Chapter 720: Thrice
After being released into the world after a thousand years of being chained and trapped inside a gothic castle, Kuno remembered that couldn't go out into the sun without burning her skin, she couldn't enter into someone's home without their express invitation, and she couldn't stand the sight of garlic.
The only thing she needed was an insatiable need for blood, then she'd be the textbook definition of a Vampire.
"Master, we're going out for a walk!" Fudge said, while being hugged by Kuno.
Kuno was in full gear: a long sleeved shirt, long pants, socks, closed shoes, a giant wide-brimmed hat, and even a mask to cover half her face. And if that wasn't enough, she was carrying the biggest umbrella that Michael had ever seen before.
"This place is so interesting," Kuno said, looking around the bustling streets of the Nation of Reborn. "Even if I'm afraid of the sun, I can't wait until nighttime to explore!"
Seeing her excited expression, he couldn't really deny her wish. He just hoped that it wasn't Fudge who would be guiding her. After all, the little slime had a tendency of influencing people into becoming troublemakers with him.
Unfortunately the Dragonborns were busy training, with Sheina pushing her siblings to awaken their Aubilities as fast as possible.
There were some other people that could become Kuno's guide, but since she was more comfortable with Fudge, then it would be better if he led the way.
He was planning on having somebody else keep Fudge in check, but he knew that it would be useless. Maybe an innocent Rebornian would also become influenced by Fudge.
"Just don't cause too much trouble, okay?" he asked them.
"Yes, Master! We're just going to go around the Nation of Reborn, nothing special."
Kuno nodded with him.
For some reason, he doubted that. But either way, he couldn't come with them because he was also busy doing his own thing.
So while Kuno and Fudge went on their tour, he busied himself with all the things he had to take care of.
First and foremost, was his own cultivation.
Although it had only been three months tops after his advancement to the 4th stage of Body Formation, he felt like it had been ages since he had broken through.
With strong competition like the Major Factions, he knew that he could always use more power. But the problem, of course, was his GodForge pieces.
For some reason, he was the only one among them who needed a lot of GodForge pieces.
And by a lot, he meant three times more!
A normal Maugnetic would only need 5 kilograms of GodForge pieces in order to advance to the 5th stage of Body Formation.
But for him, it would take him a whopping 15 kilograms!
That was insane!
If he wanted to buy it using Sand Dollars, then it would cost him 150,000 in total!
And it would only continue to go up as he advanced through the Body Formation stages.
This was why he hadn't spent a single Sand Dollar purchasing GodForge pieces. He almost shuddered at the thought of spending that much just to achieve the same advancement as others.
But I shouldn't complain. The large requirement for GodForge probably contributes to the fact that I have a much stronger power than other Maugnetics.
As shown in the auction, he could defeat Maugnetics three to four stages above his own.
So all in all, spending three times as much as other people was still worth it.
Still, I don't want to pay that much every time I want to advance. My only choice is to try and find more discoveries like the one in the Red Ravine.
Thanks to Fudge, he did obtain the 15 kilograms he needed to advance.
But he'd have to find 18 more kilograms if he wanted to advance to the 6th stage after that.
[Kukukuku… There's a better solution to that, you know. Just find some unsuspecting Maugnetic and rip his GodForge piece away from his heart!]
As a Natural Maugnetic, GodForge pieces had a tendency of becoming attracted to him, whether he liked it or not.
And this proved to be useful, as that was how he advanced to this level without having to purchase his own.
But all his unsuspecting donors were people that were…not so-good people. They were people who didn't deserve to have a reality bending power at their disposal, as it would only enable them to cause even more harm. That was why he didn't bat an eye when he stole their GodForge pieces.
I would rather spend Sand Dollars than steal an innocent person's GodForge.
[Then find someone not so innocent,] Harbinger quickly quipped. [I'm sure if you just walk around cities and towns, you'll eventually find someone who doesn't like the way you walk.]
Harbinger's solution was to just let the villains come to him, which wasn't all that bad of an idea, to be honest. But he wouldn't pick a fight just to steal their GodForge pieces. If they challenged him, then he would gladly take it. That was the only situation he'd be okay with.
Let's not worry about the future. What's important is the present.
He sat down on his floor and put down all the boxes they found in the Red Ravine.
All of this totalled 15 kilograms, enough for him to finally advance.
He picked one up and twisted its top. The frame became bent and revealed an open face.
The white flames of the GodForge pieces flickered in his presence. It was if it knew that there was someone near that could finally touch its flames without getting hurt.
He began unboxing the rest of the boxes, letting all 15 kilograms of GodForge pieces see the open air.
Then finally, he raised his hand.
And not even a second later, the droplets of GodForge pieces inside the box started levitating upwards.
As they moved closer and closer to him, its speed became faster and faster.
And once they were finally out of the box, they suddenly shot towards his chest at an even faster speed than a bullet!
Thankfully, he was already prepared for this so he wasn't thrown backwards like the previous times.
The drops coalesced into one giant drop before harmlessly passing through his chest, into his muscles, onto his muscles, and navigating through his organs until they finally met his beating heart.
The top part of his heart was covered in a shiny, metallic sheen.
Those were his GodForge pieces. And right now, they were pulsating with Aubility Power as if they were beckoning these newcomers into joining them.
The droplet splashed into the surfaces of his heart, finally integrating itself onto his body.
Immediately, he felt warmth spread throughout his body. The new GodForge pieces were very active, supplying him with tons of Aubility Power.
And surprisingly enough, he noticed that the power given off by old GodForge pieces had increased as well!
This advancement didn't create an addition of power. It was multiplication!
Just then, Harbinger manifested above his head.
And it seemed that this new advancement allowed its two arms to finally connect!
Harbinger's upper body was finally revealing!