Chapter 14: To Become Stronger

"No, I can't."

EMIYA was taken aback by the flat refusal of Beloukas.

"What do you mean you can't?" he pressed. "This is a voluntary application of the slave crest on a person under me. The other day you already applied the slave crest on Raphtalia without any problem, didn't you?"

"Yes," the slave trader nodded. "However, I could only do that because that girl is a demi-human. With you and your companions, it's a completely different story. Your companion is a pure human, and it is a criminal offense to put a slave crest on a human in this country, even if you're a Cardinal Hero. If anything, that makes things even worse if you try to do that."

EMIYA glanced around. "Maybe you can help us with a little… encouragement?" He sneakily placed a gold coin on the counter, only enough for the slave trader to see, but surprisingly, the man pushed his hand away.

"No, sir," he answered with a headshake. His voice lowered to a whisper, and he glanced around nervously. "You know that every single action of people in this city is monitored by the Shadows of the Queen, don't you? Her Majesty has been lenient with my business until now because I haven't touched any human slaves yet, but if things like this start emerging, I don't know if I could even keep my life anymore, sir."

If there's anything EMIYA should do right now but wouldn't, it would be rolling his eyes. He knew that human slavery was illegal here, but a slave trader being so adamant at abiding the law? That was new.

Still, something in Beloukas' words attracted his attention. "Wait, what do you mean 'the Queen'? I thought the King is the ruler of this land?"

Beloukas blinked in surprise. "What? You mean no one told you about this, sir? The King is not even the leader of this country in name. Melromarc is a matriarchal country; the true authority belongs to Her Majesty the Queen. Had she not been away a few months ago to the other countries for diplomatic purposes, the King wouldn't even be in charge right now. She actually wanted to shut down my business two years ago; I only managed to keep this shop because many nobles, as well as the Church themselves, protested against it. Still, I needed to sign a commitment neither to ever sell human slaves nor do anything related to enslaving humans, and the Shadows are still monitoring this shop every day! Even though my business is a little bit morally ambiguous, I'm still an honest trader, and I still have to work to survive. Please don't do anything to destroy my job, sir," he added nervously.

So that ninja girl he fought the other day might have been someone sent by the Queen to monitor his activities. Since that day, he hadn't felt being tailed by any other Shadow, but that didn't mean he's completely free; there were a lot of ways to keep track of a person, after all.

The distaste EMIYA had for this country had just deepened itself to another level.

He glanced at his three disciples. Tersia looked disappointed, while Farrie and Welt seemed relieved. And for some reason, EMIYA himself felt relieved, too. At least he wouldn't need to force them to have the slave crest, something he had never wanted to do since the beginning. And to know that at least a member of his team was ready to jump into fire for him was more than enough, to be honest.

Well, there's nothing else he could do about this by now.

He nodded at his companions, and they turned around, ready to walk out of the shop.

"If you still want to do that at all costs, though," Beloukas suddenly called from behind him, "your only choice would be going to Zeltoble, Sir Sword Hero. The law of slavery is much laxer over there than in this country, and you're not going to look bad there even if you have a slave. Can't expect more of the country of merchants and criminals, though…"

He said those words with a hint of distaste in his voice. That country must be incredibly bad if it made such an immoral person change his tone.

"Sure," the Sword Hero answered curtly. "Thanks for your help, anyway."

"Too bad our plan is ruined."

Tersia complained as the team walked on the street of Castle Town.

EMIYA glanced at the girl. Now he didn't know whether he was wrong or not when he decided to tell them about the slave crest. She seemed so… enthusiastic with the idea of being branded, for some reason.

"Why are you so eager to be branded with the slave crest, Tersia?" he asked. "You understand that it is not anything good at all, and I only want to do that because there's no other way, don't you? If you want to gain my trust, you obviously can find better things to do than forcing yourself to become a slave."

The girl bit her lips. "Of course I know, sensei. It's just… well… I think I'm getting impatient. Even though we survived the last Wave, I… still feel that I'm not strong enough. I couldn't face that big zombie alone, and had Sir Naofumi not been there, I would have been killed by the bombardment magic of the knights. We managed to survive this Wave, but who knows what will happen in the next one? We only have about a month and a half to prepare for it. What if… something happens during the next Wave and we aren't ready for it?"

