"Vali, if one day you become the strongest in the world and lose your opponents, how would you feel?"
"Boring, might as well just die."
"I'm not as extreme as you, but I also think that kind of life is too boring."
Tatsuma raised his finger and pointed at the projection above his head. "Since beings from other worlds can descend upon this world, we can also go to other worlds in return."
"Now you should understand why I want to make a move on the Death Metropolis, right?"
"That's perfectly clear."
Vali's lips curved upwards, his expression becoming excited.
"Tell me, what should I do next?"
"Take this and go find the Death Metropolis."
Tatsuma took out a crystal ball.
This was the information about the Death Metropolis that he had compiled after searching Ladli's memory just now.
Aside from the general location of the Death Metropolis within the dimensional rift, it also recorded the method to enter the Death Metropolis.
"You will lead Arthur and Bikou to form a special team and find the seventeen Death Metropolises located between the Human World and the Underworld."
"For each Death Metropolis found, each of you will receive 500 contribution points. Are there any other questions?"
Arthur pushed up his glasses and asked, "What are contribution points used for?"
Tatsuma said, "You can exchange them for various rewards within Akatsuki. Awakening slots are also within the scope of exchange."
Vali asked, "What is awakening?"
As early as before, when they gathered at Akatsuki, he had learned about awakening from Ryo. But the conversation was interrupted after that, and he still didn't know what this awakening was.
Tatsuma said, "Awakening is about awakening the potential within you to make you stronger. Le Fay has already experienced this, so you can ask her if you don't understand."
Kuroka looked at the young girl beside her with some surprise. "Huh? Le Fay, you know the Red Dragon Emperor?"
Le Fay nodded. "Before, for some reasons, I made a deal with Tatsuma and then obtained an awakening."
Kuroka asked, "How was the effect?"
Le Fay replied, "It was amazing. I feel like a qualitative change occurred from the inside out, and I suddenly became much stronger."
Kuroka: ...
It sounds quite impressive. I'm a bit tempted.
However, she didn't have any contribution points, which was a big problem.
Staring at Tatsuma thoughtfully for a moment, Kuroka suddenly had a good idea.
"Red Dragon Emperor, what do you think of me?"
"You?"
Tatsuma stared at Kuroka, sizing her up, then reached out and pointed at Bikou at his feet.
"You're about the same level as this monkey. I can take you down in three moves."
"???"
"I wasn't asking about strength meow!"
Kuroka walked up to Tatsuma with a cat-like stride, puffing out her chest and showcasing her assets. "Look, aren't I very beautiful?"
"Stop acting coy, just say what you want."
"Alright, I want to make a deal with you."
"I'll have a child for you, and in exchange, you help me awaken for free. How about that?"
Kuroka stated the good idea she had thought of.
In response, Tatsuma raised a middle finger.
"Scram."
"Huh? Why!" Kuroka was instantly stunned.
Tatsuma sneered, "You dare ask why? Do you think I don't know the ways of you Nekomata?"
"Not only do you want to freeload an awakening opportunity, but you also want to freeload my genes for free. You want to have your cake and eat it too, huh?"
"Uh... this..."
Kuroka's expression became awkward.
This script was a bit different from what she had expected. It got stuck right at the first step.
"Can't we really discuss it meow? If not, I can lower my requirements a bit. How about you give me a 50% discount?"
"No 50% discount, but a broken bone is possible."
"..."
Damn it! This guy is completely unyielding!
After staring at Tatsuma for a few seconds, Kuroka's cat ears on top of her head drooped softly, and she chose to back down.
No choice, her strength was inferior.
If she tried to force a deal, she would have to lie on the ground and duo queue with Bikou the next second.
"Alright, let's continue with the topic from before."
Tatsuma's gaze shifted to Vali and Arthur beside him.
"I've recently decided to launch a loan program, specifically for potential stocks like you who have strength."
"Loan 1000 contribution points, you can undergo the most basic primary awakening, with an annual interest rate of 10%."
"Loan 2000 contribution points, you can undergo a slightly stronger intermediate awakening, with an annual interest rate of 16%."
"Loan 4000 contribution points, you can undergo advanced awakening and awaken a new ability, with an annual interest rate of 24%."
"Loan 10000 contribution points, you can choose abilities in areas like magic, melee combat, physique, etc, obtaining a visible improvement, with an annual interest rate of 36%."
"You two, are you interested in giving it a try?"
Vali: ...
Arthur: ...
Vali and Arthur did not reply immediately.
