Kawaii spread out till she was as thin as paper; however, she was now as wide as the beam. The beam hit her and she glowed with various colours, like a prism. The attack managed to push her back, slamming her into me.
‘Uwaaaa! It hurts! It hurts!’
Kawaii was screaming.
‘K-Kawaii?’
‘Teehee, slimes don’t feel pain!’
She pranked me! She wanted to see my reaction? The nerve!
‘Tch. What are you doing?’
<<It would seem the servant kawaii possesses the skill [Mirror Coat]>>
‘Mirror Coat? Like Wubbuf-‘
‘I got the skill [Mirror Coat] some time ago.’
Kawaii interrupted my thoughts. If the skill worked like I thought it did, that meant she could completely return any skill to its sender. We had a chance. Kawaii could simply slowly this thing on its own.
‘Uh-oh.’
Kawaii suddenly said.
‘What do you mean, “uh-oh”?’
I asked her. A pillar shot through a part of her body. Making me realise that even her new skill wasn’t enough.
<<The attack from the Baby Kraken is simply too strong for the servant Kawaii>>
‘W-Wait! Wait! Wait! B-Baby Kraken?’
That was the most alarming piece of information I could have been given.
‘Yo. Copy, Kawaii’s [Mirror Coat] and help her out. It’s not like we have a choice anymore.’
Kira suggested. I did that, then activated [Slime Body] to spread myself as thing as Kawaii. I covered up the parts on her body where the leaks were coming in and activated the skill [Mirror Coat]. I could feel the force behind the attack, although not the same as being hit by the attack. More like a feeling of how the attack would be like, rather than taking the actual attack.
‘Ouu, mawstewr being over me like this makes me feel good.’
‘Slimes don’t feel, remember?’
I told her, and the image of her pouting entered my head. Together, we managed to shoot the attack back at the kraken. The beam landed right on the kraken and it wailed in pain. Then, there was a weird voice in my head.
‘OWIE!’
It cried, giving me the creeps.
‘K-Kawaii… Was that you?’
‘No. It’s probably the monster.’
She responded nonchalantly. Sometimes, not having emotions or feelings was very unnerving.
<<The source of the voice is the Baby Kraken >>
‘What? It speaks?’
<<Yes. He speaks.>>
‘Yo, let’s adopt it.’
Kira suggested something absurd.
‘Adopt? Are you insane? How are we supposed to adopt something like that?’
‘No, no. Think of this like the pocket demon games. Reduce its HP low enough then use a familiar contract on it.’
‘Eh? Eh? Come on. It won’t be as easy as that.’
<<It could be easier>>
‘EH?!’
Kira and I both simultaneously yelped.
‘W-What do you mean it could be easier?’
‘Yeah! Yeah. Taming a Baby Kraken won’t be so easy, you know?’
<<It is a baby. Convincing it should be easy enough>>
‘B-But…’
‘It’s huge as shit…’
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt‘… and stronger than Minerva.’
‘LIGHT. BRIGHT. OW!’
The baby kraken roared angrily. Its tentacles started to twirl around ferociously.
<<It may be a baby, but it is still over 40 years old. It can be reasoned with.>>
‘O-Over 40 years old?’
‘That’s older than Kushieda sensei.’
‘Haha, wasn’t she approaching that age though?’
‘Yeah. Without a boyfriend too.’
‘Hahaha!’
‘Mawstewr! The tentacles.’
Kawaii yelled, however, she was overreacting. We were currently unmatched with our ability to reflect any attack. At least, that was what I thought till we were both hit by the tentacle and moved about.
‘What was that?’
<<[Mirror Coat] reflects attacks of a magical kind. It cannot be used in cases of physical attacks. For that, the skills [Revenge Counter] and [Shock Return] would be preferrable.>>
The agent decided to tell me only after I got hit.
‘Uwa! I want to get angry!’
Kawaii said, using her new [Super Acid Body] skill on the kraken’s tentacle. However, the reaction we received was condescending.
‘HAHAHAHA! TICKLES!’
It laughed at us. Kawaii stopped what she was doing, realizing that it wouldn’t work. However, when the monster started laughing, I decided that this was how I could tame it.
‘Kawaii, keep using your [Super Acid Body] on the tentacle.’
‘You sure? It’s not working.’