"Don't worry, Tersia-san!" Welt tried to cheer her up. "No matter what might happen, we will face it together! Nothing is impossible if we are together, and we still have sensei here!"

Tersia still didn't look convinced. But EMIYA had to admit her worry made sense, though; this is a war where no one can predict the outcome. And they didn't have a lot of time to prepare; who knows what might happen during the next one and a half months?

"Um…" Farrie suddenly raised her voice. "If we haven't known what to do yet, how about spending some time to learn magic?"

"Welcome to my shop… oh my, Farrie-chan! Long time no see!"

The owner of the magic shop greeted them with a big smile when the team entered. She was a middle-aged woman about sixty years old or so. She was rather plump and didn't seem to be very fit for adventuring, but EMIYA knew it's foolish to judge a book by its cover. Her eyes, while gentle and kind, showed a lot of experience hidden under the pair of glasses she was wearing. Her outfit was impossible to be out of place in a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

"Sorry about that, Ecclesia-san. I was busy training with Shirou-sensei and fighting the Wave, so I had no time to go around," the aforementioned girl smiled back at her.

The witch turned her eyes towards EMIYA. "Oh? Then this must be the renowned Sword Hero! Thank you very much for helping my dear girl here grow so well!"

"You're welcome," the Sword Hero answered her with a chuckle. "It seemed you and Farrie already knew each other."

"But of course," the lady nodded, still smiling. "This used to be her favorite place before she joined you, Sir Sword Hero. Most of her magic came from me!"

EMIYA glanced at Farrie. The girl blushed before scratching her face awkwardly.

"It's all right," he placated her. "There's nothing bad about having a lot of masters. Actually, some of the most famous heroes I know apprenticed under more than one master, and they all wrote their names in history as the most powerful and prestigious. You don't have to worry about things like that."

Hearing that, the cleric let out a deep sigh of gratitude.

"So how can I help Sir Sword Hero today?" the shop owner looked at EMIYA in expectation. Farrie raised her voice to answer in place of him.

"We want to learn some magic, Ecclesia-san. We want to strengthen ourselves before the next Wave starts, and I think that it would help a lot if we all know some magic to back us up."

The witch smiled at her. "That is very wise thinking, Farrie-chan. However, you know that not everyone is talented in magic. So first we would need to test your affinity for magic first."

She walked into the back room of the shop, and after a few minutes, she returned with a crystal ball in her hand.

"What is this?" EMIYA stared at the object in curiosity. The woman placed the crystal ball on the counter and started chanting a spell while hovering her hand above it. The object glowed brightly, and when the light died down, she looked up and smiled.

"This is a tool for me to assess your element of magic and potential with it. Just relax your mind, focus your magical energy inside you and look deep into this orb. I will read the result and tell you which kind of magic suits you the most. Now, who wants to have a go first?"

"Me!" Tersia raised her hand enthusiastically. She walked forward, channeled as much magical energy as she could and stared into the crystal ball. The witch looked into the sphere from the other side and nodded.

"Ah, I see, I see. It seems that you are most suited for fire magic. The most powerful element for a fighter, and very versatile for a lot of other uses, too. However, I have to say that your potential with it would not be very high. At this level, you can learn fire magic up to Zweite level. Dritte-level spells might be available to you in the future, but only if you push yourself to the limit to hone your affinity."

Ouch. The lady really didn't hold back her words. Tersia backed away and looked at the ground sullenly. Obviously she had expected her potential to be something better.

"Don't worry about that," EMIYA placed his hand on her shoulder encouragingly. "Didn't I teach you about this before? Even the weakest power could become deadly if used in the right way. You just need to improve yourself and find the correct way to use your power effectively, and you will become more powerful than anyone could be. I assure you."

The girl immediately cheered up hearing his words, and she beamed at him.

"Can I go next?" Welt raised his hand, which earned him a nod from the Sword Hero. He walked up and stared at the ball.

"Hmm… so you're most suitable for wind magic. Also a very powerful element, it can provide great cutting and piercing power. Very good if used as a support for your archery. You can also use magic up to Zweite level, and would also have the potential to go to Dritte if you train a lot."

Welt nodded, however, for some reason, he didn't seem to be very thrilled.

"I guess it's my turn now, huh," said EMIYA. He walked up and looked into the crystal ball.

