After a round of roughhousing, the two finally calmed down. Raize lowered his head and looked at his pink-ball body with some helplessness. After pulling Sei back to his room, he asked her to help set up a barrier around his home.
After all, Sei had said earlier that she sensed energy in his house, which rang alarm bells for him. If other unfamiliar beings sensed what was going on in his home, that would be bad.
So he hoped Sei could help him out, and he also planned to use his brand-new abilities to do something.
That was to use Kirby's inhale-and-copy power to practice himself. Coincidentally, his inventory already contained some absorbable energy items.
After learning that Raize wanted to train without being discovered, Sei didn't hesitate at all. She immediately set up a top-tier anti-detection barrier around his house and even used her own power to open a small pocket dimension for him.
After bringing Raize into this pocket dimension—almost indistinguishable from reality—Sei couldn't help but marvel at his power.
"How much strength do you actually have left?"
Held in Sei's arms, Raize looked at the mirror hanging on his room wall. The reflection didn't show their faces, but instead displayed the scenery of a different space. He couldn't help but sigh at Sei's power.
Creating a pocket dimension just like that…
However, seeing that Sei's expression showed no signs of strain, Raize still took out a large amount of Sunlight from his inventory and handed it to her.
This was both to thank her for what she had done and to replenish her consumption.
"My physical body has long since been destroyed. Right now, I'm only much stronger than those two Heavenly Dragons—that's all. I'm far from my peak."
Sei said this casually while holding pink-ball Raize. She had created the Heaven herself, so a small pocket dimension like this was no challenge for her.
But when she saw the Sunlight Raize handed her, she looked surprised. She toyed with it briefly before absorbing it directly into her body. Feeling that extremely pure energy infused with vitality, she grew curious about where Raize had obtained such a thing.
It could restore energy and heal injuries, and its effect was only slightly weaker than the Phoenix Tears within devilkind.
"Hm? Such pure solar energy. Where did you get this?"
"You'll find out later. Let go of me first—I'm going to start training."
After breaking free from Sei's soft, fragrant embrace, Raize waved his tiny pink arms and tossed a large amount of Sunlight toward her.
Although he had already cleared Plants vs. Zombies, he had obtained plenty of Sunflower seeds, all planted in his side-game farm.
As long as he kept growing them properly, he would never lack this kind of energy. After all, it was one of his training resources.
Sei looked down at the Sunlight piling up to her waist, feeling the comforting aura it emitted. Watching Raize hopping away, her eyes narrowed contentedly.
This energy caused no conflict when absorbed and was extremely compatible with her.
"Mm, this spot will do…"
After choosing a location some distance away from Sei, Raize took seven gemstones out of his inventory. Each radiated a different crystalline color: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, aqua blue, and white.
The moment these seven gems appeared, Sei's eyes widened.
Each gem contained immense power she couldn't ignore. She hadn't expected Raize to suddenly pull out something like this.
These seven gemstones were the reward he obtained for clearing Sonic—the Chaos Emeralds.
They were the legendary seven gems of the Sonic series, originally guarded by Knuckles the Echidna before being scattered.
According to the setting, they possessed infinite power and were said to control the chaos of the universe. Anyone who collected them and mastered their use could wield that energy.
Shadow—the character who was both ally and enemy to Sonic, resembling a black version of him—could use Chaos Energy to travel through time and space, even moving to other locations in an instant.
He could also freeze time to alter certain structures of reality, theoretically reaching the level of rewriting reality itself.
Additionally, using Chaos power with two Chaos Emeralds could generate wormholes, allowing travel to the past and future.
They sounded incredibly powerful. When Raize first obtained these seven gems, he thought his luck had exploded. But the Chaos Emeralds manifested before him didn't reach that level.
Although the setting claimed infinite power, as the system explained, they only possessed extremely vast energy here.
They were similar to Marvel's Infinity Stones—powerful, but with limitations. After all, you couldn't just run rampant in another world.
