"Uh, right away? It's dark outside. Not safe for testing." Mark doesn't want casualties to occur when making such a good deal. So, he couldn't help but hesitate.
The second prince thought for a bit and asked, "Then, will you stay here until the morning?"
In a normal case, Mark would have rejected but for the sake of the deal, he agreed to it. "No problem."
"Fu Chao…" The second prince called out someone.
A person in cotton wear entered the tent and bowed, "Your Highness."
Shang Wen pointed his hand at Mark, "Lu Zhen is our esteemed guest. Make preparations for his stay."
The attendant bowed to the prince and left the tent.
After a while, he returned and spoke politely, "please follow me."
"We'll meet tomorrow morning, then." The Second Prince gave a farewell to Mark and went outside for a usual patrol to check on his subordinates.
Soon, Mark stood before a large tent, capable of housing even ten people. "The treatment is much better than the last time."
He thought it might be because he's the weapon seller but in reality, this has more to do with the fact that fewer numbers are camping around.
Earlier, he wanted to ask for a bigger tent so that Alina can also stay in but it turned out to be unnecessary.
He sat with Lei Jin and a couple of other soldiers around a campfire for a couple of hours before going back to the tent and sitting on the mattress.
"Open Familiars' inventory"
Savage Baltrow is in red color, indicating that it is still recuperating; Lightning Wolf and Tundra Bear are grey in color, indicating that they are unavailable for summoning due to low ether points; the remaining slots are glowing.
Mark clicked on the wolf.
*Ding! You are about to summon Pritsha, the Cannibal in 3, 2, 1…
A blinding flash of light appeared beside him before revealing a dark gray wolf that is about the size of an average male adult.
*Woof*
A powerful bark escaped from it, alerting the soldiers nearby.
Mark instinctively moved away as the wolf bared its fangs against him. Sensing the hostility coming from it, he stored it in the inventory, once again.
"System, what's going on?"
*Ding! The Spirit Beast was contracted forcefully and therefore, has less loyalty towards its master. Please check out its details.
*Ding! Would you like the system to erase its memory? Rank-5 Spirit Beast costs 200 credits. As a result, the loyalty will be fixed at 50%.
"Oh boy, there's this too…" Mark grabbed his forehead. If such is the case, then, this was indeed an issue that needs to be taken seriously. He felt a headache when he found the wolf's loyalty is at 5%.
"System, tell me, how much you charge for erasing the memories of the remaining two contracted beasts?"
*Ding! Erasing the memory of Shimmerwood Turtle costs 200 credits and erasing the memory of Savage Baltrow costs 1 million credits. If the host chose to use gold coins, it will be added to the debt.
"1 million?" Mark gasped in shock. He complained, "That's like 5 million gold coins. It's enough that it can even be captured but to summon it, I need to shell out such a huge amount of money? Are you doing this on purpose to trap me in debt?"
*Ding! Savage Baltrow is a Beast king of Legendary Realm (8-circle). Erasing its memories will be as expensive as erasing the soul fragment of Emperor Shun. The system is fair. Please don't put false allegations.
Mark felt like all of his hopes dashed away. Just until a while ago, he was dreaming about fulfilling the justice to Lu Zhen with its help but now, his goal was suddenly teleported to faraway. As for agreeing with the deal, he would never do it. It's because if he put 5 million gold coins on debt, then, just that 1% monthly interest itself will crush him down.
It was then something clicked inside his mind. He asked, "System, how far the beast's disloyalty will for. Will it attack its owner? Will it attempt to kill its owner and escape the contract?"
*Ding! No, the Spirit Beast will refuse to listen to the orders and might be unwilling to protect its owner if the latter is facing life-threatening danger.
"Then, it will be fine." Mark sighed in relief. He quickly made the decision and said, "System, erase the memories of Pritsha, the Cannibal, and Shimmerwood Turtle. And I would like to change their names too. Will that be possible?"
*Ding! Of course, like with the summoning beasts, the host simply needs to go to their details and change the name. The title can also be removed but the system doesn't recommend it as the host would only lose out on bonus stats from it.
"While its sassiness never disappeared, the system atleast talks more now. It even provides suggestions on its own. I wonder how it will change after being upgraded further." Mark mumbled to himself while reading the detailed notifications.
*Ding! 400 credits will be deducted from the inventory. Proceed? Or would you like to use gold coins, instead?
"Use credits," Mark answered it. Since he earned a lot of credits during the past few days, 400 isn't much for him, at the moment.
While the system is in the middle of erasing their memories, a couple of soldiers entered his tent and looked around. They found no one but Mark.
One of them deeply bowed, "We apologize for the sudden intrusion. We heard a wolf's bark from this place. I guess we are wrong."
"Oh, don't worry. It's mine. She's a bit angry with me. Everything is fine, now." Mark waved his hands with a smile on his face.
"Ah, a summoner?" Another soldier exclaimed in surprise for he couldn't sense even a tiny bit of ether from Mark. Both of them apologized once again and left the tent, informing their superior.
Everything calmed down quickly.
About five minutes later, the system informed him about the removal of the memories of the wolf and turtle. Mark resummoned the wolf, once again after changing its name.
This time, it didn't bark and just stared at him curiously.
Mark stood up on his feet and raised his hand towards it, "Hello, nice to meet you, partner. I'm Mark Spencer. Let's work together."
The dark gray wolf lowered its head and allowed him to pet, letting out a small growl.
*Ding! The Host's sincerity touched the contracted beast's soul. The loyalty of Noelle is increased by 12%. The familiarity of Noelle changes from neutral to Ally.
There are three states for a contracted beast, Ally, neutral, and Rebel.
The beast turns into a rebel when its loyalty is below 40%. From 40% to 60% where half of the contracted beasts stay in the neutral state. In this state, even tiny things like greetings, food, or scolding will change its mood.
But, once it crosses 60%, it becomes an ally. It lends its power to its owner. The more its loyalty increases, the more it will be willing to give up its life.
Seeing that the beast has already become its friend with just a small greeting, Mark gave his first order but more in a polite tone, treating it more or less like an equal, "I'm going to be busy with something important. For the next hour, please guard my body."
