The Dark Hound, Dodo
Gilgamel has been running his appraisal business for three years, and his reputation is well-known to many people in the city, even some colleagues at Owl.
Although the fees he charges are quite costly, he has high credibility, and all the information he conveys is one hundred percent accurate.
In the beginning, many doubted Gilgamel's ability to appraise due to his young age. However, as time passed, such skepticism faded.
Firstly, Gilgamel earned trust by consistently providing honest information to his customers. He never concealed or falsified object information out of greed.
Secondly, people learned he was a member of Owl, a reputable organization.
Owl strictly prohibits illegal activities among its members and would not hesitate to involve law enforcement to arrest and punish those involved in fraudulent activities.
Although Owl allowed its members to act arrogantly, it did not allow them to act unscrupulously and have no regard for the rules. Otherwise, even if Owl ignored it, the Magic Council would be the one to act.
The Magic Council is the governing body of the wizarding world, consisting of twelve powerful wizards with different hierarchical branches depending on the continent.
As the primary governing body of the wizarding world, the Council wields almost complete control over it, functioning as a leading government with specific councils for each continent.
The Council oversees all legal wizard organizations across the Arcane World, regulating and monitoring their activities. It is responsible for addressing events caused by wizards and has the authority to punish those who break the law.
Although Owl was powerful and prestigious in the Moniyan Empire, it was nothing compared to the world-ruling Magic Council.
Therefore, to avoid the Magic Council's attention, Owl had to keep its members in check routinely. This also applies to other legal organizations.
With strict regulations from inside and outside the organization, how dare Gilgamel cheat his customers? Not to mention, he had no intention of doing such a thing from the beginning.
The last reason is that many people believe that Gilgamel has Divine Protection.
Divine protection is a blessing bestowed upon people at birth by the world. Each blessing has unique abilities and can develop as the owner's strength grows.
The distinction between Divine Protection and magic talent is that the former can manifest among non-wizards, while the latter is exclusive to wizards.
Many people believed the rumor, but Gilgamel didn't deny it even though he knew this ability didn't come from Divine Protection.
It was said that those born with Divine Protection will know they have it without being told. If that strange book was a form of Divine Protection, how could Gilgamel not realize it?
Furthermore, Divine Protection is typically present from birth, but the strange book only appeared when he stepped into the wizarding world.
It was all the more reason to believe that his strange book was not Divine Protection.
As for where is his strange book came from... Who knows? It was probably an exclusive gift from the Cosmos Traveler Alliance for travelers like him.
Anyway, admitting he had a Divine Protection didn't cause him any harm. In fact, it was beneficial to him. Thanks to that, he could join Owl despite his poor magic talent.
Gilgamel locked the door of his shop. Then he looked at the black dog lying by the door and said, "Let's go home, Dodo!"
"Woof!"
The black dog immediately woke up and ran after Gilgamel.
Gilgamel's family had a unique tradition where each family member would be given a fantasy beast called a Steel-Clawed Dog from childhood. The creature's primary role was to act as a playmate and a guardian.
Despite being an unwanted child, Gilgamel was still considered part of the family. Therefore, his father also bestowed upon him a Steel-Clawed Dog.
At that time, many people in the mansion said he was unworthy. However, only Gilgamel knew how frustrated he was when he realized what kind of dog he received.
He never had any expectations from this family from the beginning. That's why he was immediately suspicious and cautious when he suddenly received fair treatment. Only after he carefully examined the dog he received did he realize it was not a Steel-Claw Dog but an ordinary black furry dog.
They thought that just because they looked the same, Gilgamel couldn't tell the difference between a Steel-Clawed Dog and an ordinary dog.
First of all, he might be ignorant, but he is not blind.
It's common knowledge that Steel-Clawed Dogs' claws are made of iron. However, Gilgamel noticed that his dog's claws were just ordinary dog nails, nothing like the sharp, sturdy steel claws. Additionally, while other Steel-Clawed Dogs appeared strong and dominant, his dog looked meek and weak, almost like a Chihuahua.
