SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

Mora stared at the message for several seconds, and although her face remained calm, her fingers tightened around the interface as if the number itself had offended her.

Ten soul stones was not a small price, not for a temporary summon, and even if the Silverback had performed beyond expectations, the jump from gold coins to soul stones was too much.

"This is excessive," she said while looking toward her vice leader.

Her vice leader leaned closer, read the message twice, and frowned as well. "Ten soul stones for twelve hours... Guild Leader, this is not a normal rate."

Mora opened the reply field and typed quickly, offering five soul stones instead, because although she accepted the value of the summon, she did not intend to look like someone who could be squeezed without resistance.

The response came almost immediately, and it was not a counteroffer.

[10 Soul Stones — Fixed]

Mora’s lips pressed together slightly. Soul stones were stable on the marketplace, and most high-value listings accepted them without question, but they were still limited, and even guilds could run out if they spent them carelessly.

Gold could be earned through repeated missions, but soul stones depended on monster drops, special rewards, and lucky trades, which made replacing them troublesome if the marketplace dried up.

For a few minutes, she weighed the loss against the mission.

Without the Silverback, they would move slower, suffer more injuries, and possibly fail the transport operation before reaching the second checkpoint, but with it, the path became easier, cleaner, and much safer.

More importantly, the mission reward was high enough that ten soul stones would not cripple them, and if they completed it properly, replacing the stones would only be a matter of time.

"Bring out the guild soul stones," Mora said in a firm, determined tone.

Her vice leader froze slightly. "Are you sure?"

Mora nodded once while keeping her eyes on the battlefield ahead. "We will earn more from this mission than we lose here, and if we fail because I hesitated over resources, that would be stupidity pretending to be caution."

The vice leader exhaled and reached into his spatial storage. A small pouch appeared in his hand, and when he opened it, ten blue stones rested inside like pieces of frozen night. He transferred them through the system, and the contract sealed a moment later.

---

On the other side, Zich was sitting on his bed when ten soul stones suddenly appeared in his hands. The moment he felt the weight, his expression changed.

"Damn... they actually paid."

He had only been testing the limit, not truly expecting them to accept so quickly.

He looked at the stones for a moment longer, and a faint smile touched his face.

This brought his total to fifteen soul stones, and although it was still not enough for the skill he wanted, the gap had become much smaller than before. A few more successful rentals, and he could buy it.

The marketplace was truly heaven-sent. His beast could fight far away, earn experience points, and generate income at the same time, which meant he was gaining value from a body that was not even physically beside him. The only downside was mana, because distance did not remove the cost of maintaining and reviving the summon, but mana was a problem he could solve easily.

So in the end, it was not really a problem.

---

Back in the toxic zone, the Silverback Grunt reappeared in front of Mora’s group with its club resting over one shoulder. Several guild members reacted with visible relief, and although none of them said it loudly at first, the formation tightened around it as if a missing teammate had returned.

"Welcome back, big guy," one archer said while giving a tired laugh.

The Silverback did not answer, but it moved into position, and somehow that made the group more confident than any speech would have. Mora noticed it immediately, because the guild’s breathing settled, their steps grew firmer, and the hesitation that had begun spreading after the summon vanished was pushed back.

They continued the mission.

Whenever beasts crawled out from the toxic mist, the Silverback met them first, and when the ground cracked beneath their feet, it pulled injured members back before they slipped too far.

It was strange to rely on a rented summon, and even stranger to treat it like part of the team, but after several hours of fighting beside it, some members had already started calling out to it as if it could understand every word.

"I wish we could keep it permanently," one swordsman muttered while wiping poison from his blade.

"You and everyone else," the healer replied, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

---

Some time later, the transport mission ended without a complete collapse.

Though the guild had suffered injuries, no one died. Mora looked over the final reward panel, confirmed the mission clear, and immediately contacted Master Shroud again.

[Mission completed. Your summon performed extremely well. Crimson Chain Guild will offer more contracts in the future.]

Zich read the message while checking the Silverback’s status, and his smile deepened when he saw the result. The rental had not only earned him ten soul stones, but the Silverback had also leveled up from repeated combat, which made the entire deal a clean win on both sides.

---

The following day, Zich woke up to even more notifications than before.

The marketplace page had changed overnight.

It appeared that the Crimson Chain Guild had given him good reviews. They were now pinned near his listing. Many players were discussing the Silverback Grunt with a seriousness they had not shown before.

More people demanded rentals, some offering gold, some offering soul stones, and a few even tried to reserve future time slots before he officially opened them.

However, among all the requests, there was one that caught his attention.

It was a request from a Velhari in Layer Two.

..

Thanks to all those who support this book I really appreciate!