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Chapter 431: The Era of Champions

After a few hours of searching through the shops, Jonas returned home with a small box. The box was roughly two feet in every dimension, and seemed quite light in his hands. Oddly, despite the shaking of the box indicating that there was something living inside, there were no air holes. The reason for this became quite apparent when Jonas arrived downstairs, flipping the box over to empty its contents out onto the floor.

The test subject that he had sought out for this experiment was the single most versatile creature in the entire world. One that had shown throughout history the ability to use various energy types, able to learn at a shocking pace. At the same time, it was an existence weak enough that it would pose little threat even after obtaining the ‘perfect self’.

The creature shook and wobbled as it practically splashed onto the ground, pulling itself together and ‘looking’ up at Jonas. Although it had no eyes, there seemed to be curiosity in its gaze, its body shaking a bit as if in greeting.

That’s right. The creature that Jonas selected… was a slime.

As part of the purchasing process, a trained Monster Tamer had personally bound this slime to Jonas, ensuring the creature’s loyalty. This bond also came with instructions that would serve to assist him in his research.

“Now… let’s get started. Once we’ve made a bit of progress, I’ll let you divide a couple times.” The slime’s natural ability to reproduce via splitting was typically restricted through magical means while domesticated. This was to prevent a common family from being overrun by slimes slowly devouring everything they owned. For the sake of his research, Jonas had had those restrictions lifted.

Jonas leaned down, using his mana to communicate with the slime as he slowly extended one hand. “First, let’s start with ki…”

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As I returned to the Admin Room, I found myself hearing hysterical laughter from the living room. Raising an eyebrow, I began making my way over. I had just finished making the world spirits of both Kione and Sher Dien, as well as meeting the two that Ryone made.

As one might expect, the world spirit of Kione ended up looking similar to a lycan. However, perhaps because of the strong animal influence of the familiar system, it looked somewhat more feral. Almost like a cross between a lycan and one of Fyor’s dovah.

Sher Dien’s world spirit, however, looked… almost exactly like Alme Dien. Maybe it was due to Alme being the strongest influence on that world’s natural energy because of her relatively higher levels, but the only real difference between the two was that the world spirit had purple hair and an entirely purple hide.

Then there was Spica’s, which was unsurprisingly an elf… At least, somewhat an elf. Its skin was pitch black, its figure androgynous, and there were swirling white specks that flashed along its body. If I had to call it anything, I would call it a ‘cosmic elf’.

Finally, the world spirit of Lorek. This one appeared to be a… giant dwarf. Standing nearly ten feet tall with a burly build, it towered over both dwarves and ursa alike. The figure was undoubtedly male, having a deep red beard that went all the way down to its knees. I mean seriously, you could get lost in that beard…

Regardless, once I was done introducing myself to the four new world spirits, I had made my way back to the Admin Room. It was there that I could distinctly hear Aurivy laughing. As I got out to the living room, I saw her laid out on the couch, hands gripping her sides as she rolled back and forth. “I feel like I missed something.”

Aurivy opened her eyes, wet from laughing too hard, and looked towards me. “Oh… oh you did. It was great… All hail the Slime God!” As she said that, she once again was thrown into hysterics.

Her words confused me to no end, so I moved closer, realizing that the scene on the television was no longer the show that we had been watching before. Rather, it seemed that she was using the television as a medium to observe the world. And the ‘channel’ that she had settled on was that of Jonas Bayrun.

As I observed the screen, I began to realize what had gotten Aurivy so worked up. I was well aware of Jonas’s research, and the direction it was likely to take. So when I saw him training a slime, the pieces fell into place, and my lips began to curve upwards. “Oh, we are so keeping an eye on how this develops.”

Aurivy nodded her head, unable to properly form words yet. Now it was time to get things moving forward again. As such, I reached for the remote, pressing the fast forward button on it while doing the same to the world itself. Almost as soon as I did, when no more than a few days had passed within the world, a prompt appeared in front of me.

Congratulations, EarthForceOne! You have now qualified for a promotion!

Your worlds and your strength have been evaluated at Rank 2. You now have unlimited access to the previously restricted Rank 2 system, the Champion’s Guidance.

Congratulations! You have earned an achievement!

For promoting a world to Rank 2, you have earned the Keep Moving Forward achievement. +50 points, Champion’s Aura.

