[Shadow Hound Spirit x3]

[Memory Fragment]

[Elite Essence Absorbed x3]

﹂[Wounds Healed | Mana Replenished | Grade Threshold Reached!]

[New Passive Acquired]

﹂[Supporting Cast]

[New Title Acquired]

﹂[Pack Slayer]

When Charles finished absorbing the essence of the three wolves, his body underwent a number of changes.

The most obvious was that he had reached the threshold of Novice Grade and was ready to reach the second grade.

All he needed to do now was consume the spirit of an Adept Grade creature.

Of course, he could also achieve the same effect by consuming one of the spirits that he currently had, but their rank was far too high for him, which would likely give him a mutation.

My body feels strange. It’s like I want to release something, but have no way to do it.

I should absorb an Adept spirit soon, or at least a Veteran spirit. The mutation risk would be relatively low.

...

Doesn’t this mean I’ll have to somehow get down to the lowest floors?

Charles didn’t want to think about that at the moment, so he brushed the thought aside and turned his attention back towards his other rewards.

From one of the wolves, he managed to receive a memory fragment.

This wasn’t directly linked to his progression, but would allow him to view a memory that the world found important.

As he focused on it more closely, he could see who exactly it belonged to.

「Abyss’ Memory Fragment」

Abyss... That was the wolf with the higher potential than its two siblings. I’ll view that memory later.

Next was his new passive: Supporting Cast.

「Supporting Cast」

﹂When fighting alongside at least one willing ally, the user’s spells cost 50% less mana.

...

Another passive in the Editor domain, which means it’s another overpowered one.

Charles was starting to see that the system was clearly directing him towards a path that made him stronger when fighting alongside someone else.

That someone being Charlotte, his "wife".

Unfortunately, at the moment, she was in a state that left her bedridden. She wouldn’t be fighting alongside him anytime soon.

Finally, Charles had earned his first title, which was Pack Slayer.

Pack Slayer ~ When fighting creatures that outnumber you, your body releases an intimidating aura that reduces each of your opponents’ speed and strength by 50%.

Interesting... The description specifies "creatures", which means this won’t work when fighting against multiple humans.

...

It’s still useful, so I won’t complain. Besides, I’ve only come up against creatures so far.

With all of his rewards examined properly, Charles finally rose to his feet.

Despite feeling a little uncomfortable, his body felt rejuvenated, and his energy and mana had been restored.

He turned back to the three wolves piled on top of each other and examined their bodies, which had been drained of their essences, carefully.

Hmm, nothing here is on Charlotte’s list.

Why does this make me feel like it was a useless hunt?

Have I already centred my existence around helping her?

...

That’s alarming, Charles. A man should have his own goals too!

After this brief monologue, Charles removed each of the wolves from the pile and separated their bodies.

Afterwards, he began using his dragon scale to harvest resources from each of them.

He was no master when it came to this sort of thing; however, FluffyCat was.

As an avid video watcher on Earth, he had oftentimes stumbled upon the wildlife category.

Although skinning a Shadow Hound was slightly different from skinning a deer, they had their similarities.

...

After what felt like a few hours, Charles was left feeling heavier than he ever had before.

His body was impossibly filled with numerous magical items.

「Shadow Hound Hide x3」

「Shadow Hound Fang x12」

「Shadow Hound Heart x3」

「Shadow Hound Claw x54」

「Shadow Hound Eye x6」

And also a vial of blood, which he physically held, as the vial was not a magical item.

Assuming that Shadow Hounds followed the same rules as most other wolves in the world of The Fourth Apocalypse, these were the most valuable parts of the creatures.

They could be used by someone with the Blacksmith class to make weapons, an Alchemist to make potions, and much more.

Not to mention, he could sell these at any market for an absurd price.

With all these items in his body, Charles was finally done with the 97th floor.

He had enough energy to continue down to the next floor, but he wanted to drop off his items at the top floor first.

...

After using the floor portal, Charles arrived in the familiar room. Except now, it looked... different. Something smelled delicious as well.

Charles looked around the once-basic room and noticed three new changes had been made.

First, next to Charlotte’s bed there was a new identical bed. They weren’t connected, but were in arms reach of each other.

Directly next to the bed was a basic gas stove, with an iron pot on top of it. Steam curled up from the pot, as an extremely delicious smell filled the room.

Finally, on the other side of the room was a marble bathtub, filled with warm water. Folded on the edge of the tub was a set of clothes.

"..."

The confused Charles first made his way over to the source of the aroma and looked into the pot. It was a stew made with numerous cuts of meat and vegetables that only existed in the novel.

Next to the pot, there was a note.

"Hmm?"

「Dear Charles,

I took your advice and decided to make some changes to the room. I think it only makes sense if we are going to be staying here for a while. Now you can enjoy warm baths and handmade food :)

I will have to rest for a while because of this, but I believe it was worth it.

See you soon.

Love, FluffyCat ≽^•⩊•^≼」