church had a high ceiling; otherwise, if he had tried this at home, he would have caused a lot of trouble for the neighbors above.
Pshuuuuu──
Feeling his body transform, Lizardman 1 gasped for breath.
‘Incredible…’
The form of Lizardman 1, once the absorption was complete, was no ordinary sight.
‘In terms of size, you take the crown.’
His combined height was towering at a staggering 4 meters.
Since a Kodiak bear stands just over 3 meters tall when on two legs, one could imagine just how massive Lizardman 1 had become.
Boom─! Boom─!
“Ahh— Lizardman 1. Wait, stay still for a second! The church is going to collapse!”
“Churup?!”
With just a step forward, the church quaked like it was experiencing an earthquake.
Lizardman 1 stood tall as per Yeon-hee’s command, curiously examining his augmented body.
His back was adorned with hardened skin, and his spikes reached toward the sky like sharp blades, while his muscles bulged without a single gap.
His monstrous fangs were sharp enough to crush anything, and the tip of his tail looked like it had a huge bowling ball attached, making it an excellent weapon.
‘This is some serious pumping… Wow…’
From a purely external perspective, he looked even more intimidating than the Dwarf-class S-rank Hunter seen yesterday.
And it seemed his weapons had also enlarged to match his new size.
‘The weapons get combined too… that’s surprising. But why is the axe the size of a person…?’
The axe Lizardman 1 wielded looked like it was well over a meter long.
“Wow, for sure, you’ve become stronger. Haha… Wow—”
Yeon-hee couldn’t hide her amazement as she looked up at Lizardman 1.
‘Your physical stats are undoubtedly higher than mine…’
Except for agility, his strength and stamina were certainly superior to hers, and the ominous aura enveloping him indicated that his resistances and other stats were not low either.
‘With stats like this, you’ll definitely be enough to protect Yeon-hee.’
If the Lizard Squad was this formidable, I couldn’t help but be excited about the Orc Squad, now summoned to thirty strong.
“Wow— there’s one more amazing thing. Il-wol?”
“Tap?”
“The mana consumed to maintain it. It’s less than half of what I used when summoning twenty!”
‘Ooh… that’s incredible, isn’t it? So merging is definitely a win, right?’
“But it seems like the experience points gained from battling decreases. Even though the absorbed summoned creatures grow while we fight, the difference from battling individually is significant.”
“Tap, tap, tap.”
‘That’s true… They shouldn’t show the same growth as when independently fighting. That makes sense.’
In that case, it would be more efficient to keep them separate in normal situations and merge them only in emergencies.
However, the fact that merging still took some time was a little concerning.
‘I’ll just have to buy time.’
Regardless, having more allies to protect Yeon-hee was a good thing. I could only defend against attackers from all sides to a certain extent.
‘In the sky is Sword Dragon, on the ground is me and Lizardman 1, and tomorrow the Orcs will merge as well. Perfect.’
I nodded in satisfaction as I briefly looked at the merged Lizardman 1 and suddenly simulated what it would be like to fight him in my head.
‘…… I think I could overpower him within five minutes.’
Based on Lizardman 1’s mana and the aura emanating from his body, it didn’t seem like it would be an easy fight at all.
In the end, I had to suppress him using Flame Explosion, but Lizardman 1 had become a creature that would take a considerable amount of time to catch.
“Wow— your stamina is in the hundreds. But why didn’t your other stats rise as much as stamina? Is it because Lizardmen are more stamina-based?”
‘My stamina is now 359, and you’re in the hundreds… just how high has your resilience gone?’
I had just leveled up to 64 after destroying an underground factory, sinking my investment this time into strength and wisdom.
As the orb master said, with a balance between strength and agility, my movements had become much quicker.
However, my stamina remained comparatively low because I had been somewhat negligent due to the Flame Armor and the mysterious membrane wrapped around Yeon-hee.
Looking at the stats of merged Lizardman 1, I realized just how low my stamina truly was.
‘Still, I had built my stamina well in my previous life.’
Thinking about the time when I had a sudden increase of 100 stamina through enlightenment, it was somewhat disappointing.
‘Gains from spiritual enlightenment are hard to come by again…’
Though I had been rebirthed, I continued to bear the memories and experiences of my past life.
Thus, there were aspects where I lost out on the benefits received from enlightenment. And that was likely the case for Jo Gi-man as well.
“Churap!!”
With a flex,
Lizardman 1 turned toward me, gathering his arms toward his chest, proudly showcasing his well-defined muscles.
It seemed he was quite fond of his transformed body.
Now, if I only covered that brute with the Rune of Thorns…
‘The ultimate meat shield will be born! Perfect if he has provocation too!’
Yeon-hee seemed pleased that her abilities exceeded her expectations, clapping her hands in joy.
“Wow! Your fist is bigger than my torso!”
“Chururarak!!”
Yeon-hee wanted to see more of Lizardman 1, but people were approaching the church; we had to leave.
And before long, we arrived home.
“Yay— home sweet home!”
