Her hair was long and white. A bright blue crescent moon seemed to glow in her eyes. There were three transverse stripes on her cheeks. They were violet, like the claw marks.
Pippi could not blink at the sight of Byakko's new form which resembled a goddess.
"Wow, why don't you just use this form from the start? You don't look scary," Pippi said innocently.
The little girl was about to touch Byakko's face, but her hand was immediately slapped by the tiger.
"Aw!"
"Get your hands off my face, you little thing!"
"Eeeeek—!"
Isaac quickly pulled Pippi back. He knew that if he let them for one more minute, a fight would happen.
In front of Isaac, Byakko lowered her head. She looked embarrassed, and Isaac understood that.
After losing one of her fangs, Byakko's spiritual power was reduced. She couldn't maintain her true form for long.
Besides, her level also dropped.
<Information>
[Name : Byakko]
[Race : ???]
[Type : ???]
[Class : S]
[Level : 65]
In Isaac's eyes, Byakko was like a cat that dared to scratch her master with her claws. Therefore, he purposely weakened her so that she could be tamed.
'Spiritual Beast is different from normal monsters. I need to improve the relationship between us.'
Isaac told her to stand up. Byakko followed his orders, but she still didn't dare to look her master in the eyes.
"There's no need to be nervous. I won't kill you."
"Thank you, Lord. I promise I will never betray you."
Isaac snorted. "I never believe people who claim to have never betrayed someone else. Prove your loyalty with actions."
"Yes, my lord."
Later, Isaac assigned Byakko to be Pippi's assistant in managing the dungeon. Of course, Byakko was surprised to hear that. She wouldn't mind having to serve under Isaac directly, because she had sworn allegiance to him after all.
Being a servant and losing her fang was already a great disgrace. Now, she had to become a subordinate of a subordinate? If not bound by the oath, Byakko would have chosen to kill herself.
However, everything had already happened and couldn't be changed again. She didn't have any choice but to say, "Yes, my lord."
Meanwhile, Pippi looked very happy. She didn't expect to have a servant. Never had she heard of the Dungeon Manager having an assistant. She thought she was the only one.
Then, the happy smile turned into an evil smile.
"Hehehe…"
Isaac did this for no reason. The dungeon only had three floors. He felt there was no need to put Byakko in one of them. The existence of a single Spiritual Beast on a low floor could destroy the dungeon.
Byakko was too strong for humans to deal with right now, even in her weakest state.
Besides, the aura released by Byakko could destroy the ecosystem. The low level monsters would be frightened by Byakko's presence. They would continue to hide instead of hunting humans.
At least Isaac needed to upgrade the dungeon to Floor 5 to make her a warden.
Thus, he temporarily entrusted Byakko to Pippi.
'
"Pippi, I leave Byakko to you. From now on, he will be your responsibility. Understand?"
"Understood, Lord!" Pippi posed a salute.
Isaac nodded.
'Good. Now it's time to make a new weapon.'
Then, Isaac's body turned into light and broke apart like a firefly.
Pippi and Byakko remained on the spot.
Pippi looked at Byakko condescendingly. A mocking smile appeared on her face.
Her hands hung on her waist. "Did you hear what the Lord had said earlier? From now on you will be Pippi's assistant. You have to obey every order Pippi gives you, understand?"
Tak!
"Ow!"
Byakko smacked the little girl's forehead.
"Your forehead isn't red. I'm sure it was pretty hard, but you're still in pain. Is it only the Lord who can leave that kind of scars on your forehead? Interesting."
Pippi's face turned red. She was angry, yet she did not understand what Byakko meant.
"Damn it! What are you doing? How dare you—Aw!!"
Byakko pinched Pippi's cheeks.
"Listen to me carefully. Don't order me. Don't talk to me in a high tone. Don't mess with me. Only the Lord can command me. You understand, little shit?"
Pippi didn't answer. She tried to get rid of the pinched on her cheek, but Byakko's pinch got stronger instead.
"You understand?!" snapped Byakko.
