Chapter 27: We're out (1)
—
"Grandmama! Grandpapa! Aunty!"
Neji sat on the chair, smiling at the computer screen awkwardly while Kurai kept chattering from his arms.
The couple and the child on the other side of the screen stared at Kurai with a stunned look on their faces.
The 'aunt', Nejire, seemed overly cheerful like always though.
Nejire glanced at Aiko and Gara's faces, her eyes shining.
["Whoa! Mommy, Daddy, look! Kurai can talk! She can actually talk! Fascinating isn't it, isn't it?"]
Gara patted Nejire's head with an awkward laugh.
["Haha… I see it, baby… I see it."]
She glared at Neji with a questioning look on her face, mouthing – 'What's happening here?'
It's been a day since Kimi accepted her new position, and today – Gara had called in the morning. The past two days, Neji only sent them a short video of himself so Gara was dying to talk with Neji.
But who would have thought something like this would happen?
Neji shot a look towards Kimi who was in a corner of the room, outside the webcam's view. "Shh, come here."
Kimi came, Neji handed Kurai to her – who struggled but Kimi swiftly scratched her lower chin, causing her body to twist and relax.
"Good morning, Lord and Lady Hado." She bowed respectfully and moved out of the camera again.
["Hm…"] Gara glanced at the vanishing Kimi. ["Am I the only one, or does Kimi look very happy today? She also seemed more beautiful than before… am I seeing things?"]
Neji kept his face straight. "Oh, she is probably happy since her 'daughter' can talk. I don't know about the beautifying effect though."
["Hm…"] It was Aiko's turn who narrowed his eyes at him first, though he shook his head the next second. ["Anyway son, care to explain what's up with Kurai? I am curious."]
["Oh, oh! Me too, me too!"] Nejire seemed curious as well.
Neji exchanged glances with them for a while, as a sigh escaped his nostrils. His parents knew about Kurai the day he took him from the road, they also knew Kurai couldn't talk. Well, not before today.
Though – of course – he already has millions of excuses prepared under his palm.
"Her change is the reason why I couldn't talk for the last two days. I was afraid how to explain all this." He sighed.
"So basically," Neji started, looking at the attentive look of the audience. "Kurai…"
–
–
—
["You mean to say…"] Gara exchanged glances with Aiko. ["Kurai is like Nezu, the principle of U.A? You mean she has unlocked a Quirk?"]
Gara was confused since Animals can't have quirks, well not naturally at least. There are cases of experimented animals who get a quirk – but the success rate is less than 1%. That's why experimenting on animals to give them quirks is illegal in most countries in the world. Though countries like North Korea and the regions ruled by "Nawab" allow them to happen.
"Yes, mom," Neji added. "From what Nezu said in a press conference once, he didn't receive his quirk from an experiment – quite the opposite actually, he was actually experimented, to begin with, because he was naturally born with a quirk."
He stared at their eyes with an intense look on his face, "Also, I hope you wouldn't tell anyone about Kurai. Or something like Nezu might happen to her."
Of course, he wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. But it's still better to keep Kurai's secret among themselves.
Aiko and Gara exchanged glances again. They were rich, and had great influence – but that doesn't mean they are completely safe from villains. Neji had a point.
Gara looked at him. ["Though have you shown her to a doctor? She needs a checkup since we don't know what her quirk is. It might be dangerous if she suddenly unleashes her power onto you or Kimi."]
Neji shook his head. He was busy fucking Kimi, how would he have checked her up?
["Well,"] Aiko rubbed his head. ["Don't worry, Kishimoto and Jasmine live in Osaka, so you can get them to check Kurai. I am sure you understand that they are trustworthy enough?"]
"Yeah, I get it." Neji nodded to which Gara sighed.
["Hahh, my little boy, what's happening with your life all of a sudden... Be careful, any moment I learn something bad has happened, I would bring you back. I would also..."]
While Gara kept talking, Neji looked down on Nejire who was sitting between Aiko and Gara.
["Oi, Nejiiii! Come back soon! I wanna meet my niece! Make sure to keep her safe, okay??"]
Neji smiled. She was already playing the perfect aunty role? Hah, she was so cute, he almost missed her.
*Growl*
Neji's stomach growled, causing Gara's eyes to widen.
