A good idea just popped up.
I'll bide my time. Confrontation should be avoided till the requirements for that have been fulfilled.
-Willpower: 19/24-
"Thank you for your time, Matriarch. I'll inform Sophie of your intent."
"Yes, dear Claud. You may leave now."
Tsk. Gross. Her uttering my name invokes the same feeling as when a cockroach skitters across the floor.
Hmm...
Sophie will surely be disappointed if I simply told her. I should explain my thoughts to her properly. Preferably not at this moment, otherwise she'll be too sad to have fun today.
But... where is she?
She's not in her bedroom.
A Baron's territory is still pretty big. Having to walk around is annoying.
The library's empty.
Looking out the library window, she's not in the garden either.
I'll have to ask one of the people working here.
-Willpower: 18/24-
"Servant. Have you seen Sophie?"
"Ah. I think I saw Miss Sophie headed to the training grounds."
She's hard at work huh. Well of course. A Hero's got to have drive.
[Karma has increased by 50. Karma is now -1600]
Hmm?
Why did my karma increase? I just talked to a random maid. So why is it doing that? Having this unknown stat be out of my control is really disturbing...
----------------------------------------
[Name: Claud Branford
Age: 13
Title: Little Tyrant of Branford
Personality: Foul mouthed (Legendary), Empathy, Entitled, Calculative, Selfish, Sadistic (Super Rare)
Trait: One Armed White Mantis' Will (Unique), Fungi Symbiosis (Inactive)
Class: Inquisitor (Villain)
Skills: Heal Lv2, Mana Mastery (Passive) Lv2, Covert Taunt, Summon
Stats
Strength: 26 +5
Vitality: 15
Dexterity: 26
Intelligence: 36 +2
Luck: 40
Karma: -1600
Willpower: 18/24]
All her stats raised by 1. Decent progress.
She's training by her lonesome here? The knights are ignoring her... Deliberately standing so far away. I guess they won't want to get fired if Sophie got injured and her mother found out.
"Claud!~"
She ran up to me.
"Are you here to train too? Will you be okay with your arm?"
I nod.
I wasn't here to train but sure. I've got bad news to deliver so I ought to entertain her.
"Do you want to... umm... spar?"
Hmm? We've never done that before, have we? It's kind of dangerous. We always opted out of sparring during training because we both disliked pain. As long as we increase our stats, it will be fine.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I think I'm ready now. I want to become stronger too!"
Alright... I nod reluctantly.
"Okay, we'll do it with wooden swords, here. D-don't go easy on me! B-but also don't hit me too hard if you can..."
Understood. I don't like pain either.
Why are all the knights watching... Go back to ignoring us, damn it.
"Here I go, Claud!"
-Villain class trait: Stats lowered by half while fighting the Hero-
We would have equal stats but with her Justice trait, she gains 50% more stats over me. I should try to get rid of some of these evil traits sometime soon. I wonder how I'd achieve that.
The Villain setting a losing precedent against the Hero would be lame.
-Trait: One Armed White Mantis' Will (Unique). Increased Strength and Dexterity by 50% while wielding a weapon in only one hand-
If the Hero hasn't had a class upgrade yet, I might have a slight edge in Strength and Dexterity.
We were about to exchange blows but her arm blurred right before contact.
That's a skill!
Urgh. I barely held on to my weapon.
That's the Swordsman's Deflect skill. Nasty to be on the receiving end of. My fingers are buzzing...
She continue the assault with a blend of stabs and swings. Damn it, she's definitely a more confident fighter than I am... I backed up quickly, parrying some unavoidable hits. No openings to counter through yet... She instantly backs up when I bring up my sword even slightly. This reminds me of the mantis. An aggressive attack style.
Well, a cautious Hero would be boring. We've already got me for that.
She's frowning really hard.
Does she want to hit me that badly?
Is this revenge for pinching her all the time?
Oh. An opening. She lifted her elbow too high while swinging upwards at me. I drop lower in my stance and poke her in the ribs.
Her shocked face is amusing.
"You win..."
She's pouting. Don't be so upset, dear Hero. I just got lucky.
