Sitting across from Pikachu, who was playing on a handheld console, I was lost in thought.
I had ten months before enrolling at Pearl University, and I needed to optimize my development to gain as much strength as possible during this timeframe.
The only thing I strictly forbade myself from doing was absorbing the cultivation of other mages for a quick boost. I remembered from both the canon and my past life what became of that Forbidden Curse mage from the Mu clan who used that method to advance. Spoiler alert: he could only cast his Curse spells with the aid of crutches like elemental diamonds.
In fact, many Forbidden Curse mages couldn't cast their ultimate magic on their own, but that old man's control was exceptionally abysmal, even compared to them. He was easily one of the weakest at his rank.
That was why he was «raising» the Ice Bow through mages like Mu Ningxue, desperately searching for alternative ways to attack. In short, that wasn't an option for me. Though, if I needed to quickly boost the power of my future minions, it would do in a pinch.
In a month, my body should fully regain its ability to break through quickly using cultivation at magic sacred sources.
Instead of breaking through to the Intermediate level in two elements, I planned to reach the third tier in my Summoning element by then and break through to the Intermediate level in that element alone, compensating for my lack of preparation with raw magical energy and time spent sitting at the source.
That way, I would have more time to find a contract beast and raise its power to the Commander level. I would wring every resource meant for the other schools out of Dean Xiao and agree to trade them only for cultivation time in the Three-Step Pagoda. I planned to squeeze at least a month out of him, and we'd see from there.
Having decided which element to break through in next month, I looked at Pikachu. Right now, he was at the lower Servant level, but he was rapidly gaining strength by absorbing a massive amount of Lightning-element resources.
At this rate, he would definitely break through to the Commander level before I enrolled, but that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to raise him to the peak of the Commander level by that time, and standard methods wouldn't cut it. So, I needed to test an idea I'd had for a long time.
Recalling Pikachu, I shifted to the parallel world to visit my old acquaintances in the Lei clan. Tuning into our bond, I tried to summon Pikachu, and… expectedly, I failed. I couldn't reach him from the parallel world. Let's try another way.
Shifting back to my world, I summoned Pikachu and, holding him in my arms, tried to slip into the parallel world. When I found myself outside the Lei clan estate, I looked at my hands-empty. Another failure.
Damn, contract beasts wouldn't be such a pain, since they resided in contract spaces bound to the mage's soul and were effectively always with them. Dimensional summonings didn't have that perk.
Returning to my world once more, I tried the last option I had come up with.
«Pikachu, let's try that fusion I told you about,» I said to the blue rat.
«Pika!» Giving me a quick salute with his paw, Pikachu dived into my body.
The moment he entered me, I felt I could freely control the lightning energy coursing through my body. Under Pikachu's control, it caused me no harm whatsoever.
Concentrating, I slipped into the parallel world to the Lei clan once more. As soon as we arrived on the other side, Pikachu leaped out of my body and began looking around with curiosity. It worked.
Now came the second phase of my plan. Trapping all the mages of the Lei clan using the old routine, I began the experiment. Ripping out the cultivation of a first-tier Primary Lightning mage, I didn't fuse it with myself, but offered it to Pikachu as a snack instead.
What prompted this idea was that cultivation energy was extremely gentle. Even if I transferred an Advanced mage's cultivation to an ordinary human, they wouldn't explode; they would smoothly merge with it. They would just have an atrocious time trying to control the acquired power.
Pikachu, on the other hand, digested the Lightning elemental energy he absorbed from resources to make it his own. But that energy was far from gentle-it was downright aggressive. That was why the absorption process dragged on for so long.
I was trying to provide him with pre-softened Lightning magic energy, hoping it would increase his rate of development.
«Pika-nom!» Just as I thought, Pikachu happily gobbled up the treat.
Within a couple of minutes, his reserve grew slightly, bringing him closer to transitioning to the mid-Servant level.
Simply excellent. I fed him the cultivation of five more Primary mages, after which Pikachu finally achieved a breakthrough and flopped onto the floor with a bloated belly.
«Pika-a…» It seemed this was his current saturation limit. Still, it was much faster than if he were absorbing regular Lightning resources. Within a month, I reckoned I could raise him to the peak of the Servant level.
After distributing the remaining mages' cultivation to the Lei clan's slaves, I merged with Pikachu and returned to my world.
I would spend the entire next month cultivating my Summoning element and strengthening my stars with souls in parallel worlds. The mountain where I had absorbed the Ice Soul Seed was a perfect spot.
A month later. Parallel world. Bo City.
I sat by the Underground Holy Spring of Bo City, preparing to break through to the Intermediate level in my Summoning element. Timing-wise, I arrived exactly a week before the next candidate was supposed to enter-a full year before Mo Fan was scheduled to come here.
After breaking through, I would need to take it with me; I knew the mechanism now. Without the Underground Holy Spring, the members of the Black Vatican might not even attack the city, so I wasnt stealing-I was doing a good deed.
Concentrating, I began the breakthrough. The stars of my Summoning stardust had been empowered with souls, so I had no doubt of my success.
Activating «Time Acceleration 5x» from the fourth tier of my Primary Time element, I began vacuuming in the magical energy.
After one real day and five subjective days, I finally broke through. Gathering the depleted Holy Spring, I returned to my world.
Now, I needed to spend time mastering the new Summoning stars and begin searching for a contract beast. Hmm, who should I choose?
I had considered traveling back hundreds of thousands of years in a parallel world to try making a young Kunlun Emperor my contract beast, but I quickly dismissed the idea.
Who knew what was going on in those ancient times or what the environment was like? I didn't even know how old that Emperor actually was. Maybe a million years? And who was I going to ask for the exact date back then-the wild beasts?
So, this required careful thought. I needed a creature with the potential to become an Emperor-preferably a Medium Emperor. Even with my ambitious nature, a High Emperor was a bit too much of a stretch for now.
«Pika-pika-chu!» Pikachu piped up, burning with enthusiasm. After my breakthrough to the Intermediate level in Summoning, he was now capable of breaking through to the Commander level.
Merging with him, we jumped to the parallel world to visit our practically familiar friends, the Lei clan.
After devouring the cultivation of all twenty clan members, including several Intermediate mages, Pikachu finally showed signs of an impending breakthrough. I merged with him and brought us back.
An hour later, the cocoon of lightning surrounding Pikachu dissipated, finally revealing the true color of his fur to the world-yellow.
«Pika-chu!» Raising his paws to the sky in joy, the now-yellow rat celebrated. I wondered if anyone would accuse me of discrimination against blue rats.
«Get used to your increased power, Pikachu. Once I get you a new playmate, we'll start practicing body refinement techniques,» I said, patting his head. He closed his eyes contentedly and rubbed his head against my hand.
Enjoying the story and can't wait for the next update? You can read several chapters ahead right now on my P@treon! 💙
[email protected]/VividDreamscape