[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: What’s the probability of landing a five star item five times in a row?
[Zero Sanity]: 1e-43. And it happened right before my eyes against all odds…
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Whaaaa…
[Zero Sanity]: To put it plainly, Kaito’s luck is in an ungodly realm.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: I’m impressed you were able to calculate that number all in your head, Doctor.
[Zero Sanity]: I was a lead researcher from an interstellar civilization, stuff like that comes naturally to me.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Still, that kind of chance is unfathomably close to zero.
[Singularity]: Moving on, there’s something else we should discuss.
[Singularity]: Do you guys have any intentions of becoming stronger through the use of the group chat?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Having more power is good. I’d welcome it since I have to save my world from Shadows.
[Zero Sanity]: I’d say so. Being able to defend myself and save others, power is indispensable for that.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Yeah dude. You were dead weight yesterday.
[Zero Sanity]: Guh…But now that I have my memories back, I should find a way to acquire power.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: As for me, I’ve already gained a lot from joining. Not only can I summon my Personas outside of the Dark Hour, I have unlocked my ultimate power ahead of schedule, the Universe Arcana. All thanks to my Social Link with Kaito-san.
[Singularity]: Social Link? What’s that?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: It’s tied to my power as the Fool. Personas are represented by Tarot Cards, and a person normally can only use one. The Fool is the exception where I can use more than a single Persona. Another facet of this power is becoming stronger through strengthening my bonds with others.
[Singularity]: So the deeper your friendship is with me, the more powerful your Persona abilities become. By my understanding, the Arcana you have with my Social Link is the Universe.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Spot on.
[Zero Sanity]: Do you have a Social Link with me?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Yeah, your Arcana is the Tower.
[Zero Sanity]: Flattering…
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: My Social Links were supposed to be limited to one set of the Major Arcanas, but somehow another set of them was opened to me by the group chat.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: As my bonds deepen, their ranks increase. Right now, my bond with Kaito-san is at rank 2, and with the Doctor, it’s at rank 1.
[Singularity]: And what does that increase in power usually look like?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: When I returned from Rhodes Island, I finally fused a new Persona, the Sage of Time of the Universe Arcana.
[Singularity]: Oh, is it strong?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: It can stop time.
[Singularity]: …
[Zero Sanity]: …
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: That was my reaction too. None of my other Personas held such a power. And this is only from rank 1. I can’t imagine what I might summon from rank 10.
[Zero Sanity]: You get free rewards for growing closer to Kaito. Can’t say I’m not envious of such a convenient power. But back to you, Kaito, why ask such a question?
[Singularity]: The reason why I asked is because I was thinking of helping you guys acquire power outside of the group chat. In my world, the greatest path to power is learning magic.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Magic, huh? I’ll admit, I don’t know how to use magic. That’s what my Persona does, not me. Even the increased power I receive from them is more on the metaphysical side.
[Zero Sanity]: There’s the magic the Feranmutts of Terra use, but I don’t understand that very well. The normal populace are more familiar with using Originium Arts, a side effect of interacting with Originium as the people of this world evolved.
[Singularity]: Right, so my dear lovers are concerned about me venturing to other worlds where they can’t follow. They’ve been brainstorming ways to ensure my safety, and one idea they proposed was teaching the other users here magic from our world. They get stronger, and I get more powerful bodyguards. It’s a win-win for everyone.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Wow~, that’s so very kind of them. So what do you normally learn from this?
[Singularity]: I suppose spells similar to what your Personas can do. There’s more to it, and you can compare it to magic typically seen from role-playing games.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Now that’s easy to understand.
[Singularity]: I’ll send you the manuals Kuro and Alice devised.
[<Singularity> gifted <Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster> - A Manual on the basics of Magic from Trinia]
[<Singularity> gifted <Zero Sanity> - A Manual on the Basics of Magic from Trinia]
[Singularity]: For an average person, it would take about a month to awaken their magical energy. But since you all have experience with supernatural elements, it should take significantly less time.
[Singularity]: Here are some magic tools to go along with it. Magic Boxes that can house a city block’s worth of items. Time doesn’t pass inside, so nothing decays. And Teleportation Magic Tools to instantly teleport to 10 places you’ve registered prior, and it takes an hour to recharge for use.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Kaito-san, are you trying to scare us? This is going beyond what you’d expect from typical generosity.