And the most unusual thing happened. Different from the other two, the crystal ball started glowing, but not in a bright-colored light or something similar. Rather, it shone in a dull, grayish steel color. The Sword Hero looked at the witch, but it seemed she didn't understand, either.

"This… never happened before," she muttered. "It seemed you have a very powerful affinity and potential for… something. I've seen black and white light coming from people with very strong potential, which corresponded to shadow magic and light magic, but gray light? What kind of element might it be, I wonder?"

Then she looked at EMIYA. "I'm sorry; I guess your element of magic is beyond what I could fathom at the moment. I think the best I can provide you right now is support magic, which everyone could use. But even support magic is very useful in most situations; Farrie-chan here is very talented at that type of magic, as you already knew."

EMIYA nodded. He could understand why the shop owner couldn't recognize his magic element. His Origin, Sword, is something that is a singularity even in his world. In the whole history of humankind, the only person he knew that possessed the same Origin was Senji Muramasa, the legendary swordsmith, and his (supposedly) ancestor. Even his elemental affinity and Origin didn't seem to be natural, either; from what he knew, they might have been forcefully created by the legendary sheath of Excalibur, Avalon, after the object was implanted into his body by Kiritsugu when he saved his life during the fire. Because of them, the only magecrafts he's able to use were Reinforcement and Projection, since they were tied to his Reality Marble.

While he was deep in thought, Yuki climbed out from her nest inside his coat. She looked around, then her eyes were drawn to the crystal orb on the counter. The little fox jumped onto the wooden table and tapped the ball with her tiny paw in childish curiosity.

Her nose touched the crystal surface.

And the whole room was suddenly bathed in bluish-white light. The crystal ball lit up like a disco ball, making Yuki leap back in surprise and fear. She jumped back into the ex-Guardian's pocket and trembled in there; for a while, the only thing everyone could see of the poor kit was her pair of ears poking out of the edge of the pocket, and she only dared to show her eyes again when the light finally died down.

Not only her; everyone in the room was stunned by the sudden reaction. Welt stuttered.

"Wh-what the hell is that?!"

The one with the most shocked expression was the shop owner herself.

"No way," she muttered. "There's no way… Sir Sword Hero, where did you get this mikon?"

"I hatched her from an egg," EMIYA answered in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"This little one has the strongest compatibility with ice magic I've ever seen in a person… no, ever in my whole life, in any living creatures," the witch answered, still with the shocked tone in her voice. "At this point, if she were a person, she could easily learn Dritte-level magic, and could even reach… no, Liberation-level magic is just a myth; even the most powerful magic users in this world never managed to reach it…"

"So… it means Yuki is the strongest among us when it comes to magic?" Farrie asked in awe. The witch nodded.

"Yes. The only being I've ever met with such great potential with any kind of magic is now known as the strongest ice magician in the world. Too bad this little one is a monster; if she were a person, she would have the potential to become someone like that, too."

The team looked at each other with awe in their eyes. So it wasn't a loss when they got Yuki from the slave trader at all. If anything, she was the biggest win they could have.

Too bad she wasn't a human, though…

Finally, EMIYA decided to break the silence. "So can you give us some suggestions about what we can learn now?"

"Ah, but of course," the witch nodded. She reached onto the shelf behind her and pulled out a few books. "Here you go. These books contain the formulae for the basic Fire and Wind element magic," she placed two of them on the counter, one of which had a dark red cover and the other one had a green one. "And these two," she placed two other books next to them, "are for support magic. They all offer basic spells suitable for newbie spellcasters, as well as some more advanced ones if you manage to master the basic ones quickly."

She looked at EMIYA apologetically. "Sorry about this, though, Sir Sword Hero. I would offer you a crystal ball if I could, but recently the royal family had come and bought all of the crystal balls I had in stock. You know, a crystal ball allows you to learn the magic immediately without having to spend time practicing when you free the magic inside it. These magic books are not easy to read – that's for sure, but if you apply yourself, you'll eventually be able to learn a lot from them."

"It's fine," the ex-Guardian answered with a smile. "I don't like the idea of gaining something without having to put effort into it, anyway. So how much do I have to pay for them?"

Ten minutes later, Team EMIYA left the magic shop with the spellbooks in their hands. The two girls were really happy with the purchase, and were noisily talking to each other about how they would learn their new magic spells.

However, Welt didn't seem to be very happy. His face looked like he had just bitten on a very sour lemon.

