How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 31

36. Dungeon Tour Goal (2)

There’s no need to panic.

I knew this was coming from the first time I summoned her.

It was obvious this day would come.

“Undine, this is a perfect opportunity. Why don’t you evolve?”

-Evolve?

“Yes, evolve.”

I smiled and suggested Undine evolve.

The time has come.

For Undine, and the other spirits, to shed their skin.

* * *

Spirit rankings start from the lowest, then lower, intermediate, upper, and highest.

The higher you go, the more immense the power.

Undine, being the lowest-ranked spirit, can only manipulate enough water to cover a person’s head.

The highest-ranked water spirit can easily create massive tidal waves.

Naturally, the higher the rank, the fewer spirit masters are contracted to them.

Even at the intermediate level, there are barely over 100 in the Selvas Kingdom, and the number of upper-level spirits is definitely small.

If you’re at the highest level, your name goes down in history.

In fact, there are also spirit kings above that, but they shouldn’t be counted.

Anyway, the ranks are divided, and in the setting, spirits can evolve to higher ranks.

There are several factors required for evolution, one of which is the influence of the contracted spirit master.

This is also why spirits instinctively desire contracts with spirit masters.

‘One of the fastest ways to evolve is through a spirit master.’

The spirit master’s spirit power, the mana that is its foundation, is weaker in quantity compared to what exists in nature, but it has some complex properties added to it.

That is, the spirit master’s information.

Spirits evolve by accepting mana that has passed through humans.

Naturally, the higher the rank, the greater the power required, and there are not many spirit masters who meet those conditions.

Even throughout the original story, there are only a few spirit masters who can purely grow and draw out the highest-level spirits.

‘But getting to the lower rank isn’t difficult.’

If the level is low from the start, raising the initial level is easy.

Reaching level 100 from level 90 requires a grand grind, but there’s no need to grind to go from level 1 to level 10.

Then it would be a terrible game.

So, evolving Undine to the lower rank isn’t impossible for me.

-Evolve! I want to!

Undine raised both arms and cheered.

Even the lowest-ranked spirits, whose intelligence isn’t fully established, instinctively desire it.

Moreover, recently, most spirit masters prefer to break contracts and summon new spirits rather than evolve their current ones.

It seems spirits also live in a tough world.

“Okay, Undine. Then sit there.”

I sat Undine down on the cloth I had laid on the floor and reached out my hand to concentrate.

No special ritual is needed for evolution.

The important thing is that the spirit master’s spirit power clearly exceeds the existing spirit’s vessel.

In other words, I just need to keep sending my mana.

It’s simple, but truly profound work.

“Hmm… is this enough?”

I carefully control the amount of mana as much as possible.

As I send it, Undine twitches, shivers, and stretches her wings.

-Tickles!

“You have to endure it. That’s how you grow up.”

I coaxed her and continued to concentrate my power.

After concentrating for about a minute.

Finally, a change began to occur in Undine’s energy.

First, Undine’s body melted like water and collapsed.

Her form is being reconstructed as she evolves.

It means that her previous small form can no longer express her grown self.

The amount of water gradually increases.

Likewise, the energy also increases.

And the water takes shape.

This is the new version of Undine!

“Oh, easy to see the growth?”

If Undine’s previous size was about the size of my palm.

The grown Undine has gotten bigger.

She’s now about waist-high. Roughly the size of a five-year-old child.

-Eiron! I got bigger!

Undine raises her arms wide and shows off her growth.

Her tone and voice feel much more personable than before.

Her intelligence has also increased little by little as she grew.

Literally, her head is getting bigger.

But she’s still just a child.

Undine is so happy about her evolution that she clings to my leg and giggles.

-Grew up! Got bigger! Eiron!

“Yes, yes. Good for you. I’m jealous.”

I wish I could get taller too.

I stroked Undine’s head and watched her with a pleased expression.

Well, if she grows, I get stronger too, so it’s a good thing for me too.

As a lower-level spirit, she can now properly act like a spirit.

However, there is one thing that bothers me.

I squatted down, made eye contact with Undine, and firmly corrected her.

“But Undine? It’s not Eiron, it’s Aileen.”

At least she should call her contractor’s name correctly, right?

-Eiron!

“Aileen!”

-Eiron!

Well, I didn’t think it mattered much, so I just went back to stroking her.

She’s still just a child, so it’s a meaningless act.

Anyway, the Undine development project doesn’t seem to have any setbacks.

I was also convinced that the evolution of spirits is not much different from the original setting.

‘Then what’s left…’

It would be good to quickly evolve the other spirits.

I decided to evolve the other spirits to the lower rank in order, and as a result.

Everyone succeeded without any problems.

They all changed subtly as they became lower-ranked.

Sprite evolved from a small hedgehog to about the size of my shin.

Almost the size of a medium dog.

Sandman went from a vague sheep-like appearance to the form of a puppy-sized lamb.

Wisp’s existing light orb shape didn’t change, but its size increased to about the size of my head.

-Got bigger! You too?

-Me too. Evolved. Did.

-……Me too, me too.

And they became more talkative.

-Yeah. Yeah. Everyone got bigger.

Undine crosses her arms and nods as if she’s impressed.

