Level Eater

"Who's stopping us from doing that!?" (Ai)

To turn that possibility into reality, Tatsuro had to first gather information.

"Ai, that punch earlier, how exactly did you do that?" (Tatsuro)

"Hmm… I covered my body with Ki… then I gathered that in my hand… and I just punched and then BAM… Something like that? Actually, it was supposed to make my Ki fly out like what those bears did with their paws, but I couldn't do that so I had to hit them directly." (Ai)

"That was supposed to be a ranged attack…? Hadouken might not be impossible anymore… … but that's not the point! It's basically an attack that uses Ki, right?" (Tatsuro)

(T/N: Hadouken: The author named it like that in the raws, but I think you get the idea behind it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadouken)

"Bingo!" (Ai)

"So it was really Ki, huh?" Mumbling that, Tatsuro continued stringing his ideas together.

"If I strengthened your Ki with my magic, then it should be enough to deal with that guy." (Tatsuro)

"No one ever said that it's impossible!" Brimming with confidence, Tatsuro replied to her.

The hypothesis that Tatsuro came up with, the possibility of combining Ki and magic, existed in this world. It was called Maki, short for Mana-reinforced Ki.

Tatsuro, with his skill, was the type that would ultimately get stronger no matter which path he took while Ai was the type that would be strong from the start. That's exactly why, in what was considered the ‘early game', Ai will always outshine him in combat.

Therefore, to help even the gap between them, he fumbled around with Help in search of anything that would make him stronger. During his search, Tatsuro found out that since Ai had too much Ki in her body, there wasn't enough space for mana to enter, hence leading to the discovery of Maki.

Maki, however, was a technique that was usually only used by the thief or spy-class people. Without a large amount of both mana and Ki, Maki served as a trump card for them during their critical moments.

If a magician or a martial artist were to use it, the technique would take up too much of their mental capacity, resulting in a minuscule increase in power.

It was because of this that Tatsuro chose to only specialize in magic, sealing away his other thoughts of trying to master both magic and Ki. Reinforcing someone else's Ki with mana, though, was a completely different case.

As mana and Ki are made up of pure energy that is essentially part of the ‘self', for two different beings to share them, they must have the utmost level of trust in each other. In addition, their minds had to be in perfect unison, something easier said than done.

If the requirements are not met, the resultant Maki will just disperse, wasting all the effort.

This technique could be said to be one of the hardest to put into practice, especially with two individuals unifying their ‘selves'.

If anyone were to attempt it, the world's top-level experts would just laugh at the idiot's foolish efforts. However, not being a denizen of this world, Tatsuro wholeheartedly believed that he would be able to succeed with Ai.

"I'm gonna start soon!" (Tatsuro)

"That's fine but… what do I do?" (Ai)

"Hug me from behind and hold on tight!" (Tatsuro)

"U,e,e, eh? Why!?" (Ai)

"I feel like we'll get a better chance of success when we're closer, physically." (Tatsuro)

"Is that… so?" (Ai)

"If we don't start soon, that guy is gonna start moving again." (Tatsuro)

The golden bear, with its leg amputated, definitely took more damage than what they could see. Though there was no way that it would be able to move again in this small amount of time, the two weren't willing to stick around long enough to find out.

As if saying "I can still fight, you bastards!" The bear, using its shoulder muscles to slowly stand up with its legs trembling and stared at them with all intentions to leave this place alive.

Its bravado gave Ai and Tatsuro the feeling that it would resume its attack at any time, forcing them to not make any hasty moves.

"Okay… Is this fine?" (Ai)

"A bit tighter. To the point where we could feel our heartbeats." (Tatsuro)

"N… Like this?" (Ai)

"Perfect. Now, remember the feeling when you gathered your Ki into your fist? Do that on me." (Tatsuro)

"… I'll try." (Ai)

Entering a focused state of mind, Ai first veiled her body with her Ki. Afterward, while imagining that Tatsuro was just an extension of herself, she let all of that Ki flow into Tatsuro.

"… It's amazing but… it's a bit suffocating." (Tatsuro)

Compounding his mana together with a large amount of Ki flowing into him hurt, putting his head into overdrive. It was like trying to mix oil and water, where they would both slip past each other and separate themselves.

Ai had gathered too much Ki in contrast to his mana, and if anything, just made the energies dissipate out of his body.

"Argh…" (Tatsuro)

"Tatsuro…?" (Ai)

"…?" (Tatsuro)

"Everything's gonna be alright." (Ai)

Seeing Tatsuro grit his teeth tightly, Ai consoled him and held him a little tighter.

When she did so, Tatsuro's feverish forehead cooled down. The warmth of Ai's hug calmed his frantic mind and he could slowly hear their heartbeats melt together as one.

And then, the Ki stopped flowing out from his body

The moment he felt it, Tatsuro immediately understood. The same goes for Ai as well.

Previously, Tatsuro viewed Ki as just another kind of mana and desperately tried to control it the exact way. But that was where he was wrong. Instead of controlling it, he should have blended it in together with his mana. He had to acknowledge both the existence of Ki and mana in his body and make them complement each other in harmony, not one as a support or as a tool to the other.