Naturally, EMIYA would be the one who noticed that. "Are you all right, Welt?"

The boy looked up, startled. "Oh, I… Nothing, sensei. It's just… you know, the Bow Hero also has wind affinity, right?"

The ex-Guardian understood immediately what his student was saying. He winced. "You hate Itsuki that much?"

"Yeah," the boy nodded bitterly, not even showing any remorse for what he had just said. "I don't know, but… he's just so… so… pretentious. He didn't even try to correct Sir Shield Hero when he wrongly thanked him for saving his life. He hogged all the glory for himself!"

EMIYA looked at the archer sternly. "Didn't I tell you I don't care about that kind of glory?"

"Yes, but… still, I can't stomach it at all!" the boy protested. "He doesn't deserve to be called a Hero! You already heard how he and his team constantly bragged about justice, right? What kind of hero of justice would go around stealing other people's achievements?"

EMIYA grimaced. Welt was still too naïve to understand it. Sometimes, the person who would eventually be named a hero didn't need to actually have the qualities of a hero at all. Under a corrupted authority, even a narcissistic jerk who cares about nothing but showing off to satisfy his own ego can become a hero. A clear example should be Motoyasu. Until now, there's nothing heroic about him, but he's still useful for representative purposes. Well, at least maybe until the other night. That's just how politics works, no matter which world they're in.

"If you dislike him that much, then just use that as the motivation to improve yourself," Finally, he said. "You might have the same power, but that doesn't mean you have to go the same way as him. You don't want to be like him, right? Then keep growing, walk your own way, and use your power to become better than even a Hero."

"Can I even do that?" asked the boy miserably. EMIYA answered him with a smile.

"Of course. I believe you can."

Welt looked up and gave him a smile of his own.

Speaking about Motoyasu…

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MEANING OF THIS, OLD MAN!?"

Team EMIYA was startled by the sudden shriek. That voice was definitely Motoyasu's, and it came from… Erhard's weapon store.

"Let's go see what's happening!" Tersia urged.

"Didn't I say it clear enough? I'm not going to sell you any more weapons."

The blacksmith declared flatly in front of the shocked and fuming Spear Hero and his companion, the First Princess. Motoyasu asked angrily.

"But what is the reason?"

"Do I need to say it straight to your face?" said Erhard coldly while glaring straight into the Spear Hero's eyes. "After what happened the other night, do you really expect me to give you more weapons to go backstabbing other people?" he stressed the word "backstabbing" with clear anger in his voice, and Motoyasu had to take a step backward in fear.

"What does that even have to do with anything?" Malty blurted out. The blacksmith turned his glare toward her.

"'What does that even have to do with anything', you say," he said with his voice lowered to a dangerous octave. "My weapons are made to fight honorable battles, to help protect weak people from things that would try to harm them and the world. I will not forgive anyone who would use them to do evil and cowardly things… such as trying to murder someone who was protecting them from being murdered."

"B-but I'm a Cardinal Hero!" Motoyasu protested weakly. "I'm supposed to be served by everyone! You're supposed to serve me!"

The air seemingly froze with that sentence. Then, after a few seconds of silence, Erhard spoke in a deathly cold voice.

"You're not welcome in this place, Spear Hero and companion. Get out of here, and never come back."

Malty's hair bristled. "Father is going to hear about this," she threatened. "I'm going to have your shop closed, and your neck hung on the gallows for defying me."

"Y-yeah!" Motoyasu added in. "You're not going to do this to me! The King will hear about this, and—"

"What the hell is happening here?"

The voice rose sharply from behind them. EMIYA and his team had entered the store.

"Shirou-san!" the Spear Hero cried. "He refused to sell me weapons! I—"

"And is that really a wrong thing to do?"

Motoyasu's mouth stopped mid-sentence. "Huh?"

The Sword Hero was now glaring at Motoyasu with stern eyes full of disappointment. "I thought a night of thinking was enough for you to think about it clearly, but it seems I had expected too much from you. Weapons are things that can potentially take lives. Considering what you did the other night, even I would hesitate to sell you more weapons if I were a weapon seller."

