After his pet had defeated the rat, John pushed his hand against the invisible boundary of the trial subworld, felt the faint ripple of acknowledgment from the system, and began raising the difficulty.
A new monster materialized a dozen meters away—a lean, sinewy rodent with ragged fur and jagged bone plates running along its spine. Its system tag placed it many levels above what any level?1 pet should ever face. Under normal circumstances, the fight would have been a slaughter—with Bobo as the victim. Here, it was the opposite.
John glanced at Bobo’s stat window one last time, then nodded. “Your turn.”
Bobo padded forward on small white feet, posture relaxed, eyes bright. The oversized rat hissed and burst into motion, claws tearing furrows into the pale ground as it shot toward him. Its speed would have terrified most fledgling pets. Bobo shifted his weight and simply stepped through the attack line. The rat’s claws whistled past where he had been a heartbeat earlier, and Bobo answered with a short, snapping kick to its side. The impact folded the monster mid?stride and sent it skidding across the arena.
A chime echoed in the air.
[Level up: Bobo → 2]
The rat dissolved into motes of light. John immediately summoned the next foe, this one heavier, its aura denser, teeth coated in a faint toxic sheen. To make sure Bobo gained the kill credit, John held back completely, only watching from the edge of the white expanse.
Again and again, the pattern repeated.
- The enemy charged, relying on level and bulk.
- Bobo met it head?on with absurdly overstacked stats.
- A single precise strike shattered bone, crushed ribs, or snapped necks.
Where a normal low?level pet would have needed ten cautious fights and a handler’s protection just to survive, Bobo erased each opponent in a handful of blows. His health bar barely dipped; his stamina refilled faster than he could spend it. Notifications stacked almost comically fast.
[Level up: Bobo → 3]
[Level up: Bobo → 4]
[Level up: Bobo → 5]
Each ding came after only one or two kills. The trial subworld dutifully recognized the monsters’ high levels and funneled most of the experience straight into the tiny white fighter who was doing all the work.
John watched, somewhere between satisfaction and disbelief. According to the book and the elder’s lessons, putting a newborn pet in front of such monsters was suicide. pets were supposed to start on critters barely more threatening than field mice or docile slimes. Here, a so?called “defective” rank?G creature with level?1 stats stretched to their caps was tearing through enemies designed to challenge experienced companions.
The rat?type beasts evolved into bulkier variants, with bony protrusions, venomous glands, even rudimentary aura attacks. Bobo adapted instantly. When one launched a crescent of dirty green energy, he ducked underneath and punished it with an uppercut that nearly tore its head off. Another tried to use sheer weight, throwing itself onto him; Bobo met the leap with a rising heel kick that turned the midair pounce into a spinning, broken heap.
Every monster that appeared looked down on him in size and level—and fell seconds later.
Between waves, John checked the numbers. Bobo’s XP bar surged upward with every kill, racing along the curve that should have held him back for days or weeks of cautious grinding. Here, in this frozen white arena, those rules no longer applied.
“Normally,” John murmured, half to himself, “you’d die the moment something like this looked at you.”
On the field, Bobo darted under another lunging rat, planted a hand on its foreleg, and flipped the monster over his shoulder with casual, almost playful strength. A short stomp finished the job. Another chime.
[Level up: Bobo → 7]
John smiled. Bringing Bobo into the trial subworld had been a gamble—he hadn’t been sure the system would even allow it. Now, watching his small companion carve a bloody path through monsters far above his nominal rank, he knew he had found a second training exploit. With capped stats, a safe environment, and foes that poured experience into their kills, Bobo’s rise to level 20 would not be a slow crawl, but a rapid climb that no ordinary pet could ever hope to replicate.
After some more enemies, John stood quietly as the final notification chaimed, signaling the pinnacle of Bobo’s progress for now, he had reached level 20.
All of a sudden, several system notifications erupted in front of John.
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John’s heart skipped a beat at the abrupt notifications. This was unprecedented according to the messages he was reading. Bobo’s growth had shattered long-standing boundaries, redefining what a rank G pet could achieve. Now, the choice to evolve stood before him—a pivotal moment that promised to unlock new strength and perhaps new challenges ahead.
John looked at Bobo’s stats. They had not moved. The stat caps were the same for Bobo at levels 1 and 20.
John looked down at Bobo, his small companion bristling with adrenaline from his last fight. “Do you want to evolve?” he asked gently.
Bobo could not speak, but his eyes locked onto John’s with fierce resolve. With a confident nod, he accepted the choice laid before him. John knew the journey ahead would be fraught with dangers far beyond what Bobo’s current strength could handle, but the bond they shared made the decision heartfelt. Pressing “Yes,” John sealed their pact.
