“The [Avatar]’s main body is inside that attack!” I shouted over the loud wind that the giant spear-like construct was kicking up.

“And what are we supposed to do about it!?” Cherry shouted back, more than a little panicked.

Which was fair, because if the winds generated by the twisting mass of elemental leaves were enough to [dispel] the triplet’s [barrier] alone, just how strong would it be once it tried to slam down to pulverize us into a fine pulpy mist? Even though layered, my protections wouldn’t last, even if I were to double the number of [totems] or more.

And yet, something in the back of my mind told me that scattering our [Party] to increase the chance of more people dodging the attack was a terrible idea.

Just to prove my hunch right, the leafy wind kicked up another notch around us blindingly fast, effectively entrapping us in the eye of the artificial cyclone.

Now, more than ever, I felt like Damocles’ sword was hovering right over my head.

I looked at my [Aurumon] and thought “Just how durable are these guys?”

I took another look at the still multiplicating [familiar] and had another thought:

“I have yet to see what happens when they fuse a second time… or a third!”

This was true, even inside my [World-Within] I stopped them from fusing past the first time, but I was unsure whether this was the time to experiment with them, and rely on something that I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.

The [Mana] of the attack in the sky started congealing, indicating that it would come down on us sooner than we’d like.

“Stack any type of defense in front of it, just buy me some time to do something!” I shouted at everyone, while giving the mental command to the [Aurumons] around me to start fusing with their similes and tagging away the ranged type for the more resilient types inside my inner world.

Naturally, before getting distracted, this time I actually took the time to use [Betterment] on everybody, hoping that for the few minutes it would stack with Undine’s [Buffs] it wouldn’t be able to magically overwhelm anybody.

“What are you doing?” Sheeno asked, but not without having already erected an icy mountain in front of her, leaving her almost gasping from the [Mana exhaustion].

“There’s no time to explain!” I shouted again, keeping my focus on my [familiars], but still sending a [Repair] to everyone that might need it.

“OF course there’s time to-“ Cherry tried to complain, but to give her credit, she had a wall of roots rapidly growing all around us.

“I said there’s no time!” I loudly replied, a bit ticked off that I was getting distracted, and that none of those distractions were thanks for the amazing [Buff] I had given to the whole [Party].

To be fair, in the heat of the moment (dammit Asia, now you’re stuck inside my head once more!) I did not realize how ridiculous it was that I thought that people I had just met would just follow along with my wiles.

But hey, I never proclaimed that I was smart.

Just not stupid.

Fortunately, everybody complied with my unreasonable demand, and just in time too because the very next moment the maelstrom of leaves finally descended with a calamitous roar.

I didn’t know why a mass of leaves would roar when accelerated, but I could deduce that it didn’t mean anything good. Especially since the mismatched [Mana] was going crazy inside that thing.

“Incoming!” A lightly panicked Undine screamed, just moments before the [Leaf Avatar]’s attack slammed against the first line of defenses.

And completely obliterated them.

Look, I didn’t expect much because these already weren’t created by [Skills] or [Spells] meant for direct protection, but holy shit, they just got shredded like tissue paper left outside during a storm.

The first to go was an almost invisible silvery barrier, that almost seemed to slow down the attack, but was ripped apart just after managing to compress the tip of the attack a couple of meters back, making the whole thing appear thicker and stubbier than before, but at least now it shouldn’t have as much penetrative power as before. That thought lasted just enough until it reached the rocky glacier, and promptly smashed right through it, and the roots that were right behind it, which, as a whole, only marginally affected the power behind the attack. Next were some [barriers] made of the Gnomes’ cloudy stuff, which moved to intercept the attack, one behind the other, and they lasted long enough for the spear of leaves to grind them against each other into a clear mist.

Altogether, they managed to buy me a few seconds. Sweet, precious, useful seconds. Maybe not even half a minute in total, even though that estimate already felt generous, but I was so good that it was just barely enough.

As soon as the leaves became visible once more, a golden mecha punched it. The attack faltered, and the mecha took the opportunity to punch it again, pushing it further off its original trajectory.

“Stop!” I shouted at the [leaf vortex], putting as much intent as I could in my voice with [Command], and both I and the [Avatar] staggered backward.

