Chapter 240: Mutation

When Joo Joowon was outside, he had sensed that, at one particular moment, the speed at which his Mental Power was burning suddenly increased several times over.

He was afraid that things were reaching a critical point, so without thinking, he increased the amount of Mental Power he was sending over, continuously transmitting more and more Mental Power to ensure that when his Mental Power found Hwi’s soul and began acting, it would not fail at the final moment because there was not enough Mental Power to support its actions.

However, Joo Joowon’s Mental Power had already been in a state of depletion because of reading the skill book. Even after he temporarily injected himself with a Mental Recovery Potion, the amount he recovered was limited. This caused the speed at which he could supply Mental Power to be unable to keep up with the speed at which his Mental Power was being consumed.

Under these circumstances, after weighing the advantages and disadvantages, the Mental Power over there would selectively preserve things such as Joo Joowon’s memories, reducing its consumption to the absolute minimum.

However, Joo Joowon also did not know what "he" had chosen to preserve in order to make contact with Hwi. Rationality? Emotions? His recent memories? Or his will? Perhaps even the ruthless determination buried deep within his bones?

He could not predict any of these things, but he believed in himself. Whatever was ultimately preserved would definitely be what he considered the most important and most useful.

However, although this act of sacrificing a pawn to save the king had prolonged the amount of time his Mental Power could continue to exist, it was not without disadvantages. The permanent loss of 8 points of Mental Power was the best evidence of that.

Under normal circumstances, Joo Joowon would definitely be able to make the choice that was most beneficial to himself.

But his Mental Power had not been in its peak condition. Instead, it had been continuously consumed, and some of his own emotional memories would also be actively discarded, leaving behind only the most crucial things.

Being incomplete also meant that when he encountered an unexpected situation, Joo Joowon would be unable to choose the best way out like he had in the past. He might be unable to think things through, or he might suddenly become impulsive for some reason, revealing an emotional side of himself and refusing to choose the outcome that was most beneficial to him, simply wanting to vent his feelings and have a satisfying moment.

Moreover, there must certainly have been interference from the whispers at that time. It was already difficult to remain calm while being disturbed by them in the first place. Once he was disturbed again on top of that, even Joo Joowon himself had no idea what he might do.

Even though he did not know exactly what his Mental Power had done, he still trusted his own choice.

Even if he really had become impulsive, he could never have chosen an outcome that had not the slightest bit of hope. He was not emotional to that extent. It was more likely that he had believed this choice carried a very high risk, but even if he failed, the consequences would still be within a range he could endure.

Judging from the current situation, perhaps his Mental Power had encountered quite a few twists and difficulties while awakening Hwi, but fortunately, the final result was still a pleasant one.

Although the ten points of Mental Power he had just obtained had immediately dropped by eight points, and the loss was permanent and could never be recovered, at least he had managed to save Hwi, and he had even gained an unexpected benefit.

He had indeed considered taking a career path such as a Beast Tamer, but he had never expected that Hwi would be recognized by the system as his pet before Byeol.

After all, if pets were recognized based on Favorability, Joo Joowon believed that Byeol would definitely meet the requirements. Even now, he did not have the slightest doubt about Byeol’s feelings toward him.

Instead, Hwi...

Joo Joowon scratched his head somewhat helplessly. What’s "Deathbound Devotion" even meant?

He opened the Pet Companion interface and took a look.

...

[ Name: Hwi ]

Race: ?

Level: 5

Skills: Titanic Form, Fervent Embrace, Life Link, Madness Surge, Kindred Sense

Talents: Mind Veil, Predator’s Feast

Favorability: Deathbound Devotion

Status: Weakened

Introduction: Originally an extraordinary creature with fairly good natural talent, a new change was triggered during its mutation due to the interference of a third party, causing its level limit to increase

...

Joo Joowon stared at Hwi’s information and was stunned for a moment. Five skills and two talents. His level was actually still Level 5, which was completely different from what Joo Joowon had expected.

In his eyes, Hwi’s level should have been at most Level 2 or 3. Aside from being able to grow larger, Hwi had not displayed any particularly outstanding traits. He had never expected that Hwi had already reached Level 5.

But when Hwi had stayed by his side, he had neither eaten any zombie crystals nor obtained anything particularly valuable. So how had his level increased?

After thinking about it for a moment, Joo Joowon guessed that it might be related to Hwi’s mutation after hearing the whispers.

Joo Joowon could not help frowning. It seemed that he had still acted too late. Otherwise, Hwi would not have mutated back then. Even though he had stepped in and managed to turn the situation around to some extent, had Hwi really been left without any hidden problems?

After thinking about it, even if there were hidden problems, they probably would not erupt right now, so he did not dwell on it too much.

His gaze wandered across the panel before stopping at the level limit.

This should be what it meant to be stuck at a level.

For players, getting stuck at a level might require a class advancement item, a breakthrough mission, or something similar. As for pets, perhaps they needed some kind of rare natural treasure, bloodline fusion, or something like that?