Z'oelo was adamant that Ram apologize before entertaining an interesting match against Klein.
"You were just challenged and yet you refuse to accept. What cowardice!"
"Apologize. You won't get another chance."
"Hah! Insolent brat! Do you think I would be obedient to someone like you? Apologize? You apologize to me for the neglect you've shown me up until now!"
"Hey, Ego, think you can do me a favor?"
"Oh, how scary! Calling for others to help you out. I can only-," Ram tried to speak.
"Shut up already," Ego pressed a hand to the artifact spirit and rendered him immobile.
"Let's see. I guess it's apt to call this, Ram, a battle spirit which can fuse with you to give you a keen battle sense, weapon mastery, and a special ki that's helpful to boost attack power and form a battle domain."
Ego too was inspired by Oregon's vibrations as they used a similar but more thorough method with Curiosity to analyze Ram as far as his purpose.
"Do you want his personality? I feel like I have a more suitable tutor," Ego suggested.
"Wipe him," the answer came simply.
Ram could not even process the situation before he was stored in the Cosmic Structure.
Only an empty spirit was left, but Ego was not finished.
A familiar crimson shone from Ego's body as Rage boiled forth.
"Grah! Why am I here? I thought I was gone for good."
Rage's questions fell on deaf ears as the Emotion was directed into the empty spirit.
The blood-red color of the spirit somehow managed to turn a darker shade of crimson as Rage took over.
Once Rage was assimilated, he moved the Asura Battle Spirit along with a crimson aura pervading the area around it.
"You sure about this, Ego?"
"What's there to be worried about? If anything, he has a fast pass to Godhood with an Emotion guiding him."
Currently, Evangeline was the closest to that peak, but she was still a newly experienced Universal Rule wielder.
Null could also take that step if he took the time to train himself instead of helping everyone else.
Ego had fused with dozens of Emotions each on the level of Godhood, yet remained tied to Null's lower level of Enlightenment.
There was no lack of heavy hitters in the crew, but somehow Z'oelo was about to jump from one of the weakest to the strongest.
Even Klein, who now mastered eight different Universal Rules, was still a large gap away from Godhood.
The Asura Battle Spirit had many capabilities suitable for even the strengthening of the soul in a similar manner to Barter's Ruler wherein the user uses their special ki to invade the blood of another in order to absorb their life essence.
It was not just the power of an Emotion that made the battle spirit more powerful, but the way the battle spirit would help groom Z'oelo into an Asura himself.
Ego had made sure to keep everything such as the experience of having more pairs of arms the battle spirit possessed so that there was no qualms with Rage at the helm.
There was still the wisp that would also help to maintain control over the volatile Emotion.
And so, even without comprehending a Universal Rule, Z'oelo was going to face the fearsome Klein.
"Hurry! I need to get over this feeling!"
Z'oelo felt the Rage settle over him while also being empowered by the battle spirit.
It was incomparable to a basic body strengthening as even his soul felt a change.
Z'oelo was the first outside of Ego to be powered by an Emotion themselves as the others who did receive a power boost only had emotion-based energies.
Needless to say, his prowess skyrocketed alongside a crimson aura.
The projection of the battle spirit was still in the form of Ram but was altered by the presence of Rage making it look terrifying.
Z'oelo usually wore his hair up, but the bands tying his hair snapped and his hair billowed without a trace of a breeze.
As it stood, he had hardly used any of the abilities he now possessed but he was able to fly into the air as if his disposition commanded the pull of gravity to bend to his will.
"Are we seriously going to allow this? What if one of them gets hurt?," Barter's Ruler was hesitant to see his juniors pitted against themselves.
"Hmm. You know what? I think there is something missing here," Theef said as if he realized something.
Ego seemed to understand where he was going, "I was just about to say something myself. Surely we can't forget accommodate one of the scant females crew members."
When they heard that, Z'oelo almost wanted to slap himself, 'How could I be so selfish.'
Muni herself simply smiled at his frustration, something that Ego knew all to well.
"Aww, come on! Anyone else wanna take me on," at this point, Klein grew more antsy.
They ignored Klein and Theef spoke to her, "Even if it's only I slight change, I think you can imagine how it would be for Z'oelo to outgrow you. With that in mind, have you put any thought into a Universal Rule of your own?"
Muni had not reacted as if she had not heard the question, but after a period of silence she spoke, "I'm just a hunk of metal destined to be by the side of someone that others like to underestimate. It might seem like he is an idiot, but that idiot made me realize something that spoke to me personally."
She knew that only a scant few could actually hear her, but what happened next opened up a whole new world for her.
Muni continued, "I realized something from the words of the battle spirit, Ram. He saw me as an extension of Z'oelo because we are bonded for life. If he craves blood, I'll be there to rend it for him. When others doubt him, I will be his support and when he can no longer fight, I will make sure he gets back up."
"I never knew you were so outspoken," Null responded after passing on her words.
"Can you blame her? I'm irresistible!"
A tinge of pink colored Muni's pristine face, yet she remained steadfast.
"So you have the makings of a protector. You of all people know Z'oelo well, but how about the inverse? Who is Muni?"
A shiver was sent through her spirit as she responded, "I am a living weapon."
"But have you considered of what you are made of and what Z'oelo needs? Why not bend your form to his desire so that he never lays his eyes on anything else?"
"But how?"
Theef's pupils squirmed around his eyes as he expected the question, "Let me show you."
His palm held in it a combination of energies from metal mofei and ki and the vibrations and orange companionship.