Currently I've fought in more battles than her but she'll close that gap in the blink of an eye. I believe in that.
-Willpower: 17/24-
"Don't be so down on yourself. That was a close one. But we should get you a shield."
"A shield? Why?"
-Willpower: 16/24-
"With a shield, you could do more things right? Like blocking that last strike from me."
"But if you're not going to use one. I don't want to either."
What do you mean, you don't want to? She's activated her whining mode again.
"I want to be the same as Claud. I'll get a one handed trait too. Oh! Sorry for peeking at your status without permission again..."
-Willpower: 15/24-
"It's fine to look at my status. But I don't think it's possible to get a summon that easily, Sophie."
"But we could share! Please share it with me~"
Huh? Share? Does she mean where I found him?
-Willpower: 14/24-
"I mean... I found him in the Ruvere Strait after the Blostmfell bloomed. But could you really find creatures to get along with that easily?"
"No, I meant share the summon itself with me. Please~ I want to have your trait too."
-Willpower: 13/24-
"What? How would I do that?"
This is an entire being, you know. It's not like a game console. I can't just lend him to you.
"I don't know. All the heroes in the fairytales do that. They lend spirits to their faraway friends who are in need."
Fairytales..?
Fairytales! I should read fairytales too. I've only looked at folklore from the historians' perspective. Reading children books will give me better insight as to what this world expects from its people. Thank you for the enlightenment, Sophie.
"Can I at least see him? Please~"
That feels like I'm wasting Willpower... But the way she's pleading, I can't say no without feeling like a jerk.
-Willpower: 12/24-
-Summon: White Mantis-
"Woah..."
'Summoner, what is this meaning of this? Where is the opponent?'
Mantis, can you share your power with this girl?
'Hmm? This little thing? I don't understand why but yes, I could. However you would lose the ability to summon me while I'm contracted to her.'
Really? That would suck.
'My power is about to run out. You need not summon me to the physical realm, think to speak to me.'
Mantis vanished. The knights are looking at us in shock. Heh. Be in awe of us. We have a cool giant white mantis.
"He disappeared... What did he say, Claud?"
-Willpower: 11/24-
"He said yes."
"Wow! That means I can have a one handed trait too!"
Is that the case? Can we both have the trait simultaneously?
'That isn't possible, only the contracted one may possess my powers.'
Hmm. Lets try it for now. Mantis, lend your strength to Sophie for a bit.
'Understood. Please link hands with your partner.'
I grasp Sophie's hands.
This feels like mana exchange in a way. But instead of mana, I'm sending mantis over. I felt his presence slowly leaving, then it completely disappeared.
Sophie's face lit up. I assume it was a success.
"There's a voice in my head!"
I couldn't help chuckling at that odd turn of phrase.
"C-Claud! I got two new traits! And a Summon skill! But what is Fungi Symbiosis?"
-Willpower: 10/24-
"Ah, the infection in my arm is caused by fungi. It can be cured with that skill."
"Your arm is curable! That's great news! I thought you were lying about it to make me feel better!"
Why would I lie about that... Even if I were to lose my arm, it wouldn't be your fault, silly.
"Oh, but if Sir Mantis is here with me, you won't be able to cure the infection... Nngh. I'll return him to you."
She's respectfully referring to him as Sir now..? What are they talking about, I wonder?
'I have returned'.
Welcome back, mantis.
"Let's quickly build your affinity so that your arm can go back to normal. Sir Mantis told me that you could exchange mana for a prolonged period of time to combine Claud and Sir Mantis' stats. The more affinity is built, the more of Sir Mantis' stats and skills are available."
Exchange mana... Alright.
Mantis' calming mana entered my mind again.
Why is nothing happening? My status screen doesn't show anything changing.
'We still require more time before our stats will be affected.'
How much more time exactly?
'It is unknown. Summons with similarities to their contractor often have higher affinity. Which is the reason I chose you.'
So you attacked me on purpose because my right arm was injured?
'...Yes.'
This guy... What about other monsters, can't they do the same?
'Regular monsters may have intelligence however contracting requires a different type of thinking. One that seeks coexistence with humans.'
You wanted to get along with me?
'Yes.'
That's nice to hear.