‘Yeah. Just keep doing it.’
I told her and she continued. It kept moving about, giggling gleefully. This ended up creating a sort of maelstrom, but since I was attached to its tentacle, I was not really affected.
‘You can stop now.’
She stopped, as did the baby kraken. I swam towards it, trying to get as close as possible.
‘Oi. Hey there.’
‘WEAK! CREATURE! WEAK!’
It boomed, giving me a headache. At this rate I was probably going to die due to an aneurism.
‘Not so loud! Sheesh.’
‘WEAK! CREATURE! WEAK!’
It repeated.
‘Oh, come on! Stop! Please.’
‘STOP?!’
It asked.
‘Yes. Stop.’
‘OK.’
It dropped its tentacles. Its giant eyes gazed at me innocently, like a puppy waiting for commands.
DING!
[Time for the [Sacred Quest] has passed]
[Time has run out]
[You have failed the [Sacred Quest]]
[You can leave the [Legendary Domain] now]
It said. I was feeling a bit disappointed, but I was now certain that the agent was insane. There was no way I could beat this thing within 10 minutes then move on to another.
‘Not the time to feel depressed.’
‘Ugh, fine. Heyo, big guy. Wanna be friends?’
I asked it.
‘FRIENDS?’
‘Yeah, friends.’
I wasn’t even certain if the kraken knew what friends were.
‘LIKE MOTHER AND STRONG SHARK.’
‘Huh? Mother and strong shark? What’s it talking about?’
‘Don’t know. But let’s just say yes.’
‘Yes…?’
I told it.
‘YES! YES! FRIEND! I! HAVE! FRIEND!’
It squealed happily, playing about in the water and causing some serious underwater waves.
‘T-Tone it down.’
‘OK! FRIEND!’
It listened to me then dropped its limbs.
‘Mawstewr, this creature is annoying.’
‘Calm down, Kawaii.’
DING!
[The servant Tsuna has evolved into a Darth Wight]
‘Eh?’
A shocking message came to me. Tsuna had evolved? Wasn’t she dead? Maybe they didn’t check her well? At least, that was good news of sorts.
<<The familiar contract has been made. Would you like to go over it?>>
The agent proposed the familiar contract already. I decided to gloss over it, knowing that the agent would never give me anything that would be detrimental to me.
[#1 Hyakkiyako is the master in the relationship]
[#2 The familiar will always rush to help Hyakkiyako when called]
[#3 The familiar will never form a contract with another master]
[#4 The familiar will remain loyal to Hyakkiyako]
[#5 The familiar will follow Hyakkiyako’s orders]
The contract was short and sweet. Absolutely no demerits to me whatsoever. This looked quite perfect. Of course, once it was the agent, my life would be smooth sailing.
‘Give it the contract.’
<<Very well>>
‘WHAT. THIS?’
<<This is how you become friends>>
The agent spoke to it directly. I was surprised, since I didn’t think the agent could speak to anyone other than me.
‘Since when?’
<<Always. You just never told me to>>
‘Huh… it’s like there’s 3 people sharing one brain now.’
‘H-Hello? Where is this?’
‘New guy?’
‘Another one? Oh, just my luck.’
‘I know right? Now less work for me. Yosh!’
Kira was overjoyed. This meant my [Multiple Minds] skill had leveled up. I checked and it was level 3 now, meaning it was not a skill I could easily level up, especially given how much I used it.
[The Baby Kraken has accepted the terms of your Familiar Contract]
[You have acquired a powerful familiar.]
[Should this familiar acquire servants, they will indirectly become your familiars which you can summon at any time]
‘E-Eh? Seriously? That’s kinda cool.’
I thought.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm‘FRIEND! FRIEND! FRIEND!’
He kept shouting.
‘Mawstewr! It gets more annoying by the second.’
Kawaii complained under the intense waves that were being sent our way. When I thought about it, how was she surviving under the pressure here? She should’ve been squashed like a bug… like me. Was it because she also had a [Sacred]?
‘Wait… Kawaii, is your [Sacred] active?’
‘No.’
‘So just possessing it makes it useful, eh? Nice.’
DING!
