On our way to the lake, we hear a few wolf howls echoing from deep within the forest. Fortunately, we don't need to venture into the trees to reach the lake—we just head left. The frozen surface grows larger as we approach. We're careful not to walk right next to the cave wall, which might force us to fight worms. Besides, they don't lay their eggs in this part anyway, but beyond the forest.

The terrain slopes gently toward the lake, covered in a thin layer of what looks like freshly fallen snow. A few short, white bushes and occasional trees dot the landscape. The closer we get to the shore, the sparser the vegetation becomes.

Curiously, I spot the trail of a small animal—possibly the footprints of the seed in its puppy form—leading to and from the lake. The tracks follow the shortest path, which happens to be the same one we're taking.

When we reach the shore, we scan ahead, careful not to step onto the ice. The lake appears completely frozen over and incapable of sustaining any life other than the un-life of the wraiths. The seed's tracks continue out over the lake, crossing the thin layer of snow on its surface, before eventually disappearing into the distance.

I wonder how the hell it managed to run around on the ice and get so far before the wraiths came after it

"Ronan, can you send your last zombie bat to fly over the trail and see how far the pup got?"

"Of course, my lady."

I watch uneasily as the creature obeys him. Even though it's flying a couple of meters above the lake, I can't help but worry that its presence might be detected and trigger another attack. I don't take my eyes off it for a second. At some point, it halts mid-air, wings still flapping. It's made it about a third of the way toward the far wall of the cave, on the opposite side of the lake.

"From the images it sends me, it looks like the divine beast tried to dig into the ice, without much success," its master tells me.

"Don't tell me it was trying to reach the dungeon core," I mutter in surprise.

First of all, that would make no sense, and second, it would've brought every single creature in the cave down on us.

Ronan takes a few moments to reply. I can tell he must have ordered the minion to return, as the creature is now flying back toward us.

"My lady," he says—his demeanor and tone somehow even more solemn than usual, "I believe there is something here the divine beast wants us to have. There appeared to be a darker shadow buried in the ice. I possess the soul inn mastery, which allows me to store the souls I find wandering this land."

"But isn't that what you did with Joe and his brother Bob?"

"No. Since they were still in this world, unwilling to move on due to the injustice they experienced shortly before dying, I was able to raise them along with their bones—which gave me something far better than an empty corpse. But that only happened because their souls were already there, and I have high affinity with darkness. And perhaps because my invisible friend granted me the ability to become his acolyte. Now it is different. Now, I can shelter those souls, let them rest somewhere safe—a sort of inn, as the name of the mastery suggests—where no one can disturb them, and where I can easily find them again if I want to give them a body."

"Their original body?"

"The mastery does not specify. I suppose I could give them another one, perhaps that of an abomination. I am not certain."

Wait. Ronan knows how to make abominations too? Like in video games—some sort of chimera sewn together from parts of other dead creatures?

Oookay, better not ask now or we'll get completely sidetracked. Besides, it's Ronan. He does the weirdest things. I really shouldn't be surprised that his necromancy spells keep evolving, especially with how much he questions everything and loves to experiment.

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"So there's a soul here—is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"No, more like the bones of a powerful creature lie here. That much I can feel on my own. But I also sense that the soul of that ancient creature, which dwells on the other side, in the realm of the dead, could be brought back to this land through my ability. The soul inn mastery allows me to do so, if I'm in the right place."

"And can you do it from here?"

He shakes his head.

"I am afraid we must get closer to its bones. I trust we will not need to unearth them. Once I raise it, it should be able to free itself."

"So we have to step onto the lake. Or we go with that idea you came up with earlier—riding the golems, having them levitate while the skeletal bats push us across until we're over the spot? Even though you originally thought of it for storming a castle."

"The moment the soul crosses over from the other side and the creature buried beneath the ice begins to stir, they will attack us. I would prefer to fight first, on solid ground rather than in midair. It is your decision, my lady, whether you wish for us to raise the creature or not."

"No clue what kind of skeleton it might be, right?"

"None. The shadow appeared to be large."

"If it weren't for that looming threat hanging over us, that desperate need to level up and get stronger... I think I'd just say let's skip this and come back later. But I'm going to trust the seed—even though I'm not entirely sure that's the right call. Wait, hang on... Do you actually want this creature?"

"When I received the soul inn mastery, I believed I would need to journey across the world to seek out these ancient souls. If there is one here, I would like to call it."

"Then let's do it. Let me just check if I have any mana left—I'm not sure if I used it all up with those last fire darts."

Ronan gives me a puzzled look. I know exactly what he's going to say: that I should've checked earlier, and if I was low, I should've asked the pup to restore me.

"Ronan, don't. Don't say anything. I know I can be a little careless. Or forgetful."

I shoot him a warning glare, and he wisely keeps his mouth shut. Good for him. I'm not in the mood for lectures, even if they're deserved.

Oh… they are.

I open a system window to check my stats and see I'm at exactly zero mana. No wonder I'm feeling a bit drained. And it's a relief that I didn't try to cast that last channeled spell—would've been awkward to find out it wouldn't work.

So, I pull the pup out of my backpack and ask for a healing lick. It restores the 2 missing HP I had and boosts me to… 6 mana points? Shouldn't it be 5 if my wisdom is 10?

I check my stats. Nope, no surprise level-ups. My wisdom is still 10. I ask the pup to show me his own stats, and I find that what has improved is his spell:

Low healing lick: restores 60% of the future Dark Lord's maximum HP and MP. Not applicable to itself or other targets that aren't the future Dark Lord or the Dark Lord. Cost: 1 MP. Restriction: can only be used a maximum of 2 times every 24 hours.

Even better—that means I could have the wolf out for a full six minutes if needed.

Still, that's not quite enough if I have to cast two fire channelings—that's four mana points—just to shield myself in case the wraiths come for me and start draining my mana. That'd leave the wolf with just two minutes left, counting the one mana point I'd already spent evolving it from the seed.

I've got two options: ask for another lick, or meditate. But meditation is slow—I regain 1 MP every twenty minutes. To get those four points back, that's over an hour, and this dungeon's already dragging on. We've got food for one more day, but I'd rather not risk it.

So, I activate one of the channelings—on the quiver slung across my back—and ask the pup for its second and final healing lick of the day. I'm back to full, ten points of mana.

Now I can finally unleash the evolution—from seed of darkness to shadow wolf.

The little one leaps from my hands, and mid-air, his body begins to glow with intense light, shifting and growing rapidly. He lands as a towering beast, three meters tall on all fours, with long, deadly fangs as white as bone, and a coat so dark it seems even the light itself recoils from it.

"Go where you intended. Wipe out every last wraith. Cleanse the lake of enemies."

The divine beast locks eyes with mine. It should terrify me—but it doesn't. There's something between us beyond a contract—an understanding. We're a team now. His survival depends on me, and I believe—though it might just be a hunch —that mine, and maybe that of every other human in this world, depends on him.

Okay, that last bit is just me being dramatic… but I still feel it.

The wolf gives a slight nod and bolts into the lake. He's nothing but a blur, moving too fast to follow. I guess there are no shadows here for him to leap through and conceal himself.

I grab my sword—now that I've got room to swing it, I definitely prefer it over the bow—and activate fire channeling on the blade. Ronan hands me his salamander, which coils herself around my waist. If the specters come for me, I'm ready.

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