"What is even wrong with that, though?" Motoyasu protested. "The one who is in the wrong is that bastard Naofumi! Besides, this is a game, right? PK and things are normal! And the people we see are just NPCs; it doesn't make any difference whether they die or not, right? It's not like anyone is going to miss–"

He stopped mid-sentence again when he saw EMIYA's expression. The Sword Hero, as well as everyone else in the room, was staring at him with a face full of horror and disbelief.

"What?"

Then all of a sudden, the blade of a giant sword came down on his head. He hastily raised the Legendary Spear to block, but the force of the slash was so immense he was sent stumbling backward a few steps.

"What the…?!"

It was Tersia who had just delivered the sudden attack. She was gripping the hilt of her sword with both of her hands so tightly veins were bulging up around her biceps and her knuckles were turning white, and tears were running down her cheeks. The glare coming from her was full of murderous intent, and Farrie and Welt were trying their best to hold her back from attacking the Spear Hero again.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO, DAMN YOU ALL!" she screamed hysterically while struggling like mad against her two companions' grips. "LET ME GO SO I CAN FUCKING KILL HIM! LET ME GO!"

"Calm down, Tersia-san!" Welt grunted while putting all his strength into his arms to push the girl down. He was also glaring at Motoyasu with obvious hatred in his eyes. "Please! It's not worth it!"

"What the hell?!" Motoyasu snapped at EMIYA. "Control your companion, Shirou-san! She has just—"

"Oh, if I were her, I would have done even worse than that."

Motoyasu's eyes widened. The Sword Hero was also glaring at him with a face full of anger.

"What…?!"

"Did you even hear what you have just said?!" the ex-Guardian's voice rumbled furiously around the shop; he was unable to suppress his rage anymore. "This girl's father was murdered by the monsters of the Wave when he was trying his best to protect other people from them, and you dared open your mouth to say that the lives of people in this world are WORTHLESS?! This is not a game, and all people in this world that you thought are NPCs of your game are proper living creatures who deserve to live. If you kill someone, that's it for them. I thought you were just naïve and perverted, but it seems I was wrong; you are a fucking PSYCHOPATH! Maybe I should kill you right here to protect this world from a potential serial killer!"

Those words served as a hammer blow to the blockhead of Motoyasu. He had never thought of everything that way.

Since he was summoned, he had been sure that he was in the game that he had been addicted to before he was murdered by the two yandere girls he managed to woo at the same time, because the setting, the story, the characters, everything was just too similar. He had thought that the three other Heroes were other players of the game, and everyone in this world was just NPCs masterfully designed and programmed by the game company to present the most realistic experience to the players. He had never thought that everything around him was actually real.

Colors drained from Motoyasu's face when he realized what that meant. He stumbled backward; his back hit a shelf by the wall, scattering the weapons on it on the ground. "No…" he babbled. "I… I'm not…"

"Let's get out of here, Motoyasu-sama!" Malty grabbed the Spear Hero's hand. She threw EMIYA and his companions a glare of annoyance. "We don't need the stupid weapons of this shop! The royal arsenal can provide you with even better spears!"

Then she pulled Motoyasu to the entrance and the pair hastily exited the shop.

"That bastard went too far this time," Farrie growled after their backs had completely disappeared behind the wooden door.

When you heard Farrie, the normally nice and sweet girl, growling in anger and calling people names, you would know that something was going horribly, horribly wrong.

Tersia had dropped her sword on the ground, and now she was crying her heart out on the white mage's shoulder. Seeing the usually strong and cheerful girl crying like that wrenched everyone's heart. Even Yuki seemed to feel the pain of the girl; the little fox climbed on her shoulder and started licking her cheek affectionately in an attempt to cheer her up.

For a while, the shop was completely silent, except for the sounds of sobbing coming from Tersia. Then finally, the girl managed to calm herself down a bit.

"Th-thank you, Yuki," she scratched the mikon's ear. The fox answered by licking her nose, which earned her a giggle mixed with a slight hiccup.

"Are you okay, Tersia?" EMIYA asked in concern.

"I'm… I'm fine, sensei," the girl nodded, but she was still a little bit shaken. "It's just… I couldn't hold myself back. I…"

"How dare him to say those words!" Erhard punched the counter angrily. "There are people who dedicated their lives to making this world a better place. Hell, even if you guys weren't summoned, there are still other Heroes who would fight to defend this world from the Waves. How dare that bastard to speak as if he's the only important person existing in this universe?!"

EMIYA looked at the blacksmith in surprise. "There are other Heroes?"

