Chapter 210: One Year Later (Part 2)
Being able to Dragon so many beasts, Eric looked at Akame's stats:
[Constitution: 8 stars]
[Martial Arts: 5 stars]
[Swordsmanship: 7.5 stars]
[Armament Haki: 6 stars]
[Observation Haki: 6.5 stars]
[Overall Combat Power: 7 stars]
As expected, after her training, Akame's constitution had significantly improved.
With Akame's arrival, the entire Dawn Pirate crew had gathered. Chiron and Da Vinci, who had been waiting on the Warship, led Carla Kana, Kurike, Lante, and Gin off the ship to prepare the beasts Akame had captured, getting ready for a grand barbecue feast.
As a scientist, Da Vinci hadn't trained on the island and had stayed on the ship for a year. Though she hadn't avoided danger entirely, the sea beasts near the coast often visited the Warship, but they were detected early by sonar and met with several underwater explosions or artillery fire, either dying on the spot or fleeing in pain.
Da Vinci's stats remained unchanged, still at the pitiful level. Fortunately, Eric had raised her constitution to four stars to prevent her from becoming too absorbed in scientific research and suddenly dying in the lab.
Chiron's stats:
[Constitution: 7.5 stars]
[Martial Arts: 7 stars]
[Archery: 8 stars]
[Armament Haki: 6.5 stars]
[Observation Haki: 7 stars]
[Devil Fruit: 6 stars]
[Overall Combat Power: 7 stars]
Not only had her archery improved, but her close combat skills had advanced as well, taking the idea that a good archer should also be skilled in hand-to-hand combat to its fullest extent.
After a year of training, even Carla Kana, who had been weak a year ago, had mastered both types of Haki and could easily defeat Gin , the demon from the East Blue arc.
Let alone Kurike, Lante, and Gin .
Gin and Lante had been working especially hard, nearly losing their lives in the jungle, but were fortunately saved by Eric , whose Heart Network range had expanded.
Kurike, on the other hand, was more laid-back, steadily focusing on his training. If he encountered Bellamy in Magic Valley Town again, it was hard to say who would get beaten this time.
The one thing Eric was unhappy about was that the system's monthly tasks had been replaced with yearly ones.
According to the system, the monthly tasks were a benefit for beginners, but now that he wasn't a newbie anymore, the benefits were gone...
[Yearly Task One: Training Results]
[Content: To dominate the seas in the future, train for a year on Luscaina without relying on the system's attribute points to enhance your attributes.]
[Result One: Reach 8 stars in three attributes. Reward: 2 Achievement Points.]
[Result Two: Reach 8 stars in two attributes, and the other one reaches 8.5 stars or above. Reward: 3 Achievement Points / One Artifact.]
[Result Three: Reach 8 stars in two attributes, and the other two reach 8.5 stars or above. Reward: 5 Achievement Points / Two Artifacts.]
Eric 's current stats:
[Constitution: 8.5 stars]
[Martial Arts: 5 stars]
[Spear: 7.5 stars]
[Armament Haki: 8 stars]
[Observation Haki: 6 stars]
[Devil Fruit: 8.5 stars]
[Conqueror's Haki: 6.5 stars]
Eric could only obtain the second reward.
The huge bonfire in the middle of the open area drove away the surrounding darkness, and everyone sat around the food. The orange flames left dark shadows on their faces.
The wood crackled in the fire, and everyone raised their cups, clinking them together. The drink swirled in the cups, splashing out a bit as they all shouted, "Cheers!"
Akame, her mouth covered in grease, wore a happy expression. The others, infected by her, began to eat and drink heartily.
One by one, the group performed for each other—Carla Kana danced, Scáthach performed rune magic, Akame showed off her pig-eating trick, and more.
Deidara's clay doll control was even praised by Eric , who said with a guilty conscience, "Unparalleled art!"
Deidara, pleased with the praise...
[Ding... Deidara's affection increased, Bond Level from 2 (Close Friend) to 3 (Trusted Friend), earned 2 Bond Points.]
'Bond level finally reached 3,' Eric thought, his heart weeping. 'Finally, I can summon again. Tiring from all the man-licking...'
