John Wicked: Endlessly Evolving My Pet Monsters-Chapter 4: First Blood

'Verdant Fanged Viper,' John looked at the snake and immediately identified it.

[Pet Name]: Verdant Fanged Viper

[Pet Attributes]: Flora, Poison

[Pet Rank]: Bronze.

[Pet Growth Stage]: Young

— Gene Potential: 33/100

— Strength: 16

— Defense: 14

— Speed: 17

— Soul Core: 53

John had a magical mental connection with Alfred since he was officially his Pet Monster with a soul connection between them. Commanding Alfred, John made his move.

'Start with Malefic Roar while maintaining your distance, bud.'

Ravenous Hound howled as a black and crimson mixed magical wave released in a large area, shaking trees and causing the Verdant Fanged Viper to hiss as it moved back.

'Go. Umbral Drift to get beside it fast while it is uncertain about attack and use Blood Claws to separate its head from its body.'

Ravenous Hound quickly turned into a stream of darkness, streaking forward as it made a quick circle around the Viper before pausing and materializing in the motion of waving its claw that shone with a crimson glint while also getting a bit longer.

*Swipe!*

The Viper's head rolled as John and Alfred concluded their first hunt.

"Malefic Roar is good. It just disabled that Viper from using its skill since it became uncertain about what to do, haha."

Alfred came back and barked at him with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Good job, buddy. Now let's get you a treat," John grinned and went to the dead Viper before pointing his hand at its corpse.

Using his Soul Core, John extracted the Viper's soul core as soon as a tiny nail-sized orb formed, looking like a magic crystal with a green hue.

These Soul Cores can be used to increase a Tamer's Soul Core or their Pet's Soul Core.

Soul Core was important for growth, and the power of their Soul Core also determined the effective power of their skills alongside Strength, Defense, and Speed, depending on the type of skills.

For example, Malefic Roar also relied on the strength of the Roar and how much Alfred could roar while using the skill, but the skill's effect power was determined by the Soul Core's value.

As John finished extracting the Viper's Soul Core, a voice rang in his mind.

[Do you wish to acquire Geno Points of Verdant Fanged Viper? You can use its Geno Points to alter Evolution Paths.]

'Oh? Yes, of course. I want to acquire those Geno Points.'

[You have unlocked a new skill , which can store Geno Points of different monsters.]

[17 Geno Points of Verdant Fanged Viper acquired.]

[John Wicked]

-Soul Rank: Bronze

-Stats:

— Strength: 9

— Speed: 9

— Soul Core: 10/100

-Pet Monster Space: [0/2]

-Skills:

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— Inspect.

— Evolution Pathways.

— Genetic Pocket.

"Howl!"

Alfred roared while looking at the other side of the river.

John diverted his attention and saw that a Monster was there, looking at them while growling.

'This could be difficult,' John narrowed his eyes, and a grin soon stretched across his face. 'But fun nonetheless.'

[Pet Name]: Vine-Punch Panther

[Pet Attributes]: Flora

[Pet Rank]: Bronze

[Pet Growth Stage]: Adult

— Gene Potential: 67/100

— Strength: 25

— Speed: 23

— Defense: 24

— Soul Core: 78/100

This Panther was an apex predator of the Verdant Canopy area. Its name was based on its famous skill Vine-Punch, which its tail weaved, creating a huge fist twice the size of its body and swinging it.

If Alfred gets hit by it, it would severely injure him, if not kill him.

But the river wouldn't let the Panther jump over, so it was just growling at them.

'Time to get strong first,' John turned to Alfred and knelt on the ground before presenting the dog with Verdant Fanged Viper's Soul Core.

Alfred gulped it down and started shining.

Soon, Alfred's Soul Core increased from 50 to 64.

Eating a Soul Core could also trigger the 'Growth' of the Pet Monster, especially if the Soul Core they ate belonged to a higher stage of Growth.

Ravenous Hound was an adolescent, but after eating the soul core, it reached the Young stage. It almost became the same size as the Vine-Punch Panther, even though the Panther was a stage higher in growth, at Adult!

And Alfred's stats also reached close to that of Panther. It indicated that Ravenous Hound was indeed a top-tier Pet Monster!

[Pet Name]: Ravenous Hound - Alfred.

[Pet Attributes]: Blood / Darkness.

[Pet Rank]: Bronze.

[Pet Growth Stage]: Young

— Gene Potential: 7/100 +

— Strength: 23

— Speed: 23

— Defense: 21

— Soul Core: 64/100

'Oh, I can see a +sign beside Gene Potential...but if I understand correctly, Gene Potential could only be increased through fights and training, and once it reaches 100, a monster could undergo an evolution or an upgrade of skills or learn a new skill.'

Evolution was the most desirable because upon evolving, the Pet Monster could entirely empower with a new and better set of skills.

John focused on the + sign and got a notification.

[Do you wish to refine the 17 Geno Points of Verdant Fanged Viper and turn them into 8 Gene Potential for Ravenous Hound?]

'Hmm? Interesting. So, I can use Geno Points in two ways. One to reduce them into pure potential for my Pet Monster and another to use them in Evolution.'

John decided to save the points. Verdant Fanged Viper's poison was great with its powerful paralyzing effect, and since he was leaving this area, he wouldn't get any more Verdant Fanged Vipers, so he planned to save these 17 Geno points.

"Grrr....*

The Panther growled, its eyes on Alfred as if taunting it to come and fight.

Alfred also growled back, now looking more ferocious than ever as it became bigger. Not to mention that Alfred gained a new skill after reaching the Young growth stage!

Crimson Swipe: Unleashes a bloody claw projectile. If Blood Claws is activated, the claw projectile deals more damage and steals life to self-heal based on the damage dealt.

John smiled after reading the skill, and he turned to the Panther before using the most important technique of being a Monster Tamer.

Soul Synergy. Depending on the bond between a Tamer and a Pet, Soul Synergy would give a certain number of stats of a Pet to the Tamer for a certain duration, which depended on the Tamer's Soul Core.

John's Soul Core had a value of 10, so he could keep Soul Synergy activated for 10 seconds before needing to cool down to recover his soul power.

But that was enough, and this was the power that made Tamers stronger than monsters aside from Soul Techniques.

"Alright, buddy. Are you ready for a serious fight with that black cat?"

Alfred howled in response, baring its fangs at the Panther.

Both of them glowed as John used Soul Synergy.

[John Wicked]

-Stats:

— Strength: 9 + 23

— Defense: 8 + 24

— Speed: 9 + 23

— Soul Core: 10 + 64

'Alfred, here's the plan on how we'll defeat that Panther.'