“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and fuse them.”

Alvin hurried Felix while staring in anticipation. Not wanting to hear his nagging voice, Felix fused the statue and the sword. The statue's body and sword were thrown into a white vortex.

The vortex was like a black hole, consuming everything that was thrown into it. The body of the statue and the sword were slowly compressed in the vortex. No matter how often he has seen the scene, Felix couldn’t help but still be fascinated with it.

The magic will always stay in his heart.

As the vortex continued to spin slowly, a new image was gradually forming. Slowly the vortex started to spew out a figure. The figure’s body was slowly being formed by the vortex. It started from the feet and it ended at the neck.

But this statue looked vastly different from the original one. Instead of being bare feet it actually wore sandals. Not only that, but it had a finely carved shoulder pad of a tiger’s head on its right shoulder. Its robes seemed to be even more majestic with medals decorating the attire. While in its hands was a cross sword that radiated divine beauty.

The statue simply looked sacred and solemn, befitting the image of a warrior of God.

‘How do you feel?'

‘I feel immense strength, master, strength that I can barely control.’

‘That means the fusion was successful, congratulations uhh… do you have a name?’

‘No, but I would be honored for you to give me one.’

‘Ok, then let's call you Michael.’

‘Michael will always be indebted to master.’

It wasn’t just Felix who was staring at Michael, Alvin was also gazing at it with fanatical eyes. His originally brown and sunken eyes were now shining a blue neon light. This was Alvin’s talent, analysis: he could gather information on any monster just by simply looking at it, the information he could gather depended on the strength of the monster, and the willingness to his probing.

“Felix, I can proudly say, we’re one step closer to creating the strongest monster.”

Yes, this was Alvin’s goal. To create the strongest monster. Originally it was a project that he thought would never be possible to complete in his lifetime. Until one day, Felix’s grandfather introduced Felix to him. From then on, his goal of creating the strongest monster was back on track.

“Who is this we? That’s not my goal.”

Felix harshly rebuked, although he appreciated Alvin. He never had this so-called dream of creating the strongest monster. He simply just wanted to have enough strength to travel the Fragmented World and live a carefree life.

Ignoring Felix’s harsh words. Alvin continued.

“This new monster of yours is simply perfect. Its body is vastly more stable compared to the other fusions we have done in the past. We could probably even fuse another monster into it, we just need to find the right one.”

Nodding in agreement with Alvin, Felix asked.

“Do you have any suitable candidates?”

“Nope, but I’ll look at the bestiary, to see if I can find anything that would be similar or compatible to it. Also since it's a new species, you have the right to name it. What do you want it to be called?”

Scratching his chin, Felix pondered. He had many names he could think of right now. But, he didn’t want to disgrace Michael with a bad name for his species. So after much brainstorming, he finally came up with one that he was satisfied with.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Let's just call it ‘Saint’s Statue.’”

“‘Saint’s Statue,’ what a fitting name.” Alvin clicked his tongue in agreement.

“Alright let's go to the testing venue, we still have to gather more data about it.”

With that being said, Alvin dragged Felix and the now accompanying statue to another area. It wasn’t until later that evening that Felix went back home. He now had a good grasp of the skills of Michael and couldn’t help but be excited.

‘If Michael faced the fusion of ten ants, it would simply be a piece of cake for him to handle it now. Haa, this makes my life easier.’

Opening the door to his house, he got an ant to heat a meal while he took a shower. His house was always in a clean and pristine condition. Although he lived a particularly quiet and anonymous lifestyle, that didn’t mean there weren’t people who were looking out for him. Knowing his grandfather, he couldn’t help but wonder how many teams were responsible for his protection at all times, not only that but they seemed to like clean his house. Allowing Felix to live a precarious life.

Walking out of the restroom, Felix couldn’t help but notice the new tattoo on his arm. It was a cross-sword with three pairs of wings behind it. He could only sigh. Although he didn’t mind having tattoos, he couldn’t help but envision a scene of his body being filled with nothing but tattoos.

Getting that disgusting thought in his head, Felix firmly clenched his right hand. A grey, crackled, and hard structure formed on his hand as it traveled to his elbow. This was the feedback from Michael. It allowed him to harden stones onto some parts of his body, giving him a higher defense.

Clicking his tongue. Felix couldn’t help but be amazed.

This was possibly the strongest feedback he had received. Although Mu allowed him to see the inside of his body, it's not like it provided him protection or strength. But with this, he had another layer of protection. He could also clobber people he didn’t like, for example, Alvin.

Waiting for his hair to dry out, Felix indulged himself in his food. Today’s meal was pasta and meatballs. The meatballs tasted extremely delicious, and the tomato sauce added much-needed flavor to the pasta.

While he was eating his meal, Felix was also watching TV. On the screen was the same news reporter in the morning.

“The identity of the examinee from the Eastern Continent has been revealed. It is a descendant of the patriarch of the Hayakawa clan. Katsuro, a genius from the Eastern Continent has come to challenge us. Countless information has been spreading about him, but he seems to use a deadly combination of two strong monsters. They’re the Ghost General and Hate-Filled Oni Mask, they usually have no synergy, but his talent seems to allow those two monsters to reach a new height of strength together.”

Hearing this news, Felix’s eyebrows were scrunched up as he frowned.

‘Hopefully, I won’t see him in the exam. The area that we are sent to is huge, and everyone is sent to a random location. What are the chances I meet him?’

Making peace with this information, Felix washed his hands as he continued watching the news. His life was very boring. It usually consisted of eating, watching TV, and occasionally going outside to buy food for Mu.

Monsters did not need to eat; as long as they were in the pocket space. But, if you wanted them to grow strong it was best to buy them expensive food that could feed them. He usually took Mu out to eat expensive meat. He did not know what those meat were, but they were pretty expensive and they advertised growth for monsters. Not only that, but he needed to find out if there was something Michael could eat. Michael didn’t have a head or a mouth, but surely there was something that could feed Michael.

Closing the TV, Felix had already learned of the important figures that would be attending the exam. Some girl from an influential family, a genius who was born in a poor family but rose to the top, and now Katsuro. His information didn’t just directly come from watching television. Most of the news came through his email from burner accounts. He already knew who was behind it, the old man, although he looked indifferent to most of his business, still cared a lot about him.

Brushing his teeth, Felix prepared himself for rest. The exam was on the 9th of December, three days from now. He only had two more days to make any last-minute preparations. Not only that but the exam would be broadcast throughout the nation.

This exam was a pretty big one. It could be considered an advertisement of the strongest youths for the nations. As it only allowed those who were 18 to 20 years old to participate. Not only that but it had strict requirements.

Some smaller regional exams still received some attention, but this was the only nationwide exam. As it held great importance, it would naturally be attended by many important personalities. And most importantly recruiters.

Recruiters wanted to sign contracts with these young talents. Not all recruiters were the same, some of them wanted to make them internet personalities, others wanted to employ them, and then there was the case of tutelage.

There were a lot of recruiters and it just depended on what the young talents wanted to do. Felix didn’t want any of it, but at this point, he didn’t have a choice because there was an iron fist that ruled him.

Life continued for Felix. Until the dreaded time had arrived. The day of the exam was here!