["Neji, you haven't eaten yet?!?"] She asked with a horrified expression.
Neji rubbed the back of his head. "You called before I could have breakfast, your fault."
Gara almost had a heart attack hearing 'your fault', causing her body to tremble and her eyes to water.
["You…"] She stared at him in disbelief. ["F– fine, I am at fault. So go and eat right now, I will call tomorrow night again."]
She hmphed and threw her nose in the air. ["Goodbye!"]
Beep! Beep!
"Huh…" Neji deadpanned. "Okay…?"
«—(★)—»
Later,
"Kimi, I am heading out."
Kimi was taking out the clothes for a washing when she heard his call. She peeked from the room to see Neji standing beside the window.
He had a backpack hanging from his chest, Kurai was inside the bag – her head peeking outside.
"You are taking Kurai with you, young master?" Kimi asked, curious. "Make sure she is safe, then."
"I will, no need to worry."
Kimi went back to fetch the clothes, while asking, "Can I ask when you will come back? So that I can make some Tempura and Sushi since they're your favourite."
Neji's short answer came flying, "I don't know, but it's surely not today. Since Mom said she would call tomorrow night, I have some time. Oh well, bye – we will talk later!"
The sound of small blasts entered her ears, hearing that Kimi sighed.
"He still won't tell me where he goes, huh…" She shook her head and prayed, "Let's just hope nothing happens to him."
«—{★}—»
"Alright, eat this."
Neji had a bean-sized gem in his hand, the blue gem was slowly turning red after Neji had dripped a drop of his blood on the top of it.
"What's this?"
"Candy."
Kurai narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously.
Neji shrugged. "It's a familiar stone. You'd become my Familiar if you eat this."
"What's a Familiar?" Kurai tilted her head.
"It's…" Neji's voice turned grim. "Family."
"..."
After laughing to himself, Neji tried to explain in the easiest way. "Basically, by eating this, your soul would be bound with me and you'd get stronger with me."
[Familiar Stone:
A gem created from the condensed life–force of hundreds of Crimson Wolves. By dropping a drop of blood on it, the User can make any animal his "Familiar". Many benefits will be unlocked once a familiar is chosen.
If The Gamer uses this stone, the familiar would be able to add to The Gamer's party.]
Well, that's the basic description, but according to the system – many more useful abilities would be unlocked.
"Aren't I already your-"
"Shut up and eat this."
Neji interrupted her and pushed the stone down the confused Kurai's throat suddenly, as she instinctively gulped. He didn't want her to change her mind midway, he has already asked for her consent once – there is no more need for that anymore.
"Ewgh!" Kurai stuck her tongue out. "It tastes so bad...! Like blood– bleugh!" She spat on the ground, but fortunately, the stone had already been digested by her body and soul.
Neji observed her antics with sharp eyes, waiting for any reactions.
Suddenly Kurai and Neji's bodies started glowing.
"Eh? P– papa, something is–!"
Kurai, who had called Neji papa by accident, shut her mouth as a spiritual body came out of her body, same with Neji. The two spirits flew towards each other, as if they were magnets, and clashed with each other, the surrounding area became lit in blinding light as silence fell.
After a few seconds, the light vanished, as Neji found himself blinking.
He looked down on his hands, to find no changes – fortunately. He then observed Kurai, who was also fine.
Multiple messages soon blinded him.
[Ding! The Nergal, "Kurai" has become Master's Familiar!]
[Kurai's existence has come to share 'some' properties of The Gamer.]
[Kurai can be added to the Party!]
[Familiar benefits:
1. Kurai has been soul–bound with Master. If the Master dies, Kurai would also die (but the opposite isn't true).
2. As a Familiar, Kurai is also obliged to listen to all the commands of the Master, no matter what.
3. Master can feel Kurai's presence anywhere – unless they are on separate dimensions.
4. Master can switch places with Kurai as long as he can feel her presence. The opposite is also true but Kurai would need to ask the Master's permission for that.
5. After the Synergy between Master and Kurai reaches a certain threshold, they would be able to enter a state of "Fusion"]
Neji blinked while his eyes brushed past the series of texts.
"Goddamn, this is awesome."
Not only the fact of having a (future) Death God under his complete control but the fact that he can fuse with her and use Mana…. He felt sheer fascination run through his body.