Turns out, that keeping out [Tier 2 Aurumons] was much more expensive than using a horde of little ones; [Tier 3 Aurumons] were instead prohibitively expensive, but I could still squeeze one out by using only that when I desummoned the [turrets] and [trappers] I had around.

Now, the giant mecha punching the attack was definitely my kind of thing, but a [Defender] type would have probably been better.

So, why didn’t I do it? Because the little shits after merging a second time could deviate once again in different ‘subclasses’. I just ended up having only enough of one type of brawler to reach their [Tier 3]. Thankfully it was something akin to an [Armored Brawler], so its defenses were still pretty high, but I had been fearing the entire time that I had fucked up in my planning and had doomed us all.

Now, I slightly exaggerating, since I doubt that attack would kill us, and I and Undine would have been able to heal everybody from the aftermath, but nobody liked pain, and I would have felt heavily guilty about it if I had fucked this up.

The three-meter tall [Aurumon] punched the attacking shell of the [Leaf Avatar] once more, and it finally destabilized enough for me to [Devour] the lingering energies and finally [Dispel] the attack.

The mecha didn’t come out of the exchange unscathed, its hands were a bludgeoned mess, scratched into unrecognizable lumps, but at least it was still standing.

With two quick [Repairs], one for me and one for it, I sent it back to my inner world, where I hoped it would recuperate from the rest of the damage. I healed myself only because that would leave me with enough [Mps] to not collapse again.

Of course, I sent him back only because the others immediately started attacking the core of the [Leaf Avatar] when it was visible, and in an instant Cherry delivered the final blow with her [Light Lances], which were appropriately the fastest ranged attacks our composition had.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Finally done with the persistent asshole, we got a chance to take a breather, and by that, I mean that everybody else wasn’t distracted by anything else and could finally pester me with what the heck I had just done.

“Did you just [summon] a [Tier 3 familiar]!? You’re not even [Tier 2] yourself yet! That shouldn’t be possible!!!” Cherry was obviously the one that started by presenting her bewilderment.

“Darwin… somehow, I’m not even surprised”, Sheeno said while shaking her head, but she still had a somewhat fond smile on her lips.

“That was really impressive! I only wish you didn’t have to push yourself so much just to save us from injury”, Undine really was the perfect angelic [Healer] when on the job, demonstrating her concern over my safety first of all.

“What an interesting creature”, the first brother rubbed his chin in thought.

“Its potential seems immeasurables”, the second one seemed to share the opinion of the first.

“I wonder what those other ones transform into…”, and the third was, as always, the more chill of the trio.

Overall, everyone’s reaction was within my calculations.

“All according to keikaiku!”

“Why is nobody else shocked by what we have just witnessed!?” Cherry was clearly getting frustrated, so I decided to step-

“Remember when I said that you’d get used to the absurd while around him? This is one of the reasons I warned you about”, Sheeno stole my moment by patting the Elf’s shoulder with unexpected camaraderie and understanding.

Cherry seemed ready to fight for some answers, but the more she looked around, the more her eyes met mine, and the more that fight seemed to leave her spirit. Finally, with one last sigh, she just shrugged it off and the roots from her weapon retracted, allowing her to stow the cannon back on her… back.

From there, everyone got in a sort of rhythm where we all tried to create an ‘after-battle routine’, which included collecting spoils, checking on everybody’s [HP], [MP], and [SP]’s levels, and calculating our gains.

Speaking of gains, my [System] had been pinging me for a while, and I could already feel that I had advanced in [Lvl], so opening my [notifications]-

You have reached Lvl 11.

[Proficiency] at 100% has earned you extra [Stats].

You gain:

· +2 Strength

· +2 Dexterity

· +5 Reflex

· +35 Will

· +7 Acuity

· +10 Insight

· +12 Ego

· +11 Serendipity

· +13 Energy

[Primary Stat – Will] has advanced to [Tier 2]: Effect of Stat doubled.

[Insight] has advanced to [Tier 1], and has been assigned as the [Tertiary Stat]: Effectiveness of Stat increased by a fourth across the board.

For being the first [Human] to reach the second Tier, [Mind Over Matter] has been upgraded to [Conscious Domain].

For being the first [Human] to determine its primary, secondary, and tertiary Stats, [Progenitor] has been upgraded to [Prime Progenitor].

