FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

 

'Nine summons?' Before Arlo could comprehend what he just heard, a feeling of weakness suddenly came over him.

*Huff! Huff!* Arlo panted heavily, as he supported himself with both hands.

"What is happening?" voiced out Arlo with a weak voice.

<< Now that you are a one–star warrior, if you use up all the Ki in your body, you will become temporarily weakened. >> Old bro's words entered his mind.

"I-I don't understand?" Arlo said in confusion, as he felt his body slowly regaining its strength.

<< Oh! That fast! >> Old bro sounded genuinely surprised before he continued, << Before, your body could not store Ki, and could only temporarily hold it, that is why you kept absorbing Ki from your surroundings. Now that you are an official warrior, your body can now store Ki. Depleting all this Ki will leave you in a state of weakness, and replenishing them will be far slower than how it was previously, after all, your body is now immensely powerful. >>

Arlo slowly sat back down on the dark floor. He understood what the artifact spirit said, as his body subconsciously absorbed Ki without actively willing it.

It was just that it was too slow.

Circulating the technique his father taught him, he tried absorbing Ki into his body, however, he found it far slower than he was used to.

It would take him about an hour to replenish all the Ki in his body.

What he didn't know was that the artifact spirit was secretly surprised at the rate he was replenishing his Ki, as it would take an average new warrior at least six hours and a veteran warrior three hours to replenish his Ki.

"Master!" A sweet little girl's voice resounded directly in Arlo's mind.

'Huh?' Arlo was surprised, "Old man, what are you doing?"

'Idiot.' Old bro thought, not bothering to even reply.

"Master! Please permit me to appear before you." The voice resounded in his head once more, but this time Arlo's eyes immediately shifted to his right arm.

He could see four strange symbols at the back of his upper arm, with the one furthest down with the shape of a slime glowing deep blue.

"What the hell?" Arlo blurted out in surprise.

Curious, he looked at his other arm and found four new symbols now engraved on it.

With his mature and smart mind, it didn't take him long to connect the dots.

"Don't tell me I actually have eight summons?" Arlo suddenly threw out to no one in particular. 'Wait, I heard old bro say nine summons.'

He started searching for any other symbol that may be on his body, but after a full minute, he found none.

Old bro knowing his thought decided to help him, << It is at the back of your neck, Idiot! >> For some reason he sounded proud and also displeased.

He felt proud of Arlo and was genuinely happy to have such an owner.

However, he also felt displeased as before he told Arlo that a supreme genius would have two summons, yet here he was having nine. Wouldn't that make him look foolish and somewhat undependable?

Arlo didn't mind the insult. In fact, his brain didn't register it as the confirmation of a ninth summon sent his body into a state of euphoria.

He was genuinely happy and proud, yet deep down he was also a bit scared.

Isn't this too much?

Arlo was a very smart kid, so he knew there must be a good reason why he could summon nine astral warriors.

Moreover, even if it was his talent, his mature mind refused to believe that it was all natural.

'There must be a reason for all this.' He reaffirmed in his mind.

He couldn't dwell too much on this however as the cute little voice echoed in his mind once more, "Master..."

<<Just direct some Ki into the seal, and will for your summon to appear. >>

'So they are called seals.' Arlo silently thought.

Sending some of his now replenished Ki into the slime seal, Arlo willed for his summon to appear.

The slime seal suddenly lit up, before releasing a stream of white energy that formed a blue little slime in front of Arlo.

"This little one greets matter." The girl's voice resounded in Arlo's mind again, seemingly intending to sound composed and disciplined, but to Arlo, it sounded rather cute.

In fact, the slime looked so cute that Arlo felt like caressing it.

Wanting to make a good first impression, Arlo cleared his throat and spoke with a deep voice, "Hi! My name is Arlo. I am happy to have you as my summon."

"The pleasure is all mine." The slime responded.

"Great!" Arlo suddenly exclaimed and took the slime into his embrace, his hands feeling her up. 'She feels so slippery yet comforting to touch.' Arlo closed his eyes as he thought silently.

'Huh?' Realising he acted out of line due to his childish impulse, Arlo quickly opened his eyes only to find two slight blushes on the face of the slime, with her giggling "Hehe" in satisfaction.

He secretly sighed in relief.

'She seems more like a child.' Arlo thought.

'You are also a child.' Old bro was amused.

Pulling the slime gently into his embrace, Arlo asked, "What do I call you?"

The slime shifted a bit as she tried to snuggle peacefully in his embrace, "Master can call me Anita."

Appreciating the five-inch-sized blue slime in his embrace, Arlo asked in a hopeful tone, "Can I call you Nita?"

The slime didn't even take an instant to reply "Sure." as she continued to nest in his embrace.

"Then you can also call me, Arlo."

The slime suddenly shifted upward, and even though Arlo could not see her eyes, he could tell she was looking at him.

"Are you sure?" She asked, a bit unsure.

"Yes!" Arlo confirmed with a smile.

…..

After playing and getting close to Nita, Arlo suddenly noticed that a small part of his Ki had been constantly entering Nita's seal.

'It seems I need to keep filling the seal with Ki for Nita to be outside my body.'

He didn't know how the seals worked, but he decided to ask old bro later.

He could already tell that the seal must contain some sort of separate space for Nita to stay in.

Looking at the little slime that was bobbing up and down on his lap, Arlo decided to ask the question he had been suppressing all this while.

"So Nita, what can you do?"

The playing Anita suddenly calmed down upon hearing his question.

She took a short while before she answered, "My innate power is called Universal devouring."

"Universal devouring…" Arlo repeated as his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

What a grand and domineering name.

Nita waited calmly for Arlo to come out of his reverie.

"What does it do?" Arlo asked once more this time with a bit more excitement.

"I can devour any living organism in existence be it a human, beast, devil, or even god," said Anita, her voice filled with pride.

Arlo was rendered speechless. Even though he felt her words were a bit unreal and exaggerated, for some reason he felt they weren't too farfetched.

However, Anita didn't seem done as she continued, "And I can acquire all their powers, be it innate traits, control of laws, and techniques."

Arlo's mind was thrown into total chaos.