"Yes-! Pippi understands."
"Good."
Only then did she let go of her pinch. She smiled broadly, satisfied that she had taught a creature that dared to be so impudent to her.
Pippi could only surrender while stroking her cheeks. Her revenge plan failed before it even started.
.
.
.
[Grassland, 2nd Floor, Isaac's Dungeon]
The forge that stood in the middle of the grass seemed to be filled with a sea of people. They were all in full combat gear; some had gathered to rest, some had stood in front of the forge to queue up for orders.
Even in the vicinity of the forge, the tents were set. The number was not only one or two, but tens. The occupants were seen doing activities such as cooking and conducting briefings.
This sight really caught Isaac's attention.
'A human community formed from just a small blacksmith's forge? This is really crazy.'
Isaac laughed inwardly.
He had expected that the 2nd Floor would be the most visited place by humans, but he didn't expect it to go this far.
He could feel the atmosphere of peace.
'Let's see what's inside.'
Isaac was really curious as to what the developments in the forge were like. He then moved towards the 'small community' of hunters.
People seemed to ignore him. There were many humans of various races here. No one thought that Isaac was a demon. In their eyes, Isaac was like a European.
'',
When he broke into the queue, a hunter got mad at him.
"Hey, damn it! Don't just break through, wait in line!"
Isaac was surprised. There were humans who dared to yell at him. He only saw the face of the male hunter who scolded him with a flat expression on his face. The other Hunters were also annoyed by him, but they kept their mouths shut, not wanting to interfere.
Isaac knew humans had a queuing culture, but he didn't have time for long queues like snakes.
The Hunter continued to scold him, but Isaac just stood still. There was no way he would kill because of human stupidity and ignorance.
Then, a dwarf came.
"Fuck! What is this fuss!? If you want to fight, just get lost!"
"He's trespassing on the queue at will."
The dwarf turned towards Isaac. It was about to get angry, but after knowing who he was, the dwarf quickly gulped. It hit the hunter's testicles instead. The man collapsed and writhed in the grass.
"You bastard! He's a special guest. He's free to queue up." The dwarf turned towards Isaac with a friendly face. "Please, Mister, come with me."
Then, the dwarves guided Isaac into the forge.
Seeing that, it caused quite a stir among the Hunters.
"Damn it, who is he?"
"Special guest? How did he become a special guest?"
"I wonder what the dwarves owe that man."
The whispers of gossip echoed like flies. They didn't stop making noise until Isaac entered the forge.
Once inside, Goyo, the tribal chief, greeted Isaac. He offered compliments that reeked of pleasantries.
"Does the Lord need help running the project again?" asked Goyo with a big smile on his face.
Isaac nodded. "Right."
Isaac's hand reached into the inventory, then he pulled out a large fang that resembled an elephant's tusk.
"L-lord… don't tell… this."
"Right. Spiritual Beast fang."
<Byakko's Fang>
[Class : A]
[Type : Item]
[The fang of one of the Spiritual Beasts, Byakko the West Gate Keeper, has a high affinity for the wind element.]
Goyo was shocked when he received it. His hands were shaking. For dwarves, this thing was classified as a legendary item. Getting it was almost impossible to think of in their heads.
"Lord, what do you want me to do with this thing?"
"I want you to make a greatsword. Heavy, solid, and very, very sharp."
Goyo nodded. Usually, a greatsword was created with very heavy weight, to get massive damage. "Yes, it's possible."
"Good. How many days will it take?"
Goyo's eyes glanced up, while stroking his chin. "I think it will take me about three weeks."
"I want you to finish it in two weeks."
"Ugggh…" Goyo took a deep breath, the air flowing through his teeth. "I'm sorry, Lord. For the best quality, it took us three weeks. That's the fastest to finish. Plus, this fang was a legendary material. We need to be extra careful to get the potential out to its fullest."
Isaac sighed. He knew exactly what Goyo wanted.
"I will give you 1 quintal of mithril. Finish it in one week."
"Yes, my Lord, we will do it as soon as possible!"