”Yield! You know you can’t win. You will die a meaningless death if this goes on. Bond with me and I can guarantee your soul will live and grow stronger. Who knows, I might even build a body for you once more when I get stronger.” Astaroth said, trying the trick of the carrot and the stick.

The wolf resisted a bit more, but it knew death was knocking. It finally gave in.

“I yield! Please, make it stop. I don’t want to disappear!” It cried out.

Instantly, the pressure crushing it disappeared. Like it was never there.

The Alpha slowly rose to its feet, wobbling a little. It then turned to the Elf who had crushed it.

It couldn’t believe what was happening.

‘How can an Elf be so weak and have such a powerful mind and crushing resolve?’ It thought.

“I will bond to you, but first, you must give a name to me. This will imprint my soul on you and make it so I cannot dissipate until you let me.” The Alpha said, lowering its head.

“Hmm, a name you say? What about Alpha?” Astaroth asked.

The wolf growled.

“Do not mock me.” It answered.

“I am joking.” Astaroth laughed.

“I think I will name you, White Death. Do you like that?” He then asked.

“I think it suits me better. I accept your name.” The wolf said, bowing a little more.

A blinding flash of light appeared, and Astaroth was back in the cave, in his seating position. He was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

*Ding!*

*You have made your first spirit contract. You have learned the spell ‘Spirit Summoning’*

*Ding!*

*The spirit you have bonded with is strong! You have learned the spell ‘Spirit Melding’*

Astaroth quickly looked at the spell descriptions.

Spirit Summoning: Summon spirit bound to your soul. Duration: 5 minutes. Mana cost: 100 (Exp share 0/100)

List of bonded spirits: White Death

Spirit Melding: Meld with the spirit of your choice, gaining its stats and affinities for two and a half minutes. If the spirit is already summoned, melding time becomes half the duration left on its summon timer. Cooldown: 5 minutes.

“It looks like you are finally back.” Aberon’s voice sounded from behind him.

“Ahh, yes. I am back. And it seems like I have succeeded. And like I need a bath, hahaha.” Astaroth joked.

“I think before that, you will want to summon your new spirit and inspect it.” Aberon said.

“Then I shall do that right away, sir.” Astaroth nodded.

“Spirit Summoning: White Death.” He chanted.

Astaroth felt a sizeable chunk of mana going from his mana lobe to the middle of his abdomen. From there, he sensed a small flame gobbling it up and jumping out of his body.

A wolf made of pure mana appeared in front of him, before howling to the sky. This wolf was much smaller than the Alpha used to be.

Astaroth surmised that the size probably was only attributed to the powerful body. Once the wolf had fully materialized, he inspected it.

Status:

Name: White Death

Race: Dire Wolf

Grade: Common

Level: 20 (0/35K)

Evolve: 0/1000

Stats:

HP: 750/750 MP: 150/150 Stamina: 100

Strength: 20 Agility: 20 Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 20

Attack Power Str: 100 Attack Power Agi: 100 Magic Attack Power: 100 Healing Power: 100

Natural Defense: 2%

Available stat point: 29

Skills: Ghost Claw, Soul Bite

Passive Abilities: Spiritual Body

He then opened its spell list, to read the descriptions.

Passives:

Spiritual Body: This body is an apparition composed of mana. Physical attacks have little effect on it, but magic is its bane. Physical damage taken -50%, Magical damage taken +50%

Actives:

Ghost Claws: This ability phases through armor. Damage ignores armor values. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Soul Bite: This ability bites the target’s soul, causing weakness. All stats -5% for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.

ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm

He threw fifteen of the free points into Constitution, seven into Agility, and the last seven into Strength. He wanted to build the wolf into a decent tank, making his later grinding easier.

He looked at the stats again.

Status:

Name: White Death

Race: Dire Wolf

Grade: Common

Level: 20 (0/35K)

Evolve: 0/1000

Stats:

HP: 3000/3000 MP: 150/150 Stamina: 100

Strength: 27 Agility: 27 Constitution: 35 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 20

Attack Power Str: 135 Attack Power Agi: 135 Magic Attack Power: 100 Healing Power: 100

Natural Defense: 3.5%

Available stat points: 0

Skills: Ghost Claw, Soul Bite

Passive Abilities: Spiritual Body

Then, there was also the matter of the grade dropping.

“Why has the grade dropped from special to common, sir?” Astaroth asked Aberon.

“The grade a creature has when alive is associated with its body. When it dies, the grade no longer matters. The soul of said creature doesn’t go up in grade with the body. That has to be strengthened independently.” Aberon replied.

“Then is the ‘evolve’ line in the status the way to improve its grade?” Astaroth questioned.

“That would be correct. Evolving a soul requires the creature to consume the souls of creatures from the same race. During its life, a creature won’t think of that, so the soul always stays of common grade.” Aberon answered, proud that Astaroth could deduce that on his own.

“Now. Can you tell me how many souls are required for evolving your summon’s grade?” He then asked.

“One thousand.” Astaroth flatly said.

“That is a good amount. You will need to kill many dire wolves to get that many souls.” The old mage said, his face scrunching a little.

Normally, it wouldn’t be that much of a deal. But in this specific case, the wolves were much stronger than the summoner.

It would be a far-fetched idea for him to kill that many on his own soon.

“I suggest you go wash up and rest. You will need to start monster hunting soon, and that requires energy.” Aberon told Astaroth.

Astaroth nodded in agreement. He unsummoned the wolf and walked out of the cave.

He walked to the river, washed up, and walked back to his alcove. He then lay on the cot and logged out.

Tomorrow, another big day was waiting for him.