The Chaos Emeralds originated in the Sonic universe and could continuously absorb energy from unknown or higher dimensions, which was why their energy was effectively infinite.
In their own world, they were like being at home—rewriting reality or creating wormholes was easy.
But once you entered another world, did you really think you could act however you pleased?
After understanding these limitations, Raize felt a moment of disappointment before snapping back. When he first got the Chaos Emeralds, he had honestly wanted to wipe out all ghouls in the world immediately.
Not being able to do that was naturally disappointing.
Still, the massive energy of the Chaos Emeralds could be put to use. Previously, any single emerald contained too much power to control, so the cautious Raize had shelved them for the time being.
Now that he had become Kirby, he set his sights on the Chaos Emeralds in his inventory. Using them to practice and grow stronger—how could that not be perfect?
Under Sei's twitching gaze, pink-ball Raize tossed a Chaos Emerald—packed with immense energy—straight into his mouth.
Could something with such enormous energy really be eaten casually? Sei didn't stop him immediately, but she prepared herself to intervene.
If Raize lost control of that energy, she would rush to help her contractor.
Kirby-form Raize's stomach was like a black hole—anything swallowed could never escape.
Raize had expected the Chaos Emeralds' power to go berserk, but he had completely overthought it. Kirby's inhale ability was truly broken.
Calling him a kid-version Majin Buu wasn't an exaggeration. The seven Chaos Emeralds entered his body without overwhelming him at all. Instead, he simply felt the energy inside him begin to sublimate.
Buzz!!
Kirby Raize underwent changes both externally and internally. Brilliant golden light suddenly burst forth, dyeing his spherical body.
"Wah~"
Raize let out a comfortable sound—it even sounded pretty cute. His pink spherical body directly turned noble gold under the golden energy.
The energy within him underwent a direct leap in quality.
[ Form change complete: Golden Kirby obtained. ]
His body greedily absorbed the massive Chaos Emerald energy, growing internally. Every cell was frantically absorbing this power and evolving.
According to the setting, Kirby was an undeveloped Star Warrior baby, appearing innocent and childlike, fond of joy and naps.
Although his spherical form hadn't changed, his inner self was maturing.
What surprised Raize, however, was that the Chaos Emeralds' energy no longer seemed sufficient. That pleasant sensation was slowly fading.
That wouldn't do—he wasn't done enjoying it yet!
Crash!
Raize took out the four thousand Popstar Crystal Shards he had obtained earlier.
Golden five-pointed star-shaped crystals piled up into a small hill before him, each containing pure Star energy.
Inhale—!
Golden Kirby Raize took a deep breath, then opened his mouth wide. A terrifying suction force erupted, forming a massive vortex that engulfed all the golden stars.
He swallowed all the Pop Star energy crystals in one go.
Bathed in golden light, Raize's body began to change. The spherical glow transformed into a humanoid shape in Sei's view.
Then the brilliant golden light converged inward, fully entering the humanoid body.
Once the light dimmed enough to see clearly, a coldly handsome youth with golden hair and golden eyes appeared.
"I'm back to human form—and it feels like I can freely switch between Kirby form and human form now."
Golden-haired, golden-eyed Raize looked down at his hands as countless strands of pure energy lightning burst forth.
He ran a hand through his golden bangs, and with a thought, his body flashed and turned into golden Kirby again—then easily reverted.
『Name』: Raize Yotsuki
『Race』: Human
『Strength』: 170 (physical power) +50
『Constitution』: 180 (vitality, defense, endurance, resistance to abnormalities) +50
『Agility』: 185 (movement speed, attack speed) +50
『Spirit』: 400 (mental activity, willpower, neural reaction speed, perception) +50
『Energy』: 400 Chaos Energy (Positive-aligned energy infused through self-training and external factors. Enhances physical attributes and is lethally effective against dark and corrupt entities.)
