SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

At the same time, inside the Shelter Lord’s office, Arnold sat behind a plain wooden desk while several reports rested before him.

The room was quiet, and unlike the noisy halls outside, only the sound of paper shifting filled the space. Arnold’s expression remained strict as he read the file again, but his thoughts were still on the white-haired boy with the strange summons.

According to the information gathered, the boy was the son of a grave keeper who lived near the outskirts of Stoneheart City. He had no record of formal combat training, no known guild backing, no military education, and no known sponsor before entering the Ascension Mountain.

The report made one thing clear.

He was good at burying people.

Arnold placed one finger against the page and narrowed his eyes slightly. Growing up around corpses could explain why Zich did not shake easily when faced with death, blood, or a battlefield filled with broken bodies, but it did not explain how he had moved during the undead dragon fight.

A person without training should not have handled a sword that way.

Even if instinct helped, there were limits. Zich’s footwork had adjusted during battle, his timing had improved within minutes, and the way he copied Cole’s movements suggested something far beyond raw courage or luck.

"A skill," Arnold said quietly.

That was the most reasonable answer, and Arnold preferred reasonable answers before entertaining impossible ones. A high-ranking skill could explain his sudden competence, his summons, and the strange way he reacted under pressure, but it also made the boy more important than he had first assumed.

Suddenly, right at that moment, a knock came from the door.

"Enter."

Cole stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He lowered his head slightly, and Arnold looked up from the report without changing his posture.

"The Velhari agreed to send their best representatives," Cole said while standing before the desk. "They also want the secret realm exploration to begin in a few days."

Arnold nodded once, looking pleased but not surprised. "Good. Delay gives both sides time to prepare, and preparation reduces foolish deaths."

Cole hesitated for a moment. "They will still try to take more than agreed."

"Of course," Arnold replied. "That is why we will not send fools."

Cole accepted the answer, but before he could leave, he thought of something crucial and then asked,

"Who will represent our side?"

---

Inside the graveyard, Zich stood before the giant tombstone, and the rain continued falling in the familiar cold space.

The tomb of Tiamant was much larger than the others, and even without touching it, Zich could feel something pressing out from within. It was not active, but the power leaking from it was heavy enough to make his throat move once as he swallowed.

[Here lies the Mother of All Dragons, Tiamant]

He read the words again.

The tombstone looked different from every other grave he had seen here. The human tombs were ordinary, the monster tombs carried a faint presence, and even Blood Leech’s tomb had only felt violent when it was being formed, but this one stood there like it had no intention of being compared to the rest.

’Why is it bigger?’

Several possibilities moved through Zich’s mind.

The soul could be too strong. The graveyard could be reacting to the name. The dragon might not be complete yet. It was also possible that the tomb required conditions before he could make use of it, which would be very annoying, but not exactly unexpected.

He looked around the space and rubbed his chin slowly. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’If the graveyard treats size as value, this thing is beyond my current materials.’

So far, his summons had been shaped by the level, quality, and strength of the things placed into fusion. Stronger monsters carried more influence, and when different materials were mixed, the dominant traits decided the final appearance and skills.

Blood Leech was the best example.

It had human structure, insect armor, blood-draining traits, and a monster-like face, which meant the stronger or stranger materials had swallowed the weaker ones and formed something useful.

Zich glanced toward the six human tombs.

Humans were not useless, but they were weak materials right now. If he wanted to create a proper hybrid undead dragon, throwing ordinary human corpses into the fusion would be stupidity pretending to be creativity.

’I need stronger materials.’

His gaze returned to the Tiamant tomb.

The feeling in his chest grew sharper, but he kept his expression calm. He wanted to create the next summon immediately, but his slots were limited, and rushing such a rare soul with bad materials would be a mistake he might not be able to fix.

’A dragon mother needs better bones than these weaklings.’

So far, there were only 12 tombs. His current tomb limit was 25, meaning he needed 13 more kills before he could create another monster.

Zich stood there for some time, thinking through possible combinations to create an abomination. His targets were strong monsters, but rare dungeon bosses and high-level materials would be even better options.

And he knew just the place to get this.

After a while, Zich exhaled and closed his eyes.

Several seconds later, he appeared back in his shelter room.

His body felt lighter than before, and although the exhaustion had not vanished completely, the graveyard had given him a kind of calm that sleep had not. He straightened the items on the table again, shifting one soul stone slightly because it had rolled out of line while he was gone.

Satisfied, he sat down and opened the marketplace.

The auction notice was still active, and the messages around his Silverback Grunt listing continued to rise, but Zich ignored most of them for now.

He opened the dungeon and mission board.

Listings appeared rapidly.

Some were simple gathering requests, while others required escorting caravans, scouting toxic zones, clearing monster nests, or joining short-term dungeon parties. Most were too low-value, and some were clearly traps disguised as opportunities, which meant the marketplace was honest enough to sell lies as long as the wording avoided direct fraud.

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue and filtered the results.

His eyes moved across the options with steady focus, and after several minutes, one listing made him pause.

[Hard Ranked Dungeon — Pay-to-Use Dungeon]

[Location: Near Second Human Settlement]

[Slots Available: 2]

[Requirement: Level 10 or Above]

[Cost to Use: 500 Gold Coins per Hour]

[Reward Split: All rewards from your kills can be kept by you]

[Warning: High casualty risk]

Zich leaned forward slightly.

The second human settlement was farther than his current shelter, but not impossibly far. A hard-ranked dungeon also meant stronger monsters, better materials, and possibly a boss worth using in fusion.

However, with this pay-to-use feature, they probably would not allow anyone to kill the boss.

This was common business out here. As long as the boss monster was not killed, the dungeon would revive infinitely, providing a good source of revenue for that settlement.

He opened the listing details and read through the party requirements carefully once again.

Currently, he had about 3,000 gold coins, which had been earned from rentals, meaning he could spend at least six hours in there.

Without wasting another moment, he tapped the contact option, revealing his interest in the dungeon.

After making the necessary payment, a small black token appeared in his palm. He had read in the description that this was what would allow him to access the dungeon in the first place and prove his payment.

Suddenly, a new system panel flashed before Zich, startling him.

[Ding! Please brace yourself. You will be transferred to the location of the dungeon in the next few seconds.]

---

(AN: I apologize for the inconsistencies. The right number of monster slots is 2 (Elite Silverback Ape, and the boss Ape Shaman which was killed by Zich). The other two kills belonged to Blood Leech and Slimy, bringing the total to five. Rael’s lackeys killed were 6, and plus the undead dragon, Zich has 12/25 tomb slots. After each summon fusion, the tomb slot limit increases by 5. Apologies for this. The previous Chapters are being fixed as well.)