[Zero Sanity]: Um, yeah. Both of these are extremely convenient and invaluable. I’m not sure I’m worthy of having all of this…
[Singularity]: I’m rich and powerful, so just accept my gifts.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: I obey the leader!
[Zero Sanity]: I obey the leader!
For me, those can be considered as leftovers lying around in my storage, so giving them away where they can finally be of use is much more ideal.
[Singularity]: Next…uhhh, you guys want some of the stuff I won from the gacha?
[Zero Sanity]: There’s more!?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: You’re giving us that!?
[Singularity]: There’s not much worth in me keeping this stuff only to myself. I’m really not running short of them either to be quite honest.
[Singularity]: Take a look at this [Judgment of Shamash]. They appear to be twin guns that can transform into a great sword. I’m bad with weapons, so Minato-kun can have this one.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Well don’t mind if I do, sugar daddy.
[<Singularity> gifted <Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster> - Judgment of Shamash]
[Singularity]: As for the Doctor…you mentioned wanting something to bring back dead people, right?
[Zero Sanity]: Oh god.
[Singularity]: According to this Immortal’s Orb, you absorb it into your body and it grants you immortality. High-speed regeneration, shapeshifting into objects that provides stimulus to the person, sensing emotions from others, replicating objects after a single interaction, and bringing back the dead if you can interact with souls.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Broken. That is seriously broken. And you’re just giving that away.
[Singularity]: I already have these abilities myself. Using it on me is redundant.
[Singularity]: What do you say, Doctor? It’s a step short of what you wanted as you need to be able to sense souls to revive people, but I’m sure that can be accomplished in a later date.
[Zero Sanity]: Let me preface this by saying that there are no words I could describe my thoughts right now.
[Zero Sanity]: I am indescribably grateful.
[<Singularity> gifted <Zero Sanity> - Immortal’s Orb]
[Singularity]: I think that’s good enough for now.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: It was a one-man show of Kaito-san flaunting his wealth to us poor peasants.
[Zero Sanity]: Let’s plan our next steps. Rhodes Island will reach Lungmen in four days, where our mission will be to spread the cure for Originium and push Reunion to surrender. Ideally, we’d reach a compromise and unite for the Infected’s sake, but I’m afraid conflict is inevitable.
[Singularity]: Just give the word and I’ll send you everything you need.
[Zero Sanity]: Thanks again, I appreciate it.
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: I’ve got summer classes tomorrow with the summer festival to top it off, so contacting me during that time will be difficult but not impossible…But after that I’m free for the entire month of August.
[Singularity]: Those close to me will be taking up my time for a long while, so I can’t go visit your worlds in the meantime.
[Zero Sanity]: So here are my thoughts, we should accrue as many points as we can for when a world mission is issued. I’ll do research into what we’ll need when the time comes. If there’s something urgent, try to be frugal with your points.
[Zero Sanity]: That’ll be all then?
[Gekkoukan's One-Eyed Monster]: Sounds good. Later.
[Singularity]: I will go now.
I hopped off my phone and looked to Shiro-san who had been waiting patiently for me.
"I handed over the training plan to those two like Alice asked me to." (Kaito)
"In that case, let us discuss letting Kaito-san grow stronger." (Shallow Vernal)
Eh? Me? Grow stronger? It’s not like I’m personally against acquiring more power, but for the longest time nothing has happened to warrant a need. That’s slowly been changing since being involved with the group chat.
But this was coming from Shiro-san, who, from my view, objected to powering me up to an extent.
"For eight years…Kaito-san remained as someone that’s considered to be weak. Disregarding your equipment and items, your personal power is weak. I suppose having a magic energy pool as large as a Count Demon is something, but your attack power…it’s weak." (Shallow Vernal)
Ah yes, I get it, I am for sure a person with weak combat powers without my gifts. You did call me weak three times just now.
Shiro-san had this conflicted look on her face while in deep thought.
"This should be fine…Yes, I am okay with this approach." (Shallow Vernal)
She said with a satisfied nod and flicked her finger.
