Ding!
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[Lesser Tidespawn (Elite)] (Level 3) (Summoned by Valyr Zeihardt)
HP: 50/50
MP: 40/40
Attack: 6 - 10
Defense: 3 - 5
Stats: 5 VIT, 5 STR, 5 AGI, 4 DEX, 4 INT, 4 WIS, 4 PER, 4 LUK
Remarks: Would probably be better off just for show.
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As Valyr took a look at the status screen he had obtained from using [Analysis] on the Tidespawn he had summoned, the young man quickly noticed that the screen contained far more information when compared to times where he used the skill on monsters he fought against. Of course, it did not take long for him to realize that it was due to the fact that it was a monster he had summoned, giving him the ability to peer far deeper into the strength of the monster he had summoned.
"Wait a second…" However, as he continued to look at the monster's status screen, he soon noticed that something was amiss, realizing that the system classified the Lesser Tidespawn he summoned as an Elite monster. Though, just as he wondered whether Lesser Tidespawns started off as Elite monsters when summoned, a thought flashed in his mind, reminding him of a description he had just read sometime earlier.
"Is… is the Lesser Tidespawn affected by the curse?" Murmuring this question to himself, Valyr felt that there was a possibility for it to be the case. But as he was not certain that it was indeed the case, he went ahead and hopped down from the dried-up corpse of the Tidemother with Sana and the Lesser Tidespawn, only to feel a wave of pain radiate from his back at the very moment he landed.
"Agh!" Gritting his teeth as he endured the pain, Valyr decided to take off his helmet and chestplate to take a look what was causing pain to radiate from his back. Dropping both armor pieces on the ground as the pain began to subside, Valyr activated [Basic Water Manipulation] and cast a sufficiently large orb of water before manipulating it to hover around his back.
After that, he manipulated the water in a way that the surface that was closest to the back was flat, turning into a mirror that would allow him to see what was going on. Turning around to look at the makeshift mirror he had made, Valyr was left at a loss for words as he did not expect to see anything like the one he was looking at to appear on his back.
"They really took the word 'mark' literally."
On his back was the mark of an intricately designed spider that was the color of his darkened skin, which gave off a nefarious feeling whenever he focused his sight on it. Surrounding the spider was a magic circle of the same color, being composed of a layer of magic runes that Valyr had no clue on what it meant.
"I guess the magic circle surrounding the spider will grow larger once the mark reaches a higher tier?" Pondering over how the mark on his back worked for a bit, Valyr eventually placed those thoughts at the back of his head, deciding that he would try to find out more about it once he returned to Algerie City and headed to its library, answering it alongside the many other questions he had in mind so far.
Wearing the helmet and chestplate back on, Valyr then went ahead and roamed through the outskirts of the village for a bit, eventually finding a lone wolf he could experiment his curse on.
"At the moment, the wolf is beyond 100 meters away from me." Activating [Analysis] as he looked at the monster, Valyr quickly found out that the wolf was Level 5, having the stats he expected from a normal wolf at that level. After that, he gradually moved closer to the wolf, eventually closing the gap between them to less than a hundred meters.
"Awooo!!!" At the very instant the wolf was less than a hundred meters from Valyr, its eyes gained a faint crimson tinge to it as its body and aura surged with greater power, dashing towards where he was. Seeing that the curse was now taking effect, Valyr went ahead and used [Analysis] on the wolf once more, only to notice that it was now classified as an Elite monster.
"I guess that's that, then." Satisfied with the quick experiment he had done, Valyr went ahead and ran away from the wolf at the fastest speed he could muster, increasing the gap between them to half a kilometer within a few seconds, only for him to disappear from the wolf's field of vision not long after.
With the effect of Valyr's curse now gone, the wolf stood in place for a bit in confusion, wondering what it was doing just a few seconds earlier. Thinking that it had probably done nothing significant, it soon returned to wandering the outskirts once more in search for prey.
…
"Move." Now at another part of the outskirts devoid of monsters, Valyr sent a command to the Lesser Tidespawn he summoned, ordering it to move over a hundred meters away from it. Without hesitation, the Lesser Tidespawn followed the order, proceeding to head in a singular direction at the greatest speed it could muster.
While the Lesser Tidespawn was doing just that, Valyr activated [Analysis] on it once more, wanting to see whether there would be a difference once it had gone past the 100 meter mark.
Whoosh!
"Hehehe." Once the Lesser Tidespawn was over a hundred meters away from where he stood, Valyr took a look at the status screen he had opened by the side, noticing that the stats of the Lesser Tidespawn was now more in line with what he expected from a Level 3 monster. Aside from that, the Elite tag at the end of the Lesser Tidespawn was now gone, confirming his suspicions.
"Hahaha… hahahaha…" Deciding to dispel the Lesser Tidespawn for now, Valyr cut off the link connecting the two of them, causing the Lesser Tidespawn to transform into motes of blue light before disappearing. After that, he turned around before making his way back to the village, letting out a laughter that only grew louder the more time passed.
"This is great!" At the moment, multiple thoughts whirred through Valyr's mind as a result of the two experiments he had just done earlier. With a grin adorning his face, he realized that the Mark of the Alltide, although a curse he did not know how to remove, was actually a blessing in disguise.
"I guess I'll have to make a stop at the Boundless Skill Pavilion once I get back and buy a few monster summoning skill books before heading to the Lesser Meltierre Mountains. It would definitely be a waste if I didn't capitalize on this."
"I guess this curse isn't completely a bad thing, after all."
