The Dark Hound, Dodo

For the past three years, Gilgamel has been operating his appraisal business with a stellar reputation in the city. Even his colleagues at Owl are familiar with his outstanding work.

Despite his high fees, Gilgamel is highly regarded for his credibility, and his assessments are always entirely accurate.

Initially, many questioned Gilgamel's appraisal skills due to his young age. However, over time, doubts dissipated. 

This transformation occurred as he consistently provided honest and accurate information to his clients, never withholding or distorting details for personal gain. Furthermore, his affiliation with Owl, a well-respected organization, also contributed to earning people's trust.

Owl has a strict policy against illegal activities among its members. Any involvement in fraudulent activities will result in legal consequences, as law enforcement will be contacted, and those responsible will be punished.

While Owl members are permitted to act confidently, they are not allowed to engage in unethical behaviour and disregard the rules. Even if Owl overlooks such behaviour, the Magic Council will take action accordingly.

The Magic Council is the supreme governing organization of the wizarding world, comprising seven highest-ranked wizards. It is structured with distinct hierarchical branches for each continent, ensuring efficient governance on a global scale.

Serving as the primary authority in the wizarding world, the Council exercises extensive control, functioning as the foremost government entity with dedicated branches for each continent. 

Their jurisdiction extends to all legal wizarding associations throughout the Arcane World, overseeing and regulating their operations. Additionally, the Council assumes responsibility for managing incidents involving wizards and holds the power to punish those who violate established laws.

In the Moniyan Empire, Owl held considerable power and prestige, but it paled in comparison to the authority of the world-ruling Magic Council. 

To avoid drawing the Magic Council's attention, Owl needed to regularly monitor and control its members. This also applies to other legal organizations. 

With strict regulations from inside and outside the organization, how dare Gilgamel cheat his customers? Not to mention, he had no intention of doing such a thing from the beginning.

The last reason many people believe in Gilgamel's credibility is his possession of Divine Protection.

Divine protection is a special blessing that individuals receive at birth from the world. Each blessing comes with unique abilities that can grow stronger as the individual's own strength develops.

The distinction between Divine Protection and magic talent is that the former can manifest among non-wizards, while the latter is exclusive to wizards.

Many people believed that Gilgamel had Divine Protection, but he didn't deny it even though he knew this ability didn't come from Divine Protection.

It was said that those born with Divine Protection will know they have it without being told. If that strange book was a form of Divine Protection, how could Gilgamel not realize it?

Furthermore, Divine Protection is generally innate, while the appearance of the strange book coincides with his entry into the wizarding world.

It was all the more reason to believe that his strange book was not Divine Protection. 

As for where his strange book came from... Who knows? It was probably an exclusive gift from the Cosmos Traveler Alliance for travellers like him.

Anyway, admitting he had a Divine Protection didn't cause him any harm. In fact, it was beneficial to him. Thanks to that, he could join Owl despite his poor magic talent.

Gilgamel locked the door of his shop. Then he looked at the black dog lying by the door and said, "Let's go home, Dodo!"

"Woof!"

The black dog immediately woke up and ran after Gilgamel.

In Gilgamel's family, there was a distinctive tradition in which every family member received a magical creature known as a Steel-Clawed Dog from a young age. These creatures served as both playmates and guardians for the family members.

Despite being an unwelcome presence in the family, Gilgamel was still acknowledged as a part of the family, and hence, his father also presented him with a Steel-Clawed Dog. 

During that time, many voices within the mansion deemed him undeserving. However, only Gilgamel understood the depth of his frustration upon realizing the nature of the dog he had been given. 

Right from the start, he had harboured no expectations from this family. This is why he remained immediately suspicious and cautious when he was unexpectedly treated fairly. It was only after closely scrutinizing the dog he had received that he understood it was not a Steel-Claw Dog but simply an ordinary black furry dog. 

The others assumed that just because they looked alike, Gilgamel would be unable to differentiate between a Steel-Clawed Dog and an ordinary one.

First of all, he might be ignorant, but he is not blind.