Conscious Domain:

Your will is absolute, and reality obeys it.

Allows the expression of decent control over the surrounding layers of reality.

Prime Progenitor:

The spark of creation and progress shines ever brighter inside you.

Makes you much better at being inventive and innovative.

What the actual fuck.

“Isn’t that… way too fucking much!?”

A [Trait] and a [Title] ‘upgraded’, which by itself is new, and my maxed out [Proficiency] just gave me astronomical gains upon leveling. Again, I didn’t understand how that could be normal, but again, when did anything around get to be ‘normal’?

Still, the euphoric feeling of [Levelling Up] this time was strong enough that it almost knocked me off my feet, reminding me of Rubicon’s warning that after [Lvl 10] people could get addicted to getting stronger simply to chase after that feeling of momentary bliss.

At the time I hadn’t understood what he meant, seeing as I did already find leveling pleasurable enough, but still within what I could comfortably ignore. But life liked proving my ignorant ass wrong, and the more crotchety relics right, so I guess that I should have expected both a qualitative and quantitive upgrade to the sensation that came with a [Lvl Up] after [Lvl 10].

“Maybe I should reconsider my conviction that I’m not dumb…”

Once my mind was done observing the situation internally, meaning pushing most of the new stuff for when I had more time to delve deeper into it, I finally started observing outward once more and noticed that everyone was still slightly on edge.

I took the time to [Detect] in-depth our surroundings, to see if there were any new threats that were approaching, but, if anything, those random mobs I had found earlier had fled the scene, probably scared off by the magical fluctuations that were generated during the earlier fight.

“Hey guys, we can relax now. Our fight scared off all other creatures in the vicinity”, I stated, but only Sheeno seemed to trust my words.

“But it could also have attracted stronger ones from outside the range of your perception”, Cherry said while trusting an accusatory finger in my direction.

“I doubt it: My [Detection] goes pretty far”, I responded, maybe a bit too smugly for her liking, since I could already sense her building up an argument in her mind.

Thankfully, I had three little helpers that were apparently used to dealing with her mood swings.

“Our reading also says that almost everything that could move vacated the premises”, said Twad.

“And we have first-hand proof that Dulcet can see through illusions and other types of concealments”, added Twud.

“Honestly, we should think about re-building the perimeter before arguing like this in the open”, grumbled Twid, ever the odd one out.

He was quickly cementing himself as my favorite among the triplets, especially because he seemed to be the only one with some backbone.

Maybe that last bit was mean and uncalled for, but I had yet to see something that hinted otherwise.

The bodies of the [Regal Beeches] were brought out from the [spatial pouches] they had been hastily shoved in when the second fight started, and Sheeno quickly went on dressing the kills, soon after joined by a reluctant and grumbling Elf.

Disappointingly, once cleared of their plumes, the Beeches were red, not green, and my face must have been extremely expressive at that moment because my mate sent me a knowing look with a snort; that confused poor Cherry, who seemed fully concentrated on her part of the job and hadn’t noticed a thing, or had been purposely avoiding looking in my general direction.

“Maybe I should try and fix the situation a little… again.”

I approached the [Tree Elf] and, even though I loathe to admit it, I didn’t have to crouch down to get on her level even when she was kneeling on the ground.

Elves were spindly and tall just like in our mythology, even though Cherry herself was among the short end of the stick from what I have seen of her [Race].

“Wanna talk?” I channeled my inner Sheeno, trying to be casual about it.

“About what?” Her response was curt, but at least not outright hostile.

“Whatever you want, as long as it’s something I could reasonably be expected to answer to…” I said, realizing that maybe I should have thought this through a bit more before going ahead with the ‘plan’, but my heightened [Stats] came to my rescue without me noticing, and I was still able to blab a coherent response.

“You know what I really want to ask”, she got through clenched teeth and seemed to retire into her work.

This was not working, but I wouldn’t be so easily deterred.

“Then I propose an exchange”, I decided to go forth with some honesty, damned the consequences.

She finally looked at me, with a raised eyebrow.

“For everything, I tell you about me, you’ll tell me something that you consider of equal value about yourself”, I explained, and the look on her face told me that she was taking the offer into serious consideration.

“Maybe this is getting somewhere.”