Even though I would be leaving here in a few days, why did it feel so welcoming?
“Tomorrow’s promotion match, and the day after we’ll return to our original party, huh?”
“Tap, tap, tap!”
‘Dungeons, huh…’
In fact, exploring dungeons was definitely advantageous for me. Just gathering skills and traits from monsters required a visit.
‘Though the Do aspect concerns me, I’ll have to trust and wait for Yeon-su.’
Moreover, recalling the events that occurred in dungeons, who knows, I might find clues related to the guys while inside.
However, what I was worried about was something else.
According to my personal philosophy.
The growth of Hunters is most effective when overcoming arduous challenges in barren environments, and I was worried that I was becoming too strong in my Job Change.
Of course, having faced many monsters significantly above my level in recent days, I couldn’t assume I was absolutely strong.
But thinking about facing lower-tier monsters in a C-rank dungeon relaxed me a bit.
Would the mid-level where Were-creatures emerge be manageable?
‘I should treat it like training and focus my attacks!’
This was the only mindset I could adopt. Still, it was a relief that the experience gain had risen by 20% during my Job Change.
If growth were even slower, it would have made for a truly arduous journey.
“I’ll go wash up first.”
“Tap, tap, tap!”
As soon as we got home, Yeon-hee darted off for a shower.
Her waist subtly revealed, the sight of her smooth curves excited me.
‘… I can’t do anything today anyway. I want to see how much I’ve changed, but I guess it must wait.’
Having used [Mimicry] for communication earlier, I couldn’t indulge in some fun with Yeon-hee today.
She probably wouldn’t think of such things on a day like this either. She might consciously restrain herself for a while.
It was evident she was under a lot of mental stress today.
After washing up, Yeon-hee summoned Wang-wang, and now, even Ran, who had just regained her senses, had collapsed on the floor and started playing.
“Oh wow— both Ran and Wang-wang have become so plump. I can’t even hold them with one arm now!”
“Wang—! Wah!”
(Sorry, Master… I’ll work on losing weight—)
“Hehe, but you’re still cute. So soft and squishy!”
“Wang-wang!!”
(In truth, I think I’m quite comfortable like this, Master.)
‘……’
After playing for a while, the kids suddenly seemed to lose steam.
Grrr—
Holding their grumbling tummies, they looked up at me.
‘…… come to think of it, all they ate was jerky.’
“Ah! This, this isn’t a sound from my stomach!”
“Wang! Wah!”
“Tap, tap, tap…”
I decided it was time to showcase my long-forgotten cooking skills.
After all, I had just stocked up on ingredients a few days ago.
The eyes staring at me from the open fridge seemed to be urging me to whip something up.
‘Let’s do something I can make quickly.’
I briefly considered boiling some ramen, but since it was to be my first meal back, I decided on something else.
I pulled out the leftover rice I’d sealed up two days ago, warmed it in the microwave, and left it to cool in the freezer for a bit.
After making a sauce with soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and a pinch of salt.
I prepared scrambled eggs and took out a can of tuna, draining the oil and keeping only the meat.
‘Since they eat a lot, I’ll prepare enough ingredients, even if it takes a little longer…’
The little piggies were already drooling, their eyes sparkling as they sat at the table.
After waiting for the rice to cool enough to regain its elasticity, I topped it with the sauce, added the remaining ingredients, and finally wrapped it up in tofu skin before frying it.
Once it was lightly browned, I stacked the tofu sushi high on two plates and served them; Yeon-hee and Wang-wang devoured the food in an instant.
The rice cooked in Irmana’s lake water was still exceptionally delicious.
“Sniff… so good. Is there any more?”
“Wang-wang!!”
‘……’
At least Ran didn’t consume any food, which was a relief.
‘By the way, how do you sustain yourself? What do you even eat?’
I suddenly felt curious and asked Ran, who had swollen up like a volleyball.
(I share refined mana from inside you, Master. When you are content like now, the purity of the mana increases immensely, allowing me to grow faster as well.)
‘…… why didn’t you mention this significant detail earlier?’
(You didn’t ask, did you?)
… Truthfully, I didn’t care much. I assumed spirits wouldn’t need to eat in the traditional sense.
‘That’s beside the point… so when comparing battles in dungeons to now, when do you grow faster?’
(I think it’s a bit faster now.)
‘…… Are you saying you grow faster when Yeon-hee is eating than during battles? That seems odd.’
If Ran’s growth was tied this closely to Yeon-hee’s happiness, he should be putting on a show in front of her.
Still, I resolved to increase my cooking efforts, sitting across from Yeon-hee.
The sight of her cheeks full of sushi made her look just like a cute little hamster.
Wang-wang gleefully devouring sushi on the floor and Ran, plumply sitting beside Yeon-hee looking up at her, were all incredibly cute.
‘There’s a bunch of round, adorable ones all huddled together.’
Just hours ago, being in a grim situation felt like a lie now.
‘I just want to keep seeing this kind of scene.’
Is that too much for someone reborn from death to hope for?
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