66 Chapter 66: Skill Upgrade

[Notice. The calculation for the evolution of Unique Skill: [Black Heart Reactor] is now fully complete.]

'Then start the evolution, Athena.' I said.

[Notice. During the calculation, I've found that the best result is to combine the Unique Skill: [Black Heart Reactor] together with Ultimate Skill [Shadow Monarch: Ashborn]]

"Hmm..." I hummed and started thinking about what she just said. There shouldn't be any issue if the skills combine together, 'Then start combining the skills together, Athena."

[Notice. Combining of Unique Skill: [Black Heart Reactor] with Ultimate Skill: [Shadow Monarch: Ashborn] will now begin.]

It didn't take long for Athena to merge the two skills, and in just a couple of minutes, I heard her voice again.

[Notice. Both skills have been combined.]

I felt slight changes after both the skill combined, and I felt my shadow soldier's strength increase, 'Athena, what changed after both of the skills combined?' I asked.

[Notice. All shadows' strength has been increased. Also, the effects of Black Heart have increased by three times. You can also enable wrath mode for the shadows giving them a boost in strength, but they will be taken over by wrath, destroying everything in their wake.]

"Three times!" I said as my eyes widened as even after Athena had already doubled the effects of [Black Heart Reactor] and now, after merging with my Ultimate Skill, it tripled. That's a total of a 7.5x boost from the time it was an Intrinsic Skill.

Then there is Wrath Mode, something truly terrifying, depending on how it's used.

Athena is really amazing.

[Hmpf.]

'Did you just Hmpf me?' I asked

[Notice. It's just your imagination.]

'No, I'm pretty sure you did just Hmpf me.'

[Notice. It's just your imagination.]

'Okay, if you say so... Then could you start the calculation for the evolution of [Mystery].'

"Hey, Cale, did you do something?" Ultima entered my office while eating a cookie, "Because my strength increased." She said, looking at me for an explanation.

"Hmmm," I hummed and thought about it. Her host body is technically made of my shadows, and I named her, so her increase in strength should be due to the skill combination, "My skill had a slight change that could be the cause."

"Your skill changed?" She asked, curiously tilting her head.

"Yeah, I was working on some things, and it triggered an... mmm...," I thought about how to best describe it. It wasn't a full evolution but something akin to that, "You could say a Semi-Evolution..."

"You know you are a cheat..." She said, looking at me.

I smirked, "And I take pride in it," I replied smugly.

"Tsk," She clicked her tongue, "Sometimes you can be really annoying," She said, sitting down on the sofa and hugging a pillow while glaring at me.

"What can I say," I chuckled, "You look cute when you're annoyed." She threw the pillow at me.

I easily caught it and used it as a headrest, "Hey, how about we go to Ingrassia? I heard the confectioner Kaoru Yoshida made a new pasty." Seeing as I got Ultima's full attention now, I smirked and said, "Apparently, people say they never had anything that tasty in their life. Even the Empress of Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion enjoyed it."

Ultima expressed her doubts, "It can't be that good..." but I could tell she was interested. "But if you think it's good, then I'll check it out."

I playfully teased her, "Sure thing, my little Tsundere Demoness..."

She quickly corrected me, "I'm not a Tsundere!"

I tried again, "How about Cookie Demon?"

This time, her eye twitched with annoyance. "Says the battle maniac," she shot back.

I couldn't help but retort, "You're the last person who should be talking about being a battle maniac. And with how many cookies you eat, I'm surprised you're not overweight." As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I had made a mistake.

"What did you call me?!" She asked calmly, but I could sense the killing intent in her tone.

As soon as I realized the mistake I had made, I quickly tried to backtrack. "I'm sorry, Ultima. With how old you are, you shouldn't get mad over a little joke." I winced, realizing that my apology might not have been the best choice of words.

Unfortunately, while trying to make the situation better, I made it worse, "Oh, so now I'm old, huh?" Ultima's expression turned to one of annoyance, and I knew I had to salvage the situation quickly.

"I didn't mean it like that, Ultima. I just meant that with all of your experience and wisdom, you shouldn't let a silly joke get to you." I hoped that would fix it.

Thankfully, Ultima's expression softened, and a small smile appeared on her face. "You're right. I shouldn't let something so small bother me. But you will buy all the sweets I want, right?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. I should remember that there are two things you don't tell or ask a woman, them being anything about their age or weight.

---

Leaving the cafe, Ultima was munching on melon bread while I held a full bag of it.

I looked at the bag, then at Ultima, and then at the bag again. Will she eat all of that? How can someone even eat that much melon bread without getting fat?

Ultima sent me a glare as if she knew exactly what I was thinking while angrily eating the bread, and I sighed.

How is it that women always know when you are thinking something about them, especially if it's about those specific two things?

Well, I didn't want to die even if I could probably revive myself later on, so I decided to stop thinking about it, 'Athena, how long will it take for the calculation to be complete?' I asked.

[Notice. The approximate time for complete calculation: 1 Year 4 Months.]

That's good. The few hundred years that it would take for [Great Sage] became less than two years after Athena's evolution. I have big expectations for the power of the skill after it evolves into an Ultimate Skill.

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Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

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