After the feast, everyone was drunk and lying on the ground.
With the moon high in the sky, Eric quietly stood up and gently shook Akame's shoulder.
Akame rubbed her sleepy eyes and softly asked, "Eric ?"
"Come with me." Eric only said this and stood up, leading the way into the dense forest.
Akame didn't ask questions and silently followed behind Eric .
Their shadows, illuminated by the bonfire, stretched longer and merged with the dark forest in the distance.
Eric used his blood to draw a summoning circle on the ground. Akame's heartbeat quickened as she slowly realized why Eric had woken her up alone.
"Ah, just the two of you, this won't do~" A seductive voice echoed in the still environment, startling both of them.
Kurumi quietly stood not far away, watching the two of them.
"Kurumi, you scared me." Eric patted his chest.
Since they hadn't done anything shameful, Eric wasn't worried about Kurumi catching them in an awkward moment.
"Are you about to summon a new person?" Kurumi's boots made a soft sound as she gracefully leaned closer.
"Mm." Eric agreed, "I was thinking... forget it, it doesn't matter if Kurumi knows."
"It's not just me who knows~" Kurumi's voice lingered, pointing behind her with her thumb.
Eric glanced over and saw Esdeath in her snow-white military uniform, standing there, while Scáthach in her purple tight-fitting suit blended into the shadows of the trees.
Esdeath started making a wish, "I hope this new summon can fulfill my battle needs."
Scáthach explained, "My farsight has seen the future, but I still want to witness the newcomer's arrival myself."
Eric had originally wanted Akame and Kurome to reunite, but unexpectedly, the entire harem had shown up.
Eric , speechless, completed the summoning circle and looked at the system shop. The artifact "Deadman's March: Yatsufusa (8 deatch)" disappeared from the system, and a black-bladed katana appeared in Eric 's hand.
[Achievement "Spend 1 Billion Berries on an item" unlocked, 3 Achievement Points earned.]
"This is—!" Akame, recognizing it as her sister's artifact, exclaimed, "'Deadman's March: Yatsufusa (8 deatch)!'"
"Oh~" Esdeath stroked her chin, "Could it be... you're summoning Kurome?"
Esdeath had once established the special police "Hunters," and Kurome was one of her subordinates.
"Akame, I need your blood, just in case we summon the wrong person, that could be troublesome."
"Mm." Seeing that she might meet her younger sister, Akame quickly cut her hand with a Shusui blade.
Blood slowly gathered in a small white cup, and she placed it along with Eight Death in the summoning circle.
Eric stepped back from the circle and extended his right hand toward it, chanting,
"Come forth, Kurome! Your sister is waiting for you—summon!"
As if responding to Eric 's words, the summoning circle began to glow along the lines Eric had drawn. The white light grew brighter and brighter, so intense that everyone had to close their eyes.
In the summoning circle, a faint black figure began to appear.
"Kurome!" Akame rushed forward and embraced the figure.
"S-Sister?" Kurome's confused voice made Akame hold her even tighter.
Taking this opportunity, Eric checked Kurome's stats:
[Name: Kurome]
[Age: 15]
[Constitution: 5 stars]
[Martial Arts: 3 stars]
[Swordsmanship: 5 stars]
[Armament Haki: 0]
[Observation Haki: 4 stars]
[Weapon: Eight Death (can manipulate the bodies of those killed by the sword, controlling up to 8 corpses as puppets. The puppets retain the abilities and actions of their former selves.)]
[Bond Level: 1 (Casual Friend)]
[Overall Combat Power: 4 stars] (Currently no bodies to control)
[Note: Akame's younger sister, a member of the Empire's assassination team, injected with drugs to enhance her abilities, but this comes with great strain and a strong dependency on the drugs, requiring regular doses.]
After holding each other for a while, Akame finally released her arms and carefully examined her sister.
"Are you okay? Kurome."
Kurome looked at the Eight Death in her hands and said, "I remember during the battle, the Eight Death suddenly disappeared, and the puppets I controlled turned into regular corpses. The enemy took advantage of that and severely injured me..."
(END CHAPTER)
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