Defense Specialization and the Ruins

  They rode on Sally’s horse until they arrived at the ruins . While there were stone paving and the remains of houses, nearly everything had been swallowed up by nature . It was closer to a forest than a ruin .

  “Well, I suppose we should start by searching through the place . ”


  “Okay! I hope we find it soon . ”


  They decided to split up and walk around the area where anything manmade remained . Ultimately, it did not take them long to find what they were looking for .

  “Sally! Over here!”


  Maple was standing in an area where stone fragments were scattered everywhere, and there was a single altar standing there .

  There were three dents in it, and they quickly understood what that meant .

  “Should I put them in?”


  “Yeah, I think that’s fine . ”


  After Maple put the gems into all three dents, the alter was enveloped in light . At the same time, Syrup and Oboro jumped out of the rings without warning .

  “Syrup?”


  “Oboro?”


  As they watched uncomprehendingly, red, green, and white lights spread out at their feet . And then they felt the familiar sensation of being teleported .

  When the lights died down, and they opened their eyes, they saw a town that was overflowing with animals .

  However, there were no people to be seen . It seemed like a place where only monsters and animals lived together .

  As the two of them watched, Oboro and Syrup started to walk away on their own .

  “Wh-what happened?”


  “I guess we should follow them . ”


  While they had managed to reach this place, they had no idea what they were supposed to do . In that case, it seemed best to follow Syrup and Oboro, who were acting irregularly .

  As they kept walking, they started to move away from the town . Syrup and Oboro then stopped at a watering-place made of stone .

  “I don’t know . But it seems important?”


  “Maybe? It doesn’t seem like ordinary water……”


  Then Syrup and Oboro turned around to look at them . It looked like they wanted to go inside the water . Maple and Sally had no intention of stopping them . And so they picked them up and slowly let them down into the water .

  “It seems fine? Are you okay?”


  “I’m going to let you go now . It looks shallow enough . ”


  The two of them let go so the monsters could play in the glowing water . Then the light enveloped them until their bodies were no longer visible .

  “Waa! Was that a bad idea!?”


  Maple frantically picked up Syrup again . Sally also moved Oboro away from the shining water .

  They began to panic when it seemed that the light would not fade away, and then there was a sudden flash . And Syrup and Oboro returned to normal .

  “What a relief…… Hmm? Syrup?”


  “Oboro?”


  The pattern on Syrup’s shell was a little different, and grass and flowers were growing on the ground underneath them .

  Oboro’s accessories were now fancier, and more than anything, there were now two tails instead of one .

  “What?”


  “What?”


  But Syrup and Oboro were rubbing up against them like they always did . Maple and Sally picked them up and stared into their faces .

  After a while, their brains started working again, and they carefully went over the changes .

  “Syrup looks a little fancier now! And……maybe bigger?”


  “I see . There’s a new tail……will they keep increasing?”


  They hugged their monsters that had become even cuter . Just then, a message arrived .

  “Evolution…… I see . It looks like they can acquire new skills now . ”


  “Ohh! Evolution . Evolution…… Well, they did fight with us a lot . ”


  “They started during the second event . So that’s quite a long time . ”


  “They’ve grown so much…… Ehehe . I’m so happy . ”


  “Well, there’s still a long road ahead . ”


  “Really?”


  “Yes . The message said that monsters who gain a lot of experience can evolve . But it didn’t say that it was a one-time thing . ”


  And then Sally continued . She apparently had an idea about how many tails a fox monster could gain .

  “Though, I doubt it’s one at a time until you reach nine…… Oboro . Do you want to evolve to that point?”


  “It’s something to look forward to! I know, we should tell the others! If we help them, they can get the gemstones really easily!”


  “That sounds good . Let’s do that . As they say, strike while the iron is hot . ”


  And so the two proud owners picked up their monsters and returned to the guild home .