"I’ve recorded your current state, Kaito-san. If you become any stronger, I can revert you back to this exact point, we’ll call it State 0. I can also restore you to the state that includes all progress you’ve made, which we’ll call State 1." (Shallow Vernal)
"So this is your compromise to keep myself in a weak form." (Kaito)
"Yes, in Trinia, you will be the Kaito-san with lower than average power that everyone loves. Outside my world, I allow you to wield greater power at your discretion." (Shallow Vernal)
"I don’t have any complaints with these conditions, but the power I have currently can’t be as awful as you say it is…" (Kaito)
Shiro-san, why are you blinking in surprise at what I said?
"I thought you already had enough self-awareness after training to be able to envelop the Death King with your magical energy." (Shallow Vernal)
Please don’t remind me of that…What I’ve learned about my own talent at that time, it really carved into me deeply.
"Perhaps I can illustrate it better using a character sheet from those role-playing games you love." (Shallow Vernal)
A scroll appeared on the table with my face on it and had the format of a status page for a character from a game.
Name:Miyama KaitoHealth:1MP:100Attack:1Defense:1Intelligence:1Speed:1Luck:UnquantifiableCharm:Unquantifiable"…I’m hesitant to ask, but what are the standards for these stats?" (Kaito)
"It’s measured by my personal standards. 10 is for an average person." (Shallow Vernal)
"Shiro-san, you’d consider me fairly smart, right? It’s nothing extraordinary, but I did get into college back in my old world." (Kaito)
"That’s right, Kaito-san is someone who is very smart and catches details that even surprise me at times." (Shallow Vernal)
"And in your opinion, that would net a good rating of intelligence for that person, yes?" (Kaito)
"That’s right." (Shallow Vernal)
I let out a breath I was holding in.
"So if you were to quantify my intelligence, what would it be?"(Kaito)
"One." (Shallow Vernal)
…The stat spread is so skewed! You are clearly biased in how I should be, you even have such a delighted smile on your face!
"But a Kaito-san who no longer relies on me isn’t very cute. I’d like for things to stay this way so I can pamper you like always." (Shallow Vernal)
Don’t pout so adorably in dissatisfaction, it makes me want to forgive this humiliation…
"You’ve benefited a lot from the War King’s tutelage. I can tell your martial arts are as good as her generals." (Shallow Vernal)
For me, that’s high praise since I don’t have many others to compare with besides Megiddo-san herself.
"Kuro’s magical energy…since it has perfect compatibility with Kaito-san, continued exposure to it will gradually allow for it to assimilate with Kaito-san’s magical energy until it firmly becomes a part of you." (Shallow Vernal)
"I didn’t know that. This necklace I’m wearing has been imbued with Kuro’s magical energy. She even thought that far?" (Kaito)
I held the necklace with admiration for Kuro in my mind.
"Yes, and I am frustrated for not having thought of it earlier than she did." (Shallow Vernal)
Again with the pouting…Well, a grumpy Shiro-san is also cute, so it’s fine.
"Please hand over the Teleportation Magic Tool that Kuro made for you using the magic crystal I gave you as the material. I will imbue that crystal with my magical energy so you can make it your own as well." (Shallow Vernal)
That’s fine with me. I gave Shiro-san the magic tool. A visible flare of her magical energy surrounded her, pouring into the crystal in just the right amount to fill it without causing it to break.
"This is the magical energy of an Omnipotent World Creator. Its quality is magnitudes above ordinary magical energy and will offer you unquestionable benefits. Normally a person will be erased for attempting to house this power inside their body, but Kaito-san has perfect compatibility with my magical energy and will allow itself to become a part of you without any harm." (Shallow Vernal)
I took back the magic tool and felt motes of her magical energy flowing out from the crystal and seeping into me. I didn’t feel any immediate change or surge of power… It’s definitely a slow process.
"Go to Kuro next to see the progress of what she and Alice have been working towards. Leave behind the items you won from the gacha for me to inspect before you go." (Shallow Vernal)
I did as asked and brought out everything on the table. I bid farewell to Shiro-san and teleported to Kuro’s castle in the Demon Realm.
Afterword:
Serious-senpai: "H-Hmm, for that kuudere to ease up on her own policy around Kaito’s strength…She really likes doting on him. What exactly are those two planning, though?"
???: "A way for them to send themselves together with Kaito-san in another world."
Serious-senpai: "Please don't…the seriousness will evaporate with them around on world missions."