Erhard snorted. "Of course there are. The Seven Star Heroes – people chosen by the mythical Seven Star Weapons. There are seven Heroes corresponding to the Seven Star Weapons, and they set up their bases all around the world, in different countries. Of course the power of the Seven Star Weapons cannot compare to your Legendary Weapons, but the Seven Star Heroes are still not people that you can joke about."

He stopped for a few seconds, then continued. "The King himself is the chosen Hero of the Seven Star Staff. During the last war against Siltvelt, he made a name for himself by defeating the whole Siltvelt army with his brilliant strategy as well as the power of the Seven Star Staff, beating the legendary commander of Siltvelt, Tyran Ga Fayon. However, it's been a long time since he was last seen wielding the Staff in person. And looking at him now… there might even be a chance that the Staff had deemed him not worthy to wield it anymore."

And another new thing EMIYA hadn't heard about. A whole month staying in this world, the ex-Guardian had never heard about the existence of another group of Heroes. While it was true that the King always held a staff whenever they saw him, it wasn't anything special; when he tried Structural Analysis on it before, he could see that it was just a simple ornate staff without any special abilities. He had never suspected that the old coot might be someone with power rivaling the Cardinal Heroes.

"I guess you know where the other Seven Star Heroes are?" he looked at Erhard. The blacksmith nodded.

"From what I heard, the Hero of the Seven Star Axe is active in Zeltoble, and the Hero of the Seven Star Claw is a representative of Siltvelt. The Seven Star Gauntlet is still inactive in the country of Liyue in the west, waiting for someone worthy to wield it. However… I heard that the Seven Star Hammer and its Hero went missing a few days after your summoning. No one knows what happened to him; he just… disappeared from the surface of the planet. And the whereabouts of the Seven Star Whip and Projectile is unknown, though I heard the last time people saw them, they were in Schildfrieden."

EMIYA nodded. One more reason for him to go to other countries. If these "Seven Star Heroes" were anything like Erhard told him, they would be incredibly valuable if he could get them as allies. He just hoped that they wouldn't be like the two other Cardinal Heroes, or the King and his lackeys. Two useless idiots and a vengeful old coot as people wielding massive powers which could destroy the world was more than enough to handle.

While Erhard and EMIYA were trading information, Tersia had managed to stop crying. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, and retrieved her sword lying on the ground with her trembling hands.

"Sensei, can we start our training now?" she asked when Erhard finished. EMIYA didn't need to ask for the reason why she was so eager; her cold voice and eyes full of anger were more than enough for him to know. He nodded.

"Yeah. We should start now; it's pretty late already. Thanks for the info, old man."

Tersia gripped the hilt of her sword tightly with both of her hands. She raised it in front of her face and snarled in a voice that sent chills into the spines of everyone in the shop.

"I'm going to show that bastard. You just wait, Spear Hero… I'm going to show you. No one… NO ONE IN THIS WORLD is allowed to open their mouth to say that the lives my Dad and many other people sacrificed to protect this world are worthless."

[Companion Sword: First condition of evolution fulfilled.]

And the story continues!

Yeah, EMIYA wouldn't be able to get his disciples branded with the slave crest that easily. That's what I said in the author's note of the last chapter, but I guess no one would expect this to happen, right?

There's actually something I was kinda annoyed about while reading the original WN and the LN, which is the way the author named the ranking of magic and skills. The ranking for magic in the novels is First/Zweite/Drifa(Dreifach), while the ranking for Hero skills is Erste/Second/Dritte. As you can see, half of the names are in English, while the other half are in German, and even the former is pretty inconsistent: Zweite means Second in German, but Drifa isn't even a word, and Dreifach means... Triple. I guess that might be because of the language in this world, but for the sake of consistency, I'm going to use the full set of German names for both skills and magic in my story. Hope you guys are not going to hate me for this.

And if anyone paid attention to the story since the beginning, then yes, EMIYA did unlock the Companion Sword in chapter 4! However, the bonus the sword provided him was not something noticeable (the only bonus it provides is Companion Growth Up, which basically means a boost in EXP gain). That is why he didn't pay attention much to it and thus basically forgot about it. There are a lot of conditions for it to evolve into higher levels, and its true power would be unlocked when the team grows together further and deepens their bonds.

Anyway, thank you for still following my story until now!