Loki was the one who killed the Gibbarian monster, so the core would naturally be his.
A C-ranked monster core didn’t really feel as good as the higher-ranked ones, but the huge pup was still satisfied with the energy he received, whimpering and shivering in bliss.
The trip back to Aeloria the next morning was rather uneventful.
Hal glanced at his companion from time to time as he drove his Manatech Motorcycle, thoughts swirling in his mind.
To the wolf companion’s confusion, they didn’t turn onto the usual street in the city, instead heading for a different route.
The duo’s first stop was the Aeloria City Hall.
After a deep contemplation, Hal decided to have Loki reexamined at the companion registration office.
Perhaps they would have an idea what happened to his growing partner.
This, in turn, would allow him to do more research, as Loki clearly had the potential to grow past the limits of the Dharmwolf species.
The pupper wouldn’t have been able to defeat a C-ranked creature otherwise, as even Alpha Dharmwolves could never go past the D-rank.
Hal was naturally delighted to discover that his companion wasn’t as weak as he imagined.
’Hmm...what if I allow him to run free sometimes while we’re out in the wilds?’ he pondered.
It was a plausible idea, but one that his heart didn’t want to execute, as there would always be a chance that the pup wouldn’t make it back to him.
Hal temporarily tossed the matter to the back of his mind. They’d arrived at the Companion Registration Office.
The moment he pushed the wide doors open, he was met with a long queue, making him wince slightly.
He could use the waiting time to craft artifacts, after all.
Fortunately, one of the officers inside recognized him, taking the initiative to approach and guide him to a separate room.
’I guess having an official title makes a lot of things easier, huh?’ he mused as he and Loki followed the officer.
"S-Sir Hal Fennec! How may we help you?" asked the high-ranking officer, clearly a bit uneasy.
Magna Prospects were quite notorious for being aloof individuals.
Fortunately for the officer, Hal wasn’t one such bastard.
"Ahh, I’m just here to have my variant Dharmwolf reappraised, or reexamined, or whatever the process is called..." he replied in a casual tone.
The way he responded slightly eased the anxious elderly officer’s heart.
"Ahh, I see! Variants are indeed a bit strange sometimes, but worry not, Sir Hal, I have a lot of experience when it comes to Dharmwolves. Let me hear the changes you observed, and I’ll do my best to analyze them."
Hal nodded appreciatively: "Well, for one, Loki suddenly began developing a strong preference for monster cores..."
He naturally wouldn’t reveal that he fed his companion a Chaos Core, as he didn’t know whether such cores even exist.
What Hal hadn’t expected was the reaction of the elderly officer.
The old man’s eyes widened at the simple sentence, roaring as if he had gone senile and forgotten that he was talking to a Magna Prospect:
"WHAT?! YOUR DHARMWOLF BEGAN EATING CORES!?"
Was such a thing truly that significant?
Don’t monsters kill and eat each other in the wild on a daily basis?
Loki might be a beast, but it wasn’t that strange for him to eat cores too, no?
This was the reasoning in Hal’s mind.
"Y-Yeah, why? Aren’t there a few beasts who eat cores too?" He asked, stepping away a short distance from the overly animated old man.
"T-There are! But all those beasts are among what the empire classifies as Devourer Beasts!"
Hal blinked, breaking into a cold sweat.
Did he make a mistake coming here?
The knowledge provided to him by the Adept Arcanist Tomes of Knowledge was all strictly connected to arcane artifact crafting, so he didn’t know what the term Devourer Beasts meant, but the way the old man said it...
’Sh*t...maybe I should’ve talked to master first?’
"D-Devourer Beasts, huh?" Hal stuttered slightly, but he was still able to fake a composed exterior.
Perhaps this old man would stop overreacting if he didn’t react the same way.
"Please enlighten me."
As if waiting for the young man in front of him to say this specific set of words, the old man became even more enthusiastic, clearing his voice as if some sort of profound expert:
"Well, to explain it to...ahem...casuals like you, all Megala Deoras were once Devourer Beasts, and just from what you told me, your Variant Dharmwolf isn’t actually a Dharmwolf but a Devourer Nyxwolf!"
’This old man sure loves to posture...’ Hal thought.
But he didn’t mind much, as the officer does have the right to, given how reasonable his first guess was based on just a single change that he mentioned.
Still, what the old man said made Hal’s heart race.
Devourer Beasts have the capability to become Megala Deoras?
Hal gulped, glancing at Loki. He found it difficult to imagine how his cross-eyed pup could be a destroyer of cities.
"M-Megala Deora, huh? Well, can we at least confirm if Loki is indeed one of those Devourer Beasts that you mentioned?"
"That is really easy, actually. Just have him consume a core in front of me. Once you do, I shall register him as a Devourer Nyxwolf. There are other devourer wolf species, but yours is undoubtedly a Nyxwolf, based on the color of its fur."
Hal wanted to argue and mention that he found Loki with a group of Dharmwolves, but ultimately decided against it.
He shall accept the officer’s judgment.
"I-I see...but before I do, what are the odds of my companion becoming a Megala Deora? Also, does being a Devourer Beast mean that there would no longer be racial bottlenecks?"
The old man, however, merely chuckled annoyingly at his questions, shaking his head.
The officer was evidently growing more comfortable with him.
"I hate to break your enthusiasm, Sir Hal, but the chances of your beast companion becoming as strong as a Megala Deora are practically less than one percent."
The old man then began posturing again, clamping his hands behind his back as though some wise sage and circling Hal with a mysterious pause:
"As for a Devourer Beast’s limits...well, it depends on the species.
It is said in the legends that all wolves were descendants of a mighty wolf race, the Fenris Wolves, and that the mightiest of that race could swallow suns and participate in a battle of gods, though, of course, that was probably more of an overexaggeration.
It was, however, confirmed by arcane researchers that all wolf beasts had a hint of dormant, black and crimson blood stuck inside their hearts, some having a larger volume than others.
That small volume of dormant blood was said to be every wolf’s Fenris bloodline, and that certain triggers could awaken it."
Then the old man sighed.
"Unfortunately, to know for sure, we have to slay the Storm Wolf Deora that resides in the Great Grandall Mountain Range. I’m sure you know how improbable and practical doing such a dumb thing was...
Anyway, I’ve babbled on. The limits of most wolf species, specifically Nyxwolves, are around the low A-rank."