Ch.34Male Friendship (5)

*Clack-!*

I boldly opened the door to the soul realm.

“Come forth!!!”

It was the customary way to make a grand entrance.

“Ugh. You’re here again…..”

Violet’s expression immediately hardened upon seeing me.

“What’s with that? How disappointing. You could be a bit more welcoming.”

I really didn’t like Violet’s attitude.

“You know what you did!!! I’ve never met someone like you in my entire life!”

Violet shouted loudly.

“I see…. So I’m special, then.”

I muttered while casually rubbing my nose.

“You really just hear what you want to hear….”

Violet looked at me with an expression of complete disbelief.

*Clack-!*

Sasith entered belatedly.

“Ah, Lord Sasith. You’ve arrived. I knew we would meet again.”

Violet immediately greeted him with respect.

Your attitude is completely different.

“Hmm. You two have done quite well. Yes. So you conquered the first dungeon. Impressive.”

Bluebeard said with a chuckle.

“Dungeon….”

Sasith reacted to that word.

“Dungeons encroach upon this world once a month. Stopping them is your duty.”

Bluebeard spoke toward Sasith.

Me? I was invisible. Completely hated for causing trouble…..

Well, then I had only one thing to do. To check if I had really become invisible.

I immediately started dancing, swaying my body.

“Pfft!!!”

Sasith burst out laughing right away.

“Pfft!!!”

Violet also seemed to have been caught off guard by laughter.

“W-what on earth are you doing?!! You’re a man without a shred of seriousness!”

Violet said, desperately trying to hold back her laughter.

“Well…. You were treating me like I was invisible. I needed to check if I had really become invisible.”

I said with complete seriousness.

“You’re… truly insane.”

Violet spat out her cold assessment of me.

“Well….. Don’t dismiss him too much, Violet. This man also carries a grand destiny. And…. he has awakened to a unique power.”

Bluebeard said.

“Unique poweeeeer?!!!”

I immediately reacted to those words.

I want a good ability like Sasith too!!! That was my true desire, so I looked at Bluebeard with pleading eyes.

“You’re….. different from ordinary humans. It seems you have the power to communicate with monsters.”

Bluebeard said.

“Ahhh…..”

It started to make sense. I somewhat understood what Gerruck was saying back then. I thought it was a connection between men’s burning spirits… but it seemed that wasn’t the case. It was a kind of foreshadowing.

“Your soul’s texture is similar to monsters, I should say…. Anyway, it’s unusual.”

Bluebeard nodded as he spoke.

“The soul of the powerful enemy you killed definitely remains in your soul. You can convert that into power.”

I immediately reacted to Bluebeard’s words.

“Ohhh….. That means…!”

“The Slime Warrior, the one whose soul resonated with yours. You can convert its soul into stats. You should be able to increase your Strength stat by about 2 points.”

Bluebeard said.

2 points….. It wasn’t much, but I was grateful for it. Since leveling up was so difficult, I needed to improve my specs wherever I could.

“And…. the master of the fortress you hunted this time, that one should also give you stat points. You can increase your Strength stat by 1.”

As Bluebeard said that, my status window appeared.

The Strength stat section was blinking. I immediately clicked near the Strength stat.

*Ding-!*

‘Strength: 27’

My stat increased right away. I hadn’t leveled up, but it felt like I had.

“Ah…. So I’ve become stronger again.”

I wondered where my limits were. That was my concern.

“To make such a fuss over just 3 stat points, that’s a talent in itself.”

Violet immediately threw in a sarcastic remark.

Anyway.

“That’s nice and all….. but don’t you have anything else? Like giving me another Psychorobo, or exchanging mine?”

I said.

Pinocchio had his uses, but… I wanted to use magic. I wanted to have stylish battles where I could exploit weaknesses with magic.

“Master!!!! Are you abandoning me?!!”

Pinocchio immediately made a tearful face.

“Don’t abandon me!! Master!!”

Then, Pinocchio grabbed my pant leg and clung to it. Sorry, but you’re ‘rejected’ as a candidate for my companion. I tried to regain my coldness while hiding my feelings of remorse.

“That’s not possible.”

Bluebeard cut me off firmly.

“Keeeeek…..!”

Tantrum in 3 seconds!!! 2!!! 1!!!

“That crazy bastard is about to start again……”

Violet prepared to cover her ears.

“Even if you throw a tantrum, what’s not possible is not possible.”

Ignoring my attitude, Bluebeard stated firmly.

“Tch.”

Since Bluebeard didn’t seem to be lying, I accepted it.

“Anyway, you came to fuse Psychorobos, right? Let’s get it over with quickly.”

Bluebeard then turned his attention to Sasith.

“Hmm….”

Sasith seemed to be contemplating what to combine.

Yare yare…. This is when a veteran needs to step up, right? I immediately put my arm around Sasith’s shoulder.

