SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

A few minutes later, Zich left Arnold’s office with the same calm expression he always wore. Helen tried to walk beside him, but he increased his pace before she could speak.

"You really know how to run away from people," Helen said from behind him, her voice carrying clear amusement.

"How?"

"You did not tell me you moved out from your apartment."

"That? It skipped my mind," Zich lied through a straight face.

Helen clearly did not buy it.

"So where are you staying now?" she pressed.

"Oh, that. It’s a bit complicated. I’ll tell you one of these days," he said and rushed off, leaving Helen to watch him go with a pout on her face.

Even as he left, Zich could feel Jayden watching from farther back with cold eyes, but he ignored him completely.

By the time he returned to his mansion, the sky above the privileged district had begun darkening. The gate opened the moment he approached.

He entered the back training ground and placed several training dummies across the stone floor. Each dummy had cheap mana plates attached to it, though he doubted they would last long.

Zich had bought the dummies because repairing people was more troublesome than repairing wood. Still, the neat training ground already looked much worse than he preferred.

"Tiamant," Zich called.

Black particles gathered in front of him, and the Supreme Bone Dragon appeared in the courtyard. The twelve chained skeletal dragons unfolded behind it.

Zich checked his mana once before raising his hand toward the dummies. "Chain Sovereign. Only restrain them. Do not destroy the courtyard."

Tiamant’s hollow eyes turned toward the targets. A second later, three skeletal chain dragons shot forward from its back.

BOOM!!!

The chains struck the dummies and tore them from their bases. Two were dragged across the floor, leaving arm deep grooves nearly six meters long before they slammed into the dragon’s feet.

Zich stared at the ruined floor. His eye twitched when he saw the uneven lines spreading across the training ground.

"I said restrain," he muttered, slightly annoyed.

Tiamant lowered its head a little. The motion looked obedient, but the cracked stones around its claws made the apology feel dishonest.

Zich opened his status and looked at his mana. The number had dropped faster than he liked.

"Again, but weaker," he ordered.

The next test was smaller. One chain dragon wrapped around a dummy’s torso and pulled it within a meter of Tiamant without ripping it apart.

"So it can be managed," he said. "Good. That means the first one was just excessive."

The dragon remained silent. Zich decided not to argue with a dead dragon goddess about property damage.

He placed four cracked mana plates around the courtyard. After stepping back nearly twenty meters, he kept a mana potion ready in his left hand.

"Death Field."

A pale circle spread from Tiamant’s feet and crossed the courtyard within seconds. The air became colder, and the mana plates flickered before their glow weakened.

Zich felt it reach him and immediately frowned. His natural mana recovery stopped, and the small cut on his finger began stinging more than it should.

He checked his mana again. The number was falling so quickly that his relaxed expression disappeared.

"Stop."

Tiamant obeyed at once, and the field vanished. Zich drank the mana potion without hesitation, though the loss still irritated him.

The test had lasted only a few seconds. His mana had nearly emptied, and he had not even used Last Edict.

Zich closed the status panel and looked at Tiamant in silence. The dragon was absurdly powerful, but using it like a regular summon would be stupidity pretending to be confidence.

"You are a trump card," he said finally. "Not a pet I can keep outside for decoration."

Tiamant lowered its head again, and Zich dismissed it before the maintenance cost could annoy him further. Once the dragon dissolved into black particles, he crouched near the damaged grooves and slowly rubbed his forehead.

Repairing this courtyard would cost money. The thought bothered him almost as much as the mana drain.

While Zich was inspecting the damage inside his mansion, Jayden moved through a narrow passage in the lower privileged district and stopped before a plain metal door.

He knocked twice. A moment later, the door opened just enough for a rough voice to speak from inside.

"You came faster than expected," the Failure contact said. "I assume the pay is ready."

Jayden stepped inside without answering at first.

"I need information," he said. "A player named Zich Grave. I want everything connected to Rael’s death and the two men I sent last night."

The Failure contact leaned back in his chair. His fingers tapped twice against the table.

"Zich Grave," he repeated. "White hair, dead eyes, strange summons."

Jayden’s eyes narrowed. "You know him."

"We know of him," the man replied. "One of our group vanished inside a hard ranked dungeon near the second settlement. The guards there talked after getting some coins, and their description matched the kid who has been making waves throughout the settlement in recent days."

"Can you investigate him without exposing my name?" Jayden asked.

The Failure contact smiled faintly. "For the right price, we can follow his shadow without stepping on it. Rael, your missing lackeys, Natalia’s group, we will connect the pieces."P

Jayden placed a pouch on the table. The stones inside gave off a faint glow through the cloth.

"Find proof," he said. "If you can, break him and make him admit he was the one who murdered Rael."

The man pulled the pouch closer and checked inside. Upon seeing the contents, his smile widened.

"Consider it accepted," he replied. "Zich Grave is now on our list. If he really killed Natalia’s group, some of ours will want more than money from him."

He paused and then added with a small smile, "If you are willing to pay more, with my unique class I will personally take on the job myself."

Without hesitation, Jayden pushed another pouch toward him.

"I’ll be waiting," he said before already turning and leaving.