As I had already been informed of what the new system was, I gave it a brief glance to confirm the contents before moving on. Right away, I already had several ideas for who I should use this system on. First and foremost, there was nobody who had earned a ‘golden aura’ more than Tsubaki. She had been with me for so long that it seemed unfair not to give it to her first.

So, I quickly flipped the ‘channel’ to focus on Tsubaki, allowing the television to show her rapidly going through her normal days. Then, I pulled up the interface for the newly unlocked system, and assigned her as my ‘Champion’. As it turned out, there was a cost of two hundred points to assign a single champion, but… I’d say it was a worthwhile investment.

When I was finished, I noticed that it was not only Tsubaki who had received this benefit. Through their new connection, Dana’s aura had similarly turned golden. At the same time, I saw that there were options to assign personal champions to each god or goddess, in addition to ones I wanted myself.

This made me nod my head slightly, sending the news to the others. There was something that they could finally spend the points they’ve been saving on, so I wanted to let them choose their own.

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Sora Sparks hummed lightly to herself as she walked through the plains of the twenty-second floor of Fyor. She wore a black robe that fluttered with the wind behind her, revealing her curvaceous frame trapped within a skintight black outfit. At her waist was a tome, bound in chains.

Her right hand was held by a smaller, red hand. A young demoness walked alongside her, her pitch black eyes scanning the surroundings. Although she was dressed similarly to Sora, their expressions were miles apart. While Sora was confident and carefree, Petra was shy, almost paranoid of her surroundings.

“Come on, Petra.” Sora lightly teased, looking down to the demoness. “You wanted the chance to walk around outside, right?” Though her tone was playful, there was a caring smile on her face.

Petra simply nodded her head, looking up to Sora hesitantly. “I-I did… it’s just… so much more than I expected…”

For years, Thelsa and her shadows had been teaching Petra about the world, and even showing her simulations of it or letting her watch through their eyes. However, it was only recently that they were convinced she was ready for the real thing. The Goddess had stressed how powerful Petra was, so Thelsa didn’t want to let her out before the girl had a firm control over her own emotions and powers.

Now that she was out, it was all so overwhelming. Yet Petra seemed to like that, she saw it as everything she had hoped for, and so much more. She had never lacked for friends, sharing her shadow with Thelsa, Sora, and Maria. The three of them had always done their best to take care of Petra.

As the two of them walked through the meadow, seeing the signs of construction up ahead, Petra knew it was time for the ‘big test’. Cities were still being built within this floor, and so it made the perfect place for her to observe other people. It was unlikely that there would be any children around, given the largely unexplored nature of this floor, but it was a good place to start.

At least, that was the plan. When the two of them were less than ten minutes out from the budding town, a prompt flashed before both of their eyes. They could feel that the same prompt had also been given to the other two still resting in their shadow.

You have been chosen as the Champion of Ashley!

“M-mom?” Petra blinked, looking at the message. While she had yet to personally meet Ashley herself, she was well aware that the Goddess of Darkness had been the one to give her life. In practically every sense of the word, Ashley was Petra’s mother, a fact further enforced by Petra’s demigoddess status.

“Well…” Sora paused, her hand gently squeezing Petra’s. “Maybe… maybe we should put this off just a bit longer, and go see if she’ll explain a bit about this to us?” While Sora was certain that there wouldn’t be any negatives associated with being the champion to a goddess, it was still better to get all of the information first.

It would be really inconvenient if their status was known to anyone that they meet, as that would put a lot of pressure on the young demoness. Feeling those thoughts through their connection, Petra gave a slight nod. “Okay… does this mean that I get to meet her?”

“If she answers us, at least.” Sora nodded with a warm smile.

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It didn’t take long for me to see the names of Champions being filled in on my interface. Some of these names I was familiar with, such as Thelsa or Jonas, or Alme Dien. Because of course the only person Tryval would consider making his champion was his daughter.

Other names, however, belonged to people who I had never personally observed. Irena, for instance… after some investigation, her champion was a young orphaned felyn boy. I didn’t particularly see anything special about him, but I imagined that it likely had something to do with his karma.

Naturally, it was up to each person how much they wished to ‘groom’ their champions. I personally did not see the need to help raise Tsubaki any more than she already was. With her talents, it was only a matter of time before she ascended to godhood. Others, however, would likely be in need of more assistance to reach their full potential.