Shiki took out the creature level advancement book from the system rewards. It was the one that promoted her from A to S.

Having Vikith, the hero NPC, use it couldn't be any better.

She chose to use it directly, and Vikith could feel the overflow of magic power within her. Her strength increased, and her complexion gradually regained vitality, no longer the pale color it used to be. However, she was still a zombie, just with a layer of human disguise.

This was the special disguise skill of the polymorph witch: Thousand Transformations. It was because of this skill that the illusionary mask could change one's race.

System: "Polymorph Witch Vikith has been promoted to S!"

Vikith turned to Shiki, her eyes filled with endless gratitude. "Great sovereign, I am grateful for your generosity. I will give you everything I have!"

There was still a considerable gap between S rank and Vikith's peak at SS, but Shiki's gift reduced the time needed for her promotion.

"Get up. Since you were originally human, you must be familiar with this place."

Shiki happened to need a reliable person to provide him with some human intelligence.

Vikith nodded. "In ten years, this place shouldn't have changed much. I am willing to serve you, great sovereign..."

"Just call me Shiki."

"How can that be?"

"Then call me master?"

"Yes! Master!"

Why did this guy always like to play master and servant?

Until now, Vikith's clothes were still tattered, but she seemed unconcerned about it.

"Vikith, put on this garment."

Shiki took out a gray cape from his storage space, and Vikith put it on, covering her aged body.

"Thank you, master."

Things came to an end, and it was time to return and turn in the mission. As for the five zombies, he put their bodies in the storage space. Maybe they would be useful for something. Of course, he had to collect their equipment and money first.

Obtained C-grade equipment x4, 100 gold coins.

Shiki took Vikith, the poor soul, back to the adventurers' guild.

The people at the guild were once again drawn to him.

"Mr. Shiki!"

The receptionist from before greeted him with a smile. She also noticed the missing girl beside him and sighed after learning about their adventure.

Such things happened from time to time, but this girl was extremely lucky to have kept her innocence and life intact.

Many other adventurer girls could only consider it fortunate if they managed to keep their lives in such situations.

Because of Shiki's equipment, even though it was a C-rank mission, the adventurers' guild directly promoted his adventurer rank to B-rank. It could be considered a backdoor entry.

The reward for this C-rank commission was 50 gold coins. He couldn't help but feel it was too little. He could only blame himself for not listening to the full reward before accepting it.

Combined with the looting from the five adventurers, he now had a total of 150 gold coins. They were as poor as poor could be.

The currency in this game was gold coins and silver coins, with an exchange rate of 1:100, meaning 1 gold coin was equal to 100 silver coins.

If he had known, he would have accepted Nidhogg's gift of 100,000 gold coins. What a shame he had his pride and didn't accept it.

What's wrong with being a freeloader? Now that he was undead, did he still need to maintain his face?

Fortunately, he sold the four C-grade equipment looted for 300 gold coins.

Shiki took Vikith to buy her new clothes and equipment first.

Compared to a normal warrior, a mage needed to buy fewer pieces of equipment, but the price of a staff alone was enough to scare Shiki to death.

A C-grade staff actually cost 200 gold coins, which was 150 gold coins more expensive than a C-grade sword...

"Master..." Vikith wanted to say that there was no need to spend money.

"I'll take it."

Shiki reluctantly bought it. As the saying goes, when you lose a fortune, it will come back to you. What's a little money compared to that?

He also bought a few new clothes for Vikith. At present, Shiki still had 180 gold coins.

"Master, you've spent a lot."

"It's fine..."

Considering how beautiful Vikith looked now, Shiki held back.

The Vikith who put on the new clothes exuded the charm that only a mature woman could have, at least she looked like she should be in her thirties.Originally, Vikith's appearance didn't quite match that of a young girl, but when she put on a dark red hooded robe, paired with a pair of black stockings and knee-high boots, hmm, she had the aura of a mature woman. Vikith also styled her hair into wavy curls, maximizing her charm. As the saying goes, "curly hair, bad girl." The innocent young girl instantly transformed into a sophisticated bad girl. Combined with the allure of a witch, Vikith, emanating feminine charm from head to toe, quickly caught the attention of many opposite-sex individuals. A smile formed at the corner of her mouth, indicating that she was quite enjoying the attention. "She really is a bad girl," Shiki thought to himself.

Vikith wrapped her arms around Shiki's arm and pressed her entire body against his. Instantly, the hearts of some men nearby shattered. Shiki, having signed a soul contract with Vikith, knew that she was adept at navigating relationships with the opposite sex and manipulating men's emotions as easily as breathing. However, because she was loyal to him due to their soul contract, Shiki didn't particularly mind. Currently, Shiki's adventurer level was B, while Vikith's was D, making them ideal companions as adventurers.

"Master, if we want to take on advanced quests, we can go to the southwestern town of Falling Rock," Vikith suggested.

"Hmm."

Their current small town didn't offer many advanced quests, so Shiki and Vikith decided to take a carriage to Falling Rock. It was already nighttime when they arrived, so they found an inn to stay at. Shiki initially thought they would get two rooms, but Vikith insisted that one was enough and gave him a seductive look. While Shiki pondered this, suddenly the entire ground began to shake.

"What's happening?"

"What's going on?!"

"An earthquake?"

Countless people rushed outside, and in the darkness, a pitch-black shadow covered the moonlight. With a loud boom, the shadow landed on top of a building in the town.

"Roar!!!"

The roar reverberated throughout Falling Rock.

"A wild dragon?" Shiki didn't expect to encounter a wild dragon here. Even in the main world, there were dragons, but they were all wild species that didn't belong to the Dragon Realm. Their strength was slightly weaker compared to the pure-blood dragon race of the Dragon Realm. This dragon's level was B, not particularly strong. It shouldn't be a problem for the adventurers in town to unite and deal with it.

At this moment, the adventurers' guild in town issued an urgent request: A-level quest to subdue the invading dragon with a reward of 1000 gold coins.

"A thousand gold coins?!"

"We're making a killing this time. Who's with me?"

"Count me in!"

The adventurers gathered together, ready to hunt down the wild dragon.

"Master, shall we join in?" Vikith looked at Shiki and asked. It was a thousand gold coins, after all. It would be foolish not to seize the opportunity.

"Of course, and let these people know how powerful we are..."

If they could defeat this dragon, Shiki's adventurer level would surely skyrocket, and it would be time to steal the limelight once again. The dragon unleashed flames, burning down buildings in the town. The adventurers didn't dare to approach easily.

Boom!

A fireball hit the dragon, provoking its anger. The dragon glared at the mage who had thrown the fireball from the eaves of a building...