But it doesn't matter; although it's only an ordinary dog, Gilgamel still cherishes it dearly. He even named it after his dog in his previous life: Dodo.
"Dodo" was a loyal dog who died with him in the fire. He even suspected that it was also reborn in this world and became the current Dodo.
Three years have passed, and the once weak puppy has grown to the size of a golden retriever, transforming into a fantasy beast.
As early as Gilgamel acquired appraisal ability, he could see detailed information about his dog, including its age, name, race, potential, etc.
He was thrilled to learn that his dog had the potential to evolve from an ordinary animal into a fantasy beast.
This discovery led him to realize that not only humans but also other creatures, like animals, could evolve into extraordinary beings. In short, he realized that anything is possible in this world, and it all comes down to chance and resources.
Dodo was the only family he recognized, and Gilgamel naturally didn't want it to die early.
The average life expectancy of regular dogs is around 10-17 years. However, after Dodo transforms into a fantasy beast, its life expectancy increases to 150 years, which is 50 years longer than the lifespan of a First Circle Wizard.
In their mortal state, animals generally have much shorter lifespans than humans. However, this situation is reversed when they become extraordinary beings.
One year ago, Gilgamel allowed Dodo to consume the blood of a fantasy beast called Dark Hound and several elixirs that matched its characteristics.
Dark Hounds belong to the dog species of fantasy beasts, similar to Steel-Clawed Dogs, but they rank higher than Steel-Clawed Dogs based on bloodline and magical abilities.
With Gilgamel's careful preparation, Dodo successfully evolved and became a Dark Hound. Although the process appeared painful, it was ultimately fruitful.
Gilgamel was pleased with the result.
He peaked at Dodo to see its information.
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Name: Dark Hound (Dodo)
Race: Fantasy Beast
Level: 7
Age: 4/150
Bloodline: 3
Attribute: Dark Element
Magical Ability: 1. Sniff [The ability to track objects by smell.] 2. Dark Approach [The ability to blend into darkness and make it hard to detect.] 3. Dark Claw [The ability to gather dark energy in its claws to perform attacks. The dark energy will leave a mark on the affected enemy and slow healing.]
Evolution Path: 1. Dark Flame Dog <view >, 2. Ghost Hunter Hound <view >, 3. Devilish Dog <view >
Tips: Feed Dark Dogs dark-attribute foods regularly to boost their dark energy. It will be beneficial for their future evolution.
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Dodo is currently at level 7, which means its power is on par with that of a First Circle Wizard. In fact, Dodo's progress is much faster than that of its owners.
Although Dodo used to be an ordinary dog, it has now become a creature with talent equivalent to a wizard with an advanced talent. Moreover, it has been consuming many resources daily with little effort.
Its life is more comfortable than its owner's.
Even though Gilgamel had Goldfinger, he still needed to work until his mouth was dry, but his dog only required it to act cute to get half of what he earned.
'Life is truly unfair.' Gilgamel sighed inwardly.
That's it!
After all, it's his dog. If not him, who else would take care of it?
The bloodline of a magical beast determines its potential. For instance, the Dark Hounds could only reach a maximum bloodline level of 3, which limited them to reaching level 39, equivalent to the peak of a Third Circle Wizard.
Theoretically, it was impossible for them to surpass level 40, but there were still two possibilities to overcome this limitation.
The first possibility was to find a godly opportunity.
This world was never short of opportunities. It's just that meeting them is not as easy as finding pebbles by the riverbank. One can only rely on miracles.
The second possibility is to evolve to a more advanced form.
Based on the information in the peculiar book, Dark Hounds can evolve into three different forms: Dark Flame Dog, Ghost Hunter Hound, and Devilish Dog. Each of these evolutions has specific criteria.
Gilgamel had already chosen the evolutionary path for Dodo early on. However, he had yet to make any preparations because Dodo's level was still far from reaching the peak of level 9.
Furthermore, every material that Dodo needed for evolution was expensive, especially the blood of a level 10 fantasy beast, which was classified as one of the main ingredients for evolution.
For now, Gilgamel could only save money and wait until Dodo reached level 9 before starting the evolution preparation.