After exchanging glances, the more rational Arthur took a step forward and asked, "If the contribution points are not repaid within the specified time, what will be the consequences?"
Tatsuma casually made up a reason. "Serving as test subjects to help test some new research, the specific content will be decided based on the situation."
In fact, the consequences didn't matter. He was mainly interested in the growth potential of Vali and Arthur, wanting to earn a share.
Especially Vali, who had the astonishingly effective gold trait 'Fated Enemy' after meeting the conditions.
As for whether Vali and Arthur would accept his loan service...
Tatsuma tilted his head to look at Le Fay not far away, winked at her, and gave a signal.
Seeing this, Le Fay visibly wavered. However, after hesitating for a moment, she still made up her mind to walk beside Arthur and said in a low voice, "Brother, I think you can borrow 1000 points first and try the most basic primary awakening. 1000 contribution points isn't much. If I do tasks with you, we can earn enough quickly."
Arthur: ...
Sister, I'm not blind.
Arthur's emotions instantly became complicated. But as a siscon, he naturally couldn't refuse his sister's kind suggestion.
"Give me a primary awakening package."
"Alright, coming right up."
Tatsuma opened the trait inventory, took out a white trait, and slapped it onto Arthur.
[Trait granted successfully. Click to view target's panel.]
[Arthur Pendragon]
[Race: Human]
[Strength: Level 5]
[Trait: Sword Enthusiast (White), Sword Master (Purple), Arthur Pendragon Bloodline (Purple), Holy King's Sword (Red), Knight's Heart (Red)]
[Sword Master (Purple): Swordsmanship Talent +400, slightly increases power when fighting with a sword.]
[Knight's Heart (Red): Humility, Honor, Valor, Sacrifice, Compassion, Honesty, Spirit, Justice. For each knightly virtue met, Training effect +100%, stamina recovery speed +100%, magic power recovery speed +100%.]
Two purple, two red.
Aside from the Arthur Pendragon Bloodline, which Le Fay also had, and the Holy King's Sword, which Tatsuma had obtained, the other two traits on Arthur were also exceptionally effective.
Especially Knight's Heart. If the conditions could be met to fully unlock it, the overall boost it provided would even rival a gold trait.
Closing the status panel, Tatsuma looked at Arthur, whose aura had greatly increased. "How does it feel? Do you think it was worth it?"
"It was indeed worth it."
Retracting the aura from his body back inside, Arthur nodded and agreed.
After this wave of enhancement, his total magic power increased by four to five times.
Furthermore, Arthur could clearly feel that the connection between himself and Caliburn had deepened significantly.
Raising his hand and pressing it on Caliburn, bits and pieces of his past training appeared in his mind. Vaguely, Arthur gained a new understanding of his swordsmanship and found a way to get stronger.
"Tatsuma, I want to awaken too."
Seeing Arthur's changes were so obvious, Vali, who was still watching from the side, couldn't sit still anymore.
"Give me one... hmm, the highest level awakening. The one worth 10000 contribution points."
"No problem."
A smile appeared on Tatsuma's face.
Didn't they just take the bait?
Winking at the gold-medal salesperson Le Fay, Tatsuma looked at Vali.
"The highest level awakening package can awaken a new ability. Do you have any requirements for the new ability?"
"Just something that can make me stronger."
"Okay, no problem."
Tatsuma opened the trait inventory to check, and decided to give Vali a psychic energy trait.
As a versatile ability among superpowers, psychic energy possesses extremely high plasticity. As long as it is developed properly, it can derive dozens or even hundreds of different uses, satisfying Vali's needs.
[Trait granted successfully. Click to view target's panel.]
The system's prompt sounded, and at the same time, the aura on Vali's body began to swell wildly.
Compared to Arthur, the changes on Vali were even more obvious. Along with the growth of his aura, the demonic power leaking from his body even distorted the air.
[Vali Lucifer]
[Race: Human / Devil / Dragon]
[Strength: Level 5]
[Traits: Psychic energy (Blue), Exceptional Comprehension (Purple), Devil's Radiance (Red), Satan Bloodline (Red), Fated Enemy (Gold), Divine Dividing (Gold)]
[Devil's Radiance (Red): A characteristic of the first Lucifer, it can greatly increase the total amount, quality, and the precision of demonic power control.]
[Divine Dividing (Gold): Longinus that sealed Albion's power, possessing four abilities: Divide, Absorb, Reflect, and Reduce.]
A very luxurious panel with two Gold, two Red, and one Purple trait.
Among the people Tatsuma had seen, Vali's traits could be said to be second only to Ichigo, ranking second.