Understanding this, Tatsuro resumed taking Ai's Ki. This time, he dissolved the energies first before alloying them like metals.

Then, a new kind of energy was produced.

"What we're looking for is… the power to crush the enemy right in front of us." (Tatsuro)

"Mhmm." (Ai)

Tatsuro started to cast a spell with the newly produced Maki.

The energy turned into the form of a fist, which likely stemmed from Ai's thought. The fist formed was longer than a meter and turbulent waves could be felt reverberating from it. Surrounded by white flames, it was attached to what looked like a bracer spinning at high speed while releasing fireworks all around it (probably, Tatsuro's doing).

And so, they finished their preparations.

"With this…" (Tatsuro)

"You're finished!" (Ai)

"It's over!" (Tatsuro)

The two shouted at the same time.

Like a shooting star, the fist flew out while releasing a thunderous sound, leaving a trail of light in its wake.

GROOOOOOOOWL!!!

Of course, the bear did not just wait obediently for its death. Desperate, it tried to stand up with its remaining hind leg and fell forward. Using the momentum of its fall, it swung both of its paws down in an attempt to stop the gigantic fist.

The fist made from Maki displayed its full power. On contact, it scraped everything off the bear's face, not sparing a single drop of blood. When it dissipated, only half of the bear's fur was left along the golden crystal shell.

|You have leveled up to Lv 27.|

|You have earned the title [Destroyer].|

|You have earned the title [Perfect Harmony].|

"N?" (Ai)

"Title?" (Tatsuro)

The two raised their voices at the sudden announcements but feeling tired from the earlier battle, they chose to catch a break first.

By the way, up till now, Ai was still clinging onto Tatsuro from behind.

"Ah… I'm tired." (Tatsuro)

Using this chance, Tatsuro stretched his body leaning back, enjoying the soft sensation he felt on his back. Ai, being all Ai-like, was relieved from the earlier tension as well, turning this into a win-win situation for the both of them.

"Tatsuro, you're heavy!" (Ai)

Once the two were done with their cuddle time, the sun had already long since sunk beneath the horizon.

"Ah, in the end, we're still homeless for tonight." (Tatsuro)

"If that Piggy-maru over there ran the other way, then we wouldn't have to fight the golden teddy bear's team." (Ai)

"The teddy bear is fine, but… Piggy-maru? What's with the maru?" (Tatsuro)

(T/N: maru: a Japanese word for round or circular)

"I got a lot of SP from these guys so I'll learn [Item Box] too. They put us in a tough spot so it won't be enough compensation if the shells don't help us in the future. We can take the shells of the blue teddies too!" (Tatsuro)

"Aren't-you-get-ting-too-gree-dy?" (Ai)

"Say what you want. Seeing that big fat zero gold on my system screen makes me feel like a beggar." (Tatsuro)

"Ah…." (Ai)

Ai knew what that felt like as well.

Tatsuro did not waste any more time and learned [Item Box] from the skills shop along with the +1 upgrade too. The upgrade increased the volume that the item box can store and a preservation function that slowed the time of all things inside it.

Looking back at the shop where the upgrade was, another upgrade for the item box was available. In the description, it stated that the item box will get another increase in volume along with an item disassembly and item list functions. Tatsuro, upon learning its effects, immediately took it.

After the +2 upgrade, it was now showing the possibility of a +3 upgrade, an increase in volume, and an item combination function. This time, however, Tatsuro chose to ignore it.

"Now, then, time to pack our stuff!" (Tatsuro)

"Let's go!" (Ai)

With everything scattered under the moonlight, the first thing they did was to place the shell with fur stuck to it inside Tatsuro's item box. The purpose was to try out how the item disassembly function works out.

Asking Help, it seems that the user has to focus on the item to disassemble and how they want it to be disassembled. The system will then use everything within limitations to realize the process.

Using that as a guide, Tatsuro pictured the fur separating from the shell, and lo and behold, the two were pulled apart exactly as how he thought them to be.

Just to confirm the effects, Tatsuro took the shell out of his item box. What appeared in his hands was a beautiful golden crystal shell that looked like a precious stone, reflecting and refracting the moonlight with its fairy-tale-like appearance.

"Beautiful! I think we could use this to make a ring…." (Ai)

"Good idea! A ring made with ingredients from another world is something you can't easily find on Earth!" (Tatsuro)

"It's not about that kind of stuff! Well, that's what makes you Tatsuro, I guess…" (Ai)

"No, no. I could say that because I think it's beautiful. Ah, how about this…? I'll make a few things out of this so you can keep some too." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, yeah." (Ai)

Finishing the conversation, he placed the shell back into his item box. Then, they salvage the parts they wanted from blue teddy A, which had its stomach split open, and blue teddy B, which was half-buried in the ground and crushed flat.

"Alright. Shall we start searching for our camping spot?" (Ai)

"Wait a minute. Shouldn't we do something about this first?" (Tatsuro)

They looked themselves over. On one side was a boy covered in gravel and dirt while on the other stood a girl drenched in dried monster blood.

Before searching for a place to sleep, the two decided that cleaning themselves came first.

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