Ekant crouched slightly and focused.
"Let's check your status," he murmured.
A translucent panel appeared.
〈Blaze Dog〉
[Classification: Monster]
[Bloodline: Blazian Canis Lupus]
[Path: Skin Tempering – First Level]
[Owner: NoName]
"…As expected," Ekant sighed. "You really are the weakest."
He stared for a few seconds longer.
Then his brows rose slightly.
"…Wait."
"The bloodline is already awakened?"
That caught his attention.
"Huh. So there is potential," he muttered. "A Blazian Canis Lupus… sounds fancy enough."
He scanned the panel again.
"No Strength or Defense stats, huh." he frowned. "Is it because you are too weak… or do monsters work differently?"
He shook his head.
"I will have to ask Sir Bargaj later."
One thing was clear— if the Blaze Dog continued like this, it would never survive real combat and would die merciless immediately like an Elephant crushing a dog.
In the world of Monsters, Monsters normally grew stronger from birth by hunting and devouring other monsters rich in essence. Even weak ones instinctively did so.
Except plant or tree monsters.
And this one.
"…You really chose the hardest survival mode," Ekant said quietly.
He straightened up.
"It is time to hunt monsters to complete my quest for rewards."
The moment the words left his mouth—
〈Blaze Dog has entered your body〉
"…Wait— what?"
Ekant froze mid-step. His heartbeat skipped. He could not even show his evil smile.
"Where did you go?!"
There was no pain. And his body was not resisting either.
Just a faint warmth spreading through his chest, like a small flame settling down.
"…That's new." he muttered.
He frowned, then quickly reasoned it out.
"Must be a special feature for contracted pets… resting mode, maybe."
He was only half correct. Contracted monsters were indeed able to enter their owner's body to rest, but he had no idea that they could also cultivate there in a slightly safer environment.
The only downside was that the owner had to work harder to absorb a bit more essence. Because of this, most monster tamers prohibited the practice until the monster displayed extraordinary talent.
With no immediate danger and no system warning, he accepted the explanation.
Gripping the Sword of Life, Ekant began walking deeper randomly into the Beginner's Forest.
The air grew heavier.
Shadows thickened.
Then—
〈You have encountered a pack of monsters〉
〈Goblins — Skin Tempering: Third Level〉
〈Number of monsters: Three〉
Ekant immediately stopped.
There were three enemies. Each of them had superior levels compared to Ekant.
Though the difference was only two levels.
Ekant remained confident thanks to the Sword of Life's powerful attack bonuses. He had no reason to panic and instead calmly focused on killing them and monopolizing their cores.
"Its perfect time to swing my sword and test my skill in Eternal Arcana of Magic." he whispered.
In other VR games, his preferred weapon had always been the sword. However, in his second VR game, he realized that the sword techniques he had mastered before no longer worked. He later experimented in other games, only to find that the results were always the same.
Goblins had not noticed him yet.
The goblins— short, green skinned creatures with crooked backs and sharp ears— were scavenging the area, muttering in rough, guttural voices.
When he noticed Goblins had not noticed him yet.
Immediately, Ekant silently moved behind a thick tree and pressed his back against it.
He prepared for an ambush so that he would not give the goblins a chance to attack him, which could be fatal and result in the loss of his freebie reward from Sir Bargaj, the Tree of Life.
He waited.
One second.
Two second.
No... a whole minute.
The goblins approached, passing dangerously close.
The moment they crossed the tree—
Ekant moved.
He rounded the trunk in a single step and swung.
The Sword of Life flashed.
The first goblin did not even have time to scream.
〈You have killed a goblin〉
The second goblin shrieked in alarm and tried to leap away, shouting to warn the third.
Though it was too late.
Ekant adjusted his grip and followed through.
The blade cut cleanly.
〈You have killed a goblin〉
The last goblin finally managed to put distance between them.
It snarled, gripping a crude weapon—a wooden staff with a rock tied at one end.
Ekant advanced.
His movements were not fast.
His realm was still low.
But he was calm.
The goblin charged.
Their weapons collided.
Crack.
The wooden staff split in half as if it were made of paper.
After splitting the wooden staff, his blade continued forward until it sliced the last goblin.
〈You have killed a goblin〉
Silence returned.
Three green cores rolled onto the ground.
Ekant exhaled slowly, steadying his stance.
"…So this is normal combat."
He crouched and collected the cores one by one, storing them in his Spatial Ring.
Three kills.
No injuries.
No panic.
As he straightened, he felt a faint warmth stir inside his body.
Subtle.
Almost pleased.
Ekant didn't notice it.
But somewhere within him—
A small blaze flickered, watching, learning, and growing just a little stronger.
Unbeknownst to the Blaze Dog, Ekant had not done anything except swing his sword, as the sword was powerful enough to easily kill a Skin Tempering seventh-level opponent.