A Pet

The woman laughed in the middle of that white room for several minutes, savoring all her pleasure in that moment. Meanwhile, the man, who was now fused with a Ghost, stared at her with a vacant look.

The man had now completely lost himself after his soul had left his body, and now his body was no more than a vessel that contained a Ghost, a Supernatural.

Essentially, the man was already dead because his soul was no longer inside. However, from the outside, he only appeared as someone who had lost his mind and had become insane. The man's mouth was open, and drool dripped from it. He also emitted incoherent groans every few seconds.

Sophia finally stopped her laughter, then walked over to the man and held the side of his face.

"You will be my finest pet, Andrew," Sophia said, accompanied by a sweet smile that was in stark contrast to what she was doing. "Finally... Finally, Andrew! I have succeeded in creating a fusion of the Supernatural and a human without killing your body."

What Sophia was doing would be a breakthrough for their Order. If she succeeded in combining a Supernatural with a real human now, she would be able to bring Supernaturals into the city in no time.

Once again, Sophia nodded in satisfaction with herself, admiring her handiwork. Then she left Andrew, who had already fused with the Ghost, in this white room.

~~~

Zane's brow furrowed tightly as he read the report of what Alysia had obtained during her mission yesterday. She described new forms of Ghosts, giant wolf-shaped and a muscular men with chain weapons.

This can't be a good sign, Zane thought. He didn't know how Ghosts like these could appear, but from what he read, there was a possibility that Ghosts with forms and powers like these were related to dark magic. A forbidden power that could bring calamity to this world, surpassing the threat from the Supernatural.

The Supernaturals at present were nothing more than mindless monsters disturbing the areas outside the city walls. However, if a dark magic user were involved, the existing danger would increase manyfold.

A knock on the door sounded, and Zane gestured for the person who knocked to come in. It was Alysia. She entered and sat directly in front of her father.

"What do you want to discuss with me, father?" Alysia asked.

"Tell me again about what you saw in the ancient ruin yesterday," Zane said, clasping his hands in front of his face. His deep green eyes stared at Alysia, demanding answers.

"I've written it in the report, Father."

"Yes. But I want to hear it from you directly. You said you were with someone from another guild when you fought that giant Ghost."

"Yes."

"And you passed out after being attacked by one of those Ghosts."

Alysia nodded.

"So this guy killed that giant Ghost, which you said looked very strong and might even be in the B Rank category?"

Now that Alysia thought about it again, she felt that Rama was a strong Hunter. She had indeed killed the wolf-shaped Ghost, but the wolf was much weaker than the muscular man with the spiked ball that had attacked her.

"Yes," Alysia answered with a nod.

"Did you see how he defeated the Ghost? What magic did he use?" Zane asked.

"I didn't see him use any magical attacks. But his physical strength and speed were impressive."

Zane stared at her. "If what you say about the Ghost is true, then it's almost impossible for him to defeat it on his own without using magical attacks."

Alysia remained silent.

"We need to continue investigating this, Alysia. The Hunter who was with you at the time, you have to find him again."

Alysia nodded in understanding.

"You can go now. I will deploy another Hunter to investigate that ancient ruin."

Alysia left the room and closed the door gently. She then walked, thinking about her meeting with Rama.

The first time she had met him, he was lying unconscious in the middle of the forest. Later, she found out from Zane that there was a Holy Tomb beneath that forest. Rama's presence there and the Holy Tomb were certainly not a coincidence.

Alysia also remembered that Rama had been unconscious in the forest due to running out of Mana. That meant he could use magic. He just didn't show it to her in the ancient ruin for some reason.

"I have to find him again."

Alysia quickened her pace and left the Arcane Sentinel's headquarters to search for Rama.

~~~

Meanwhile, the man who was being sought by Alysia had just woken up from his sleep. He yawned widely and got up from his thin floor mattress.

"I need to find a new mattress," Rama couldn't help but think when he saw the sad state of his current one.

He then went to the bathroom to wash his face, took his sword, and went to pick up another mission.

However, it seemed that the power had other plans for him.

< Side Quest! >

< Side Quest: Reach your body's full potential! >

< Description: Your body is still too weak to face the threats in the future. Train to increase your physical strength besides leveling up. >

< Squats: 15 repetitions, Push-ups: 15 repetitions, Lunges: 15 repetitions per leg, Crunches: 15 repetitions, Plank: 3 minutes. = +5 Strength stat. >

< Jumping jacks: 10-15 repetitions, High knees: 10-15 repetitions, Butt kicks: 10-15 repetitions, Mountain climbers: 15 repetitions per leg, Burpees: 15 repetitions = + 5 Stamina stat. >

< Ladder drills: 10-15 repetitions, Hurdle drills: 10-15 repetitions, Cone drills: 10-15 repetitions, Animal crawls: 10-15 repetitions per crawl = +5 Agility stat. >

Rama blinked his eyes repeatedly. The power seemed to give him a detailed list of what he needed to do, like a personal trainer.

But Rama felt like he had no reason not to do it. So now, instead of going to the Hunter guild to run a mission, he headed to the Training Center.

~~~