Instantly, Bobo was engulfed in a swirling white light, pure and blinding. The glow pulsed, enveloping every inch of his form until the light slowly receded. There, standing where Bobo once was, was a new creature—more imposing and majestic than before.
The evolved form stood just shy of a meter tall on two legs, sleek and agile with the lithe build of a feline warrior. His fur was a pristine white, gleaming softly as if imbued with a gentle inner radiance. The face was sharp and expressive, framed by striking, intelligent eyes that glowed with a piercing azure hue. Long, elegant ears stood upright, twitching slightly with keen awareness.
Strong yet graceful limbs ended in paws finely shaped for precise movement and combat agility. The paws were adorned with large, curved claws—sharp but retracted calmly at rest, ready to strike with deadly precision when summoned. The musculature beneath his smooth fur hinted at considerable strength, especially in the legs, built for lightning-fast dashes and powerful leaps.
A collar-like ring of golden fur circled his neck, framing a subtle emblem etched into his chest—an ancient symbol glowing faintly with arcane energy, a mark signaling his evolved status and connection to the hidden powers of the parallel world.
Bobo now had a tail which was long and expressive, swaying with measured grace, perfectly balancing his agile form. Overall, this new Bobo emanated a poised, ethereal aura—a perfect balance of innocence and latent ferocity, fit for facing the challenges that awaited beyond the trial subworld.
Bobo’s eyes sparkled with newfound clarity as he looked up at John, his small white form radiating a quiet confidence. Then, to John’s amazement, Bobo spoke in a clear, slightly feminine voice, “Thank you!”
Without hesitation, Bobo leapt into John’s arms, the familiar weight replaced with someone heavier now carrying the presence of something much greater. John’s heart swelled with pride and a touch of disbelief—Bobo could talk now.
Glancing at Bobo’s stat window, John’s eyes widened.
The pet had ascended to rank C, surpassing even the peacock that lived on the village farm. Despite resetting back to level 1 after evolution, Bobo’s stats had surged dramatically beyond his previous limits, surpassing what any rank G pet could achieve.
With the new level cap set to a staggering 200, Bobo’s potential was now practically limitless. Best of all, John smiled to himself, the usual system restriction that kicked someone out of the parallel world after level 50 did not apply to pets. Here, Bobo was free to grow strong alongside him, ready for whatever awaited beyond.
The days that followed were filled with purpose and challenge as John and Bobo set out together on new hunting missions assigned by the village elder.
Bobo, now able to speak and move with far greater skill, proved his worth in combat against the terrible forest creatures that roamed the shadowed woods. His sleek, agile form darted through the undergrowth, striking with precision and newfound power. While his strength had grown immensely, John’s own power still far surpassed him, a reminder of the long path both had ahead.
John watched closely as Bobo struggled with the increasing difficulty of leveling up. Now ranked C, every level demanded more effort and sharper tactics. The rapid growth of Bobo’s early days gave way to slower, more deliberate progress. Each experience point had to be earned in earnest, underlining the true test that came with higher ranks.
Despite the challenges, John’s pride in his companion never wavered. They fought side by side, the bond between them deepening as they faced foes in the forest. The journey of growth was not about raw power but about patience, strategy, and trust forged in the heat of battle.
One day, John and Bobo received a mission that sent shivers down John’s spine. They were tasked with hunting a formidable creature rumored to dwell in the Bluecrag Mountains of the parallel world. But there was a catch—the creature did not inhabit the mountain side facing the safety of the continent but instead lived on the side that looked out toward the vast, storm-tossed ocean.
John’s mind immediately flashed back to his experiences in the real world, where he had gazed upon the legendary leviathans ruling those turbulent waters. The thought of venturing beyond the familiar mountain ridges filled him with unease. The summit itself was notorious for brutal winds strong enough to blow a person off their feet, and beyond the peaks lay a realm whispered about in fearful tones—an untamed world bristling with dangers no one dared to fully comprehend.
The ocean side of the Bluecrag Mountains was a boundary between the known and the unknown, a barrier of wild power that tested the courage and skill of even the strongest adventurers. John felt the weight of the mission but also the pull of duty and curiosity—a step closer to unraveling the mysteries beyond the mountains, and to look deeper into the secrets of the parallel world. In this world, he could not really die, so it would be less dangerous than in the real world. But he had grown fond of Bobo and what would happen to him if John died and was warped back to his real body in the dragon’s city of Golddeep?