『Techniques』: Eightfold Thunder Annihilation, Eightfold Thunder Cataclysm
『Abilities』: Inhale Copy, Primordial Sacred Radiance, All-Rounder, Weapon Mastery, Chaos Acceleration: Ultra-High-Speed Movement, Lightning Manipulation, Frost Manipulation, Flame Control
His physical attributes had clearly ascended, and he could feel his internal greatly enhancing his speed and attack power.
For example—his acceleration ability.
Whoosh!!
In that instant, as Raize started running, everything around him seemed to slow down dramatically, as if time itself had stopped.
The feeling was exhilarating—just like Clock Up from Kamen Rider Kabuto. He hadn't expected his energy to reach that level.
Boom!!
Raize casually condensed several energy blasts and fired them off, producing terrifying explosions.
The energy within his body still needed time to adapt and be developed by himself. The newly acquired power had to be properly controlled, and perhaps in the future, as he continued to develop it, it would become even stronger.
"Mm, it seems absorbing that energy caused quite a noticeable change in you. For a human without a sacred gear or special bloodlines, your current strength is truly excellent."
Sei quietly appeared beside the now-stationary Raize, carefully examining his golden hair and golden eyes as she gave her evaluation.
Indeed, Raize had neither a special bloodline nor any sacred gear. To rise from nothing to this level was genuinely impressive.
She was not exaggerating—this was simply the truth.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I still think it's not strong enough. When facing those envoys wielding the top-tier Longinus you created, as well as beings of special races, this level of strength doesn't really put me at ease."
Raize restrained the energy within his body. The golden color faded from his hair and eyes, returning him to his original black hair and blue eyes.
He was not weak now, but he knew how terrifying the truly powerful figures of the current world were. This level of strength was nothing to be proud of, nor did it give him peace of mind.
Just considering the so-called Biblical loli God beside him—who wasn't even at her peak and was only slightly stronger than the Two Heavenly Dragons—even she could kill Raize without much effort.
"Well~ take it step by step. With my help and your own uniqueness, you'll become strong very quickly!"
Sei smiled brightly. Raize subconsciously glanced at her smile. With a casual wave of her hand, the two figures vanished from the pocket dimension and reappeared directly inside Raize's room in the real world.
She absolutely acknowledged Raize's tremendous potential. The uniqueness he had shown proved she hadn't misjudged him. With guidance from a Biblical God like herself, becoming strong was entirely feasible.
However, the strength she sought deep in her heart was power that surpassed the very limits of this world's peak. And she believed the boy before her could achieve it.
"Aren't you curious why I suddenly underwent that kind of change?"
Looking at Sei—so sincere, genuine, and clearly thinking of his well-being—Raize couldn't understand why such a noble Biblical God valued him so highly, and couldn't help but ask.
From the moment they met until now, their relationship had progressed at remarkable speed. This beautiful, dreamlike girl seemed unusually close to Raize.
"If you want to tell me, I'm all ears. Compared to rudely prying into your secrets, I'd rather have you speak to me honestly."
Sei smiled indifferently. Everyone had a few secrets—she herself had things she hadn't told Raize.
In her eyes, Raize was currently weak yet mysterious. But as the Biblical God who loved all living beings and cared for the future of the world, her heart was not so narrow-minded.
One day, she believed that the Raize she valued would speak to her honestly.
"Bzz~ My stupid oniichan is getting a call!!"
Raize looked at Sei's calm, smiling face with a complicated expression. Receiving goodwill unilaterally also troubled him somewhat. But suddenly, the phone on the computer desk rang, using the voice of his deceased sister as the ringtone.
The ringtone broke the atmosphere between them. He silently picked up the phone and answered it.
"Oh, alright, Ms. Hiiragi. I'll be there right away!"
Two novels Raize had submitted were already being contacted by editors. Now it was time to discuss the contract, requiring him to meet the editor in person.
He looked toward Sei, about to ask her to stay home for a while, but she directly transformed into a stream of light particles and merged into Raize's body.
"As my contractor, wherever you go, I go as well…"
"…Alright."
Raize sighed helplessly and accepted it. After tidying himself up, he headed out.