«—[★]—»
Neji and Kurai had been talking under an old, creepy-looking mansion that is famous for its ghostly activities. Both of them were finally calm now, Kurai had many questions but she wanted to see things for herself.
Meanwhile, before going inside the mansion, which is actually a dungeon, Neji had made sure of something.
So,
"System, Kurai now has stats right?" Neji asked.
After waiting for 10 seconds, as no answer came, Neji sighed. "Busy working-"
A monotonous robotic voice came interrupting him.
[Indeed. But she can't gain exp without joining the Party.]
'Oh, you're here. Anyway, add her to the party.' Neji muttered.
[Done.]
Another series of messages appeared in front of him.
[But to be clear, Kurai can only be considered a mini–gamer. "Mini" because, while she can earn exp by doing certain actions and achieve level-ups – like any normal Gamer – many of The Gamer's abilities aren't available for her.
Such as, I, the System A.I.
She also can't gain skills by doing certain actions, she can level up her current skills only. There are some more Nerfs, but they aren't mention-worthy.]
"Well, good enough," Neji admitted. Just her being able to level up is enough for him.
He patted Kurai's head while noticing her gaze in the air. She must be checking the stats for herself.
'System, show me her stats.'
Immediately, a page of status appeared in front of him.
[ <1/2> ]
[Stats–
Name: Kurai
Age: 1
Level: 6
Race: Nergal
HP: 250/250
SP 250/250
MP: 2500/2500
STR: 25
END: 25
DEX: 25
INT: 25
WIS: 25
CHA: 69
LUC: Same as its Owner
HP REG: 125/min
SP REG: 125/min
MP REG: 500/min
Stat Points: 30]
Neji raised an eyebrow checking the stats.
'Damn, her MP is 100x than her INT. So this is how you scale a divine beast, huh. And 2500 MP? I don't know how much that's supposed to be in practical use – but that's clearly a big number for a level 6 Cat.'
He also noticed she was missing the Class and Title stat and understood why she was called a "Mini".
The first thing he did was to move 20 of her stat–points in INT as her Mana reached a hopping 4500, while he put the rest 10 in END to make her chance of survival high. As her owner, he can mess with her stats freely.
Then, 'Now, show her skills.'
[ <2/2> ]
[Skills:
•Fire Bolt – Lvl 1: Fires a bolt of fire, dealing (INT x 1.5) dmg.
•Spiritual Fire – Lvl 1: Fires a bolt of fire that deals (INT x 5) dmg to spiritual enemies.]
Looking at the skill, especially the spiritual fire skill, he grinned. "Good, good."
He noticed Kurai had stopped looking at the air so he picked her up.
"Alright, cutie, let's go."
Kurai seemed a little caught off-guard hearing the sudden compliment, but Neji nonetheless walked inside effortlessly, his figure vanishing in an ominous purple light after he pushed the mansion's door.
To compare, this is his status right now:
[ <1/3> ]
[Stats–
Name: Neji Hado
Age: 11
Class: The Gamer
Title: Fearless
Level: 60
Race: [Human]
HP: 1100/1100
SP: 1200/1200
MP: #/#
STR: 110
END: 110
DEX: 120
INT: 85
WIS: 78
CHA: 69
LUC: 150
HP REG: 550/min
SP REG: 600/min
Stat Points: 0]
Other than this base stat, he also has some proficiencies. It seems after reaching "100" in any Stat earns him a "Perk". This was pretty dope, he had to say.
[Strength of Hercules: You're blessed with strength. You can exert 10% more strength than your actual STR!]
[Life of a Cockroach: You're blessed with Life essence. After taking damage, HP will be lost 10% less.]
[Heart of a Cheetah: You're blessed with Stamina. Stamina-consuming acts would cost 10% less SP.]
[Lady Luck's Boy Toy: Lady Luck is nearly in love with you, causing lucky incidents to happen every now and then. Lady Luck tends to look at you in a more favourable light.]
The last one was… well, interesting, to say the least, but he didn't want to think much of it.
As the blinding purple light vanished, he found himself inside an old mansion. Spiderwebs were all over the house while the sound of multiple doors creaking sounded out.
In an instant, the figure of a tall female ghosty creature appeared from the corner of the room.
"Kurai,"
Time to speed-run dungeons.
"Pew."
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