“Sasith. I happen to be a Psychorobo expert. Listen to me.”

I said to Sasith.

“A guy who couldn’t even awaken until recently claims to be an expert…..”

“Shut up!!! Damn!!!”

Anyway, I cleared my throat and continued.

“You won’t regret listening. Combine the Goblin, Tinkerbell, and Gladiator.”

I said immediately.

“The Gladiator? That’s a bit….”

Sasith seemed hesitant.

“Yeah. I understand how you feel.”

I patted Sasith’s shoulder. He’s also a chuunibyou patient who lives and dies by style. The dark appearance of the Gladiator was exactly to Sasith’s taste.

“It’s cool, the Gladiator. But….. you know. The Gladiator sucks.”

I stated the facts.

“Ugh….!”

Sasith couldn’t argue with that.

Since it was obtained early on, its base level wasn’t high, and with two weaknesses, it was awkward to use. Sasith must have known that too.

“The Gladiator is a stylish piece of trash. Like a David statue made of garbage.”

As a veteran, I had to inject efficient strategies, even if it hurt. I’m saying this with tears in my eyes too.

“Damn… but….”

“The time to let go will come. That time is now.”

With my desperate persuasion, Sasith finally gave in.

“Well….. I guess so.”

However, Sasith knew I was trustworthy. He combined the three as I suggested.

*Flash-!*

As the Psychorobo cards shuffled in mid-air, a new card was created.

“Uheheeek…. I’m Mira King. Nice to meet you…..”

A new Psychorobo took root in Sasith’s mind. It was a cute, chibi-style character that looked like a mascot version of a mummy.

Mira King. A pretty useful Psychorobo that could be obtained early on.

Its weakness was light attribute, but in the early game, there were no enemies using light or darkness attributes. So its weakness was essentially not a weakness. It would only be used early on and then discarded anyway. This was good enough.

“Not cool…..”

Naturally, it didn’t match Sasith’s aesthetic sense. Sasith seemed to be enveloped in a slight sense of despair.

However, as he examined the Psychorobo’s information, Sasith showed a slightly surprised expression.

“This is….!”

Yes. This was the effect of fusion. Some skills from the Psychorobos used as materials were inherited.

Tinkerbell’s wind attribute skill was inherited, along with the Goblin’s ice attribute skill, and the Gladiator’s fire and lightning attribute skills. It could effectively cover almost all attributes in the early to mid-game. With no resistances except darkness, there was also little chance of having weaknesses exploited. In terms of performance, it was top-tier.

Being created through high-level fusion, its level and stats were also solid.

“Useful, right?”

I said with a smile.

“Honestly…. the performance is good. Not stylish, but good.”

Sasith admitted that.

“You’ll grow fond of it over time. Trust me.”

I patted Sasith’s back.

“Hmm….. You know a lot about Psychorobo fusion.”

Bluebeard gave me a suspicious look, but I deliberately ignored it.

Anyway, after completing the first Psychorobo fusion, we went outside.

———-

The time was still 1 AM. There was about an hour left until 2 AM.

“Let’s hunt some more. We need to build our strength.”

Sasith was quite a diligent guy.

“Just what I wanted.”

My stats had just increased too.

I wanted to test it. My ‘strength.’

Indeed…. anything sounds cooler when said in inverted order. I congratulated myself inwardly.

I want to fight. Shit. See? Even saying it like this sounds cool. Or not? Never mind.

——–

*Rustle!! Rustle!!*

Sasith seemed to have some power to attract monsters, as they would appear immediately after walking just a short distance.

“Go!! Pinocchio!!!”

As per our usual formation, I stirred up the center of the enemy lines with Pinocchio to draw aggro.

“The two with horns are weak to lightning!!! And the one without horns is weak to fire!!”

Like a true veteran, I didn’t forget to provide briefing.

“Got it!! Mira King!!!”

Sasith immediately brought out his newly created Psychorobo, Mira King.

“Fire!!!”

Mira King spewed flames, silencing the two without horns.

“Thunder!!!”

Afterward, Mira King unleashed electricity, taking down the two with horns. Being able to cover multiple attributes without needing to switch Psychorobos was definitely an advantage.

After finishing a round of hunting, I extended my hand toward Sasith.

“High five!!!”

“……….!”

Sasith looked at me with slight surprise, then brought his hand to mine.

After a moment of awkward silence, Sasith said something.

“Thanks, Shota. For everything.”

I was surprised by those words.

He usually called me Arigiri. Sometimes he would slip up and call me Shota, but it didn’t feel like a regular thing.

For Sasith to intentionally call me by my name meant something. It probably meant we were getting along better.

“It’s nothing.”

I smiled, secretly pleased about that.

It seemed like I’d gotten a bit closer to Sasith.