I wondered what she was doing, but it seems she’s copying my actions.

…They’re really just little kids.

I need to raise these guys to at least the intermediate level quickly.

Ugh, raising you guys is going to break my back.

And it’s not just the evolution of spirits.

I had some time left, so I tried summoning more spirits.

I felt like I had been a little negligent in summoning spirits because I had been so busy.

The result is right here, the three new spirits I summoned.

First, the wind spirit Sylph.

Like Undine when she was at the lowest rank, she has the appearance of a small fairy, and instead of wings, she is surrounded by a faint wind.

Next, the fire spirit Salamander.

This guy, who has the shape of a lizard made of flames, yawns and sparks fly from his mouth.

Finally, the earth spirit Gnome.

He has the appearance of a dwarf made of sand, and sand rustles every time he moves.

“It seems like there are no problems with any of them.”

All three of these guys are lower-ranked spirits.

It’s proof that my capabilities have definitely surpassed the lowest rank.

Now, the work of drawing out the spirits’ specs within the scope of what I can do at this point is over.

Now all that’s left is to leave the city as soon as possible.

There’s no more room to delay.

There’s no guarantee that the schedule I calculated with some leeway will match.

I decided to depart.

‘……Am I a little sad?’

Well, I have to leave anyway.

I’ve already sold the store to use as travel expenses, so someone else will come in and use this store from the day I leave.

The store sold for quite a bit.

Perhaps it’s thanks to me, but it sold for three times the existing market price.

It’s not that I’m not sad. I definitely have an attachment to it.

But I don’t have any regrets.

‘What, I can buy a better house.’

From the beginning, it was a stepping stone to earn a lump sum of money for a while.

In the future, I will definitely get a mansion that even nobles will envy.

With that vision in mind, I set out for departure.

* * *

Departing is good.

Yes, very good.

Since I’m leaving on a trip! I will never look back!

The problem is, how do I get to Deyal Territory so that it’s rumored that I went well?

‘I’m not planning to go alone…’

There’s nothing crazier than traveling alone.

If it’s a short distance, I can go alone without any problems if I have that much power.

But it’s different if it’s a long distance.

Moreover, it seems that it takes at least 6 days to get from here to Deyal Territory even if you ride a horse, and at least 20 days if you walk.

Alone for such a long distance? That’s definitely crazy.

Even if limited to the Selvas Kingdom alone, there are probably less than 300 people who can do that.

My level is not yet at that level.

‘More than anything, I don’t know the way well.’

I’ve learned to some extent how to read maps, so I know the direction, but I still lack experience.

If I go out like this, I guarantee I’ll die.

Therefore, I plan to choose one of the travel methods that can guarantee safety as much as possible.

‘There are several ways.’

One is to increase the number of people as much as possible.

This is the method that merchants who cannot afford to hire escorts choose.

However, it’s over if you encounter full-fledged monsters or bandits.

The second is to hire a personal escort.

But it costs quite a bit of money.

It’s not that I can’t afford it, but I want to save as much as possible.

The remaining money should be used as funds to stay, eat, and prepare at the destination.

So, I’ll use the third method.

For that, I have now arrived at the mercenary guild.

I had already applied for the request a few days ago, and today is the date.

From the beginning, I planned the departure date for today for this request.

Already, quite a few mercenaries are gathered outside the guild building.

At least 40 people.

They are all mercenaries gathered for the same request as me.

I mixed in among them and waited quietly.

After a while, a man walked out of the guild building.

“……Sorry to keep you waiting.”

A mercenary man with a large glaive [a polearm weapon] on his back.

He is the man in charge of this request, Calment.

In addition, he is an A-rank mercenary.

‘A-rank, huh…’

Generally, the dividing point for dividing the quality of mercenaries is said to be from B-rank.

The rank that can be accumulated with steady experience alone is limited to B-rank.

The quality of A-rank mercenaries is different.

Their experience and skills are incomparable to ordinary mercenaries.

You can see people who use aura [a manifestation of inner energy] from this point on.

There are only three A-rank mercenaries in this city.

It seems they are directly asked by the guild to take on requests.

For example, the request we will be carrying out from now on is like that.

Unlike us, that man is taking on the request by being directly asked by the guild.

Of course, the reward and responsibility will be different.

“I think you’ve already heard the explanation, but I’ll tell you one more time just in case.”

Mr. Calment began a brief explanation of the request to be carried out in front of the mercenaries.

“From now on, we will be in charge of escorting the Rupal Merchant Association’s wagons.”

Escort mission.

A request to safely secure the wagons moving to the destination.

Of course, it’s obvious what we’re protecting them from.

Monsters. Bandits. Or other things.

We protect the merchants, who are the clients, and their precious goods in all situations.

I also participated in the request.

‘There’s no request as sure as a merchant association escort request.’

There’s nothing as safe as these 40 mercenaries rushing in at once.

Moreover, it’s the merchants who are hiring us.

Not a penny will come out of my wallet.

Rather, I will receive three gold coins upon arrival.

Of course, it’s not free.

You have to be mindful of the escort target, and you can’t sleep properly.

Even so, it cannot be compared to safety.

It is the safest means of travel that I can choose right now.

I listened to his explanation, thinking that this was the right answer.