[You have 1 pending message from the Family Member Zana]
[You have 1 pending message from the servant Yokino]
[You have 1 pending message from the servant Nukeme]
[You have 1 pending message from the servant Tsuna]
[You have 1 pending message from the servant Aeri Vons]
While I was thinking, I was shown several message alerts. I assumed Akira would sort through them himself, but it would seem that he decided to let me see these. I opened them up, starting from Zana.
[Zana: Hinotori, where are you? I don’t know if you will receive this, but ever since we became friends, I have been seeing a magic screen. It said if I sent you a message you will see. Can I experiment with this screen? Please?]
I almost laughed when I saw it.
[Hyakkiyako: I’m investigating other ways to find Minerva. Feel free to experiment with the screen. You could get stronger]
I responded then moved on to the next person.
[Yokino: Yo, Ak-kun. Where are you? We found out where the princess is. Unfortunately, she’s in serious enemy territory. Looks like we’ll have to sneak in. You can track me, right? Just head towards the northeast, you’ll find a crator filled with thugs. It’s the current base of operations of the SharkFang Kingdom.]
Honestly, who was this princess they kept talking about? Also, enemy territory? If it was that bad, would sneaking in, cut it? I then looked at the baby kraken (I still hadn’t seen what it actually looked like).
[Hyakkiyako: Go on ahead, but wait for me when you get there. I’ll cause a big distraction for you guys to sneak in and find your princess.]
I then checked out Nukeme’s message.
[Nukeme: Hinotori-sama, where are you? We have received great news! Please come back soon!]
[Hyakkiyako: Just tell me now.]
[Nukeme: Oh, Hinotori-sama! I have missed you!]
[Hyakkiyako: Get on with it.]
[Nukeme: I believe you would need to be here to see it yourself.]
[Hyakkiyako: In that case, give me a few days. I’m close to finding Minerva.]
[Nukeme: Very well, I will relay the information.]
He responded. Did the system’s message make his speech better automatically? That was nice. Also, what was this important news that he needed to tell me in person?
[Tsuna: Hinotori-sama. It has been a while. I am not certain how you took the news of my death, but I wish to inform you that I am well. In my… unconsciousness, I was trapped between a state of life and death. I believed I saw the Great Passing like our elders had told us. However, contrary to what they told us, there were 4 rivers. One black, one white, one blue and one golden. I observed Gorm and Kuro in this place – the black river. I am not certain, but I believe this is because both of them are not dead. I thought I would have followed them, but there was something keeping me here. I assume it is either the gift you blessed me with or… please, I need to speak to you soon.]
Tsuna’s message carried the most weight so far. I couldn’t process what exactly I just read, but it was very obvious that Tsuna was not alright. I wanted to go to her side, but… no. I needed to make time for her. I would go to her soon.
[Hyakkiyako: I will meet you as soon as possible]
I checked Aeri’s message nervously. The previous 2 carried very heavy topics, so I was hoping this one wouldn’t.
[Aeri Vons: Hey, little bird leader. I thought I was strong enough to break away from my village, but the fact that I hid on the day that thing appeared, is proof that I am not ready. I am sorry, but as I am now, I cannot join your group. I will return to my village, to grow stronger. I wonder if I’ll be accepted since I was enslaved, but I will still go. If they refuse me, I will train alone in the Mystic Peaks. If the Mystic Peaks prove unworthy, I will go to the Winter Zone. If that does not prove effective, I will go to an even worse place. I will not return till I am strong enough. With that, I apologise, but I wish for your permission to break away from your group. So please cancel your bond with me.]
‘Ah… she’s going?’
‘Who does she think she is, huh? Abandoning us? Like hell!’
‘Calm down, kira.’
‘W-What’s going on?’
‘Not now, newbie. Keep watching the memories.’
‘O-Ok.’
‘And you! Don’t tell me to calm down. We aren’t getting betrayed like before.’
‘This isn’t a betrayal.’
‘HUH?! What do you mean this isn’t a betrayal? Don’t let her go just like that!’
‘Who said I was going to let her go?’
[Hyakkiyako: Aeri Vons. You are free to go do your training if you wish. However, I will never break my bond with you. I am sorry if that is not what you want, but I am being very selfish today, ok? Good luck on your journey.]
<A/N: Please leave a comment or review to help in getting more readers! Also join the discord here: https://discord.gg/Ew44jhbVym or message me on discord here: Rados47#5271 to get invited>