"Huu… that's the last of them, right?"
Rey was currently in his base—the 99th Floor of the Royal Dungeon, and in front of him were Ater and the Undead who just finished displaying a wide array of Skills to him.
After leaving the Blanc Mansion, they came here for Rey to add more abilities to his arsenal.
Needless to say, it was a success.
"Yes, Master. You have gotten all the relevant Skills that the enemy possessed."
Ater spoke like all of this was just a matter of course, but Rey hadn't gotten over how the guy figured out all the qualities of his Skills.
He didn't even realize it when he used [Absolute Appraisal] on Ater and found out his Level had increased.
"Congratulations, you're in Level 3 now." Rey smiled at the Familiar.
Ater got 100 Stat Points for each Level he gained—a far more impressive feat than Snow's 30 Points.
'I suppose it only goes to show the difference between S-Tier and A-Tier.' He mused.
"This much is nothing, Master. It does not compare to you in the slightest.'
Rey felt like bursting into tears the moment he heard those words.
Adding his bonus Stat addition and base Stat addition upon every Level Up, he only got 6 Stat Points for each Level Up.
If not for his gear carrying him for most of the time, he would be pretty weak in base form.
'Compared to me, he has an incredible Stat increase every level, and his bonus Stat Points are essentially half of his normal Stats…'
If that wasn't broken, then what was?
Rey found himself more grateful for deciding to take the risk and summon an S-Tier Familiar.
'But damn… I really wish [Bonding] could allow me to keep even more Familiars.'
As soon as Rey had this thought, he realized something.
'I could merge Skills together with Bonding to evolve it to the level where I can get that result!'
His eyes gleamed with delight as he began to imagine the possibility of having multiple Aters around.
"Master? You have a creepy smile." Ater's voice echoed in the vast room, but Rey hardly paid any mind to it.
Steam proceeded from his gaping mouth as saliva dripped from it.
He could feel it—the fullness of GREED within him.
"Ater…" Rey took a few steps forward until he reached the very front of his Familiar.
"Yes… Master?"
He placed his hands on Ater's shoulders, a sense of foreboding swirling around the room.
As the tension reached an epic crescendo, a brilliant smile burst from Rey's face as he gushed out to Ater with indescribable delight.
"How would you like a younger brother?!"
*********
"Haa…"
After hours of deliberating and merging, Rey was finally done with the process.
What now appeared before his eyes was the finished product of so much hard work—the culmination of everything he had been through thus far.
[Skill Categories]
~ SS-Tier: 6
~ S-Tier: 10
~ A-Tier: 15
~ B-Tier: 13
[New Skills: Please Select Their Categories]
~Nil~
[Total Skills: 44]
"Pfft! The numbers are even less than before." Rey found himself chuckling.
Still, he could say the quality of his Skills has drastically increased.
"Master, is this all really necessary?" Ater's voice came out of nowhere, and Rey nearly rolled his eyes the moment he heard it.
Why?
Because since he started sorting out his Skills, all for the sole purpose of getting more Familiar, Ater had been on his case.
He was greatly against the idea, and it was easy to see why.
"Master doesn't need any other Familiar! I alone am enough!" Ater had said many times, not even hiding the reason why he was against Rey's decision.
He was simply insecure of his position.
'Maybe I shouldn't have told him, after all.' Rey sighed to himself.
If he had kept it a secret and chose to surprise him with a new Familiar, none of Ater's tantrums would exist.
'Well, I can't be sure about that.'
He could imagine Ater's expression if he presented the newest addition to the group as a surprise.
'He would probably want to devour it.'
Rey used his [Grand Sound Magic] to block off all the sound that Ater was making, but the problem was the bond that they shared.
Not only could Rey hear Ater in his head, but he couldn't turn it off either.
It was simply a consequence of their relationship.
"Master, please rethink this. Do you really want to hear multiple voices in your head at once? I don't think you would be very comfortable feeling the emotions of multiple Familiars at once."
In all honesty, Ater made a few good points. But—!
"That's why I'm only going to start with one more. I'll acclimate as time goes on." He grinned widely.
Ater appeared exasperated, which made Rey chuckle even more. It was very rare to see his Familiar display this kind of emotion, after all.
"Sorry, Ater. But my mind is already made up."
If it wasn't, he wouldn't have had to sacrifice a bunch of his Skills in order to get an evolved version of [Bonding].
'I no longer have [Absolute Mental Control], which is quite a loss… but [Compulsion] still works as mind control, so it is what it is.'
[Compulsion] was an A-Tier Skill, though.
'I hardly use mind control anyway, so it's fine…' Rey closed his eyes and smiled.
What mattered most was that he now had the means to summon more than one Absolute Beast and make them his Familiars.
"Let us begin!"
[.]
[Doppel Skills]
[SS-Tier]
Divine Sword Summon (Active)
Divine Beast Summon (Active)
Divine Elemental Magic (Active)
Divine Power Ascension (Active)
Divine Ray (Active)
Divine Magic Supremacy (Passive)
[Total: 6]
[S-Tier]
Absolute Perfect Defense (Active)
Absolute Healing (Active)
Absolute Appraisal (Active)
Absolute Spatial Domain (Active)
Absolute Dominion (Active)
Absolute Martial Supremacy (Passive)
Shapeshift (Active)
Absolute Necromancy (Active)
Absolute Perpetual Armament (Passive)
Ascended Godspeed (Active)
[Total: 10]
[A-Tier]
Grand Item Equip (Passive)
Grand Mana Recovery (Passive)
Grand Flight (Active)
Grand Sound Magic (Active)
Grand Inventory (Active)
Replicate (Active)
Defense Break (Passive)
Perfect Sensory Perception (Passive)
Grand Life Force Recovery (Passive)
Grand Concealment (Active)
Possession (Active)
Phantom Illusion (Active)
Grand Enchanted Weapon Summon (Active)
Grand Elemental Summoning Magic (Active)
Compulsion (Active)
[Total: 15]
[B-Tier]
Mimic (Active)
Transmute (Active)
Force (Active)
Greater Corrosion (Active)
Greater Debuff (Active)
Severing Claw (Active)
Carnage (Passive)
Greater Blood Magic (Active)
True Homing (Passive)
Aura Sword (Active)
Greater Corruption (Active)
Greater Intense Bloodlust (Active)
Greater Counter (Passive)
[Total: 13]
[Active Skills: 33]
[Passive Skills: 11]