It's common knowledge within the household that the claws of Steel-Clawed Dogs are composed of iron. However, Gilgamel observed that his dog's claws were simply regular dog nails, lacking the sharp, robust steel claws. Furthermore, while other Steel-Clawed Dogs exuded strength and dominance, his dog appeared timid and feeble, resembling a Chihuahua.

But it doesn't matter; although it's only an ordinary dog, Gilgamel still cherishes it dearly. He even named it after his dog in his previous life: Dodo.

"Dodo" was a loyal dog who died with him in the fire. He even suspected that it was also reborn in this world and became the current Dodo.

Three years have passed, and the small puppy has developed into a majestic creature resembling a golden retriever, displaying remarkable growth and transformation.

As early as Gilgamel acquired appraisal ability, he could see detailed information about his dog, including its age, name, race, potential, etc.

He was thrilled to learn that his dog had the potential to evolve from an ordinary animal into a fantasy beast. 

This discovery led him to realize that not only humans but also other creatures, like animals, could evolve into extraordinary beings. In short, he realized that anything is possible in this world, and it all comes down to chance and resources.

Dodo was the only family he recognized, and Gilgamel naturally didn't want it to die early.

The average life expectancy of regular dogs is around 10-17 years. However, after Dodo transforms into a fantasy beast, its life expectancy increases to 150 years, which is 50 years longer than the lifespan of a First Circle Wizard.

In their mortal state, animals generally have much shorter lifespans than humans. However, this situation is reversed when they become extraordinary beings.

One year ago, Gilgamel allowed Dodo to consume the blood of a fantasy beast called Dark Hound and several elixirs that matched its characteristics.

Dark Hounds belong to the dog species of fantasy beasts, similar to Steel-Clawed Dogs, but they rank higher than Steel-Clawed Dogs based on bloodline and magical abilities.

With Gilgamel's careful preparation, Dodo successfully evolved and became a Dark Hound. Although the process appeared painful, it was ultimately fruitful.

Gilgamel was pleased with the result.

He peaked at Dodo to see its information.

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Name: Dark Hound (Dodo)

Race: Fantasy Beast

Level: 7

Age: 4/150

Bloodline: 3

Attribute: Dark Element

Magical Ability: 1. Sniff [The ability to track objects by smell.] 2. Dark Approach [The ability to blend into darkness and make it hard to detect.] 3. Dark Claw [The ability to gather dark energy in its claws to perform attacks. The dark energy will leave a mark on the affected enemy and slow healing.]

Evolution Path: 1. Dark Flame Dog <view >, 2. Ghost Hunter Hound <view >, 3. Devilish Dog <view >

Tips: Feed Dark Dogs dark-attribute foods regularly to boost their dark energy. It will be beneficial for their future evolution.

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Dodo is currently at level 7, which means its power is on par with that of a First Circle Wizard. In fact, Dodo's progress is much faster than that of its owners.

Although Dodo used to be an ordinary dog, it has now become a creature with talent equivalent to a wizard with an advanced talent. Moreover, it has been consuming many resources daily with little effort.

Its life is more comfortable than its owner's.

Even though Gilgamel had Goldfinger, he still needed to work until his mouth was dry, but his dog only required it to act cute to get half of what he earned.

'Life is truly unfair.' Gilgamel sighed inwardly.

That's it!

After all, it's his dog. If not him, who else would take care of it?

The bloodline of a magical beast determines its potential. For instance, the Dark Hounds could only reach a maximum bloodline level of 3, which limited them to reaching level 39, equivalent to the peak of a Third Circle Wizard. 

Theoretically, it was impossible for them to surpass level 40, but there were still two possibilities to overcome this limitation.

The first possibility was to find a godly opportunity. 

This world was never short of opportunities. It's just that meeting them is not as easy as finding pebbles by the riverbank. One can only rely on miracles.

The second possibility is to evolve to a more advanced form. 

Based on the information in the peculiar book, Dark Hounds can evolve into three different forms: Dark Flame Dog, Ghost Hunter Hound, and Devilish Dog. Each of these evolutions has specific criteria.

Gilgamel had already chosen the evolutionary path for Dodo early on. However, he had yet to make any preparations because Dodo's level was still far from reaching the peak of level 39.